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cherienymphe · 4 years

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Regrets of Yesterday (Steve Rogers x Reader)

WARNINGS: arranged marriage, infidelity? (does it still count if all parties are consenting?), mafia!Steve, side of Bucky x reader, jealous!Steve, eventual NON-CON, Steve’s an ass

DNI IF ANY OF THIS OFFENDS YOU

➥ {page breaks done by @whimsicalrogers}

➥ This will be a short 3 part series ➥ part 2

summary: your arranged marriage to the infamous Steve Rogers isn’t what you initially thought it would be, but things have worked out better than you could have imagined. However, your arrangement with your husband becomes complicated when feelings, and circumstances, that neither of you anticipated come into play.

Your marriage to the infamous Steve Rogers wasn’t even what you would call a cold one. Truth be told, it wasn’t a marriage at all. Everything was arranged the moment you had caught his parents’ eyes, and before you knew it, you were engaged to a man you had never met. Of course, you knew who Steve Rogers was.

Everyone did.

To the average person, he was your run of the mill business man who’d been blessed with generational wealth. To those who really knew, he was a stern leader to the most well-known crime organization in the city, the same one he’d inherited from his father. He was equally brilliant as he was handsome, and that you could confirm for yourself on your wedding day.

It was a wedding with a decent turnout. Both of your parents were there to witness the event of course. As well as his men, but you hadn’t expected other crime bosses to be in attendance, and you would be lying if you said it didn’t make you nervous. Your hair looked the best it ever had, your makeup highlighted your best features, and your dress clung to you in a way that caused everyone’s gazes to linger. All in all, it was a beautiful wedding.

If only your husband to be had been present.

Steve was there physically, of course, but the rest of him was so far away that you found yourself feeling alone at the altar. Your hands were intertwined with his as you said your vows, but you couldn’t really feel them. Your eyes met his, but it felt like he wasn’t even looking at you. His lips brushed against yours so lightly, you had to wonder if you imagined the kiss.

Your parents were positively beaming as the priest pronounced you man and wife, but as you contemplated the weight of Steve’s hand in yours, you wondered just how true that was.

The reception was everything you wanted, and when you were told that you had free reign over all of the wedding details, you had been excited. You thought that Steve was going to be one of those husbands who just wanted to make his wife happy no matter what. It was a rude awakening to realize that it was solely because he didn’t care. About the wedding...

About you.

It was during your first dance as a married couple that you fully realized just what this marriage would be.

“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea,” Steve had started, making you frown.

His blue eyes gazed into yours, neat blond hair pushed away from his face. His handsome face was unreadable, not a hint of emotion peeking through, and his voice was even as he continued.

“I don’t know if they told you why you’re here…”

“They did.”

The main reason for this marriage was so that Steve could produce an heir to continue his family’s legacy. That had been made clear from the beginning, but it didn’t help you any with trying to figure out where this conversation was going.

“…and you understand that’s the only reason you’re here, correct?”

You blinked, a bit shocked as you registered his words. You knew that it played a big part in this marriage, but you hadn’t known that it was the sole reason for this marriage…nor your place here.

“I see,” you whispered, a bit disappointed.

You both turned to pose as a camera flashed, and your conversation continued as he moved you about the dancefloor, a soft breeze ruffling the skirt of your dress.

“I’m not as cruel as they say,” he murmured. “I won’t expect you to just sit in a loveless marriage.”

Your frown deepened as he continued.

“You are free to find affection elsewhere. As am I,” he said, making your eyes widen. “I’m used to a certain lifestyle, and that won’t stop just because we got married, and it would be unfair to not allow you to do the same.”

Your lips parted, and you blinked because this was not how you expected your wedding day to go at all. Here you were, dancing in a courtyard full of people as they watched the two of you celebrate your marriage. Meanwhile, your husband was telling you that he had no intentions of remaining faithful while you were free to do the same because your marriage was for one purpose and one purpose only.

“You…you want me to…”

You trailed off, your words dying in your throat as he looked away from you. Your eyes focused on his side profile, jaw moving every time he talked.

“My father gave me a year to find a wife and start working on producing an heir. He isn’t the most pleasant person to be around when he doesn’t get what he wants. This will satisfy him for the time being while we continue our lives as they were,” he explained.

You pressed your lips together, shoulders dropping as you accepted this.

“…when the time comes, we’ll do what needs to be done to have a child. Until then…”

You supposed that you couldn’t be upset with Steve. This was an arranged marriage after all. Everyone knew how most arranged marriages went, and you were the one who’d imagined this to be something it wasn’t. Besides, it wasn’t his fault that your parents didn’t clue you in on the whole story. You suspected that was for a reason though because had you known, you never would have agreed.

At least he was being transparent with you.

His eyes met yours again, and you nodded at him just as the music slowed to a halt. For the first time since you met, Steve smiled at you, and you did the same, albeit reluctantly. He took your hand and gently handed you off to your father, the older man pulling you into a dance as the music started up.

When you were done dancing with him, you enjoyed a dance with Steve’s father, the older Rogers pulling several laughs from you as he recounted stories of years past. Your dances with the other crime bosses were much more nerve-wracking, the eldest Odinson holding you a tad too tight for your liking. You were relieved when the song ended, and another took his place.

Your next dance partner, while never having the pleasure of meeting him until today, was also not unknown to you. James Barnes was just as well known as your new husband, equally as handsome, and much easier to talk to it seemed.

“You look lovely, Mrs. Rogers,” he told you, and you blinked.

You were taken aback. Sure, your father and even Steve’s father had complimented you on your dress, but Steve hadn’t said a word about how you looked. In fact, he’d hardly spared you a glance. While you accepted your marriage for what it would be, you didn’t realize that meant it would be a cold one.

“Thank you, Mr. Barnes.”

He smiled at you, a genuine expression as his lips pulled back from his teeth.

“Steve and I are close, and you’ll be seeing a lot of me so please. Call me Bucky,” he told you.

You returned his smile with a nod.

“Okay…Bucky.”

You danced with Bucky for 3 more songs, learning that he and Steve had grown up together and were practically like brothers. You enjoyed dancing with him. He didn’t hold you as tight as Thor Odinson did, but his touch also wasn’t that of a ghost’s like your husband’s. He was attentive during the conversation, looking at you instead of through you and talking with you instead of at you.

When it came time for you and Steve to cut the cake, you were a tad disappointed to part from him. Even more so when the time came for the two of you to be driven off in the limo. You stared out of the window the entire time while Steve took a business call. You occasionally eyed him, wondering if he’d ever hang up to at least have a conversation with you, but it was in vain.

With a sigh, you looked away, and forced yourself to accept that this marriage wasn’t really a marriage at all, and that it would never be. You didn’t know this man, and you weren’t being put under any obligations to love him. Truthfully, you never even had to interact with him at all. You could just bask in his millions while living a life completely separate from him. You realized that plenty of women would kill to be in your place, and it was then and there in the limo, on the way to a honeymoon where your husband wouldn’t even sleep in the same room as you, you’d decided that you would make the best of this.

“Do you…have to…leave so soon?”

His thick accent reached your ears as you bent to pick up your dress, smooth voice interrupted by his labored breathing. You slid the satin material over your skin as you pulled it back on, and you felt the bed move beneath you. You smiled when his lips brushed against your bare shoulder, a hum climbing out of his throat as they traveled to your neck.

“Pietro,” you chided.

He pretended like he hadn’t heard you, lips finding yours in a soft kiss when you turned your head. You grinned into his mouth, hand resting on his shoulder.

“I have to go,” you whispered, and he groaned.

He fell back onto the plush bed with a sigh, blue eyes finding yours. He didn’t look happy, but then again, he never did when you had to leave.

“I’ve already stayed much longer than I planned to,” you told him, standing to adjust your dress.

Before you had the chance to reach back and do it yourself, Pietro sat up to zip the material for you. His fingers brushed over your skin as he did so, lingering, and you took in a shaky breath. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder and exhaled.

“Let me guess… Steve?”

You let out a snort, shaking your head while you held in a chuckle.

“When is it ever Steve?”

You and your husband had been together for almost a year, and you’d probably seen the man maybe 10 times. Steve had his life, and you had yours. Not once had the two ever mixed, not even for something as mundane as dinner. You heard Pietro scoff, and you stepped away from him to put on your shoes.

“James,” he decided, so much disdain dripping from his voice you’d think that James had fucked his mother or something. “Of course, it’s James.”

You glanced at him from over your shoulder.

“Do I detect some jealousy?”

“Of course, you do!”

You turned to face Pietro as he stood, naked as the day he was born.

“He always gets you. You like him better,” he said with a pout, and you tilted your head.

You did feel a bit guilty because what he said was true, but it couldn’t be helped. You and Pietro had only just started seeing each other two months ago. Bucky had made his intentions clear with you barely a month into your marriage.

You had been taken aback at his boldness, especially since you’d only been married to his best friend for 30 days, but then you remembered that Steve had probably resumed the activities of his former life as soon as you had returned from your honeymoon.

He was never home, always out late, and on the rare occasion you did cross paths, he hardly spared you a glance. It had been a bit lonely at first, most of your free time filled with shopping or reading or cooking. That all changed when Steve required your presence at some stuffy event. The limo ride had been silent, and you’d taken it upon yourself to part from him as soon as you entered the building.

Bucky had found you in one of the many empty hallways, admiring some painting while you sipped on a glass of champagne. He had complimented you just like he’d done on your wedding day, and you shyly thanked him, not used to the attention. Having been familiar with the building, he gave you a tour, keeping you company and making you laugh the whole night.

As you made your way to one of the upper floors, you had stumbled, courtesy of the alcohol in your system. Bucky caught you with a laugh, telling you that maybe you needed to slow down before plucking the glass out of your hand. You couldn’t remember when nor how he’d gotten so close, but his lips were suddenly on yours.

…and you were kissing him back.

You had eventually stumbled away, feeling wrong despite the fact that Steve said it was okay. Despite the fact that your husband had been doing this very thing all along. You left Bucky there in a hurry, easily finding Steve. He had been looking for you too, ready to go. The ride home was just as silent, but for once, your sham of marriage wasn’t on your mind. It was the feel of Bucky’s lips on yours.

You busied yourself for days, shopping and going out to eat to keep your mind off of one James Barnes. It came to a screeching halt when a limo that wasn’t yours was waiting outside for you when you exited one of your favorite stores. You knew it was Bucky before the window even rolled down, and you had every intention of telling him no when he offered you a ride home.

Your mind said no, and you had even convinced your heart to say no, but when you opened your mouth, that wasn’t what escaped. Confused with yourself, you reluctantly slid into the dark vehicle as he opened the door for you. He had offered you something to drink, and you had shaken your head, avoiding his eyes.

After a while, he moved to join you on your side, gently taking your hand. You didn’t stop him. His free one rested under your chin, tilting your head up so that your eyes were on him. You remembered thinking that he looked more handsome than usual that day, blue eyes brighter and dark hair styled perfectly. His eyes had searched yours as he leaned in to kiss you.

You didn’t stop him.

Your legs shook when you slowly made your way to your front door, a dazed smile on your lips. You had leaned your back against the door, ignorant to the housekeeper as they called your name. As you had made your way up the stairs, Bucky’s scent still clinging to your skin, for once, you were happy to be all alone in this big house.

You had touched yourself that night, no longer a faceless being behind your eyes, but instead James Buchanan Barnes. You woke up that next morning feeling better than you had in weeks, your mood only lifting when a knock sounded on the front door. Bucky was there with a bouquet of flowers, dressed impeccably with his limo waiting behind him. You told him to give you 30 minutes, and 30 minutes later, in a dress that you had bought yourself weeks ago to cheer you up, he was leading you towards the car.

The rest was history.

You pulled yourself from your reverie, frowning a bit at Pietro.

“Well, he’s here. You go back home in, what…2 days?” you wondered with a shrug. “I only see you for a week before you’re flying back home for another month.”

Pietro ran his eyes over you, lips down turned.

“You could come with me,” he whispered.

This conversation was not unfamiliar to you, and you rolled your eyes.

“Even if I wanted to Pietro, that would never happen,” you said, holding up your left hand. “I’m married.”

“Barely,” he mumbled.

You laughed at that, putting your earrings back in.

“True marriage or not, I don’t think Steve would take too kindly to me running off with one of my lovers. His pride wouldn’t survive it.”

“Screw his pride, the man is an idiot,” he spat, wrapping his arms around your waist to pull you closer. “We both know it’s James you worry about. There’s no doubt in my mind he’d have me killed for stealing you away.”

You pecked his lips, pulling away before reaching for your coat and your purse.

“You’re probably right. All the more reason I can’t just run off with you,” you told him.

He heaved a heavy sigh as you made your way to the door.

“I’ll call you later?” you said, glancing at him.

Pietro rolled his eyes, but a fond smile found its way onto his lips anyway.

“Of course.”

As you made your way out of the suite and into the elevator, you found yourself thinking about your fling with Pietro. He was beautiful and cultured, and he made your head spin. However, he was flighty. You knew that Pietro had a roster of women lined at his feet, and you were simply his favorite. Pietro was not the kind of man you just run off with. Sure, your marriage to Steve wasn’t a marriage at all, but it provided security, and you’d be silly to give that up for a womanizer who would lose interest in less than 4 months.

Besides, what Pietro said did have a grain of truth to it. There was no doubt in your mind that Bucky would kill the man for stealing you away. If Pietro, like all the others, was a fling, then Bucky… Well, Bucky was probably the love of your life. It was strange to finally admit that to yourself, but you did love him. Sometimes it felt like you were married to him instead of Steve, and sometimes, when it was just the two of you, you wished that were true.

You sighed into Bucky’s mouth as he pressed his hips into yours, warmth filling you as you came around him for the second time that night. Your fingers were tangled into his hair, a shudder passing through you while his fingers pressed into your hips.

“Stay the night,” he whispered against your lips.

You chuckled, throwing your head back as he brushed his own against your jaw.

“That would make it the third night in a row. I shouldn’t,” you replied. “God forbid Steve remembers my existence and actually needs me for something now of all times. It would be just my luck.”

He rolled off of you with a sigh, exasperation coloring his tone.

“Just tell him you’re busy,” he slyly said, tracing his finger down your side.

You slapped his hand away, and he laughed.

“That’s not part of the deal,” you reminded him.

He scoffed, and you sat up. You and Steve never brought up your separate lives in conversation. While that was hardly a possibility before, seeing as he never talked to you, in a week, you and he will have been married a year and 4 months, and you were seeing more of him than you were used to. Bucky had mentioned something about some shipments he was letting Tony handle, and you guessed that gave Steve more free time. You were surprised he didn’t want to fill that time with one of his many mistresses.

“Right. What is it again? Don’t ask…”

“…don’t tell,” you finished. “…and never in the house.”

Bucky rolled his eyes, resting his hand behind his head as he gazed at you, dark hair mussed.

“Are you happy?” Bucky suddenly asked you, and you paused, turning to fully face him. “I mean with him. Are you happy with him?”

You frowned, mulling over that question.

“Well,” you breathed. “There’s not really an answer for that. I’m not with him.”

Bucky sat up too, now, and you continued.

“He and I, aside from our names on a piece of paper, aren’t together. I am…a womb waiting to be used to produce an heir to satisfy his family,” you said. “So, I’m not happy or unhappy with him because I am not with him. Truthfully, I’m with you...and I’m very happy with you.”

“Then be with me.”

Bucky’s face was clouded in desperation, and you blinked at him, frowning.

“What are you saying…?”

Bucky huffed, running his hand through his hair before taking your hand.

“I’m saying ditch the other guy,” he threw at you, and you barked a disbelieving laugh.

“The other guy! You mean Steve? Your best friend? That Steve?”

Bucky heaved a sigh as he got out of bed, and you watched as he pulled his pants on.

“Look, I love Steve, but he’s an idiot. I don’t care what kind of lifestyle I was used to. If I were marrying you, I’d turn my back on it all no questions asked just to have you every night,” he said, and your face softened. “If all he needs is a baby maker, he can easily find another wife.”

“Bucky,” you sighed.

“Leave him,” he pleaded. “…and be with me.”

“You know, the last time I saw Pietro, he was demanding the exact same thing from me.”

Bucky’s lip curled at the mention of the other man that you hadn’t seen in months, and you laughed.

“How is Pietro these days, anyway?”

You fixed him with a look.

“You know that I haven’t even talked to Pietro in months. After my last refusal to run off with him, he quickly lost interest.”

Bucky smiled, face brightening as he shrugged.

“I know. I just like to hear you say it.”

You tossed a pillow at him as he laughed, moving to get dressed. He pulled you into his side as soon as you were both clothed, fingers dancing along your waist.

“I like having you all to myself,” he murmured, lips meeting your cheek.

He helped you into your coat before walking you downstairs. It was colder these days, and he tightened his hold on you as he walked you to his car. The drive to your house was quiet, but not uncomfortable, Bucky’s hand in yours as you looked out of the window. It was late at night, but the city was even livelier than it was during the day. When his driver slowly pulled into your driveway, Bucky pressed his lips to yours, reluctant to pull away.

You felt the same, and you didn’t want to admit it to yourself that his proposal was tempting. His hand tightly held yours as you stepped out of the limo, making sure you didn’t fall. Just before you turned to leave, he brought the back of your hand to his lips, blue eyes drinking you in.

“Think about it,” he murmured, and you threw him a sad smile, promising him that you would.

Your heart was heavy as you pressed your key into the door, pressing your back to it as soon as you shut it. You stood in the foyer, staring up at the ceiling with a sigh. All those months ago, when Pietro had asked you to leave your husband, it had been easy to turn him down. Bucky? Not so much. Feeling like you wanted to cry for the first time in forever, you slowly made your way into the living room.

“You’re out late.”

A startled shriek left your lips, hip bumping into the table beside you just as light flooded the room in time to watch the vase of flowers shatter against the floor. Fear forgotten, you pressed your hand to your heart, sucking your teeth at the vase Bucky had gotten you last year. He bought you fresh flowers every week to fill it with.

“Oh no,” you sighed, kneeling to grab them.

You heard Steve move behind you, footsteps growing louder as he neared. You glanced at him as you stood, shaking the water and glass off of the flowers.

“Jesus, Steve. You almost gave me a heart attack,” you complained.

“Sorry,” he evenly replied. “Was this new?”

He was referring to the vase, and you tripped over your words.

“Uh…no. N-not exactly,” you said, making your way to the kitchen.

You sat the flowers on the counter, grabbing the broom and dustpan before making your way back into the living room. You frowned at the mere presence of Steve, wondering what he was even doing home. Perhaps that was a bit unfair of you, but you had grown so used to not having him around. You preferred it. You could feel his eyes on you as you swept up the glass, even still when you returned to wipe up the water.

“We have a housekeeper for that,” he said, making you frown again.

“I’m aware,” you replied, standing. “…but what sense would it make for me to leave this here all night just so Peter can clean it up in the morning when I’m perfectly capable of doing it right now?”

Steve nodded, and you made to move towards the kitchen again when he spoke.

“You were out late.”

You paused to look at him, realizing that was what he’d said when you first came in, scaring the crap out of you. With a frown, you looked at your watch.

“It’s only 1:17,” you told him.

You were normally out much later, but Steve always came home in the early hours of the morning, if he came home at all, so of course he wouldn’t know that. He simply nodded at your response, hands on his hips. He was still dressed like he’d only recently gotten home himself, and you again wondered why he was even home, but you decided that you didn’t particularly care.

He was still standing there when you exited the kitchen, flowers left in the sink. You wouldn’t worry too much about them. It was almost time for Bucky to buy you a new bouquet anyway. You barely spared Steve a glance as you made your way to the stairs, briefly pausing when he wished you a goodnight. You threw him a small frown before wishing him the same, Bucky returning to your thoughts the minute you entered your bedroom.

You were startled again when you entered the kitchen the next morning, finding Steve already there sipping on a cup of coffee. Once again, his presence confused you, but you kept it to yourself. You don’t think you had ever woken up to find Steve still in the house, and certainly not in the kitchen. You didn’t greet him as you made your way to the fridge, grabbing some lemon to put in your water.

Silence filled the room as you went about cutting a few slices, preparing your drink. It seemed a little tense, but you were determined to ignore it. You were meeting Bucky in an hour and it would take half that just to figure out what to wear. You were pulled from your thoughts by Steve’s voice.

“You never did say where you were last night.”

You glanced up at him, a slight frown on your face before you released a light chuckle. You heard him set his mug down, and when you looked up again, his eyes were on you. He was casually dressed today, a first for him. He still had on the usual black slacks, but he’d traded the button down for a simple white tee.

“Something funny?”

His voice was low, a tone he used on his subordinates you were sure, but you merely nodded your head.

“Yes. You.”

Now it was Steve’s turn to frown, eyes narrowed just a bit.

“How so?”

“You’ve never been curious about my whereabouts before,” you told him.

“Well, that was before I knew you weren’t coming home,” he said.

You sighed, setting the knife down as realization hit you.

“We were supposed to attend a gala last night, and I came home the other day to tell you, but you weren’t here. You never even came through the door, and that was concerning,” he explained. “If you hadn’t walked through the door last night, I was going to send a search party.”

“I have a phone.”

He raised an eyebrow at you, pulling said phone out of his pocket before placing it on the counter.

“A phone that you left here.”

You grimaced, sheepishly taking it. You could get so caught up with Bucky sometimes that you were positive you’d lose your head if it weren’t attached to you. Your eyes met Steve’s, apologetic.

“I’m sorry. I’ll do better about keeping it with me,” you promised.

He heaved a sigh, taking another sip, eyes never leaving yours. You rolled your eyes, realizing what he wanted, before dropping your knife into the sink.

“I was with a friend,” you told him. “…but as you can see, I’m safe and sound. There’s no reason to worry.”

You slipped out of the kitchen before he could respond, determined to hurry up and get dressed. This wasn’t the first time that you’d forgotten your phone at home, it was just the first time you’d done so, and Steve happened to need you.

He wasn’t in the kitchen when you came back down, dressed and ready to go, but you could hear him upstairs. Practically itching to get out of this house and away from his cold stare, you hurriedly made your way outside. In the car, you took your time to check your phone, grimacing at the 3 missed calls from Steve. However, a smile found its way onto your face at the message from Bucky. He’d sent it last night after he dropped you off, telling you to think about it.

It was the first thing he brought up as soon as you met him at the restaurant too.

“Steve won’t even miss you. Hell, he doesn’t miss you, but I do. I miss you all the time,” he said.

“Funny, you miss me all the time when I feel like I’m with you all the time,” you commented, picking at your appetizer.

Bucky tilted his head, pretending to think.

“I’d say you’re with me about 90% of the time-.”

“90%, you don’t say,” you mocked.

“Yeah,” he said, nodding. “90%, and that other 10%, I’m practically dying.”

You rolled your eyes.

“How do you manage…”

“I’m serious, Y/N,” he continued, taking your hand. “Leave him. There are a million women who could easily take your place, women who want to be in your place. He gets one of them, you get me, and we’re all happy.”

You smirked at him, attention falling to your food again.

“Why Mr. Barnes, I do believe you’re trying to wreck my marriage,” you teased.

“Hardly. I’m simply trying to start a new one.”

Your eyes snapped to his, that teasing smile falling from your lips as you registered his words. Your heart skipped a beat, and your lips parted as he eyed you, his tongue darting out to wet his own.

“…what?”

“Doll…what did you think when I said be with me?”

You shook your head, shrugging.

“I…I don’t know, but I didn’t think you meant marriage. You want to marry me?”

He took your hand in both of his, pressing his lips to the skin, a brown strand kissing his forehead.

“Of course, I do. More than anything. Wouldn’t you like that?”

You thought about it, chewing on your lip.

“…waking up to each other every morning, falling asleep to each other every night. I’d bring you breakfast in bed and we’d…work on our little family…”

Your gaze met his again, and you found that you loved the sound of that.

“Are you…proposing to me…?”

The idea was absurd, especially considering you already had a ring on your finger. Bucky chuckled, shaking his head.

“Not really. I just wanted you to know my full intentions, that I’m not just fooling around here.”

You stewed over what he said while he continued.

“I’m not going to pressure you anymore, but you know how serious I am now, and I want you to think about it,” he softly told you.

You slowly nodded, still in shock.

“I will,” you quietly replied.

His grin widened, and he sat back in his seat.

“After we leave here, we can go pick out a nice bouquet, yeah?”

You suddenly blinked as you remembered last night, a smile on your face.

“Yes, please, and…a vase too?” you guiltily asked.

He frowned, tilting his head before nodding.

“Of course. What happened to your vase?”

You huffed a sigh.

“I broke it. I bumped into the table, courtesy of Steve,” you complained, shaking your head.

“Steve? What do you mean?” he demanded, voice dropping.

“It was nothing. He was waiting for me when I got home last night, in the dark like a creep, and he practically gave me a heart attack,” you explained.

Bucky didn’t respond for a while, simply humming. He picked at his food, lips pursed as he eyed you.

“Why was he waiting for you?”

“Apparently there was some gala last night? He’d been planning to tell me I had to be in attendance with him but someone…,” you threw him a pointed look “…prevented me from going home the other night. Add in that I had left my phone at home, I guess Steve convinced himself that I had been kidnapped or something.”

Bucky simply hummed in response, and you both finished your lunch. Your days spent with Bucky always went by fast, and you were always sad to wish him goodbye. His proposal was taking up more and more residence in your mind, especially as you watched him drive off. You stood at your door, staring after his car with your coat wrapped around you, wondering what it would be like to go home to him every night.

With a sigh, you turned and made your way inside. You were greeted by the sight of Steve, voice low as he pressed his phone to his ear. You sent him a small polite smile before making your way to the kitchen to fill up your new vase, fresh flowers in your left hand. You were just cutting them when he joined you, and you turned to curiously look at him.

“I need you to accompany me to an event tomorrow,” he told you to which you nodded, wondering if Bucky was going to be there.

“Okay.”

You didn’t hear him leave as you turned back around, dropping the flowers into the water, satisfied. Your suspicions turned out to be correct when you turned around only to find him still standing there.

“I could’ve replaced the vase if I’d known it was that important,” he said with a small frown.

You shook your head, moving past him.

“It’s fine,” you honestly told him.

His eyes were still on you as you sat it down, adjusting it to a position that you liked. You tightened your coat around you as you passed him, ascending the stairs with a small ‘goodnight’ thrown over your shoulder.

You woke up the next morning feeling positively ill. Every inhale had your stomach churning, and you cursed yourself, trying to remember everything you ate the day before. You had planned to at least see Bucky for a little bit before this shindig tonight, but the summersaults going on in your stomach had you canceling on him. The silver lining was that he apparently was going to be in attendance tonight, and that made you feel better.

Again, Steve was home all day, but you didn’t see him until it was time to go. You had remained in bed all day, drifting in and out of sleep, fighting off every wave of nausea that came at you. You though that you did a good job of hiding your discomfort, but Steve had asked you if you were alright the minute you came downstairs. You told him that you were fine, a whopper of a lie, but your attendance was mandatory so what else could you do?

Like all of your car rides together, this one was silent, but you could feel Steve’s eyes on you every now and then. You couldn’t be bothered to question him on it, too preoccupied with keeping your food down. Your nausea only got worse the minute the two of you stepped into the building. The smell of food was heavy in the air, and there was no doubt that you were starting to look as sick as you felt.

Your eyes fell on a group of familiar faces, one more familiar than the rest. You threw them all strained smiles as you approached, head feeling a bit light. You couldn’t even be bothered to care that Steve’s hand was on the small of your back, more important things to worry about other than his unusual behavior.

You had just reached your friends and acquaintances when a server came by with a tray of food. The smell that hit your nose had your stomach clenching, and you barely had enough time to swipe a napkin before your food was coming up.

“Oh my God, Y/N,” Nat cried, hurrying towards you with a bowl.

There was some slight commotion as her husband, Bruce, and Sam hurried to flag down some help for the mess. Nat’s hand was on your shoulder, helping you towards a seat, and you could feel Steve’s hand still on your lower back.

“Y/N?”

He sounded worried, and you only figured out why when your legs crumbled. You hadn’t realized that your lashes had begun to flutter as your steps started to slow.

“Woah,” he said, catching you as you fought to straighten your vision.

He sat you down, and you could feel several people fanning you. Steve was wiping your hands clean when Bucky finally neared, brows furrowed in concern, looking as handsome as ever. Too bad you couldn’t truly appreciate it.

“I’m okay,” you told him before he could even start. “Just ate the wrong thing, I think.”

Bucky didn’t look convinced, and he sat down beside you, pressing his hand to your forehead.

“You don’t feel warm,” he murmured, and you shook your head at him.

“It was just some bad food,” you whispered, trying to ease his worries.

Again, he didn’t look convinced, but he nodded anyway. He stood with a sigh.

“I’m going to go get your coat,” he said, and you thanked him.

You could feel Steve’s eyes on you, but when you looked at him, you couldn’t make out his expression. His hand was still on your lower back, and you finally breathed better when he pulled away, standing.

“I’ll be back. I’m going to the valet, make sure the car is ready so we can go.”

Your face fell, feeling like you ruined his night.

“I’m sorry, Steve-.”

“What for? You’re clearly sick. I wish you had said something.”

If you didn’t know any better, you’d say he sounded upset that you didn’t tell him, but it was more likely he was upset that you had in fact ruined his night. With a soft squeeze to your shoulder, he was gone.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” T’Challa asked you, and you nodded.

His wife, Nakia, came hurrying over with a glass of water, and you gratefully took it. You were even more grateful that you could keep it down, and you sent her a small smile as you handed the empty glass back to her.

“Thank you.”

“Think nothing of it,” she said, shaking her head. “You must be feeling awful. I’m grateful that I don’t get sick often because the only time I have ever vomited is when…well, when I was pregnant.”

She chuckled, and you froze.

“…and I love my children dearly, but I do not want to go through that again.”

You joined her, a nervous laugh escaping you just as Bucky returned with your coat. You jumped, having been surprised to feel the fur draped over you, but you allowed him to help you up. He rubbed your arms through the fabric, voice low.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

Nakia’s words had your mind racing, and your lips parted because honestly? You didn’t know. You didn’t want to scare Bucky over nothing, but you also wanted to voice your sudden fears that you had never even considered before. All too soon, the two of you were meeting Steve at the door, and Steve’s grip was firm as he took you from Bucky’s hold, eyes hard.

“I got it from here, Buck. Thanks.”

His voice was clipped, and you frowned at him, but Bucky simply nodded, bidding you both goodnight before reluctantly making his way back inside. You wanted to tell Steve that he didn’t have to be rude to Bucky just because you ruined his evening, but another wave of nausea hit you.

Your head leaned against the window as soon as Steve deposited you into the car. The fresh air was ebbing your nausea a bit, the low rumble of the car helping. You hadn’t taken the limo, and you were starting to regret that because you really wanted to lie down, but fatigue still found a way to slowly creep up on you.

If only Steve had allowed it to do so.

“I really wish you had told me you weren’t feeling well. We would have stayed home,” he said.

You sighed.

“I was hoping it would go away. Our attendance was mandatory, Steve,” you whispered.

“Not at the expense of your health,” he sneered.

You rolled your eyes, realizing the root of his annoyance.

“I promise you, I’ll be in good enough health to give you your heir. It was just some bad food…”

Steve heaved a sigh, and you felt his eyes on you.

“This isn’t about a baby. This is about you. Watching you drop to the floor like that was…scary,” he admitted.

“I’m fine,” you said, feeling like a broken record.

“Well, you don’t look fine. You look sickly. Are you taking care of yourself like you should?”

You scoffed, wondering where this was coming from. The man who barely talked to you in almost 2 years was suddenly acting like your father, and you didn’t like it.

“Of course, I am.”

He exhaled.

“I just know that the house can be…lonely. It can get to you if you’re not careful.”

You rested your head on your hand, breathing through your mouth.

“I’m far from lonely, Steve, so really. There’s no need to worry…”

You could feel his eyes on you again, a soft ‘oh’ reaching your ears.

“I’m glad to hear it. Maybe you should go and see a doctor,” he proposed, quickly changing the subject.

You swallowed another sigh, not wanting to talk about this another minute.

“I told you, it was just some bad food.”

That was what you told yourself, but Nakia’s words almost made you want to hurl again. It only recently occurred to you that you hadn’t gotten your period in a while, but you didn’t think too much of it because you had never been regular. Still, you and Bucky weren’t always safe, but that was what birth control was for. What were the odds of your birth control failing you during one of the few times you didn’t use a condom?

However, the next day, as you stood in the bathroom, looking down at the positive pregnancy test in horror, you realized that the odds were great.

tags: @mcudarklibrary @sherrybaby14 @harryspet @xoxabs88xox @darkficreposter @opheliadawnwalker3 @honeychicanawrites @honeychicana @nickyl316h @captainchrisstan @sebabestianstan101 @readermia @villanellevi @lokislastlove @notyourtypicalrose @coconutqueen21 @hurricanerin @buckybarnesplumwhore @quaksonhehe @nerdygirl8203 @patzammit @mandiiblanche @cocoamoonmalfoy

#dark!steve rogers #dark!steve x reader #Steve Rogers #steve rogers x reader #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes #Dark Fic #marvel fanfiction #mafia steve rogers #mafia!steve rogers #mafia au

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revengeisourlullaby · 3 years

Text

If I Never Knew You Pt.1

Pt.2 Pt.3 Pt.4 Pt.5 Pt.6

Warnings: 18+, eventual smut, arranged marriage plot, kinda royal au, some fighting, secret relationship, angst.

a/n: This is going to be a six part series. I’ve never done a series before, but I write so much anyway I thought why not make one. I’ll probably upload each part daily unless there is demand for them to come faster. I hope you enjoy. Requests/asks will be open if you wanna send smth to me! Although I will admit I am kinda slow in finishing requests. I have a lot to balance in my life so my apologies if I don’t get to them immediately!

Word count: 1.8K

Loki x female!reader

The sun shone through the window of your home, the golden rays warming up your cheeks and waking you from your slumber. Sitting up, you stretched, feeling the sleep vibrate out of your body. Tossing the sheets off your body, you swung your legs out of the bed and walked to the bathroom to begin your morning routine. Finishing with tending to the mass of hair on your head you trailed back into your bedroom to change into clothes appropriate for the day. An array of dresses always leaving you indecisive about what to wear.

Settling on an olive green one you walked towards the mirror and fastened the ties around the back of your neck. The loose sleeves draped over your shoulders, cascading down your back, and gold accents adorning the neckline. Finding your shoes, you slipped out of your bedroom, closing the door behind you, and walked down the hallway, the chatter of your family becoming more clear as you near the entrance of the main room.

“Good morning, mother. Father.”

It seemed you had slept in quite a bit, given your parents already eating breakfast. Your mother piped up

“There’s a portion left for you on the counter, my dear.”

Eying the food you decided you weren’t all that hungry yet. You had just woken up and your body had yet to settle. Declining, you grabbed your satchel and began to walk towards the door.

“But Y/N, you should really eat something before starting your day.”

“I’ll be fine, Mom. I promise. I’m just not that hungry right now. I’ll eat when I get back.”

Finally reaching the door, your father chimed in,

“You know, Y/N, just because you try to avoid the obvious, doesn’t mean it’s going to go away any sooner.”

Dropping your head, you sighed. You couldn’t seem to escape the duties of being a young woman in a world where royal obligations were something you were expected to partake in. Upon reaching the age of 18, you were supposed to be on the lookout for a decent suitor of a husband. The fact of the matter was, you were now approaching 22 and had yet to find someone acceptable, not only by your standards but by your parents.

For this uniting of peoples would also be a uniting of families. You had until your 21st birthday to find a man suitable to everyone's liking and if you didn’t, arranged marriage was the next option. No one wanted to be known as the woman in Asgard who couldn’t get a man to offer his hand in marriage, yet here you were in all your glory. It was frustrating.

If only they knew.

“I know, Dad. Things are a little bit harder when I have to seek my parents' approval for my marriage.”

Your tone became short, frustrated at the entire situation. You already had someone, for a while now actually, but you hadn’t the guts to inform your parents because you knew they would shut him down. So you loved in silence. It was more than painful, not being able to be truly open with your lover, but you had yet to find the right time to pour out your heart to your family. Taking a deep breath, your grounded yourself and turned towards the door,

“I’ll be back later, I love you.”

Your mom got to responding before your father did,

“We love you too dear. Make sure to pay attention to who you’re around. Be safe.”

Smiling lightly you finally walked out the door and stepped into the fresh air that was Asgard. It never got old. The scent of the trees and freshwater that surrounded this place sent one into such serenity. Just being outside could allow your mind to drift elsewhere and forget about the troubles in your life. Walking as far as you could from your home you spaced out in the direction you were going.

Coming back to when you accidentally kicked a pebble across the ground. Looking up you found yourself in one of the many gardens that surrounded Asgard. Walking to a marble bench, you scrunched up some of your dress in your hands, folding one leg under you before sitting atop it. Crossing your other leg across it and letting the fabric of your dress fall to the ground.

Pulling your satchel into your lap, you grabbed your journal out of it and began to sketch the garden in front of you. Paying special attention to the detail of the flowers, wanting to make sure you entirely captured the essence of their beauty on paper. Lost in concentration, you failed to hear the footsteps approaching behind you. It wasn’t until you felt a hand rub small circles into your shoulder that you turned around.

Hair fell in your face, obscuring your view of who was in front of you. Bringing your hand up to place your hair away from your face you dropped your pen on the ground. You went to reach for it, but a separate pair of hands grabbed it first.

“You seem to be quite the mess today, my darling.”

A genuine smile stretched across your features before looking up into the enchanting blue of his eyes.

“Loki, hi! What are you doing out here?”

Sitting down next to you, careful to avoid your dress he spoke,

“Well, I was informed that a beautiful lady was sitting in the garden in front of the palace so of course, I had to go inspect the situation. And upon seeing a stunning shade of green draped over the bench, I had to introduce myself.”

An airy laugh left your throat, blithe being showcased across your being.

“If I didn’t know any better, it sounds like you fancy this beautiful woman.”

“How could I not? Her beauty extends beyond the physical. She's incredibly intelligent and the only one to unconditionally show kindness and love to those who deserve it. It’d be incredibly injudicious of me to not be aware of that.”

“Alright, alright Loki, you’ve buttered me up enough.” you chuckled

“It’s never enough, darling. And it’s not buttering you up if it’s true, which it is. So, against your wishes, I shall continue to do it.”

You rolled your eyes and smiled. Looking down at his hands, you placed yours on top of his and gazed into his eyes once more. Glancing down to his lips and back up to his eyes, you slowly leaned in, Loki meeting you halfway. A kiss so tender you forgot it was Loki whose lips were tangled in a dance with your own.

Loki moved his hand out from underneath yours and placed it on your cheek. You pulled away from the kiss and nestled your head into his hand, his thumb caressing your cheek allowing you to relish in the moment of being with each other. Flashing your eyes back up to his you asked,

“Shall we go for a walk?”

“Why not?”

Stuffing your journal and pen back into your satchel you untangled your legs and got up from the bench, Loki helping you stand up so that you didn’t trip on your dress. Taking your hand in his own, you two walked through the garden on a path that would eventually lead you to the entrance of the palace.

“I’ve missed you Loki. I always miss you, I hate being away from you.”

“I know my love, I do as well, but you of all people know our predicament.”

You stopped in your tracks and turned in haste to stop him as well, making him face you. You brought both your hands up to cup his face, an idea flashing bright behind your eyes,

“Well, maybe we can change it! We can be the change to get rid of this stupid rule. I can’t imagine my life without you Loki. I don’t want to have to share my world with someone else. It’s only ever going to be you.”

Bringing his hands up to your wrists, he looked deep into your eyes, sorrow and hope swimming behind his facial features.

“Maybe we can, although we have to prepare for the worst...but that doesn't mean we can’t try.”

Giving a small smile, he moved his hands to the back of your head, thumb caressing your temple, and leaned in to kiss you. Giving you all the reassurance you could’ve asked for. Pulling away from each other you continued down the path hand in hand. Closing your eyes you took a deep breath, serenity washing over you.

Opening your eyes, you realized you were closing in on the front of the palace meaning you would now be in the public eye and the last thing you wanted was more gossip to fall upon you. Looking at your lover, you stopped walking, halting him in his tracks. Forcing him to turn around and look at you.

“What is it?”

You sighed, suddenly being overcome with emotion.

“Well, if we walked any further, everyone would see us and I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble for you…”

“...Trouble? For me?”

Loki scoffed, his signature smirk following.

“Love, all I’m known for is for causing trouble, I wouldn’t mind another notch on my belt.”

You were hesitant. You loved Loki and you knew your feelings were reciprocated through him, but it was difficult breaking from the chains of what you ‘were supposed to do’. It left you in such dissonance and yet you felt in your heart to rebel so fiercely that Asgard would immortalize your change. Your silence alerted Loki and he spoke again,

“Y/N, if we are to ever make any sort of change we cannot hide in the shadows anymore. We cannot separate and scatter like roaches when the light is shined upon us. We must bask in it. That is the only way we can possibly aspire to reach our goal of loving one another in true fulfillment.”

“You’re right.”

“I always am.”

You placed your hand back in his and Loki smiled down at you.

“Ready to have the target on your back, Y/N?”

“As long as you’re by my side, I can handle anything.”

Walking out of the secluded area of the garden, you finally stepped into the light. For the first time in the last year being open about your courtship with Loki. Asgard’s God of Mischief and your parent’s worst nightmare. You felt armored for anything to be hurled in your direction with Loki was by your side and always would be.

The anxiety of it all had yet to drain from your bones and you couldn’t help but draft up ‘what ifs’ in your head. As if Loki was scavenging through your brain, he gave your hand an inspiriting squeeze, bringing you back into your body and out of your head. If only you knew how the whispers of your choice in partnership would rain the fires of hell all too soon.

#loki #loki fanfic #Loki Laufeyson #loki x reader #marvel fanfic #loki imagine #loki laufeyson imagine #loki laufeyson x reader #marvel imagine #marvel x reader

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prettyvampiress96 · 3 years

Text

The Malfoy Secret - Chapter 4

Excitement buzzed through the halls of Malfoy manor, with Draco home on break, Lucius and Anastasia had been invited by Cornelius Fudge himself to the Quidditch World Cup . Bulgaria VS Ireland. Of course once Draco had heard the news it became a family outing. Draco was thrilled Anna was tagging along. "Draco darling just because your home from school , does not mean anna can shy away from her work. Your father and Anna will have reputation's to uphold as do we?" Narcissa warned him yet again. " But mother that's barbaric, Anna is my friend . Mine and I want her to watch the match with me" Draco whined turning on his heels to pout up at Anna. Lucius , Narcissa and Anastasia all shared a look to each other which Draco completely missed. Keeping this a secret would be that much more difficult yet all the more so exciting.

The Malfoy's and Anastasia apparated to the match and they proceeded to walk through the crowds in order to reach their private box , stopping to greet others along the way. Lucius and Narcissa began walking up the flight of stairs first followed closely behind were Anna and Draco. "Ah here's Lucius now. I'm positive most of you know each other " came the voice of Cornelius Fudge. Anastasia tensed when she laid her eyes on who Cornelius was conversing with. The Weasley's. Anna tensed and her jaw locked into place, her hand reaching towards her wand. After her last run in with Percy, Anna was certainly taking no chances. Draco noticed the change in Anna and turned looking confused at the situation. Anastasia narrowed her eyes completely having zoned out of the conversation , until Arthur Weasley held his hand out towards her . Instead of shaking his hand Anna chose to not take notice. "Anna" Narcissa scolded as if Anna was one of her own. "Oh that's quite alright Narcissa truly, Percy did say some rather unforgiveable things, it's bound to be hard for her to forgive. No hard feelings. Right lets get to our seats shall we?" Arthur said clapping his hands , he began rushing the children up the stairs. Draco took Anna by the hand and proceeded to drag her to their box, very nearly pulling her over . The private box even had a adjoined balcony with slightly more spacious seats than the original. " Look Dray, As spectacular as this view is these shoes are not made for me to be on my feet leaning over a railing for the whole match , so I'm going to fetch a seat by your parents" Anna said her cloak swishing behind her. Spying the two elder Malfoy's seated alone in the back row with a seat saved between them.

Anastasia sidled her way to the spare seat squeezing herself past Narcissa , whose fingers trailed up the smooth skin of Anna's bare leg. The entire arena suddenly erupted into applause and cheers. The Bulgarian team came flying out along with their mascots. Veela's. Veela's were stunningly beautiful creatures capable of entrancing any male in their presence. At the sight of the many Veela's Anastasia eyes Lucius watching his reaction, her hand grasps the top of his thigh squeezing hard. Lucius jumped at the unsuspected contact, his actions gaining the attention of Narcissa. " Oh Darling I do believe our princess wants to play" Narcissa cooed. " Yes it would certainly seem that way. It is rather brave of our babygirl if you ask me. Tell us babygirl is that what you want ? You want us to make you scream our names for everyone to hear ? Does our dirty little princess want an audience to watch her beg ?" Lucius teased , his voice low enough for both women to hear. The effect of his words had Anna squirming in her seat. With her hand still on Lucius's thigh Anna could feel his length hardening beneath her touch, deciding to test the waters ,Anna began slowly undoing the zip . " Don't start something you can't finish baby " Cissa whispered into Anastasia's ear while sliding her hand to cup Annas throbbing heated , panty-less sex . At the discovery of no panties, Cissa was in two minds to whether to take Anna over her knee right there and then or completely fuck her senseless later. Deciding on the latter Narcissa began dragging her index finger through the slick folds of Anastasia's wet folds, reaching the bud of nerves she began rubbing slow circles. Anastasia bit down on her lip in an attempt to keep their cover being blown. With Lucius's erect shaft free from its clothed prison, Anna wrapped her hand around the base. Anastasia moved her hand up to the red swollen tip swiping her thumb across the tip spreading the glistening pre-cum over her thumb. Anna made eye contact with Lucius as she popped the cum covered thumb into her mouth humming in approval at the salty taste it provided. Lucius stared in disbelief at his little princess's bold action. Leaning to her slightly Lucius whispered.

" You do that again princess and I'll take it upon myself to personally destroy the beautifully tight cunt of yours and mummy wont be able to save you" Lucius smirked with a glint in his eye. " You promise daddy" Anna whispered back.

Anastasia felt a rush of adrenaline surge through her , whether that was due to him or to the fact Cissa was still launching her attack on anna's clit she didnt know neither did she care. Anna's hand picked up the pace around Lucius whilst she ground down against Cissa's fingers . Narcissa's fingers curling inside of anna hitting the spot each and every time she thrust , her thumb hitting the bud of nerves driving Anna so close to the edge. The closer she got to her big finish the harder and faster she gripped Lucius. Narcissa felt Anna's walls constrict around her fingers. Cissa removed her fingers from Anna lifting them up for both Anna and Lucius to see Anna's juices dripping from her fingers. "I'd offer you a taste my love but I really dont want to " Cissa smiled warmly at the pair as she cleaned each finger with her tongue one by one making a rather erotic show for the pair. " Fuck Cissa ! I'm so close babygirl I highly suggest taking your hand away before we make a mess " he warned , Anna chose to disregard his warning and continued her ascent, hell bent even to make her daddy feel as good as he makes her. Anna felt Lucius's cock twitch in her hand signalling he was about to cum and boy was she ready for it. Lucius with his eyes momentarily clenched shut, he missed as Anastasia bent her head down, with one last pump on his twitching penis Lucius rode his orgasm out shooting white shots of cum. Surprisingly Anna caught the majority of it in her mouth leaving little to no mess. Anastasia rose back into her seat laughing lightly. Narcissa placed her hand on Anna's thigh. " You did such a splendid job darling and you taste so sweet . Our sweet babygirl " Cissa commented softly. Lucius hummed in agreement. " Indeed she did my love , I must admit it does make me wonder how her lips would feel wrapped around it, perhaps her lips on you too my dear . The possibilities are endless wouldn't you say?" Lucius replied quietly. Anna blushed furiously. In the background the arena erupted in to applause. Draco and his friends turned from the railings and ran approaching Anna and his parents. "They lost , the Bulgarians lost by 10 points 10 freaking points. What a match though Anna? " Draco asked. "Oh yes It was definitely quite the match. Had me on the edge of my seat the entire game" Anastasia enthused back. Draco looked pleased at her response. " Oh father , mother Blaise invited me and the others to go back to his tent for a while , Would that be alright with you" Draco asked them politely his hands clasped in front of him. "Yes Draco that's fine by us , you know where our tent is should you need something. Be safe" Lucius allowed , secretly happy that Draco would be elsewhere giving him and Cissa time with their babygirl. Draco fist pumped the air in pure excitement. "Anna you want to come I'm sure everyone would love to see you again you are everyone's favourite head girl after all " Draco asked his eyes wide and hopeful. Anna shuffled her weight from foot to foot . " Oh um Draco that's rather kind of you but in fact I'm rather tired . I figured I might just go and get some sleep" she replied scratching her neck at the awkwardness silently praying Draco wouldn't see through her lie. Draco nodded at her response waving and leaving with his friends in tow. With Draco gone , Anastasia, Narcissa and Lucius walked side by side back to the tent . " Are you actually tired little princess or can mummy and I convince you to join us in what I do believe you started earlier this evening?" Lucius asked with every intention of keeping the promise he made her earlier. " Well I suppose theres a chance I could be persuaded" Anna shrugged lightly, spotting their tent she turned to them with a small giggle and took off running . Leaving Lucius and Narcissa to watch in complete awe. Narcissa curled into her husband's side. " My god I love her " Cissa whispered softly . Lucius planted a soft kiss to the temple of Cissa's head smiling at her comment after all he too felt the same way. " Me too my darling me too , let us hurry I do

believe our precious girl would not fare well being kept waiting." Lucius said taking Cissa by the hand and into the tent. As they entered their room of the tent , they both froze in complete and utter shock , the sight of their princess already on their bed completely naked . Her long hair pulled back into the high ponytail that Lucius seemed to adore . Her hands on her knees patiently waiting . " You and mummy kept me waiting daddy, that's not very nice of either of you. I thought I'd have to try and start things all on my own . It wouldn't have been as good as mummy's but you were taking too long" Anna pouted . Narcissa felt instantly guilty , Lucius however was plagued with the image of his babygirl on the bed pleasuring herself without them. That thought being more than he could take , he strode over to a pouting Anna turning her by the cheekbones to look at him. " Oh Is that so little one ? You would start without us ?Really, is that so?" he taunted her. Anastasia looked from him to Narcissa who watched on with an arched brow, embracing in the confidence their princess had today. Lucius didnt like the attention shifted from him and pulled her back to look at him by her ponytail. " Touch yourself princess I dare you and I'll take you over my knee and give you the spanking of my dreams. Only mummy and daddy get to fuck you with our fingers. Wouldn't you agree darling?" Lucius asked pulling Anna to stand in his arms turning them to look at Cissa who had also now gotten rid of her clothes. " Oh I absolutely agree my dear of course unless we tell her otherwise" she caressed Lucius's cheek placing a kiss to the corner of his lips , leaning over Anna's head in the process. Narcissa then stood looking Anna dead in the eyes. " Although I might add that I will spank you myself should you ever leave the house without panties on again my baby" Cissa warned , Anna silently cursed in her head. Lucius's arms tightened around her bare waist placing her down on the bed with Narcissa close behind , their hands roaming over Anna . Lucius let his left hand cup her cheek while his right hand gently held her throat. " No panties ? Really ? In that case perhaps a punishment is needed hmmm?" Lucius thought out loud to Narcissa. Anastasia gasped at the sudden surge of pleasure rushing through her just from his hand on her throat . Before he could apply pressure , loud noises of explosions and screaming interrupted. Leaping up Anna and Narcissa quickly dressed using magic while Lucius went to see exactly what the commotion is. When he returned , he had a panic stricken look on his face. "Death eaters we need to leave" Lucius said sternly. He knew all too well the damage they were capable of. Narcissa's hands flew to her mouth. " DRACO" Anastasia and Narcissa shouted together. Anna wasted no time hurrying out of the tent with her wand drawn ignoring the shouts and cries of Lucius and Narcissa behind her. Curses were being thrown from every direction. Anastasia spots Blaise and his friends leaving but no Draco. " BLAISE , where is Draco ? He was with you" Anna asked frantically .Blaise nodded. "He was until they started attacking , we got split the last I saw he was by my tent" Anna didnt wait to listen the rest. Running as best she could in a dress and heels, Anna began calling Draco over and over until she saw him . Draco was doing his utmost best to defend himself against three Death Eaters. He was doing so well until he tripped over an abandoned backpack. "Stupefy" Anna cast knocking the death eaters back, Anna helped Draco to his feet keeping him tucked behind her back. She now stood facing the Death Eaters. " Protego" Anna shouted blocking their attacks. "SECTUMSEMPRA" Anastasia cast leaving two of the three Death Eaters bleeding to death on the floor. A flash of green hit the third . The Killing Curse. It was an unforgiveable spell. Lucius and Narcissa appeared from behind Anna and Draco , grabbing onto them , they apparated back to Malfoy Manor. Draco broke into sobs at how close he came to death. Narcissa rushed to him

cradling him like the child he was. Narcissa took Draco upstairs and let him talk his way through what happened before they found him. Upon hearing Draco's side of things, Narcissa would be forever in debt to Anna for saving him the way she did. Meanwhile in the master bedroom Lucius pulled Anastasia into him , needing to hold her in his embrace. Never had he felt the amount of fear and panic that he had when he saw her trying to defend herself and Draco against three ruthless Death Eaters. Tomorrow he would absolutely scold her so bad but for tonight both her and his son remained in one piece . No physical damage. " Princess you have no idea how relieved I am that your not harmed . Myself and Cissa can never lose you babygirl. We need you" Lucius almost cried into her hair. A single tear rolling down his face. Narcissa entered the room. " He's okay he's sleeping poor boy is shaken though, We owe you a thousand thank yous darling , without you I fear our Draco may not be here tonight so thank you our beautiful Anna . Now we've had enough for one night wouldn't you say ? How about a bath and some much needed cuddles in bed hmm?" Cissa suggested. Anastasia and Lucius nodded in agreement. All three of them now submerged in a bubble bath both Narcissa and Lucius refused to let go of Anna's hand . The events of tonight really shook everyone to their core. Narcissa offered to wash Anna's hair while Lucius just wanted to hold her a little longer. After they were all bathed and ready for bed Anna had yet to climb in with them instead hesitating by the door. " Darling girl are you not coming in with us? Is something wrong?" Narcissa asks panicked at the possibility Anna could have seriously hurt herself. " No nothing is wrong it's just with Draco home shouldn't I be in my guest room?" Anna asked looking to the floor. When Draco was usually home Anna usually stayed in a guest room down the hall to keep their secret. " Darling come and cuddle with us for a while, we all need it , I can carry you to bed later princess" Lucius persuaded. Anna didn't need to be asked twice . She jumped straight up onto the bed crawling into Lucius's open arms, Anna settled down and held hers open for Cissa to crawl into. Lucius began playing with Anna's hair twirling it around his fingers. Kissing the crown of his head as he twirled each piece. Anna wrapped her arms around Narcissa holding her against her chest. Something about being stuck between the two made Anna feel safe, the safest she had ever felt. " I love you Lucius and I love you Narcissa "Anastasia said sleepily, her eyes fighting to stay open. Lucius and Narcissa both tensed at those words. The first time their Anastasia had said that she loved them and with their names well it just melted them both. " We love you too darling so much " Narcissa whispered gently moving to kiss her forehead , catching the smile on her face from her words brought tears to Cissa's eyes again. Anna drifted peacefully to sleep surrounded in a loving embrace .

#lucius malfoy smut #narcissa malfoy smut #draco malfoy #harry potter smut #narcissa malfoy #lucius malfoy #narcissa x lucius x oc

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7wanderingpaws · 3 years

Text

Always, Yours (8)

(he is back 🥰)

Word count: 6.6K

Warnings: suggestive themes

tags: @geniusloey @taemin-jaemin @wooya1224 @f4ncyvelvet @usernameloaa @kyoongsthetic

Masterlist / story masterlist

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“Hi, honey,” you spoke up as he finally reached your awaiting figure.

You had Jun still in your grasp and all the triplets were sleeping peacefully in their respective carriers. His eyes roamed over you once, as if making sure you were alright. You knew Baekhyun was anything but hot headed, but you were also aware that you did him dirty. If he was mad, then he’d be rightfully so.

“Sweetheart,” Baekhyun mumbled distractedly as a greeting. His focus was set on you, as if trying not to look elsewhere.

You smiled at him and walked the remaining steps to give him a small hug. As soon as your scent wafted over Baekhyun’s senses, he smiled a small smile and carefully enveloped you in a hug, pressing his forehead to yours and looking down at Jun nestled between your chests. “I missed you, my angel,” he breathed and pressed a quiet, longing peck on your cheek, before leaning lower and kissing the top of Jun’s head. “Hi there, little buddy.”

“I missed you too. Welcome home,” you smiled wider when he looked you in the eyes.

Baekhyun nodded with a smile all too aware that you and him were now in your personal bubble. Eventually he had to address the elephant in the room. Clearing his throat he straightened up, letting his hand slide down your back. “The girls?”

You turned swiftly and finally the both of you faced Sonhee and Junho, each with a baby. You could see Baekhyun’s face going blank, only wanting to greet and retrieve his little baby girls, until he finally looked at the lady next to Lee Junho. His face expression morphed instantly; shock and surprise were an understatement.

“Sonhee?” he asked loudly and to that, the mentioned girl brightened up even more and with her free hand took Junho’s hand, leading him to the both of you.

“Nice to see you again, Baek,” she giggled. “We thought we would help out by giving your sweet wife a ride - me and my boyfriend Junho,” she emphasized and you thanked her through a short eye contact.

You could sense Baekhyun became tense before easing up a bit, his hand that was around your waist now leaving you so he could reach out for his daughters. He didn't know what to ask first; how did Sonhee meet you? Or how did Sonhee come to meet Junho?

“You’re in a relationship?” he finally asked politely as both Junho and Sonhee handed him the carrier baskets, the babies lying inside, sleeping. He thought it was a miracle. Even Junhee wasn’t keen on being up. While waiting for an answer, he looked over the sleeping munchkins, noting the way their faces were so focused on sleeping, lips glistening from saliva as their cheeks were rosy and puffed up. His heart swelled with affection at the sight of his healthy offsprings.

“Yes, we are,” grinned Sonhee and hugged Junho’s arm to herself while Junho nodded in agreement, not talking.

Baekhyun had a lot of thoughts at that moment. Of course, the small anger about spotting you with Junho around was still present, albeit dying down quickly. Seeing his long-time childhood friend was a shock by itself. He would have never thought he’d see you with her out of all people. There was also a sort of relief that Junho was taken but he still had an uneasy feeling about him. Did Sonhee know about Junho coming to seek you in the past?

“You guys met in the village?” questioned Baekhyun, trying to keep the awkward conversation rolling. He felt you move close to him, your arms touching.

“Yes, it’s all surreal to be honest. We first met in Junho’s gym where I work in the baby corner,” Sonhee told him, smiley and cheerful. “We didn’t know we come from the same village and even though her last name is Byun, there are still quite a lot of Byuns around, so I couldn’t connect it to you.”

“How long have you been together?”

“Three years,” replied Junho, his face calm and collected.

Baekhyun met his eye, nodding. “I see. That’s great. Thanks a lot for bringing my family home safely.”

Baekhyun found himself internally cringing. He already once thanked Junho for bringing his wife home. It just enhanced the fact that he was never around when the family needed him.

“The pleasure is ours, Baek,” mumbled gently Sonhee. There was something in her eyes that you couldn't decipher. “We will keep in touch. Go up and rest, both of you.”

You nodded and went to hug Sonhee from the side since you had Jun on your chest. You noticed Baekhyun and Junho nodding at each other before you stepped back.

“I’ll text you soon,” promised Sonhee and looked at the babies for the last time. “I hope to see you soon, little biscuits.”

You smiled at the term and said bye to the couple. Before you knew it, you were already walking inside the building to the elevators, the tension leaving your body after separating from Junho.

“So happy to be home,” you smiled pleasantly.

Baekhyun hummed, throwing you a gentle smile himself when he pressed the button for your floor and the doors closed.

“Were the babies okay?” he asked you quietly and looked at the still sleeping girls in the baskets.

“Yeah, they were all fine, don’t worry,” you reassured him as you observed his face. His hair was longer and fluffy and fell over his forehead, making him look younger. Wordlessly you reached up and brushed away some strands so they wouldn’t obscure his vision. “Are you okay, baby?”

He hummed, reciprocating now the eye contact. “Much better now that you guys are home with me. I didn’t like coming home to an empty apartment.”

You tiptoed to peck him on the lips just when the elevator stopped and you arrived at your floor. “We are together now.”

You were fast to type in the code and step in the apartment that you left one week ago.

You left it quite in distress and exhaustion, and you couldn’t have been more relieved at how refreshed and happy you were to be back.

Baekhyun already opened the windows and you heard the washing machine working. He must have already started on the chores. “Let's put them in their crib,” he told you. Quickly following him, you undid the safety straps around Jun, trying to be as quiet as possible, and lowered him in his baby blue blanket. He stirred a little, whimpering, but you shushed him gently and rubbed his head which worked right away.

Baekhyun didn’t have problems with Juna but the crybaby Junhee was always a little nightmare. As soon as he placed her on the baby yellow blanket, she scrunched up her face and let out a wail, unsatisfied with the placement. He, just like you, shushed her while caressing her soft baby hair but she wasn’t that easy to convince. So his hand went to rub on her belly gently as he whispered: “It’s okay, daddy’s here. Sleep, sweetheart, sleep.”

He could feel her tummy going up and down, the muscles tightening frantically but a few more careful drags of air and she gradually relaxed. He didn’t stop caressing her even after she went silent and fell back into her slumber, worried she would start crying. His palm could feel the nappy underneath her overall, and hear the way it rustled gently under his touch. Each baby was dressed in overalls, covering their feet and hands. It wouldn't be long before they would grow them out and the clothes would be exchanged with bigger ones.

You giggled into your palm and left him in the room to go clean yourself up. Baekhyun wasn’t dependent on you with the babies and you knew he could take equally good care of them as you did.

After a thorough shower and collecting all of yours and babies clothes, you went into the washing room and put them in the basket, ready to wash once Baekhyun’s batch was done.

You found your husband sitting on the stool chair,waiting for you. He smiled when he saw you approaching and he opened his arms widely so you could finally greet him properly. His arms enveloped around your waist, your figure standing between his legs. You buried your face in his neck and smelled that familiar scent of his.

Ah, finally, finally.

His grip tightened and his lips pressed a kiss to your jaw. “I missed you so much.”

You smiled. Even though you texted and called and kept reminding how much you missed one another while being separated, he still had to remind you.

“I missed you too. It wasn’t the same without you back home.”

He pulled away far enough to see your face up close. “Speaking of home - what exactly happened, baby?” he asked and eyed your lips. He pecked you quickly as if to say I’m not mad but please explain. “You know… I asked you something before I left.”

You sighed but affectionately. Naturally, your hand went to cup his soft cheek and he leaned into the touch, keeping the eye contact. “I know, and I promise I felt guilty for not telling you but I didn’t want you to be worried or get mad. We met in the middle of the week— well, more like Kyunga’s younger sister brought us together. She is friends with Sonhee’s sibling and this is how he came to hang out.”

“You already met a few days ago?” Baekhyun was hurt as he frowned gently, pouting. Both of you were in close touch with each other while he was in Japan and yet you didn’t even mention Sonhee or Junho.

You sucked your lips in, knowing this could hurt him and make him potentially angry at you. “Yeah, but I didn’t want you to worry…”

“Sweetheart.”

“Yes?”

He sighed, his hold around you loosening. “Should I consider you keeping stuff from me as lying? Have you been lying to me? I asked you not to meet Junho and yet you spent time with him.”

Your heart made a painful jump at his accusatory words. “No, no, Baek! I was mostly with Kyunga’s sister and Sonhee, and they explained to me why was Junho acting the way he was-“

“So you’re telling me that Sonhee is okay with Junho following married women and letting him into other people's businesses? She is okay with him eyeing other women that are taken and have children?”

Well, when he put it like that...

You looked at him with wide, innocent eyes as you made a step even closer to him. “Let me tell you what they told me. He has his reasons.”

“It just doesn’t make sense, babe,” Baekhyun reasoned with a hint of seriousness. “And I don’t see how Sonhee is okay with this. Out of all people - Sonhee? She is scared of men and everything that they can potentially do to harm her. What if Junho is also doing something to her?”

You pouted. “Let me explain, honey,” you tried one more time and caressed his cheek, fighting with your own anxiety at a possible fight.

Baekhyun looked you in the eyes, seeing the way you were honest and ready to talk. If you were lying you’d be cowering away from him, he knew that for sure.

With another sigh, he nodded. “You know when I tell you that I trust you, I don’t mean that you should keep any secrets from me. When I say I trust you I expect you to tell me things that can potentially hurt me.” He paused when he saw your prominently growing pout. “Your secrecy doesn’t sit well with me. You’ve kept stuff away from me with your work, then your jealousy and now this. Should we talk about trust again?”

A little taken aback at him pulling out the happenings of the past, you only blinked a few times, feeling guilty. He wasn't wrong. After all, you were a secretive girlfriend and you would understand if he got mad at you keeping stuff away from him again. It wasn't even about Junho. It was about you.

“Hm?” he prodded, tapping your chin from under with his index finger. “Hiding things from me doesn't help. It makes it worse,” he told you in a somber voice, raising his eyebrows.

With a sigh, you quickly tucked some unruly hair behind your ear, feeling like a scolded child. “I know. This is... '' another sigh, “just… can you hear me out? I promise I won't keep anything away from you.”

He observed you for a moment with a calm countenance. He wasn’t being unfair but you also wished he didn’t think of you the way he did.

After sucking his lips in and popping them back out, he uttered: “Tell me everything.”

And with that he took your hand away from his cheek and you almost felt hurt. Then you felt him standing up but he interlaced your fingers and went over to the couch where you sat down, facing each other. He prompted you to talk with an eyebrow raise and you nodded, telling him everything just as he wished. Just as you should have from the beginning.

You managed to become a little emotional when you told Baekhyun about Sonhee’s sister but, of course, he already knew all of it and probably even more. As soon as he saw you tear up, he was fast to hug you to him, shushing you gently while he murmured that it was okay. “Sonhee’s little sister is a happy child. Don’t cry, sweetheart.”

“I’m just… how can the world be so cruel…” you hugged him tighter around his neck and he didn’t respond anymore, instead letting you cry out your heavy heart. He tapped your leg, prompting you to sit on his lap and you did while not leaving the spot in his neck.

“And it made me realize how thankful and lucky I am to have you, Baekhyun oppa,” you weeped. Baekhyun felt the moisture from your tears on his neck, your breathing hot as you exhaled harshly through your pants. He felt the same way you did, and his heart swelled with warmth and love for you. Now that he had you sniffling and crying like this in his arms, he was reminded of a crying Junhee a while back.

“I’m thankful for what we have had since the beginning. I’m thankful that you appreciate me and respect me and that you’re there for the babies whenever you can be. I love you so much,” you said through sobs and squeezed your eyes shut, letting out more tears.

Baekhyun could only continue with rubbing your back, hoping to console you. “I love you so much, sweetheart,” he murmured into your ear. “I’m forever thankful that I have you and our healthy babies. What Sonhee’s father did is animalistic and should be punished by law. But know that both Sonhee’s mother and sister are alright and they are healthy.” He heard you sniffling more and he added: “Don’t cry, it breaks my heart.”

With the help of his words and his soft, shushing voice, you tried to ground yourself. You didn’t realize how much Sonhee’s story affected you and how much you’d been trying not to think about it. Maybe seeing Baekhyun who was the hero of Sonhee’s story made you finally weak and realize just what a gem of a man you were blessed enough to marry and receive his attention.

“Shh, it’s okay,” he shushed gently, and you heaved out one final, heavy sigh. “Everything is alright.”

Licking your dry lips, you pulled away to look at his expectant orbs. He cooed when he saw you, and his hands were on your cheeks, tapping away the tears. “You’re not mad anymore, are you?”

He looked you in the eyes, his more down-wards from the sadness swimming in them. He shook his head. “No, I’m not mad. I was just hurt. Surely you can see why oppa was hurt, right, baby?”

You nodded, pressing your lips together to will the burning tears away. “I’m sorry for making you feel hurt. I’m sorry,” you whispered and leaned your forehead against his.

“That’s okay,” he whispered back and closed his eyes. “As long as nothing happened, it’s alright and forgotten.”

You pecked him in a quick thanks.

You stayed in a comfortable silence for another ten minutes, both of you taking the time to bask in each other’s presence and collecting your thoughts. Not once did his hand stop drawing patterns on your back, the regularity of the action lulling you into a pleasant emptiness you felt after a good cry. Eventually Baekhyun patted your bum gently. “Are you sleeping, my princess?”

You murmured a small no as you laid on his shoulder and his head was resting against the backrest.

“Wanna see what oppa got you from Japan?”

At his words, you perked up with a curious smile. “You didn’t have to, honey.”

“I wanted to,” he said, mirroring your smile. “Just a little something since you’ve never been there.”

You’ve never traveled outside of Korea at all. You didn’t even own a passport but since you got everything you needed in Korea, which was Byun Baekhyun and now the munchkins, you didn’t have the need to travel anywhere unless it was with him.

“Okay.” You pushed yourself off of him and stood up, feeling a little sleepy and tired. It was already dark outside and it looked like rain was about to start pouring. That fact made you even more excited because you didn’t have to go anywhere and you could be cozy with your husband and your munchkins inside.

He took you to your bedroom where he had the bag of various snacks prepared. Among them, a box of matcha green tea that you loved, and even a pretty red lipstick.

You looked at him with questioning eyes. “A lipstick?”

“It’s a Japanese brand,” he told you with a shrug and observed how you turned the product in your fingers. “Red lipstick suits you and I wanted to spoil you for once.”

“You always spoil me,” you told him softly when you looked up at him.

“Well, maybe when we finally get to go on a date together you can wear it for me and spoil me, hm?”

Your heart jumped at his suggestive tone. “Sure, whenever we will get to go on a date,” you added cheekily. Baekhyun groaned but he was amused.

“We will have to bother Chen and Sukyeong again.”

At the mention of Sukyeong’s name your heart deflated. You took notice of the change and you pursed your lips, unsure what these feelings were about.

“Babe? You good?” asked Baekhyun when he saw you becoming distant.

You nodded, snapping back to a smile. You tiptoed and pressed your lips to his cheek. “Thank you for the gift,” you murmured. “I’ll make sure to wear it for you well.

In a second you felt his lips touch yours, not letting you retrieve from his personal space. His arms circled your waist and he took the lipstick in your hand to throw it on the bed before he placed his warm palm on your cheek.

You circled your arms around his neck and hummed when he outlined your lower lip with his tongue. He pressed himself closer to you, savoring the moment that enabled him to finally kiss you.

“Since you were with Junho behind my back, I’m keeping the picture in my phone,” he murmured against your lips when he separated with a wet smooch. “I’m not deleting it.”

You looked at him with wide eyes. “But oppa-“

“I said,” he pressed strictly though playfully, and his hands wandered to your bum, fondling with the cheeks before pressing down on them. “You better listen to me, little lady.”

Once again the passion in your tummy was reignited. Baekhyun was gazing at you through hooded eyes, his voice low and warning. It shot electricity down your insides and you squirmed in his arms. “What will you do with it?”

More like, what did I do with it, he thought.

Baekhyun wanted to laugh at your innocence. No matter what he did with you, be it in bed or just play with words, he never could break through your endless innocence. “Hmm, what do you think I’ll do with it?”

You bit your lip, which caught Baekhyun’s eye. “Threaten me with it.”

“What? No, babe, why would I use it against you…”

“I don’t know,” you murmured sheepishly. “If you need to keep it, then…” you blinked your eyes at him, and it made Baekhyun become breathless. “I’d like to make a new one. I want to be satisfied with the picture too, you know?”

Baekhyun had a hard time keeping his cool. He swallowed harshly and he felt like he wasn’t leading the game anymore. You were. “You’d like me to…” he nuzzled your nose, his thumbs resting next to your lips, each pressing down on the corner of them, “take a picture of your body again?” He breathed a kiss on your parted lips, still watching you. “Is that what you’re saying, my little lady?”

Shakily, you breathed him in. “Yeah.” Even when the babies started to whimper and cry in the background, you didn't separate. Intensively looking him in the eye, you were keen on making him quiver.

“Baby,” he closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to yours. “What are you doing to me? I can't just let you leave now.”

Your eyes danced as they tried to count each eyelash that brushed his flushed cheeks. “Not now, but let me prepare better later.”

“What is there to prepare? Your body is a goddess,” he almost hissed and placed his hands on your hips. His eyes were fiery as they reopened, burning into your soul. But he softened up quickly. “But I'll do as you wish.”

You smiled gently, pecking him. Baekhyun was about to deepen the kiss, leaning over you and therefore making you bend backwards with a smile but you stepped back and out of his grip. “Duty calls,” you smirked, untangling yourself. You just heard his flustered laugh as you made your way out of the bedroom, satisfied but very much bothered.

His body heat under the blanket made you feel warm and cozy. You buried your face deeper in his neck, and Baekhyun chuckled quietly at your clinginess. He tightened his arms around you, squeezing your waist and middle to his side.

“You smell like baby oil,” you murmured with appreciation, “I love it.”

While you were working around the house, Baekhyun took good care of the triplets. He missed them more than he thought he would, given how much hard work they were, and he ended up being with them for almost the rest of the day. He bugged you about helping out but you were more than happy to leave him with the crybabies that needed a nappy change every two hours (or sooner).

Throughout the day you saw him playing with the triplets, lying on the playmat with them as he lifted each of them up above his body, then slowly bringing them back down and straight to his puckered lips to kiss their wild laughter away. Their chubby cheeks were protruding, their grins were toothless, and you’d never been happier to hear your babies’ laughter. Baekhyun’s own chuckles were making you realize what happiness truly was, despite being busy and tired.

After lining up each baby, he had told them to wait when their turn was up, because at the airports the planes also patiently wait until it would be their time to take off.

“You’re a helicopter, Juna,” he’d told the clueless baby nonchalantly as he lifted her up. “You’re helping daddy to train biceps too, so I’d say you’re almost a five kilogram weight! How’s that!” With that he had lifted her higher as he made a noise that was supposed to sound like a helicopter, and then swiftly brought her down, Juna’s hysterical laugh resounding in each room of the apartment. At those moments, you had found yourself eagerly snapping pictures and videos from the corner, your own smile hurting your cheeks.

Back to the present, Baekhyun spoke up: “You always smell like baby oil,” he pointed, his breath fanning the top of your head. “I actually went to this shop in Japan and smelled a baby oil just to be reminded of you and our babies,” he admitted. You could hear amusement in his voice and you giggled, hiding your face deeper in his neck. If it was even possible.

“So cute, daddy Baek. You missed the nappy change too?”

He squeezed you in warning. “Yah, don’t tease.”

“Just admit that you didn’t,” you quipped, your lips brushing the skin on his neck. Baekhyun shivered, your light touches making it hard for him to stay focused.

“Okay, I didn’t,” he sulked. “Who does…?”

His fingers ran through your hair, the way he brushed the strands causing ticklish sensations. You brought your face out from his neck and looked at him, caching his glinting eyes. Grinning cheekily, you saw how he registered your mischief and responded with an equally cheeky smile before you leaned in, pecking him on the lips, too quickly for his lips to react and therefore accidentally kissing his teeth.

“Oh, wait, that didn’t count,” he protested with a laugh, “one more.”

“Hmm, I don’t know…”

He squeezed you again and you laughed. “One more, that’s not fair.” He puckered his lips and you had to suppress a wide smile at the way he looked so cute and soft and just so cuddle-worthy.

You leaned in and pressed a lingering kiss to his awaiting lips, making a little smooch sound. “Mmm, that’s better.” But you didn’t stop, instead leaned in again and this time opened your lips slightly, catching his upper one between yours. You enveloped yourself lips around it, bringing it into your mouth and Baekhyun instantly closed his eyes at the moist feel of your mouth. A low moan rumbled in his throat when he let you lead the kiss that grew passionate within seconds.

Soon enough, you climbed over him, straddling his waist while being careful not to touch an inappropriate part. His hands slid around your naked thighs, the palms outlining their shape as they made their way to your backside, caressing and massaging the mounds that poked out from under the shirt’s hem.

God, you missed him and his presence.

He deepened the kiss when he licked into your mouth, challenging your dominance in the kiss. Your hands were in his hair and on his cheeks and neck before they dove back into his soft strands. One of his hands wandered inside your shirt, the trailing fingertips tickling the untouched skin on your hips and sides. You opened your mouth with a loud exhale and Baekhyun hummed again when you shimmied on his middle. Your hands now caressed his chest and pectorals, loving the feel of the ridges under your palms.

“Ah, babe,” you groaned when he cupped your mound and massaged it gently. He chased your lips as he lifted his head up a bit, tipping his chin up to reach your pink lips.

He moaned at the feel of the fullness of your breast and you were becoming affected quickly as well, heartbeat speeding up, his touches electrifying you into a sighing, whimpering mess.

“Hell, I need you,” he practically groaned into your mouth. He had been restless throughout the day, fighting the urge to take you just like that whenever he saw you as much as lean over the babies or feed them. The time he spent away from his family gave him a good idea of what was important in his life. Though time made him yearn for you more, he also realized that he just wanted to make you feel good, too. Having hardships with triplets, he had to make sure you would have some good time with him when the time allowed it.

Also, he almost couldn't believe the words you uttered today, only irking him more and making him curious about this new part of you that he and you were discovering at the same time. Baekhyun started to believe that whatever game he would start with you, you would continue.

You whimpered and pushed yourself lower so that you could tease him where he needed you the most. Baekhyun groaned loudly, head craning back to reveal his smooth neck that you didn't hesitate to kiss and bite gently, so as not to mark the skin.

“Missed me, oppa?” you breathed eagerly.

“Yeah, I missed my sweetest sweetheart so much, but,” he trailed off as one hand went up to cup your cheek, “now you have an idea what oppa had your photo for.” With a cheeky wink, he kissed you again and you swore you felt even more aroused than before, the whole idea of Baekhyun doing stuff while looking at the—

He made you squeal as he switched positions, your back gently colliding with the mattress as you tried to quieten your laugh. He nestled himself between your legs and with a bright, boyish smile dived back to kiss you senseless.

Even though he had your photo, a real you could never compare.

The next day you awoke too early, even before your babies could do the job for you. You were a little warm, and you had a queasy feeling in your tummy, almost as if you were nauseous. Quickly recollecting what you had the day before, you concluded you didn’t eat anything out of the ordinary. Yet the undeniable reflex to gag was still there.

You turned to the other side, facing Baekhyun who was still fast asleep. His bare shoulders were poking out from beneath the comforter and his hair was messy, most probably due to what you did last night.

You admired his sleeping features and he seemed so peaceful. There was a lot happening for him and you chastised yourself for giving him more things to worry about. Slowly you reached out and brushed some hair away from his eyes, his slumber so deep he didn’t even budge at your silk touch.

Since the uncomfortable feeling wasn’t going away, you slid out of the warm sheets quietly. You ignored the gentle throbbing between your legs and thighs, and went to the bathroom. Cold water and freshening up should be the cure to everything.

You were a little alarmed, because it couldn’t be what you were scared it could be. With a cringe, you remembered how last night went as well. Unable to pull out, passion and desire too strong to be careful about what consequences the action could lead to. And you could only slap your forehead for being irresponsible like that. Neither of you were horny teenagers, so why had it been so hard to behave recently?

“It’s impossible,” you murmured to yourself after finishing a quick, cold shower to make the feeling go away. “I can’t be pregnant...”

Thankfully, the shower did its magic and you made your way to the kitchen, ready to prepare breakfast and Baekhyun’s lunch for work.

Only then you were able to process something that you had completely forgotten about yesterday.

Kyunghee and the YouTube channel.

You were stirring the morning porridge when you pulled out your phone with a haste, your heart beating just a little faster than it was normal. Just as expected, you found many unopened messages from an eager Kyunghee. She linked the video in your chatroom and when you clicked on it, you were immediately met with your parents' house and her cheerful: “I'm at the Byun's!”

Your eyes automatically darted to the viewer count and your eyes doubled in size. “What!”

“What what?”

You whirled around from the stove to spot Baekhyun emerging from your bedroom, buttoning up his white shirt, the action immediately catching your eye. He was giving you a questioning look as he smirked.

“I just…” you sighed inwardly when you had yet another thing that you didn’t mention to him. Even though you didn’t fight, you were worried this would tick your husband off for real. You quickly turned off the stove and faced him.

“What is it, sweetheart?” he murmured, finishing the last button. He caressed your lower back after stopping in front of you, a hum following the action to coax you into talking. It was unconscious but you squeezed the phone in your hands and braced yourself.

“Honey, so you know how Kyunghee spent a lot of time with me and our munchkins?” you started, carefully picking your words as you stood up straight to face him. Your hand smoothened his chest, the surface dipping with the outline of his pectoral underneath. You went on to finger the buttons, innocently blinking up at him to ease the severity of your news to him.

Honestly, you yourself had no clue what to think of this. Your face wasn’t visible in the videos but your babies were exposed.

“Baby, as much as I’d love to give you time, I’ve got a morning lecture to do,” spoke up Baekhyun after going quiet on him. “Tell me.”

“So… Uh, Kyunghee is doing Youtube and she happened to make a video about me and our babies and so she uploaded that video and now it has almost one million views though yesterday it was only the half of it and I had no clue it will-“

“She what? The youtube video has… what,” he breathed in disbelief.

“Yeah, she uploaded a video and now it is trending and-“

“Show me,” he said, not waiting for you, instead stepping away so he could reach for your phone.

Your hand shot out to grab it and you blurted: “Maybe once you’re back!”

“Oh, darling, you just said my family is exposed to almost a million people and I should wait until evening to see the video?” he asked, scoffing. “I want to see it now.”

You whimpered, pushing out your lower lip at him. Baekhyun eyed your lip with amusement.

“C’mon, I don’t have a lot of time,” he reminded you with an eyebrow raise.

With a deep sigh, you unlocked your phone and then clicked to play the video. You sat up on the high chair and Baekhyun moved behind you, his arms circling your waist. “I just want to see you guys shine,” he whispered into your ear, kissing the shell of it gently. He didn’t want any funny thoughts entering your mind. Your heart skipped at his gentleness and you finally pressed play.

As you were watching the YouTube video in the kitchen, with his arms nestled under your breasts, you couldn’t help the wide smile whenever you saw your babies and your hands or half of your body.

Baekhyun chuckled lowly at some points; you felt his arms tighten when the video showed you struggling with the babies. Upon Junho appearing together with Sonhee for the slightest of moments, you felt him go a little motionless.

“There were so many people at the market,” you told him with a chirped voice to distract him, “and they were all so talkative and gossipy and just-” you sighed, “paying too much attention to me.”

Baekhyun let out a little laugh, his breath fanning your neck. He knew you were too shy when you received more attention than what you were used to receiving. “I don't like it,” he murmured with a small sigh eventually into your neck while his eyes were taking in the way the village boys were roaming around your stall, your mother diligently consulting the price while some of them were eyeing you. “I don't like them looking at you like that.”

An electric shock ran down your spine when he sounded so husky out of nowhere. Suddenly, you were all too aware of his intimate touch, the way he had you in his arms and his warm breaths on your skin. “It was just a market craze.”

“Market craze? Or my little lady craze?” he whispered.

You pinked under his strong spell; one week apart and you grew weaker. Baekhyun's power would always have the same magic it had on you years ago. You couldn't run away and hide.

Instead of replying, you only squirmed in his hold, and Baekhyun breathed a kiss on your neck. “I guess we both know the answer.”

You turned your head slightly and caught his eye instantly. “You’re not mad then?”

His features softened. “I’m not mad. I mean… wasn’t it fun? Kyunghee and her comments are so cute and it captures well the reality of having triplets.”

The video ended and Baekhyun reached out for your phone to scroll through the comments while you turned in the chair so you were facing him again. He had a slight frown as his thumb was scrolling too fast for you to catch up.

“Some people want you to reveal your face,” he murmured, engrossed, “and some want more tips from the cute mother. Oh, another one is asking if you have your own YouTube channel!” He looked up at you as if he had light-bulbs lighting up around him.

You shrugged. “I don’t…?”

Baekhyun mimicked your shrug and put your phone down. “But you could…?”

“Huh? Me? A YouTube channel? I don’t even have a camera!”

“Well, how did Kyunghee film?” he asked nonchalantly.

Did he really want that answer? “She got a camera as a gift.”

“No way,” Baekhyun blinked. “Who gives such expensive gifts in our village?”

You shrugged. “Ask her.”

“I’m sure you know it.”

“Well, I forgot!”

He sighed, albeit affectionately but he didn’t bug you. “You can make a video with your phone camera too.”

“I don’t know…” you trailed off, eyes going back down to the wooden floor.

As you tried to avoid his stare you realized that the babies had yet to wake up which was a surprise. They really slept through many hours and even though you checked them after waking up, it was still strange. “I will check the munchkins, they need feeding,” you murmured absolutely not trying to avoid the conversation.

“Honey,” he stopped you as you slid off the chair. “You can think about it and fill up your days with filming, that would be cool, right?”

“You’re right but… I’d have to figure it first out.”

“Just call Kyunghee and ask what she does, I bet she would be super happy to tell you. Especially since she is responsible for your fame now..”

Baekhyun was looking at you with sincere interest and a very sweet smile. He wanted you to give it a go. You seemed quite natural with the baby work, and talking like a good friend to the camera and, he had to admit, the both of you had something not many had - triplets.

And Baekhyun, as much as he tried not being busy, knew he couldn’t be by your and munchkins' side all the time. If this meant you’d finally find a hobby and become a little open to the world, he’d wanted you to try. He wanted you to go back to the way you used to be.

<3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

A/N: The previous chapter ended with “double-trouble” and some of you didnt know what exactly it meant. The issues the couple has arent even directly about Junho anymore - its the communication that OC doesnt do well with Baek. I hope it was clear in this part ^^

Happy weekend! 💛🤗

#exowritersnet #supermwritersnet #baekhyun #baekhyun fanfiction #baekhyun fluff #baekhyun angst #baekhyun smut #baekhyun fanfic #exo fanfic #superm fanfic #baekhyun ff #baekhyun romance #mywritings #AY

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shreddedparchment · 4 years

Text

Pseudo Princess Pt.35

Sacrifices to Save the World

Pairing: King!Steve x Reader Word Count: 9,582

Warnings: smut, LOTS of fluff, angst

A/N: (THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! One more to go!) Here it is everyone! The moment I have been waiting for. I can’t really say much and I don’t want to give anything away so, I’ll just let the chapter speak for itself. I also want to say that I’m sorry that I haven’t been as diligent about responding to comments. Trust me when I say that I read and reread them often! I appreciate your thoughts and reactions so much. As always, if you happen to reblog, thank you so much for helping me spread my work!

Tags are closed!

Please DO NOT repost my stories. Reblogs are MOST welcome!

You bustle around the cottage sweeping cat hair and dust, mixing the white of the chalk dust with the crimson blood of Grandmother’s sacrificial cat.

Your attempts to tidy the space is wasted as you’re only making it worse, but rather than focus on her words you prefer to clean.

She watches you from the seat at her table where you placed her. A cup of water gripped in her withered hand, still trembling slightly.

“Stop cleaning, girl!” Grandmother chides, watching you with annoyance as you stop amongst the mess on her floor and throw your hands out to your sides in a clear indication of not understanding.

“What would you have me do?” You ask her, voice tight with distress. “You tell me that my husband will fight to his death and I am supposed to what? Dance?”

“Just sit down.” She points at the seat across from her, her finger crooked and weak.

You drop the broom where you stand and plop yourself down on the indicated seat while ignoring the creak of the weathered wood. The old woman would resist new furnishings though you’d managed to sneak in a new bed and kitchenware.

“You killed your cat.” You tell her, as if she doesn’t know.

“Yes.” She agrees and lifts the small cup to her lips to take a drink.

“Why?”

“I had to see.” She explains. “Something was…was there.”

“When I found you outside Steve’s office?” You check, though you know her answer.

“Yes.” With a sigh she captures your gaze and does not release it. “I have sensed a darkness growing in the world. Something elusive. Hidden. It has kept its face secret, behind that of puppets. It uses others to do its bidding and until today I had no idea what that bidding was.

“He is gathering six relics. Stones. Rich in magic properties. Richer than any other relics I have ever come across. Each of them with powers more terrifying than the last.”

“What kind of powers?” You ask her, voice feeble and wispy.

“Powers to control time. Power to manipulate the mind and the very fabric of space and reality.” She warns. “Powers to rule the world…or wipe it from existence.”

Your heart grows cold, slipping into the pit of your stomach as you picture Steve in his armor standing before such massive power. What could your warrior husband do in the face of such might?

“Who is he?” You ask her, eager to put a face to the threat.

“I don’t know.” She says, looking down at the necklace that always rests around your neck. The locket that is Steve’s insignia, with his picture along with your parents. “I cannot see his face. I can only feel him. He is stronger than the king. Stronger than many of those who fight here. Together they may defeat him, but I did not see them together. I saw only your husband, the bodies of those you love surrounded him, and he fell too.”

You get up, unwilling to let her convince you despite you having already accepted her words. “I cannot listen to this.”

“You must, girl. You must take heed of what I tell you and prepare yourself for what is to come. Take your daughter and go as far away from here as possible but even that may not save you.” She adds as an afterthought. “I feel this evil plans for more than death. He has such a will.”

Turning to her you consider her thoughtful expression and the way she seems lost to her vision. She believes it with every fiber of her being and your own heart is swayed into panic as you throw yourself onto your knees at her feet.

Gripping the hand she has resting on her lap, you raise it to your breast and hold it there to where your heart is pounding.

“There must be something you can do. Something that will save him.” You reason, pleading for her to see reason as if she held the very fate of Steve within her old hands. “Won’t you try?”

“I cannot.” She shakes her head. “Such magics are forbidden. I am no dark witch.”

Her insistence is fractured, her own eyes betray her as she eyes you up and then turns away.

Her fondness is clear. You know that she loves you despite the way she speaks to you at times. She has fought hard for your happiness. If you would beg for her life, you think she might give it up.

“Is there no way? Nothing? Surely there is a chance to change things without resorting to dark magics? Please, Grandmother…” Before you know what’s happening, you’re crying.

Tears flow freely across your cheeks but your voice is strong in the only way that it can be when you’re pleading for your husband’s life.

“I cannot live in a world where my husband is not alive. Please…help me. Help me save him. There must be a way. There must be…please. We just had our daughter…” You lay your head in her lap, overcome with fear at this future she’s seen. “Please.”

Her silence is heavy. You can feel her thinking, can feel her mind searching for a way to give you what you want.

You have always loved this old woman but until today, you had not considered how much she might truly love you as one would a true granddaughter.

“Give me time.” She sighs.

“You’ll try?!” You gasp, your heart soaring.

With an elated sob you drop your head onto her lap and with gentle, feeble hands, she strokes the back of your head.

“I will think on it. I will try. I cannot make any promises.” She warns you, reaching under your chin to draw your gaze up. “What you ask for will not be easy. Is he worth it?”

You blink, confused by her question because in your mind there is absolutely no doubt.

“He’s worth more. He’s worth everything.” You nod. “I love him.”

Grandmother’s gaze withers and she releases you, nudging you away.

“Go. Be with your husband and child. Let me ponder.” She orders and slowly you rise.

You’re so stunned you have to keep a hand on the table as you rise to keep your knees buckling.

“When will you know?” You ask her, sniffling from the tears you shed.

“Go.” She orders again, staring at the hem of your dress. “And change your dress. You’re covered in blood.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Standing still, you hold tight to the lower left post of your bed as your corset is laced again.

The copper tub by the roaring fire in your bedroom sits lukewarm, full pink and wine-colored peony blooms floating within its oiled surface.

“Why was there blood on your dress?” Natasha wonders, tugging tight on your laces making you gasp.

“It’s not important.” You tell her, then think better of keeping her completely in the dark. “There was a dead cat on the way to Grandmother’s and I didn’t realize it until I came upon it.”

Fuck, was that believable? Does she trust you enough to accept your words without doubt?

“You’re keeping something from me.” She counters, frowning as she ties the corset closed.

Apparently not.

“I’m not.” You argue, but after her silence pierces your soul, you sigh. “I’m worried.”

“About Hydra?” She asks, supplying you with an appropriate alternative to the truth.

“Of course.” You grasp onto this straw and lean your stress onto this very real threat. “The last time I was within their vicinity someone tried to kill me and Maggie.”

“That won’t happen again.” Natasha assures you, moving towards you with a long ivory gown. The slightly yellowish tinge to the flowing fabric is pretty, though you note this in the back of your head. You’re too preoccupied with the threats looming overhead to notice how pretty the dress is. “I should have stayed with you.”

“It wasn’t your fault Nat. Pierce knew what he was doing. He’d been to father’s many times and he knew that I’d be in that part of the castle. He knew that you’d all be focused elsewhere. He was going to find a way to me one way or another.” You reason, but you know that if Peter or Nat had been there with you, there would have been a better chance of getting away with greater speed.

“I will never leave your side again.” Nat declares passionately but you huff a laugh and turn to look at her as she gathers up the skirt of your dress, hooking her arms through it to make ready for you to wear.

“Nat,” You smile. “I love you, and maybe you’re right and things would have been better if you or someone else had been by my side that night. But you cannot be beside me always. You’re a wife now. And even if you cannot be a mother naturally, there are many other ways to have children.”

Nat drops her arms, watching you with a concerned and furrowed brow. She’s clearly focused on you and not herself. You want to remedy that quickly. You love her, how can you allow her to only ever let you be her concern?

“You two must have discussed it?” You prompt, knowing that Bucky would not give up on giving Nat what she most desperately desires. “I know you want to be a mother. You love children.”

She seems to realize that you are not about to let this drop, so she sighs, relaxing a bit.

“I have thought about it.” She nods. “And yes, I do love children but I’m not sure if it’s right for me with the life that Bucky and I lead.”

Your heart aches suddenly, a renewal of Grandmother’s words reminding you that your daughter could lose her father. She so damn right about that.

“I don’t blame you.” You nod, sitting yourself on the end of the bed. “This life that all of you have chosen is one most unwelcome to the traditional family. But it is possible. Father and Mother have Morgana, Lord and Lady Lang have their daughter. Steve and I now have Margaret.

“It may not be ideal, certainly. But possible.” You offer in encouragement.

You don’t want her to give up. You want her to be happy.

Nat looks down at your stocking covered feet and nods.

“You don’t have to. Of course, it is entirely your choice and Bucky’s. I’m not trying to say that you should have children. But if you should you choose to have them, it is possible to live both lives.” You really hope that you’re not putting any pressure on her to raise a child when she might not want to.

Natasha’s inability to have children naturally should not be a hindrance on her desire to be a mother if she should decide to try. There are thousands of children in orphanages across the Kingdoms that would benefit greatly from a loving home that you know Bucky and Nat would provide effortlessly.

At the end of the day however, you know it is their choice.

“I appreciate your support.” Nat admits, gathering your skirts again and then holding them open for you to put your head through. “Truly. It means so much to me that you think I could do a good job. As a mother.”

You stand and stick your head through the dress and begin to pull your arms through the large puffed sleeves as Natasha straightens your skirt.

The neckline is ruffled, heart shaped, and low. The sleeves are also ruffled, small cinches that wrap around your arm mid-bicep leaving your shoulders and neckline exposed. Nat turns you and quickly laces up the back of the dress. She pulls it tight so that there is no chance of it slipping down.

“Isn’t this a little-?”

“You look beautiful.” Natasha smiles, fixing a long pink sash around your waist that she ties into a long loose bow above the curve of your bum. “Shall I braid your hair again?”

Natasha’s hands work fast, her fingers nimble and familiar with your hair’s texture and flow. The skirt is so long and flowing that you wonder if something special has been planned for you to attend as you feel that despite the somewhat casual look of the dress, it also doubles as pretty in that formal sense.

Your fingers find the embroidered pink and white peonies on the bodice that decorate your breast.

“Am I seeing someone special today?” You ask.

“No.” Natasha smiles. “Just us. Lunch is being served in the garden for you, Margaret, and Steve. Bucky and I shall be nearby. Peter will be close too. No one special.”

You huff a laugh as she lists all of the most precious people in your life. “So, only those special to me then?”

Nat chuckles and finishing tying off your hair.

“Lunch is for you, Steve, and Maggie. Steve expressed a wish to spend some quiet time alone with the two of you. He knows he’s been busy the past few weeks racing about chasing leads on this new Hydra weapon. He wants to make it up to you and I know he’d appreciate you in this dress.”

Her explanation makes sense but you’re successfully distracted from the dress by the mention of Hydra.

“How was the search?” You suddenly wonder, remembering Steve’s orders for her and Bucky.

“We’ve spread the word and will go out again tonight to search. I’ll tell you if anyone is found.”

“I’d like to know what’s happening with this.” You turn to her, adjusting within her grip as she reaches down to fuss with your dress. “I need to know, Nat. I can’t be kept in the dark again.”

Natasha drops her hands, placing them on her hips as she considers the look in your eyes.

“You’re not saying something.” She realizes. “What’s troubling you?”

“Nothing.” You say quickly, a shrug thrown her way just to brush off the concern. “I just don’t want any surprises. Not like before. This threat seems insignificant but what if there’s more to this mysterious weapon? I want to know what you’re all walking into.”

“Steve has promised to keep you appraised.” Nat promises you. “I will hold him to his word.”

Slowly, as the truth of her words shines through her eyes, a small smile stretches your lips.

“Thanks, Nat.”

~~~~~~~~~~

As you approach your renovated pavilion, peony blossoms blooming all around in varying shades of pink, you adjust Maggie in your arms.

You’re careful with your own dress. Double-checking the top of your bodice to make sure for the tenth time that you are covered after feeding your daughter. Nat made sure it was tight again but you’re fretting is ceaseless as a mother now.

The corset you’re wearing made especially for you since you are nursing, makes it easy for you to feed her without much fuss. Steve seems to favor it too though you’ve told him to be gentle and he’s avoided enjoying your breasts while you’re focused on raising your little one.

Aside from a loving caress and gentle butterfly kisses when the two of you make love, he’s avoided touching them.

Reaching the stairs, you fix your daughter’s dress—changed to match yours with endless ruffles but the same peony embroidery pattern on her little chest and pink sash around her little waist.

Steve rises quickly, rushing towards you with his arms extended.

Maggie coos excitedly, her little high-pitched squeaks and goos nearly make you swoon as she kicks her little legs excitedly. She’s not exactly screaming yet, but her noises are long and eager.

“There’s my princess.” Steve says proudly, his eyes flooding with love as he takes her into his large arms and kisses her chubby cheek.

He turns her to sit with her little back pressed against his chest and smiles at you while your own eyes are glued to your daughter.

“And my beautiful Queen.” He gushes, pulling your attention away from Maggie as he leans down slowly until he meets your lips with a long slow peck. “How are you?”

His voice is soft and deep. “I’m very well.”

It’s almost a lie.

In this moment, here with Steve and Maggie, you are most definitely well. You’re happy and you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

Your heart still weighs a ton with Grandmother’s news.

For a terrible moment as Steve walks away from you to sit down with Maggie on his lap, you remember her words and your knees almost buckle.

With him focused on the little one, you manage to sit yourself down before he can notice.

Rapid footsteps climb the stairs behind you. You turn to find Peter moving in to stand beside you both. He smiles excitedly as he watches Maggie. He, like everyone else in the castle, is head over heels for her.

No one draws a smile quicker than Maggie, even from the gentry that had so readily spread rumors about you.

This makes you happy. Your daughter accepted.

“Cook will be out with your meals shortly, your Majesties.” He informs you both.

“Won’t you join us?” You ask him, but Peter meets Steve’s eyes for a moment then reaches up to scratch behind his head, his cheeks flushing pink.

Clearly Steve had made it clear that he wanted to spend time with you and Maggie alone to more than just Nat. However, there’s something else in that rosy tint in Peter’s cheeks.

“I…I’m actually meeting Morgana in the libraries to help her with her studies. I will cancel with her if you wish me to stay?” He offers, though you see the disappointment in his eyes.

“No.” You hurry to assure him. “No, we’re fine. I just wanted to be sure you ate.”

“Thank you, your Majesty. I believe Cook is sending sandwiches to the library for us.” Peter bows and with an excitement in his step you watch him until he’s out of sight.

“They make a good match.” You smile, turning to take a sip of water from the silver goblet before you.

“Who?” Steve asks, confused. He bounces his leg to keep Maggie occupied while allowing her to hold his finger in her tight tiny fist. She drags it to her mouth and bites it with her gums, yet Steve doesn’t seem to notice.

“Peter and Morgana.”

“Peter and your sister?” Steve asks in shock. “But…she’s so young.”

“She’s fifteen, going on sixteen.” You remind him. “If they are engaged this year that will still leave them with two years of courtship before they’re married. That is the custom in Malibia.

She’ll be eighteen by then and Peter will be twenty-four. Some people would say those are two ages perfect for marrying.”

Despite the pleasant picture you paint, Steve’s frown only grows.

“What?” You chuckle, reaching into your skirts to find the pocket where you’d placed a few small towels for Maggie’s constant drooling.

You offer Steve the towel but he’s still frowning? No…he’s pouting! You get up and move around to wipe her chin before placing the towel in Steve’s hand.

“Why are you pouting?”

“I’m not pouting.” Steve grumbles.

It makes you laugh again. “Steve…”

“Maggie will not be getting engaged until she’s at least twenty.” He suddenly declares. “I’ll lock her up in the West tower until she’s that age and only then will I allow her to entertain the idea of a suitor.”

“Are you worried that you’ll only have her for sixteen years?” You chuckle, watching the worry in his eyes as he cradles Maggie closer, stroking her rounded cheeks with gentle thumbs.

“She’s mine right now.” Steve laments, looking down at her as she continues to chew on his finger. “I don’t want to part with her. I’ve waited so long for her for some boy to come take her from me.”

“Oh, my darling.” You chuckle but this time with full sympathy for his heartbreak. “We will have lots of time with her. And even after she marries, she will always be our daughter.”

Steve’s eyes are glued to her little face and he completely doesn’t notice Cook come up to serve your meal. A few roast chickens with potatoes and carrots.

You eat in silence but quickly. Enjoying the sight of him growing more and more enamored with your daughter. Steve doesn’t seem to notice the time slip by as he distracts her with the towel you’d handed him.

She chatters about nothing in her baby speak, drawing smiles and chuckles from your husband.

Finally, you eat your last carrot and slide your chair back.

“I’m sorry.” You tell him, rising to your feet knowing you have no reason to be sorry. He’s so in love with her. Luckily, you’ve still managed to eat fast enough that the food is still warm for him. “I should hire a maid to watch her when we eat.”

It’s true that you’ll eventually need to hire someone to take care of her when you must deal with kingdom affairs too. You’re so reluctant to let someone else care for her. Just as Steve claims her passionately, you feel just as he does. She’s yours.

“Not yet.” Steve counters, letting you take her from him. He adjusts in his chair, wipes his hand then proceeds to eat, stealing glances at both of you as you move towards the benches that line the inner edge of the pavilion.

Everything is so perfect. So lovely.

You’re almost content in this moment, with your little girl in your arms and Steve sharing a meal with you. You’re very nearly happy until you look at him and like a raging storm Grandmother’s words destroy your fragile peace once more.

Steve is going to die.

He turns to you and smiles. He smiles at Maggie. He confesses his love for you both with it pouring from his eyes and while your heart aches, you vow to do anything to stop this new threat from taking him away.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Come to bed.” Steve pleads.

You glance at him through your looking glass, a hazy image because of the distance from your small table to the bed. The silver is in need of polishing or perhaps replacing. You don’t dare speak this thought aloud though.

Knowing Steve, he’d simply buy you a wall full of mirrors and you can’t have that.

Even blurry he’s a vision, an absolute fucking sight to behold with your daughter at the center of your bed his fingers tickling her tummy as she kicks her little legs excitedly. Her little hands absentmindedly stroking his arm.

He’s on his side, shirtless. His lower body hidden beneath the sheets of your bed as he lays naked underneath.

Despite that delectable fact, your eyes are glued to his gentle smile as he takes his hand and gently strokes the length of Maggie’s little nose. He’s noticed how that lulls her to sleep and does it to her every night to send her off when he’s not busy in meetings.

You finish tending to your hair, braiding it back once again to keep out of the way for your little one. When you turn in your seat to look at them, you find Maggie’s movements slowed. Her eyes are closing, little rosebud lips left open slightly.

She’s already fed and content. Your happy baby, so protected and cherished.

Despite his attentions to your daughter that you’ve spent the last ten minutes watching, when you look at him you find Steve’s eyes on you.

“Come to bed.” He urges you, a small twinkle of desire hidden in the tranquility of these moments he spends with Maggie but stares at you.

“Are you trying for a second?” You ask him, teasing as you rise and move to the bed. You know that look well by now.

Steve’s expression suddenly shift, concern etched across his face.

“Am I rushing you?” He asks, reaching for you as you kneel on the bed and gather your nightdress up so as not to trip on it. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

He’s thinking of this morning, already having had you in his den.

Since you’d given birth, he’s been so careful with you. Even when you’d assured him you were ready to be intimate with him again, he’d hesitated. Worried about hurting you or rushing your body into doing things you should not be doing.

Your smile only grows, a small chuckle escaping your lips as you settle in on Maggie’s right. She doesn’t even stir. Steve’s hand remains around your forearm, fingers gently caressing your skin.

“Why do you laugh?” He asks, his mouth perking at the corners despite his worry.

“You are not like any man I’ve ever met or heard of.” You confess. “Some of the women in Bright Rise, when they still spoke with me, would tell me about their husbands. They were like you were at the beginning of our marriage. Worse, as they took without care for their wives’ wishes. Some of them were always pregnant now that I think about it. Always trailed by a line of toddlers and children.

“The men didn’t care about their wives’ bodies or how their need to satiate their hungers affected the other.” You shake your head. “Some of the women even confessed to me that they took on lovers to find the enjoyment in fucking again.”

“Something you would have been forced to do had I continued in my foolish ways.” Steve suggests, unphased by your still somewhat rural tongue.

“Maybe…in the future. It would have taken me years of neglect to get to that point.” You nod, “Even with Thor, his touch was…unwelcome. He didn’t force me, but I did not feel right accepting his affections. I’m married. Even unhappy that wasn’t something I took lightly.”

Steve’s hand moves up to the top of your arm then slowly he drags it down to your wrist.

“Were you always this considerate? I mean, before me?” You wonder, looking deep into his storm blue eyes. “Say with Margaret? Or, perhaps the other women you were with before we married?”

Steve turns, laying himself on his back.

He releases your arm and gently strokes the length of his chest, fingers dancing across the tuft of blonde hair that rails all the way down below where the blanket ends at his waist. His other hand he shoves underneath his head as he thinks.

You wait patiently for him to be ready to speak. You’ve never asked him about his habits with other women in bed.

He steals several quick looks your way which tells you he’s nervous about answering you. Wary, in case it should prompt a fight. You can see the moment he decides to give in. His lips part a little, they stutter, then he speaks.

“Margaret was strong.” He states plainly, as if that explains it all.

You wait.

“Not that you aren’t!” He rushes to say, sitting up as gently as he can to keep from waking your daughter.

Maggie still stirs and whimpers. You place your hand on her chest and soothe her until she stills again.

“Can you put her in her bed?” You begin to sit up too, ready to do it yourself but Steve is faster, rushing so that you won’t have to.

“Of course! I’ll get her.” He gently scoops her up into his arms then quickly moves around to your side of the bed as you follow them with your eyes, turning your body as they go.

Gently he places her in her crib and tucks her in, shushing and soothing her as she complains then goes silent once more.

She isn’t too close, but you can still see her from your spot on the bed. Steve double checks by looking at you to see if you can still see her.

When he’s satisfied that you can, he moves back to you, crawling over you and stopping to give the tip of your nose a kiss as he goes before plopping himself down on his side once again. This time he reaches for you, grabby hands tracing the shape of your curves as he pulls you a little closer.

“What I meant, is that Margaret was willful. She knew what she wanted, and she made certain that everyone else knew so too.” He clears his throat, suddenly nervous again. “In bed, she was just as certain of herself.

“Even though I made the first move, she was the one who took charge in our physical relationship. I knew that if something were to go wrong or if she was tired or too ill to be with me intimately, she would tell me.”

You listen without judgement and try to keep your face clear of all emotions other than the love you have for him. Even through this conversation, your heart pounds with dread as it repeats Grandmother’s words over and over, reminding you that every moment with Steve is precious.

“I never had to worry about Margaret’s body because she never had to compromise it for me. I did worry for her, but not in the same way.” Steve says, probably thinking about the risks that Margaret would have taken as part of the Avengers.

“And the other women?” You wonder.

“There weren’t many.” Steve assures you, looking down at your chest in embarrassment. “Only two.”

“You were grieving Margaret.” You nod, understanding. “That doesn’t mean you aren’t a man.”

Steve is silent for a moment, resting his head in his hand as he uses his elbow to prop himself up. With his other hand he traces nervous circles in the blanket between you.

“They were visiting ladies. Ladies who, like Margaret, knew what they wanted.” Steve sighs the lunges softly towards you, pushing you onto your back so suddenly it makes you gasp and then laugh.

As he settles his body halfway over yours, he smiles down at you.

His hands caress the sides of your face before he trails one hand along your sides, grabbing you with intent. You can feel the desire in his touch.

“Court ladies are all playing a game. It’s a language they speak that you don’t know.” Steve sighs heavily. “A set of rules that I’m glad you do not understand. You are nothing like them and I love you for it.”

“They had husbands?” You realize.

“Yes.” Steve nods. “Men who are too distracted by their own infidelities or too busy grasping at power to pay their wives any mind. With both of them it was only one night. It came and went so quickly I can barely remember them. I don’t even think I could tell you their names.”

His face grows solemn, sad as if remembering a painful memory that has since lost its sting but not the emotion of sorrow. “I didn’t enjoy myself. I was driven by lust, but I didn’t even…I made sure they were satisfied and left it at that.”

“Mm. You felt guilty.” You nod, understanding as you watch his full lips. The lower is so much bigger than the upper. You reach up and trace it, loving the soft plumpness of it.

“Does it not make you jealous?” He wonders, relaxing more of his weight onto you. “Does it not upset you?”

You meet his eyes again, a smile stretched across your face. You can see that he wants to know you’re jealous. He wants to know that you want him as much as he wants you.

So much progress…is this truly the man you married?

“Only as much as it would upset any wife to hear her beloved husband talk about his past adventures in fucking other women.”

Steve groans and buries his face into the side of your neck, wrapping his arms around you as you also wrap yours around his shoulders. You chuckle, caressing the back of his head.

“So, the concern is not normal?” You realize, feeling better but also worried that you’re not seeing the real Steve. That maybe he’s acting this way with you while acting a completely different way with everyone else.

Is this not who he is?

“No, the concern is normal.” Steve says, muffled against your skin, making you feel almost instantly better.

He pulls back to look down at you again.

“What I’m saying is that every woman that I have been with until you has never given me cause to be concerned. I didn’t hurt them the way I hurt you.” He frowns. “I didn’t take what they weren’t willing to give.”

You look away this time, the solemnity coming from you now. The shift of conversation making your heart ache. When you speak, your voice is quiet, subdued with the reminder of your wedding night.

“I wasn’t unwilling.” You correct him because you hadn’t been. Not that first night or any night after.

Your line was not one clearly drawn, certainly. You’d slept with him out of duty but that hadn’t meant you didn’t want to. He’s the most beautiful man you’d ever seen in your life. Of course, you’d wanted him.

You hadn’t told him no. You’d only told him to slow down. You know that for him, for Nat, for everyone who found out—that slow down had been enough. It should have been enough to stop him.

“You know what I mean.” Steve says, placing both his hands on the sides of your face to tilt your head back until you look at him. “I wounded you. I took something that was not mine to take.”

“But it was yours to take.” You correct him again, and he growls in his throat at you before shaking his head, the pain leaving his eyes to be replaced by admiration.

“I can still feel you, trembling and sobbing in my arms. I was disgusted with myself. I couldn’t believe that I could do that to anyone. And you were so…so kind and gentle. So eager to please and I took advantage of that.” Steve confesses. All of his thoughts spilling out of him like water. “I had turned this beautiful, sweet princess into a sobbing, fearful, and wounded creature. I was so consumed by my grief over Margaret and my anger at having to marry again when I wasn’t ready to do so that I wanted it over. In that moment, I didn’t care about the sweet woman beneath me.

“And even after I hurt you, when I came to see you, despite your fear your only concern was for the tears I shed.”

It takes a moment to find your voice, but you do. You swallow hard.

“I’d never seen a man cry.” You confess. “Much less a king.”

“I meant every tear.” Steve insists. “If I could take that night back, I would. If I could redo every night since, I would. I am concerned for you above anyone else, because in you I saw my darkest self and I never want to be that man for you again. I never want to hurt you.”

The two of you lapse into emotional but pleasant silence. Both hearts beating strongly against each other as his chest is pressed firmly against your own.

At last, you smile, a chuckle spilling from your lips as you reach up and tuck his hair behind his ear. It’s getting long again.

“Have you always made these long speeches? Or is that reserved for me as well?” You check, mostly just teasing.

Steve’s lips curl up, his eyes twinkling mischievously. “I make sure to give every pretty woman I see a lengthy speech. Whether they’re enjoyable is a different matter.”

You bite your lip, glaring at him but only in jest. Quickly he dips down to kiss your lips, letting it linger for a moment before he pulls back only a bit so that when he speaks, his lips are fluttering against your own.

“My declarations of love, however, are entirely yours alone.” He whispers. “Tell me to stop and I will obey, my Queen.”

His right hand moves down, searching until it finds the hem of your nightdress which he begins to tug up until he finds the top of your leg. He traces the dip of flesh there, tickling your skin in search of your already yearning core.

As his fingers make contact, you gasp into his slightly open mouth and it draws his attention back up to your face. He licks your lips, just a gentle flick of the tip of his tongue before he kisses you, sinking it into your depths where you meet his eager kiss with your own.

You moan quietly, a whimper of yearning as his fingers spread your folds and begin to explore you. The noises his hand makes absolutely sinful.

Eager for his touch, you bring your knees up. You spread your legs for him, and he pulls out of the kiss to slide down along your body. He does down, down, down until he’s settled between your legs.

He grabs one and throws it over his left shoulder, then the other over his right. He kisses your thighs, trailing his tongue in small circles before every gentle pucker. The anticipation curls your toes as he moves closer and closer to your cunt.

“Steve…” You whisper, aware of the baby asleep in her crib and your need to keep quiet so that she can sleep.

He dives in, his tongue making one long swipe of your dripping core.

You gasp, curling up towards him as your body is sent into shivers.

He grabs hold of your thighs roughly, pulling you hard against his face. Opening his mouth, he suckles on your clit, the gentle sound of his sucking filling your limbs with fire.

As much as you enjoy his mouth where it is, there’s an impatience that wages war within you.

After months of waiting to enjoy sleeping with him, now that you do, it makes you eager to have him within you.

“Steve, please…” You beg, reaching down and tugging on his hair.

He likes that, growling a little at the lusty whisper that is your plea.

Pressing kisses along the length of your body while he shoves your nightdress up higher and higher, he finally helps you pull it off before taking your breasts within his mouth.

His lips are soft against them, gentle in their suckling as he knows how painful you can find it now.

When you whimper from the soreness, he steals a quick look at you to make sure you aren’t in too much pain before he simply kisses them around the nipple.

You run your hand over his hair, a promise that someday he’ll be able to enjoy your breasts again. He reads your reassurance but dismisses it as he rushes to meet your lips in a demanding kiss.

Without warning he pushes into you. He stretches you, filling you up so pleasantly that you throw your head back but swallow the moan you’d normally release.

Fuck…Your mind supplies, nails raking along the scarred flesh of his shoulders.

“Fuck…” Steve groans into your ear, stopping once he’s buried within you. Great minds think alike, you guess.

“Don’t stop.” You beg and wrap your left arm around his shoulders while the other reaches down as far as it can to grab as much of his bum as possible and pull him close.

He starts slowly, letting you both relish in the silky way his cock slides out of you then back in.

“Kiss me.” You tell him, needing his mouth to silence the moans you feel bound to make.

He obliges, roughly meeting your lips with a frenzied and lustful kiss as he loses himself within you.

He doesn’t pound into you the way he did at the cottage. He knows he shouldn’t, so he doesn’t. Even though you want it, you’re grateful for his forethought and instead focus on the way he seems to know which angles to adjust so that his cock not only pierces you but presses against the most sensitive spots inside of you.

He moves faster, reaching down to massage your clit as he kisses his way down your neck.

The moment is sudden, and it surprises you when your body goes tense for a moment as your climax washes over you.

You pull Steve down against you, gripping him hard as you hold him tight while your body is overcome.

Steve continues to push into you. Faster as he realizes that you’ve reached your limit. He grunts as he picks up speed, tracing the shape of your back down to your ass where he takes hold of it, fingers digging into the muscle.

He pulls up a little, searching for your lips with his own, tongue delving into your mouth as you give him what he wants. Both of you moan into each other, muffled and needy until Steve’s body stutters and his heat spills into you over and over.

He thrusts with each burst of ecstasy that overtakes him. His groans grow lazy. His body loose. Your own is already numb and you go still beneath him as he trails lazy kisses along the misty skin of your neck and shoulders.

He sighs, laying his head against your clavicle where he relaxes on top of you, your hands gently stroking his back.

You steal a glance at Maggie in her crib, but she’s sound asleep. It relaxes you to know she’s unbothered and without meaning to, you and Steve both fall asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

A loud thumping makes you twitch. It sounds distant but it startles you anyway.

In your arms, something large moves.

Your sleepy mind reminds you that it’s Steve and you sigh in your semi-sleep as your hands enjoy the feel of his hot body still resting on top of your own.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The thumping returns, this time louder and clearer.

A quiet whine to your right wakes you more quickly than the thumping and like you’ve been stunned with Thor’s lightning, you spring up from the bed, quickly sliding out from beneath Steve who also whines at your moving but peeks up at you as you rise.

“Whereyewgoin?” He asks, still mostly asleep.

“Go back to sleep.” You whisper to him from beside Maggie’s crib.

BOOM! BOOM-BOOM!

The thumping, which is actually a knocking on your door you realize, repeats.

Maggie whines again and you frown.

“Who’s there?” Steve asks towards the door, his voice more annoyed then upset.

“It’s Agatha, your Majesty.” One of the guards outside speaks.

“Don’t speak for me.” Grandmother’s voice grumbles.

“I’m sorry, your Majesty.” The guard says nervously, probably worried about the knocking, which means that was Grandmother and not the guard.

You look at Steve as Maggie begins to wake, her cries soft but rising as you continue to try and soothe her but now only halfheartedly.

Fear grips you, stealing you of your voice as you stare at your husband. Your little girl’s cries grow louder as she wakes but you’re frozen in place, terrified of what Grandmother could not wait until the morning to tell you.

“What, my flower?” Steve suddenly asks, sliding to the edge of the bed towards you.

“I…I should see what she wants.” You whisper, afraid to speak any louder despite your daughter already being awake.

“Go.” Steve urges you, grabbing your nightdress and moving towards you. He offers it to you as he reaches you. “I’ll put Maggie back to sleep.”

You take the nightdress with trembling hands. If Steve notices he doesn’t say so, but you don’t think he does as he’s already lifting Maggie from the crib, moving back towards the bed.

You dress in a hurry, then move to grab Steve’s robe as it’s closer and pull it over your body.

You’re tying it closed as the door opens upon your approach and find Grandmother pacing the hallway behind the two guards assigned to keep you and Maggie safe.

After what happened with Pierce, Steve is taking no chances.

“Grandmother?” You check, voice stronger but still just as terrified.

“We must speak.” She tells you, her voice strong and her eyes full of severity.

With a tentative nod you have her follow you into Steve’s den next door, shutting the door securely before you move into the room and offer her a seat in front of Steve’s desk.

“No.” She waves your offer off, pacing as you take a seat because your legs are weak again. “I have found a solution.”

“So quickly?” You gasp, hands balled into tight fists on your lap as you watch her pace.

“The sooner the better I would think in this situation. This is nothing like I have ever done before.” She admits. “It will take all of my power to do it.”

“It…will it hurt you?” You wonder, worried for her withered body.

“Probably not.” She shakes her head. “No way to know for sure. But it’s something I’m willing to die for.”

“What?” You gasp, suddenly terrified of losing her.

Finally, Grandmother stops her pacing and moves to stand before you.

“This threat is greater than I first thought.” She admits, slowly sitting herself down in the seat beside yours, turning it so that she can face you. “We cannot allow this power to grow. We can either stop it here, right now. Or we can let your husband stop it later. If we allow him to do it, it will take his life. There is no doubt in my mind of that. There will be others. He will not be the only to perish.

“Stopping this threat now is for everyone’s benefit and if I must pay with my life to save many others, I will do so willingly.” She declares.

“I can’t ask you to do that.” You shake your head, your emotions already raw.

“You’re not asking me, girl. I’m telling you that I must do it. I have already made my choice, now the only choice left to make is your own.” She fixes her gaze on you and you find you cannot look away.

“My own choice?”

“You asked me to save him. To ensure that he will live, a great sacrifice must be made. Separate from my own. I will provide the power, the strength for the incantation. Something else must be given for it to succeed.” Grandmother explains.

Your mind springs into action, thinking of the one thing you have of worth to give. Your life.

“So, I’ll…I’ll die?” You whisper, already in sorrow for leaving your husband and child.

“No.” Grandmother says. “No, I’m certain you will live.”

“Then what?”

“The price is impossible to know. It could be anything.” Grandmother gestures at you, looking you over from head to toe. “It could be your sight. Your ability to hear. Your voice. Your ability to walk. Whatever it is, it will be a great price to pay. Only you can choose to pay it but unless you do, I cannot go forward with the spell.”

“C-can I choose? Can I decide what it is that I sacrifice?” You hope, but what would you choose? What do you possibly have that could be worth your husband’s life?

“No. The magics will choose what to take. It will be equal to what it is you ask for, but only the magics can choose what that value is.” Grandmother explains.

This is impossible. This is unbelievable. This is torture.

You have to pay a price without knowing what it will be?

You know that your answer is yes. You’ll pay it. Whatever the price, you will give it willingly if it will save Steve’s life.

“I will pay it.” You nod. “Of course, I will. Yes.”

Grandmother takes your hand and squeezes it, a knowing look in her eyes. “I knew you would.”

She rises and you follow. Your hands feel weak but with the decision now made, you now it’s right and feel settled that you know this will soon be resolved.

Before the old woman can make it to the door, you reach out and grab her wrist, stopping her before she can leave.

“Grandmother…” You begin, waiting for her to turn.

She doesn’t. “Don’t get sentimental.” She says, voice strong though you’re sure that you can hear a small sadness in her tone.

“I want to thank you…for taking care of me. For loving me. I know that you could not always be there when I was young but you’re here now. Thank you.” You whisper, scared to speak louder in case you begin to cry. “I-I just wanted you to know. In case I cannot say it later or if you-”

You can’t even speak the words. She won’t die. She can’t.

With one withered hand, she reaches down and places it over your own. She gives you a squeeze, her hands trembling but reassuring.

“I don’t know when the spell will take effect. Go. Sleep soundly. Hold them close.” Grandmother advises then pushes your hand off her arm and disappears into the sleeping castle.

The very short walk back to your bedroom feels as if it takes forever. The guard make no comment as they open your door for you and you wander in, eyes searching for the loves of your life.

You find Steve snuggled up close to Maggie, his head pressed against the side of her own, his hand on her tummy and his eyes closed.

Maggie is not sleeping. She’s staring up at the ceiling with her little legs kicking gently as she coos and babbles her baby speak. One of her little hands is closed tightly around Steve’s finger, holding tight. As you move towards them, you notice how her hand doesn’t even close around his finger completely. She’s so small still. So fragile.

What if you can’t hold her after paying the price? What if you can’t hear her babble? What if you can’t see her little face or the way her eyes light up and her toothless smile spreads across her face as she spots you?

Just as she does now, she lets out a louder “Goo…” as she spots you and her legs go into a frenzy as she flails her limbs frantically.

You don’t want to cry but you feel the rush of sorrow overwhelm you. Quickly, before Steve can see, you drop onto the bed still wearing his robe and pull Maggie towards you. You hug her and turn her towards you, burying your face against her tiny chest.

Her little hands grab at you, whatever part of your head they can, and she pulls your ears, tugs your hair, scratches against your cheek but you don’t care. You inhale her scent, memorizing it just in case you lose the ability to smell.

After you’re sure you could never forget it, you tickle her sides until she’s giggling lightly, small bubbles and whines of amusement. It’s not a full laugh. She hasn’t done that for you yet. What if you never get to hear it?

You memorize this one anyway, put it away and lock it up within your heart where you know you will always be able to recall the pure sound of her innocence.

It takes every ounce of will power within you to stifle your desire to sob. Still, you manage it and when you’re certain you can face him, you pull back a bit to look at your daughter’s beautiful face.

She’s all Steve. You hardly recognize anything in her looks of you. She’s gorgeous. Pretty blonde hair, just like Steve’s only slightly darker in shade.

Her eyes are a piercing blue. Lighter than Steve’s but just as observant. She watches you, reaches out for your face where she places a small hand on your nose then slides it down to your lips which she casually grabs and releases before her eyes find her hand and she brings it to her mouth to taste.

You watch her for so long, you’re sure that it must nearly be morning, but the sky continues to be dark outside the windows of your room.

You sing to your little one. A quit lullaby that you hope she’ll remember if you can never speak to her again. You tell her you love her and sing some more.

She drifts off eventually, her little mouth open as she sleeps.

Finally, you turn your eyes on Steve, yearning to see him almost to an unnatural amount. You have never doubted it but in this moment as your eyes find him staring right back at you, you realize how much you truly love him. How much he’s changed your life.

Your world has grown since you met him. He’s changed you forever.

Will the sacrifice be your life? Will you be leaving them behind? Will you be wounding him again, just as Margaret had?

Even though Grandmother said it wouldn’t be, you can’t help but wonder and worry that you might very well be spending the last moments you’ll ever have with him and Maggie now.

What if you close your eyes and they should never open again?

At least she would have him. Maggie wouldn’t be alone. She would have her father. And he would have her.

If by some chance her father should also leave her behind, she’d have Nat and Bucky. She’d have Sam and Peter. She’d have the entire team to care for her. Father and Mother would probably try and take her to Malibia.

She would never need to worry about her meals or whether she could survive frigid winter temperatures. She would be protected and loved even if you aren’t around to make sure she is.

Steve blinks slowly. He’s sleepy but he’s trying to stay awake because you’re awake.

You’re not sure if he can tell that something is wrong, but you push yourself up towards him. You’re careful as you hover over Maggie, reaching to hook your hand behind his neck as he also pushes himself up and towards you.

You kiss him, slow and smooth until your heart begins to ache and your hand squeezes around his neck.

You kiss him with a bit more fervor and though he returns it, when you pull away, his brow is narrowed in confusion. Subtle concern.

“I love you.” You whisper to him, reaching down to trace the shape of his bottom lip with your thumb. You kiss him again. “I love you, forever.”

It’s a promise you have every intention of honoring. Will he love you even if you can’t talk? Will he love you if you can’t hear? Will he still love you if you are not the woman you are now?

You know that you can overcome anything. You can embrace a new way of living so long as it means that Steve and Maggie are safe. But will he see it that way? Will he love you for the woman you will become?

“You’re my entire world, Y/N.” He whispers back almost as if he can hear your thoughts and he wants to put you at ease.

His lips curl up at the corns softly as he blinks even slower than before as sleep begins to pull him under. “You and Maggie are my life.”

Your lip trembles as his eyes shut and do not open again, his head falling to his pillow.

“I love you…so…” He trails off, his words lost to dreams.

You stare at him and then Maggie. All night you stare at them, memorizing the way they breathe and smell. If you’re going to be changed forever, you’re going to remember this moment and cherish it until the day you die.

You will never forget it.

~~~~~~~~~~

1 Year & 3 Months Later

The sun is beaming. It’s strong. July is hot, even more so than normal. You groan as you look up to the sky and shield your eyes from the blinding light.

For a moment your mind goes hazy, full of fog. Something changes as it always does. Something shifts.

Something tugs at the corners of your mind. Something blurry and demanding. You get this way every single time you come here.

Every time you fill the wooden bucket, there’s a flash of something familiar.

You focus on the tug, allowing it to unearth the secret that eludes you.

There’s a quick flash that you don’t quite see. A golden hue. A storm blue circle.

Then your bucket overflows and the water splashes your feet, drenching your newly mended shoes.

They’re too small for your feet but it’s all you have.

“Damn.” You sigh, grunting as you lift the bucket and place it on the damp bank of the river.

Across the barren field, your little hut just at the opposite edge nestled into a grove of forest trees, Bright Rise begins to wake.

Another day, another scramble to find a way to keep your belly full.

“Time to check the traps.” You sigh, groaning as you lift the bucket and begin the trek back to your little hovel in the only village you’ve ever known.

The place you were born, but most definitely not home.

Your heart tells you that somewhere out there…somewhere else, your true home waits.

(THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER! One more to go!)

#steve x reader #king!steve x reader #captain america x reader #medieval au #royalty au #medieval fantasy au #marvel fanfiction #steve rogers x reader #king!steve rogers x reader #avengers x reader #pseudo princess #king!steve x you #steve rogers x you #steve x you #captain america x you #pseudo princess pt35

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becomewings · 3 years

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The Most Beautiful Moment in Life <I’M FINE>

BTS Universe Story Highlights, pt. 3 / 4

« pt. 2 | » pt. 4

Introduction

The following sections for JiMin’s and HoSeok’s arcs are 4.5k and 4k, respectively. As with pt.2 of the series, I have included “tl;dr commentary” at the bottom of the post after a section of additional thoughts. This commentary summarizes the parenthetical asides I made throughout the summaries and may be of interest as standalone reading to those who have already played the game yet would like to review its connections to the BU texts and MVs.

Content warning: contains references to death, suicide, suicidal ideation, child abuse, domestic violence, blood, homicide, depression, trauma, PTSD

This guide contains major spoilers and includes references to other BU media

Do not repost, copy, or quote without permission

Stopped Time

SeokJin’s primary goal in JiMin’s story is to free him from the hospital psychiatric ward to which his parents have him committed before he gives up on life. Much like his sudden, unexplained absence in The Notes 1, JiMin is not even present in the first two episodes except for an introductory cutscene. In a hospital hallway on an unspecified date, he plays on the colored tiles and stops when he reaches “the line” by the exit door. (This line marks the end of the psychiatric ward and is first described in his 11 May Year 22 entry in The Notes 1.) Everything goes black except for JiMin and the door. A nurse taps him on the shoulder, bringing him back to reality, and hands him pills.

The playable story begins on 22 April Year 22 with SeokJin attending a meeting organized by the patrons of the Songho Foundation. Seo HyunJung, the city’s Deputy Mayor, suggested it to SeokJin’s father, Kim ChangJun, at the inauguration ceremony. (SeokJin attends the inauguration ceremony on 11 April in many loops; it plays out in episode 2 of JungKook’s arc.) SeokJin scans over the crowd, reflecting that while the pretext of the meeting is to discuss community development, in reality it is a social gathering to advance individual careers. These sessions make him uncomfortable, but this time he is attending of his own accord with the intention of meeting someone.

This someone is a woman who actually approaches him first, introducing herself as Sim SeonMi. SeokJin knows that she is JiMin’s mother. He has met her in previous loops but needs to pretend that this is their first time meeting. His goal is to bring up JiMin naturally and persuade her to discharge him from the hospital. Before he can broach the subject, the high school principal, Jo JinMyung, joins them. SeokJin uses his arrival as an opportunity to bring up school and guide the conversation toward JiMin by first asking if they know each other. “We’ve met a few times at gatherings. I was told her child used to be a student at our school,” answers Jo JinMyung. “Ah, really? I attended Jeil High too,” says SeokJin. Sim SeonMi looks taken aback, and he asks for her child’s name. She tries to avoid the question by saying that they probably won’t know each other due to their age gap, but when pressed again she relents. “His name is Park JiMin.” “I know JiMin! We were close. Is JiMin doing okay?” SeokJin responds brightly, wondering if she will provide an empty lie. Instead, she excuses herself with the claim that she needs to greet someone else.

SeokJin quickly wraps up with the principal and begins to casually approach her again. He stops when he overhears two women mention her name. “There’s no gathering she doesn’t attend these days. Looks like her husband’s star is on the rise, thanks to her efforts…” The player has the choice to listen quietly or butt in. If SeokJin stands by, they speculate that she was invited because her husband’s company is one of the patrons. If he interrupts, they caution him to stay away from her. In both routes, SeokJin learns that Sim SeonMi doesn’t have the best reputation and that rumors of her hospitalized son are spreading. Their blame on her helps explain what underlay her hysteric responses in previous loops.

Though it’s uncomfortable, SeokJin reapproaches her when she is alone. She greets him a little coldly. “You don’t have to be so formal to me. I’m JiMin’s friend,” he assures. “Is that so? How friendly you are.” Sim SeonMi smiles awkwardly and keeps looking elsewhere as though for an escape. “It would’ve been nice if JiMin’s father was here… He’ll join me another time, so you can say hello to him then.” “Yes. I’ll make sure to bring my father along then,” SeokJin replies, hoping to snag her attention. Her eyes change at the mention of his father. “Shall we do that, then? It’ll be even better with the Assemblyman.” SeokJin brings up JiMin again by either asking if he still attends Jeil High or how he’s doing. Her uneasy answers are “These days? Yes… Of course” or “...He’s fine,” respectively. SeokJin requests JiMin’s phone number, rendering her silent for a long moment. “That’s a bit difficult. I’m not sure I can give out JiMin’s contact information without his approval.” SeokJin attempts to convince her by stating that they were close friends in school yet lost contact when he studied abroad. But all he gets from her is, “Then I’ll ask JiMin, and make sure to contact you if he says it’s okay.” Sim SeonMi taps him on the shoulder and quickly walks away.

By 25 April, SeokJin still hasn’t heard from JiMin’s mother, so he decides to visit her and reveal that he knows JiMin was admitted to an inpatient psychiatric ward. Uncle JunHo, his father’s secretary, intercepts him before he leaves the house and asks where he’s going. SeokJin either answers that he is heading to school or meeting a friend to work on assignments. He declines a ride from JunHo in the first path but can’t conjure an excuse to not accept in the second. In both, JunHo comments that it’s not easy being the family of a public official and that he noticed SeokJin engaged in a long conversation with Sim SeonMi at the meeting. SeokJin explains that she is his friend’s mother, and JunHo advises him not to get too friendly with her because she doesn’t have a great reputation. In the second path, he also adds information about JiMin’s father that catches SeokJin’s attention because he has not heard anything about the man. Apparently Park JinWook is one of the foundation’s board members. ‘He’s pretty remarkable. He entered as a researcher and became a board member… The one thing that people like him want most is connections,” JunHo muses. He cautions SeokJin to “be wary of any advances [he] can see the intent of.”

The scene cuts to the exterior of an apartment building after SeokJin has either driven himself or been dropped off nearby by JunHo. He considers the public assessment of JiMin’s mother: she works hard to elevate her husband’s status but ignores her own son in favor of the family’s reputation. Sim SeonMi happens to step outside before SeokJin enters the building. She looks wary when he says, “I haven’t heard from you, so I decided to come see you myself.” In an effort to persuade her, SeokJin begins with either “I want to see JiMin” or “I came to see you because I know everything.” In the first path, she lies about not getting in touch with JiMin yet because he is studying abroad in the U.S. SeokJin is stunned by this egregious falsehood. “From what I’ve heard… JiMin’s locked up in a hospital. He’s at the Gyeong Il Hospital, isn’t he?” A similar reaction occurs in the second path from the point of SeokJin mentioning the hospital. Sim SeonMi hardens and objects to the phrase “locked up,” stating that JiMin is an inpatient because he is sick. “SeokJin, I appreciate that you’re worried about JiMin… But I’m his mother, and that means I know what’s best for him.” The paths converge as she tries to leave, claiming they have nothing left to discuss. Persuading her to release JiMin from the hospital seems impossible. “I’ll look into it on my own. I’m going to see JiMin, no matter how hard you try to stop me,” SeokJin warns. Sim SeonMi glares at him, voice low and cold. “‘SeokJin. If I can give you a word of advice… Adults have reasons for everything they do. You should forget about this.”

The beginning of episode 3 visits JiMin’s perspective on 27 April. He has relocated temporarily to the surgical ward due to an injured wrist. After treatment, he returns to his hospital room to find his mother arranging some items she brought. JiMin approaches nervously, wondering if she thinks he has caused a problem again. “It doesn’t look too bad, thankfully,” she remarks, glancing at his wrist. Her concern is unfamiliar yet welcome. “Do you know a Kim SeokJin? He said he attended Jeil High.” The mention of SeokJin surprises JiMin, but he tries to answer passively because of her angry tone. “Yes, but why are you suddenly ask—” “Did you contact him?” Sim SeonMi interrupts, halting her organizing to stare at him. “Why are you so immature? Do you ever think of anyone outside of here?” Injury throbbing, JiMin doesn’t know how to respond. “If you want to leave, tell me why you’re doing this. Tell me instead of embarrassing me by contacting some random person! Is that why you hurt your wrist? To rebel?” she demands. JiMin tries to explain this isn’t true, but she doesn’t listen. “I’m really tired, too. How many years has it been? How long do I have to suffer because of you?” Sim SeonMi leaves, the rant having done little to expend her anger. JiMin knows that her worries are pointed at herself, not at him; he is someone who makes life harder for her. He decides not to talk about anything else because he doesn’t want to make things even more difficult for her.

The story cuts to SeokJin loitering outside Gyeong Il Hospital, mulling over what action to take since JiMin is moving out of the surgical ward that day. (The date is unspecified in the game, but in The Notes 1, he is scheduled to return to the psychiatric ward on 16 May.) SeokJin knows that he will be the first suspect if JiMin disappears now and that he must act carefully since he was unable to persuade JiMin’s mother. As the day grows dark, he spots Sim SeonMi rushing into the hospital on her second visit. SeokJin hurries after her, worried that something happened to JiMin. The panicked voices of a medical team emerge from JiMin’s room. Doctors crowd around someone laying on the bed. “No, JiMin!” SeokJin hears Sim SeonMi scream followed by the sound of shattering glass.

The loop resets, and the game rejoins SeokJin on 10 May standing at a road and reflecting on the last failure. “If JiMin isn’t saved while he’s in the surgical ward, he makes his choice days after he returns to the closed ward. But it happened too quickly this time. What pushed him?” he wonders. He recalls Sim SeonMi’s final words before the loop ended. “No, JiMin! I’m sorry. I was wrong! You can see your friends; you can do anything you want… So please, open your eyes!” SeokJin realizes that he may have caused Sim SeonMi to act out of the ordinary, which in turn affected JiMin’s choice. It’s his fault, and he made JiMin suffer more. He thinks, “Even though I’ve experienced losing my friends before… No matter how many times it repeats… It never gets any easier.” SeokJin decides to abandon persuading JiMin’s mother to avoid provoking her and reverts his plan to sneaking JiMin out like in earlier loops. But first, he must focus on a more pressing issue—rescuing HoSeok after he collapses on the bridge that day.

After a cut, HoSeok awakens in SeokJin’s car and is shocked to see him. “Wow, is it really you? How long has it been?” “Lean on me for a bit longer. You didn’t hurt yourself when you fell?” SeokJin checks. HoSeok assures him that he’s all right and asks how SeokJin saw him. When SeokJin says he was just passing by, HoSeok remarks, “Wow! That’s so weird. Thanks for saving me.” It’s the first time SeokJin has heard something like this. He remembers JiMin in a previous loop telling him, “This is where I should be.” Does JiMin really want to leave the hospital? SeokJin believed that he did, but now he’s less confident. “HoSeok. If you had someone in front of you who wanted to die because living was too difficult… What would you do?” he asks. HoSeok answers without hesitation, “Well, I would help them.” “Even if that person doesn’t want my help?” says SeokJin. “ Isn’t helping them the right thing to do? Even if you don’t know why they want to die… They need to keep living for something to change,” HoSeok muses.

SeokJin drops HoSeok off at Two Star Burger before returning to the hospital alone, his friend’s words sticking with him. Even though JiMin isn’t guaranteed to be happy when he leaves the hospital, he needs to stay alive to have even the opportunity for happiness. Still uncertain how to proceed, SeokJin heads to the hospital lounge to organize his thoughts before visiting JiMin. Through an open door, he spots JiMin trudging down a hallway. SeokJin either calls out to him or watches him, but the latter is the result regardless because JiMin doesn’t hear him in the first path. JiMin stares at the door as people come and go and eventually returns to his room.

On 7 May, JiMin roams the hallways of the 5th floor surgical ward. He was moved there about ten days earlier after he ran into someone and fell. The surgical ward is not too different from the psychiatric one: the hallway is a little longer, and it has a lounge in the middle. But the freedom to move around in this space brings him joy that he doesn’t have in the psychiatric ward. He even wanders around at night when no one is around and dances in the lounge. Despite this newfound freedom, his body stops at the same point in the hallway—where the psychiatric ward ends four floors above him. After reaching his line again, JiMin returns to his room. He assumes a student occupied the bed before him because he finds a forgotten workbook in the nearby drawers. Remembering that he used this workbook in school, he flips through and reads the notes scribbled in the margins. “I want to go to a PC cafe, too…” he murmurs, spotting the note “wanna go to the PC cafe later?” JiMin finds a haphazardly folded paper tucked into the pages and unfolds it curiously. “Career… plan?”

The story cuts to 10 May with SeokJin, from a hidden vantage point, watching JiMin sit in the hospital lounge and read a book. It reminds him of their days in the classroom hideout. “He seems okay right now.” SeokJin receives a call from Uncle JunHo about the scheduling of a Songho Foundation seminar. During their conversation, a loudspeaker announcement summons JiMin to the 2nd floor physical therapy room. He drops the book and runs out of the lounge. Once finished with the call, SeokJin tries to find the book JiMin was reading. He doesn’t see it among those scattered around the lounge and thinks that JiMin must’ve had a reason to hide it. Hoping it will provide him a clue to understanding his friend, SeokJin hunts around either the window or trash can with no luck before turning to the vending machine. After scooting a bookcase out of the way, he is finally able to rescue the item. SeokJin deduces that the workbook doesn’t belong to JiMin because it’s Year 2 material and JiMin was admitted to the hospital in his first year. He finds the detached sheet with two different types of handwriting and determines which belongs to JiMin. The game provides a quick flashback shot of JiMin filling out the paper. “Aspiring Career Path: Will I be able to go to university too? Scholastic Activities: What should I learn in Year 2… Extracurricular Activities: Join the dance club HoSeok started.” SeokJin wonders what JiMin felt as he wrote in the answers. He considers how JiMin people-watched from the hallway and looked happy reading the workbook. “You want to leave, don’t you?” SeokJin thinks. “Let’s get out of here. So you can be the one to decide what kind of life you want to live.” He resolves to break JiMin free.

On 11 May, JiMin stops at the invisible line in the hallway again. He stares at the door before turning around and bumping into someone. He is shocked speechless when he realizes that it’s SeokJin. The next episode continues from this moment but switches to SeokJin’s perspective. He calms JiMin down before bringing him to the lounge, giving the excuse that he was in the hospital to visit someone else. JiMin’s cheeks are hollowed, his hands skinnier than normal. SeokJin wonders if he can inspire JiMin to act if he tells him that he’ll be able to do all of the things he wrote on the career plan once he leaves the hospital. He either asks, “JiMin, are you injured?” or “How long have you been in the hospital?” In both paths, JiMin refers to his wrist injury and the time he’s been in the surgical ward rather than the psychiatric one. He looks grim when he can’t give a proper answer to either “When do you get discharged?” or “Are you sick?” “I think I have to go now. It’s almost time for treatment, too…” JiMin stands to leave, avoiding his gaze. SeokJin rushes after him and blocks his path, knowing this might be their last chance to speak if they say goodbye already. “JiMin, I’m here because I know everything. You want to leave this place, don’t you? You’ve been here for two years.” JiMin steps back but doesn’t run away. “I just happened to hear… how your mother locked you in the psychiatric ward,” SeokJin explains. JiMin shakes his head with a frightened expression. “No. I’m here because I’m sick.” His eyes falter when SeokJin presses, “JiMin, I can help you. Let’s get out of here together.”

Short flashbacks play from JiMin’s perspective alongside his thoughts: “At first, I wanted to leave. I called my mom and cried until my voice went hoarse, asking her to take me home. That I didn’t want to stay here. But she didn’t listen. Because this is where I should be…” Aloud, JiMin speaks in a voice that sounds like he has given up on everything. “Even if I leave, I’ll eventually come back.” SeokJin shakes his head. “What’s important is how you feel. JiMin, you really want to stay here? That’s okay with you?” Depending on the players’ choice, he either continues, “Do you really not have anything you want to do?” or “‘You really want to stay here in the hospital?” In the first path, SeokJin tries to remind him of something he must want to do like studying or dancing. “I don’t… have anything like that,” JiMin lies. In the second path, JiMin says it’s better for him in the hospital because outside people treat him like a freak. SeokJin remembers the women whispering about Sim SeonMi and her hospitalized son at the Songho Foundation meeting. In both paths, JiMin is pale and shaky. SeokJin decides to ask one more time. “You don’t want to go outside and see your friends?” JiMin seems to perk up at the mention of “friends,” but he does not respond or lift his gaze. SeokJin’s parting words are, “Think about it, JiMin… I’ll come back to visit again.”

The next day (12 May), SeokJin reflects on his failure to persuade both JiMin and his mother. “What can I do to help JiMin get over his fear and gain courage?” he wonders. The career plan comes to mind again with JiMin’s notes of college, studying, and dancing—the things he wants to do outside of the hospital. This prompts SeokJin to remember a day in the classroom hideout when he filmed HoSeok dancing. On the sidelines, TaeHyung complimented HoSeok’s moves and asked if JiMin could dance like that. Gaze full of envy and longing, JiMin answered, “No. How could I do that?” “HoSeok! JiMin says he wants to try!” TaeHyung called. Flustered, JiMin tried to stop him, but HoSeok looked over. “Do you want to try?” JiMin insisted that he couldn’t, but TaeHyung pushed him forward and HoSeok gladly demonstrated the routine. JiMin hesitated at first to attempt it alone but began to move at their encouragement. In the present, SeokJin believes that he has found an answer in this memory. “TaeHyung, who pushed him forward… and HoSeok, who believed that he could do it. Maybe one of those two will help JiMin muster up the courage.”

SeokJin picks TaeHyung to help him persuade JiMin, considering that he was the first person to notice how JiMin was feeling when they watched HoSeok dance and helped JiMin take action when he hesitated. (We know from The Notes 1 that SeokJin’s later, successful choice ends up being HoSeok instead.) On 13 May, SeokJin visits TaeHyung’s convenience store to explain JiMin’s situation, and TaeHyung immediately agrees to help. Late that night and with little planned, they sneak into JiMin’s hospital room. Sensing their presence, JiMin turns on the light and is especially surprised to see TaeHyung. “We’re here to get you out of here, JiMin,” he says. “Did you think about it?” SeokJin asks. When JiMin hesitates, TaeHyung presses him to answer honestly. “Park JiMin, do you like being here? Staying here is awful! Let’s leave. You can think when we’re outside.” TaeHyung forces JiMin to his feet even as he hesitates and protests about the impending night rounds, although he does not push TaeHyung’s hand away. SeokJin knows this is hasty but decides to trust TaeHyung. Out in the hallway, he reflects that if even he spoke the same words, JiMin would not agree. SeokJin has encountered moments like this before where his friends solve problems that he cannot fix alone. “TaeHyung seems to be JiMin’s answer, just like YoonGi needed JungKook,” SeokJin thinks. (JungKook saving YoonGi is not a solution that played out in YoonGi’s story, but this is a familiar theme from Notes 1 and forward.)

The elevator arrives as they turn the corner, its doors opening to reveal Sim SeonMi. SeokJin warns, “Hide. It’s JiMin’s mom.” She walks past without noticing them. SeokJin quickly presses the elevator button, but it has already left. “JiMin, quick!” TaeHyung calls. “TaeHyung, I just…” “You can’t look back,” TaeHyung says firmly. He and SeokJin pull JiMin towards the stairwell, but JiMin stops walking. “What’s wrong?” asks TaeHyung. JiMin’s expression is on the verge of crying yet also angry. “I can’t,” he whispers. “Park JiMin, we don’t have time for this—” TaeHyung is interrupted by Sim SeonMi’s distant voice. “Where’d he go? The bathroom?” SeokJin tugs JiMin’s arm, but he looks afraid again. “SeokJin, I… I can’t do this. I don’t think I can.” SeokJin either soothes JiMin himself or has TaeHyung talk to him. In the first path, he takes JiMin’s trembling hand. “It’s safe for me here.” JiMin shakes his head. “No, JiMin. Something bad will happen if you stay here,” SeokJin cautions. “No, I have to stay here. That’s what’s right. I want to stay here,” JiMin insists. In the second path, SeokJin shoots TaeHyung a look, and TaeHyung in turn scans over JiMin. The tapping sound of shoes rings through the silent hallway. TaeHyung begins, “JiMin, if you stop here…” The paths rejoin when Sim SeonMi spots them and calls to JiMin, face livid as she approaches. “Oh… Mom.” The color drains from JiMin’s face. “Please… Please! Can’t you just stay put?” she demands sharply.

TaeHyung attempts to intervene, introducing himself as JiMin’s friend. Sim SeonMi does not look at him even when he explains that JiMin didn’t expect their visit and they were just taking him outside so as not to disturb the sleeping patients. SeokJin chimes in too, hoping their flimsy excuse will work, but Sim SeonMi orders JiMin back to his room. Looking defeated, JiMin trudges out of sight. Sim SeonMi finally turns her gaze on SeokJin, regarding him with the same expression as she utters the same words from the last loop. “I didn't know you were JiMin’s friend.” She warns them not to visit him again like this because he is very sick and it will interfere with his treatment. Before coldly turning to leave, she touches TaeHyung’s shoulder for a moment. (This same gesture was given to HoSeok in the hospital after JiMin’s seizure at the bus stop on 15 September Year 20 in Notes 1.) Her presence is like a wall separating them from JiMin. (SeokJin’s observation echoes HoSeok’s feeling that she was drawing an uncrossable line between them that September.) TaeHyung yells after her, “What’s wrong with him?! You can’t even spare the time to talk to us?!” SeokJin cautions him to stop. “Let me go! JiMin! Park JiMin!” TaeHyung’s voice rings loudly in the hallway, but no one answers. As they leave the hospital, he asks, “Do you think JiMin will be okay?” SeokJin cannot respond because he knows the truth: when JiMin returns to the psychiatric ward, he always makes the same awful choice.

The story cuts to JiMin sitting on his hospital bed and staring at his feet, unable to face his mother. He regrets following SeokJin and TaeHyung. “It was a lie, wasn’t it?” Sim SeonMi asks. “What those kids said earlier. Did you think I wouldn’t notice?” JiMin apologizes, throat catching. “What were you going to do? What could you possibly do outside of this place?” she demands. JiMin remembers all the things he thought about alone in the lounge: going to school, making friends, and learning dance from HoSeok again. “I want to live a regular life. It’s nothing that special. Why is it that I’m not allowed to dream?” he thinks. “JiMin, let’s focus on getting better first. When you’re all better… I’ll let you do whatever you want once you’re discharged. But you know that now isn’t the time. Let’s do it when you’re back to normal,” Sim SeonMi advises with a power in her voice that he can’t fight. Questions pile up in his head: what is getting better, and what is normal? But he holds it in and nods, not wanting to make things any more difficult for her. “Okay, Mom. I will…” As he speaks, it dawns on him that he’ll never get to leave the hospital.

JiMin moves back to the psychiatric ward after SeokJin and TaeHyung’s visit. The place is still the same: a man mutters that he’s not crazy; a child stays glued to the window, waiting for their mom. “And then there’s me, unable to progress because I’m locked in the past. If nothing changes even as time flows, how is it any different than time standing still?” On 19 May, JiMin stands in the bathroom with the water running. He sees and hears the falling drops as rain and smells a sharp stickiness. Reflected in the water in the sink, he sees a vision of himself on “that day.” (This is referring to 6 April Year 11 and the events of the arboretum, first introduced in that dated entry in The Notes 1 and revealed in full on 12 August Year 22 of The Notes 2.) “...I hate it.” JiMin covers his eyes. “I want to forget everything. I want to rest.” The glass shatters, concluding his arc.

Someone Left Behind

HoSeok’s story opens on 11 May Year 22 with SeokJin providing some chronological context. So far, he has not made it to June once in the loops because HoSeok collapses from his narcolepsy and JiMin is still trapped in the hospital. SeokJin can encounter JiMin naturally if he admits HoSeok to the hospital after his collapse on 10 May, but HoSeok has an accident in the hospital stairwell and falls into despair over his leg injury. (10 May is the date HoSeok collapses and wakes up in the hospital in The Notes 1, and this is likely the moment referenced by his bridge scene in the I Need U MV.) Even if SeokJin prevents that accident or helps HoSeok avoid admittance to the hospital entirely, his narcolepsy grows worse over time after 10 May. SeokJin determines that he needs to control HoSeok’s narcolepsy in order to save him, and he heads to Two Star Burger where HoSeok works to begin earnestly investigating.

A cutscene plays out at the restaurant: HoSeok, wearing a manager’s tag, watches two friends eating at a table while someone places their order with him. His expression is distant and briefly sad until he catches himself and smiles brightly at the customer. When the door chimes, he greets the new visitor and realizes it’s SeokJin. This is apparently their first time meeting in this loop because HoSeok heard from the other guys that Seokjin returned. SeokJin asks how he’s doing, and HoSeok replies, “Me? Same as usual.” SeokJin knows that “same as usual” means HoSeok’s life has a set, monotonous routine: working his part-time job, going to dance practice, and occasionally visiting the children’s home. Sometimes, he also comes to the bridge over the river and watches the scenery. The scene transitions to this location later at night as SeokJin narrates this. He stands at a distance so HoSeok doesn’t see him. HoSeok’s out-of-character, melancholy expression worries SeokJin. He hasn’t observed any changes to his friend’s daily routine, and HoSeok hasn’t collapsed recently—so why does he keep collapsing on 10 May?

The narrative cuts to 3 May. (I double-checked the dates and can only assume that this is a new loop, although a reset is not specifically mentioned—or else the opening date was a typo.) SeokJin mulls the situation over alone for a while but ends up going to NamJoon out of frustration. NamJoon and HoSeok share similarities, and they’re both responsible for other people. Believing that NamJoon knows HoSeok best, SeokJin visits his container. NamJoon greets him warmly. JungKook is already there, killing time after school. SeokJin mentions that he saw HoSeok a few days earlier at Two Star Burger but couldn’t really talk to him because he was busy. NamJoon suggests inviting him to join them after work and bring some hamburgers too since JungKook is hungry. SeokJin either calls HoSeok himself or lets JungKook call. In the first path, HoSeok says he’ll come as soon as SeokJin mentions that a few of them are together. In the second path, while JungKook is on the phone, SeokJin asks NamJoon how HoSeok is and learns that he practices dance at the cultural center every day. SeokJin wonders if HoSeok is pushing himself too hard. The paths rejoin: before HoSeok arrives, SeokJin inquires about his narcolepsy too. NamJoon doesn’t know much except that he’s still taking medication for it and seems to be doing okay. It seems that no one dares to bring it up since HoSeok doesn’t speak about it openly. The conversation trails off while they wait, although it’s not awkward—it reminds SeokJin of old times together.

HoSeok arrives with a cheerful greeting, wafting in the smell of fresh hamburgers. “These hamburgers were hand-made by the employee of the month!” He rustles through the bags and produces a kid’s meal boxed toy, giving it to JungKook. “Here’s your Children’s Day gift!” JungKook pouts that he’s not a kid but seems pleased to receive a gift even though it’s a couple days early. HoSeok explains that he has to be at the children’s home on 5 May. NamJoon asks if they’re hosting an event that day. “It’s not really an event… I’m going to see the families,” says HoSeok. He plans to bring hamburgers and play with the kids rather than bring gifts. SeokJin is surprised to hear that almost twenty children, ranging from young kids to high schoolers, live at the home. “‘That’s more than I expected. It must be fun when everyone plays together.” HoSeok invites him to come along to take photos of everyone, and SeokJin agrees with a high-five. NamJoon declines because he’s too busy, and JungKook hesitates. HoSeok assures him not to feel pressured, causing SeokJin to reflect on how he has always been the “mood-maker” whose cheerful personality eases awkward situations and defuses disagreements. While lost in thought, he notices HoSeok taking out his medication. “How are you these days? Do you feel better?” NamJoon checks. “Hmm. I don’t have any symptoms, but I shouldn’t be skipping these.” A grim expression flashes across HoSeok’s face. SeokJin thinks, “It doesn’t mean he’s alright just because he smiles in front of people.” He guesses that HoSeok must feel scared of his condition, not knowing when he’ll collapse next. It’s not enough for SeokJin to prevent the accidents he can see or to stop HoSeok from getting injured—he must save him from the fear that isn’t visible. SeokJin resolves to find out what makes him collapse. Even if the condition isn’t curable, discovering the cause might help HoSeok get better.

On 5 May, SeokJin meets up with HoSeok at the children’s home, which is located near Yangji Stream. HoSeo looks happy and explains that visiting there is like coming home. They bring their respective gifts of hamburgers and snacks inside, and all the kids rush to HoSeok in excitement. One of the home’s staff greets them. HoSeok introduces her as Kim JungHee. He calls her “auntie” and regards her as someone who has been like a mother to him. As SeokJin helps her set the table with food, he thinks that the children’s home feels like an ordinary family home and HoSeok looks like the dependable older brother among all the kids. After taking all the requested pictures later, SeokJin joins HoSeok to watch the children play outside. “You’re on good terms with the kids,” he observes. “I’ve only been out of the children’s home about three months now, so I know them all,” HoSeok explains. (He moved into his rooftop room on 25 Feb Year 22 according to that date’s Note accompanying the Persona album.) SeokJin either comments, “Auntie seems like a great person. She treated me well and we’ve only just met,” or asks, “How old were you when you first came here?” In both paths, HoSeok speaks with visible adoration for Kim JungHee. In the first path, he mentions that although she’s scary when mad, she never gets angry without a reason. “Auntie JungHee is just… like a mom. She’s mom.” In the second path, HoSeok answers that he was seven when he moved into the children’s home. He describes how Auntie would sing him songs that his mother listened to instead of a lullaby when he had trouble falling asleep, and that was the first time he cried after coming to the home. SeokJin begins, “Then, HoSeok, when you were little…” But a boy’s cries interrupt him before he can ask if HoSeok experienced narcolepsy when he was younger. “What’s wrong, JiHun?” HoSeok asks in concern. The sobbing boy shows him a broken toy rocket. “My mom… gave this to me.” HoSeok is at a loss because it looks impossible to fix. “I’ll bring you a new one next time. Don’t cry, JiHun. Okay?” The boy keeps crying despite HoSeok’s attempts at consolation. Before SeokJin can think of another tactic, HoSeok speaks up, drying JiHun’s tears. “JiHun, do you want to go with me to see a real rocket?”

At HoSeok’s request, SeokJin drives them both to Yeongsan Bridge, one of the bridges that crosses Yangji Stream and that HoSeok frequents. SeokJin is perplexed about what could count as a “real rocket” as they head to HoSeok’s usual spot on the bridge, and JiHun appears suspicious but excited. “Look over there!” HoSeok points to the train departing Songju Station in the distance, picking up speed on the tracks. “Wow!” JiHun exclaims. “What do you think? That rocket looks cool, huh?” asks HoSeok. “Rocket? That’s a train,” says the boy. “Look closely! It’s a rocket.” HoSeok beams. JiHun asks HoSeok why he calls it a rocket. HoSeok explains that the front end of the train is pointy like a rocket and that it takes people somewhere far away. (He also refers to the trains as rockets in his 4 July Year 22 entry from The Notes 2.) SeokJin realizes that from his vantage point on the bridge, HoSeko has been watching the train that leaves Songju. “JiHun, you can wish on the rocket, too!” HoSeok describes how the rocket can carry dreams because the people who ride on it have dreams. JiHun wishes to become famous so his mom can find him. HoSeok falls silent for a moment before resuming his chatty demeanor. Together they wish on the rocket for JiHun to see his mom again. JiHun asks HoSeok what he wishes for so they can wish it on the next rocket. HoSeok whispers in his ear. “Wow, you too?!” JiHun exclaims. HoSeok shushes him, so SeokJin does not learn HoSeok’s answer.

After dropping JiHun off at the children’s home, SeokJin and HoSeok relax at a bar. HoSeok thanks him for his help that day. SeokJin asks if HoSeok visits Yeongsan Bridge frequently to look at the trains. HoSeok smiles bashfully over his drink and explains that he liked visiting it when he lived in the children’s home. “Is that when you came up with the rocket story?” SeokJin asks. HoSeok replies, ‘Yeah. The people getting on the train look so cheerful and happy. It almost makes me want to get on there with them, too.” He stops abruptly and calls out to a customer on his way out. The young man is introduced as DongJin, a friend who also grew up in the children’s home. SeokJin invites him to sit with them, hoping that he knows more about HoSeok, but DongJin declines since he’s with other company. Before departing, he mentions that he will stop by Two Star Burger to see HoSeok soon. After his friend leaves, HoSeok tells SeokJin more about his childhood. SeokJin understands why he considers the people at the children’s home his family.

A little tipsy now, HoSeok brings up another memory. The whole family at the children’s home goes to Yangji Stream on August 30th for the yearly fireworks, but when he was about nine, he had to be admitted to the hospital for a check-up. SeokJin either asks, “Did you miss the fireworks that year?” or “Were you sick?” In the first path, HoSeok describes how he snuck out of his hospital room and up to the rooftop to watch the fireworks. Along the way, he found a little kid crying in the stairwell who was looking for his mom and wanted to leave, and he brought the boy to the roof so they could view the fireworks together. He doesn’t know who the kid was or remember his face. (See the Additional Thoughts section at the end for who I hope this kid really was!) In the second path, HoSeok answers that he was falling asleep without explanation but the doctor said there was nothing particularly abnormal. SeokJin tries to ask a leading question to get him to reveal more, but HoSeok’s expression is grim. The paths rejoin with HoSeok asking SeokJin if he has attended the fireworks festival too. He looks wistful when SeokJin replies that he went with his family when he was younger. HoSeok brings up DongJin again. “He’s a really lucky guy. Even though it was pretty late, he got in touch with his parents and moved out to go live with them.” His eyes reflect bitterness. “DongJin and I… both dreamed of going to the fireworks festival with our parents. I guess he’ll achieve his dream for the first time this year.” SeokJin recalls HoSeok’s rocket story and asks if that’s the dream he told JiHun about earlier. HoSeok dismisses this: his dream now is to become famous for dancing. SeokJin remembers him mentioning this in high school. “Right, you said you wanted to become famous as a dancer so it would help you find your mom… Are you still dancing because of that?” HoSeok says that was why he first started but he grew to really love dance. “You don’t have any plans to go find your mom, then?” SeokJin asks. “Why would I go anywhere? My home, work, and friends are all here.” HoSeok laughs, but it seems like he is just holding on rather than truly feeling happy. “I just… like where I am.”

Episode four begins on 8 May, Parents’ Day, in HoSeok’s perspective. As promised, DongJin visits him at Two Star Burger and asks if he can get a job there because he needs money. HoSeok is taken aback since DongJin supposedly has moved out of Songju to live with his father after reconnecting with his family. “What happened to your self-reliance support fund?” DongJin confesses that he gave it all to his father, who said that he needed it to buy them a house but hasn’t contacted him since receiving the money. “I think my expectations were too high. They abandoned me once. Why wouldn’t they abandon me a second time? I wish I hadn’t met them…” DongJin’s voice wavers. HoSeok assures him that his father must be busy looking for houses. “Don’t worry, I’m sure he’ll contact you soon. I’ll look into a job for you.” DongJin thanks him multiple times before leaving. After work, HoSeok returns to the bridge and leans on the railing. He often does this even when there are no passing trains—watching the flow of the river empties his mind and puts him at ease. But the calm water cannot still his thoughts today. He thinks about the many children at the home who want to be reunited with their parents, including JiHun, DongJin, and himself. HoSeok is honest about his feelings, acknowledging that he envies DongJin for being able to contact a parent, even one who let him down. He closes his eyes and remembers the day his mom abandoned him at the carousel. In the memory, she hands him a chocolate bar and instructs him to count to ten before opening his eyes. The screen goes black after “three,” and at “nine,” the player hears the sound of someone falling. (The carousel memory is also depicted in the Highlight Reel.)

The story cuts to the next day, 9 May, outside Two Star Burger. SeokJin is uneasy knowing that HoSeok collapsed yesterday, two days earlier than he normally does in the loops, and hovers nearby to keep an eye on him. HoSeok announces that he’s heading out for a delivery and heads outside to the delivery scooter. A passing woman reminds her daughter to count before crossing the street. “One, two, three…” HoSeok watches them cross the street and collapses again. “HoSeok!” SeokJin cries. He gets permission from the restaurant manager to take a still-unconscious HoSeok home to his room that overlooks all of Songju City. SeokJin helps HoSeok onto his bed before looking around his room. The player has a choice to look at the items on the desk or a familiar planter on the dresser. In the first path, SeokJin clicks past the screensaver on HoSeok’s laptop and sees that the web browser is open to an audition information video for a famous international dance team. (This may be the same dance team that one of his friends from the children’s home successfully auditions for, referenced in HoSeok’s 4 July Year 22 entry accompanying the Tear album and 7 July Year 22 entry in The Notes 1.) He remembers HoSeok mentioning that he’s happiest when dancing and knows that he still runs Just Dance, the dance club he started in high school. “I’m sure he’d do well if he applies,” SeokJin muses. In the second path, SeokJin recognizes the plant as the one HoSeok tended every day in their classroom hideout. He wonders what HoSeok was thinking when he brought the plant home and how he feels caring for it. The paths rejoin with HoSeok stirring on the bed, mumbling “Mmm… Mom… Don’t go…” SeokJin recalls that HoSeok called for his mother when he fell asleep in high school. “Is the memory of losing his mom related to his narcolepsy?” he thinks. “Are you okay, HoSeok?” SeokJin asks when HoSeok opens his eyes. HoSeok is confused to find himself at home. SeokJin explains that he happened to see him collapse as he was passing by and assures him that he spoke to his manager. “HoSeok, you know how you keep collapsing… The hospital doesn’t know why yet? You don’t have any idea what makes you collapse, either?” he presses. But HoSeok shakes his head. “I don’t know.”

On 10 May, HoSeok receives a call from one of the younger kids from the children’s home while getting ready for work in his apartment. The kid informs him that Auntie JungHee isn’t working at the home anymore because she has been diagnosed with late-stage colon cancer. She is scheduled to have surgery, but the chances of success are low. HoSeok’s mind goes blank, and he hangs up. When he rushes outside, he runs into SeokJin. “I stopped by because I was worried. Are you headed out?” asks SeokJin. Consumed with the thought of getting to Auntie, HoSeok says he needs to visit JungHee and doesn’t have time to ask why SeokJin is there. SeokJin follows, offering him a ride. The player chooses to have HoSeok either get in the car or refuse the ride. In the first path, HoSeok pretends to be calm when explaining the situation to SeokJin, but his voice noticeably trembles. In the second path, he declines because he’s afraid that speaking about it will make it come true, and then he runs to the bus stop.

The story cuts to HoSeok standing on the bridge, unable to remember how he made it to Auntie’s house after saying goodbye to SeokJin. He can only recall the face he saw through one of the open windows of Auntie’s house: JungHee laughing as she chatted with someone. The news of her illness and the low success rate of the surgery seems like a lie. She was the first person he could rely on after HoSeok lost his mom. He can’t shake off the vision of himself standing in front of the carousel “like an idiot.” Head spinning, he thinks, “I just wanted them to stay by my side. Is that too much to ask? What kind of terrible thing have I ever done?” The perspective switches to SeokJin as he watches HoSeok walk precariously across the bridge, looking both shocked and deeply sad. He reflects on his failed attempts to prevent HoSeok from collapsing here. Even if he stays with HoSeok like he did with JungKook or intervenes like he did with YoonGi, HoSeok always runs to JungHee’s home and then collapses on this bridge on his way back. SeokJin is aware that JungHee has cancer (so the first path of the branching choices has happened at least once, or he found out in earlier loops). The extra collapses of this loop weigh on SeokJin’s mind too. Something changed after HoSeok met DongJin, and SeokJin regrets taking him to the bar on 5 May. He looks on as HoSeok inevitably staggers and falls in the same spot.

SeokJin calls 119 and has HoSeok admitted to the hospital. As before, HoSeok is placed in the same hospital room of the surgery ward as JiMin. SeokJin decides not to visit him because he is afraid of running into JiMin and unsure of what will play out if he does. Now that HoSeok is in the hospital, there is no way to avoid the future accident in the stairwell. A few days later, SeokJin scopes out the scene. He mulls over the repeating scenario of HoSeok chasing down the stairs after a woman he mistakes for his mother. SeokJin connects the dots between HoSeok calling for his mother in his sleep and the way he cried in front of his Auntie’s house. “Everything has to do with ‘mom.’ If HoSeok’s narcolepsy is because of ‘mom,’ does that mean this accident is connected to the idea of mom, too?” In other loops in which SeokJin successfully prevented the stairwell accident, HoSeok continued to collapse more frequently until he eventually did so in the street. SeokJin contemplates how his condition apparently worsens after he sees a woman that reminds him of his mother.

The day after HoSeok is admitted to the hospital, 11 May, SeokJin invites NamJoon to meet him at a cart bar after his work shift. NamJoon brings up HoSeok first. Unable to say that he was the one to call for help, SeokJin pretends to be surprised that HoSeok is in the hospital. NamJoon reports that HoSeok had a minor concussion and is staying there for a couple days so the doctors can run additional tests. SeokJin wonders if HoSeok dreamt of his mother again and feels a pang at the image of him haunted by nightmares. He proceeds to tell NamJoon about their visit to the children’s home, meeting DongJin, and learning about the auntie’s illness. Cautiously, SeokJin proposes that HoSeok’s collapsing may be related to his mother. NamJoon mulls it over before agreeing. “I guess it could. Thinking about his auntie might have led him to think about his mom.” “I’m sure he feels like he’s losing his mother a second time,” SeokJin adds. NamJoon asks if he knows HoSeok’s wish to become a famous dancer in order to find his mom, although his dancing grew into a genuine source of joy. “So I thought… Dance had become Jung HoSeok’s cure. Something that helps him hold on. The thing that helps him bear something he can’t otherwise. That’s what dance is to HoSeok. Don’t you have something like that, SeokJin?” NamJoon regards him silently after this, leaving SeokJin much to contemplate. They promise to visit HoSeok together at the hospital. SeokJin hopes that if NamJoon knows just how much dancing means to HoSeok, he may figure out something from HoSeok’s reaction in the stairwell that SeokJin has missed. He just needs to figure out a natural way to get NamJoon into the stairwell at the right time.

On 12 May, SeokJin and NamJoon meet at the hospital. SeokJin suggests that they take the stairs since the elevators are crowded and lies about HoSeok being on the 3rd floor to strengthen his excuse. When they arrive on the 2nd floor landing, they hear footsteps and voices from above. The woman descending the stairs with a child is the one whom HoSeok keeps mistaking for his mother. SeokJin needs to stall until HoSeok comes down too, so he either suggests that they buy some snacks to bring or mentions that he may have got the wrong floor number and checks his phone. Moments later, they hear pounding footsteps and HoSeok shouting, “Mom!” NamJoon locks eyes with HoSeok and, unaware of what is about to happen, turns to follow the woman. “Ma’am! Excuse me!” Caught off guard, SeokJin is too late to grab HoSeok, who falls and screams. As he rolls on the floor clutching his leg, sealing the injury that will prevent him from dancing, the glass shatters.

SeokJin involves NamJoon in several more loops after that, but his attempts to save HoSeok end in failure. He wonders again if he should admit HoSeok to the hospital at all, but decides that if the incident is connected to HoSeok’s trauma, it needs to be solved rather than avoided. On a new 12 May, SeokJin stands near the hospital stairwell, prepared to intervene himself and ask HoSeok about his mother afterward. He spots JiMin emerging from the 2nd floor physical therapy room and pressing the elevator button. Hiding out of sight in the stairwell, SeokJin mulls over his options. If he prevents HoSeok’s accident, he still needs to get JiMin out of the hospital too—an effort that has been unsuccessful so far due to JiMin stopping at the exit or later having a seizure when they pass the arboretum. “Maybe the answer to HoSeok is… JiMin? What if… this incident is the variable between HoSeok and JiMin?” Heart pounding, SeokJin begins to hope that they can save each other. He doesn’t have enough time before HoSeok comes down the stairs to figure out what to say to JiMin and decides that he will just have to make the reason for his presence in the hospital believable. “JiMin!” he calls. “SeokJin? How are you here—” Looking shocked, JiMin steps back like he’s about to run away. SeokJin realizes that they haven’t met in this loop yet, and JiMin strongly dislikes people knowing that he’s in the hospital. With no time to explain, SeokJin leaves him behind and rushes into the stairwell. But he’s too late to catch HoSeok’s fall, and the story concludes with the glass shattering once again. (Based on The Notes 1, we know that the “successful” decision SeokJin makes in later loops is to stay out of sight when he calls JiMin. JiMin is puzzled by the silhouette he sees in the doorway and enters the stairwell just in time to catch HoSeok.)

Additional Thoughts

JiMin’s mother, Sim SeonMi, becomes one of the most fleshed-out adult characters in the BU narrative so far thanks to his story. We already knew the most about SeokJin’s father, Kim ChangJun, due to his role in The Notes 2. I’ve had an inkling of a suspicion that JiMin’s parents were connected in some way to SeokJin’s father, so I was satisfied to see this confirmed in the game. I’m curious about JiMin’s father and the lack of details surrounding him. He has only been depicted once in The Notes 1, when JiMin returned home days after sneaking out of the hospital with his friends.

Though it’s never explicitly stated in the texts, the Wings Short Film #6 MAMA depicts that HoSeok is diagnosed with Munchausen’s syndrome, a psychological disorder in which the individual pretends to be ill or deliberately produces symptoms of the illness. His prescription pills are actually placebos. On 16 May Year 22 in The Notes 1, HoSeok confesses to JiMin that his narcolepsy is fake, although he doesn’t feign symptoms on purpose.

I was personally a little disappointed with the lack of new information in HoSeok’s story. While his relationships with the auntie and other children from the home are explored in greater detail, the most significant plot points if his arc have already been covered as of The Notes 2.

I have no proof for this, but I want the unidentified crying boy who young HoSeok met in the hospital stairwell and brought to the rooftop to see the fireworks to be JiMin. If HoSeok was 9 at the time, then JiMin was 7. He has been in and out of the hospital since the arboretum incident (earlier that same year), so it is plausible that he had an overlapping stay with HoSeok in the summer of Year 11.

As mentioned above, the following “tl;dr” commentary summarizes the parenthetical notes I provided in the summaries in case you want to review them on their own.

Stopped Time — tl;dr commentary

In the opening cutscene, JiMin plays on the colored tiles in a hospital hallway and stops when he reaches “the line” by the exit door. This line marks the end of the psychiatric ward and is first described in his 11 May Year 22 entry in The Notes 1.

The Songho Foundation patron meeting that SeokJin attends on 22 April Year 22 was suggested by the city’s Deputy Mayor at the inauguration ceremony on 11 April. That earlier ceremony played out in JungKook’s arc.

Before the loop reset, SeokJin waits outside the Gyeong Il Hospital as he plans his next move since JiMin is moving out of the surgical ward that day. The date is unspecified in the game, but in The Notes 1, he is scheduled to return to the psychiatric ward on 16 May.

In this story, SeokJin picks TaeHyung to help him free JiMin from the hospital. He hopes that TaeHyung will be JiMin’s “answer,” just like YoonGi needed JungKook. JungKook saving YoonGi is not a solution that played out in YoonGi’s story, but this is a familiar theme from Notes 1 and forward. However, SeokJin and TaeHyung are caught by JiMin’s mother while trying to leave the hospital with him. We know from The Notes 1 that SeokJin’s later, successful choice ends up being HoSeok instead.

Before coldly leaving SeokJin and TaeHyung to rejoin her son, Sim SeonMi touches TaeHyung’s shoulder for a moment. This same gesture was given to HoSeok in the hospital after JiMin’s seizure at the bus stop on 15 September Year 20 in Notes 1. To SeokJin, her presence is like a wall separating them from JiMin. This echoes HoSeok’s feeling that she was drawing an uncrossable line between them that September.

At the end of the story, the vision JiMin sees reflected in the sink water of “that day” is referring to 6 April Year 11 and the events of the arboretum, first introduced in that dated entry in The Notes 1 and revealed in full on 12 August Year 22 of The Notes 2.

Someone Left Behind — tl;dr commentary

In the story’s opening, SeokJin refers to HoSeok’s collapse on 10 May. This is the date that HoSeok collapses and wakes up in the hospital in The Notes 1, and it is likely the moment referenced by his bridge scene in the I Need U MV.

When SeokJin observes that HoSeok is on good terms with the kids from the children’s home, HoSeok explains that he’s only been out of the home for about three months. He moved into his rooftop room on 25 Feb Year 22 according to that date’s Note accompanying the Persona album.

As he does in the game, HoSeok refers to the trains as “rockets” in his 4 July Year 22 entry from The Notes 2.

HoSeok’s memory of being abandoned at the carousel is also depicted in the Highlight Reel.

When searching HoSeok’s apartment, SeokJin notices the laptop’s web browser is open to an audition information video for a famous international dance team. This may be the same dance team that one of his friends from the children’s home successfully auditions for, referenced in HoSeok’s 4 July Year 22 entry accompanying the Tear album and 7 July Year 22 entry in The Notes 1.

At the end of the story, SeokJin hopes to gain JiMin’s help to save HoSeok but ends up spooking him because they haven’t met in that loop yet. Based on The Notes 1, we know that the “successful” decision SeokJin makes in later loops is to stay out of sight when he calls JiMin. JiMin is puzzled by the silhouette he sees in the doorway and enters the stairwell just in time to catch HoSeok.

Did you learn anything new from these stories that I did not specifically mention? Let me know in the replies or tags! Please stay tuned for part 4, featuring TaeHyung and the Epilogue.

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isthisthingeven0n · 4 years

Text

yellow : s.r

after a mission that targets couples, spencer realises how much you truly mean to him back home (4.1k oops)

shameless plug but i have an etsy shop (10% off on tote bags until 2nd december!)

criminal minds masterlist

(also the case idea is just something i came up with! please do not steal my ideas/work or repost elsewhere without permission. thank you!)

Warmth. That was the first thing you noticed when you woke up. Warmth radiating from the sunlight filtering through your blinds, warmth from your boyfriend who you were curled up against and warmth from your cheeks as the events of last night replay in your mind.

Yet, as always, those are short lived once your alarm clock sounds.

Spencer stirs upon hearing the repetitive beeping. His arm tightens around your waist as you move away to press snooze and his breath fans across your neck as he chuckles.

“Good morning,” He whispers, shuffling to kiss your jaw sweetly until you turn to face him. “every morning I’m amazed at how beautiful you look.” Spencer admits candidly.

“That’s because I haven’t opened my mouth yet and you can’t smell my morning breath.” You mutter, unable to take him seriously as his curls point in every direction and sleep laces his tone. “You’re something else, you know that, Spence?” You chuckle, lifting an arm up as you brush your hand across his face.

Humming in response, Spencer begins to open his eyes. “You know, around 50% of adults in America suffer from morning breath, the ADA has researched it’s caused by bacteria in your mouth building from food particles between your teeth, gum line and tongue.” He explains, watching as you roll your eyes. “And yes, I do know I’m something else, you tell me most days, except yesterday.” A smile lines Spencer’s lips as he pictures the exact moment. “Yesterday you called me a fucking God.” He chuckles as you groan, lifting your hands to cover your face.

“Please, just forget that.” You tell him through your hands whilst Spencer shuffles as his body rests above yours.

“Y/n, open your eyes.” He whispers, and as you move your hands Spencer leans down, kissing you softly. Pulling away, he sighs happily. “I love you, but I need to brush my teeth.” He announces and rises from bed, heading to the bathroom as your laughter lines the corridor.

The sound of your phone buzzing interrupts your thoughts as you reach over and unlock it. For a moment you allow your eyes to adjust to the brightness glaring into your retinas.

“Spence?” You call out as you force yourself from the cocoon of your bed as you shove your feet into your slippers.

As you exit your bedroom, you meet Spencer halfway to the bathroom as he looks at you with wide eyes whilst a toothbrush hangs out of his mouth, toothpaste marking the corners of his lips.

“Penelope texted me, she assumed your phone was downstairs,” Which was true, and Penelope knew Spencer well enough to know such. “you’ve got a case.” You tell him with a heavy heart as Spencer’s face falls and nods.

Retreating back to the bathroom, Spencer spits the toothpaste out as he looks at his reflection. He knew this was his job, and you both knew the hours weren’t the typical nine to five. But for once, Spencer wanted to be selfish and stay with you for the weekend that he promised you.

“Hey,” You speak up as you wrap your arms around Spencer’s waist as you rest your head on his back. “it’s okay, you can make it up to me another time.” You reassure him as you rise to your tiptoes, kissing his bare shoulder. “I’ll go make you a coffee.” You add as your arms slink from Spencer’s waist as he finishes brushing his teeth and turns the shower on.

“Or, you could join me?” Spencer pipes up, a mischievous smile lacing his lips as you pause before turning on your heels.

“Spencer Reid, are you suggesting I accompany you in the shower?” You feign shock, resting your hand on your chest as your lips part whilst Spencer’s tongue glides over his lips for a moment, that rare glint crossing his gaze.

“I’m suggesting we save water, last year alone over 2.5 billion people were living in areas of drought, and that’s not including-” Cutting Spencer off, you remove your dressing gown and slippers.

“Alright, I give in.” You wave him off. “It’s too early to listen to your statistics.”

“Morning, sorry to call you all in during the weekend.” Hotch starts as everyone takes a seat around the table, Spencer trying his best to suppress his yawn as he drinks the coffee you made him just before he forgot it as he left. “Garcia?”

“Right yes,” Penelope gathers herself as everyone opens their tablets whilst Spencer flicks through the physical case file. “over the last two months, there have been three murders of married couples,” Penelope begins to explain as she displays images of the three couples. “our first couple were newlyweds, married for two weeks before they were kidnapped and tortured before dying from lacerations to their throats which I will not be looking at on the screen.”

“Same MO for all three couples?” JJ asks, and Penelope sighs as she nods in response.

“That is correct, our latest couple were discovered placed back in their bedroom this morning when their daughter arrived home from a sleepover to discover her parents,” Penelope trails off as Hotch rises to his feet.

“Wheels up in 15, we’re going to Phoenix.” Hotch states as he walks out of the room, slowly followed by everyone else.

“Take it your romantic plans aren’t happening, kid?” Rossi speaks up as Spencer follows him out from the conference room.

Spencer shakes his head. “We’re going to try again next weekend if we can,” A sigh leaves Spencer’s lips as he grabs his go back, throwing it over his shoulder. “but she’s just, so understanding.” He admits, and Rossi whistles.

“Says more than my ex-wives.” Rossi comments.

“How is my sweet Y/n?” Penelope asks as she follows the team toward the elevator, JJ chuckling with Tara.

“She is just fine, Penelope. But she does miss you, don’t worry.” Spencer tells Penelope who beams happily as he makes it into the elevator.

“Well, I’ll make sure she’s safe whilst your gone, goodbye my crimefighters!” Penelope waves as the metal doors close on everyone, and that familiar silence falls over all of them as they begin to pick apart the case.

Arriving in Phoenix, Hotch splits the team up and Spencer is paired with JJ to go to the morgue.

“Based on victimology, our unsub targets the wives first, looking at our first victim, Charlotte Yestley, the bruising on her wrists and ankles is much darker than her husbands.” Spencer explains as the ME returns with the reports.

JJ hums as she leans closer. “But overall the damage on Charlotte is cleaner than on Michael. The laceration on Charlotte’s neck was done in one motion, whereas Michael has multiple lacerations and stab wounds covering his torso.”

“Cause of death for both was the loss of blood from the laceration to the neck.” The ME states. “Charlotte Yestley died within minutes whereas Michael would’ve bled out for at least an hour.”

“So he’s torturing the husbands, could be symbolic? Maybe our unsub was married, lost his wife and is looking at couples who have what he no longer does?” JJ suggests.

“I’m not sure, I’ll call Garcia and see if she can find anything out about the Yestley’s.” Spencer exits the room as he calls Garcia, leaving JJ to discuss with the ME the toxicology report.

“Go for Garcia,” Penelope answers the phone.

“Garcia can you look into the Yestley’s personal life, considering they were newlyweds there must be something online about them.” Spencer asks as Penelope types away.

“I’ve got hundreds of photos appearing across social media platforms from the past five years of them both. It seems they met in college and then split up after they graduated, got engaged two years ago and were married at the Hillsong Church. Intimate celebration, close family, two bridesmaids and a best man.” Penelope reels off, and Spencer nods to himself.

“I’ll call Hotch, see if we can talk to the bridesmaids and best man,” Spencer tells Garcia. “thanks, Penelope.”

After investigating further, the team had conducted it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows between the Yestley’s. In fact, days before the wedding it was nearly called off by Charlotte as she caught her fiance with another woman.

“What if that’s it?” Rossi speaks up as the team sit in the room the local PD helped them set up. “Cheating, being disloyal.”

JJ glances over to Spencer, seeing the cogs whirring away in his brain. “Rossi, you and Lewis spoke with the Littlewoods daughter, right?” Spencer asks as he walks over to the board, looking through all of the photos.

“Yeah, she said how her parents weren’t sharing a bed anymore, they were in the process of separating.” Tara comments and Hotch straightens up as Spencer turns on his heels.

“Rossi is right, it’s all about being disloyal. The unsub is projecting onto these couples, finding out about their personal lives or seeing snippets of them and punishing them for cheating or harming one another.” Spencer explains, and Hotch nods as he glances around at the rest of the team.

“I think we’re ready to deliver the profile, guys.” Hotch states as he closes his case file, heading out to speak with the deputy.

“So, how’s it going?” Your voice filled with curiosity is the only thing that can soothe Spencer’s thoughts as he lies down on the firm hotel mattress.

A long exhale leaves Spencer’s lips. “We’ve delivered the profile, now we’re just trying to narrow the search down.” Spencer explains, hearing the faint sound of the TV playing in your house. “How was work today?”

“Same old same old.” You chuckle as you busy yourself, unable to sit still without him at home with you. “My Mom came by earlier, she says hi.” You add shyly, despite having been together for two years, your parents visiting was an infrequent occurrence.

A small smile forms on Spencer’s lips as he listens to you, the normality he craves in his life. “How is she? Did your Dad abandon her like last time at the airport?” He asks through the line as he closes his eyes, listening to your story as you ramble on about all the things your Mom picked out about your house and about Spencer.

“And then she had the cheek to say you’re never here! Like, where is my Dad?” You scoff, hearing a gentle hum on the other end of the line. “Sorry, I got a bit lost there.”

“S’okay.” Spencer mumbles, his eyes unable to open again. “I’m hoping we’ll be flying back within the next week, sorry.”

You finally pause as you rest your hand on the back of Spencer’s beloved armchair beside his old bookcase. Forcing your smile to remain in place, you nod to yourself. “I get that, serial killers don’t have a care for date nights and the lives of others.” You laugh dryly, something that doesn’t go undetected by Spencer.

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.” Spencer whispers to you, picturing you in front of him when he opens his eyes, only to be greeted by the tap leaking in his bathroom sink.

“Just, keep safe and find the son of a bitch, yeah?” You mutter. “I love you, Spencer.” You add, moving to sit in his armchair as you wrap his blanket around him, his aftershave weaved into the fabric.

“I love you too.” He whispers.

As you hang up, the tiredness Spencer previously had has vanished as he faces the ceiling, staring at the Artex wishing you could be by his side.

“Another couple has been taken from their home,” Hotch announces as he enters the conference room, everyone turning to look at him. “Maria King, 81 and Jacob King, 85. Their neighbour suspected something was wrong when they noticed their front door was wide open.”

“So our unsub has taken them to a secondary location?” JJ asks as Hotch nods in response.

“We’ve got a lead currently on where they might be held, but we’ll have to move quickly.” Hotch states as he exits the conference room, the rest of the team filing out straight to the lockers.

There was an unsteady tension in the two SUV’s on the drive to the abandoned farmhouse. Everyone was thinking the same thing, why the unsub would take an elderly couple.

“He’s clearly escalating from our profile.” Tara states as she sits in the passenger seat. “Garcia, was there any sign of an affair from either Maria or Jacob King?”

The sound of Penelope rapidly typing echoes through the line until it suddenly stops. “Nope, Maria and Jacob recently celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary, and it seems they’ve never been more in love.” Sadness coats Penelope’s voice as she looks through the photos of the couple. “The owner of the farmhouse is Tyler Edwards, however, Edwards sold the property last month to Lewis Wise. Unlike his name, Lewis was not the wisest in life. It seems that his wife, Clara, was on her way home from a business trip and died in a car crash.” Penelope explains, but a small gasp leaves her lips.

“What is it, Garcia?” Spencer chimes in, and the sound of typing increases.

“Well, turns out Clara was not coming back from a business trip, but instead her lover, Daniel Lovatt.”

“That could be our trigger,” Tara states. “Wise loses his wife and discovers she’s been having an affair.”

“How long ago did Clara die, Garcia?” Hotch asks, nearing the entrance to the property.

Humming, Penelope quickly answers. “Two months ago.”

“Same time the murders started.” Spencer mutters as they prepare to exit the SUV.

“Please let them be alive.” Penelope mutters to herself, closing the photos of the elderly couple from her monitors.

Arriving at the farmhouse, the faint sound of screams could be heard as the team exit the SUV’s.

“JJ, you, Lewis and Rossi take the back entrance, Reid, we’ll go through the front.” Hotch explains, and with everyone in understanding, the team split up.

Following Hotch, Reid tried not to focus on the cries for help from the strained voices inside.

“Just, shut up!” The unsub exclaims.

“Please, my wife, she’s hurt. We need help.” A new voice, Jacob King cries out to the unsub.

“She won’t need help for much longer, I can promise you that.” A sick laugh follows and Hotch kicks the door down, running forward with his gun aimed at the unsub.

“FBI, drop the weapon!” Hotch yells as the unsub is standing behind Maria, his knife against her neck as her eyes continue to drop, she’s already losing blood.

“Lewis, just drop the knife. This couple, they’ve done nothing wrong.” Spencer speaks up, seeing the rest of the team enter from the back of the farmhouse, slowly walking forward, guns aimed at Wise.

“They have! Look at them, they, they hate each other!” Lewis spews as Jacob sobs quietly, his fingers intertwined with Maria’s.

“No, they don’t. Lewis, I know what happened to your wife, and I’m so sorry.” Spencer hesitantly steps forward, Hotch keeping his eyes trained on Wise. “But you don’t have to do this, there’s another option.” Spencer’s voice remains soft as he glances down to the couple and flashes a brief smile.

“I can’t, they need to be punished.” Lewis states as a whimper leaves Maria’s lips.

“Lewis, just put the knife down and we’ll talk.” Spencer reasons. “Here, I’ll put my gun down, how about that?” Spencer slowly lowers his gun to the floor, ignoring the worried looks from his team behind Lewis.

“But they are bad people.” Lewis repeats, his eyes darting from the couple to Spencer. “I, I won’t let them get away with it.” Lewis yells, and before he’s able to apply more pressure to Maria’s neck, shots are fired and Lewis falls backwards.

“Oh my god,” Jacob cries as his wife falls into his embrace.

“We need medics here, now!” Hotch speaks into his earpiece whilst Spencer rushes over, quickly followed by JJ.

“Medic’s are coming, you’ll both be all right.” JJ assures the couple as Maria looks up at Jacob with such adoration as he wipes her tears.

“I’ll always love you, Maria.” Jacob tells his wife as she shushes him. “No, no let me say this,” His voice cracks, and JJ looks up at the sound of sirens in the distance. “you were my first love, and you’ll always be my last.” Jacob sniffs as Spencer keeps pressure on the stab wound on her side, trying to ignore how blood is seeping through her top.

“I love you,” Maria breathes out as her eyes start to close, but Jacob protests.

“Don’t go yet honey, there’s so much more for us to do.” Jacob cries out, just as the medics arrive.

Stepping back, JJ rests her arm on Spencer as she guides him out from the farmhouse as they join the rest of the team, witnessing Lewis Wise being taken away.

“You okay, Spence?” JJ looks up as Spencer focuses on the police car as it drives away, his gaze shifting to the Kings sat in the back of the ambulance, still together, holding hands.

“Yeah, yeah.” Spencer nods, tearing his eyes from the couple as the image of you crosses his mind. “Just thinking about a few things, that’s all.”

“Wanna share?” JJ enquires, raising a brow to Spencer.

Yet, a small smile forms on Spencer’s lips as he shacks his head. “Maybe some other time, let’s go.”

For the entire flight home, Spencer could only think of one thing; you.

As soon as they arrived back at HQ, Garcia enveloped the team into a tight hug. “Oh thank god, you’re all safe and home.” She gushed as the team entered the bullpen one by one, Spencer last.

“Our angel came in yesterday for a visit.” Penelope speaks up as she walks alongside Spencer into the bullpen.

“She did?” The surprise is evident in Spencer’s tone, in the two years you’ve been together, you’ve visited the bureau a grand total of three times.

Penelope nods, trying to hide her growing smile. “She erm, left you something on your desk.” With that, Penelope rushes over to the others, having a hushed conversation whilst Spencer nears his desk.

Standing in front of it, nothing looks out of place. He knows exactly where he left the seventeen case files on the right-hand side just below his phone set. The pen pot still has three blue pens and two black, his monitor is off and the keyboard is parallel to the mouse.

“What did she leave?” Spencer calls out to Penelope as he spins in his chair, looking over as the team stand together, trying not to make it obvious they’re spying on him.

“Erm, try the second drawer?” Penelope answers and Spencer nods before turning back to his desk and opens the second drawer down.

Inside is an envelope with his name written across the front. Lifting it up, Spencer wastes no time opening it like a child on Christmas day, revealing an invitation for dinner, tomorrow night.

Unable to hide it, a blush rises through Spencer’s cheeks as he chuckles under his breath. You always have been one for extravagances, but that’s just one of the many things he loves about you.

Rising to his feet, Spencer slips the invitation into his satchel. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”

“Bye, Spencer!” Penelope waves as Spencer tries to hide his eagerness to get home as he lightly jogs to the lift, his foot tapping against the floor as he waits for the doors to open.

Once they do, he slides in and once out of sight, the team turn their attention back to Penelope.

“What was in that envelope?” Rossi raises a brow to the tech wiz who merely shrugs her shoulders.

“I have no idea, Y/n knows better than to tell me these things.” Penelope explains, but there’s a hesitance in her tone the team know all too well. “But I may have taken a look at her recent search history and found out she’s booked a table for 7pm tomorrow evening at Spencer’s favourite restaurant.”

JJ chuckles to herself as she pats Penelope’s arm. “Couldn’t keep out, could you?”

Lowering her head in defeat, Penelope nods.

“Come on, how about a drink to celebrate another case?” Rossi suggests, and the team all gratefully agree. “And maybe Penelope will spill what else she knows about the future Mr and Mrs Reid.”

Pulling up outside of your apartment building, Spencer releases a shaky breath as he heads up to your floor, having the route memorised after your third date together.

As he stands outside of the apartment door, he reaches into his worn satchel for the key as music begins to play inside.

He doesn’t recognise the tune, but the faint sound of you singing along is something ingrained in his mind and hopes to never forget.

Unlocking the front door, Spencer quietly steps in as your singing becomes louder and more energetic as the beat of the song increases.

Unable to wipe the smile from his face, Spencer wanders through toward the kitchen and hovers in the doorway. There you’re dancing, holding a spatula in one hand as a microphone whilst wearing one of Spencer’s old shirts. You’re so carefree, without worry or sight of the missions Spencer endures, you’re not exposed to the graphic crime scenes or twisted minds of their unsubs. You are just you, and Spencer adores it.

“And it was called ‘Yellow’ So I took-” Turning on your heels you yell, throwing the spatula at Spencer. “Christ, Spence!” You laugh, running your fingers through your hair as you exhale shakily. “You scared me, when did you get in?”

Rushing over to him, you wrap your arms tightly around Spencer, burying your face into the crook of his neck.

For a moment, Spencer just holds you close, not wanting to respond. He always misses you when he goes away on cases, but coming back to you is always bittersweet.

“A few minutes ago, I could hear you singing and wanted to witness it without interruption.” He explains as you loosen your grip around him, relaxing your hands on his hips as you look up at his tired face.

“I missed you, goof.” You mutter as Spencer’s hand rises to your cheek, caressing it softly as you hum, leaning against it.

Faintly, the radio continues to play as you sway with Spencer before he leans down and kisses you. As always with Spencer, it begins as a delicate kiss as if he could break you, but as your arms rise to behind his neck, it deepens into something more passionate.

You smirk at the sound of him moaning quietly before pulling away. “Come on then, we’ve got time before dinners ready.” You wink, guiding him up the stairs as he chases behind you.

Lying in his arms, slightly sweaty, Spencer moves your hair from your face. Your eyes are growing heavy, and suddenly the words from Jacob King cross his mind as he held Maria in his arms, begging her to stay awake.

“You were my first love, and you’ll always be my last.”

Spencer mutters your name as you hum in response, opening your eyes as you look up at him. Outside, the sunset is peaking through your blinds, but this time it’s blinding you instead of him.

Squinting up to him, Spencer breathes a laugh. “I just want you to know, you’re my everything, and I know we don’t do emotional speeches because neither of us can finish without crying, but I love you, Y/n. And, I always will because you’re my sunshine, you’re the stars that glow in the night sky, though stars don’t actually glow as they’re mere-”

“Spence,” You mutter, shuffling in his arms to lean on your elbows, paying close attention to him as his eyes flicker over yours.

“Sorry, I, well, you’re my yellow. You radiate joy when I come home from missions and you never pry, you always give me time to explain when I’m ready. My family, the BAU adore you, I’m pretty sure Penelope might book us a wedding venue and arrange a wedding soon.” You laugh lightly, knowing it would be the case with Penelope. “And I just love you.”

A tear slips from Spencer’s eye, barely having a chance to fall before you wipe it away.

“I love you too Spencer Reid.” You sniff, tears glazing in your eyes as they glow in the sunlight. “And I’ll forever be grateful to be your yellow.” You whisper, curling up into his arms as he kisses the top of your head, wishing this moment would never end.

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parisianprinceling · 3 years

Text

Promp 67

this is for @ipeksavage , I was going to try and sit and write these all out tonight but i just couldn't so here's an unedited taste I'm sorry its so rough :(

Her husband had been acting weird for weeks now.

She was used to the little acts of chivalry: the opening of doors, giving her his arm, even the rare expensive gift, it was very Vincent.

But his behavior recently was odd, even for him and his dramatics.

He seemed spaced out, she had to snap him back to public on multiple occasions, and once he was back, he always turned his attention directly to her, asking her if she was alright, if she needed anything, and honestly, it was starting to worry her.

It wasn’t the type of spacing out he always did around a certain time of year when he was reminded of a certain anniversary, no, this was different.

She had tried talking about it with him, but he always looked at her in surprise, his face contorted into his favorite wide-eyed puppy dog look, like he had no idea what she was talking about. And it was genuine. She could tell he wasn’t hiding anything, at least not anything physical, and she trusted him too much to ever even think he could be hiding something that serious behind her back.

No, whatever plaguing him was something in his head, something he had apparently been thinking about for a long time now.

Even now, as they stood in front of the Medici fountain, she looked up to find his gaze elsewhere.

She studied him for a moment, watching him as his eyes glazed over, looking out somewhere in thought, face pensive and hands tucked into the pockets of his peacoat. Raising a hand to nudge him gently she paused, her brow furrowing in thought before she moved her gaze to follow his own and found what he must have been looking at.

A woman?

No that wasn’t quite right, was it?

She paused and looked again. The woman was holding something.

Is that a baby?

The woman was sitting on a bench, cooing down at a bundle in her arms, completely enamored.

But why would he find that so captivating? It’s not like he’s never seen a baby before...

Looking back to her husband she found his gaze unbreaking for a second before he blinked and looked down at her like he had forgotten what he was doing. When he found her watching him, the tips of his ears flushed softly and he cleared his throat, looking away.

“Ah, I must have zoned off again. I just keep thinking about… a meeting.” He tried for a little smile, raising her hand to his lips to kiss it softly. “I apologize, ma chérie, my attention is all yours.”

She watched him suspiciously, her eyebrow quirking at his quick apology.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

The flush spread to the outer area of his cheeks as he refused to meet her gaze.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He checked his watch suddenly. “Ah, is it that time already? We really should get going.”

She felt him tugging softly on her arm, but she didn’t budge, pulling him gently around so they were facing each other. He watched her, his expression stoic, but his eyes flitting around her face.

“Isabelle…?”

“You were watching her, weren’t you?”

His brow furrowed, his mouth twisting softly into disapproval as he read into her words, but before he could speak, she raised a finger.

“Not like that.” Her own gaze trailed back over to the woman happily playing with her child and her head tilt ever so slightly, gaze softening at the sight. “Both of them.”

She looked back up to find him watching her, a rare expression of soft admiration on his features.

“I wasn’t--I mean I wasn’t trying to draw attention… I don’t expect that you would ever… That’s not--”

She silenced him again by pulling him down for a soft kiss, and he sighed softly at her calming touch.

“Vincent, it’s okay. I’m your wife. Whatever’s on your mind, you can share. I’m not going to be angry with you.”

He watched her softly for another minute before sighing and glancing away, his hand raising to straighten his already straight tie. His gaze met hers again.

“I don’t mean that I expect anything, Isabelle, really. I know with my age, and our careers, it isn’t the most… ideal situation, but nonetheless…”

He paused to wrap an arm around her waist softly, pulling her in ever so slightly to press a kiss to her forehead. He lowered his head beside hers so his words would stay between the two of them, meant for only her.

“I’d like… if you’d want to… start a family of our own.”

She paused, running his words through her head before looking back to him as he pulled away slightly.

“Vincent, I didn’t think…”

His expression faltered slightly and he shook his head.

“I don’t expect an answer right away, ma chère,” he said with an understanding smile. “I know things aren’t on our side, and--”

His eyes went wide as she pulled him in, pressing a warm kiss to his lips and pulling away, smiling tenderly.

“Let’s do it.”

He froze, his shoulders tense in surprise before a genuine smile broke across his face. Suddenly she found herself off the ground being held in his arms tightly as he began carrying her back in the direction they came.

“Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down!” she laughed and hit his chest softly, but he refused, kissing her softly instead. “Where are you taking me anyways?”

“Well, ma chérie,” he grinned, “we’d better get a head start, n’est-ce pas?”

“Vincent!”

#fluff #101 ways to say I <3 u

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thewalkingdead-fan101 · 3 years

Text

In this hell Daryl Dixon X Reader part 10/??

Hey everyone, It has been a little while since the last update and I am so sorry for the delay, but part 10 has now been posted after a month and a half of writing, deleting and re-writing!

I hope you guys like this part! Also this part does have smut! 18+ only please! I apologise if the smut isn't written well as this is my first attempt at writing it! I have put the smut sectioning bold.

Warnings- SMUT 18+, Blood, Gore, General walking dead depictions, slow burn, swearing.

Time had felt like it had stopped completely. Every noise, every heart wrenching sob sounded ten times louder. The pungent metallic odour of the blood invaded my nose, stomach churning at the sharpness of it. No one spoke, no one moved after the last gunshot rang.

Carols sobs grew louder, more desperate as time passed. “Don't look. Don't look.” Daryl spoke, pushing them both up, and turning her around, to save her from seeing the bloodshed. She fought Daryl’s hold, pushing him away from her, and ran off.

Beth’s sobs were the only audible sound, other than the cicadas beyond the trees. Beth pushed Jimmy away, moving towards the mass pile of walkers.

“Wait.” Rick tried to stop her, only to have his hands slapped away. She bent down near a small pile of walkers, moving the arm of the top walker off of the one on the bottom. She turned over the bottom walker, kneeling by its head. Her sobs turned into screams as the walker grabbed Beth. Its decaying hands had gripped her shirt and hair, trying to pull her down.

Shane had wrapped his arms around Beth’s mid-section while Glenn grabbed the arms of the walker. “Come on! Pull her away, pull her away!” Jimmy yelled. Rick, Jimmy and Shane successfully pulled Beth away from the walker, Hershel throwing his arms around his daughter and moving her away from it. T-dog started kicking its skull in, Andrea cutting in for the headshot, the sharp side of the scythe now protruding from the front of its skull. Andrea retracted the scythe from the walker and let it drop.

Hershel tried to shield Beth from seeing their turned Friends, Neighbours and Family. He had turned around, moving away from the scene, taking Beth with him, Patricia going to the side to help comfort the young girl, Maggie walking in line with them.

I watched as Shane shook his head, making a beeline to Hershel and his family as soon as they’d walked near the fence. Glenn was walking behind Maggie, I had made my way behind Shane, Rick also tailing him. “We've been out. We've been combing these woods looking for her and she was in there all along? You knew?”

“Leave us alone.” Maggie snapped.

“Hey, Shane, just stop, man.” Glenn tried to stop my brother’s interrogation.

Rick had put his hand on Shanes shoulder, trying to pull him back.

“Get your hands off me.” He pushed Rick off of him, pointing at Hershel. “You knew, and you kept it from us.”

“I didn't know.” Hershel finally stuttered. “Shane! They didn’t know!” I ran in front of him, planting my hands on his chest trying to push him back. Shane gripped my hands with his own and threw them aside, pushing me out of the way.

“That's bullshit. I think y'all knew.” “We didn't know!” Maggie defended her family. “Why was she there?!” He asked. “Your - Otis put those people in the barn. Maybe he found her and put her in there before he was killed.” Hershel explained, stopping at the steps.

“You expect me to believe that? What, what do I - Do I look like an idiot to you?” Shane asked.

“Shane, hey hey hey.” Rick put his hand against his chest and stood between Shane and Hershel. “I don't care what you believe!” Hershel stated, pointing towards Shane. “Everybody just calm down.” Rick had tried to calmly push Shane back, Separating him from Hershel.

Hershel stood forward and glared at Shane. “Get him off my land!”

“Please. No.” Rick tried to reason.

Shane taken a step forward, to get closer to Hershel.

“Let me tell you something man.” He reached out to grab him.

Rick had tried to separate the two.

“Hey!” Maggie called out as her hand collided with Shanes face, causing him to take a step back, Glenn intervening as soon as she got involved.

“Don't touch him! Haven't you done enough?” She sneered, turning and making her way to the door, Hershel following.

As Hershel stood by the door, he turned to us all. “I mean it… off my land.” He spoke, nodding as he went inside after his girls. Glenn shook his head and entered the house after the Greene’s.

We all stood in silence, Rick staring at Shane, who’d apparently taken to looking elsewhere.

“What are you doing? Hey, what are you doing?” Rick asked as he walked closer to Shane, who was now staring at me. “Daryl almost died looking for her, Rick. Any one of us could have. I'm gonna tell you right now.. that son of a bitch, he knew.” He looked towards the house and pointed. “He didn't know. He's not like that. He opened his home to us.” Rick gestured. Shane shook his head and started to pace. “Put us all in danger. Man, he kept a barn full of walkers!” he argued, getting more and more worked up. “So you just start an insurrection, hand out guns and massacre his family?” Rick responded. “His family's dead, Rick.” Shane nodded. “Well, he doesn't believe that. He thinks you just murdered them in cold blood.” “His family’s dead, ours ain’t. He put Lori, your boy, my sister and this whole damn camp in danger. So, no man, I don't care what he thinks.” Shane shook his head.

Both men took a step forward and started to get louder as the spoke.

“I was handling it, brother. I was handling it and you just-“ “You had us out in those woods looking for a little girl that every single one of us knew was dead!” Shane yelled over the top of Rick. “That's what you did. Rick, you're just as delusional as that guy.” He snorted. “You are handling it, huh?” He stormed towards me, grabbing my arm. “Let’s go.” He spat, dragging me towards the group.

Shane had pulled me back down to the barn, to the rest of our group. Throwing my arm down after passing through the gate. Andrea had covered Sophia up, kneeling next to the blanket that she had put there. T-dog was pacing through and watching over the dead. Lori had been sitting next to Carl, not having moved since the massacre occurred. She motioned for me to sit with them, so I did. I took my place on the floor next to Carl. “Hey buddy.” I softly called, pushing the hair from his face. “I thought I'd find her.” He whispered to us both. Lori and I both shared a look before she spoke up. “We all did.” She nodded her head at her son.

“I mean me.. that I'd be the one. Like maybe she was hiding somewhere in a cave or a tree.” He paused, looking between Lori and I. “She'd be safe and I'd find her and bring her back. He did the right thing, shooting her like that. I would've done it too.” He finished Lori sat in silence, just staring at her son. I opened my mouth, my brain blocking any response I could’ve mustered. “Dale?” Lori softly called out, gaining the elder man’s attention.

“Yeah?”

“Could you take Carl up to the house?” She asked, pausing, looking at her son, softly grabbing his head turning him to look at her. “I want you to rest.” She finished.

“Okay.” Carl nodded, getting himself off of the ground.

I watched as Dale and Carl walked toward the house, Rick walking toward the pair with Carls hat, sitting it on his sons head as they passed one another. Lori stood first, reaching down to help me up, which I gladly took. Rick was looking around, as we all stood silently. T-dog was the first to speak. “You want us to start burying?”

“We need a service. Carol would want that.” Andrea looked between us all.

“Yeah, we all want that.” T-dog agreed. The group stayed silent for a moment.

“Let’s, let's dig a grave for Sophia, Annette and Shawn.” Lori starter to speak, looking between myself, her husband, Shane, Andrea, T-dog and Jimmy. “Over by those trees. And we'll need a truck to move the bodies.” She nodded, motioning towards the trees. “I’ll get the keys.” Jimmy sighed, stepping forward, only to be stopped by Shane.

“No no. I got the truck.” Shane stalked away.

“And the others? That's a lot of digging.” Jimmy motioned to the bodies piled around us.

“We bury the ones we love and burn the rest.” Andrea explained. “It’s what we have do.” I nodded as he looked at me.

“Lets get to work.” Lori sighed stepping forward, softly grabbing her husbands arm and leading him away to talk.

I followed Andrea into the barn, placing my left hand over my mouth as the smell got stronger. “Oh god.” Andrea coughed, signalling that it wasn’t only affecting me. “They were feeding them.” I shook my head, looking around, bloody chicken feathers thrown about. “This is messed up.” Andrea sighed, as she turned a corner. “It is.. This whole situation is.” I sighed. “He did the right thing.” Her voice cut me out of my thoughts. “Who?” “Shane.” She spoke, looking over to me.

I scoffed.

“You’re kidding right?” “No. He did the right thing. There was a threat. He took care of it.” She shrugged. “It wasn’t his decision to make.” I shook my head. “He saved us.” “He is the one that put us in danger, what he did was stupid. Not only was it stupid, it was incredibly out of line.” I paused, glaring at her. “He put that family through hell today. He put Carol through hell!” I continued. “He didn’t know that she was in there!” She argued. “I know that! But my brother doesn’t think.” I paused again. “Shane doesn’t think about anything, he doesn’t think about the consequences of his actions, even if they affect us all.” “He is your brother.” “And? Just because he is my brother, I am expected to see things the way he does?” “No-“ “I know Shane a hell of a lot better than you do Andrea. He only wants what is good for him.” “You need to realise that before he hurts you.” I spoke softly, patting her shoulder and walking away in search of anything that could be useful. Andrea had looked down, my words sinking into her brain. I heard something in the smaller stall next to haystack.

Going against my better judgement, I took a step closer to the dusty stall, the wooden panels bloody. To the left of me there was an old barrel with a dusty pritchel, I reached over and took it into my hand. I looked over the railing, to see a walker laying on its back, its arms reaching out and lazily falling again.

The walker had been ripped apart by the other walkers, the only leftovers being its deteriorated ribcage, chest, arms and its head. Being this close to it had awoken its instincts as it slowly started to move its arms more, and the snarling began. I moved over to where the walker had been propped up and leant over the divider, forcing the pritchel into its skull, its arms dropping instantly. “Are you good?” Andrea called out.

“Yeah. There was a walker.” I looked over to her, her brow furrowed. She made her way over, the dirt and straw crunching beneath her shoes. Andrea stopped next to me and looked over the wall and her nose scrunched up. “They’re eating each other now?” “Must be.” I paused, looking up to meet her eye. “Its the survival of the fittest.” I continued. We both looked down at the walker, I reached down and pulled the pritchel out of its skull, dark blood squirting from the cavity it was embedded into. “Lets go back out, take him with us.” She nodded down to him, moving to do another search. “I’ve got him.” I made my way to the small gate and attempted to open it, the gate not moving, I looked over to a pile of crates that had fallen from the rafters above blocking the gate. I walked back over to where I had leant over, standing on the wooden railing and swung my leg over, jumping into the stall. I moved my hands and placed them under the walkers arms, bending down and heaving it up. Despite being only partially a body, head and arms, he was heavier than expected. I pushed the walker over the top of the divider and was met by Andrea with her arms crossed over her chest as it landed in front of her. “What?” “You could’ve dragged it out of there.” She nodded to the gate, her hands falling to her sides with two blankets, “If only it wasn’t blocked.” I sarcastically muttered, climbing back out of the stall. I reached down and grabbed the walkers wrist and dragged it behind me as I exited the barn. “What happened in there?” Shane asked as he slammed the truck door shut. “Found this chewed up walker inside. He was harmless.” I joked with a slight chuckle, dropping its arm as soon as it was on the edge of the body pile. He stormed over and roughly grabbed my arm, making everyone stop and look at us. “This ain’t a damn joke.” He sneered. “You must be plain stupid to be laughing about that, what if it bit you?” “Shane-“ Andrea tried to speak. “Shut up. I’m talking to (Y/n).” “Im fine. It. Was. Barely. Alive.” I spat each word at him. “Shane, she killed it.” Andrea placed her hand on his shoulder to have him shrug it off. “Go get the shovels.” He growled at me as he threw my arm down. “Sure thing.” I stood chest to chest with him, matching his glare. Shane looked away first, moving to the back of the truck. I looked at Andrea whose face had a look of hurt, as she watched Shane, slam the tray door of the truck down and start to move our loved ones into it.

I turned and made my way to the house, my eyes making contact with Lori’s and Rick’s, both of them looking worriedly at me. I slowed down and stopped by them. “What?” I asked softly. “Are you okay?” Rick asked, taking a step forward, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Yeah, I’m cool.” I smiled softly. “What was that down there?” Lori asked, looking past me at Shane. “Wish I knew.” I shrugged, moving to go get the shovels. “I’ll come with you!” Lori called.I met everyone at the agreed burial grounds with the shovels, Shane and Andrea coming over with the truck and the loved ones we were to bury.

I met everyone at the agreed burial grounds with the shovels, Shane and Andrea coming over with the truck and the loved ones we were to bury.

I met everyone at the agreed burial grounds with the shovels, Shane and Andrea coming over with the truck and the loved ones we were to bury. Shane snatched two shovels and gave one to Andrea, the two of them started to dig the one hole. I handed one to Jimmy and started to dig my own hole. “Hey, hey, hey. Give me that there shovel.” I looked up to be met with T-dog’s brown eyes. “Oh no, T. It’s fine.” “No, I’ll do it.” He smiled. “Honestly, T, I can do this.” “Oh I have no doubt in my mind that you can do this.” He paused. “Im not doing this for you. Im doing this for me. You see, I gotta stay in shape.” He flexed joking.

I shook my head and chuckled. “Oh, well. If that’s the case, I’d better let you do this.” I rolled my eyes handing him the shovel. “You won’t regret this.” He smiled, starting to dig. I looked over and saw Lori watching the farm house. I quietly walked over and stood next to her. “Are you okay?” “Yeah.” Lori sighed. “Do you think- Could you?” “Go and let them know that we’re burying their loved ones for them?” “Please?” She nodded. “I would, but I know that Maggie likes you.” She softly joked. “I mean, I am a pretty cool person.” I shrugged with a small laugh. “Ill go and see if they’ll come out.” I smiled, making the trek to the house.

As I got closer to the house, the more anxious I began to feel. I stopped at the bottom of the staircase and looked down at my hands, that had began to softly shake.

Closing my eyes I took a deep breath and tried to level out my breathing. I opened my eyes and walked to the door, softly knocking. I waited a few moments and placed my hand onto the door knob, gently pulling the door towards me, and looked up to see Patricia making her way to the door. “Hey.” I softly smiled. “Could I come in?” I asked. She nodded her head and led me to the living room, Maggie sitting with Glenn, Beth next to her father and Patricia standing behind Hershel and Beth. Hershel looked up from Beth and watched me intently. “You welcomed us to your property, and treated us with nothing but kindness, and for that I thank you. I am so sorry about Shane, what he did today was beyond out of line and I am disgusted.” I paused, looking around the room, my cheeks becoming wet from tears, that I unwillingly shed. “I just wanted to talk to you about a burial. We found a nice little area, where we are digging graves for our loved ones, Annette, Shawn and little Sophia.” “We will be there.” Hershel spoke quickly, standing and vacating the room. Maggie nodded, as did Patricia, Beth sat staring ahead. “Im sorry.” I sighed, turning and walking towards the door to leave.

Once I made it on the porch I sat on the step and wiped my face, the light breeze tickling my cheeks.

I heard the door open and footsteps approaching me, stopping as they reached the steps, taking a seat next to me. “Thank you.” “You have nothing to thank me for.” I chuckled softly, turning to look at Maggie. “For coming, telling us about the burials, and apologising even though it wasn’t your fault.” “I know, I jus-“ “If you apologise for him again, im going to hit you.” She laughed softly, pulling me into a small side hug.

After an hour or so of digging, Lori looked over to the house and signalled that it was now time. We all respectively made our way to our funeral and watched as Andrea, Shane and T-dog put the bodies into the graves, and began to fill them with dirt.

Jimmy took his place by Beth, his arm wrapped gently around her as Maggie stood on the other side of her, next to her father. Hershel had made it clear to Maggie that she was to stand with her own people, not with the group who’d done nothing but ruin their lives. Carol had refused to leave the RV, ignoring everyone, other than a conversation with Lori and Daryl, that hadn’t been all that pleasant. I stood with Daryl, my arm wrapped around his as we stood by the graves in silence, Glenn, Andrea, T-dog and Dale stood in a small group, Rick slightly ahead of his little family, Shane in the back.

Shane had been the first person to retreat, the others slowly falling back as they left the graves. Daryl had looked down at me, and I moved my head to meet his eye, sadly smiling at him, making him nod his head gently, dropping my arm as he walked off. I sighed softly, making my way over to where the others were starting to pile the corpses into the truck. I bent down and grabbed one of the walkers under its arms, starting to drag it to the truck. The dead weight quickly becoming easier to lift. “Come on.” T-dog grunted softly, carrying it by its ankles. “I got it.” I smiled. “Nah, we got it.” He chuckled in response as we loaded it into the back. Andrea and Rick had also started to move the walkers. We all loaded up the truck, and wiped the sweat from our brows in the small breaks between. Andrea and T-dog picked up another corpse and carried it to the truck, heaving it into the back. “A few more trips.” Rick nodded to the left over bodies laying around.

“We got lucky. If that barn had any more, we could've been overrun.” Andrea noted.

“Good thing Shane did what he did when he did.” T-dog grunted.

“You can't tell me this was right.” Dale shook his head dumbfounded at T.

“It wasn't. It'll cost us with Hershel.” Rick was quick to answer.

“He's grieving. He'll come around, see we had no choice. Look, I shot too. This wasn't all Shane.” Andrea tried to argue once more for Shane.

“Look, I got no qualms about it. Walkers in my backyard? Hm-mmm.” T-dog shook his head.

“I’m not saying that we shouldn't have taken care of the problem, but creating a panic?!” Dale asked, looking between us all. “We could’ve handled it differently.” I nodded.

“There's no point arguing about it. It's done. There's nothing we can do about it.” Lori spoke looking between everyone. “Better get moving.” T-dog called out, getting into the drivers seat of the truck, the door closing with a slam. Lori took a step towards Dale and rested her hand on his shoulder briefly before passing.

The truck started and Andrea jumped onto the open tray, the two driving off to dump the bodies for burning. I made my way to the house, making a mental note to talk to Maggie. As I softly pulled the screen door open, I heard a series of clutters and breaking glass, and a heavy thud followed by A concerned Maggie. I swung the door open and ran inside to see Maggie kneeling next to Beth who was lying on the kitchen floor, Glenn standing by. I moved forward and carefully knelt next to Maggie. I reached out and checked Beths arms, my first thoughts being that of this morning when her mother had reanimated for a second time and attacked her. “What are you doing?” Maggie choked out. “Looking for a mark.” I replied, checking her scalp too. “Oh god.” She softly cried.

There wasn’t any mark on her torso, so I looked at Maggie and smiled softly. “Glenn, help me move her please.” I sighed, pushing Maggie away and hoisting her onto my left shoulder, Glenn quickly rushing to throw her arm over his right shoulder. “Her room is this way.” Maggie wiped her eyes and led us upstairs. Maggie pushed the dark door open, and stepped into the room. Watching as we gently put her onto the bed. “Im going to look for Hershel.” Glenn spoke, quickly leaving the room. “Thank you. For helping her.” “Maggie-“ “No, let me say this.” She sighed. “I, I didn’t think to check for a bite or a scratch. I was too lost in the moment.” She shook her head. “Maggie, it’s not your fault. She will be okay.”

We could hear Glenn’s heavy shoes hit the ground as he ran through the house on both floors, coming back to the room panting, shaking his head. “He isn’t here.” He mumbled, moving over to the window by the bed. Maggie instantly knelt on the bed next to her sister and softly moving her hair back. “Sweetie? Can you hear me?”

More footsteps sounded through the house and Lori stood in the door way. Maggie looked up and met Lori’s worried eyes. “Whats wrong with her?” Maggie desperately asked Lori. “She might be in shock. Where's Hershel?” She asked. “We can't find him anywhere.” Glenn shrugged looking at her, she turned on her heel and left. Lori had left to get Rick, and Shane who’d apparently been talking when she ran out to him. “Could you stay with her a minute?” Maggie asked as she looked at Beth. “Of course.” I nodded, a soft smile on my lips.

Maggie nodded, and left the room, Glenn following her as they left to speak with Rick. I looked over to Beth, who’d been in the same position since we’d carried her to her bed. I walked into the bathroom and wet a washcloth, walking back out and sitting onto the edge of the bed, softly dabbing the cloth to her forehead. “Im here for you sweetie.” I whispered as I continued to dab her forehead with the cloth. Beth had lost a little bit of the colour from her face, her neck covered in drops of sweat. I could hear Lori and Rick arguing in the hall about If him leaving was a good idea for the group or not. Maggie walked in and took the cloth from me. “Thank you.” “Anytime, im here.” I smiled as she sat on the seat near the bed. “(Y/n), can you help me for a bit?” Lori poked her head into the room and softly smiled. “Of course. Maggie, i’ll see you later.” I smiled. I met with Lori downstairs, she sat with her head in her hands on the double seater lounge. “Hey..” I softly spoke, Lori’s attention quickly landing to me. “Hey.” She nodded standing up. “What’s happening?” “Hershel has lost it. He just left.” She shook her head. “Can you blame him?” Lori opened her mouth and went to argue before I cut her off. “Don’t get me wrong Lori. He shouldn’t have left, he should’ve stayed with his family, but I can’t blame him. He watched our people, OUR people gun his family down. Albeit they weren’t his family anymore.” “They are going after him. To some bar in town.” “Who is?” “Rick and Glenn.” “And you’re worried..” “I am. The last time that my husband went on a rescue mission it was for nothing and we lost our people.” “It’s natural Lori, but you and I both know for a fact that Rick will come home to you. He knows that it’s you, Carl and the baby now. He wouldn’t do this if he didn’t think he would come back.”

Lori sighed, nodding her head. Rick, Glenn and Maggie all made their way down stairs.

Lori stood and glanced over to her husband who had opened his arms for her, which she accepted and strode over to his embrace.

I left the couples as they said goodbye to their partners.

I found myself searching the camp for Carol. Rick and Glenn had already left, and Lori was with her son. Daryl hadn’t come back from his walk and Andrea was still disposing of walkers with T. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement near the barn. I slowly walked closer only to see Shane kneeling in front of Carol by the water pump. I stopped under the shade of the tree and leant against the rough bark. I continued to watch from afar as he dipped his hands into the small water dish that was connected to the pump, before washing her arms down with said water. Shane continued to wash her for a couple of minutes before standing, reaching out to her and helping her stand. Carol walked away and headed for the hill. Taking a breath I walked down to where Shane stood, watching Carol retreat. Shanes hand instinctively reached for his gun that he kept tucked into the back of his pants as he turned, dropping his demeanour after realising there was no threat. “Is Carol okay?” I asked, stopping a metre away from him. Shane nodded in response, taking a step forward, sighing when he noticed my step back. “I apologised to her.” “She isn’t the only one who deserves an apology.” “What are you talking about?” He shook his head. “Hershel, his family.” “Oh come on, not you too.” He scoffed. “No, Shane-“ “You know what, everyone thinks that I’m some coldhearted son of a bitch.” “Shane-“ “No, just listen.” He cut me off, his hand in the air. “I did what I had to do to protect this group, to protect our family, to protect you. I was trying to keep everyone safe, while Rick was out there playing catch the walker with Hershel.” He defended himself. “I had no idea that little girl was in there. If I did-“ he paused, shaking his head. “I know that you think you did the right thing, and im sure that to you it was the right thing. But you need to think about Hershel and what affect that this has had on him.” “Yeah, how it affects him.” He scoffed. “He thought he was going to get his wife back, he thought that he was going to get his step-son back. And it was ripped away from him.” “He was delusional, it wasn’t ever gonna happen.” “He had hope-“ “And look where that got him!” He yelled, gesturing to the house. “Shane, what you did-“ “I did what needed to be done to ensure the safety of the group. I will NOT apologise for that.” He shook his head, leaving hastily.

Kicking the dirt beneath my shoes, I lean my head back and covering my eyes with my hands. I sighed and began to walk back to the house. “(Y/n)!” I looked over to see Lori making her way towards me. “Lori, what’s up?” “Can you talk to Daryl?” “What about?” “Just go talk to him.” “I would, but I-“ “He is at the old cottage near the windmill.” “The run down one?” “Yeah. I just spoke to him. I think he needs you.” She spoke, quickly evading my questions and running into the house. I shook my head and grabbed the water bottle from my tent, making my way out to the old cottage. The walk took all but ten minutes, until the ruins of the old stone cottage came into view. Daryl was sitting against the wall of the cottage, sharpening points onto sticks. He looked up at the ground crunched under my steps, his gaze following me as I got closer. “Hey.” I smiled softly, extending my arm with the water bottle toward him. He reached out and took the bottle, twisting the top off and bringing it to his lips, some water leaking from the bottle and running down his chin. My heart started to beat the slightest bit faster, watching as the water drips from his chin down to his chest through the open V-neck of his shirt. I didn’t notice when Daryl removed the bottle from his lips. “Are ya’ okay?” “Hmm?” I asked looking up to meet his gaze. “Are ya’ okay?” He asked again. My cheeks became warm with embarrassment as he looked me over, handing the bottle back to me. “No, you keep it with you.” I smiled. “What are ya’ doing ‘ere?” He asked. “Lori said you needed me.” “That bitch.” He shook his head. “What? What happened?” “She wants me to go lookin’ for her bitch, another rescue mission. I told her no.” “What rescue mission?” “Somethin’ ‘bout goin’ into town. Bringing back Hershel and Rick.” I scoffed shaking my head. “You’re joking right?” I asked. “Bitch had the nerve to call me selfish.” My blood began to boil as soon as those words left his mouth. “Selfish?” I asked. “Selfish?” I asked again, absolutely dumbfounded by what Lori done.

Shaking my head I stormed off, Daryl quickly catching up, stopping infant of me. “What do ya’ think ya’ doing?” “I need to have a few words with Lori.” I sneered. I go to leave, only for Daryl to pull my back into his chest, his breath softly hitting the nape of my neck. “Don’t waste ya’ breath on her.” “No Daryl, this isn’t okay!” I shook his hold from me, turning to look at him. “Who does she think she is? Acting like you’re disposable?” I scoff. He stayed quiet, watching my every move as I paced in front of him.

“I mean, I get it, she is worried about Rick. But she doesn’t need to drag you into this!” “She says you’re selfish, you are anything but selfish, you went out and searched for Sophia everyday, even when others couldn’t! And she thinks sending you after-“ -18+ Below- Daryl cut me off by pressing his lips roughly against mine, his hands sneaking their way into my hair. My hands gently reached up and rested onto his cheeks. Daryl slowly began to walk with me, my back pressing against the rough stone wall of the cottage. My back arched as he ran his hands down my sides, reaching behind to grab my ass, grinding his hips into mine. He let out a low moan against my lips, pulling away and grabbing the hem of my shirt, pulling it over my head and tossing it to the ground by our side.

My hands found the front of his vest and I began to unbutton it hastily as Daryl pressed his lips against my collar bone. I let out a soft moan as his lips sucked on my neck, Daryl pulling back, shedding himself of his vest, his hands moving to my back, unclasping my bra, letting it fall down my arms and to the ground. I leant into Daryls embrace as our lips once again connected, his bare chest against mine as his left hand reaches up and grabs my breast, his thumb rubbing over my sensitive nipple.

I whined softly as he moved his hands down to my hipbone, unbuttoning my jeans, sliding his right hadn’t into my underwear, his left on my waist holding me steady. “Look at ya’. Already a mess.” He smirked as his fingers teased my wet folds, inserting two fingers. I leant my head back and rested it against the wall as he slowly started to draw circles around my clit, each touch of his fingers sending a rush of heat to my core. I could feel Daryl’s hard length against my inner thigh, reaching down I move my hand into his jeans, softly stroking him. Daryl let out a moan at my touch, his lips moved down to my chest, softly sucking on the skin.

“I can’t wait, need ya’.” Daryl muttered against my skin.

I could feel Daryl move his hand out of my pants, quickly tugging at the hem, pulling my jeans off of my hips, watching them pool to the ground, along with my underwear. I gently removed my hand from him as he moved away slightly, pushing his own jeans down. His hands landed on my hips as he leant down and hooked my thighs over his waist, his arm over my head leaning against the wall. He moved his hand between my legs, rubbing his glistening head against my folds, causing my spine to shiver. His teeth brushed over my jaw and I whined as I felt my core clench around nothing as he teased me. “Are ya’ ready?” He asked against my jaw. I could only nod in response. Daryl lined himself up with my entrance and slowly pushed in, I dug my nails into his biceps as he slid further into me, letting out a low moan as I stretched around him. My back arched, pushing my chest further into his, consumed with the feeling of his cock inside of me. His cock dragged against my walls in slow strokes, leaving me feeling empty before filling me once more. My pussy clenching around him as he moved his hips into mine.

The sound of skin meeting skin, the grunts and moans from Daryl as he thrusted, sending waves of pleasure to my core.

“Daryl-“ I moaned, locking my heels together behind his back, pulling him closer with each thrust. “Ya’ feel so good, Always so tight.” He grunts, kissing behind my ear. The pressure in my stomach building more and more with every movement of my hips meeting his thrusts. Daryl started to pick up his pace, his hips now snapping up to meet mine as he snaked his hand down to my pussy, his thumb flicking against my bundle of nerves, eliciting a shriek from my lips. He smirked as he looked at me through his lashes, each hard thrust knocking the air out of my lungs. He pounds into me harder, his mouth attacking mine, his tongue entering my mouth as we both fight for dominance, a battle that is quickly won by him. The force of his thrusts pushing me further into the wall, surely leaving marks on my skin. The tension in my core was at boiling point, I closed my eyes as black dots began to cloud my vision, gasping as my chest heavily rose. Daryl groans as he looked down, watching as the base of his cock disappeared within my mound as he moved against me, his cock hitting the right spot. “Oh god..” I moaned, resting my head against his shoulder, I could feel his smirk as he hit the same spot repeatedly. “I got ya’ baby.” He panted, my orgasm close to erupting. He angled his hips slightly as he pulled out, thrusting hard into me, the coil snapping within as I pulled him closer by the neck, crashing my lips against his, moaning into his mouth. Daryl kept pushing further into me as I rode out my orgasm, gushing around him as he chased his own release. I look up at him through my lashes, pushing my hips to meet his own, my bottom lip between my teeth. “Ya’ perfect.” He muttered, delivering some harsh thrusts into me. His thrusts became sloppy as he bottomed out, resting his head against my shoulder, moaning as his orgasm hits, his cum coating my walls. His cock now soft, still buried in me, we stay in the same position, trying to catch out breath, he pressed a kiss to my shoulder. “I love you.” “I love ya’ too.” He mumbled, gently placing me down, his cock slipping out of me. We cleaned ourselves up and re-dressed. -End of 18+- The sun was descending over the paddock, illuminating the windmill. I reached down and grabbed Daryls hand, softly pulling him to follow me. “What?” “Lets go, get some dinner.” I smiled. Daryl let go of my hand and stalked back to the cottage, picking up his crossbow, putting it over his shoulder he walked back to me and took my hand, leading the way back to camp.

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#daryl dixion imagine #daryl x you #daryl dixon #daryl x reader #daryl fanfiction #The Walking Dead #twd #fanfiction #smut

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calypsoff2 · 2 years

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Seventy Eight.

Rubbing my chin hair as the sound guy played my verse again “Niggas they know, bitches all on my dick, baby when we play, put this song on replay She like Ooh, that's my shit and I luv it” the song stopped, he is busy mixing it. Robyn is very much on this music thing, since Khaled released the song I was on just two days ago on his album August asked me to be on his and remix his song, I accepted it because why not. I am not passionate about this thing, I am doing it all for fun “bro, thank you. Thank you, thank you for coming out” August said with his hands clasped as he walked over to me “it’s cool bro” dapping him “I appreciate the opportunity, I’m new to the game and everyone knows me by Rihanna husband so it’s about time niggas know Chris Brown” August sat down laughing “I personally didn’t know you unless they said that, but you came in punching already. I heard you on Do You Mind, when Khaled initially got us together I never heard your part and then he put us together and I just heard the end product, crazy. Our voices blend so I had to call and ask you, I had to have you on this shit. I’m going to release this tonight, so fucking good” smiling at him “I appreciate you giving me this kind of opportunity, I ain’t here to step on niggas toes. I don’t even need to do this thing but I’m going to do it on the side, I’m going to do it for fun really, but I know some niggas are feeling it” I laughed “oh shit yes, it was hard for me. When I started off, they like to knock you down, but I am not like that, I want us all to win so I had to call you and get you out before you go to New York” nodding my head laughing “thank you, I’ve enjoyed it. And you releasing it tonight? Damn bro, you ain’t waiting. I love the song anyways, let me know when you do, I’ll be promoting that shit. My wife was like don’t come late, don’t have females there. Because tomorrow we taking my daughters to Disneyland and I never wake up” August laughed “Damn, ain’t you got like three daughters too? Man you about to be falling asleep” I chuckled nodding my head “they grown as hell but I said I don’t think August is like that” dapping him “I don’t need females to be in the studio to give me thought process, like niggas be filling the whole studio with women for thought process, it’s bullshit” I love this guy so much, he is a good guy and I like how he just calm with things “none of them are worth it either, it’s wild how these women move though here in LA, I mean in general” shaking my head “they bad, and I’m saying this as a single man” this is why I know Robyn would never let me go on tour alone, she should trust me though.

Frowning at my bed, I say my bad, but it’s filled with my wife and my kids, I know they FaceTimed me screaming of excitement but the fuck, where am I going to sleep. These little niggas and look at them all mouth breathers. Robyn ain’t shit; I did want sex. Maybe I could pick Robyn out of the bed, walking over to the bed and I had to laugh to myself, the way Imani’ hand is on Robyn’ face like that, I will leave it. I will sleep elsewhere I suppose, I can’t disrupt their little sleepover now. Shaking my head walking out of the bedroom, I could have done it. I could have picked her out of the bed but then it’s then waking up and doing the most, closing the bedroom door behind me “fool” Herb said “I thought you was sleep nigga, what’s up folk?” Walking over to him “I was asleep, then I woke up. I heard your footsteps, woke me” he winked at me “shut up” walking down the steps “bruh, Melody called me dada. I ain’t know how to feel about that” looking behind me “I told you, I told nigga. You want to live a play boy life but you ready to play family with Mel” I said laughing “you keep saying that but, you know what it is” looking behind me, Herb stopped walking down the steps “it’s you, your lifestyle has affected me. I see you settled and happy, and kids and just peace. Then I go to G’ home and it’s hectic, it’s hoe, there is stories, shade room be on my ass. And I’m like shit is hectic. It’s you, you have this effect on me. I just man, I am confused” waving him over, placing my arm over his shoulder “I get it, I was your age. And people said to me I settled with Robyn because she is Rihanna, I did it for name because I had alot of fucking hoes on me, I had it bro. I know how you feel, you feel conflicted in wanting that life, I went through it. On god, I did. And you can say but you with Rihanna, that ain’t the point. I came out of jail, and I missed out on shit, and I messed up. Me and India, you can Google it. I never did it but it was there, and I am happy I never did, shit was hard. Females be looking good but my love for Robyn meant more, but I fucked up. You got to do what you feel is right for you, you got to do this nobody else, you got to be true to you. Because it’s a hard thing” Herb is so inflicted, he really respects and see what I be doing and wanting to do the same.

I thought I would stay up with Herb for a while, talk on some shit for a while. Putting out my blunt and blowing the smoke out from my lips “it just threw me off when she said it, I don’t know how to feel about it. I think because you been so busy, you been out the crib with the kids, Robyn. The baby. You been so busy that I been there with her, and she watches Imani a lot; I see her little mind working. And she’s shouting daddy, and the girls just doing that, and she just said it and I didn’t have it in me to say no, she said dada. I felt honoured not going to lie but yeah, I just feel I can’t be the nigga they need when I went on tour and you know what I did, I was fucking on girls left, right. I just don’t think I’m good for that, I respect you Chris, I respect your honesty too” nodding my head “this is why I say it but I don’t push you to do it because only you know what you can do, if you ain’t ready for that then you ain’t” I shrugged “but neither was you though, like just listening to you, you love Robyn. But you had that” I chuckled “I did, I admit that. If you ask Robyn she would tell you that I was fucking dumb, people didn’t like me because they wanted my girl. Drake for example and I didn’t see it, Robyn told me but I didn’t see until I fucked up and she said I told you so and I nearly lost her, but I love her, you don’t love Mel. You probably care because you see her and spend time with her but that’s it, you know” Herb nodded his head agreeing “live your life homie. Melody is too young to even understand even if we explain to her no I ain’t your daddy, it is what it is. You have to make those mistakes first” smiling at him, he put his head down “I do” I know he ain’t ready, I think he likes the idea of it but he ain’t ready to be that faithful man and I don’t want that for Mel after TJ so I won’t get involved “whatever you do homie I ain’t getting involved because I did once and I did bad so you on your own with it” Herb chuckled “I got you” he mumbled, I better go to sleep because I got a long day ahead of me with the girls, they about to turn up.

I always leave packing to Robyn, I’m always just here watching her “you are so damn lazy, you not helping me?” She asked “did you save me some bed space? Had me out cold” Robyn looked up at me “stood there with Junior, you look so cute though. I will let you off because you look cute in daddy mode, hey baby” she waved at Junior “he doesn’t want to know you, let’s go little man. Let’s see what them girls of mine are doing” pressing a kiss to his cheek “fat chunky man” pressing kisses to his cheek as I made my way over to Imani’ bedroom first, her bedroom is the closest “incoming Imani” I said before walking into her bedroom “can Junior come in? Oh wow, we having a tea party? In this time of crisis? We are needing to go baby” what is my daughter like “can daddy and junior sit? I promise we won’t make a mess” Imani looked at me, she is thinking hard on this “sit here” I gasped “awww next to you, awww me and Junior really appreciate this” leaning down and pulling back these tiny ass seats, pulling it all the way back because my legs are long as shit “wow, this is far down” I huffed out as I sat down, fixing Junior in my arm and turning him around “thank you Imani, so what is the tea? No drink baby” she grabbed the cup and held it out to me “thank you” looking into the cup “who made this?” I questioned “me!” she yelped out “there is hair in it baby look, what was that Junior. He said your juice is stale” Imani got up from the chair laughing “is daddy being silly” she took the cup from me “daddy silly” she mumbled “my bad, but really. You need to be getting ready to go, what happened? You feeling a little stressed out” she climbed on my lap “watch him” moving him a little “you want some snuggles, it’s ok. We are going to have so much fun” she sighed out “tea party? Really” looking at the door “oh man, why you have to record us” Robyn ain’t shit “I been here since you sat down” I busted out laughing “Imani, you should have put a dress on daddy, do that next time” side eyeing “can you please get Imani set, we need to go” I laughed, Imani is doing her own thing.

We have the bodyguards in the SUV behind us, but we wanted it to be a real family thing, so I am driving “you think Junior will be ok, he seemed content” Robyn said, “dad put the volume up!” Tianna spat, looking up at the rear-view mirror “this song?” I pointed pulling a face “it’s Beyonce?” she retorted “Chris, stop being miserable” looking at Robyn “they going to be all night Robyn? Seriously” looking back at the road “Chris” Robyn laughed “the music stays at that level until something good comes on, but yeah Junior will be fine. You heard that Herb is a dad?” I sniggered “he is?” Robyn retorted confused “mhmm yeah” I smiled “Melody called him dada” I laughed “no way, oh my god. He spends so much time with her, Herb is so part of the family now, it’s weird. Like your little brother or something, so how did he feel about that?” licking my top lip “he felt a type of way, I think a little emotional about it, I don’t know. He felt he needed to start committing to Mel, I was like nigga you don’t need to be doing that, it’s fine” turning off into the gas station “wow” Robyn said shocked “exactly” stopping at the pump “one child out of the car, no more. Tell me what you want” I am not dealing with all three “just get me a Slurpee, it’s hot as hell. Erm girls! Hey, stop arguing, Tianna. You go with your dad” Robyn decided “ha!” Tianna said, getting out of the car “how is that even fair?” closing the door, let Robyn deal with that “shall I put the gas in?” Frank said, nodding my head “I will pay for it inside, come on you” Rich made his way over to us, Tianna held my hand “we have to get some nice snacks for everyone, you better choose wisely too” I will blame Tianna if they complain about this.

Women in this car are driving me crazy, I am about to put rap on any minute. I mean we literally live with Robyn and then hearing her sing is just draining “did Mel tell you TJ is coming for Melody birthday?” I wonder if she knows “what? Since when? She never mentioned that shit to me and I for one don’t want him in my home, fuck him and everything he stands for, no way!” my eyes widened “dang, so if it’s at the house then what?” Robyn has banned him “then it can’t be, I do not want him in my home. He is the devil; I don’t want him near our home. No” nodding my head slowly “I haven’t even thought if it anyways, got to do it good for little Melody, you know” I need to think “she got Herbert” I sniggered “don’t let him hear you say that he said it to me in private. Don’t be speaking this out loud now” Robyn is a snitch “I didn’t say I was, but I am just saying” Robyn will end up saying something, turning the song “we need some real rap, ain’t nobody want to hear this shit now” I cackled as Throat Baby came on “Chris, don’t you dare” I started bopping my head “no way” she turned it “fine, we will listen to the radio” we ain’t doing this “great selection” Robyn said and I had to laugh, because Do You mind would be on “this is dad’ song?” Rylee said, I laughed “Baby you should be up in my bed. Ooohh do you mind, do you mind” I sang along laughing, out of every song this would come on too “I’m just tryna get to know ya” I pointed at Robyn she is of course recording “Get a little closer, maybe post up. Do you mind, do you mind” shaking my head, out of every song though this comes on.

Rubbing the top of my head “you booked this?” I asked Robyn “Tina did, this is for the kids not for us you know that right?” she said, looking around the room “so we sleeping here, and a child, well one of the children is going to be right there? And then we have Pumba behind us? This ain’t a freaky room, my god” Robyn sniggered “this is the animation resort Chris, it’s for the kids not for us. Act accordingly nigga” walking out of the bedroom, this is so ugly like who the hells thinks of wanting to have a Lion King theme hotel room “so there is a room here too” turning the corner “you and Tianna sharing yeah?” I asked “yes, look outside our window dad!” I am not amused, I am about to be sat on the toilet with Simba next to me, oh boy “it’s nice. You like it yeah?” they look happy so what can I say, then Imani will be in the same room as us which means we can, well we could have sex but we need to be extra quiet, now I need to plan my moves “I like it” Robyn said stood next to me “I will and I can still get freaky, I don’t understand why here, there is so many other places” Robyn is laughing but I am not “this was expensive you know, stop being miserable” I sighed out “you like it Imani?” she smiled “I see Nemo now?” I chuckled “of course, we can see whoever you want baby. This is y’all day, we just here” I can’t deny it, I love seeing my girls smiling.

Robyn tried to get me to wear the Disney top, she got the matching tops too. She going all out but I just took the snap back and wore that with a white tee and cut off jeans, the girls are matching with their little Dior bags across them, Robyn and her ideas. The Disney tour guide is waiting for us, seeing the SUVs waiting for us, the tour guide looks goofy as shit but I guess he got to be, the girls ran ahead “so we have Rylee, Tianna and Imani!?” the guy said “how do you know our names?” Rylee asked “how do I know? How do I know? Let’s just say, Mickey has been asking about you three, I am Tom and I will be taking you to see everything” the girls went ever so quiet, they are invested “we have the most talented Rihanna and then we have just dad” the girls laughed, they are mean “you got jokes Tom, I like you” he got his hand out to shake “nice to meet you Chris” he laughed “can you take a picture of us” Robyn said, Imani is doesn’t even want to move “come here you” picking her up and then placed her over my shoulders “of course, all smile now and in three we all scream Disneyland” we being goofy as hell, moving back “perfect!” Tom said, “in three” placing my arm around Robyn with Rylee and Tianna in front of us “two and one!” I just smiled but these goofy’s shouted Disneyland “I am going to post it, this is cute already” Robyn said, Imani is heavy as hell now, she too grown for this shoulder sitting.

#Chrianna #Chrianna FF #Fanfic #Fanfiction #Chrianna Fanfic #Chrianna Fanfiction

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terrortalesv · 3 years

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Starting a family

@tr85n asked for prompt #99 from that list, with Pam/Benson.

Human AU where Stella is the bio child of both of them.

Pam chews on a pen absently as she wanders into the breakroom to join her coworkers, who had already started their lunch break about ten minutes prior. Instantly, the smell of tuna and mayo hits her nose and makes her gag.

She steps out again and runs to the bathroom to splash some water on her face. Leaning against the washbasin for a few seconds, she waits to see if the feeling will pass or get worse, sighing with relief when it goes away. Weird. What is going on lately? she thinks.

Pam looks at herself in the mirror again and leaves the bathroom.

When she returns, her colleagues welcome her back with strange stares. Fortunately, they are all no longer eating, so the food, including the dreaded tuna, is gone, though she swears some vague smells still linger. She tries to ignore it, and sits down.

“Uhh, yes?” Pam looks around at the group while she takes her salad from the fridge beside her.

“Pam? Is everything okay? You seem a little… off today,” Stefan takes the seat right next to her. His tone is sincere, maybe even a little worried, the giggle as he snatches a piece of tomato from her bowl decidedly less so. Pam tosses a glare his way.

She shoves a forkful of leaves into her mouth before speaking, “I don’t know, it’s really weird.” And then she rattles off the various things she’s been dealing with as of late. She describes the mood swings, the fatigue, the constant hunger, the nausea.

By the end of her spiel, Stefan and her other closest coworker, Tobias, are giving each other a strange look, as if they’re in on a secret, a piece of the puzzle that they want to reveal but aren’t exactly allowed to.

“Ohhh. I know what’s going on here,” Tobias says smugly. The other man chuckles.

Pam looks at him and puts more salad in her mouth, not bothering to ask him to elaborate. She knows he will regardless.

“Obviously somebody’s pregnant,” Tobias leans over the table, close to her face, and says in a loud whisper.

“Ooooooohhh! Uh-oh!” Stefan teases.

Pam’s eyes widen and she almost chokes on some cracked pepper. After a few brief seconds, she comes to her senses.

“Uh, no, I don’t think so. It’s probably just that bug that’s been going around,” she tells them, and continues eating.

“Actually, yeah, maybe it is,” one of their older colleagues chimes in as he gets up to leave the breakroom.

“Psh, yeah. Whatever you say,” Tobias teases. He rolls his eyes and then he and his friend exit the room to go back to work, leaving Pam alone.

She sighs into her salad bowl and stabs at the remaining leaves with her fork. “Pregnant? Yeah, really funny, guys. No way,” she laughs to herself, but those strange symptoms linger in the back of her mind and she begins to have doubts.

No, but we haven’t even been trying. Besides, I’m way past that age anyway, right? Obviously it’s just a coincidence and they were messing with me. Yeah. You’re not pregnant, Pam, stop thinking about that.

She doesn’t stop thinking about it. She spends most of the next few hours thinking about it, convincing herself she’s not pregnant, that that was just a stupid joke those guys were telling, and then doubting herself.

She continues like this for a while, until she steps into one room to check on the equipment and sees something that catches her eye. She remembers their boss telling them about this thing, a super new, super high-tech machine that allows the user to see inside anything. She remembers her telling them about how this device was not only better than a standard x-ray machine, but safer.

Pam thinks for a moment. I mean, I already know I’m not pregnant. But what’s the harm in just having a little look-see, right?

She checks to see if there’s anyone watching her and closes the blinds just in case someone might walk by. Breathing a sigh, Pam presses some buttons on the device, listens as it whirs to life, and steps behind it.

She has to wait a few minutes before an image appears on the whiteboard to her right. All the usual things are there, nothing seems amiss. That is, until she shifts her eyes to her lower belly area, where a tiny, strange shape sits.

Her heart sinks and the nausea returns with a vengeance. She looks away from the screen, breathing heavily. Whatever it is, upon first glance it looks unlike anything that would ordinarily be inside a healthy human body. Pam swallows, although the dryness in her mouth doesn’t so easily allow it.

What is that? Some kind of weird mass in my stomach. Oh, no. It can’t be. Is this how I’m going to die? I should’ve caught this so much sooner, it’s probably way too late to deal with it now. But maybe I should book in with a doctor anyway, see if they can—

She shakes her head. Slowly she comes to her senses, though her heart rate and breathing take longer to return to normal.

“It’s okay, Pam. You’re not dying. At least not yet. Let’s just take a better look at this thing and then make our assumptions,” she tells herself.

She cautiously cranes her neck to look at the board again and takes more notice of the shape. One part of it is much larger, and the other has four small… things sticking out from it. She swears she sees a tiny human in that shape, as strange as it sounds, with the big head and teeny-tiny limbs. Wait.

Hand over face, Pam slowly steps away from the machine and turns it off. The picture is still projected on the wall. She stares wordlessly, eyes wide, hands slipping down to her belly. She’s unsure if she should be concerned or happy.

A million thoughts race through her mind at once, not daring to leave her alone for even a second, as much as she tries to ignore them. She wanders the halls of the vast laboratory, pretending to work whenever someone else is nearby, but spends the remainder of the work day too distracted to actually do anything.

How am I going to tell Benson? How is he going to react? Does he even want to be a dad? He seems perfectly content with just the pets. And what about me? Am I even cut out to be a mom? The animals are kind of a handful already, how are we possibly going to deal with a kid?

When Pam arrives home, she walks past the throng of cats that greet her at the door, enters their bedroom and flops down on the bed, exhausted.

She tells herself she’s only going to lie down for an hour, but wakes up several hours later to the sound of her husband setting the table for dinner. Groggily, she gets up and stumbles out to the kitchen.

Benson’s head snaps up at the sound of her footsteps and he smiles at her. She loves that smile, so much so that it causes all her worries to fade away. But not for very long.

“Hey! Sleep well?” He puts an arm around her and kisses her on the cheek.

“Yeah,” Pam offers him a tired smile and sits down at her usual chair. Benson quickly follows, tucking her chair in for her and then sitting down himself. He scoops up some pesto linguine and plops it onto both of their plates, then grabs a piece of garlic bread and takes a bite out of it. Pam tries her best to eat as much as she can, but her mind is still elsewhere. Benson notices.

“Pam, honey? You okay? You don’t look like yourself tonight,” Benson reaches a hand across the table to grab hers and gently caresses the back of her hand with his thumb.

“Um, oh, I…” she sighs, turning her hand over to give his a squeeze, “can I tell you something?” Her heart races and she sips from a glass of water in an attempt to ease her dry mouth. Now’s as good a time as any, I suppose. Who knows, maybe putting it out there and telling him will help calm my nerves.

“Yeah, of course,” her husband looks her in the eye with a smile, voice as calm and comforting as he can possibly make it. He takes another bite of bread.

“I…” she has to clear her throat, “I’m pregnant.”

Pam watches Benson’s face. He takes a moment to process her words, then his expression goes blank and he coughs up some crumbs. A strange combination of concern and surprise paints his pale, bearded face. Slowly, a large grin appears and the tips of his ears turn pink. Pam swears she’s never seen him look so in love.

“Oh, my god… Are you for real? We’re gonna be parents? I’m gonna be a dad?” Benson whispers, almost a squeal.

“Benson? You okay?”

He wipes that tear from his eye before answering, “Yeah! Yeah, I’m great.” He gets up from his chair, seemingly completely forgetting about the food on his plate, and kneels in front of her. He gently wraps his arms around her and presses his fleshy, weathered cheek against her belly.

“We’re having a bay-bee,” he says, in a high-pitched, sing-song voice that Pam has never heard before, even after all these years.

Later that night, as they’re lying in bed facing each other, Benson gives Pam a kiss on the nose and whispers, “I’m so excited.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

‘I know, you keep saying that,” she giggles.

“Well, I can’t help it. We’re having a baby. Together. Don’t you think that’s… the best?” He moves some hair out of her eye with a finger.

Pam can only respond with a tired “mm-hmm” as she closes her eyes. Benson carefully presses a cold, calloused hand to her belly and she shivers.

“Sorry,” he tilts his head toward where his hand is sitting, “we’re so excited to meet you, baby.”

“You know it can’t hear yet, dad.”

“Dad…” just from the tone of his voice, Pam can tell Benson likes the sound of that.

#regular show #pam #benson #mywriting

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jamestrmtx · 4 years

Text

Fairytale Complex - [Undertale | Sans x Reader]

[Gender Neutral, Frisk's Parent Reader | Slow Burn]

Chapter Three | sans. (Part 3 of 3 | His POV)

[First] | [Previous] | [Next]

As if being blessed by Lady Luck herself, the owner of the establishment calls for Jerry to tend to unloading inventory, forcing him to end his glare on Sans and move his attention elsewhere. His internal conflict manifests itself through physical means, as he stays frozen in place to settle between keeping his job and minding his business with the monster. With another call from his boss, louder and firmer this time in comparison to the friendly reminder from earlier, he clenches his jaw and loosens it up with a scoff. "You're damn lucky the place's packed," he says, looking back towards Sans again. He takes a stray receipt from the counter, takes a pen, and scribbles something on it, handing it over to the monster when he's done. "Take this, and stay the hell away from my family."

"So like you're doing?" Sans counters, snickering.

"Screw off."

The man leaves him be with those last two words and another worker takes his place behind the register, looking fatigued from presumably having to deal with all the work at the back by herself. The expression on her face says it all: she overheard only some parts of the conversation, and was either curious to know more about it or misinterpreting the situation altogether, though she doesn't mention a word about it. Rather, she picks herself up and greets him with a smile. "Good afternoon, sir. For here, or to-go?"

That simple question settles a puzzle in Sans's mind; given he barely knew the human waiting for him at the table, he couldn't make any rash decisions, so he considers all the options through and through. He could make an easy escape from meeting with Jerry again simply by choosing to-go, yet he still wanted to talk with (Y/N) about the subject of Frisk and the Underground. Not only that, but ordering to-go without informing them about it wasn't something normal for how much they knew each other; rather, it would seem rude to decide without giving the human a chance to speak their thoughts on the subject. And if he invited them to eat their orders out elsewhere, it would look wrong; either like he really did mean his vaguely flirty texts, or that he didn't feel comfortable enough with them around.

"Sir?"

"To-go, please," he blurts out, it being the first thing on his mind.

The monster tells her both orders and is then asked to wait. He does so by walking off back to the table, where Frisk's parent still waits at, either completely oblivious of what went on at the register, or masking it based on their calm look and nonchalant sitting position. Their expression takes a turn when they meet with his irises, and they speak up when he's finally close enough for them to make their words hushed. "That was my ex-husband, wasn't it?" they ask, smile strained and brows furrowed. "Could we, uh… take our orders-"

"To-go?" he intervenes, chuckling.

Their smile loses some of its tension, and they let out a laugh. "How did you know?"

He sits with them at the chair across from theirs, nudging himself to an angle where he shields them from the ordering counter. "Between you saying he stopped visiting and that he didn't show up when Frisk went missing, I'd say you're not exactly head over heels for 'im anymore."

"Far from it," they reply, sighing. "It's just plain ridiculous for him to be so worked up about this now. He had his time ages ago." They rock their fingers against the table's surface and frown, looking deep in thought. "What did he say, anyway? ...I tried not to look, but I still saw when he got all angry at you."

"It's related to what I want to talk to you about. Though I'm not sure how he got that info so fast."

Their eyes spark and widen, the hand on the table clenching the edge in expectancy. "So he already knows all about it?"

"Dunno if all, but it looks like he's already dug a lil' bit into my past."

A buzz from the human's phone brings a halt to the conversation. He looks to where the sound comes from before taking a look at their expression, clearly vexed by the name of the sender. Their hand trembles and he notices how they have to tighten their grip on the device to prevent its fall.

"Jerry?" he asks.

They nod. "Excuse me for a moment."

Sans nods back and observes as they stand up from their seat and walk off to a corner of the diner. The switch in the human's expression is almost immediate, changing from curiosity to shock the second they click on the message. The phone meets the floor and ends up making a noise far too loud for it to come out unscathed, results of a tiled floor and the device landing screen-first against it. Still, they don't seem to care over that particular matter and stare at the floor with those same, wide eyes, a look that's carried back to him.

"You…"

Their words come off in a hoarse whisper, and they have to scratch their throat to continue with, "Is this true? Y- You gave Frisk a death threat as a warning for… for what, exactly?" Their voice's louder now, surroundings seeming to blur into nothing given how little they care over being heard by those closer around. "They didn't hurt you, so why did you threaten to hurt them?" Their shocked expression changes to anger, a deep glare that refuses to falter even as they take a step closer, ignoring the phone laying on the floor. "And what did he mean when he said your job was to kill humans? What…. What did Asgore order you to do, and how come you're still allowed to run freely -- as you please? How much of this is true, and how much of this isn't?

They take a pause to pick up their phone, another buzz being heard from it. The screen's cracked from end to end, yet they don't seem to mind over that either and tear up when they read the latest message. "Is… Is that why Toriel had to leave out of the blue? Was she expecting something like this to happen to her, too?" The human's voice breaks, though they recover with another scratch of their throat. "Did she also hurt Frisk? How… How am I supposed to even be anywhere near you when you used to be a heartless man who followed ordered regardless of-"

"Please, ca-"

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down."

They huff, regaining some of their composure through it. "You have the next few minutes to explain why the hell your job as a sentry involved killing people regardless of their actions."

"(L/N), please liste-"

"Tell me."

They cross their arms and keep their glare on him. The phone continues to buzz, but they ignore it, all of their attention now being focused on Sans. An excruciatingly long beat of silence passes before he finally relents with a huff. They sit down, and he sits across from them, gaze facing theirs again. "What specifically do ya wanna know about?"

"What your job as a sentry implied. The rest can wait depending on what terms we're left with after this."

"Alright." He tries to smile in hopes of making their anger soften, though it's a vain attempt; a bad one, more specifically, taking into account how much angrier they get. "But could you promise ya won't freak out?"

"I'm afraid I can't. It all depends, really. Being told you used to throw death threats at innocent people doesn't exactly make me trust you any more than what I did a few seconds ago."

"But-"

"Order 44!"

He lets out a breath and proceeds to stand up. "Talk to you inna second? We can go to the food court and find a place there to eat."

"...Sure," they reply, a smile finally managing to return. "And thanks for helping me back there. I don't think I'd be able to tolerate Jerry coming up to me now of all times."

"Anytime," he says, winking. It's then that he realizes what he's done, an action made purely out of custom, though thankfully, they only show shock at having their thanks accepted rather than shrugged off.

Hopefully, his conversation with them wouldn't turn out as bad as he anticipated it to.

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The time to confess over his own sins arrives when both the human and himself are finished eating. Only his drink's left resting on the table, theirs already long gone with how quick they downed it after the meal. Had their choice been alcohol, he would've imagined them tipsy, given they barely gave themselves much time to consume it or so much as enjoy its taste and temperature. (Y/N) begins by asking how much of what Jerry had texted was true and over what actions the skeleton took when meeting with Frisk at the Underground.

The first few questions are simple enough and pass as smooth as his choice of drink, up until they ask, "So what exactly are you guilty of? Frisk told me to be careful around you, but in a fun sort of sense. And… And not because of you being dangerous or ever causing them any harm."

He breathes in, feeling obliged to brace himself for what he's about to say.

"I'm… guilty of not helping them out as much as I should've," Sans says, setting his drink aside. He already feels a tightness in his chest, incrementing when he continues with, "And there was one point where I might've come off too strong… Where I quite frankly told them to watch their back around me, and that I'd be there to handle the situation if it ever got outta hand."

"What kind of situation?" (Y/N) asks, a change in tone already present.

"Hurting my kind." He sighs out a deep breath, letting himself find some sort of ease amongst the ache building up in his rib cage. It was too soon to be enemies with the human sitting across from him, and to be frank, he didn't even want to be on negative terms with them, either. He simply wanted to have another friend; another person he could look forward to spending his time with more often. "I... warned them about what would happen if they dared to do anything bad to other people, but in the least humane wording possible." He takes another sip from his drink, feeling his non-existent throat turn sore. "Frankly, and just like Jerry already told you: it's all true. I, well... I threatened Frisk with death, even though they hadn't harmed anyone during their journey down there."

"So it's all true? Even the part about your job being to basically hunt after humans, no matter what?" They stand up from their seat, hands slamming over the table on par with their shout. In contrast to the ire he anticipated from them, he sees the same shock from before in their eyes and an open mouth reveals their disbelief. "I… Y- You... You're not joking, aren't you?!"

Thankfully, they're both sitting at a table too far away for anyone around to take immediate notice of the human's reaction. That allows the monster to breathe out again and reply with, "It's the raw truth, cross my soul," he says, meeting with their eyes. "As a judge and main sentry for the Underground, I was meant to treat everyone equally, no matter their age, race, or any of that stuff. I judged based on actions; on the person's background and intentions. So when it was time for me to meet with a new person, I went all out, no matter the costs or repercussions of my actions, or the feelings I had about what I was about to do." Sans takes a long pause, needing some time to recollect himself. "To be brief, that was the job assigned to me, and one I was meant to fulfill no matter how that would affect my relationship with that new person I crossed paths with."

"Wh- Why?" they blurt, the anger he expected finally showing through. Still, they sit down, avoiding unwanted attention from other people. "Why did Asgore come up with that idea, a- and why did you go along with it? Why… Was there no other option? Or did neither of you two ever bother searching for one?" A wet gaze greets him when he makes eye contact with the human again, conflicting with their scowl and sharp, furrowed gaze. "Are all of you guys like this? H- How many of you are innocent, and how many of you hurt my child? Are Toriel and MK the only ones I can trust? Because if I'm going to follow along with what Frisk's told me so far, th- the only monsters that they've mentioned without any reluctance have been those two. They... They always freeze up every time I ask them about any other monster they made friends with." Their voice begins to shake and a few tears spill from their eyes. "I… I'm sorry if this seems like too much, b- But I need to know, Sans, I… I need to know who hurt them, and what I can do to protect them. I need to be strict, and I- I need to make up for those two months I wasn't able to be there for them."

Sans.

The human has been calling him 'mister Serif' for a good while now.

Out of all the possible ways and times they could've said his actual, first name, and it had to be during a moment of anger and confusion. He tries not to acknowledge just how bitter and dry his name had come out of their mouth and instead focuses on lending out a hand to them, both in a metaphorical and literal sense. He drags the chair a bit closer to them and hovers his body over the table standing between them, placing a hand on the human's shoulder and snapping them out of their spiral.

"(Y/N), please just... Just breathe, and calm down for a moment," he mutters, making them face his gaze, stern and sober. "This's why I wanna tell you everythin' bit by bit. There's a lot more to the story, and I know you wanna be a good parent for Frisk, so please, take a breath and hear me out. I won't ask you to forgive me, but for your time to listen to what I have to say, instead." He almost flinches when their hand touches the one he'd placed over their shoulder, though he combats that feeling by looking away for a quick moment to recollect his thoughts. "We have a whole history explaining why things worked at the Underground the way they did until recently," he continues. "And even though I know that doesn't mean all of our actions are justified, we still had our reasons, just as your kind -- your ancestors -- did for sealing us underground."

They let go of his hand, a subtle action that tells him it's time to let them go. He does just that and sits back down on his chair, taking another sip from the drink on his side of the table to combat the sour taste forming in his tongue. "I know I have absolutely no right in telling you to calm down anymore and that I shouldn't've even said it the first time. But I still want you to listen, so that you can help Frisk establish their new life with the other monsters at the Surface; with all the friends they made at the Underground, but also by knowing what some of those friends did and just who of us you can entrust their safety to." He offers his hand out to them, letting a smile ease out the grim aftertaste of his words. "So, whaddya say? Wanna hear me out? I promise to be honest with you, so long as you can promise to hear me and my kind out, and learn more 'bout our choices in the past."

"I…"

That's the only word he can hear from them as they stare at his hand, a wary glance being directed at it. "Could we hug it out again? I, well... still don't trust shaking your hand after what Frisk told me about you."

Though he hesitates for a second, he gives in with a grin and a nod. "Sure thing," he replies, chuckling. "C'mere, pal."

Sans stands up, and (Y/N) does the same.

They lean down to his height and let their arms sneak around his back, pulling him in for a second hug in just one day; on his first day meeting the human in person and on his first week here at the Surface, to be more exact. That same gentleness from before reaches his soul, enveloping him with a strong sense of safety, serenity, and warmth, despite the circumstances of it all. It was of no doubt that the person hugging him cared greatly for Frisk's happiness, almost just as much as they did for Frisk's safety. That shows through how willing they were to listen to him, how quickly they regained composure, and how welcoming their hug is, almost as if they were offering him a second chance to hear him out -- and just by the feeling of that hug alone.

"Thanks for being patient with me," he mutters, still kept in the hug. "I promise I'll try to provide you with as much information as I can." He lets go and finally stares at them again. "That sounds good to ya? Or are ya bored of me already?"

Tension eases out as the human lets a laugh burst through. "Sounds good," they reply, smiling. "And don't worry. I… I'm not bored of you yet -- Far from it, actually."

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And that's it for this week!

I'm still trying to figure out a good publishing schedule, but updates will continue to be weekly on Saturdays as usual, with the exception of double updates. :-)

#sans x reader #undertale x reader #lgbt #lgbt themes #gender neutral reader #male reader #female reader #mother reader #father reader #parent reader #chubby reader #long fic #romcom #adventure #mystery #platonic relationships #slow burn

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