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mybadlywrittenstories · 4 months

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Two Different Worlds (Jasper Hale Fanfic)

A/N: Hey guys it has been FOREVER since I wrote fanfic and I completely forgot my old Tumblr stories, but I am back at it fellas, please feel free to give any feedback just please be respectful. Also I prefer writing using my OCs instead of using y/n stuff)

Word Count: 2,022

The gentle drumming of raindrops melodically dropping onto the windshield lulled me into a peaceful half-sleep in the back of my father's police cruiser. I was vaguely aware of the light conversation between my father Charlie and my younger sister Bella.

The awkwardness between those two was palpable in the air, for two people who hardly got along they truly were unbelievably alike. I let their uncomfortable discussion pass me by and focused on the other issues that were running rampant around my mind. The first was the fact that I was halfway through my senior year, and now I had to transfer to a new school. Well, I didn't have to per se, but considering I was still freshly 18 and the only job I held back in Arizona was a retail warehouse job that paid 7.15 an hour-- and I still had to buy my own car and pay for my own college-- I wasn't exactly in a situation to move out on my own back in my sunny home of Pheonix Arizona.

Not that I hated Forks, it was definitely a quaint little town that held a certain charm to it. Truthfully, I don't quite understand my mother Renee's and Bella's pure hatred for this place was, but to each, there own I suppose. I was just disappointed to leave Arizona, so close to graduation, my two friends Liv and Abbi, and my now ex-boyfriend Mark, had to stay back in Arizona.

A throb of pain ripped through my chest and tangled itself around my heart when I thought about Mark, more guilt than grief. We had only been dating casually-- more so for the fun of it than due to any real feelings we had shared-- or so I thought. When I had ended things with him a week before my departure, He revealed he harbored much stronger feelings than I knew. Our breakup was still amicable however, in the end, he agreed long distance was not meant for us-- well more so, me.

I had also promised to call him, Liv, and Abbi, as much as possible and Skype at least twice a week. The guilt-ridden thorns pressing into my heart tightened a bit as I remembered his hopeful expression when I left, Liv later informed me that he was harboring hope that he'd be able to convince me to try long distance with him once I was settled in. It wasn't out of the question I supposed, but I never saw our little 4-month fling lasting longer than the end of senior year-- but who knows where life will take me--

"Cali"

I hope I can at least make some new friends here, even if they only last a short time.

"Cali wake up, Sweetie."

Scratch that-- I hope my sister can make some friends. She's always alone. We lived in Arizona for years and she never made any real friends, that's not healthy. I hope--

"Calliope Swan!"

My father urged, shaking my shoulder gently. My eyes snapped open, my body jerking forward as I took in my surroundings. My father had parked his beat-up cruiser in the driveway of my second home. A sense of nostalgia washed over me unexpectedly, I had very few memories of my time living here but some microscopic part of my brain still recognized this home as my childhood home; I did spend the first 2 years of my life calling this two-story rundown house as my home.

"Sorry," I sighed groggily, "I didn't realize I had fallen asleep."

"It's alright." My dad smiled, his endearing awkward smile, "I already brought in your bags, so why don't you go make yourself at home."

"Aye Aye Captian." I joked, mock-saluting him before I climbed out of the back seat, grabbing my over-stuffed backpack and messenger bag. Charlie showed me up to my room-- completely unnecessary considering I've spent two weeks of my summers and all of my spring breaks here for the past 16 years-- and I had spent the first 2 years of my life living here.

My room was just as I had left it last summer, with the same sage-green walls and dark oak floors. My stormy grey curtains were slid open, the sun illuminating the room to the best of its abilities despite the gloomy weather outside. My full-sized mattress draped in a deep blue cover and covered with small stuffed animals I had collected over the years was shoved into the far left corner in front of one of the two windows. At the foot of my bed was my old wooden storage chest, the small metal latch holding down the lid was the only thing holding back the absurd amount of clutter I knew it contained-- all those distant memories.

The rest of my room was pretty simple but cluttered. A bedside table was tucked next to my bed, and a llama-shaped lamp sat on it with photos and books stacked upon it. On the opposing side of the room was my comfortable but old faded emerald green plush chair, and a matching ottoman. My dresser was overflowing with clothing and I cringed at the idea of having to go through all of them to make space for the new clothing I had brought. The mirror attached to the dresser has polaroids of me and all my friends, from both Forks and Arizona. Directly next to the door was my hooded desk, again more random items, and my ancient computer decorated it. In the final corner was my sauder wooden shelves, stocked full of all my worn-out second-hand books.

I breathed in the sweet-- slightly dewy scent of my room and let out a relaxed sigh. This won't be so bad, this is just as much of my home as Arizona was.

Taking note of my plethora of bags stacked in the corner next to the bookshelves I decided I should probably thank Dad for taking them upstairs for me, There really was a lot of them. However, when I turned around I saw my dad's back as he made his way down the hallways toward Bella's room

Oh well, I'll tell him later.

The rest of the day passed by swiftly and without much incident, other than a very swift visit from the Black family where Charlie had very graciously bought my younger sister her first car. Then, very sheepishly informed me that he'd go 50-50 with me on a used car-- that definitely stung a bit but I could understand. Bella was not the fondest of our dad and it was an obvious way of trying to get her to warm up to living in Forks, and to his credit, it did work. She was practically bouncing with excitement when she explored her new car, little Jacob Black following her around like a puppy while she did.

Jacob Black was adorable and sweet, he'd make a good friend for Bella. She would just have to open up to him, he's a few years younger so she used to gravitate toward his older sisters Rachel and Rebecca although they've both moved away from Washington. Last I heard Rachel was away at college and Rebecca was married to a Samoan Surfer. So Bella would have to make new friends, and the twin's nerdy little brother looked like he would do; he certainly seemed eager enough to befriend her.

Other than that though, the day was mainly uneventful. Charlie ordered some celebratory pizza and wings from a local joint, I made some idle chit-chat with Charlie as we ate, but Bella mainly stayed quiet; Stewing in her self-pity a little more than I would've liked.

I helped Charlie pack up the leftovers for his lunch at work tomorrow, making a suggestive comment that perhaps he should consider eating a more healthy lunch, which was quickly shot down by him.

"I'm as healthy as a horse, Cali. I wouldn't be sheriff if I weren't."

"Okay, Okay, Whatever you say Pops. Just don't want to have to rush you to the ER one day due to a heart attack. I get enough ER time because of Bella."

This elicited a small chuckle from him, "That girl sure is a magnet for trouble isn't she?"

"I don't know where she got the clutz gene from, but I think we single-handedly kept the Pheonix ER in business. It was just a month ago we had to take her in 'cause she burned the crap out of her arm on a tea kettle." I laughed, remembering the look of horror in her eyes when the doctor had to inform her that she needed to keep her arm bandaged up for the next week-- and in that AZ heat that would get rather sweaty and uncomfortable quick.

When I noticed Charlie had gone silent while washing up a few dishes, I looked over at him. His face was pinched up in deep thought and from what I could tell concern. "Hey, you good dad?"

"Huh?" He looked over to me and met my gaze, looking a tad embarrassed he had been caught zoning out, he dried off the last dish in his hand and looked over to me seriously, "Can I ask you a serious question, Cali?" He asked, taking on the voice of a worried father.

"Ya, go ahead."

"Do you think..." He paused and thought for a moment, sorting out whatever thoughts were running around his mind. "I know, me and you are very different people. Everyone always says me and Bella are a lot alike but... I know you. I know you're gonna be okay here even if it wasn't necessarily what you wanted."

I opened my mouth to object, I didn't not want to move to Forks. I just was hesitant due to almost being ready to go off to college. He continued on before I had the chance to interrupt though.

"But Bella, she's so quiet, and I can tell she doesn't want to be here. I hate seeing her so upset... I know I'm not the most fun person to be around and I'm going to try and change that but do you think you could look after her? Let me know how I'm doing... If she is happy? Make sure she's doing okay at school and stuff."

"Of course, Dad. I'll keep an eye out for her." I smiled cautiously. This was the first time in a long time I had seen him this worried; the last time was when I came out to visit one year, and it was the first year Bella had decided not to come to Forks to see him. He talked to me back then, asking if Bella was okay and if he had done something wrong. My heart throbbed when I imagined what it must be like for him, loving a daughter so much and feeling so hopeless; as if nothing he would ever do would be the right thing to do.

"Thank you." He said with a timid smile, we both continued to clean up the kitchen in relative silence. I suspected he was doing a bit more cleaning than he would typically do on account of me and Bella being here-- although Bella had already excused herself up to her room.

Once the Kitchen was practically spotless, I took it as my turn to excuse myself into my bedroom. I finished what I could by unpacking my room, opting to leave all my bathroom supplies in a small basket on my dresser, instead of taking up the limited bathroom space. My new books were put away on my shelf, my make-up on the desk next to my small popup mirror. My shoes were lined up on the wall beside my door. The only thing left to do was go through my clothes and that was a challenge to tackle another day.

As I lay in my bed, listening to the gentle sounds of rain hitting the rooftop, I tried to envision what this new chapter in my life would hold for me; however brief it may be.

#jasper hale #jasper whitlock #jasper cullen #twilight #twilight fanfic #twilight fanfiction #twilight saga #oc #original character #jasper hale x reader #jasper hale x oc

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feelingofcontent · 2 years

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DNP Rewatch: Gay And Not Proud - Daniel Howell | YouTube Pride 2021

Date video was published: 06/25/2021 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 443

A Dan video?!?! What is this?! Dan had filmed for this earlier in the month, all in a single day. Also, the tweet promoting this video is still Dan’s pinned tweet at the moment.

0:05 - the “hello Internet” to start...of course he had to. also I still can’t decide if I like that jacket or not

0:20 - he is very scripted in this

0:56 - dramatic shot and lighting there

1:45 - I am sad that we still don’t know what YouTube content he was planning that didn’t pan out

2:00 - sometimes I forget that I am the same age as Dan

2:33 - Dan really cannot do time estimates 😂 he came out 2 years before this

3:00 - there is a lot of follow-up and re-stating of some of the same things he talked about in BIG

3:12 - he really did mention the “commitment” thing a lot in 2021...still hard to say what he really means by that

3:25 - lol at the little kiss there

4:20 - “a metaphorical mind palace” indeed

5:51 - still can’t get over Dan writing Phil into this as Phil just living in his mind 🥺

6:09 - they actually look their heights in this

6:14 - Phil just distracting Dan with fun so he doesn’t have to think about the hard things...and then Dan saying this bit was “radically authentic” ...help

6:44 - and the implication that Phil will let Dan do the growing he needs to, but will just be there waiting

7:01 - WHAT?

7:18 - laughing that they must have had all this tour stuff in storage somewhere. I wonder how much they still have, or if they did a clean-out when they moved

7:37 - I had not noticed the little jar of notes “for gloomy days” before 🥺

7:47 - I like this mirror shot. Phil talked about the struggle/fear with media interviews while in the closet as well...that must have been very stressful for both of them

8:26 - I love that they had some actual fans be a part of this...when this part started I thought it might be really cringe but it ended up being so cute. I wonder if Dan pitched this idea to YouTube to include in this?

10:00 - Dan sounds less scripted here and I like it

10:08 - how much Dan says he has been impacted by meeting fans is something he has continually talked about with appreciation over the years

11:01 - this response was so good!!

12:05 - Dan seems like he’s really listening during this part too

12:48 - love Dan’s dead-pan look at the camera here 😂

13:10 - part of this YouTube Pride thing was asking people to submit video clips that would be included; it was very unclear how they would be used until it was put together here

13:27 - see, we’ve gotten so many more stories like this from Phil pco, and so few from Dan...it’s nice to see him talk about his past with more authenticity. I love that he talks about this further later in the year in Hometown Showdown too

14:03 - “imagine if the boys kissed” I love it. I think I actually find Dan more entertaining when he is less scripted

15:43 - oh yikes

16:27 - something he talked about in BIG

16:56 - the casual okay-to-say-something moment is relatable for me, actually

17:51 - lol at THAT being the one he chose to “not answer”

18:19 - I love the teasing here so much! and the tweet (which someone must have timed/planned to post at this moment when this video premiered)

19:25 - the Dil inclusion throw-back to TATINOF...just for fun I guess

20:23 - the sign and outfit from when he went to Pride in 2019

21:00 - it is interesting to here him talk more about how he felt about things while in the closet

22:04 - in all the photos from that day he looks SO happy

22:45 - “like a dream” oh Dan 🥺 and his interactions with subscribers that day were so sweet!

23:40 - yes good points from Dan

24:04 - honestly I did not know who Will Young was before this video. he is from Wokingham too, so that was a nice tie-in with Dan

24:39 - and Dan talked in BIG too about wishing he had had more representation to look up to when he was young

27:08 - I don’t know about the Dan-watching-awkwardly shots

27:19 - this whole bit seems a little awkward. I think it’s partially Dan sitting far away and Will standing so close to the camera? Was that a social-distancing thing maybe? I don’t know but it’s slightly strange

28:32 - the conversation is actually a good one though

29:48 - and an interesting question from Dan, because he and Phil had talked about being worried that coming out would affect their careers

31:23 - I like the “it’s so boring” point about continually coming out. that was one of Phil’s points in COTY too, actually

31:50 - just from this conversation, I like Will and what he has to say a lot

33:30 - if a Pride event happens in my town this year I really want to go...we’ll see if I get myself together enough

34:45 - Dan liked the “no one’s born with shame” point there

36:23 - there is really no consistency in what door he goes in and comes back out of for these segments

36:49 - lol at the llama reference

37:15 - foreshadowing of going in that door later, obviously

37:53 - the “subscribe” pop-up 😂

38:06 - “the only person in the world that tolerates me is called Phil” he just said it, huh?

38:29 - the parallel of this to Phil’s answer to it in Answering Questions I Would Usually Avoid ...did Dan write this joke after seeing that Phil video

39:14 - I don’t really follow what Tyler’s doing anymore, but he’s always seemed like such a good friend and supportive. I like all the collabs that both DNP did with him over the years

40:12 - someone describing Dan as quiet is so surprising...reserved makes some sense though

40:38 - big Dan sigh there

40:48 - “I just figured it wasn’t my business until you said anything to me” good friend Tyler!

41:22 - that is something, that for a while he was afraid to even interact too much with queer creators

42:06 - this must have been at VidCon 2019

42:21 - “a surprise wig party” I love it 😂

43:08 - “there’s no rush. when you’re ready, I’m ready” yeah I really like Tyler

43:41 - “make out with somebody dressed as a dragon” ...um no comment. I will say Dan is a expert at walking the line of what he says having one meaning/not meaning anything to the general public and a entirely different meaning to DNP’s long-time audience

44:15 - the first time I watched this I really thought this was a different person/an actor...does not look like Dan at all

44:40 - this feel like honest-Dan

45:08 - Dan loves a dramatic shot

45:49 - Dan had filmed this on June 8 and then a week later tweeted this. definitely not just a straight path forward for him though

46:10 - a reference to a bit with a furry in it (1, 2) that ended up getting cut from this main video

46:15 - I like Abigail so much! I was excited to see her in this

46:43 - Winnie the Pooh reference is a nice detail

47:54 - I think Dan said at some point that he scripted this so he’s talking to himself here

48:47 - getting a lot of actor-Dan in this as well

49:10 - the details of the posters in the background that Dan came up with are hilarious 😂

49:36 - apparently emo Dan sent Phil “vividly back to 2011″ - love that he shared a photo of that with just Phil first before publicly (also his feet/socks here still slightly disturb me)

50:05 - a pco “message for my younger self”

50:40 - still cannot see that person as Dan for some reason. why does he look SO different to me?

51:00 - yeah I wasn’t expecting to cry the first time I watched this

51:40 - doing the hardest thing and then immediately calling for Phil/going ‘home’ to Phil. 😭 really being loud about what Phil means to him. and the parallel to the end of THE WARDROBE

52:39 - and the asking Phil for advice

52:53 - Phil doesn’t want Dan to change who he is now, and the “you’ll be fine”...“I’ll be fine” 🥺

53:13 - can see even more of the posters here!

53:38 - “all this stuff makes me the person that I am now” kind of echoing what Phil just said there

53:55 - and the final BIG parallel

54:11 - so many references to his videos over the years

54:53 - thanking his followers as he so often has

55:54 - Dan just wanted to smash some things 😂

56:27 - I do love the literal smashing of the closet

56:59 - big Dan smile and laugh to end it

Admittedly, this is not really what I was expecting from any of the description or promo that Dan did ahead of time. I enjoyed it the first time I watched it, but it’s not something I really rewatch. Even with the YouTube editing/control/etc., parts of it still feel like a very “Dan” video to me. (As in scripted, YouTube-persona Dan...he seems so different in live shows or even conversations with people he’s truly comfortable with.)

Dan also shared some outtake photos...the second one made me say “what the fuck” out loud when he posted them. And then Phil sharing it too with some trivia bits about his part! 😭

#dan and phil #dnp #dnpRewatch #daniel howell #danisnotonfire #dan howell #daniel howell videos #Gay And Not Proud - Daniel Howell | YouTube Pride 2021

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albertasunrise · 2 years

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Let the Best Man Win - Part 8

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Summary: You’ve known Frankie all your life and have harboured a crush on him for as long as you can remember. Thing is, he doesn't feel the same. Little do you know, his best friend has a thing for you. What happens when you learn this leads to a messy chain of events that’ll leave more than one person with their heartbroken...

Relationships: Frankie Morales x Reader, Reader x Original 'Male' Character

Warnings: Angst, mentions of infant death, mentions of drug abuse, hospitalisation, Sex 18+

Part 1, Part 2 Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

The game had started off innocent enough, people asking the usual inappropriate questions but nothing to cry about. Nothing dangerous. But as alcohol was consumed and the boys got rowdier, the game of truth or dare switched to 'Never Have I Ever' and it seemed that tonight. Tom was on the warpath.

"Never have I ever cheated." He stated and you glared at the older man as you took a sip of your drink. Your eyes darted to Ben who just gave you a small reassuring smile.

"Ooooooh who did you cheat on?" Asked Meg and Frankie glowered at her.

"Not really your business now is it, babe."

'No, I guess not." She replied sheepishly before mouthing 'sorry' to you.

"Never have I ever..." Started Ben from beside Tom, his face contorting in thought before he grinned "Sucked a guy off whilst he's on the phone to his mum."

"BEN!" You exclaimed and he chuckled, watching as you begrudgingly sipped your beer "What... I've never done it..." He said as he put his hands up in surrender.

"Wait, did you guys used to date." Meg questioned and you felt your stomach twist painfully as you both nodded "So was it him you cheated on?"

"Meg!" Frankie warned and she huffed, his eyes darting to you.

"I need a drink." You piped up, standing from the couch and padding across to the kitchen where the makeshift bar had been assembled.

"I'm sorry." Came a voice a few moments later and you turned to see Frankie standing behind you "She's doesn't know when to drop shit sometimes."

"It's fine." You replied plainly before returning to your task of making a drink.

"Why are you here Bug?" He asked, taking you by surprise.

"As Ben said, I wanted to surprise you all." You confirmed, not looking at him as you spoke.

"Really?"

"Why would it be anything else?" You grumbled, jumping a little when Frankie came to stand beside you.

"Because I called you a month ago wanting to fix shit between us and you wanted nothing to do with me." He started and you let out a frustrated sigh, closing your eyes "And not here you are, playing games with us and acting as if nothing happened. What does your boyfriend think about you being here?"

"I don't have one." You growled and his head shot back in surprise.

"But you said-"

"I know what I said, Frank." You snapped, finally turning your head to look at him "The truth is, I said it because I didn't want to get hurt again. You telling me all that... well it's everything I've ever wanted to hear since I was a kid but I've been burned so many times that I just didn't want to take that chance."

"Bug-"

"I was fucking a guy, casually, and it was him that told me that life's too short and that if I want something then I should go for it but it seems I'm too late."

"What are you saying?" He asked, his voice so quiet you almost missed it and you scraped a hand over your mouth as you formed the words you were about to say carefully.

"I came back for you Frank." You stated simply "I came back to see if there could be something here but I guess I'm a month too late. You have Meg now and I'm happy for you. Truly."

"Bug, Meg and I-"

"It's fine Frank." You interrupted, holding your hand up in his face to stop him "Save me the rejection speech." You said before leaving the kitchen and a shocked Frankie in your wake.

"We're playing spin the bottle now." Ben announced as you walked back into the room "Whoever the bottle lands on has to go into that closet and make out for a full 7 minutes."

"Sounds like a great idea." You replied, your tone dripping in sarcasm and Ben chuckled "What are we, 10?"

"Come on..." He groaned "It'll be fun."

You weren't convinced but you sat down all the same and watched as the bottle spun. It firstly landed on Santi and then on Ben and you chuckled as the two men got up.

"Come on then Benny boy... It's time to get all kinds of confused." Santi stated as he opened the cupboard and they both slipped inside.

"They aren't... are they?" You asked as your eyes widened.

"Those two never back down from a challenge." Will chuckled and you choked on your drink, your mind wandering a little to what it looked like.

The time on Franks phone dinged a while later to alert you all that the seven minutes were up and the two men emerged from the cupboard looking a little flustered. The sight made everyone erupt in laughter.

The bottle was spun again and this it time landed on Meg and Will. You all watched as the two slipped into the closet and your eyes drifted to Frankie who seemed unaffected by the fact that his girlfriend was about to snog Will in a closet for the next seven minutes. The timer dinged again and the two emerged, Meg having a large smile plastered across her face and yet still, Frank seemed unfazed. You started to wonder how much Frankie actually liked this girl.

"Right. Who's it gonna land on this time." Ben said as he rubbed his palms together before spinning the bottle.

This time it landed on you.

It was spun again and your heart was in your throat as it was spun a second time and you wanted to cry when it landed on Frankie. Did the universe hate you? You both stood and wordlessly entered the closet, your blood rushing in your ears as you waited for them to tell you to start.

"Go." Ben shouted and that was it.

Frankie was on you like a man starved. His hands roamed your body as his tongue tangled with yours. You gave yourself to him, feeling your core ache as he pulled you flush against him and his excitement became evident.

"Did you mean it?" He mumbled against your lips, his then travelling to your law and you shivered in delight.

"Mean what?" You whispered, struggling to form a coherent thought.

"That you came back for me?"

"Yes." You whispered breathlessly.

"Good." He replied, resting his forehead against yours as the timer started to ding and you took a moment to just breathe each other in before you had to emerge.

Ben's eyebrow crooked when you left the closet, grinning at the state of you both as you gingerly stepped out. Meg's eyes flitted between you both, her brow knitting together as she studied you both closely.

"Got a bit carried away eh?" Tom chuckled "No surprise there."

"What does that mean?" Meg questioned but no one answered.

"Perhaps we should go back to truth or dare," Will suggested and everyone nodded in agreement.

Everyone accept Tom.

Another hour passed and more alcohol was consumed by all. You'd ended up sitting next to Tom and you just knew that he was planning something. He was out to stir shit but no one was willing to call him out. His wife had left him. How could you?

"Truth or Dare?" He asked you and you felt your blood run cold at the expression on his face.

"Truth."

"Boring" Ben hollered and you grinned at that.

"Is it true that you fucked Frankie at Will's BBQ whilst you were with Ben?"

You choked on your drink as everyone made several different sounds to show how shocked they were by the question.

"What the fuck dude?" Will questioned, his fuse with Tom officially gone.

"What? She has to answer." Tom stated, shrugging casually "That's the game."

"The game is about having fun." Ben growled "Not humiliating people for past mistakes."

You were surprised by Ben's reaction. He knew about the incident at Will's. He knew about all the times you'd cheated on him but you weren't sure Tom was aware of that.

"You knew?" He questioned, smirking at the younger Miller.

"Wait, so she cheated on Ben with you?" Meg asked Frankie, her eyes widening as she pieced everything together "She's the one who left after your kid died."

"Nicely put Meg." Growled Pope, his eyes settling on you as your tears started to flow freely.

"I should go."

"Bug no." Ben protested but you were already scrambling to get your things "You can't drive."

"It's fine I'll uh... I'll work something out."

"Don't go." Pleaded Frankie and Meg scoffed beside him.

"Course you want her to stay." She snorted and Frankie glowered at her "I'm sure you're just dying to get with her."

"Jesus Meg-"

"It's fine... I'll call a cab." You stated as you made your way to the door, not noticing how Frankie had stood.

"Frank, you go after her and we're done." Meg snapped and your head whipped around to see him staring at you, eyes glistening.

"Thanks for having me guys." You said sweetly, giving them all a small smile before leaving. Ignoring everyone that called after you.

Frankie watched you leave and instantly felt the need to go after you, only to be stopped by Meg's hand gripping tightly around his wrist.

"Are you serious?" She scoffed "You're going after her? She fucking left you."

"That doesn't matter." He replied, pulling his hand from her grasp.

"I'll leave." She screamed, nostrils flaring as she started the man down "You go after that slut and I'll leave... I swear to god."

Frankie said nothing. He just sprinted out of the door and after you, ignoring the screech that floated in his wake as he searched desperately for any clue as to the direction you'd gone. He caught your silhouette in the distance and he ran. He ran as fast and as hard as his legs could take him, shouting your name in a desperate attempt to stop you.

Fat tears rolled down your face as you tried to ignore Frankie's desperate calls for you. You couldn't do this... you couldn't handle being in that house a moment longer but your escape was thwarted by his large hand grabbing your arm and pulling you into his chest.

"Let me do Frank." You pleaded, grumbling as the two of you started to get showered on by the forecast rain for that night "I can't do this."

"Do what?" He asked and you let out an exasperated cry as you threw your head back in frustration.

"This." You yelled, "Sit, playing games... acting like I didn't cheat on one of you and abandon the other."

"That's all in the past now." He cooed as he tucked some stray hair behind your ear "None of that matters now."

"But it does." You sobbed "You have Meg now... I shouldn't have come. Now I've caused trouble for you both so the best thing for all of us is if I just leave and leave you all be."

"That's not best for anyone." He said softly, tears forming in his eyes as he gazed back at you and he leaned in, lips brushing against yours.

"Frankie." You whispered, heart racing as your eyes flitted between his lips and the big brown orbs you adored so much "Meg..."

"Doesn't matter." He uttered, "We've been dating like two weeks." He stated, "I called her my girlfriend because I didn't know how else to explain who she was."

"But-"

"I love you Bug." He interrupted, brows drawn as his tone became serious "We have wasted so much time because we simply couldn't tell each other how we felt.

"I refuse to waste any more. I am in love with you Bug and I want us to be together. Grow together. Have babies together. I want it all with you baby."

"Frankie I... I don't know what to say."

"Say you want that too." He pleaded "Say what you really want baby."

A heavy silence fell over you both as the two of you stood there in the rain. You couldn't help but realise how much of a cliché this moment was as you finally said the words he'd been aching to hear for five years.

"You." You sobbed "I want you, Francisco."

He pulled you into a biting kiss that took the very air from your lungs. It was hard and passionate and everything you'd ever wanted. You were kissing now because you both wanted the same thing. Finally, after all these years, you were both on the same page.

Hoots and hollers sounded from behind you and the two of you turned your attention to Ben, Will and Santi cheering you both on from the other side of the road.

"About fucking time." Will yelled and you both chuckled.

"Kiss her Fish." Ben yelled, fist-pumping the air like a kid at Christmas.

"Don't let us disturb you." Said Santi as he motioned at you both and you couldn't help but grin at him before Frankie's lips were on yours again.

"I love you Bug." He mumbled against your lips and you swooned, arms looping around his shoulders to pull him closer.

"I love you too Fishsticks."

"Ugh... not you too." He groaned and you boomed, pecking his lips before pulling him back in the direction of the boys.

"You two finally got your heads out of your asses then?" Said Will, more of a statement than a question as he grinned at you both.

"Something like that." Frankie replied, glancing at you and smiling sweetly before returning his attention to his brothers in arms.

"Where's Tom and Meg?" Frankie asked, noting neither of them was with them.

"Meg got picked up by a guy that I'm pretty sure is a little more than just a friend to her and Tom we put in a taxi home." Pope answered, his eyes drifting to you and filled with guilt "I'm sorry for how he was to you. Molly left him and he's not dealing well but that's no excuse."

"It's fine." You said sweetly "If anything it pushed the two of us to speak up. I owe him a beer next time I see him."

"Head back to mine?" Ben suggested, grinning at you both "The party poopers are gone and the night's still young."

"Sounds good." You both agreed, following them all back to the house.

2 years later...

"I can't believe I'm 37." Benny groaned as he slumped in the back seat of Frankie's car.

"Hey, I'm not far behind you." You stated.

"You got one more month of being 36." He sighed "Make the most of it."

"You're such a drama queen." You chuckled as Frankie pulled his truck into Will driveway.

"So what's the plan anyway?" Ben asked as the three of you hopped out and made your way to the backyard."

"Cook some meat, drink some beers." Frankie started as he held the gate open for you both "Chilled one brother."

"Perfect!" Ben replied, smiling as the smell of barbecue smoke hit his nostrils.

"Ah, you made it!" Exclaimed Willm his arms outstretched as he grinned at the three of you.

It was weird not to see Santi sat there, bud in hand, but he'd left for South America a month after you and Frankie had gotten together. None of you had heard much from the man since he'd left. The odd call here and there but nothing more.

"No Tom?" You asked as you pulled the older Miller into a hug.

"Thought perhaps it was best to keep it to just the three of us." He replied and you gave him an awkward smile.

Since Tom and Molly had gotten divorced, the man had become even more of a recluse. He worked to keep his wife and daughters in the like they were used to but that left nothing for him. He was bitter. Lashing out often at the happiness that you and Frankie shared, even making a scene at your wedding the year before that resorted in Ben dragging him out. To say you were relieved that he wasn't there was an understatement.

"Burgers are on their way, beers in the cooler. Some soft drinks in the fridge too as I know you're designated driver Bug, although you guys can crash if you want."

"Thank's." You replied sweetly, see how the evening goes.

You were buzzing with a mixture of nerves and excitement. Something that hadn't gone unnoticed by Frankie and he placed a hand on your knee in an attempt to calm you.

"You okay?" He asked, kissing your cheek and bringing out back to the real world again.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm fine." You replied "Just nervous about Benny's present. Really hope he likes it."

"I'm sure he'll love it, baby." He replied sweetly "I mean, they're pretty badass."

"Yeah." You replied, smiling nervously at him "Yeah they are."

"Everything okay guys?" Ben asked, noting your nerves too.

"Yeah, need a drink I think." You said as you stood from your seat "Tonic and co in the kitchen?"

"Yup." Replied Will as he gave you a thumbs up and you disappeared in the house, coming out a few minutes later with a large highball glass in hand.

"Foods up." Will announced and you all pounced at him, loading up your plates before tucking in and moaning at the flavours that assaulted your tounges.

"Fuck, any future Mrs Will Miller is gonna be well fed." You groaned, eyes rolling back as you revel in the feast the man had made.

"I mean I can cook, but this..." Frankie trailed off, kissing his fingers like an Italian chef and you all chuckled together.

"Glad you all like it." Will replied, blushing at the compliments his cooking received.

Food was eaten. Conversation was shared and then when the plates were cleared away and everyone's beverages were refreshed, you moved on to presents.

Will went first. Handing his brother a medium-sized box that, after a few gentle shakes, Ben tore into and squealed when it revealed its secret.

"No fucking way."

"You wouldn't shut up about it so..."

"What is it?" Frankie asked and Ben squealed like a little girl.

"Fucking Boba Fett helmet."

"That's cool," Frank replied and you chuckled as the men geeked out over the toy.

"This is from us." You said sweetly "Open the present first."

Ben tore open the paper and beamed at you both. These are the exact ones I wanted, how did you know?" He asked as he pulled out the new boxing gloves you'd gotten him.

"Might have gotten Will to help us." You replied, giving him a small wink "Open the card now, read it out loud."

"Okay." He replied, opening the envelope and cackling at the joke on the card "To Ben, happy birthday. We hope these gloves will bring you luck as you start your new season. We're sure you'll smash them out of the park. Lots of love Frankie, Bug and Bump."

His eyes grew wide as he read that last word again, everyone growing intensely silent as they all looked at you in shock.

'You're?..." Ben trailed off as his eyes drifted down to your slightly swollen belly.

"Baby are we?" Frankie piped up and you turned your head to look at him "Are we pregnant?"

"Yeah?" You sobbed and he pulled you into a bruising kiss.

"This is the best fucking birthday ever!" Ben yelled and everyone laughed "Boba Fett Helmet and I'm gonna be an uncle."

"How far along?" Will asked, his eyes glittering in the evening light.

"Just over three months." You stated "After my last pregnancy I wanted to wait till the danger passed. Everything's perfect you stated, pulling out an envelope from your coat pocket and handing out some photos.

"Wow." Ben gasped as he looked at the tiny shape on the image in his hands "That's fucking amazing."

"You've made me the happiest man alive baby." Frankie gushed, pulling you into another loving kiss.

"This is a celebration now." Ben stated, "You two are definitely crashing now!"

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101 notes · View notes

imonthinice · 3 years

Text

The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 7/?

Word Count: 3.5k

Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name, A/N Any Name (your best friend’s name), (Name) - your ex’s name !genderneutral (Don’t use a DC character! Y/N hasn’t dated any other DC character!) :)

3.5k words, my god. And they’ve still only known each other for 4 days and we’re on part 7. I do not know how to finish this.

Lol, Enjoy!

Warnings: Swearing, Heated moments, There is French in this one, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd

(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)

Falling asleep in Jason’s arms after that escapade the two of them pulled the night before was something magical to say the least. Of course, they only got like 5 hours of sleep before they had to wake up and get out, at risk of Y/N being caught in the building, although the thrill of it excited the both of them deeply, but that’s obvious. They liked breaking the rules already.

Riding back home seemed a lot less like a journey to her this time, she just wanted to spend more time with Jason, but he had work and she didn’t want to hang out at Wayne Enterprises. She’d probably go to the library today, she didn’t know exactly what she’d do today, but she always thought that was the most exciting thing ever. “I don’t know what I’m even going to do tomorrow,” one of her friends asked when she moved to Gotham, ‘How exciting!’ she answered.

That friend said the next day she ran through the streets of Metropolis with her arms outstretched like a kid, and she did it in Y/N’s honor. “I told you!” she said, “How exciting that sometimes you never know what you’re going to do tomorrow!”.

These thoughts swirled in her head as Jason drove her back home when, like clockwork, like it was out of a movie, he said,

“I have no idea what I’m even going to do today.”

She laughed, “I always say ‘How exciting!’ when someone says that to me.”

“Really?”

“One of my friends back home, when I gave her that advice, she then spent the next day running around the city with her arms outstretched in my honor, it was apparently one of the more fun things she’s ever done, so” she paused, “I really mean it. how exciting! The possibilities are endless, are they not?”

“Well, not really, I have work to do,” he frowned.

“So own it. Make the office your bitch. Take charge, take lead.”

“Why not?” he said in agreement.

“Why the fuck not.”

-------------------------------------------

Jason walked her to her door, “Won’t you be late?” she asked,

“Dad knows where I am, I don’t think I’ll have my ass handed to me.”

“You never know,” she laughed.

He laughed too and slightly pecked her lips. He wanted more, he was hungry for more out of that kiss, but work and life gets in the way of their relationship, and he really whined when he had to break away, but she laughed at it.

“Slow your roll Tiger, one day,” she mused.

“You say that like you don’t want more.”

“This isn’t about me,” she retorted, “So, shut up, respectfully.”

He laughed and kissed the back of her hand, “You have a thing for doing that, huh?” she joked.

“I literally don’t know how to answer that, I think I’m losing my touch with flirting,” he joked back.

“Okay, okay, you need to get going now.”

“Fine! You want to get rid of me so badly, I get it,” he joked and walked back to the car and she waved him off. She hated that time he left, a lot. She knew it was healthy to take a day’s break if they’ve been on 3 back-to-back dates, but that didn’t mean she liked it.

She opened her door and walked in, thinking A/N was asleep so she wouldn’t be barraged for her hair being a mess, but, boy oh boy, was this girl waiting for her to get home.

“What happened? Why’s your hair a mess? Oh my god, did you have sex?” she asked.

“No, but we kissed, will you take that as information while I shower or do you want all the details now?”

“You can shower, you can shower. I’m not that needy.”

“Yes you are,” Y/N joked and went to go shower.

And like she always did, she opened her phone and looked at the news before answering her friends,

Millionaire’s Son, Jason Todd's Girlfriend’s Name Revealed!

She laughed, cause it wasn’t her name. She didn’t think he was seeing anyone else, and they used her picture, so she knew they just fucked it. She forwarded the article to Jason with the caption ‘ Fuckin’ idiots’ .

She then answered Artemis, who asked Did you two kiss? Dick’s up my ass about it ‘cause he knows we’re friends.

I want to take that out of context so badly. She joked with Artemis.

I knew this man had a terrible name that would come to haunt me, but did ‘ya kiss?

Yeah we did. Get Dick out of your ass, though, that’s weird, you have a boyfriend and he has a girlfriend.

Shut up, you’re not funny.

I’m pretty funny.

You are but I’m not going to admit that, girl.

And one of her old friends had texted her, it was someone who Y/N had seen off and on the past few years, they were polite, but she didn’t exactly want to speak to her ex.

Hey.

(Name)? What do you want?

Saw you in the news with the rich boy, guess we’re over?

We have been over for like 5 months, my guy.

Bitch.

Okay!

People from her hometown were noticing her in the articles and recognizing her. Some would think this is the coolest thing that someone they loved met a nice boy, the money a bonus, some would give her the reaction her ex did, but she knew she was days, hours, maybe minutes away from her parents finding out about her love affair with Jason.

She shuddered at the thought, she loved her parents, a lot, but something told her that maybe they wouldn’t did Jason to be like she found him. She also knew she could be overthinking it entirely and they’d like the Criminal Psych Major that she knew all-too-well.

But overthinking was fun, apparently. And she couldn’t stop thinking the worst of so much.

------------------------------------------------

When she got changed and just threw on whatever the fuck she saw, she went out to go talk to A/N.

“Hey, nerd. I’m done,” Y/N said.

“Nerd? You’re the one dating the bookworm and you’re in criminal psychology,” she joked.

“Ha, ha. So, how are things with your lover? Have you secured him yet or are you just doing your own thing still?”

“Still just doing our own thing, don’t really have the time to date while getting my degree and working.”

“I mean, if it works for you I can’t throw judgment.”

“What about Jason? How’re things with you two?”

“You ever seen the Wayne Enterprises Ballroom before?”

“In pictures, why- Don’t tell me he took you there you lucky bitch?!”

“Then I just wont tell you,” she laughed.

“The Ballroom? Oh my god, that’s crazy, he's really pulling out all the stops to make you smile, huh?”

“I would do the same if I had more to offer, but I have barely anything since I bought that place in the dance competition across the country,” she said.

Y/N had bought a place in this competition before she met Jason, and she was heading to it on Saturday, in two days, and she actually had practiced the routine during downtime between her and Jason. She hadn’t exactly told Jason about this, and Jason had asked why she looked strained and like her muscles hurt, but that just never seemed like something you share with your casual partner, to her. She never seemed like her casual competitions were worth anything. A/N had begged to differ since Y/N had met her.

A/N said that Y/N had talent, that she could go somewhere, Y/N saw it as an extra circular that didn’t affect her much. She wasn’t the type of brag, and all her trophies were back home with her parents, anyway.

“Have you told him about your,” insert A/N’s heavy sarcasm, “’Casual’ competitions, yet?”

Idk what the hell happened with that line ya love to see it

“I’ll send him a quick text about it, I guess,” she sighed and sent just a quick, Hey, can’t have a date on Saturday-Sunday, forgot to tell you but I’m going to Cali for a quick dance competition, lol. My bad, shoulda said something.

“Why are you like this, be proud of your accomplishments, dammnit!”

“It’s a casual competition!”

“And you’re talented! I’m this close to just showing him videos of you going at it,” she said, exasperated.

“He already knows, we danced in the Ballroom.”

“Oh my lord,” she laughed, “You’re an enigma, if I had your amount of trophies I wouldn’t be hiding it.”

“Im’ not hiding it! It just kind of never came up.”

And he texted back, Oh damn, are you at least going to kill it? You better, I want to show the live broadcast to my family and brag.

She laughed, “See!”, she exclaimed, showing A/N the texts, “He doesn’t care like you do, nerd.”

A/N laughed, “Sure he doesn’t. Do you want to go to lunch, by the way? I’m bored off of my ass.”

“Sure, why the fuck not.”

“Go get dressed then, and I’ll do the same.”

“Okay okay, meet up in 10?”

“Yes ma’am.”

And off they went.

---------------------------

Y/N texted back Jason for a quick minute before getting dressed, Of course I’m going to kill it, my notes aren’t a representation of my dancing skills.

Well, I hope you win something. And text me. But mainly win something.

Of course I’ll text you, Jay. It gets boring at competitions.

You should go to a Wayne Gala then, god damn, those fuckin bastards are the most boring events this side of America.

Well maybe you’ll invite me one day.

I’ll probably have to if you show up on National TV. The press will finally know your name.

I hope I’m not on National TV then. Fuck the press.

Fuck the press indeed.

Since Y/N didn’t feel the need or want to dress up, she didn’t. Quick shirt and jeans and she was out the door. Sometimes she would dress up for lunch dates with her friends, just because she was bored as fuck and dressing up was fun, but she just didn’t want to do it today. Combat boots, jeans and a shirt were enough most days. You don’t have to be a model just because the press knows your face, she thought, you don’t.

“Who’s driving?” A/N asked.

“I can if you want. I don’t mind,” Y/N said as they walked to the beat up car they loved so much. It was nothing compared to the Porsche she had been in the night before, but it was still running, and you don’t fix something that ain’t broke.

“Maybe your boyfriend will buy you a new car,” A/N joked.

“If anything, he’d buy me a new computer, since mine is getting mailed to me and you’re going to love hearing the sounds that bitch makes,” she retorted.

“Is it bad?”

“Terrible. My sister called it a screaming electronic goat once,” she laughed, “I hate that fucking thing. But if it ain’t broke-”

“Don’t fix it, I know.”

“Exactly.”

--------------------------------------------------

For some reason, they decided in the car to go to McDonald's, because hey, it’s not like Y/N is on a dance diet or anything. She wasn’t, because she didn’t want to starve herself for the sake of winning a competition. That was even her thought process as she was younger and more vulnerable to her teachers, she always told them she’d never do that. Years later, she still stuck to that mindset.

They got out of the car and like fucking clockwork, the press was in her face.

“You! The girl with no name, Jason Todd’s girlfriend!”

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” she whispered under her breath, “How do they always find me!”

“Tell us about yourself! Are you serious with Jason? How do you feel about his family? How-”

But then she had an idea,

“Quoi? Je parle pas l’Anglais? Qu’est-ce-que vous voulez?” she said, using her bilingual skills to her advantage.

“What? No I mean-”

“Pas de l’Anglais! Désolé mes amis!” and she ran off into the McDonald's with A/N.

“Did you just speak French to get them off your ass, you genius?”

“Spoke very broken French because I wasn’t thinking, but yeah, I did that.”

“I forget you’re multi-talented sometimes, you have a lot hidden under your belt and I try to treat you like a normal person but you’re far from it.”

“I appreciate you for trying, but I think with my new love affair, you aren’t going to get far with those attempts anymore, sorry,” she joked.

Jason texted her, Did you just speak French to avoid the press?

How do you know about that?

We were watching the news during a meeting and they said that you spoke French.

You got to do what you got to do to get by.

That is literally the most genius thing I’ve heard of anyone doing in so long. I think you’ve truly bamboozled them for a while and they might hop off of your back for a while.

You think so? ‘Cause I really hope that’s the case.

My siblings think it’s hilarious, and no one’s leaked that you are just joking with the press, so yeah, they might actually leave you alone.

Let’s fucking go. That is the news of the 21st century.

4 days of knowing each other and you’ve flipped off the press twice, outran them with me once, hid in the Wayne Enterprises Building with me and you’ve spoken French to bamboozle the press. That is impressive.

I feel like the press is going to hate me one day.

Probably. But they also hate most of us most days.

You should probably get back to work.

Yeah, talk to you soon.

She put her phone away and went to stand with A/N, who was waiting for their food.

“Talking to your lover?” she joked.

“When am I not doing that?”

“That’s valid.”

-----------------------------

Going on a lunch date with A/N made a little bit of the harassment just better. They both bonded over how they hated the press before her love affair with Jason, and how their opinions wouldn’t change much unless, knock on wood, one of them went missing. Y/N told her about all the cases where the press and the internet did so much to solve cases around the world, love or hate the press, they did do a lot for solving crime.

She also told A/N that Jason was related to Dr. Barry Allen and Clark Kent, two people the two of them knew well because of the news and the fact that A/N knew Y/N when she wanted to go into forensics and was reading Dr. Barry Allen’s work.

When her mother texted her.

Y/N? Is that you in the press running around with Jason Todd?

Yeah mum, why?

Are you two in a serious relationship?

No mum.

Then why are the vultures so obsessed with you, says your dad.

‘ Cause you two made a pretty girl and he’s high up in the world, I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really like the press.

I can tell. We’re not mad at you honey, but be careful. And your dad says when you two get serious he needs to take Jason fishing.

He doesn’t speak French, mum.

Dad says he’ll work on his English for you.

Well tell everyone I love them, mum.

She panicked a little bit, her parents were nice when they wanted to be, but they were strict, why wouldn’t they be. So this, while being a welcomed surprise. was still a little panicky.

“Your parents find out?”

“Yeah, they seem chill with it though.”

“Bing in the press sucks when you’re trying to keep your love life out of your parents' eyes, huh?”

“You could say that again,” she joked.

“Being in the press sucks when you’re-”

“I didn’t mean literally!” they laughed.

--------------------------------

Back at Wayne Enterprises, Jason was betting bombarded by his colleges, friends and family about Y/N and how she was able to get around the press’ constant harassment without flaw. And also because Bruce had seen the two enter the building at around 12am the night before. So Jason was called into Bruce’s office that day.

“1, I know everyone is bombarding you, so you can hide out here, son, 2, you and Y/N didn’t have sex in your office right?”

“God no, dad. We just hid here because security is tight as fuck and unable to get past.”

“I saw you two kissing on the cams and heading into your office, Jay.”

“Okay, okay, but we didn't have sex and the intentions were there, dad!”

“Uh huh, pretty girl in your, my, car.”

“Dad, stop it,” he joked.

“Well, her little shenanigans with the press are very amusing, have you told her that?”

“I have.”

“She’s basically not afraid to tell them what we all think.”

“That’s what I said, dad.”

“Well, hold onto that one and don’t let her go.”

“Do you regret doing that with Talia?” Jason asked.

“God no, she’s insane. The son I got out of her antics is literally her spitting image, so if I need to be reminded of her I can just go talk to Damien for a couple minutes.”

“Dami’s a lot like you too, don’t act like his personality is just Talia, he acts like his dad in every aspect and you know that.”

“Lord help any woman or man that kid goes on to date, my god,” the two of them laughed. It was the small things with Bruce that made Jason happy to be a Wayne, even if he didn’t share the last name. Jason grew up on the streets and even before that, his mum and dad didn’t have a lot of money, so the amounts of money that Bruce could shower on him was a lot, but he was okay with just working for his money. And Bruce knew that.

He spent a lot of his workday in Bruce’s office, hiding from the rest of the office, and texting Will.

She knows about your kid.

Well, she’s a good kid. I’m glad you’re bragging about her, means I raised her right.

Shut up. I love that little girl and I’ve helped raise her, Will.

You’re used to my new name?

I changed your contact to Will when you changed your name, so I could remember that that’s your name now and not Roy. I’m hoping I remember it in person though. It would be awkward if I forgot my best friend’s name.

It would be funny to look back on, though.

Like how your relationship with Jade is funny now?

Never stick your dick in crazy.

I wish you would have listened to that sometimes, but then I remember Lian is amazing.

I’m a cliché of dumb choices, what can I say Jaybird.

----------------------

In Y/N’s house, she would always play loud and sad music when she had the chance, some people thought her mental state was fucked, which sometimes it was, but most of the time the sad music went harder than the happy tunes you would catch from the other side of the house.

But even if music was blasting the loudest it could ever be, somehow she would still find herself lost in her thoughts, whether it was new dance routines or a story she would scribble down in her dream journal. there was something about those little fits of artistic passion she would experience from time-to-time.

It’s hard to put into words how those moments reminded her of the simplier times before sh was thrust into stardom, but also how they reminded her of Jason, and untouched mind she longed to know further. She knew there was so much more to the boy she had gone on dates with.

She would end up ignoring her phone for most of the rest of that day, just because she wanted peace and quiet, when A/N’s lover came over and she had to turn the music up louder so she wouldn’t be disrupted by the obvious.

I just got off of work, how are you? How’s your day been? Jason had texted Y/N while she ws turning up the music.

Well, I just had to turn up my music because my roommate’s lover is over, but other than that I’ve been enjoying peace and quiet in my room, waiting for something to do.

Is texting me something to do?

Yes.

That’s sweet of you. Work was boring though so I hope you don’t expect a story.

I don’t, don’t worry. You don’t always need a story for something to do.

Well, I’m going home with my brothers and dad, and we’re probably going to play office chair racing because I’m a bad boy.

You’re a bad boy?

Was that not funny?

It was pretty funny, isn’t that dangerous though?

Yeah actually, my brother broke his leg playing it and another time my little sister broke her leg playing it.

It seems fun but like, damn, two people have gotten injured playing that game, y’know.

Well if I die it’ll be a fun story!

55 notes · View notes

matryosika · 3 years

Text

shoot me, chapter VI

pairing — changbin x reader

rating — 18+

genre of the overall series — smut, angst, fluff if you squint

prologue chapter I chapter II chapter III chapter IV chapter V chapter VI

word count for this chapter — 4.1 k

warnings — mentions of alcohol and emotional abuse

note — this chapter has no smut in it. still, the love-story gets completely developed here. next chapters will be filled with smut and angst so stay tuned! i haven't read this chapter because i wanted to upload it as soon as possible, so it may contain grammar mistakes. i will check it later since i have to go out with my family to have dinner! <3 hope you enjoy

taglist:@cozyblues @ahgasearmyfan @binnie-m00n @minaamhh @pinkishwen @spilledtee

[changbin's pov]

"so?" you asked him, modeling one of the dresses that you had previously selected from the expensive clothing shop "what do you think?"

she looks like a goddess.

"good" changbin limited to reply. "is that the last one?"

"c'mon you are not helping at all" you grunted, turning around slightly on the mirror to see the full silhouette of the dress "this might be the one, don't you think?"

i think so. i think you look perfect in all the things you have tried on, actually.

"it's alright" the dark-haired man reply "just take that one and let's get this over with"

"jesus, changbin" you whined "you are such a pain in the ass. if you were in a bad mood then you shouldn't have accepted to drive me here so i can buy a dress for the wedding"

you had been in korea for a month and 2 weeks now, your relationship with changbin growing unconciously intimate as you often engage in sexual encounters with him. you wouldn't say the both of you were close, but each day that passed by you could feel how you learned more about him just like he learned more about you too. you wouldn't consider him a good friend, since hostility made a presence every now and then between the both of you, but you had learned to spend time with him without feeling the need to put plugs into your ears and a blindfold to stop acknowledging his existence.

"if you needed help picking a dress" changbin interrupted, standing up from the seat he had been occupying for the last 45 minutes "you should've asked hyejin or ryujin to come and help you out, not me"

"hyejin is busy" you were quick to respond "ryujin had work today and you were the only other person i know that owns a car"

"cabs exist"

"yeah well" you made a pause, swallowing hard "i don't like cabs"

"you could've asked arthur to lend you his private driver" changbin tilted his head slightly.

"i get uncomfortable with strangers" you answered after a few seconds of being completely silent, changbin's gaze making you incredibly nervous.

"really?" he inquired, one of his hands traveling all the way to the pocket of his jacket as he pulled his wallet out. "why won't you just admit that you wanted to spend time with me?"

"fuck no" a grimace of disgust was quick to appear on your face "don't get confused. i would rather be dead than to spend more time with you than i already have to"

"yet you are still here" he teased "maybe i'm not as unbearable as your mind is trying to convince you i truly am"

with lazy steps he took the bunch of dresses that were piled up on the chair next to him, putting them all over his shoulder as he walked to the counter. "what are you doing?" you asked, still wearing the last dress you tried on.

"you are indecisive and i am starving" he said without even looking at you "i don't need to spend another 45 minutes here looking at how much you struggle to pick between 5 dresses, just have them all and pick one when you are alone"

you looked at him in desbelief "do you have any idea of how much just one of them cost? are you stupid?" you almost yelled in astonishment, looking at the figure of changbin slightly turning around to face you.

"i am not stupid" changbin reply "like i said, i am just hungry"

and currently thinking about how beautiful you are looking right now with that look of amazement on your pretty face. if i could, i would buy you the entire world just for you to destroy.

[y/n's pov]

"i will pay every single one of those dresses back before i leave" you mumbled, eating your food as if you had been starving for days "i had money, i didn't need you to come and rescue me as if i was some sort of damsel in distress"

"you were in distress though" he added, taking a sip of the drink he ordered "you took almost 30 minutes just to pick one dress to try on, you are really undecisive"

"yeah well, it's not like i had anywhere else to be" you replied.

"isn't arthur going to have a small gathering at his house today?" changbin inquired "like a pre-celebration of the wedding or something?"

you shrugged your shoulders "i don't know and i don't care. i am just here for the wedding and then i will be finally free"

you kept on eating your plate of food, confused as to why changbin's gaze stayed fix on you. "what, do i have something on my f-?"

"are you leaving right after the wedding?" he asked in a very hostile way, almost as if he had completely forgot that you were not going to stay forever.

"not right after but that's the main reason i came here, yeah" you replied, having a mixture of feelings inside your guts.

you couldn't deny the fact that you missed tsukuba, but living there meant to be trapped in the university dorms 24/7 just studying. but still, the lifestyle you have had for the past time was absolutely something you could get use to it: ryujin, hyejin, going out on the weekends, being free from school, changbin...

changbin?

"i still don't know the exact date though" you added "school doesn't start for me in another months so..."

"how is your life?" he asked, earning a weird look from you as you couldn't quite understand his question "in Japan, i mean"

you sighed. you had thought that living in japan was really good and you felt utterly comfortable living there until you arrived to korea and discovered a whole new life style that you had already learned to love. not only that, but leaving everything here was going to get you a bit nostalgic in the future. "it is great, better than people say it is honestly" you responded as he nodded "i live at the university dorms so life is pretty much everything but rushed. i spend my days at the library studying, i sometimes work as a shadow teacher for like 4 or 5 kids and on weekends i go and visit my mom and her partner"

"your mom got married after divorcing arthur?" changbin followed, just in time as he finished his dish of food.

"uh, it's complicated" you gave him a smile "she lives with someone and she is very happy"

"and are you?"

you were about to answer the question when you felt a pinch on your heart. a month ago you would have replied "yes" without a doubt. you thought you were happy living in japan, you thought you were happy when you visited thea, your mother, and reiko, her girlfriend. you thought you were happy when reiko made you her special coffee and you thought you were happy when they ocasionally visited you on winter nights at your dorm. you thought you were happy when you worked with children and spent time with them. you thought you were happy when you rode your bike from school to work and you thought you were happy when ryejin visited you and your mom on the holidays.

however, you had learned a new definition of happiness here.

"are you?" you fired back.

changbin slightly tilted his head as he laid completely back on his seat "i could be"

"what is exactly stopping you from being happy?" you asked him, intruiged.

"even if i explained it to you" he mumbled "i don't think you will be able to understand it"

"ah, there you are again" you scoffed, slightly rolling your eyes "your god complex has not show all day. i guess you missed it."

"c'mon" he grunted, raising his hand at one of the waiters at the restaurant "let's go somewhere else"

"where exactly?" you laughed "to your place? your car? a motel? jesus changbin, you can't really go a day without fucking, can you?"

"that's not actually what i had in mind" he replied, taking out his credit card as he saw the waiter approaching the table "but i mean if you want to fuck i won't say no"

"you had something in mind?" you asked, faking excitment "for me? you planned something for me?"

"if you want i can drop you at arthur's place right now so he can force you to have dinner with him and his bride. it's up to you"

you weren't really feeling like spending "quality time" with your father, and you also knew that hyejin was probably not going to attent the dinner, so there was no point of you being there. but at the same time, the thought of spending time with changbin doing non-sexual activities was something that it always made you nervous for an unknown reason, and you were feeling particularly nervous today.

"whatever"

the evening went on peacefully and that alone was unreal. he drove you to the center of seoul and suggested to take a walk around the most popular avenues because "the city looked better at night", something you have always believed too.

changbin was attractive and, even though your personalities crashed every damn time, you couldn't deny the fact that there were some sort of intimate bond going on between the both of you since that very first night at the bar. still, you wouldn't accept it. you wouldn't accept that the one person you disliked the most was starting to change your mind.

and you couldn't get yourself to trust him either. you couldn't trust any men, for that matter.

"have you thought about which dress you are going to wear tomorrow?" he asked so casually, his hands inside the pockets of his jacket as his gaze diverted from building to building.

"no" you replied, trying to get back at the trail of thoughts you had been threading since you left the restaurant with him. "have you?"

"have i thought about the dress i am going to wear tomorrow?" he laughed "i don't know, it will depend on which one you lend me"

"i got distracted" you admitted "but i will try on all the dresses tomorrow morning and i will give you the rest of them so you can return them to the store"

"i won't do that" he clicked his tongue "i bought them for you"

your heart skipped a beat after hearing those words and it was everything but pleasent.

"i don't want them"

"you can't reject a gift" he mumbled "that's the whole point of a gift"

"i will sell them on the internet" you threatened.

"do it, at the end of the day they are yours" he gave you a side look while smirking "but i wouldn't sell them if i were you. you look good in them"

"oh so you want to give opinions about the dresses now, huh?" you asked, mildly annoyed "you could've help me back at the store but you chose to be grumpy"

"at least i am helping you now"

"you are unbearable" you whispered.

a bright smile was quick to appear on his face. a genuine smile, as if he was enjoying the conversation. not only the conversation but the whole moment: you and him, walking around the city and talking about something so casual and trivial like which clothes you were going to wear tomorrow or which dress he liked best on you.

and for a moment it felt nice.

you felt safe.

"the red one was pretty" he added. you looked at him confused, once again lost in your trail of thoughts. "the red dress, the one that you tried on last"

"good" you responded "i'll make sure not to wear that one"

"you hate me that much?" he teased while a faint chuckle left his lips.

"oh changbin, you have no idea" deep down knowing it wasn't more than a vile lie.

you looked in the mirror one last time before you heard hyejin calling your name once again "y/n, how long will you take? i need to stop by the bakery to pick up the wedding cake"

"i'll be out in a minute" you replied, noticing how your hands got sweatier by the second.

you were quite nervous, but couldn't really understand why. maybe the sole thought of your father having his "happy ending" made you jealous because you knew that he did not deserve that at all; he didn't deserve the love he had.

the emotional abuse your mother and you suffered throughout your childhood and adolescence was not something that could be fixed in a month or two and you were certain about it. no matter how happy your father was, you couldn't help but to feel jealous about how he never had to suffer like you and your mother did.

and even though you got over your negative feelings towards him, the scars and aftermath of an abusive household still caught up on you: the mistrust, the negativity, the hostility and the lack of commitment were things you had to deal with on a daily basis.

of course he was the one to blame. but you were an adult now, and you were supposed to deal with all those issues by yourself. no one was going to fix them for you.

"jesus y/n, we are running late" hyejin busted the door open "are you ready now?"

"yes" you were quick to respond, grabbing the purse on your bed and trying to quickly divert from your sister's gaze.

"wait" she mumbled, gripping both of your shoulder as you intended to the leave the room "why are you tearing up?"

"i am not" you replied "i yawned"

she didn't look convinced, but still decided not to push any further "i'll meet you in the car, i just have to grab a few things"

you nodded and made your way through the hallway. because of how rushed she was, you didn't have a chance to tell hyejin how gorgeous she looked. she was wearing a golden shiny dress that embraced her body just fine and carrying a maching clutch with it. she was really pretty, maybe the prettiest woman you had ever seen, and not only that but she was also very smart. any guy would be head over heels for her, but she still decided not to engage in a "silly love story" as she called them because "it is a waste of her precious time, and time is money"

you wished you had the same mentality as she did, but you grew up getting educated on how love was portrayed in books, movies and television. it was ironic how you were the first person on earth to deny that love actually existed, but you were still a hopeless romantic after all.

[changbin's pov]

"changbin, are you too far from the church?" haeun, his mother, asked desperately as changbin picked up the phone.

"i'm right outside" he grunted "i told you i was not going to be late"

"we are sitting on the second bench at the left of the altar" the old woman added "hurry up"

changbin hung up the phone and cursed under his breath. the weather today was maybe too nice for his own liking and his clothes were a bit too uncomfortable to be wearing them under the sun.

as quickly as he could, he closed the door of his car and started walking towards the entrance, making sure that the ceremony hadn't started just yet so he wouldn't make a scene.

"did you bring the gift?" jang-yeop inquired as he sat down next to him and changbin nodded "did you also bring your mother the pair of shoes?"

"yes" he responded "how long is this going to take?"

"40-45 minutes?" his father replied "i have no idea, what time is it?"

"7:02 p.m." haeun was quick to answer "now, the both of you shut up"

right after she mumbled those words, music started to sound on the church. changbin, being in a rush to get to his seat before the ceremony started, didn't notice that arthur was already standing up next to the altar and waiting for his soon-to-be wife. changbin's gaze was fixed on arthur, then it diverted into the bride walking down the aisle and then returned to arthur once again. he never thought about marriage or building a family. hell, he never thought about having a romantic relationship that would last longer than a few months actually. but as he grew older, and as he experienced new stuff, he wasn't sure if he still had the same mentality he used to have last year.

to changbin, arthur seemed genuinely happy. his half-lidded eyes along with that bright smile he was wearing indicated that the man was living one of the happiest days of his life. and as changbin witnessed that romantic scene, the question that popped up in the conversation he had with you last night grabbed his attention once again.

what exactly is stopping me from being happy?

and before he could respond himself with words, his eyes had already found the answer: standing on the bench at the right of the altar and wearing that promising dark red dress that could drive any man insane, the woman he never dreamed of looking just as beautiful as the very first day he met her.

not being able to have her completely.

[y/n's pov]

after the ceremony, a big party was held at a very elegant event hall located in one of the tallest buildings of seoul. you were not particularly excited about having to see arthur's side of the family, but you still managed to keep yourself together the whole time.

"you are wearing the red dress" a sudden voice whispered into your ear as you were counting the tables that were still missing their dinner plates, an order given by hyejin. you slightly turned around to meet changbin's breath dancing on your neck and nape, goosebumps filling every single inch of your skin due to the proximity.

"congratulations" you sighed "your vision is crystal clear"

"i have been watching you since the ceremony" changbin added "i can't help but think about how pretty you are going to look when you are taking that dress off for me"

a spark of electricity traveled around your whole body and directly into your core. you immediatly looked around and notice a few people who worked for arthur's company sitting not that far away from the both of us "do you really want to do this here?" you asked "aren't you scared of being caught by any of arthur's friends?"

"are you concerned about that now?" he chuckled "that didn't seem to bother you at the company's elevator"

"c'mon" you whispered, your back slightly pressing against his chest "i have to help hyejin with some stuff"

changbin slightly gripped your hand and guided you to the dancefloor that was crowded with couples dancing around "i am sure that she can handle all of this by herself"

before you could protest, you took out your phone and sent her a message with the information she asked for. you had no idea what changbin was up to, but you still decided to follow him.

changbin positioned his hands on your waist as he gracefully dragged you across the dancefloor, looking for a spot in the middle of the crowd so it would be easier for the two of you to get lost.

"you are spending the night at my place" he mumbled over the slow songs that were now playing. it wasn't a question nor a petition, it was an order.

"yeah right" you chuckled "if you are too desperate to fuck we can do that, but i am not fond of sleepovers"

the thought of you spending the night with him was terrifying, but you would've been lying if you said that you hadn't think about what it would be like to wake up next to his him.

"i wasn't asking" he responded. "tell me when you are ready to leave".

with a swift movement, your whole body was pressed against his, his hands resting on your lowerback as you both swinged from side to side, following the rythm of the song. this was a whole new side of him that you didn't know it existed, and you couldn't deny that you were loving every second of it.

"who thaught you how to dance, huh?" you asked, your gaze fixed on his eyes that looked even brighter because of all the lights adorning the hall.

"there is so much about me that you don't know" he replied.

"oh i know everything there is to know about you, changbin" you scoffed "but let's see if you can keep surprising me"

it wasn't even midnight but people were already starting to get completely intoxicated with alcohol. arthur had spent the night dancing with ara and, after she was done being the unofficial wedding planner, hyejin ended up getting wasted with the small group of friends she invited to the wedding. you, on the other hand, spent the night dancing with changbin and eating your dinner with him.

it was not unusual to see the both of you together since you spent too much time at the company, but tonight it was sort of different. the looks he gave you, the way you two danced for hours on end, the way he was treating you... it felt different, a little bit more personal and intimate. his parents probably noticed this too, since they made a lof of comments about "how happy they were about us being really good friends". if only they knew.

"i think i am ready" you said to changbin after telling hyejin that you were going to spend the night somewhere else. she nodded her head and agreed to say, if asked, that "you were at ryujin's" even when she wasn't invited to the wedding in the first place. you just smiled at her and nodded, not leaving without telling one of her sober friends to look out for her.

"don't worry" the pretty pale girl mumbled "she will stay at my house tonight"

you glanced over to arthur and ara who were still having the greatest time of their lives on the dancefloor, and proceeded to walk away from the party with changbin. "you parents will stay here?"

"yeah, they will leave in an hour or so" changbin replied "i told them that you wanted to go home and that i was going to drive you"

"perks of living alone i guess" you joked.

the walk through the empty corridors of the building felt eerie as the loud sound of the music were still ringing in your ears. even though you were walking on your own, you could still feel changbin's ablazing touch on your body and that only provoked your heartbeat to go even faster.

as you waited for the elevator to open their doors, changbin's lips unexpectedly crashed against yours. it wasn't a passionate kiss, and it wasn't rushed either. it was just a kiss, an innocent kiss, a kiss you give to your significant other as a demostration of how much you love them. his soft lips dragged against yours as his teeth bite softly your bottom lip, earning a small whine from you. his hands, that were now located into your waist, guided you to the insides of the elevator once the doors were opened.

"you look so beautiful tonight" he whispered interrupting, his breathing getting faster each second that passed by "i can't get you out of my head"

his lips left yours to meet the sensitive spots on your neck, peppering soft kisses all over the surface. your gaze found the reflection of the scene in the mirror of the elevator, looking at how changbin was tasting every inch of your skin with his eyes closed, his rushed hands traveling all the way from your waist to your lower back trying to memorize every single trace of your body.

"i don't want to hurt you tonight" he continued "no roughness, no pain, no petnames. i want to make you completely mine, in the most pure way"

and for the night, you agreed to let your feelings out and let go.

no fear and no mistrust, you were ready to face the overwhelming feelings that had been building up inside you since the day you met him.

even if you could potentially regret it later...

#stray kids smut #skz smut #stray kids x reader #changbin x reader #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #skz oneshots #stray kids oneshots #seo changbin smut #kpop smut

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lubdubsworld · 3 years

Text

Better Man .

~~~~~~~~~~I wish I could forget, when it was magic~~~~~~~~~~~~

Taehyung x Oc

Rated 18 +

Post Divorce, Getting Back Together, Second chances, Angst.

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

Chapter 4

How do you know you’re ready for kids?

Is it after you’re financially stable enough? After you’ve partied enough? Got all the wildness inside you tamed? After you’ve grown sick of the freedom that comes with youth and what it implies ? after you’ve grown tired of empty conversations that lead nowhere? sharing ubers with people you barely like because you’re too drunk to drive? When you just crave the comfort of people you truly love instead of strangers who grind up on you ? Or perhaps when you start preferring silence in the evenings to the thrumming bass in some dingy nightclub?

None of these really.

The truth is you’re never ready.

Hoshi had been planned. Taehyung and I had done our homework, studied everything from my ovulation cycle to the entire catalogue of some expensive breast pump , new in the market . Everything had been researched and planned and perfected : the wood the crib would be made of, the color he wallpaper in the nursery would be and the kind of diapers and wipes we would use.

But it still threw us for a loop....how unpredictable he was.

How unpredictable the pregnancy was.

What I wanted : Home birth. Mid wife . Taehyung by my side holding my hand.

What i got : Preeclampsia, a baby born six weeks early, Taehyung frantic on the phone in the middle of the night as he took his private jet from Japan where he was shooting a commercial. The pain of being induced into a labor that lasted for 16 hours only for my body to give up half way through.

A c section that left a scar and numbness that hadn’t faded even now , after four whole years. three weeks in the NICU....tears and terror after learning that the baby in the incubator right next to Hoshi’s didn’t make it. Aching to hold my son but being forced to stare at him through the glass, wires and tubes wrapped around his tiny torso.

And through it all, Taehyung.

Stronger than I had ever seen him. Calm and collected as he watched me pump milk for our baby, barely managing a few measly drops of it after thirty minutes of trying . His arms around me, holding me up as I tried to fight the sheer agony that came from my stitches, tried to stay conscious for the baby. Watching him carefully pour the milk into a sterile bottle to take down to the NICU .

Falling in love with him, over and over and over again throughout the day as he did everything for me.

Hoshi was loved and cherished , not just because he was an expression of our love for each other.

But a reminder of Taehyung’s love for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“ He’s growing out of all his clothes. I’m going to take him shopping tomorrow.” Taehyung commented, watching Hoshi get on his tippy toes to point out the pastry he wanted from the display case, while a star struck cashier stared at Taehyung .

Taehyung’s body guards were right near the table and while a crowd of people stood outside, none of them came too close. I was used to the attention that came with Taehyung and his celebrity status.

“That’s a good idea. I have a couple of meetings tomorrow regarding the Christmas campaign and I may not be able to make it on the weekedn either. Is it okay if I pick him on monday evening?” I asked, cutting into the blueberry scon on my plate.

“How about I drop him off at your office. Save you the trip.”

I hesitated, before nodding.

“I spoke to the lawyer....she told me the papers should be processed by the end of next month. My company will make a formal announcement from both of us and we’ll say we don’t intend to answer any other media questions.”

I stared at him, watching his face carefully for something different. A sign that would explain what had changed between us because something had. I was sure of it.

“ Why now, Taehyung?” I asked softly.

He held my gaze for a second, eyes warm and honest. Taehyung could hide his emotions well, but his eyes always told the truth.

“Because I’ve strung you along long enough. You deserve to be free.” He said finally.

I swallowed, looking down.

“I ....you didn’t string me along.” I shook my head.

“I think you deserve to be loved right, without the shadow of my failures hanging over you. I don’t want you to spend the rest of your life in a limbo because of one wrong choice.”

Wrong choice.

Whose ?

His? When he chose to drink That night?

Or mine? When I chose to walk out?

Or the both of us? For handling the fallout so badly?

I had so many questions but I didn’t say anything.

They were question that had no answers.

“So we move on.” I stared at him intently.

“I will always love you. I will always be there for you.” He smiled, eyes glinting a little.

i watched him, the familiar body. He had been my first. My best. Taehyung’s body was as familiar to me as my own and I wanted to hug him, hold him close and press kisses to his lips again. It wasn’t emotional or even sexual it was just...this urge to let him know that he was loved too. that he was adored. That he would always be loved.

“But, “ he went on, “ yes. Its been two years.... so.... we should move on. Meet other people. ”

“Fall in love again ?” I didn’t mean to sound bitter but my tone certainly was. He gave me a very tired smile and I felt guilt bubble up inside me.

“I’m not going to be that greedy, Mia. I will settle for just feeling a little less alone.” He looked away and my throat closed up.

He stood up, moving to the counter to pay for the treats that Hoshi had chosen.

And that was it.

I watched the small tendrils of warmth, rising up from my coffee, gossamer strips of smoke mingling in the cold air and melting into nothingness.

Here one second gone the next.

Just like my marriage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was a little past seven when I reached my apartment, my phone ringing just as I dropped my coat and unwrapped the scarf from around my neck. I moved quickly to the bedroom, pulling my phone out of my handbag.

I picked the call, switching it to speaker before tossing my phone on the bed.

“Hello?”

“Jang Mi...its Jungkook. You ready?”

I swore, stripping out of my clothes quickly, fumbling with my bra and yanking my panties down.

“I’m just about to shower. Five me ten minutes!”

He didn’t reply and I frowned.

“Jungkook??” i called opening the closet to grab a hairband and shower cap.

“When you say you’re just about to shower...are you actually in the shower?” His voice sounded a little deeper than usual. Weird.

“What?” I was completely confused.

“Like are you naked in-”

Oh Christ.

I rolled my eyes, hanging up quickly. Sleeping with Jungkook, while extremely pleasurable had definitely been a little too much too soon. It made him take too many liberties, ones I wasn’t particularly comfortable giving him yet.

But I liked him.

He was, at the end of the day a nice guy.

A nice guy who had an actual interest in me. Those were rare to come by.

It was another fifteen minutes before I was ready, choosing a plain black jumpsuit in a flowy georgette material. It had nice flowy sleeves and i added gold jewelry at my wrists and earrings, just for a little bling. I stared at the dress at all angles. It definitely hugged my curves right but was also impossibly hard to take off.

So even if I got swayed by his good looks and made bad choices , by the time Jungkook undressed me , i would be able to come to my senses and stop myself from having sex with him again.

Groaning at myself, I grabbed the small black jeweled clutch from inside my dresser, slipping my phone in.

I steered clear of make up, choosing just a deep red lipstick.

The knock on the door came just as i finished slipping into black pumps .

I opened the door , only to have a dozen red roses thrust into my hands.

“Wow.” I whispered, glancing at him. He looked extra handsome, a blood red shirt clinging to his torso, a think black tie knotted at his neck. He gave me a devilish wink, eyes flitting all over me , licking his lips.

i tamped down the urge to back away, reminding myself that I was supposed to be moving on. Even if it wasn’t with Jungkook, he had asked me out on a date and I had agreed. I would enjoy myself tonight.

“Gorgeous. Ready?”

“Let me just put these in water...” I smiled at him, placing the stems into the cut glass decanter on the nearest table. I emptied the small bottle of water nearby into it , bending over to fix the petals when I felt him press right up against me.

Startling, i nearly spilled the water all over the floor, breath catching when his chest met my back . I felt myself trembling a bit because of how warm he felt, even with the inches between us and I could smell him, the subtle cologne that handsome men wear , just to drive women crazy.

The urge to lean into his body was so strong I had to clench my fists. Apparently, my body was very much on board with moving on even if my heart wasn’t. Jungkook made things worse by moaning into my ear, chin resting on my shoulder as he lightly gripped my waist, before reaching over with other hand, plucking one scarlet bloom from the bunch

I swallowed as he wrapped both arms around me in a backhug , holding the bloom up in front of my face.

“Do you like the scent of it?” His lips brushed my ear and I grinned. I hadn’t been flirted with , like this in years. I bent my head to lightly breath in the air near the bloom, enjoying the subtle scent. “It’s lovely.” I said honestly.

He casually broke the stem off, a couple of inches from the where the petals began.

“Turn around for me “ Jungkook whispered in my ear again. I turned around quickly, my lips inches from his, refusing to back away, staring right at him. He smirked, bringing the flower up to the small upknot on the side of my head.

I stayed still as he carefully pulled a single bobby pin out, sticking the stem into my hair before casually using his teeth to pry open the pin again and slotting it into my hair, pinning the flower in place.

Apparently, watching Jungkook pin a rose into my hair was winning brownie points for him in my brain, because my entire body went warm , my heart beating faster.

“I’m scared to ask why you’re so good at this...” I smiled and he raised an eyebrow.

“I have a daughter remember? Its a lot of ribbons and bows and pins.” He grinned.

The idea that Jungkook did his daughter’s hair for her, with ribbons and flowers was so ridiculously endearing I wanted to coo.

“There. Now we match.... A little.” he smiled.

I stared at him, the black tie on his red shirt and the red rose against my black dress.

“Smart. “ I nodded.

“Shall we leave?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“I had fun tonight.” Jungkook hesitated .

The night had been so much more fun than I’d anticipated. Jungkook somehow convincing me to party crash someone’s engagement party near the pool with an open bar and ridiculous ninety’s party music. But I’d danced to my heart’s content, my hair coming undone half way through and I was only a little upset that I’d lost the red rose in the middle of people.

“I had a lot of fun too Jungkook’ah..” I smiled, honest .

“We should do this again. Since we never got to actually talk. It was just you getting progressively drunk and dancing like you wanted to pee.” He teased and I pouted.

I reached out and pressed a palm to his face...his skin smooth under my skin and I felt myself swaying just a little, lethargic and a little aroused from the scent of him.

“Wanna get another drink?” And then because I was completely gone and had no filter, “ If you come inside....maybe I’ll let you cum inside. if you know what I mean.....” I drawled, waggling my eyebrows.

Jungkook’s face morphed into one of absolute shock, lips parted and then he laughed so hard he choked, coughing.

“Wow. You are drunk.” He shook his head, looking amused. “ How about this.... I’ll come in and tuck you into bed and if you drink a couple of glasses of water for me, I will not tease you about this tomorrow.” He offered.

I pouted.

“You don’t wanna come inside...?”

“Oh baby , you have no idea how bad I wanna come inside.....but not like this” He brushed the hair off my brow, kissing my forehead...” Ask me again when you’re sober and we’ll work something out. Now let’s get you into bed.”

I groaned as he dragged me into the bedroom.

The moment my head hit the pillow, I fell asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!~

Author’s note : Not me falling in love with the second lead in my own story ugh. He’s gonna get a separate story. I’m gonna write a whole entire fic for CFO! Jungkook , adorable single dad of cute little girl.

I don’t have a tag list for this fic so please do let me know if you want to be tagged !!!

#taehyung smut #taehyung fics #taehyung fanfic #bts au #bts fanfics #bts smut

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pterodactylterrace · 3 years

Text

Guys Like You Chapter 12

Title: Guys Like You

Chapter: 12

Chapter Summary: When two hearts are meant for each other, distance isn’t an issue... right?

Rating: 18+

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol consumption. Angsty.

Chapters: {Prologue} {Chapter 1} {Chapter 2} {Chapter 3} {Chapter 4} {Chapter 5} {Chapter 6} {Chapter 7} {Chapter 8} {Chapter 9} {Chapter 10} {Chapter 11}

Wrapping up filming was a bittersweet event. Mostly bitter to be perfectly honest. While Faye was happy that she had completed her first big contract, she was going to miss the people she had grown close to while working there. She was casual acquaintances with a few people, but the biggest loss was going to be Henry.

You see, now that filming was over and his lease was up at his current rental property, he was moving back to his house in South Kensington. Briar was near hysterical when she found 'her room' at his house packed up. Henry spent most of that day with the little girl either in his arms, or dragging her as she clung to his leg. Not much packing was accomplished on that day.

When it was time for Henry to actually leave for his home, was the worst part of the entire ordeal. Briar had planted herself in the passenger seat and screamed every time someone tried to move her. Faye could almost swear she saw Henry tearing up when he drove away, Briar still screaming in her mother's arms.

He was loyal with his FaceTiming and phone calls, texting her as much as he could throughout the day. Not long after he had gotten home, he had to leave again for another project. This one was only supposed to take four months, but it didn't make it suck any less for Faye. Whenever Henry would FaceTime, she would slap on a happy face, delighted to see his goofy grin as he tried to show her some 'secrets' behind the scenes. Mostly the snack table, and occasionally Kal sleeping at his feet. He was so happy with what he did. Truly, genuinely happy.

While he was away, Faye had taken up a contract with some fashion designer, doing makeup for models before photoshoots and for the runway. She loved what she did, but she found doing beauty makeup was becoming boring and repetitive very quickly. She could barely remember the last time she had applied a prosthetic.

That was the biggest strain on their relationship so far. Yes, the distance was awful, but that was nothing compared to the arguments they had over Faye's job. Henry kept insisting she not renew her contract when it came back around. Faye continuously told him that she didn't have much of an option, she was in England on a work visa. If she didn't work, she couldn't stay in the country. Then Henry would suggest she take another job, and she would tell him that every offer he had was just for beauty makeup. She had had absolutely no offers for special effect makeup, like she wanted, so right back to square one.

After their latest 'disagreement' Henry had told her he was coming to visit. He cited the distance as the reason behind their animosity towards each other. Faye had a feeling it was because they were past the honeymoon phase and starting to notice all the flaws in each other. Like how he lacked detailed planning for anything, and just made general ideas like that would solve everything. Or how she would always get irritated every time he would try to help, insisting she could do everything on her own. He was stubborn and she was obstinate, neither one willing to bend when they thought they knew best.

Faye always made sure to hide her tears until after they had hung up. It wasn't because she didn't want him to see her upset. It was a matter of pride for her. She refused to let him know she shed any tears over him.

Henry would usually round his night out with either a couple shots of whiskey or an intense workout, but he made sure to never raise his voice with her. He wouldn't do that, he wouldn't act aggressively towards her, no matter how frustrated he got. She could interrupt him when he was trying to make a point all she wanted to, he refused to do anything to intimidate her or make her afraid of him.

Briar was blissfully unaware of everything going on. Henry still called her every evening to say goodnight; he had an alarm set on his phone to remind him and everything. She would even sometimes con a bedtime story out of him if he wasn't busy on set. Every time she spoke to him, she asked him when he was coming home, Henry's heart breaking even more each time she asked.

She never asked when he was coming back. She never asked when she would see him again. She always asked the same question, every single day.

"When you come home?"

It was that simple phrasing that tore him apart. She considered him a part of her home. He hadn't known her for a full year yet, but she could still get him to do just about anything she wanted just by poking out her lower lip and batting her eyelashes.

Now, standing at Faye's door for the first time in months, he didn't feel at all like he was coming home. Should he knock? Before he'd left, they had gotten to where they both just walked in to each other's homes. They gave each other spare keys and everything. He still had hers on his keychain, but she had returned hers when his lease expired and he'd just never gotten around to giving her a key to his Kensington home.

Finally he settled for knocking on the door, counting the seconds until he heard the deadbolt slide free and the door swung open.

Faye wasn't sure exactly what kind of greeting she was in for. She expected a cold one, none the less. Maybe a tight smile and a nod; perhaps avoiding looking at her and coming inside, not the giant bear hug she suddenly found herself trapped in.

"I missed you." Henry mumbled into her neck, holding her as tight as he dared, afraid she might vanish if he released her.

"I missed you too." Faye finally whispered, taking a step back to let him in when she was released from his embrace. Henry didn't make it two steps in the house before a tiny human firecracker was launched at him, barreling into him at full speed while screaming excitedly.

"And I missed you too!" Henry told the little girl, snatching her up for a hug.

"I made for you! I go get it!" Briar excitedly announced, squirming down to sprint back to her room.

"She filled out an entire coloring book for you." Faye explained, nodding him to the living room. Nothing had changed, and yet it all felt so different to him. Sitting down on the same couch he'd first kissed Faye on was now so foreign to him. He didn't even have time to speak before Briar was back, leaping into his lap and showing him her well loved coloring book. Looked like adult conversation was going to have to wait until after bedtime, which ended up taking much longer than it should have.

Faye had thankfully managed to get Briar dressed after her bath before she went running at top speed to her room, grabbing the biggest storybook she could find and dragging it out to Henry.

"This one!"

"That one?" Henry gasped, pretending to have trouble lifting the book. "Ugh, but it's so big!"

"That one, that one!" Briar insisted, grabbing his little finger and dragging him back to her room where she demanded he read no less than four of them before she ended up falling asleep in the middle of Rapunzel, giving Henry the chance to slip out unnoticed to go in search of the little girl's mother.

He found Faye sitting cross legged on her bed, working on something in her sketchbook. He cleared his throat to not startle her too much with his presence, the woman giving a small sigh before closing her book and setting it down. Now, one problem remained. How to start this conversation. Ultimately Henry just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

"So, what are you going to wear to the season two premiere?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them. There he went being a dork again.

"Uhh... probably my black cocktail dress. Hopefully I still fit in it. It was from before I had Briar." Faye responded after a pregnant pause.

"Seems a little simple, doesn't it?" Henry asked with a cock of his head.

"Well, I'm not part of the main cast. I get to go to the premiere because I was a member of the crew, but no one gives a shit about the crew. As long as I don't show up in a pair of sweats, no one is really going to care. We're not the ones getting our pictures taken, after all."

"You're not... going with me?" Henry asked, his brow furrowing as the corner of his lips tugged down.

"Henry I... no." Faye sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. Best to just get it out of the way and see where they stood once the dust settled. "You really don't understand, do you? I'm not the kind of girl you take out on dates where you might get photographed. I'm not the girl you introduce to your friends. I'm not the girl you want on your arm at some big event. I'm not the girl you take home to meet your family. I'm a fuck up and a loser. I'm a nobody." Faye paused, taking a slow breath, forcing herself to keep the tears at bay for just a little longer.

"Henry, guys like you just don't fall for girls like me."

Taglist: @Xxxkatxo @Weallhaveadestiny @lunedelorient

#henry cavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill rpf #guys like you #guys like you fic

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inkribbon796 · 3 years

Text

My Favorite Human Ch. 2: I Want YOU in This Custody Fight

Summary: It’s not a date if you argue about the kids in front of the restaurant staff.

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Chase tried to dress nice when he came to this building. It was one of the fancier restaurants under Dark’s control. He didn’t have a whole lot of nice suits but he did have a white button-up and a black vest. But that was as far as he got.

Dark never seemed to mind either way. After all this was strictly business. They’d talk about the twins, and then Chase would leave. The Entity would offer for Chase to order something from the menu, “on me”, and the marksman would always turn him down, even before he first glanced at the menu.

After he’d seen the menu he was determined to never order anything from this place because it was way too much for anything.

But the view . . . the view was amazing. The restaurant was situated by the river and so at night it looked amazing. Dark was always in a private business room, to make sure their conversations couldn’t be easily overheard by errant patrons.

As Chase walked up, sans superhero outfit or mask because he didn’t want his meetings with Dark getting on the news at all, a waiter led him right to Dark.

When Chase walked in he had his usual crisis, his feet stopping and a weight settling in his heart. Dark had his back to him as he looked out into the city.

Chase got his feet to work and he took his usual seat.

Dark sighed when Chase sat down, “I heard what happened.”

“Mori and Tempus think he’s better now, least he’s not runnin’[1] around naked in the woods anymore,” Chase reported. “I think Mem got most ‘a[2] it out ‘a[2] his system.”

Dark clicked his tongue. “I don’t know what’s gotten into him, at least the others don’t have to be watched so some random hiker wouldn’t get attacked.”

That got a chuckle out of Chase, settling a bit in his chair. “Really? I find that hard ta[3] believe.”

“Arthur was a bit of a handful but at least he could be contained to his books. He didn’t actively seek to become chaos itself.” Dark’s fingers drummed casually on his desk.

“Prolly[4] could have cut him off beforehand if I hadn’t been on patrol this mornin’[5],” Chase’s eyes tracked over as a waiter came in to bring some wine for Dark and a water for Chase, he was braced for a random attack. It was mostly out of habit — because of Clubs — but still trained all the same.

Dark’s aura circled around the rim of his wine glass. “Yes, Illinois commented the same.”

The Entity’s aura hummed as he thought, he twisted the base of glass with two fingers. “I was thinking that perhaps the problem is not that they need constant supervision, it’s merely that they’re bored and they do the first thing that comes to mind.”

“Not sure how I can help with that ta[3] be honest,” Chase admitted.

Dark paused to take an especially long sip of his wine. “It has occurred to me that perhaps if they spend a bit long thinking about the ideas they have that maybe they would make wiser decisions. They are very young spawnlings, and there is a certain impulse that such young demons only have when they have never been threatened and feel safe in a territory.”

“Really?” Chase smiled. “Yeh[6] were impulsive back in the day? Would’a[7] loved ta[3] see that.”

Looking away, Dark took another sip, “No, I made Egoton into what it is today so I would not have to waste my time finding a new territory every couple of decades.”

The smile didn’t fade from Chase’s face quite yet. “So yeh[6] got any plans fer[8] the twins, err, boys.”

At that mistake, the smile did drop and Chase was glaring out the window for a full second or two. “Yeh[6] got any plans fer[8] the boys?”

“A couple,” Dark mercifully ignored the slip up. “My first option was to just stick them with Illinois, he’s more than mentally equipped to corral chaotic spawnlings. But with the wedding coming up, I figured . . .”

Dark trailed off, waving his hand dismissively, “Best not to leave the responsibility with Illinois.”

Chase felt the urge to say something, but he didn’t even know what that something was, so he kept quiet. He preoccupied himself with wiping down the condensate from his glass.

“Tempus is fine on her own, but if I leave her to them, she’d only mildly protest at whatever they do and then record them, and Wil only seems to enable their destructive behavior,” Dark continued.

“Hmph, that’s Bubbles fer[8] yeh[6],” Chase dismissed coldly. “I think he might e’en be givin’ ‘em ideas.”[9]

“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Dark agreed, “Tempus too, a couple of their more harebrained stunts have actually been her idea, despite Memento’s insistence that he’s the brains of their operation.”

That got a chuckle out of Chase.

“But that still leaves me with a problem, namely that apart from Illinois or myself there seems to be only one other person who can reason with them, or at least enough that they don’t get themselves into legal trouble. Their minor antics are fine, especially if they can confine it to the Manor, but running around the parks or beaches is getting them into trouble, and getting them noticed by demon hunters.”

“Yikes, didn’t know it was that bad yet,” Chase sat up a little straighter.

“It’s nothing that can’t be handled, but I was thinking, and Kay and Illinois posed the idea themselves, that you could help,” Dark proposed, his expression neutral and guarded. “Since you seem to be the only other person they listen to.”

Chase was quiet, the room was so quiet that he could dimly hear chatter from the other room. He wasn’t exactly sure where this conversation was going. “I’m tryin’ ta watch ‘em, but I still got patrols ta keep up with. I’ve got ta deal with random bullshite that the Duke or Anti cause in the city. I’m still part ‘a the Coalition.”[10]

“The heroes have more than enough people to deal with them,” Dark dismissed.

“Dark, I’ll keep doin’ e’erythin’ I can fer the boys, but I’m tryin’ ta stay on good behavior,”[11] Chase reminded him. “It’s bad enough they’re barely lettin’ me see my other kids, I don’t know what they’d do if I wasn’t bein’ a hero. It’s the only thin’ I got goin’ fer me.”[12]

Dark meant to be reassuring, that Chase was a natural parental figure underneath his poor mental health and self-incriminating bad choices. That they’d made a mistake when Chase was denied his children. But such words required a certain amount of emotional vulnerability from Dark, and the Entity could never allow himself to be vulnerable, even when it was desperately needed.

So the words that came out of his mouth were, “I could make sure there were no problems.”

Chase froze, staring at Dark in alarm. Normally his head and heart were at war. Between wanting to treat Dark like a dearly loved friend, and his head who reminded Chase that Dark was a dangerous, demonic mob boss. Someone who destroyed lives that didn’t suit him.

At this moment there was no discourse.

“What does that mean?” Chase’s tone was terse.

“I don’t see why anyone should have a problem with you seeing any of your children, Anti has not used you as a host in months. He has not targeted you in even longer. The correct people merely need . . . convincing.”

“No!” Chase snapped, surging up so he was away from the table. “Don’t! Just stop right there. Yer not gonna threaten or “convince” anyone. Stacy’s fine. She’s doin’ fine with ‘em. If yeh could get yer fookin’ claws outta Paddy that’d be e’en better.”[13]

“Your eldest has his own goals and if he wants to achieve it through my Network, I see no reason to stop him,” Dark dismissed. “He is an expert marksman who’s time and skill were being squandered on running around with other delinquents pretending to be gangsters. Crime and trouble would have found him if I hadn’t swept in and taken him.”

Chase made some ugly snort that carried his disbelief and offense.

“The four of them are already embroiled in the Network, it would certainly make things simpler,” Dark suggested, immediately doubling down on his point.

“Simpler?” Chase scoffed. “Fer who? I’m not gonna fookin’ sit on my arse until they do somethin’, it’s not like I’ve got anythin’ useful fer yer little crime organization.”[14]

Dark gave Chase a look.

Chase just stared at the Entity in alarm, “No.”

“You denying the very nature of your magic and soul doesn’t make it any less true,” Dark commented, metaphorically shoving his foot right into his mouth.

“No,” Chase repeated a little more firmly. “Fook[15] off.”

“The heroes have had a top marksman for years and yet you are sidelined constantly,” Dark commented. “Even if you’re not killing in my Network your skills would be more useful. You don’t even have to be in the room to do the job.”

“So that’s what this is?” Chase spat. “I’m just some asset fer yeh ta buy?”[16]

In the absence of anything that wasn’t an emotionally charged response, Dark fell silent.

Chase threw his hands up, so angry that there was a very furious grin where teeth ground together, “No. We’ll keep the system we got, it’s workin’[17] just fine.”

The marksman was boiling with rage and it didn’t help that Dark wasn’t confirming or denying it.

“Enjoy yer[18] overpriced steak, Dark, I’m goin’[19] home,” Chase decided, alright turning.

Dark stayed quiet, and when Chase looked back at him he let out a groan of annoyance and stormed off and out of the building.

The Entity didn’t stop him, he was too busy tending to his blue soul who was trying to follow Chase but was stopped because Dark was staying in his seat.

“He’s angry,” Damien commented in their shared headspace, his fragmented soul full of nothing but emotion and none of the social cues that kept those emotions from being acted on. “What did I do?”

“He’s a human, it’s all they do,” Dark’s red soul commented dryly. She was already wanting to leave, fretting about the mountain of work they needed to do.

“We can give him things,” Damien suggested hopefully, looking to Dark for approval.

Why? Dark asked. Is he the man we’ve been sleeping with for decades? Because I seem to remember someone a little more pink and mad. Or am I wrong?

Dark’s blue soul curled in on himself and stopped pulling the Entity to follow after Chase. He was more subdued than he’d been in a while.

It let Dark finally leave and head back to the warehouses to get some work done. And if Damien urged Dark to give little macabre trinkets to the triplets, he only hesitated for a little bit.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Post A/N: Man, if Dark and Anti were half as good at communicating as they were at killing people, all their problems would be solved!

Accessibility Translations:

1. running

2. of

3. to

4. Probably

5. morning

6. You

7. Would have

8. for

9. I think he might even be giving them ideas.

10. I’m trying to watch them, but I’ve still got patrols to keep up with. I’ve got to deal with random bullshit that the Duke or Anti cause in the city. I’m still part of the Coalition.

11. Dark, I’ll keep doing everything I can for the boys, but I’m trying to stay on good behavior

12. It’s bad enough they’re barely letting me see my other kids, I don’t know what they’d do if I wasn’t being a hero. It’s the only thing I got going for me

13. Don’t! Just stop right there. You’re not going to threaten or “convince” anyone. Stacy’s fine. She’s doing fine with them. If you could get your fucking claws out of Paddy that’d be even better.

14. For who? I’m not going to fucking sit on my ass until they do something, it’s not like I’ve got anything useful for your little crime organization.

15. Fuck

16. I’m just some asset for you to buy?

17. working

18. your

19. going

#Masks and Maladies #Superhero AU #footnotes #chase brody #darkiplier #wkm damien #wkm celine #DarkAverage #background darkstache #angst #these boys can't communicate #Dark admitting his feelings?#not on his watch #date night gone wrong #date night turns into fight night

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jaxsteamblog · 3 years

Text

Scars

Triggering content: discussion of violence, including gun violence, implications of self-harm Content warning: heavy smooching, nothing explicit

Click here to read the full fic on AO3

Laying in bed, Katara started to drift as Zuko casually passed his hand up and down her side. With the shade pulled down, the late afternoon sun cast an orange light in the room, turning most of the things she could see into silhouettes.

“Katara?” Zuko asked.

“Mmm?” Katara took in a deep breath and shifted in the space next to him.

“I want to ask you something, but I’m worried about your reaction.”

“I’m not dropping out of school.”

“It’s not that.”

Katara pushed herself up on one arm and squeezed her eyes shut briefly, trying to wake up.

“What’s wrong?” She asked.

“I wanted to know about,” His hand paused and Katara glanced down. “This.”

The line of the scar ran almost a hand length down her side. All of the scars she still had were ones she couldn’t heal herself, usually because she had been unconscious for the surgery and too weak to finish it after.

“That’s when I was shot.” She said nonchalantly. Craning over, she used her free hand to pull on the skin a bit as she looked at it.

“I think this one is from the last battle actually.” She added and laid back down. Looking up at Zuko, she shrugged at his horrified face.

“You were shot?” He questioned.

“Weren’t you?” Katara asked.

“Well.” He started, but didn’t continue. She knew regardless, she had seen enough battle wounds to name all of the marks on his body.

Rolling onto her back, Katara tossed the blanket off her body.

“Obviously, you know this is a burn. That was during a partial eclipse; a Fire Nation soldier surprised us and Sokka was barely awake enough to fight him off.” She explained, tracing the outer edge of a patch on her abdomen.

“The one on my thigh is from getting tangled in barbed wire after we burned our first prison. It got infected pretty quick, but I was able to use my bending for that one.” She moved on quickly, lifting her left leg and turning it to show the curling scar.

“Blazes Katara, what happened to you?” Zuko asked.

Katara lowered her leg but looked up at the ceiling, resting her hands on her stomach. After a moment of silence, Zuko pulled the blanket back up, draping it over her.

“Sokka and I were alone for a lot of the two years we were out there.” Katara started. “We’d run with Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors for a bit and then break off when they had to do something for the Earth Kingdom. For a few months, we stayed with this liberation group, but they ended up being borderline terrorists.”

Katara’s thoughts drifted to Jet and his group, and Zuko stayed quiet as she reminisced.

“We weren’t trained soldiers. Jet, he ran this teen army or something, he taught us a lot. That’s probably why we stayed as long as we did.” Katara shook her head. “No, I made Sokka stay because I wanted to fight back. I was so angry. He didn’t trust Jet at all.”

“What happened with that?” Zuko asked. His voice was soft and sympathetic.

“We left. For a bit.” Katara said tersely. “After Sokka met Piandao and wanted to train, I was livid. He couldn’t trust Jet, called him a bad guy, but then he goes begging to work with a Fire Nation veteran?

“Of course, by then I had seen the worst of Jet but…”

“Fire Nation was always the worst.” Zuko finished for her.

Katara sighed, rolling back onto her side and putting her hand on Zuko’s hip.

“Back then, yeah.” She said. “So I left and found Jet. I got the feeling he was hitting places close to me on purpose, so I knew where to find him. I didn’t tell Sokka. He doesn’t know everything I did.”

“Was it bad?” Again, there was no judgement, but Katara still hesitated.

“Jet stopped being so,” She took in a breath. “Violent. He said I made him want to be a better person, a noble hero kind of thing.”

“Did you two…?” Zuko left off the end of his question.

“Yeah. He was my first.” Katara said simply.

Zuko was quiet and Katara rubbed his side.

“Hey.” She murmured.

“No, I know. I mean, obviously Mai and I. It’s just,” Zuko shifted uncomfortably. “If he wasn’t a great guy…”

“He and I were young. We thought the passion we felt was love, not the insane rage we held toward the Fire Nation.” Katara said and then laughed, low in her throat. “He would constantly gush about my scars as if I were a martyr.”

“The wounds are horrific, but I am grateful for the scars. They mean you’re alive.” Zuko said.

“And that’s the difference between him and you. He would talk about being a martyr in war, but you wanted to live. I had to realize that there was nothing noble in my desire for self-destruction.” Katara explained.

“So these?” Zuko asked, holding her wrist and stilling her hand.

“Just because I knew it wasn’t noble didn’t mean I stopped seeking it.” Katara replied.

“Did Jet survive?” Zuko asked, moving his hand to interlock their fingers.

“He did. I don’t know where he ended up, but we reconnected once after the war. He came to my college.” She said.

“I’m assuming you didn’t pick back up where you left off.” Zuko said.

“Oh my gosh, are you jealous?” Katara asked, laughing. Zuko scowled.

“No.” He said.

“I did not hook up with Jet if that’s what you’re wondering.” Katara said and then grinned. “Because I was dating someone else I had met during the war.”

“Who?” Zuko questioned.

“You aren’t going to know him!” Katara retorted.

“I’m just curious!”

“His name is Haru. He’s an Earthbender I met in a little mining village Sokka and I were hiding out in.”

“So no Waterbenders?”

“Nope. But I did have a crush on Yue.”

“Oh really?”

Katara laughed again and wriggled closer to Zuko.

“Yeah, but it was pretty obvious she liked Sokka. So I didn’t say anything.” She said.

“You don’t say a lot of things.” Zuko pointed out.

“Plenty of people have scars from the war.” Katara said. “It’s not unusual.”

“You weren’t a soldier. You weren’t trained for that.”

“How could they have ever trained you for yours?” She questioned, putting her hand to his scarred eye.

“I’m Fire Nation.” He said.

“And you would cut off your own hand before you’d hurt me.”

He held her, pulling her close, kissing her with a fever. Katara pressed herself into him, clinging to him and yielding to his attention.

His fear drove him and Katara could feel his heart pounding in his chest even without her bending.

“Never.” He said, breaking away to kiss her throat. “I would never.”

“I know, Zuko. I know.” She said, her voice breathy.

“No more scars.” He said.

Katara put her hand to his chest, pushing herself back to look at him.

“I’d heal them anyway.”

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

#zutara #fanfiction #jax writes #zutara month #modern au #the fic that prompts built

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let-it-raines · 4 years

Text

your wonder under summer skies (17/18)

Summer in Storybrooke, Maine means one thing for its residents: tourist season. This year, for Emma Swan and Killian Jones, it means relationships ending and friendships changing all the while they attempt to figure out just what their relationship is. It’s somewhere straddling the line between friends and lovers, and there’s no guarantee of a soft landing if they fall into new territory.

Rating: Mature

a/n: I told you it wouldn’t take as long to get this one up! And to everyone messaging about Walking the Baseline, I have started writing the next part! ❤️

ao3: beginning | current

Tumblr: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |

-/-

The swan is staring at her.

It is legitimately staring at her from its spot on her dresser with its beady little black marble eyes. For weeks, Emma has thought it was cute, has treasured its presence in her room. It’s the only thing anyone has ever won for her, which seems miniscule, but when you don’t have a lot, it’s a big freaking deal. That night had been awful, her heart warring with her over Neal and his presence at the fair, but then she had this dumb stuffed animal to hold onto – and squeeze onto instead of slapping Neal, if she’s honest. Killian had won it for her to make her happy, even if just for a little while, and while she hadn’t realized her feelings for him in that moment, she should have.

Anyone who plays rigged carnival games to make someone happy is probably a good person, and Killian Jones is definitely a good person.

A good person who was (is, hopefully) her friend who she then started fucking who then ended that, and now she sits in her room in the dark at seven in the morning staring at a stuffed swan.

What a weird thought process.

What a weird relationship.

What a weird couple months.

When Emma looks back on it, she can’t believe this is how her life has been lately. She ended a half-decade long relationship, had her heart shattered into pieces, and then she made the stupid decision to be friends with benefits with the last person she should have done that with. Who even does shit like that?

She does, apparently.

But the night of Liam and Elsa’s engagement party, she was tipsy and upset and needed to forget the pain. Killian seemed like the perfect person to do that with, especially knowing how easily he does casual relationships. As she now knows, having a casual relationship and having a casual relationship with Killian Jones are two different things.

At least when you’re her.

Now, though, she doesn’t know what relationship she has with Killian. They’re friends, always have been, but things have been…different since they stopped sleeping together. They don’t text as much, they certainly don’t hang out like they used to, and when they do, things are stiff. The conversations don’t flow, arguments fly more freely, and Emma has no idea what to do about any of it. She’s tried not to think about any of it and pretend that everything is fine, but then moments like this hit and it’s impossible. Liam and Elsa are getting married tomorrow, have their rehearsal dinner tonight, and Emma and Killian have to spend time together.

They’re going as each other’s dates.

And she feels like such a cliché at the end of a romantic comedy where people are being forced to gather at a wedding with romance everywhere, where she mopes around waiting for things to get better. That’s not real life, though. Some floral arrangements and twinkly lights do not solve relationship problems, especially when you’re not in a relationship to begin with.

Especially when the other person wants nothing to do with you.

Emma sighs and flops onto her mattress, pulling a pillow over her mouth and loudly groaning into it. She’s pathetic. This is why she hasn’t allowed herself to have any free time since the weekend in the mountains. She’s stayed busy, throwing herself into work and her runs. She’s even read the stack of books that’s been on her nightstand for months, but mostly she’s made sure to be surrounded by friends, even if that does include Killian. David and Mary Margaret, bless them and their inability to read the room, have continuously brought Graham around thinking Emma is open to dating him. She’s not. He’s a sweet man she gets along with and in another world, she might consider dating him. It’s not another world, however, and she doesn’t want to date Graham Humbert.

All she wants is Killian like the pathetic woman she is.

And for the freaking stuffed swan to stop staring at her.

After screaming into her pillow once more and kicking her legs up and down like a petulant child, Emma throws the pillows off of her and shifts from underneath her comforter. Begrudgingly, she stretches her arms above her head, her muscles aching from overuse, and she walks to her bathroom. Slowly but surely, she gets ready, spending extra time washing her hair and shaving while her phone plays music loud enough for her to sing along to. Once she feels alive again, she steps out of the shower, pulling her hair into a towel and walking to her vanity. She brushes her teeth and does her makeup, going ahead and applying the smoky eye she wants to wear tonight. She’ll look ridiculous until the sun sets, but she’s not coming home in between work and the rehearsal and doesn’t want to pack her full makeup kit. It’s the same reason she blows her hair out and curls it before pulling on a black jumpsuit. She’s had it for years, but never had a chance to wear it. It hugs her curves and flares out at the legs. There’s a cutout on her stomach and the cleavage dips, and to cover that up so she doesn’t get fired, she pulls a cropped sweater on top. An hour later, she leaves her apartment and drives through Storybrooke to get to the club.

This is just another day. Emma can make it through.

She’s made it through every bad day so far, most of them a hell of a lot worse than having to eat dinner with Killian Jones by her side.

With Labor Day over and summer beginning to fade away, tourists have fled from Storybrooke and returned to their normal lives. The beaches are empty, the restaurants barely occupied, and Storybrooke Country Club is only frequented by members who either live in the area or who avoid the main summer rush. Walking the hallways alone is odd after spending months not having a moment to herself, and since there’s no one around, Emma takes off her heels and walks down the hallway barefoot. There’s a luncheon in one of their smaller dining rooms, so Emma checks to make sure the linens and the menu are still correct from when she checked last night, and once she’s sure they are, she moves to their nicest ballroom where Liam and Elsa are having their reception tomorrow. They were going to have the ceremony inside as well, but since the weather looks like it’s going to be nice, they’re having it on the deck with the ocean in the background.

She thinks most of this place is stuffy and stuck-up, but she does love this ballroom. The windows are large and look out to the ocean, and if they open the doors, it connects to the expansive deck with string lights hanging over the ceiling. Tomorrow, when the sun sets and those lights are turned on along with the lights inside, everything will be cast in a magic glow. Emma looks around at the chairs lining the sides of the walls and the tables out, and she sighs. Someone was supposed to put everything out, and after calling around and finding no one, Emma starts arranging the tables and chairs herself. It takes her hours, especially when she starts putting out linens and setting the tables, and while florists won’t come in until tomorrow, she marks the places for the arrangements to be set. She nearly calls Mary Margaret and asks her to come in on her day off, but she likes being busy. It keeps her mind off things.

Too soon, though, she’s set up everything she can, and the cooks have started prep work for tonight’s dinner. Emma catches a look at herself in the mirror, sees where some of her makeup has run and her curls have fallen, and she grabs her work makeup bag out of her office and moves to the bathroom where she reapplies her powder and lipstick and brushes through her hair before pulling it into a high ponytail.

Deep breath in, deep breath out.

“Tonight is going to be fine,” Emma tells herself, rolling her arms to relax her sore muscles and calm herself down. “It’s just like it always is. It’s spending time with your friends but in nice clothes, and you just have to get through a weekend without fighting.”

Emma stops rolling her shoulders and leans forward, fingers curling around the sink top. “Great, Emma. Now you’re having full on conversations with yourself in the mirror.”

Inhale, exhale.

She’s got this. She has to.

Emma looks at herself one more time, does a final adjustment on her ponytail, grabs her bag and walks out of the bathroom with her shoulders back. She sits through more weddings than any normal person should, and this is a weekend to celebrate someone she loves. It’s a happy moment.

Until she walks out of the bathroom, her limbs still shaky, and nearly plows down the bride and groom.

That would definitely get her fired, and she doesn’t think her year could take losing her job too.

“Hi,” she squeaks out, stumbling over her heels before correcting herself. “How are you two? Elsa, you look beautiful.”

“Oi, what about me?” Liam jokes, and Emma awkwardly giggles, still trying to catch up. She needs a reset of today.

“You look stunning,” Emma laughs, quickly hugging Elsa before doing the same to Liam. “Are you guys excited for tomorrow?”

“You have no idea,” Elsa sighs, happy, content, so many things that brides should be but rarely are. “Thank you so much for setting everything up. I know you’ve been by yourself with Mary Margaret taking the day off to do things with us, so I really, really appreciate you.”

“I’m happy to do it for you guys. Promise.” Emma squeezes Elsa’s forearm. “If you were anyone else, I would complain.”

“Well, you know how to make a girl feel special, but I have a feeling you won’t say the same thing when Anna shows up in a few minutes.”

“I have already mentally prepared myself for it.”

Elsa looks down at her phone. “Speak of the devil,” she laughs, holding up her phone. “I’m gonna step away and take this.”

Elsa moves down the hallway, heels clicking against the tile, and Emma is left alone with Liam, the two of them swaying back and forth, eyes never making direct eye connect. She doesn’t know the last time she spent time alone with this man, and at the moment, she can’t think of them ever spending time alone together. They’re not friends, have only started getting along recently weirdly enough, but they always have Elsa or Killian to be the buffer.

There’s no buffer now.

Emma tries to think of something to say, works through a conversation about the weather and the wedding and tonight’s menu in her head, but she never says any of it out loud. Instead, she laughs awkwardly and smiles, wondering how shitty it would be to excuse herself from the room when she doesn’t have an actual excuse.

“You should talk to Killian,” Liam says. Emma’s eyes widen, and she looks at Liam. He doesn’t shift away from her gaze like she was expecting. “I’m not sure what’s been going on between the two of you, but I know that there’s something. I know I’ve never been the kindest to you, but I know that you are good for Killian as long as you don’t decide to break his heart.”

Emma crosses her arms, her heart thumping under her fingertips. She wonders if Liam can hear it or see it the way she can, like it’s the third person in the conversation. “I don’t think you get a say on what I decide to do. Killian’s a grown man. He can make his own decisions. He doesn’t need you putting up some ‘holier than thou’ front to tell his friend not to get into a fight with him.”

Liam steps closer, and with her heels, she’s able to keep her gaze directly on his. “I may not know exactly why the two of you are fighting, but I do know you’re the woman he’s been sleeping with all summer.” Emma’s jaw drops, and she’s not exaggerating when she thinks it may be broken. How? How does he know? “You two should really learn to lower your voices when you’re talking in the morning. I didn’t realize until last month right before our trip, but there was one morning where I recognized your laugh and then your voice was so clear afterward.”

“I’m not – we’re not – he isn’t…”

“Emma,” Liam sighs, pressing his hand to her shoulder, “it’s okay. I’m not trying to be an ass. I know that I am one, but all I want is for Killian to be happy. And believe it or not, I want you to be happy, too. Talk to him.”

Her mind is running at one hundred miles an hour, her heart beating even faster, and her cheeks are so warm they must be as red as tomatoes. She doesn’t know what to do, what to say, how the hell she’s supposed to react to any of that, so she doesn’t. Instead, she makes an excuse, something along the lines of checking on the food for dinner, and then she’s gone, disappearing down the hallway and into a linen closet.

Liam knows.

Liam knows, and he didn’t even blow a gasket. What kind of crazy alternate universe is this? Emma doesn’t know. She doesn’t know anything.

(But Liam apparently knows a lot.)

She doesn’t know what to think or say or how she even feels about anything. All she knows is that she still has to make it through this weekend. She can’t spend all of it hiding away in bathrooms and linen closets no matter how much she wants to.

Rolling her shoulders back, Emma takes her seventeenth deep breath of the night, twists the door knob, and manages to slip out of the closet without anyone seeing her. By the time the rehearsal has finished – they did two-run throughs – Emma’s heart has managed to calm down. It wasn’t easy, especially when she saw Killian walking down the aisle, one of Elsa’s cousins on his arm who couldn’t stop laughing at whatever joke he was telling, but she was able to push back the attraction and jealousy and everything else that comes with looking at Killian Jones.

She’s always known he was handsome. It’d be impossible to miss, but tonight as he wears a baby blue shirt, halfway unbuttoned of course, and some fitted Navy slacks, his hair coiffed and beard trimmed, she’s taken aback by him once more. Mostly, though, she’s taken aback by his smile, bright and beaming, and her heart aches missing it.

Missing him.

She stands at the edge of the ballroom as people begin to take their seats, finding the names on cards on the table, and Emma knows where hers is. It’s at the head table, rather undeservedly so, but she’s the best man’s date. She gets to stick by his side.

Right now, she doesn’t know how.

Maybe she hasn’t managed to calm down as much as she thought she had.

Emma catches Killian out of the corner of her eye, still talking to that same bridesmaid, but then he’s walking away and walking right toward her. He flashes a smile, as bright and confident as ever, but there’s something off about it. She can’t pinpoint what, especially when his smile fades as he looks from side to side, almost as if he was searching for someone.

“Hello, love,” he greets before leaning down and pressing a kiss to her cheek. “You look stunning.”

“Thank you. You look nice.”

“Don’t I know it?” he teases, cheeky, before offering her his elbow. She takes it, looping her arm through his, and as her skin presses against his dress shirt, she can feel his warmth. It feels normal, like it has for so long, and while she didn’t forget how much she loves his touch, she didn’t realize how much she’s craved it, craved the new normalcy they’d found themselves in this summer. “Shall we go to dinner and get drunk off our asses as we listen to people give awful speeches?”

“I’d love nothing more. Don’t you have to give an awful speech?”

Killian leans in and winks. “Mine won’t be awful.”

And for a little while, things are normal. She’s sitting next to Killian, and she doesn’t have to think too hard about what to say or do. It’s just the two of them, like it always has been, and the glass of wine she’s had isn’t hurting how calm she feels. They don’t talk much, too much food on their plates and then too many people talking, but just as Emma is telling Killian about how she nearly broke her neck on a ladder today, that same bridesmaid as before interrupts her to start talking to Killian. Emma knows her name is Nora, that she lives in Portland, and that she has no problem flirting with Killian despite the fact that Emma is obviously his date.

But who is she to say anything? They’re here as friends.

They always have been.

Friends, friends, friends.

And the flirting doesn’t irritate her, not really, but the fact that Nora interrupted Emma in the middle of a story does. That’s rude, and while Emma doesn’t have the best social graces, she knows not to interrupt people. Emma ignores the two of them and looks out across the room. She wishes she were at the table with Mary Margaret, David, Ariel, Eric, Ruby, and all of the rest of her friends. Anna and Elsa’s parents have taken up most of the conversation with Elsa and Liam, so she doesn’t even have Elsa to talk to.

She’s miserable.

There’s no point in dancing around it anymore. She’s miserable, her feet are killing her, and she’s ready to go home and sleep until she has to get up. She’s never craved a Monday so badly.

Emma excuses herself from the table, not that anyone really listens, and she hurries out of the room with a pounding heart. She thought it had gone away, but it’s back with a vengeance, making her cheeks heat and her stomach fill with bile. This is the worst. Just, the fucking worst.

She’s in love with her best friend who isn’t even her best friend anymore, and she doesn’t know how to deal with any of it. This summer has been like a rollercoaster, except she hasn’t been buckled in. She’s been holding on with fear and exhilaration, and now, she’d like to get off the ride.

When she hears footsteps down the hall, she knows the end of the ride isn’t here yet.

What the hell is he doing here?

“Did you follow me?” Emma asks, not bothering to turn around.

“Well, when a woman runs off and seems upset, some might say following her is a good idea.”

“I wouldn’t.” “Swan.”

Emma turns, her heels clicking against the tile, and crosses her arms over her chest. Killian glances down, and she realizes his eyes are drawn to her boobs. Typical.

“Go back to Nora, Killian. I’m fine.”

“Nora?”

“Elsa’s cousin. The woman you’ve been oh so fascinated with all night. I don’t need a babysitter when you obviously have other interests.”

Killian huffs and steps closer. “You’re my friend and when a friend leaves a room, obviously upset, I follow.” “Well, if you’d said that a month ago, I might believe you. now, though, I don’t.”

She’s angry, she realizes. Pissed off, actually, and Killian might be here to be kind, but she’s not.

His brow arches, one followed by the other until his forehead is wrinkled, and he steps closer. “What are you talking about?”

“Really? You’re going to play that card?”

“What card?”

“The one where you pretend like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Like, you don’t know things have been different between us since you ended things for no damn reason.”

“Why aren’t you here with Graham?” Killian asks suddenly, and she feels like she’s been slapped with whiplash. Emma isn’t sure that’s possible, but what the hell does she know anymore? “Why the hell would I be here with Graham? You and I agreed that we would do all of the wedding stuff together, didn’t we?”

“Well, you’re dating him, aren’t you?”

“Oh my God,” Emma sighs, turning on her heels and walking down the hallway before walking back toward Killian who has got to be grinding his teeth far too much than any dentist would ever recommend.

Why is that even where her brain is going right now?

Probably because she can’t stop staring at the way his jaw clenches.

“What”? he murmurs, crossing his arms over his chest, fingers digging into biceps.

Emma stops pacing, the clicking of her heels against the tile stopping, and she places her hands on her hips as she takes a deep breath.

She’s about to fuck everything in her life up, but really, how much worse can any of it get? She can’t keep living like a madwoman, her mind contradicting everything her heart says, and for once in her life, she wants everything out in the open. She wasted too much time in an unhappy relationship because she didn’t want to speak up for herself for fear of someone else leaving her. She’s not doing that again. Damn the consequences.

It is not going to kill her to put her heat in Killian’s hands even if it means he has the ability to crush it.

“I am not dating Graham Humbert,” Emma says on an exhale. She doesn’t even know where Killian is coming from thinking that, but it doesn’t matter. “He is a new friend who I have repeatedly said I had no interest in dating, and if you could get your head out of your ass for one second, you would know that the only person I have any interest in dating is you, you absolute fucking idiot.”

-/-

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#your wonder under summer skies #cs fic #cs ff #cs fanfic #cs fanfiction #captain swan fic #captain swan ff #captain swan fanfic #captain swan fanfiction #captain swan

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myhauntedsalem · 3 years

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19 Parents Share What Their Kid Remembered About Their ‘Last’ Life

1. He showed us his grave

When my brother was about 2 or 3 he told us his name used to be Austin. One day we were picnicking right along side a cemetery, when my brother took off running towards the gravestones, my dad and I followed him and found him touching a large headstone that simply read “Here Lies Austin” no name, no date. My brother did not learn to read until he was 6 and this headstone wasn’t even right out visible from where we were, yet he ran right to it

2. We don’t watch firefighter things

my son told me a few months ago he “used to be a firefighter, and we got called to a fire. There wasn’t any family inside the house, so we just put the fire out. Then the fire truck caught on fire and I died”. A few nights later, he elaborated he was taken to a hospital, where he died. We don’t watch firefighter things.

3. Her “other” mother’s name was Sally

I was talking to my four year old when she began to freak me out. She was telling me a story about her “other mother” and that she “died a long time ago on a Thursday.” I tried to brush it off, you know, whatever, shes a kid, they have wild imaginations… but then she started to go further into detail about the death of her “other mother,” whose name was apparently Sally. She has never met anyone named Sally, and I can’t recall any shows on TV she watches where “Sally” is a character. She told me that she was playing with her father’s gun that she found and accidentally shot and killed Sally while she was walking upstairs. It’s pretty weird. There are no guns in this house, I haven’t even really told her what guns are all about and how they can hurt or kill someone, shes only four! I think I am beginning to understand now why when I try to tell her when someone dies, they go away forever, she tells me that, that is not true. “We come back, mommy!” I’m only 23, I had my daughter very young and despite not being prepared, I don’t think I could have ever prepared for a conversation like that!

4. “When she lived before she was born”

My daughter did the same thing at the same age. She told me about her life “when she lived before she was born” and described herself as a woman with long hair who lived in an apartment with a long flight of stairs outside of it. She drove a VW Bug and wore long skirts. She then told me that she fell down the stairs and died. Her stories were startlingly vivid and always consistent. Quite spooky. She is now 19 and doesnt remember it. My advice would be write down everything your daughter tells you on the subject. Everything! Record her stories if you can.

5. Roanoke?

I would tell my older sister about my death. I told her my husband was captured and fire was everywhere. I took my young son and ran. I told her my son couldn’t run fast enough. I knew we would get killed and I had my husbands knife on me, I wanted to leave a clue. I wrote in capitals “CROATOAN” I told her we were caught and how my son was killed before I was killed. I told her how I was stabbed in the stomach with a knife. Then, I went about playing with dolls. I can still picture the scene and my son to this day.

6. “She used to come visit me”

my son says he remember his great grandmother (my grandmother) and can describe her in perfect detail (how she looks, how she acted, even what brand of cigarettes she smoked) , although she died 11 days before he was born. He says that she used to come visit him in his dreams.

7. Conchon

Apparently beginning around the time my friend could form sentences until he was little more than 2, he would go on and on about how he was a Native American named Conchon and that after his wife and son got sick and died, he moved to a mountain to live by himself with his horse. He died of a broken neck when he fell into a ravine.

8. “My real mom and dad were killed when the bad men came.”

when I was 2 or 3 I was talking to my grandmother and told her that my mom and dad weren’t my real mom and dad. My grandmother, knowing this wasn’t true, said they were. I calmly explained that no, my real mom and dad were killed when the bad men came. I had lived because my mom hid me behind a rock. I then went on to describe white men with guns and us “dark” people with long hair. When I was done, I went back to eating my ice cream.

9. Jesus

My cousin, approximately 3 years old and riding in the car with my mum and dad, pointed out a random house that they went past and declared “I died there”.

10. Included because, WHAT?

I did something sort of similar I guess. When I was about 3 my mum and I were driving over a bridge on which there’d recently been a major accident that resulted in a car bursting into flames and the driver dying. Anyway, I asked my mum who the man in the front seat was and when she told me to describe him I said, “Well he’s on fire and he keeps looking back at me.”

11. I drowned

My mother told me about a story I told her when I was 2 or 3. I told her she was the best mommy I ever had, to which she replied, “I’m the only mommy you’ve ever had.” “nu-uh, I had another mommy.” I said that my older sister and I went out to a pond in the woods behind my house. Around the pond, all of the trees were the same type: skinny with white paper-like bark. (I had never seen a poplar tree before in this life.) We put some logs together to make a raft, and put it into the water to play boat captain and climbed aboard. The raft fell apart, and I didn’t know how to swim. I tried to grab a log, but my hand slipped off. I could see my sister freaking out from underwater. I drowned.

12. My war memories

one of 6 hopping out of a helicopter into a field, it’s hot as shit, humid, daytime, two house/buildings smoking and heavily burning straight in front of me (to the side of the chopper), and there’s firing from the woods and field to my right. It’s chaotic a noisy, lots of firing and helicopters, my guys are firing back crouched next to the back building, one guy runs out of the other building with a kid he pushes forward and yells at to run, the kid gets shot from out of nowhere, and drops. I see a few of my guys advancing from another chopper behind me duck down in the grass as their chopper leaves, I crouch in tall grass about 10 feet from my chopper, fire my rifle twice from just above the grass line, and my chopper starts to take off, and is taking fire. I get up to move forward, panicky, and am shot dead – I feel a hard thunk, see part my chest explode, fall forward go black, and zoom out above my body. I also drew this later (still have pics, mom saved them). To me, it’s clear as day, still. Mom said some of my first chatter was about “heavy fire” “zip em boys” (don’t know what that means) and I would ask “Where are the hueys?” I was born in the early 70s, and my family was NOT military (very anti, actually). I err on the side of thinking it’s media (news footage?) I absorbed at some point from the Viet Nam war, but I also wonder if it’s not a past-life dream.

13. “That’s why I don’t like water now”

When my kid was 4, we were watching a docu on the Titanic. The scene was a picture of the schematics of the boiler room and the camera panned from left to right over the plans. He pointed at the tv and said, “That’s wrong. The boilers were on the Other side. And I was right here.” And he pointed to a small space in the boiler room. “That’s where I was. And that’s why I don’t like water now.”

14. My family’s farm, burning

When I was younger I would have dreams of living in colonial american. I remember bits very vividly and only when I was older did I realize what they were about and how accurate they were. Most of the dreams consisted of me being in my late teen years and centered around my family’s farm being set on fire during the night. I never dreamed past that night, nothing about the aftermath of the fire, and I haven’t had one in years.

15. “Nobody scroofs me there”

Getting my two and a half year old daughter out of the bath one night, my wife and I were briefing her on how important it was she kept her privates clean. She casually replied “Oh, nobody ‘scroofs’ me there. They tried one night. They kicked the door in and tried but I fought back. I died and now I’m here.” She said this like it was nothing. My wife and I were catatonic.

16. Nope

“Before I was born here, I had a sister, right? Her and my other Mom are so old now. They were ok when the car was on fire, but I sure wasn’t!”

17. “Their screams are keeping me up”

I was in my room on the computer at about 11, which is late for my sister to be awake even now. I was thinking about bed, but then my sister knocks on the door. She was maybe 10 at the time, so not so young that she doesn’t know when she’s dreaming. She wanted to sleep in my room because she was sad and scared. I asked her why, and she said, “I watched your sons burn up in the fire. Their screams are keeping me up.”

18. Role reversal

My three year old said, “Remember when I was the grown-up and you were the little boy?” to his Dad.

19. When he was a grown up

My father used to hate policemen when he was a kid, he used to tell my grandmother that they came to his house and shot him when he was a grown up.

19 Parents Share What Their Kid Remembered About Their ‘Last’ Life paranormal ghost and hauntings

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May 26th, 2019

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#paranormal #ghost and hauntings

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19 Parents Share What Their Kid Remembered About Their ‘Last’ Life1. He showed us his grave

When my brother was about 2 or 3 he told us his name used to be Austin. One day we were picnicking right along side a cemetery, when my brother took off...

19 Parents Share What Their Kid Remembered About Their ‘Last’ Life

1. He showed us his grave

2. We don’t watch firefighter things

3. Her “other” mother’s name was Sally

4. “When she lived before she was born”

5. Roanoke?

6. “She used to come visit me”

7. Conchon

8. “My real mom and dad were killed when the bad men came.”

9. Jesus

My cousin, approximately 3 years old and riding in the car with my mum and dad, pointed out a random house that they went past and declared “I died there”.

10. Included because, WHAT?

11. I drowned

12. My war memories

13. “That’s why I don’t like water now”

14. My family’s farm, burning

15. “Nobody scroofs me there”

16. Nope

“Before I was born here, I had a sister, right? Her and my other Mom are so old now. They were ok when the car was on fire, but I sure wasn’t!”

17. “Their screams are keeping me up”

18. Role reversal

My three year old said, “Remember when I was the grown-up and you were the little boy?” to his Dad.

19. When he was a grown up

My father used to hate policemen when he was a kid, he used to tell my grandmother that they came to his house and shot him when he was a grown up.

#19 Parents Share What Their Kid Remembered About Their ‘Last’ Life #paranormal #ghost and spirits #ghost and hauntings #haunted salem #ghoststories

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feelingofcontent · 2 years

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DNP Rewatch: Cards Against Humanity PHAN EDITION!

Date video was published: 02/21/2021 (X)

DNP Main Channel Rewatch: 437

Another joint video! So soon after the last one! Phil teased it in a member’s post the day before. And he posted a joint selfie with a caption I’m still not over (”just a couple of boys who bought a house together...” 🥺 and Dan’s comment as well) to promote this video and the upcoming Stereo shows.

0:00 - they both look so good in this video. also I love the boxes background and ‘presenting’ Dan with the fireworks effect

0:26 - king of comedy Phil. and then his immediate look at Dan to see if he made him laugh

0:37 - “I freakin’ did that” I...what was Phil in early 2021. also I had missed Dan’s facial expression reactions so much

0:41 - at least on camera and just from the front, the haircuts don’t look too bad. Dan had posted insta stories earlier in the month about Phil giving him a haircut (1, 2)

0:59 - Dan looks so offended! 😂 I feel like Dan’s curls are a lot more forgiving of mistakes

1:17 - from the texting video, Phil had sent this haircut picture he used here to Dan around this time. I love Phil’s laughter at it by this point

1:28 - there are even more polaroids lower on the fridge than what was in the Keep it or YEET IT video 🥺

1:50 - this clip is SO interesting to me. it’s obviously from a bit later in filming, because Phil has already had part of his drink. and yet he edited it in here at the start, so it was important to them to include. it is incredibly loud...“we were already locked down with each other”... “big commitment” and the look on Phil’s face. and as I’ve said before, just like every public mention or description of their relationship, Dan is doing all the talking. I just have a lot of thoughts about these few seconds

2:15 - love that before he knows what it is Phil goes “mmmm” but then immediately makes fun of Dan for it

2:35 - “this is for you, sugar freak” we’re two minutes in and this video is already so much

2:46 - aka they also made $$$

3:21 - great example of them just bouncing ideas around and off each other. I do love what they ended up doing with the show titles. the first of the Stereo shows (1, 2) was just two days after this video went up

3:56 - Dan on a random tangent

4:29 - Phil being ready to immediately react to what Dan says there...same wavelength

4:34 - “the things it’s seen” 👀 Phil’s face...

5:06 - I don’t want to know 😳 (all I could think about when I saw this clip the first time is the fic @intoapuddle had written shortly before this)

5:18 - Phil was ready to hoard them in the last video though

5:42 - I love that the cube turns into a running joke

6:00 - why did Phil say “Phan” like that

6:05 - Phil replied to a tweet from one of the people that made and gave them the game

6:30 - their use of “creativity” like this over the years is very consistent

6:47 - more excellent Dan face reactions. also I notice he kept it zoomed in so we can’t see exactly what Phil’s hand is doing there

6:57 - he really didn’t cover that “fuck” very well

7:29 - “how could I forget the sechs?!” Phil is something in this

7:52 - Phil’s look is saying he’s not sure if this one is okay to do on camera

8:03 - and another (although much more casual/silly) instance of Dan saying out loud something that Phil won’t. and with Dan there, Phil censored it much less in general than in the last video, even though it’s still on his channel

8:24 - Dan looks proud of himself for that one. Phil had tweeted one of those awkward-hand photos back in 2014

8:49 - again...somewhat terrified of the awareness they have. Dan knew immediately...maybe Phil was trying to forget

9:25 - Dan discussed this far too much on the gaming channel too...this was the most specifically he asked that though

10:01 - Dan already knows something that is going to disturb him is going to come out of Phil’s mouth

10:16 - “but I’m trying to be honest” and there’s some truth from Phil about what he was trying to do on YouTube in early 2021

10:28 - the giant “XD” editing bit there 😂

10:48 - this awkward Dan moment was at Big Weekend 2014. (Dan was there alone because Phil was ill.)

11:07 - and this card idea must have come from this Dan tweet in 2015...he can blame himself

11:39 - Dan doing a lot of staring in this video. and Phil thinking about what this would involve far too much

11:52 - they’re only saying who wins the round sometimes

12:01 - I really want to know what Phil was going to say after “I wonder if I...” give us your thoughts about your channel Phil!

12:11 - what is this little Phil smile and sway

12:15 - which is a thing Phil had tweeted back in 2015

12:26 - the parallel of this and the same reaction from Phil to one of the cards Dan did in the CAH gaming video

12:39 - Phil doesn’t want to talk about that

12:46 - Phil choosing that card just to tease Dan and then both being super sarcastic about it

13:04 - Phil saying the words “when I first met Dan...” was maybe the most surprising thing in this video. and then sharing this little bit of their early-on

13:31 - also cannot get over how Phil says “that’s such a Dan one” 😭

13:44 - Phil looks nervous every time a card starts with his name...there are none they used that start with “Dan” although there are a lot of Dan-specific reference ones

13:53 - the sequence of emotions that go across Dan’s face as Phil says he’d “be quite good at lapdancing” 😂

14:09 - I’m really not sure we needed those details

14:33 - this bit is so cute and funny

14:52 - and aww at Dan being pleased that there was still a Phil story he hadn’t heard

15:07 - Dan be so defensive about this and Phil with the “bitch” out of nowhere

15:18 - which is what Dan called himself in a video with Louise back in 2014

15:23 - seeing Dan being able to laugh at “full time internet homo” (which was a freudian slip from a live show that haunted him) is just 😭

15:28 - and then the ‘cheers’-ing of those cards

15:41 - “cheesy sparkling water” is a reference to THE CHEESE CHALLENGE where he tried both of those things

16:09 - “you need to start using it” jesus christ Dan

16:24 - I was speechless when I got the notification for this Phil tweet. and Dan’s reply!!

16:40 - they were both at max chaos during the Stereo era

16:53 - 😂 they are having two completely separate conversations after that

17:05 - Phil’s “I’ve got the Santa hats” just sends me 😂

17:23 - “you want to do something to replace this as soon as possible” I love this video so much

17:30 - no telling us who the winner was

17:45 - they showed these under-the-stairs inspo pics in the texting video too. maybe Dan sent them to Phil to use in this video

17:53 - Dan had this tree ready-to-go for a while; it was visible in the background of the lounge in the pigeon video. I was not so sure about how it looked at the time, but it looks much better actually installed under the stairs

18:15 - lets be honest...it was a lot of degenerative filth. and I wouldn’t have it any other way

18:40 - probably my favorite bit of all. Phil just calling him out on this! and then including it in the video!!

18:57 - it didn’t stop Dan from just staring more, clearly

This is definitely in the running for my favorite video of 2021. It was just SO MUCH after a couple years of basically no joint content at all. And the start of the Stereo era! Such a good time.

#dan and phil #dnp #dnpRewatch #amazingphil #daniel howell #phil lester #danisnotonfire #amazingphil videos #Cards Against Humanity PHAN EDITION!

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imaginingmyloki · 3 years

Text

Shift in Reality (pt 2)

Word count: 2,120

A/N: ok so obviously this took way longer than I expected/promised it would. Life has been getting in the way of fun lately. As some of you know, A year ago I left home and moved across country to Arizona to discover myself/make a new life/have an adventure. Well now I am moving back home to Virginia and it has just been a wild few weeks. (more on that later) anyways, enjoy part 2! There will definitely be a part 3! I said in a few answers to anons yesterday that this would likely be the last part but it kinda took off from me and started writing itself haha. I am not going to give a promised date for part 3 but I do have a good chunk of it already written from cutting it out of this lol. I won’t be linking any youtube vids about her powers this time, if you check out part 1′s note there is a compilation video of Daisy Johnson using her powers and she is based off of Daisy. ok byyyeeee

“No this can’t be right... I was just with them. What is going on?” I was frantically looking around the room trying to figure out where the hell I was. “Ma’am you need to calm her down or we will have to sedate her.” One of the white coats told the woman with the familiar voice. The heart monitor next to me was beeping rapidly, adding to my anxiety. She moved slightly closer to me and grabbed my hand and started talking. I couldn’t focus on what she was saying but the familiar cadence of her voice was calming me down significantly. “I don’t understand why I’m here. Who are you?” she looked hurt when I asked her that question. One of the many people buzzing about the room checking on the machines quietly said “Some amnesia is really common in these situations. She will likely regain her memories as time passes.” the woman nodded sadly and kept talking to me even though I was not paying any attention to her and was trying to focus on all the details I could about the room I was in and the different faces coming and going.

-At the Compound-

Loki was sitting next to my unconscious form reading when Bruce came in with a machine that looked like a very small version of an MRI. “This is S.H.I.E.L.D.s latest, top of the line medical equipment. It is essentially a mobile MRI but way more advanced in what it can pick up. I didn’t do one before but she’s been out for almost 24 hours and hasn’t even moved so I need to see what’s going on in there.” He positioned the machine near my head and Loki watched Bruce’s face go from curious to concerned in a matter of seconds. “What is it?” He asked. At this point Nat and Wanda had come over to check on me and joined the group to see what was happening. Bruce shook his head, “I have no idea. There is something foreign in her temporal lobe. It looks like it is sending electro magnetic pulses to her brain causing her hippocampus-” He looked around and had to remind himself to use more understandable wording for them,”-uh her memory and dream centers to light up like crazy. I wish we could get in there and see what was happening.” Everyone slowly turned to Wanda who nodded and said, “Ok move the machine out of the way.” as she approached me.

“Well? What did you see? Is she ok?” Loki demanded when Wanda had finished. She sat on the end of the couch by my feet, “We have to get that thing out of her, guys. She didn’t even see me when I was right in front of her trying to get her attention. It has her in this fake reality where she was in a coma and just woke up in the hospital with someone I assume is meant to be her mother. And the worst part is that we don’t exist in that reality. We are just movie characters. She seems really confused but the doctors are saying she has amnesia and its common for coma patients to wake up thinking they were a part of their favorite fictional world. It looks like she is starting to believe them. She looks so lost and heart broken. I couldn’t pull her out of it.” Everyone sat in silence for a few minutes, no one having words for the situation. Wanda looked to Bruce “How is this possible?” He was quiet for a few more minutes before answering “The only thing I can think of is the Winter Soldier.” He put a hand up to stop the incoming questions from the group as he continued, “With Bucky, their first and most formidable success, they wiped his memory, emotionally and physically tortured him until he broke and they had total, absolute control of him. Until Steve. The programming used on Bucky, while it was effective, didn’t hold up against the memories surfacing. So other than the obvious technological upgrades of this new programming- if that is what’s happening- they realized their fatal flaw. They tried to completely wipe out memories and when they resurfaced it undid everything. Making (Y/N) think that she made us up, that we are fictional characters, and now that she has forgotten her own life will not only break her but it will solve the issue of us breaking the programming in the future. She thinks we only exist in her mind and on the screen. I wouldn’t be surprised if this reality they have her in starts to change into doctors discovering she has a mental disorder that comes with hallucinations. Now, after they wipe her memory, if we start showing up again, she will question her own sanity and not her handler’s orders because her most recent memories of us are going to be that she can’t trust her own mind.” Everyone stared at him in stunned silence. “We need to get Tony and the others in here and brief them now. and we need to find Nelson.” Nat said and quickly left the room. Loki looked at Wanda and said, “Please keep watching her. I know you haven’t been able to connect to her but at least we will know what she is dealing with.”

-Y/N’s Mind-

This doesn’t feel right. Something is just off about this hospital, these people. After initially waking up and everyone fluttering around my room to check vitals and ask me 800 questions that I couldn’t answer, they finally left me alone to rest with the promise of checking on me throughout the night to wake me up and see if I remembered anything. The woman- my mom I had been told- was sleeping on a cot in the corner of the room lightly snoring. I had asked her what had happened and the story was that I had been at the beach with my family when a wave had caused me to hit my head on a rock under the surface. I had nearly drowned but my best friend, Paul, had been right there and dragged me back to shore. That was 4 months ago and I had been unconscious ever since. She had spent a couple hours telling me all about our life as I grew up. I was an only child and we had traveled all over the world throughout the years. Because of moving around and experiencing so many different places, I knew 15 different languages by the time I was 18. We had recently moved here to California and bought a house close to my grandparents. She was going to call them and tell them I could have visitors in a few days when my memories started catching up with me but was going to call Paul and have him come tomorrow and see if it would hopefully jog my memory. A nurse came in very early and quietly woke my mother, “Ma’am, we called the friend you asked us to have come in. Mr Nelson? He’s here.” My mother got up and went with the nurse. I hadn’t slept at all and was very tired but that name sent a jolt straight through me. I knew he had to be behind this somehow. I looked around for some kind of weapon I could use when he came into the room. There was nothing but the dull butter knife from my dinner that was still untouched from the night before by my bed. I grabbed it a slid it between the bed and my thigh then, I waited. The door opened and I heard my mother’s cheerful voice, “Oh, Paul, she is going to be thrilled to see you. Well, she may actually not remember you yet. We have been waiting on her memories to come back but so far nothing has.” A chuckle and a chilling voice that sent shivers down my spine and raised the hairs on my neck replied, “No worries at all. I have talked this girl through so many breakups, I’m sure I can talk her out of amnesia.”

As they came through the door, my entire body tensed as I locked eyes with Nelson. It was definitely him but he looked different. Casual and relaxed with almost friendly eyes. “(Y/n)! I am so happy to see you conscious! You gave me quiet the scare.” he made his way towards me and my mother backed out of the room with “I’ll give you two some time to talk.” and a hopeful smile. As soon as she shut the door, I had him pinned against the wall with the knife to his throat. “What is this, Nelson?!” The look of fear in his eyes made me hesitate and he pushed me off of him. “(Y/n), what are you doing? We have been friends for years. Wait, you remember me? But, since when do you call me Nelson?” I slowly backed up until my legs hit the bed and I sat down. A nurse came in to check on the commotion I had caused and Nelson - Paul? - told her we were fine. Satisfied, she nodded and closed the door behind her as she left. “Stop playing games. I know what this is, Nelson. Let me go.” I watched his face carefully but showed no signs of knowing what I was talking about. He gave me a concerned look and slowly made his way to the chair by my bed with his hands raised to show he wasn’t a threat. “(Y/n), I don’t understand what you’re trying to say. Do you want me to get the nurse for you?” I rolled my eyes at his concern. Being trapped and the constant lack of answers were starting to fill me with a frustration that would typically have the room trembling around me but nothing was shaking except for my hands. As I clenched and unclenched my fists and took a few deep breaths to try and steady myself, I caught a glimpse of Nelsons face. It still had the mock concern plastered on like a mask but his eyes had a glint of amusement. He found my frustration and suffering amusing. The frustration bubbled over and I lunged for him, bringing both him and the chair to the ground.

-The Compound-

The compound shook violently as Loki used his body to shield my still unconscious form from the ceiling tiles and dust that was falling. “Why is this happening? Wanda, what is going on in there?” Tony asked as he came through the door followed by Nat, Steve and Bucky. Wanda explained the scene to them, “Nelson is in there with her under the pretense that he is her best friend. She’s on to him and just took him down but now they are fighting. She doesn’t have her powers in there so she’s struggling. Nurses and doctors are starting to come in to restrain her but she’s fighting them too.” The shaking stopped suddenly and Wanda gasped. When she didn’t say anything to explain the sudden calm, Loki inquired anxiously, “What happened? Is she ok?” Wanda nodded but was still watching the scene unfold in my mind. “They started it over. She’s waking up in a strange hospital again but it looks slightly different than the first one. It is exactly the same situation. They are telling her she has been in a coma for months and that she is finally waking up for the first time. Now she’s seen the tv showing you guys in New York again and she looks even more confused.” Everyone rushed around to clean up the area and Tony said “Loki, I set up space for her downstairs to keep anything like this contained and to keep her safe should Hydra try and take her. You and Wanda take her down there and watch over her while the rest of us clean this up.” Loki gently lifted me and he and Wanda headed towards what had once been my holding cell before the team decided they could trust me.

“We need to bring Wanda back up here.” Nat said to Steve. They had just brought in Nelson. Bruce had figured out that Nelson had a device in his temporal lobe as well that was linked to the device in mine and had been able to track him using that connection. He had been unconscious when they had found him, likely because he was inside the fake reality with me and she knew that Wanda was the only one who may be able to get the information we needed about how to save me.

#marvel fic #loki fic #loki imagine #lokixreader

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years

Text

Leave No One Behind

Chapter 11- Mama Don’t Preach Part 1

Co-written with @icanfeelastormbrewing

Episode Summary: It’s Hannah’s turn to head home for a week to see her Mama, and there’s a surprise request waiting for her too. Meanwhile, back in Sudan Ari’s left holding the baby...or in this case, puppy…

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+ only)- in Part 2

Episode Pairings: Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Song for Episode: Only You- Yazoo

A/N: This is a big chapter so split into Parts to allow you to read as and when. Part 2 will be posted soon after this. Translations: “Me cago en todo” For Fucks sake. “Por el amor de Dios” For the love of God “mi niña”- My Girl All I needed was the love you gave, all I needed for another day, and all I ever knew, only you.

Series Master List // Main Masterlist

Hannah looked out of the window, taking in the familiar sights as the plane got ready to land and a few minutes later, as the wheels hit the runway and the passengers cheered she couldn't help but sigh. She was home. Just as she unfastened her seatbelt and waited for the sign signalling they could disembark, her mind wandered to the moment she had said goodbye a few hours earlier that morning. She felt a pang of sadness at the image of Simon trying to follow the truck as Ari had pulled out of the resort to drive her to the airport, a couple of hours earlier than initially planned-she may or may not have told the team her flight was a few hours earlier than it was so that her and Ari could grab a drink at a small coffee shop not far from the airport. It was hardly what one could call a ‘sweep you off your feet’ date but it was nice to get out alone, just the two of them. It had felt good that Ari and her had been able to experience a certain level of normalcy before the inevitable and emotional goodbye and promises to try not to miss each other too much.

She wandered through passport control and after picking up her bag she went out into the arrivals of Ben Gurion airport almost on autopilot but she smiled hard when she saw her Mama and, just like that, her eyes filled with tears as she hurried forward and hugged the woman tightly. After the emotional reunion they headed back to the house, Hannah's childhood family home, where she had been living with her Mama since she had left the apartment her and Andy had rented once they’d gotten married. Unable to stay there alone after his death, she’d moved home and had remained there up until the moment Ari had come into the clinic turning her whole world upside down. As her Mama opened the door Hannah smiled at the familiar décor of the hallway and let out a little, happy sigh as she stepped over the threshold. It smelt like home, it felt like home... it was home.

Hannah headed upstairs and ditched her bag in her room, thinking to herself about how the last time she’d been in here was before she left in January. Back then she’d never have guessed how things would have turned out for her so far in 1980. She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and decided that she needed a shower so turned to grab some fresh clothes out of a drawer, and as she did so she spotted a few photos of her and Andy on the unit. She glanced at them, a soft smile on her face and then turned to look around her room at the numerous other snaps of the pair of them dotted in various places in the room. She contemplated moving them for a moment before she finally came to a decision and did just that, popping them carefully in a drawer which she slowly closed after a last, nostalgic look at Andy's handsome face. She’d loved him, there was no doubt about that. But time moved on and she was finally ready to move on with it now. Shaking those sad memories from her mind she went into the bathroom to shower and twenty minutes later she made her way down to the kitchen at the back of the house which overlooked the large communal garden they shared with 4 other homes.

She found her Mama was stood at the stove, preparing dinner, and Hannah approached, wrapping her arms round her from behind, hugging her close.

"Nothing like your food mama. Not that Aziz’s isn’t good because it is but, well, there’s nothing like yours." she trailed off.

Her Mama turned to look at her kissing her head. "I’m making your favourite from when you were young, mi niña."

"Beef wellington?" Hannah asked, her eyes lighting up.

Mama nodded and Hannah gave a groan. "Sammy is gonna be so jealous when I get back."

"You don’t have beef in Sudan?" the woman asked as she stirred what looked like some kind of gravy in a pot.

"Half the time I haven’t got a clue what I’m eating to be honest, other than when it’s fish. Last time we had some form of steak I think it was camel."

Mama laughed heartily. "Your brother must be having a hard time, he’s always been the picky one."

"He’s still a pain in the ass, mama." Hannah said as she moved from her mother's frame and leaned casually against the counter.

Mama looked at Hannah spotting the crease on her brow immediately and, raising an eyebrow, she asked. "Are we still talking about food, honey?"

Hannah shrugged. "In general, and you look just like him when you do that, stop it."

"When I do what?"

"Raise your eyebrow and look at me like that."

"Like what?" the woman, whose eyes were on the pots and pans in front of her again, asked.

Hannah groaned with frustration. "Come on Mama, you know what like."

Mama sighed and, setting the wooden spoon aside, turned to look at her daughter, her hands falling down to her hips in a typical mother stance. "The only thing I know is my daughter, who I haven’t seen in months, looks more gorgeous, relaxed and happier than when she left... In fact, more so than I’ve seen her in years. Which is ironic really considering what you’re doing out there."

Hannah blushed a little at her mum's last sentence but decided to roll with it. "Well it’s nice to be doing something mama, back in the thick of it all so to speak."

Now she saw her mother was sporting a wide smile, not a sympathetic smile but a knowing one. And Hannah knew she must have anticipated something like that, if anything her mother was clever. "Something uh?" the woman said.

Hannah looked at her blankly, not understanding what she meant, or rather not wanting to give in that easily. "Yeah, the resort and the job."

"I know that look Hannah, You’re my daughter remember, I raised you. Something tells me it’s not simply all down to those people you’re helping." her mother baited her again.

"No…I…it’s not…" Hannah's train of thought stopped as she spotted her mum's eyes skate down her neck just before she nodded to her necklace, and instinctively she reached up to touch it. Mama smiled and whether it was at the necklace or at her sudden need to touch it for comfort, Hannah couldn't tell.

"That’s pretty."

Hannah smiled back at her before speaking. "It was a birthday present. Along with my watch, look."

She stretched her forearm and turned her wrist slightly to show her mother the watch but the woman wasn't one to be fooled and smiled before taking her eyes off the watch and nodding back at the necklace. "What is it, some kind of bee?"

"It’s a firefly."

"I take it that it was from the only person who calls you that?" her mother asked then and Hannah flinched. She had served her mother the opportunity on a silver plate and now she felt herself growing warm again under her mom’s scrutiny, but, much to her dismay, Mrs N was not letting go. "I’ve got to admit, it was a nice surprise when Ethan told me what Ari was planning to do for your birthday."

Hannah then let out a low laugh, shaking her head at her mother’s tenacity. "Why don’t you just ask me, Mama?"

"Why would I ask when I already know?"

"And what is it that you think you know?" Hannah asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Her mother looked at her for a couple of seconds before delivering the final blow. "That you and Ari are together. And not for the first time."

Hannah gasped. That last part had shocked her big time, she wasn't prepared for that. "You knew about us the first time?"

Mama nodded. "I did, yes."

"How did you…?"

"Once again Hannah, I’m your mother. It was pretty obvious to my eyes that something was going on there between you two back in the day. And then you started going out almost every night and your friends used to call asking for you, so you clearly weren’t with them. And you were glowing, at the time. Just like you did when you were with Andy, and just like you are now."

Hannah looked down shyly before speaking. "Ok, so clearly I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought." she snorted and then paused. "Did you know about why…" she began to ask but stopped mid-sentence as she shook her head. "Actually, it doesn’t matter."

"Why you two split up? Yeah, I do. And I was mad at your brother for weeks." her mother conceded with a sigh.

“Seems like everyone knew bar me." she muttered absent mindedly.

"Sadly it's always like that, honey." Mama stated while rubbing her daughter's arm reassuringly before resuming her work over the stove.

"Did you know it was Andy who told him? About me and Ari I mean."

Mama snapped her head at Hannah, looking at her visibly shocked. "No, No I didn’t."

"Well it was." Hannah snorted. "Ironic huh, I married the guy that broke me up from the first man I…"

"You loved?" her mother asked, finishing the sentence for her, apparently recovered from the shocking news her beloved late son-in-law had some sneaky ways in him.

Hannah gave a little smile and nodded.

"So how did Sammy react to it this time round…not that I need to ask." Mama chuckled as she bent over to check the meat cooking in the oven.

"You know him. Made a huge fuss, punched Ari again." at that Hannah snorted. "Ari let him have the first one but the second time, well I had to stop him from ripping Sammy’s head off."

"Must have been something worth seeing. No doubt I’ll hear all about it in a few weeks when he comes home."

"No doubt you will. He seemed a little better after my birthday party, and the last mission.” Hannah bit her lip, her mind straying back to the disaster of the mission and she looked at the floor.

Her Mama gently touched her arm. "Ethan told me about the woman you helped and how her baby didn’t make it. Sweetie, that must have been awful."

"Yeah it was…" Hannah paused, frowning at her mother "Hang on, Ethan told you? When did you speak to him, mum?"

"Oh he took me out for dinner last week." she brushed her daughter's question off.

Hannah blinked at her mother’s matter of fact tone. "Ethan took you out for dinner?"

"Yes he did. We had a great time. You look surprised honey.” Her Mama’s eyes flashed with mischief “Is it that hard to believe your mother still gets it in her?"

"Oh my God…mama, that’s…ergh…"

"Hey, you’re acting like your brother now." Mama protested.

"Me cago en todo." Hanna cursed in Spanish earning, a scoff from her mother, and then she looked at her mom. "Mama…did you put out on a first date?"

"Young lady, watch your mouth." she said and Hannah laughed. "And have some respect for your mother." she paused for a moment as if considering what to say next. "Besides, what if I did? It's not like you and Ari are playing chess in that damned diving resort every night, is it?"

"OH MY GOD YOU SO DID!" Hannah exclaimed as she brought her right hand to cover her slack jawed mouth.

"Por el amor de Dios, Hannah. I’m not discussing this with you, now go wash your hands…dinner is ready."

"I just showered, why do I need to wash my hands?" Hannah offered somewhat feistily.

"You don’t, I just wanted to shut you up."

"God, mama, how am I supposed to look Ethan in the face tomorrow?" Hannah whined as she helped her mother with the oven tray.

"Same as I’m supposed to look at Ari in his, when I know what you’ve been up to." her mum retorted.

"Oh, for..."

"Mind you, I can’t blame you mi niña, Ari is a good looking guy. If I was 30 years younger…" the woman trailed, smirking.

"Mama, STOP!"

"What, it’s true?" Mama shrugged, amused by her daughter's reaction.

Hannah just shook her head before she grinned and pointed her finger at her mother "Well hands off, he’s mine."

"I don’t doubt it, honey." her mother declared, a wide smile spreading over her gentle face.

****

The next morning Hannah woke up and it took her a while to remember where she was. It wasn’t the sound of the waves crashing on the beach she could hear, but car horns and traffic. She recognised almost instantly though the smell of her ma's favourite soap in the sheets, but whilst her bed was comfy and familiar it felt odd. There was something missing. No Simon, no Ari, and that meant more to her than all the commodities she could ever have in Tel Aviv.

Well maybe she could trade sleeping snuggled to Ari for being able to eat Beef Wellington once a week… She chuckled and shook her head at her own absurd thoughts. Considering she spent years sleeping alone after Andy died, it hadn’t taken her long to get used to sharing a bed again, and if she was completely honest it was unnerving how she didn’t like Ari not being there, she knew it was stupid but still. She stretched and laid still in bed for a little while more as there were no breakfast duties to get to, but she suddenly remembered she did have a meeting with Ethan at HQ. Hannah cringed at the memory of her conversation with her mother last night, groaning to herself at the thought of the pair of them having dinner and… whatever. How was she going to be able to look him in the face? Shuddering at the thought she threw back the duvet and headed for her morning shower taking her time because she could, and also because she missed decent water temperature and pressure.

After her shower Hannah got dressed and went down to have breakfast with Mama. They sat and watched a little TV, another one of the things they quickly got used to not really having much chance to do in Sudan, before the car arrived to take Hannah to Mossad HQ. Once there she went through the security checks and headed up to Ethan's office, smiling to his secretary who told her to go in.

No sooner had she knocked lightly on the door before pulling it open, Ethan stood up from his desk, a smile on his face as he strode over and pulled her into a huge hug.

"You look well, Hannah."

"Thanks Ethan."

"Must be all that sun, sea and sand huh?" he said, pulling back to take her appearance in better.

"And life or death situations…" she smiled fondly at the man.

Ethan chuckled and directed her over to the couch where she took a seat at one side as Ethan headed out and asked his secretary to get them a coffee each. Then he closed the door and sat opposite her. They chatted for a little bit, just about how the resort was going, how everyone was, a debrief of sorts on the last mission which Hannah wasn’t all that keen on reliving, but she knew she had to. Then their coffees arrived and Hannah took the time to compose herself, the emotion of talking about what had happened to the baby girl having choked her a little. She took a sip, then eyed Ethan and smiled.

"My mom says you’ve been out on a date."

Ethan paused, his stoic stance faltering a little, then looked at Hannah. "I’ve…taken her for dinner, yes."

"Has she seen your silk robe?" she attacked again.

"How do you know about that?"

Hannah grinned at the sight of Ethan's creased brow. "Ari told me."

"Course he did." he sighed. "And that reminds me... Sarah Levinson called last week asking me when you were home." Hannah blanched at Ethan's words and he noticed. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Hannah hesitated. She wanted to take another sip of her coffee in order to buy herself some seconds but with a swift glance she realised her cup was already empty, and that was all the confirmation Ethan needed. The experienced agent rolled his eyes at her before stating the obvious. "I knew this would happen."

Hannah shook her head. "Why does Sarah want to know when I’m home?"

"Reading between the lines I think she wants to see you." Ethan said, his gaze never leaving Hannah's face.

"But why? I’ve met her like 5 times, if that!" Hannah sort of protested, rubbing her sweaty palms over her denim clad thighs.

"I think that’s obvious, you’re fucking her husband." Ethan shot, bluntly.

"They’re separated Ethan. And it’s not like that. You make it sound so crass, we’re not fucking…" she trailed off, her initial offended tone dying as she spoke.

"I know." Ethan agreed, his voice softer this time and stood up and headed to his desk. He reached into the drawer for a piece of paper which he gave to Hannah once he had checked it was the one he wanted. "She requested I ask you to call."

As Hannah took the paper from him there was a knock on the door and it swung open to reveal a short, slight, grey-haired man dressed in grey slacks and a light blue, short sleeved shirt. Hannah shoved the piece of paper in her pocket without giving much thought to what it meant and smiled at the man as he stepped into the room.

"I read those fucking reports you left on my table, Ethan, and let me tell you…"

Ethan cleared his throat and nodded to Hannah who blinked at the man, slightly amused at how angry he was despite his unassuming appearance. Ethan gestured to Hannah. "This is Hannah Horowitz. Hannah, meet Barack Isaacs, Mossad Chief."

Hannah stood up and shook his hand. "It’s a pleasure Sir to finally meet you in person."

"And you Mrs Horowitz. I’ve heard a lot about you from Ethan, and of course I knew your father. He was a good man. Taken far too soon." Isaacs said, not an ounce of anger in his voice or features now.

Hannah smiled. "Thank you Sir."

A few minutes later, after having said her goodbyes to both men who would be now no doubt be discussing the reports that had earned all those expletives from Isaacs’ part, Hannah headed down to the car and climbed in the back to head home. She watched the familiar buildings as they moved past and realised that the last time she had been in HQ was when Ethan broke the news of Andy’s death to her, in that very same office she’d been in today. She hadn’t even thought about it until now, but she remembered Isaacs calling her Mrs Horowitz and, now that she came to think of it, Ethan had introduced her to him as such. And whilst that’s what she was, the truth was she didn’t feel like it any more. She felt a little pang in her stomach at her own thoughts, a pang that she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was guilt, she pondered, but what did she have to feel guilty about? Andy was dead. Had been for years and she had every right to move on.

Then the car stopped at a traffic light and her eyes drifted to a shop on the corner, nothing special, it was an ordinary grocery store but she remembered her and Ari buying a bottle of wine from there for one of their many clandestine nights in at his apartment. They had snuggled up to the latest Led Zeppelin LP and made out a bit, in fact that was the first night Ari had ever made her come using his very talented fingers. And, as the car set off, Hannah realised that the memories of her so-called hidden relationship with Ari were all so vivid in her head now, especially after so many years of blocking them out. She sighed and her hand fell absentmindedly into her pocket and curled around the piece of paper with Sarah’s number written on it.

By the time she got home she had decided. She was going to call Sarah and see what she wanted.

****

Ari had no idea how it had happened but Simon was missing. He’d searched the resort up and down and was currently going bananas looking for him around the beach and cursing the day he had backed Hannah up in keeping the damned dog. He was legit shitting his pants when suddenly he heard him barking as he rounded the rocks with Max and Jake hot on his tail. Thank fuck, Ari thought. He might keep his head on his shoulders after all. He gave a sharp whistle and Simon looked up and then set off hurtling towards him. When the dog was close enough he jumped up at him and Ari caught him in his arms. "Hey, buddy calm down." Simon was whining and whimpering and licking Ari’s face as he rubbed the pup's back. "What the fuck has gotten into you?" Simon continued his little noises and nudged into Ari’s face and he glanced up at Max and Jake who were now within earshot. "You pup-napped my dog." Ari glared at them.

"It’s Hannah’s dog." Max deadpanned.

"He’s more mine than he is yours." Ari snapped, still angry at his two teammates for taking the dog without letting him know. And as that was just what he needed to appease himself, Sammy appeared, watching the exchange with an amused air.

"Only because you’re fucking his mom." Max mumbled.

Ari glared at him. "I heard that, dickhead."

"Technically he’s right." Jake quipped.

"Technically you’re an idiot." Ari bit back at Jake.

He was on edge, he was fully aware of that but there was nothing he could do about it. They had taken his fucking dog and it had almost given him a heart attack, not helping the bleak mood that had fallen over him ever since Hannah had left two days before.

"Technically?" Sammy asked and Simon growled. It was like a reflex action the dog had every time Sammy spoke.

"Never, ever take my fucking dog without my permission, you hear me?" Ari hissed glaring at Max and Jake.

Once again he knew he was overreacting but he couldn’t help it. If anything were to happen to this dog, he'd be a dead man, plus he’d miss him too. Ari looked at them once more and then headed off, Simon held to his chest like a small child, with both his arms underneath the dog's butt supporting him, Simon’s paws on Ari’s shoulders, head looking around. He nodded to Rachel, who walked past him towards the spot on the sand where Jake, Max and Sammy were, and without saying a word he retreated to his hut.

All three men stood put for a moment watching him leave and then Max turned to Sammy. "God I can’t wait for your sister to come back, he’s being a pain in the ass."

"As grossed out as it makes me I kinda agree." Sammy acknowledged Max's comment.

"Blue balls don’t suit him." Jake groaned.

"Leave him alone you guys, he’s in love. Wait until it happens to you." Rachel, who had reached them now and was shading her eyes from the sun with the palm of her hand, warned them. All three rolled their eyes and she scoffed. "What?"

"Nothing mom." Max quipped, earning a slap round the back of his head from Rachel.

"I mean seriously though, what were you thinking taking the dog? You know he’s in charge of him and he’s been on edge since Han left. Don’t make it worse."

"See, even you recognise he’s being an insufferable bitch." Max whined.

"Yes and you’re making it worse Maxwell." Rachel looked at him.

"Whatever, I’m hungry now."

"What else is new?" Jake scoffed before stating "You were born hungry."

"All babies are born hungry, asshole." Max snapped as he started walking towards the main building.

"You’re the asshole. The Maltese asshole." Jake shouted at him, following suit.

Rachel groaned, following the bickering pair up the sand. Sammy dropped an arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze and she shook her head. She really needed Hannah there to help her deal with the bunch of overgrown kids. So much for the trained Mossad agents they were supposed to be.

By the time the sun had begun to set and they were sat at the table having dinner everyone had calmed down bar Ari who persisted in being a little bitch. There he was trying to eat whilst Simon was on his lap as the fucking dog wouldn’t leave him alone now. Jake and Max must have played some tricks on the pup for him to be so anxious and clingy ever since he got back to Ari.

Assholes.

Sammy, in turn, was glaring at Simon as every time he spoke, the dog's lip would curl up in a snarl.

"What is your fucking problem?" Sammy snapped at the dog.

"Hey, don’t talk to him like that." Ari warned him, pointing at Sammy with a fork.

"Really, Ari?" Sammy scoffed and Simon growled again at the sound of his voice.

Ari sighed. "Si, quit it for fucks sake."

Rachel who was desperately trying to have a peaceful dinner without having to intervene, again, didn't miss the look Jake was giving at Sammy while mouthing "Si??" so she glared at the pair of them before she cleared her throat.

"We got a letter this morning, from the tourist board."

Ari turned to her "Yeah? What do they want?"

Rachel took the letter from her shorts pocket and handed it to him. She wasn't planning on playing that card, she had just shoved the letter there just in case but the boys' attitude had left her no choice. "See for yourself."

Ari pushed Simon off his lap and took it. He unfolded it, his eyes scanning the words for a few seconds before he nodded. "They want to visit this weekend. I’ll call Madibo tomorrow morning, tell him it’s ok."

"Yeah…you checked the date?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah it says Thursday…so?" Max, Jake and Sammy exchanged glances and Ari looked around with an air of frustration. "What?" "Hannah’s back on Thursday." Sammy reminded him, speaking quietly as if he was walking on eggshell.

"And?"

"Nothing." he shook his head. "I’ll pick her up from the airport if you’re busy."

Fuck Ari thought before pausing and shaking his head. "No need. I’ll go. You don’t need me here."

"Yes we do. That letter says he wants to see you." Rachel pointed at the letter.

Ari frowned and reached for it again before groaning as she was right. "Fucks sake. What time are they coming? Maybe I can…"

Once again Rachel, the voice of reason, cut him off. "No you can’t. They’ll be here by 11. Her flight gets in just after."

Ari looked at her as if she had just slapped him on his face.

"Ari I’ll go, it’s not an issue." Sammy offered.

Ari just nodded as he didn't trust his voice to come out right at that moment. He was raging inside, his mind ticking off all the curses possible. And as such he spent the rest of the meal sulking in silence before he excused himself and went back to his hut. As far as he was concerned his evening was over. One week, one fucking week without her and he had just been denied the possibility of picking her up. Instead he would have to put up with Madibo and who knows who else from the fucking corrupted tourist board.

With Simon whining, as he had clearly detected his dad was upset, and snuggling round his head on the pillow Ari laid on her bed for what seemed like hours, contemplating what a needy bastard he’d turned into (or rather Hannah had made him into) in such a short period of time, before sleep overcame him.

**** As Hannah made the 10 minute walk to the small Café she had arranged to meet Sarah in, the nearer she got the more nervous she was. She’d only ever met Sarah a handful of times, the last one being at her and Ari’s wedding. When she reached the café door her hands were sweating so she wiped them on her jeans and pushed the door open. As soon as she stepped in she spotted Sarah sat at a table near the back. She hadn’t changed much, was just as pretty as the last time Hannah had seen her. Striking cheekbones, deep brown eyes, light red hair. From the photo Hannah had seen of Maya which Ari kept on his nightstand she could see where the girl had gotten her looks from. She was very like her mother but had inherited Ari’s hair colour and face shape.

Sarah looked up, and gave Hannah a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as Hannah approached the table. She stood up and offered a stiff hand to Hannah, which Hannah took, the shake very business-like.

“It’s been a long time.” Sarah spoke in her deep, American accent.

“Yeah, it has.” Hannah agreed as Sarah made to sit down again. Hannah followed and took the seat opposite her, hanging her purse on the chair back. No sooner had they done that than someone was over to take their order. They both requested a coffee each and when the waitress disappeared Sarah spoke.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I wasn’t sure you’d even call so..”

“Well it would have been rude not to, plus I also have a letter for Maya from Ari. Saves me posting it I suppose.” Hannah smiled and reached for her purse, retrieving the thick envelope. She handed it to Sarah.

“Ari said Maya wanted some photos of Simon- my, well, the group’s dog really and she wanted to see the resort too so-“ she nodded to the envelope “- there’s some in there for her.”

“Thanks.” Sarah took the envelope, exchanging it for a slightly smaller one. “I also have a letter here for Ari from Maya, would you-“

“Of course.” Hannah nodded, taking it form her.

“You know she asks about you in there.” Sarah nodded to the letter “Her and Ari talked about you when he was home. He told her you picked her little beaded bag out, which for the record she still carries everywhere.”

Hannah blushed a little “I’m glad she liked it.”

“Are there any photos of you in here?” Sarah tapped the envelope and Hannah frowned, not quite sure what she was getting at.

“No.” she shook her head. But before she had chance to say anything else their coffee arrived. Both thanked the lady who set the cups down, then busied themselves adding sugar, Hannah stirring hers a little more than necessary before she broke the silence, deciding to ask the question that had been on her mind since Ethan gave her the piece of paper with the other woman’s number on it. “Sarah, why did you want to see me? We’ve hardly ever spoken before, certainly not like this.”

“Curiosity I suppose.” Sarah shrugged

“Curiosity? About what?”

“About you.”

“Me?”

Sarah nodded, taking a breath “Will you be honest with me Hannah?”

Hanna nodded, steeling herself as she waited for the inevitable question about whether her and Ari were back together. She knew Ari hadn’t confirmed it to Sarah when he visited, because, well they hadn’t actually labelled what they were then, neither of them knew, but she also knew he hadn’t denied it.

“Do you love him?” Sarah asked.

“Oh…” that had surprised Hannah. She swallowed, “Sarah, I-“

“Because I know he loves you.”

Hannah took a deep breath before she shrugged “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Sarah nodded “In that case then I wish you good luck because you’re gonna need it.”

Hannah frowned and swallowed some of her coffee “What do you mean?”

“I mean when you all finish this mission and you’re not in your little fantasy reality anymore and you’re no longer his ‘bond girl’-”

“Hey, now, just wait a second-” Hannah interrupted a little tetchily but Sarah continued, ignoring her.

“-because he’ll never quit Hannah.” Sarah looked at her “-hell he wasn’t even there when Maya was born because he was stranded in some god forsaken part of Saudi Arabia.”

“He regrets that, he told me.” Hannah sighed and Sarah shrugged.

“I’m sure he does but his wife being 8 months pregnant wasn’t enough to stop him going. His own daughter since has never been enough to stop him going. This life, this sense of duty he has to those people, whilst it’s admirable it’s consuming him. And I just want you to know what you’re letting yourself in for. He dragged you back into all this, Hannah. He won’t be as easy to drag back out.”

Hannah looked at her, mouth hanging open a little as she wasn’t sure what to say. Part of her was pissed off, part of her felt guilty, and beneath it all a pang of sympathy. Ari hadn’t been a great husband or father, and Hannah knew that.

“That said, maybe he will quit for you.” Sarah continued “I mean, maybe me and Maya were simply just not enough…”

“Sarah, it wasn’t like that.” Hannah shook her head, sighing “I won’t make excuses for him being a shit husband and a lousy father because there are none to be made, and he knows that.”

“Yeah, he said all this when he came home.” Sarah gave a huff of laughter “He actually seemed different, happier almost, he was so relaxed with Maya and I get now that’s because of you.”

Hannah took a deep breath. “I kind of feel like I should be apologising for something here Sarah, I’m not sure what but-“

Sarah smiled “It isn’t your fault he’s been in love with you for the past 10 years.”

“Sarah…”

“You ever asked him why we weren’t at your wedding?” Sarah suddenly change the line of the conversation and Hannah looked at her, blinking “It was because he couldn’t bear to watch you marry someone else.”

“No, that’s... that’s not…”

“Ask him. He never admitted it but it was obvious. I was always second best in his eyes.”

“Ari loved you Sarah, I know he did, he’s told me.” Hannah implored “You’re the mother of his child.”

“Oh I don’t doubt he did.” Sarah smiled “Just not as much as he loved you. And here we are, he’s got you back in the end.”

At that Hannah felt the nerve twitch in her jaw, pissed at the nerve of the woman sat opposite her, blatantly trying to blame her for Ari’s attitude in their marriage. Like she was responsible for whatever he’d done over the last 8 or however many years it had been. She desperately wanted to defend Ari but couldn’t, simply because he had been an ass hole to Sarah and she wasn’t about to stick up for him when he didn’t’ deserve it, regardless of the fact she was dating him. But, she wasn’t about to sit here and take this crap from his estranged wife, especially not when Hannah had been through enough shit herself. She took a deep breath, folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, I guess he did. And all it took was a dead husband and a divorce huh?”

If her harsh, sarcastic tone bothered Sarah the other woman didn’t show it as she simply looked at Hannah with a small smile on her face, not a shred of anger on her face as she spoke “Well, fate has a wicked sense of humour.”

PART 2

#leave no one behind #ari levinson x ofc #ari levinson fanfiction #ari levinson #red sea diving resort #red sea diving resort fan fic #fan fiction

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downwiththeficness · 3 years

Text

A Need So Great-Chapter 17

Summary: Eva Moore is assigned to work the last year of her contract with the DEA in Colombia. She just wants to get to the end of her tenure, but she keeps getting drawn further into a string of murders in the city. It isn’t long before she’s forced to face the ghosts of her past.

Word Count: ~3,700

Warnings: None

A/N: For the purposes of this story, Carrillo isn’t married--or, if you like, divorced. A/B/O dynamics are prevalent, and they come with their own warning. The overall rating for this story is Explicit, although not every chapter will contain adult themes.

Taglist: @dirtynerdy98 @1zashreena1 @heresathreebee @deliciouslyclassytrash @maybege @kid-from-new-zealand @clydesducktape @revolution-starter @autumnleaves1991-blog @jedi-mando @buckysalefty @anaeve

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 8.5, 9, 10, 10.5, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21

They punished him when he got back. He’d been gone for almost two weeks—twelve days—and they took it out on him the second he returned. His work hours lengthened until he was leaving before the sun came up and coming home after midnight. Sometimes he’d key into her apartment, falling into bed next to her with his uniform still on, boots kicked off next to the door.

Eva kept food wrapped in plastic in the fridge for him, pulled his belt free from the loops and at least got his button up off when he was too tired to do it for himself. When she did see him, on the occasions he set foot in the embassy, there were dark circles under his eyes.

Still, he didn’t complain. Not one word. Eva’s own workload had grown, having to pick up all the things that had been sitting on her desk. But, Javier and Steve had taken it upon themselves to do a little when they could. Connie would sometimes bring her lunch and they would chat, Eva having to forgo their usual work out nights until she got caught up.

And still, he seemed to just...take it from them. This went on for almost a month before she said anything. The conversation had been short, brusque in a way that he normally wasn’t, the stress peeking out from behind strained eyes. She didn’t say anything after that.

Eva gave him comfort where she could. She set the coffee maker to an earlier time and made sure that he had a travel mug sitting beside it every morning. She washed the uniforms he sometimes left behind, even going so far as to iron his undershirt and fold it neatly atop the pile on the dresser. This was about the extent of her ability to help and it ate at her.

After the first month, he got a day off and spent most of it asleep, or close to it. He’d crawled in next to her after showering, pulling her into his chest before dropping off into unconsciousness. When she’d woken the next day, he was still asleep. When she checked in with him mid-morning, he was snoring softly, one arm reaching across the bed to the place where she’d been.

Finally, when lunchtime slipped by, Eva roused him and forced him to come out and eat a little. He did so mechanically, his eyes unfocused. She maneuvered him to lay on the couch after that, pulling all the curtains in her living room closed, the TV at a low volume.

They spent most of the day like this, vegetating on the couch. And then, when the evening came, Eva put more food in him and sent him to bed early while she worked on a few files she’d brought home from the office. The next morning, he’d gone in early, as he had to the month previous, and she didn’t see him for three days.

This went on for another month before the higher ups started to let off. By that time, he’d been worked nearly to the ground and she could see the beginning of burn out start to set in. Eva encouraged him to rest on the days he had off, doing what she could to bring back the determined set of his jaw when he went about his work.

And, when he seemed to come back to his normal self, she set up a dinner at a nice restaurant with Connie and Steve. They worked in tandem to keep the conversation from flowing back into office talk, but weren’t entirely successful.

“I got those photos developed,” Steve said a little too casually. “I have ‘em if you want to take a look.”

Connie took a disdainful sip of her wine, “I told him not to bring them, but he insisted.”

Eva looked at Horacio, who was carefully gauging her reaction. With a shrug, she reached over the table and flicked her fingers at him, indicating that he should hand them over. He leaned down and pulled a manila folder from where he’d stashed it under his chair. Eva took it from him, opening it and pulling out the photos.

She felt her jaw lock with the effort it took to control her face. The first photo was of her, standing in the airport, looking lost. She flipped to the next: moving in. Then, her walking from the parking lot into the embassy, her sitting at a park after her first day staring into the middle distance, and her talking with Javier as they walked on a sidewalk—a conversation she’d forgotten about. That’s when things started to get interesting.

The next photo pictured her standing next to her car down the street from that little hotel, Horacio leaning over her. His expression looked frustrated. She was smiling. Next, the two of them in a similar position after the bar fight, mid motion as he’d pushed her against her car. Then, her and Connie laughing outside of the gym, sweaty and glowing in the streetlights.

After that came the moment outside of the bombed restaurant, smoke everywhere, Horacio hovering over her. Out of context, it was a stunningly captured image. They looked utterly alone, his concern for her written all over his face. She was holding him by his forearm, chin tilted up a bit, her hair falling in haphazard curls, haloed around her.

Eva stared at it a moment longer before she flipped to the next one. More of her and Connie, sitting on a low wall, eating. Her arguing with Javier on the steps of the church. Her and Horacio sitting on that bench across the street, his hand trailing down her arm, eyes wandering to the hem of her skirt. Another of him kissing her at her door after dropping her off from one of their early dates.

And then she was standing in the street, staring her ex mother in law down. A little out of focus behind her, Horacio was standing by the table with his arms crossed. Eva stared at the picture for a moment longer than the rest, feeling her lip curl. That woman was still living, and possibly already figured out that Zero had been unsuccessful—possibly was already contacting another contractor to finish the job. That would need to be dealt with eventually.

The final photo was taken a few days before she’d been called to examine Zero’s final warning. She was walking hand in hand with Horacio, they were in a busy farmer’s market, picking out a few things to cook up for dinner. Eva was looking up at him as he talked with a vendor, her eyes so full of emotion that she felt herself blush even looking at it. She looked like a woman in love, a thing that Eva had never thought would be something she would have.

Very carefully, Eva slipped the photos back into the folder and set it aside, “Thank you for doing that.”

Steve nodded, his eyes dropping to the glass in his hand, “At least its over now.”

She sighed, “Yeah, I guess so.”

The ride back to Horacio’s house was quiet. Eva glanced at him periodically, could tell that he was deep in thought. She clutched the folder of photos in her lap, unsettled. It wasn’t until she was taking her make up off in the mirror of the bathroom that he finally broached the subject he’d been contemplating all night.

Standing in the doorway, leaning against the jamb, he watched her wash her face, “We do need to address it.”

Eva looked at him in the mirror as she turned off the water, “Address what?”

“The fact that there is likely another hitman already contracted to kill you,” he said matter of factly.

Eva drew in a breath, glad that he hadn’t taken too awful long to decide to have this conversation. She didn’t know how fast Myra would move, but the woman was not known for her patience, or her mercy. It was extremely likely that they had contacted a new guy to finish the job.

She wiped her face off with a towel, “I know. I’ll think of something sooner or later.”

His mouth thinned, eyes narrow, “How can you be so calm?”

Setting the towel on the counter, Eva stepped up to him, placing her hands on his chest, “I have spent almost my entire life with people doing things to me that are completely out of my control. Maybe I’m used to it.”

Walking him back, she sat him down on the bed and kissed his brow. Turning, she reached behind her and tugged down the zipper of her dress, pulling it off while she searched for a sleep shirt to wear.

“This is serious, Eva. Your life is in danger.”

She laughed as she unclasped her bra and threw on the shirt. He very likely did not know how much of a hypocrite he was being in that moment.

“What?” he asked, his tone sharp.

Eva fixed him with a sardonic look, “I’m not the only person in this room with a bounty on their head, Horacio.”

His eyes looked away, “That’s different.”

“How?” she exclaimed, incredulous.

“I’m a police officer working to dissemble a cartel.”

He stood, hands on his hips, mouth curling. Eva felt her inside harden up, unbowed by his fierce look.

“And I’m a felon and former drug trafficker. I can’t escape this, I cannot walk away from it. You have a choice.”

He was already shaking his head, “I don’t.”

Eva stepped up to him, taking his hands, “You do. You can walk away. Retire. Spend some time at the cabin by the ocean. Fucking relax in public places. All of these things you can do. You just have to make the choice to do them.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Horacio looked unsteady. He was looking her with so many conflicting emotions that Eva couldn’t quite parse them out. Sensing that this might be the time to have the other conversation that she’d been keeping to herself for the last few weeks, she soldiered on.

“This job is going to kill you,” she whispered, voice low and rough, “I can’t stand to watch that happen.”

His mouth parted, “We have guards, protocols-,”

She cut him off, “That’s not what I’m talking about. Have you seen yourself these last few months? Did you see what I saw? They’re going to drive you into the ground.”

Horacio blinked, “Its difficult for everyone.”

“No,” she bit out, her hands tightening on his, “You’ve had maybe three days off since we got back. You’ve hardly slept, you’re not eating regularly, you’re so stressed I can literally smell it coming off you.”

Gently, she thumbed the skin beneath his scent gland. His eyes drooped a little, jaw loosening from where he’d been holding it so tightly. Settling into his body, Eva held him to her, trying to convey her worry, her concern for him.

“You want me to walk away from my career? Everything I’ve worked to build?” His voice was on the edge of anger, and Eva fought the urge to back up, to relent to him.

“I want the same thing that I think you want for me,” she murmured, “I want you to live. Really live. You can’t do that if you don’t make some changes. Take that one foot out of the darkness.”

He sighed deeply, dropping his head into the crook of her neck and embracing her, “Its late. We’re both tired. Let’s table this for now.”

Afraid that she’d push him too far if she pressed on, Eva nodded and stepped away to crawl onto the bed. She watched him undress and climb in next to her. After turning off the lamp on the nightstand, he settled into the pillows, taking her hand and kissing it. She drifted off with that solid connection between them.

The next few days were dusted with sporadic conversations about an intangible future. The end of Eva’s contract loomed, now four weeks away. She went to work every day, knowing that it was one less day she would be required to be there. And then something weird happened.

She’d been pulled into a meeting. She’d been censured for continuing to perform field work, outside of the scope of her contract. And then they’d told her that they were cutting it short and to clean out her desk. She’d have two weeks to get her personal items out of the apartment rented for her by the department. Eva couldn’t help the little sneer on her face as she watched Vanessa happily deliver the news.

She couldn’t keep her desk past the end of the day, had been given a box to put her belongings in. Eva had done so mechanically, putting the box of little personal items into her car and returning for her purse, still sitting on that shitty desk Steve had pointed out to her all those months ago. On the way out, she stood under an awning, looking out to the parking lot, confused and feeling just a tiny bit...sad.

A boot scuffed behind her and Eva looked over her shoulder to see Javier standing not far away, his fingers drumming on his leg.

“I guess you heard,” she said, a small smile on her lips.

Javier nodded, reaching up to pluck the cigarette from behind his ear, his other hand already holding a lighter.

“Its strange,” Eva continued on, “I think I’m actually going to miss it.”

He nodded again, not speaking. Eva frowned, gesturing at him as if to say ‘what’s the deal?’

Javier took a drag off the stick in his hand, “Let’s go to lunch.”

Without further explanation, he grabbed her by the elbow and started walking with her. His stride was quick, firm, determined. His expression was closed. Eva felt her stomach drop with anxiety as she followed along.

“Okay,” Eva drawled in a false attempt at bravado, hustling to keep up with him in her heels, “What is this about?”

“Not here,” he murmured, steering her to his car.

It wasn’t until they were both ensconced in their seats and the engine had turned over that he said anything.

“We’re gonna meet Carrillo at a little out of the way dive just outside the city. I’ve been digging into your contract for a couple weeks and wanted to tell you both.”

Interesting.

Eva’s brows lifted, “What did you find?”

“Let’s wait until we get to the place, I’ll tell you everything then.”

They did, indeed, drive just outside of the city to a little hole in the wall place with what looked like only one waiter. At Javier’s direction, he led them to the back of the main room, through the kitchen, down a hall, and into a basement. Eva stood at the top of the steps, feeling just a little bit like she was walking into a trap. She looked at Javier’s back as he descended, looked at the waiter, then sighed and stepped down.

It smelled a little bit musty, and there was only a single light hanging from the ceiling. But, a table had been set up with a few chairs. It even had a tablecloth.

“Well,” she commented, because she needed to talk or she was going to start freaking out, “This is certainly the strangest going away lunch I’ve ever had.”

Javier rolled his eyes and sat heavily in one of the chairs, “Have a seat. They’ll bring us some coffee.”

Eva sat, looping her purse strap over the top of the chair, “Is Horacio on his way?”

He nodded, “Should be here any minute.”

She stared him down, looking for clues as to what this was all about. He hadn’t brought a file, he didn’t even have that little notebook he sometimes carried with him. All he had was his wallet (currently wearing through the fabric of his jeans), his gun (tucked in the back of his waistband), his cigarettes (slipped into the breast pocket of his short-sleeved button up), and his lighter (twirling between the forefinger and thumb of his right hand).

The door at the stairs opened and Carrillo’s heavy steps sounded, a slow, measured thump. Eva folded her hands in her lap and waited until he ducked down to scan the room. He was wearing his uniform, gun at his hip, the first few buttons of his shirt undone so that a little of his undershirt peeked out.

“Sorry I’m late,” he said as he approached and sat down, “Had to make a few calls.”

“Not a problem,” Javier responded, “I almost didn’t catch Eva before she headed out.”

Eva scratched at the skin above her brow, “Does anyone want to tell me what this is about?”

Javier leaned back in his chair, folding his arms, “I did a little research on you.”

“This again?” Eva bit out, feeling a hot anger bubbled up from where is had laid simmering since she’d walked out of that meeting.

Hand up, he indicated for her to wait, “More than just your work history. More than your prison stint. I know a guy who knows a guy, who pulled your file—your actual file. I got a copy of your contract, and I managed to dig up some interoffice mail between Vanessa and some shady people.”

“Okay?”

He leaned forward on his forearms, “There’s a few expense forms that were incomplete, but paid out anyways. Expense forms for plane tickets for, Vladimir Prost—a known alias of Alexei Volkov, according to an FBI friend of mine—w ith a hotel voucher for the same name.”

Eva’s eyes narrowed, her brain circling around the information and coming out on the other side feeling her anxiety spike.

To her left, Carrillo added, “I went to the hotel, pulled a few of their records. He stayed there for months, Eva.”

She crossed her legs, trying to keep her body more still, “I told you that he had, the pictures proved that he had. The question is why Vanessa, why the DEA, was footing the bill.”

Javier shook his head, “That’s the thing, they weren’t. The forms weren’t standard DEA—very close, but not quite the same.”

She blinked, “You’re saying they were doctored.”

“I’m saying they were doctored,” Javier confirmed with a sharp nod.

Carrillo looked at her solemnly, “I paid off a few administrators where she banks, tracked her bank statements and accounts for the last two years and cross referenced them with the forms Javier found. There are several large deposits close to the dates on the forms from a company our of Louisiana, Ardent Pharmaceuticals. That name familiar to you?”

Eva could feel the blood drain from her face, “That’s the company name for the Moore family’s business front.”

“Well,” Javier commented with a little shrug, “They’ve gone straight with a lot of their stuff. They’re a leader in the field of suppressant therapy.”

“I’m sure they are,” Eva sneered, eyes cutting to the side as she thought about those three syringes gleaming on that table.

“Eva,” Carrillo prompted lowly, “Do you understand what we’re telling you?”

She looked at him, “That my early release, my contract, all the work I’ve done, the shitty boss I’ve had, and my entire professional career is a big set up to keep me contained and under the thumb of my former mother in law so that she can eventually corral me into a corner and murder me? That sound close enough?”

“I know you’re mad,” Javier said, catching her eye, “But we’ve got to think smart about this.”

“Smart?” Eva hissed, her voice high, “You’re telling me to be smart? Everything I’ve done under this contract is a lie and you’re telling me to be smart?”

He made a soft sound of comfort, “You can be mad about that—hell, I’m mad about it—but, you can’t react from that anger.”

“How am I supposed to react?”

“With cunning,” Carrillo answered, and she could tell that he’d already made a plan. “I looked at the contract, the end date is set in stone. Did you get a formal letter of release?”

Eva nodded, reaching into her purse and handing it to him. He read it over quickly before handing it to Javier.

“Good,” he said, “That saves you from the DEA asserting that you broke the contract. Now, I’ve still got a hand in Vanessa’s accounts. For the near future, that’s going to be our best bet for tracking when the next hit will come.”

Javier handed the release letter back to Eva, “I also made a call to one of my contacts at the IRS. He’s going to call for an audit of the Ardent books, which should tie up some of their funding for the next few months, at least.”

Eva shook her head, “If they’re still using my system, then they won’t find anything. All their off the books transactions are buried under layer after layer of red tape and false company names.”

Javier leaned forward, “Can you lay out that system for me? So I can send it to them?”

She nodded, “I can do that.”

“Okay, that’ll work. I’ll fax that over to him and that might help speed things along. Eva?”

“Yeah,” she croaked.

“We need you to go about your life as usual. Go pack up your apartment, buy a ticket back to the states, do whatever you think will need to be done so that no one knows you’re onto them.”

Her brows drew together, “You want me to go back to the states?”

Carrillo put a hand on her arm, “We want it to look like you’re going back. We need to buy some time, until we hear back from our contacts.”

Staring into the middle distance, Eva processed the conversation, running over the information a second time and coming out just as angry, if not more so. She was quiet so long that the two men at the table began to fidget.

“Eva?” Javier edged.

She swallowed, then sighed, “Are we actually going to eat at this ‘lunch’? I’ve only had coffee today and I’m starving.”

#narcos #horacio #carrillo #A Need So Great

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