Tumgik
#i have so little patience for this series but damn it i wanna see how it ends
no-i-will-not-shut-up · 4 months
Text
im gonna go ahead and say it if your death game arc isnt about how the character(s) navigate such an environment it might as well just be a random brawl on the streets
0 notes
plutolovesyou · 2 months
Text
how soon is now? | part two
Tumblr media
READ THIS FIRST 🇵🇸
previous chapter. series masterlist.
Tumblr media
♡: hallway crush!ellie x uni student!reader
☆: the long-awaited second part of this godforsaken fic (lawd she’s given me trouble). appreciate y'all's patience as always, i'm a chronic procrastinator and perfectionist but what can i do. after this, i'm gonna take a break from this series. not saying i'll never write more, but wanna work on some other stuff for a while. thank you for reading! pretty please don’t hate me or show up at my house waving torches and pitchforks for this ending ok luv u gays in my phone. + a big thank you to @total-dxmure for helping me w/ some ideas for the last little bit!
♧:5.7k word count (lawd)
◇: sfw! miscommunication (sawry). fluffy moments, angst lowkey…both of yall cry at one point or another, reader has anxiety in the last chunk. modern au but joel isn’t alive in this, and they discuss it. maybe some rushed points here and there, i’m not really the proudest of this but needed to finish it anyway. potentially horrendous pacing but ok i think that’s all? idfk i may give y’all a little epilogue eventually, but don't dwell on it for the time being!
Tumblr media
4 months later 
Your friendship with Ellie was evolving wonderfully. You two were studying together frequently, and both your grades in the ghastly astrophysics class increased exponentially. Although that wasn't the only thing that was increasing at a rate too fast to fathom. Your crush on her. It was ripping you apart like wildfire, Ellie was proving herself to be such a wonderful person inside and out, and you were slowly but surely nearing your limit of how much it could build before you burst. A movie spin off of the Savage Starlight series had come to streaming, and Ellie had invited you to her place for a movie night so you two could watch it and discuss if it was a faithful entry in your beloved series or not. 
Dressed in some comfortable pjs and armed with snacks of all kinds, your favorites as well as hers, the time had come and you were at her door. You straighten your posture and put your hair back in place, must look presentable, then knock, knock, knock.
You could hear some faint shuffling behind the door, then a few thudding steps until she opened it for you. She was dressed in an old, worn Nirvana tee, and red checkered pajama pants, damn she looked good, even when she was dressed with less effort than usual. 
Ellie looked so pleased to see you, leaning on the doorframe. Why did she have to look so good all the time? “Hi! I’m so glad you came, ooh this is gonna be so fun.” She invited you in and took the snacks from your arms and placed them inside her room. “Oh yeah, I also put up some decor too so we can get into the Savage Starlight spirit.” Her eyes were wide and twinkling and when she stepped aside to let you see, she really had made her room so welcoming and comfortable.  
The lights were all off save for LEDs around the room’s perimeter set to a dreamy violet hue, sparkly fairy lights draped around the frame of her bed which was set up so cozily. Her laptop propped up on a pillow, the sheets arranged in a nest-like formation with two spaces for each of you. She even had a few dinosaur stuffed animals placed in a row so they could watch too.
You were so flattered she'd do that and make the atmosphere so nice for the two of you, you could just tackle her in a hug and never let go.
The thing is you were scared she'd perceive that as weird and you didn't feel like dying of embarrassment, not today at the very least. Save that for another day, maybe. Oh, how you wanted to squeeze her so bad. Your imagination had to do for now. 
She was standing there so proud of how she arranged her room into a mini theater, and you beamed at her, silently thanking her for making it so dim so she couldn't see your flustered expression in full.
“Ellie this is amazing!!” “You like it?!? These stupid lights kept on falling off but since this is an important occasion for us both I didn't give up. All for our love, Daniela.” She manipulated her voice and waved in the air with two fists, closed her eyes and put her hand over her heart, just being as dorky as ever.
Oh gosh, hopefully it wasn't going to be awkward. Sure, the two of you had grown to be great friends, but were you that close to be just, relaxing in her bed together? As long as your imagination didn't run too wild and you didn't overthink anything, it was going to be a fun time. Just two pals watching their favorite series, nothing more, nothing less.
She threw herself in the mess of comforters with a grunt, and saw you were hesitating. She patted the empty space next to her so you'd join her and the movie night could begin. “C’mere, don't be shy.” Well, no shit you were going to be shy. Suck it up. 
You crawled in next to her, unable to look her in the eyes, while she got everything ready and rubbed her hands together excitedly. “Man, if they do our girl dirty, we’re gonna have to give someone a knuckle sandwich, you with me?” Her jokes and easy going vibes always made her so fun to be around, but unfortunately for you, you fell harder for her every time. “Yeah, Ellie. A knuckle sandwich for all of them.” You retorted with a chuckle. Once both of you were settled, she pressed play and so it began.
Tumblr media
As the movie played, the two of you laughed and debated every plot twist, cursing the directors for not portraying your queen Daniela how she deserves, and snacked on candy until your stomachs hurt. It was going so well, the friendly hang out both of you needed after so many responsibilities in life. An escape. Occasionally sneaking peeks Ellie’s way, she was just so marvelously pretty. The shadows dancing on her features, illuminating her side profile perfectly, her long eyelashes and button nose, who wouldn't get lost in admiring her?
Of course you could never fully relax around her, or forget the crush no matter how hard you tried to push it down and just be friends. Every time she shifted next to you in the bed you felt your heart seize and the butterflies in your stomach turn into hornets. At this rate, they were going to turn into whole birds for fuck’s sake.
Nearing the end of the movie, the two of you were so invested, so captivated in the events, totally spellbound.
But then the film took a more emotional turn that wasn't in the comics. Daniela and her father had an absolutely vicious argument which left the two of you speechless watching it, which luckily got quickly resolved right after the two characters had a near-death experience together.
You weren't one to get emotional over silly, trivial things like fiction, but the way they showed this entire sequence was nothing short of heart-wrenching. You snatched up one of Ellie's patterned pillows and hugged it tightly to your chest, because cuddling her would have been much too bold for the likes of you. But what you’d give to do that instead.
Seems you were not the only one touched by the scene, as you began to hear some light sniffling from next to you. Looking over at Ellie made your heart break further into a million pieces. She looked lost in thought with thin lines of tears streaming down her plump, freckled cheeks. 
You froze for a moment, not knowing the limits of your relationship with her and how you could comfort her best. So you cleared your throat and mumbled, “That was so sad…” You watched as she avoided your gaze and wiped at her face with the collar of her t-shirt, “Yeah, this kind of stuff hits me, feels a little personal y’know.” She has never opened up to you about her struggles before, in the short time you’ve known and gotten close with Ellie, it always seemed like she was there to help you out, not the other way around. This could be your chance to show her that you are there for her as well, and that she can always count on you.
Being curious but at the same time not wishing to pry too much into her private affairs, you quietly asked with the most gentle tone of voice you could muster,” You don’t have to, but I’m here if you ever wanna talk about it, Ellie.” You watched her out of the corner of your eye, anticipating however she reacts.
She stayed quiet for a beat before sighing deeply, and whispered, “We were having a fun time, I really don't wanna be a burden.” Her voice quivered, heavy with emotion, what could possibly be troubling her this much? You wanted to take all her pain and bear it yourself, she didn't deserve any sort of misfortune ever.
“You can tell me, don’t worry about anything, okay? I just want you to be all good.” You were comforting her so smoothly, putting her needs and well-being first as if it was always second nature, as if you two have known each other many lifetimes over, two souls meant to float together through the journey of life. Well okay, that was probably a bit much.
There were a few more seconds of silence as you let the question ring in the air, not wanting to press and jeopardize your cherished friendship with her. 
You continue observing her, almost seeing the gears turning in her mind, the scales of reason tipping to one side then another, as she contemplates whether it’s worth spilling. Eventually, she does.
She roughly rubs her face then pauses the film playing on her laptop, sighs and huffs, before beginning to speak her story, all while looking away from you.
“Okay I don’t like to talk about this kind of stuff, but I trust you. A whole lot.” Your heart fluttered and face heated up at her comment, but you ignored it because there was something much more important on the table now. She continues, speaking quietly but quickly to get it over with. 
“So, when I was a kid, I was an orphan and to be honest I don’t really remember my early childhood much at all, but when I was 14 my adoptive dad, Joel, took me in. And it’s been just us since then.” She stops to take a breath, then resumes reluctantly. “And well, we’ve had a pretty rocky relationship for a good chunk of these years, I never knew how to express my gratitude to him, y’know, for basically saving my life, numerous times at that. He was always my rock, and I appreciate him every day. He taught me so many things, and I don’t know what I would’ve done if he hadn’t come around. I was pretty hard to deal with back then.” She reminisces with an exhale of air, and you see her eyes refill with tears. “But I’m really bad at expressing that, and will kinda, lash out I guess when I’m met with kindness or tricky situations.” 
You nod, listening patiently, and place your hand on her shoulder ever so gently, as a result making her raise her head to give you a small smile. 
Ellie chuckled deeply, it almost sounded forced, then started to slowly wrap up her story. “And it seems that scene kinda hit me, because the wounds are still raw, or whatever.” 
She sniffles again but doesn't respond, so you delicately inquire, “What do you mean?”
“He died last year.” Oof.
“Oh my, Ellie, I’m so sorry, are you-” She interrupts your condolences. “No need for that, I’m fine. Well, taking it day by day y’know. In the beginning it was really tough, I was angry at everything but most at myself for being such a jerk, and now I can't turn back time and tell him all I wanted to.” While you take a moment to think about what to say, she hums to herself and remarks, “That actually felt good to get off my chest, I haven't told anyone about it.” She lowers her voice so it’s barely a whisper. “Didn't have who to tell.”
“Sure you're okay? I'm always here for you.” You find your voice back to soothe her some more, to which she smiles at you again, only this time it actually seems genuine. There's definitely a lot of pain behind it, but the relief that she doesn't have to deal with the burden alone was evident on her face. 
“Yeah, thanks. I guess I hadn’t processed anything, and that part of the movie made it all come out, damn I hate emotions sometimes. But I appreciate you being here for me. You're really easy to talk to, and I feel better now.” 
And you would've never in a trillion years anticipated what her next move was going to be, you were so caught off guard, the realization lagged and it didn't immediately register. 
She moved to sit on her knees in front of you, then threw her arms around your torso in a tight embrace. She hugged you. Clutched you so firmly against her own body, her strong hands landing in the middle of your back, where she rubbed in a circle. She smelled so nice, and was as warm as one of her heated stuffed animals. 
Due to the surprising nature of the motion you let out a dumbfounded gasp, then returned the hug allowing yourself to rest your head on her shoulder. You wanted to stay like this forever, until the end of time, it felt nicer than you could've ever imagined.
The thought crossed your mind that she could feel the buzz pulsating through your body, you swore your heart was slamming against your ribcage so hard it was going to grow wings and simply fly right out of your chest, and join hands with hers.
While you were occupied with the way she felt against you, so close like this, chest against chest, and how your cheeks blazed with an inferno hotter than a thousand suns, you heard her grumble against your ear. “Not gonna make that same mistake again, and from now on, I'm gonna tell the people I appreciate just how much they matter to me.”
You were much too stunned to speak, but she wasn't. “So thank you again.” She finishes her little speech and pulls away first, but not before giving you one last big squeeze and letting out a noise of contentment as she does so, then shuffles over to her previous spot in the bed. 
Not taking notice of the way you were at a loss for words, or about to set the room on fire with how flustered her actions made you. Her obliviousness was a common theme, it seemed. She clears her throat and claps, grabbing some more candy for herself, then says happily, “We still got the rest of the movie left, then we can do whatever after. I really wanna know how this ends.”
Naturally, your head is spinning, but you were too caught up in your thoughts to continue paying attention to the movie as much as you were before.
You felt awful for her, yet somehow, felt as if your crush on her had quadrupled in size yet again. You saw through the guard she put up, she broke down those walls and opened up to you. You were honored she trusted you so much, and only hoped that would never change. That, coupled with how remarkably good hugs she gave, has led you to the realization that you were properly in love now, things had gotten real. This was trouble. You vowed to always be there for her for whatever she could ever need, you'd drop everything to teleport by her side if you could. 
Goodness, what were you possibly going to do now, instead of giving you the ick, or helping you with the task of getting rid of that stupid infatuation you were so plagued by, every experience felt like a deliberate ploy to just make you fall even further for her. You couldn't help but wonder just how much love a person can feel for someone, because it only continued to grow. 
Tumblr media
A couple days later.
Sitting in the cozy campus cafe, you were revising all your coursework. It was giving you a massive headache, but the warm and hazy lighting aided it a touch. The walls had cute plastic vines crawling up and down, and even though there was chatter all around you from the other patrons, it wasn't a distraction and in fact acted as some sort of white noise, everyone was talking in a nicely muted tone, it all blended to create the perfect ambience. 
You waved down the waitress to get yet another cup of coffee, your third one of the night, that’s healthy, before trying to resume with your aggravating studies. 
To your dismay, you've used up all your brain power for the evening, and could not force yourself to continue no matter how hard you tried. Maybe a few moments of peaceful people-watching would get you back on track?
You sip on the hot drink, then lean back against the comfortable booth seat to begin scanning around.
In one corner directly on the opposite side of where you were sitting, there was an elderly couple. They looked so in love, dressed in matching outfits, feeding each other as they shared a dessert, holding hands and conversing with a hushed tone, nodding and looking into each other's twinkling eyes. So cute, you hoped that was going to be you in the future. 
Moving your line of sight to watch beside the couple, there was another student, their books and computer were scattered across the wooden table, piles of pens and pencil cases near falling over. They seemed to have fallen asleep, unmoving with their head laid tiredly across their crossed arms. The sight made you chuckle out of familiarity, you really felt for them, studies were hard. 
But then a sound caught your attention. A bright, husky giggle fought its way over the ambience, reminiscent of a certain someone. 
Your heart jumped, your ears perked up and you immediately became insistent on scouting her out among the patrons, this was a necessary mission. 
Feeling highly nervous and antsy, you try to drown out the noise and focus on where she could be, and quickly enough, you find her.
Ellie in her natural habitat, she was so mesmerizing. Sitting far away from you where you could get a good view and hear snippets of conversation if you focused hard enough, but not close enough where she would notice your shameless gawking. She was sitting with a group of a handful of her friends, who all appeared to be gossiping and laughing with each other, you couldn't tear your eyes away.
Her smile was gorgeous, and you knew that, but there was something about just being a spectator which fascinated you, you could stare at her all day. Her energy lit up the entire room, and made your heart race.
Snapping out of your trance and trying to not be so obvious with your staring, you tried to look occupied, tried reorganizing your notes while still keeping an ear out to listen. Occasionally glancing over as  well. Yes, it's true that eavesdropping is wrong, but you couldn't help yourself. Anyone would do the same, right?
The group's passionate discussion was making you extremely curious however, and you strained to hear what they were talking about. Among the muffled chatter, you heard a woman’s voice say the word crush, then an outburst of laughter, the loudest guffaw from Ellie herself. 
You felt the budding panic start to form in your chest momentarily, but swallowed the lump forming in your throat and took a sharp intake of breath to calm yourself at once. They could be talking about anything, there's no need to jump to conclusions just yet. Fumbling around your bag for your headphones to listen to some of the song recommendations Ellie had given you, you’re led to discover that they are, in fact, dead. Of course. 
Despite any and all wishes to stop eavesdropping on them and mind your own business and abide by what they say, ignorance is bliss, you simply couldn't. She was too damn captivating. Like a painting in a museum, like a statue at a town’s center, one that people stopped in their tracks to admire. 
The way her eyes sparkled and gleamed under the warm lighting, her cheeks tinted a faint rosy hue from the exertion of laughing so hard, her sweet smile. She was too perfect. God, you hated crushes, being infatuated with someone to this degree couldn't be healthy. But what could you do? Just look at this angel.
Fidgeting nervously while still being entranced by the group of friends, you heard a man’s voice say the words “there’s no way”, followed by Ellie howling even harder than she had the whole time you've been watching them, and punch him forcefully on the shoulder. 
The curiosity was going to swallow you whole, it was like a car crash you couldn't look away from. You felt your palms begin to tremble and sweat with worry, and anxious assumptions of all kinds running through your mind, were they talking about you? No, they couldn't be, you're just overthinking it. Relax, relax, relax.
You tried your hardest to control your breathing and soothe your spinning mind so you wouldn't spiral, until you heard something that absolutely shook you to your core.
The same woman from before, not Ellie, in a highly teasing tone of voice said your name.
You felt frozen, this couldn't be happening. All your worst fears were coming true at this very moment. You had to get out of there right away, this was too much to bear. Curiosity really did kill the cat didn't it, you wished you didn't comply with the morbid desire to know everything. 
Panic-stricken like a deer in headlights, near hyperventilating at this point, the final straw was all three of them erupting into laughter simultaneously, with Ellie through gasps, going "oh come onnnn”.
Yeah that was it. Hot tears started pricking your eyes and you vigorously blinked them away before they started streaming down your face, as if you needed to be humiliated even more. You felt sadded, torn apart, betrayed. Sick to your stomach too. This time, for once, you really thought you had something going for you. From your perspective, albeit through rose-colored glasses, you were convinced she was being genuine with you all this time. How could you not be? 
The late night study sessions, the air thick with tension, the conversations draped in a sleep-deprived haze, the walks to class together, the first fated interaction, the looks you two shared from across the huge lecture hall; the looks where you two just knew when to share a glance, was all of that fake? Was she leading you on purposefully because her friends thought it was funny, that you were a joke?
The tears threatened to spill and your stomach twisted painfully with the world-shattering realizations you were just served with, and you angrily shoved your belongings in your bag.
You were too caught up in your panicked frenzy to notice how disruptive you were actually being, your textbooks thumping and keychains jingling, but frankly didn't care enough to meet the numerous pairs of eyes observing your misfortune. Who could blame you, your whole world and everything you've known just crumbled before you. 
You slung your bag over your shoulder noisily as a choked sob made its way up your throat, then speed-walked out of that cafe. You were never going to be able to go in there again unfortunately, shame, their pastries were so good.
Right as you tried to step through the door it got stuck, because the universe was being really nice to you today, and as you tugged on it to get it to open, you heard the friends lower their voices, but you could still make out a jumble of hushed words sounding something like, “oh no, is that…” Great, great, fucking great. The only solution to this was to change your name and ride up to Seattle for goodness’ sake, maybe throw yourself into a volcano as well just because. 
Finally the door swung open after what felt like eons, and you stumbled outside into the chilly autumn air, feeling goosebumps spring up all over. Where you were going, you didn't really know. This cafe was new, so it would take some time to figure out navigation so you stood dumbly in the middle of the front lawn as you tried to orient yourself.
Once you think you've got it, you start your agonizing trek back to your little room, screaming inside of your head, until you're harshly yanked back mid-footstep by a vice grip on your arm. What the fuck was it now. 
Ellie. The sight of her only made your tears increase in quantity and the emotion in your chest tighten. She looked a little disheveled, her eyes round like saucers, and she was gripping onto your arm so hard as if you were going to run away. You wanted to, but she still had a magnetic hold on you, even after all that turmoil. 
Talking was painful with how much you were trying to keep a hold of yourself, but you managed out a choked, “Ellie, what?” 
She looked befuddled, shaking her head ever so slightly and scrunching up her eyebrows, her gaze boring right into yours and following whenever you tried to break it and look elsewhere. Her hold on your arm softens, and moves to rest on your shoulder. “What do you mean what? You ran outta there like you were chased by a lunatic or something, what the fuck happened?”
Her tone startled you a little, why did she care so much? Noticing you jolt, she sighs and mellows her speech. “Sorry, what I mean to say is, I'm worried. Are you okay?” 
You worried her? Heat rushed to your cheeks as you fought to break the increasingly uncomfortable eye contact, and all you could do was shrug. Your lip started quivering and you were losing the fight of keeping your composure, how wonderful. Despite everything she was being so sweet, way too sweet. You felt helpless at this point. 
The words started pouring out of your mouth like a waterfall, you were properly sobbing now, falling apart and hiccuping as months and months of emotion spilled over. 
You were blabbering about how you loved the friendship you formed with her, but how hurt you felt that she’d laugh about you, every possible insecurity just tumbled out of your lips, as you wiped at your teary face and runny nose and glanced at Ellie ever so often. 
She let you talk for a bit until she saw you get even more upset, that's when she got a step closer to you, squeezed both your shoulders gently and kept a stern tone of voice to get your attention.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, slow down, I don't know what you're saying.” But you couldn't stop crying. Bottling up emotions was definitely a bad idea, because they were bound to burst sooner or later and unfortunately, you reached the breaking point. Sucking in some unsteady breaths as an attempt to regulate yourself, she was watching you patiently yet still cautiously. 
Your voice was weak and shaky, but you were slowly feeling a little better. For the first time during this interaction, you meet her eyes. Why was she always so pretty? She was sculpted just to spite you, you were convinced. Tears welled up in your eyes once more, but you blinked them away. “Um…Ellie…” She nodded expectantly, wanting to know what was wrong. But you could not complete your sentence as yet another bout of ache washed over you.
To snap you out of it once and for all, Ellie grabbed your face. The sheer disbelief of her action was enough to stop your tears luckily, and she held your gaze while she used her thumb to swipe at the stray teardrops adorning your cheekbones. You wanted to die, what was going on?
Once your panic was replaced with fluster and stupefaction, she let you go, but was still standing really close to you. You felt jittery from it all, nervous, embarrassed and in love and everything under the sun all at the same time. You stared at her, then looked away, then looked at her plump pink lips which were set in a questioning pout, then back up to her sympathetic greener-than-grass eyes, fuck, fuck, fuck. The intensity of the situation had caused any sense of judgment or critical thinking to long, long gone, and so your body moved on its own and before you had a chance to form a solid thought or process what you were doing.
Smooch.
You kissed her. 
Mouths colliding like magnets as you held onto the sides of her face, fireworks igniting in every single part of your body. Cradling her jaw as you closed the space between you two, the hurricane of emotion coursing through your veins as your lips caressed hers, and time felt like it had stopped. The months and months of excruciating pining had all led up to this very moment. 
She instinctively kissed you back, you felt her breaths fanning your face. You were about to ascend to another dimension. Lingering against her for a little longer, you forced yourself to regretfully pull away, and laughed loudly at her state now. 
Her lips were parted and she was gawking at you, you had broken her completely. Your own heart was working overtime, you were panting from the adrenaline of the situation, and could only hear the blood rushing in your ears. 
She seemed to be in a coma, doing nothing but staring and breathing. You punched her arm playfully, your voice breaking.
“I’M IN LOVE WITH YOU, YOU FUCKING IDIOT.” 
An frustrated confession tore itself from your throat, even the world's strongest iron bars couldn't contain it. You wiped at your face with your sleeves, a sad attempt to clear it of the residual salty tears that never once stopped their journey out of your eyes.
The sadness had left you, and you felt lighter now, truthfully. Had no idea how you would ever face her again after all this, but at least the cat was out of the bag and you had gotten that off of your chest. You both stood there in silence, now what was wrong with her? What a dork. Sucking on your teeth and kicking a pebble on the ground you admitted finally, “So, yeah. That's what's been troubling me, I guess.” 
Her pupils were dilated and huge, as she scanned all over your features, her mouth opening and closing as if she was having an internal battle of what to say. She stood there almost appearing miles more shocked than you somehow, she looked as if she was going to have a heart attack and die on you, you found it funny, but concerning at the same time. 
You watched her for a moment more, before accepting your disappointing fate and bidding her a goodbye. You cleared your throat. “Okay then. Cya in class. Bye.” You turned on your heel and began the walk back to your room, but this time for real, and didn't look back at her. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't, you wanted to leave this whole fiasco in the past. That chapter was closed, it seemed. 
The only thing left to do now was call your bestie, Abby. She has been your cheerleader through this whole thing, through all this time, gave you advice and brought you back to Earth, and you needed her support now more than ever. 
Tumblr media
Right after you reached your dorm she was there in no time at all, after receiving your distress call she scrambled into action, with chocolates and boxed wine in hand. Maybe you should just date her instead at this point. Who else was left for you?
You talked and talked and talked to her about everything for so long, talking the night away just like old times, and she sat and listened to your every word, patted your back reassuringly as you weeped into her shoulder, then tucked you into bed at the end of it all. She left only when she was sure you'd relaxed fully.
You didn't fall asleep quite yet, and stayed awake thinking, pondering life and staring up at your ceiling. It turns out angrily confessing to the girl you've been infatuated with forever by impulsively kissing her and letting the whole campus know it was a tiring thing after all. You really did cause a bit of a scene, when you thought about it in hindsight.
But what was this all like from Ellie's perspective? You wished you could know what she thought, or at least gotten some sort of formal response. Her friend storms out of a cafe, kisses her and screams she's in love with her? It's certainly understandable she'd feel a little lost, or under great pressure to give you an answer. Her reaction did make sense though, after being met with such a shocking revelation. Wow, now that you were really thinking about it, she still did not know why you ran out of the cafe like that. You wished you could turn back time and redo this day, shame that wasn't possible. Were you two ever going to have a discussion about this, or had you just lost a friend for life. Oh no, you pushed that thought away as quickly as it appeared, you didn't have an ounce of energy left over to dwell on it.
You'd work out what you were going to face her next later, a very well-deserved visit to dreamland was way overdue. You felt your eyelids grow heavy and your breathing slow, so you turned on your side and snuggled into your bed, eventually falling into a deep, deep sleep.
Meanwhile on your bedside table:
Bzz, bzz, bzz. 
Tumblr media Tumblr media
lovely taggies: @lasting-lover @radioheadfan699 @sophie-thefrog8 @machetegirl109 @ellieschair @aouiaa @wavesgocrash @tangerinngi @elliesbitchvenus @amiorca @dinaissoprettyoml @rxreaqia @camicocom1a @elliesexual @smelliewilliams @boobdrug @writing-on-a-bathroom-stall @bready101 @yourelliewillms @ap3arll @bunnyrose01 @elliesactualgirlfriend @paranoiero @sakiigami @4ftergloww @ellstronaut @vqxen @desireesfics @lez-zuha @dyk3ang3l @iluvellie0089 @tphmnv @seraphicsentences @seaseasalts @biblically-accurate-ellie @deliriousrn @pxterpfx + a very special tag to @fleshunger hehe :)
if i wasn't able to tag you, investigate the issue somewhere in your settings!
448 notes · View notes
Text
Guilty as Sin? - Chapter Three
Tumblr media
pairing: professor!javier peña x f!reader
rating: series is 18+ only, minors DNI, Derrick shows his true self, Javier comes to the rescue, depictions of SA (minor, though proceed with caution), mentions of alcohol consumption
word count: 4.2k
series masterlist
Friday night marked not only the temporary break from having to see Dr. Peña every single day, but also your stupid date with Derrick. He’d been out of the apartment when you woke up, him and Nina off at the gym. Alondra crawled into bed with you, her laptop in tow. 
“I don’t wanna go tonight,” you grumbled, drawing the blankets up to your face as she got comfortable beside you. “Just tell him I’m sick or something.”
“He’s been looking forward to this all week,” she reminded, pulling up Netflix. “Hell, for the last four years.”
“Yeah, well I’ve been dreading this for the last four years so where does that leave us?” you challenged. “I’m supposed to make myself uncomfortable just to make his little dream come true?” 
“I’m not saying that,” she sighed. “I’m just saying what harm could come from going to dinner with him? He’s your friend, just pretend you guys are grabbing food or something casual.”
“But he won’t want casual,” you snapped, throwing your blanket back so that you could get up. “He’ll want the full treatment.”
“There’s worse men to pretend to like,” she said, closing her laptop as she watched you tug on a hoodie and sweats. “At least he’s good looking and harmless.”
“Harmless as a friend,” you pointed out. “Who knows what he’s like on a date.”
“That’s why you should go,” she urged. “To find out if maybe that’s what was missing—“
“There’s nothing missing!” you shouted. “I don’t want him, not because I just haven’t seen how charming he is, not because I haven’t given him a chance. I don’t want him because I don’t want him. End of story.”
“Then don’t go!” she shouted back. 
“How? How am I supposed to turn him down when I’ve tried that for the past four years and he doesn’t give a shit. He’ll keep trying and trying until I finally cave, so I’ll fucking go tonight, but this is it. No more putting his feelings above mine.”
“Then I don’t know why you’re complaining.” 
You took a deep breath, finding the patience you knew you possessed but seemed so far away in this moment. Out of all people, you expected Alondra to understand your side of the situation. She’d never spent a day in her entire life thinking about what a man wanted, what they were feeling and how she might accommodate for it. And yet, here she was demanding that you not only go through with this but that you shut up while doing it. 
“I just want to be alone for a while,” you said, dejected and hurt. “It feels like the entire world is turning for him and I’m just here. You and Nina love him, I know, but what about me?”
“We love you,” she said, her brows furrowing. “It’s just that sometimes it almost feels like you avoid the things that you know will be good for you in favor of shit that’ll wreck you. We’re just trying to show you that Derrick is a good thing.”
You shook your head, wrapping your arms around yourself. “I’m gonna be at the library until my lab. Tell Derrick I’ll meet him back here at ten.”
“Don’t be like that,” she coaxed, following you into your shared bathroom to watch you brush your teeth. “Don’t be mad.”
Spitting out the toothpaste, you tried to ignore her guilt tripping. “I’m not mad, I just want to be alone.”
“Fine,” she said, meeting your eyes in the mirror. “Text me if you need me?”
“Mmhm,” you hummed, watching her leave the room knowing damn well she just earned a spot at the bottom of the list of people you’d reach out to.
Dr. Peña’s lab went by smoothly, the undergrads taking their first quiz of the semester in absolute silence as you got to work grading yesterday’s assignment. Dr. Peña had been taking careful glances at you, his brow furrowed with concern. Not that you could blame him. For the last two days you’d been dressing to impress, or more delusionally, to seduce, but today you’d shown up bare faced and in sweats. 
Setting his pen down, he cleared his throat and walked over to your desk, causing your tired eyes to lift to his. “Everything alright?”
You nodded, giving him a forced smile that only managed to deepen that look of concern on his face. 
“Just tired,” you lied in a whisper, shrugging your shoulders. 
“I know these late night labs aren’t the easiest—“
“No, no,” you assured. “It’s not the lab. Just…personal stuff.”
He lifted his chin in understanding, his fingers tapping against the wood of your desk. “Well, if you’d prefer, you can finish grading those at home. They’re just going to be taking the quiz tonight, so we’ll be fine without our prized TA.”
You smiled at the compliment—or at what you assumed to be one. “It’s fine. Home’s not very appealing to me right now.”
“The offer stands,” he smiled, soft and almost unnoticeable before walking back to his desk. 
Too bad you noticed every single thing he did. 
Tumblr media
After the lab, you headed home to get ready for the punishment that was an hour spent at the snobbiest restaurant in Austin with your not-so-friend. Derrick was locked up in his room, no doubt trying to overcome his jitters while you did the same. Only your jitters felt more like tremors, something deep in your soul cautioning you against going. Still, you persisted. 
Slipping into a skirt and your favorite top that gave you the confidence necessary to walk into this situation with your head held high, your makeup flawless and subdued, your hair just the way you like it, you took a deep breath and opened your door to greet Derrick with a forced smile. 
“You look…wow,” he laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. While you smelled his clean scent, there was also a hint of something else on his breath—tequila, perhaps? “No one’s gonna believe you’re with me.”
You cleared your throat, glancing at Nina and Alondra who stood in the kitchen eavesdropping. “Let’s go. Don’t want to be late for your fancy reservation.”
He laughed, nodding as he held out his hand for you to take. You pretended not to notice it and busied your hands with holding your bag and phone, which…
Fuck, you forgot to charge your phone. 
“My brother recommended this place,” he said, brushing off your rejection as he walked you out of the building and to his car. “It’s where he proposed.”
“Mm,” you hummed, still lost in your head. 
“You like sushi, right?” he asked, opening your door. 
“Yeah,” you nodded, slipping into the passenger seat. “We’ve been friends for how long now and you don’t know that?”
He chuckled, buckling his seatbelt. “I don’t pay attention to little shit.”
You stared at his profile with something akin to disgust, the realization that he’d never viewed this friendship in the same light as you finally dawning on you. “Friends usually try to pay attention to little shit like that.”
“Yeah, well we’re a bit more than friends,” he smirked, glancing at you before bravely moving his hand to your thigh. You jerked at the touch, pulling away from him to turn towards the window. “So, uh, how’s Peña’s lab?”
“It’s good,” you managed, counting the streetlights as they passed by. 
“That’s shocking,” he chuckled. “What, he’s not a dick to them?”
“He is,” you shrugged. “But not to me.”
“For obvious reasons,” he chided. “Alondra told me about the whole don’t wear a skirt thing. Sounds like a fucking creep.”
“It wasn’t like that,” you argued, turning towards him. “And you can tell Alondra I’d appreciate it if she didn’t tell you all of my business.” 
“She was just looking out for me,” he said, giving you a frown. “Can’t have your professor trying shit if we’re gonna give this a real shot.”
“Derrick, I don’t—“
“No, just…let’s keep this date free of all that pessimist shit,” he snapped, reminding you of his inebriated state. Fuck, and you were in a car with this shithead? “Tonight I want you to put all that trauma aside for once and keep yourself open,” he demanded, causing your heart to race. 
What would happen if you didn’t? Would he hurt you? Would he shit talk you to all your friends? Would he make something up?
“Fine,” you managed, balling your hands into fists as they rested on your lap. 
Tumblr media
After a car ride spent listening to him detail his summer of luxury, the two of you found yourselves seated in the restaurant located on the opposite side of town. You’d only been out in this area once to celebrate your first anniversary with Micah, though that time you were forced to split the bill. Derrick wouldn’t have any of that, not with his trust fund and need to prove himself. 
You didn’t speak much at dinner, not because you had nothing to say but because he wouldn’t stop talking. He’d covered everything from the first birthday he could remember to the day he first met you when you were both frightened freshmen on campus. Perhaps the trip down memory lane would’ve made you smile if it wasn’t for his wandering hands beneath the table. 
When the bill was paid and the two of you were on your way out, you thought the terrible night had finally come to a close. But of course it hadn’t. 
Derrick surprised you by pulling you into a dark alleyway, his hands greedy as he pulled you against his frame. You felt his lips on yours, taking and taking and giving you not a damn thing but a sick feeling of alarm in your stomach. 
“Derrick, stop,” you hissed, pushing against his chest as he continued to lean in, caging you against the stucco wall. 
“You want me,” he rasped, nuzzling his nose against your cheek as his liquor-scented breath flooded your nostrils. “You’re just scared of it ending badly.”
“No,” you protested, continuing to push him away. “I don’t want any of this. I don’t feel that way for you.”
“Yet you showed up wearing this.” You froze as you felt his cold fingertips graze the outside of your thighs, inching his way closer to the hem of your skirt. “Just…let loose for once. Let your guard down and I swear you won’t regret it.”
“I already regret it,” you hissed, shoving him hard enough to cause him to drunkenly stumble back. “You’re drunk and acting like fucking dick.”
He shook his head, chuckling at your words or the situation, you couldn’t quite tell. “I want you.”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Four fucking years of waiting around, then you finally decide to go out with me, and now…what? You’re just gonna act like a tease?” 
“I’m going to beat the shit out of you if you keep talking,” you warned, though you knew your strength was no match for his. Still, female rage and adrenaline fueled you, coaxing you into not giving a fuck about the outcome. If he pushed any harder, you’d gladly fuck around and find out. “I’m leaving. Don’t follow me.”
“Stop,” he whined, grabbing your wrist to keep you from leaving. “Don’t be such a bitch.”
“I’m a bitch?” Fuck around and find out, it is. “I’ve been nothing but a good friend to you all these years, even knowing that you didn’t give a fuck about any of that. You’d rather I be in your sheets than in your life, that much is fucking clear now.”
“I’m just saying, it’s not cool to continue to give me hope—“
“I didn’t give you shit!” you yelled, yanking your wrist from his grasp. “How many times have we talked about this? How many times have you made me feel guilty for something I have no control over? I don’t want you, Derrick. I never have, and after tonight I certainly never will. Face it or don’t, but our friendship ends here.”
“We live together,” he reminded, stepping towards you. “You can’t avoid me like you avoid Micah.”
“Can’t I?” you chuckled, shaking your head. “You have no idea how easy it’ll be for me to pretend as if you never existed.”
He let out a huff of disbelief, shaking his head at you as if he had any right to feel disappointed. No, that right was yours alone in this situation. You thought you found a man who you could call a true friend, only to find out he was just as bad as the rest of them. Maybe worse given the way he manipulated you these past four years, all to earn your trust. 
You took off down the street, not caring about the looks you received from passersby. You just needed to get somewhere safe and call—
Fuck. Phone’s dead. 
With fear threatening to take over, you stumbled into the first open shop on the block, a very fancy looking cafe that was mostly stranded on the inside. Tugging down the hem of your skirt, you huffed a sigh in order to rein in the tears threatening to spill as you swung the door open. 
“Welcome in,” the older woman behind the counter greeted, giving you a judgmental once over as your heels clacked against the hardwood floor on the way to the counter. “What can I get started for you?” 
“I was just wondering if there was any way I could use your phone to call a cab? I promise I’ll buy something—“
“I’m sorry, we don’t allow customers to use our phones,” she frowned, a display of mock sympathy that threatened to wear down your last remaining nerve. 
“I understand, and I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t an emergency,” you pleaded. 
“I don’t know what to tell you, ma’am,” she sighed. “Phones are for employee use only. Perhaps you can find a payphone or—“
The woman was interrupted by a familiar voice calling your name. Stomach sinking to the floor, you turned to find Dr. Peña sitting in a booth by the window with his laptop. 
Fucking perfect. 
“Dr. Peña.” You greeted him with a sigh and a forced smile, reluctantly heading towards his booth. 
“Are you alright?” he asked, giving you a quick once over before lifting his eyes back yours. 
“Yeah,” you lied, giving him a quick nod. He tilted his head and you and gave you a look as if to say liar. Letting out the saddest, weakest laugh you might’ve ever uttered, you decided to hell with pride. “No, I’m…it’s been a long night.”
He ticked his jaw as he considered you for a moment, leaving you in sickening suspense. “What happened?”
“You don’t want to hear about all that,” you assured, wiping a tear from your waterline. 
“I do,” he insisted, nudging his chin towards the other side of the booth. “Sit down, I’ll get you a coffee.”
“You don’t have to—“
“Sit,” he ordered, that stern voice cutting through the clouds of self pity and anger still looming overhead. “How do you take your coffee?”
“Black is fine,” you lied, slipping into the booth as gracefully as your skirt would allow. 
It took him a few minutes to return, that time spent locked inside your head, watching a replay from an eagle's eye point of view. Derrick's hands on your body, his lips on yours, his vile claims and threats sounding over and over. 
“So,” he said, handing you your cup as he sat down in front of his laptop before closing it. “What happened?”
“I don’t…I don’t want anyone to get in trouble,” you prefaced, earning a hesitant nod. “Derrick—
“Mr. Crawley?” he asked.
“Yeah,” you nodded. “He’s been my friend for years now, we live together…but he has this really bad habit of not taking no for an answer.” Dr. Peña tensed, his jaw clenching. “That’s why I agreed to go out with him tonight, because I was just sick of having to explain that I only saw him as a friend. Thought I’d just get it over with, but that didn’t really go as planned.”
“Did he…try something?” he asked, his voice low and tense. You shrugged, questioning the entire interaction. If you hadn’t stopped him, if you hadn’t been brave enough to tell him no, would he have stopped? Did what he did really constitute assault? 
“I don’t know. Sort of,” you explained, tracing the rim of your cup as you spoke. “Dinner was shit enough, but then he cornered me in an alley, trying to cage me against a wall and…touch me, but I stopped him. Then he turned into this entirely different person than I’ve known all this time, called me a bitch and a tease. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize my phone was dead when I took off down the block, and now I’m stranded on this side of town. And truthfully, I don’t even know if going home is a good idea.”
Javier leaned back in his seat, raking his hands over his face. 
“I have a sinking feeling that if I go home, he’s just going to start shit again, which is the last thing I want right now.”
He nodded, understanding and sympathy in his eyes as he took a beat to think. 
“Firstly, I’m incredibly proud of you for sticking up for yourself. It’s not an easy thing to do, and you did it.” You refused to keen under his praise the way your heart demanded to. “If I’d have just put up with it—“
“Stop,” he said, shaking his head. “You did the brave thing and the right thing. He’s too fucking old to not know the difference between a woman who wants him and one who doesn’t. This shit is on him, alright?” 
You gave him a meek nod, still not able to look him in the eye. 
“I know you said you don’t want anyone to get in trouble, and I’ll respect that, but know that if you decide to report him, I’ll back you,” he offered, his eyes rounding and voice softening. “I don’t think you should go home. I—“ He sighed, lowering his hand to rest beside yours on the table. “I can drive you to a hotel, and if you need me to pay for it, I will. That way I’ll know you’re safe, and you’ll have your own space for the night.”
“No, that’s not necessary,” you assured. 
“No, it isn’t, but it’s late and you’ve clearly been through enough tonight,” he said. “But it’s your choice. I can call you a cab if that’s more comfortable.”
“Isn’t that…sort of against the rules? You giving me a ride?” 
He let out a soft chuckle. 
“It’s not ideal, but I don’t care about that right now,” he confessed, his pinky reaching out to brush against yours. “I just care about you being safe and comfortable.”
You bit your lip, eyes glued to his hand that seemed to be fighting an internal war over whether or not to reach out for yours. “I won’t feel safe and comfortable in a hotel. I’d just feel…alone.”
“I can’t,” he whispered to himself, moving his hand to his face. 
“Can’t what?” 
“Can’t do this,” he gestured between the two of you. “I can’t keep you company tonight.” 
“I didn’t mean—“
“I know what you meant, and I’m telling you I can’t let a student of mine crash at my place,” he sighed, conflict weighing on his face. “I’ll take you to a hotel and you can call a friend to stay with you.”
“I’m not going to let you pay for my hotel,” you protested. “That’s not happening.”
“Then what?” he asked, dropping his hand to the table. 
“I don’t know,” you snapped. “I’ll figure it out.”
“Here,” he handed you his phone. “Call a cab, they’re safer than an Uber.”
You stared at the unlocked screen, debating whether or not you truly wanted to handle things on your own or accept the help offered to you, even if it meant spending a night alone in a foreign environment, stuck with the flashbacks of Derrick’s hands on your body, his lips on your mouth. There was no safety in that, in being prisoner to awful memories you had no part in creating. The truth was that you needed him to distract you from yourself, and you didn’t care if you had to grovel or beg for it. 
“I’m asking you to please just…stay,” you whispered, too close to tears to speak up. “We don’t have to go to your place. We can go to the library for all I fucking care, I just don’t want to be alone. All my friends are his friends and I know what they’ll say about tonight. Everyone loves him, everyone wants to be his friend, and I’m just…around. They won’t believe me, and even if they do, they won’t see it the way I do.” 
Javier looked ready to tell me to fuck off and go find someone else to bother with all my problems, but threw me for a loop when he said, “Fine. Grab your coffee, and…here.” He held out a black leather jacket that smelled like him; whiskey, smoke, and warm spice. 
“Where are we going?” you asked, standing and draping the jacket over your shoulders as he gathered his things. 
“My office,” he said, his tone clipped and sharp. “It’s the only place where people won’t be around to see us. Not that I really give a shit, but you should.”
“You haven’t done anything but help me,” you offered. “I don’t care if people talk. You and I haven’t done anything wrong.”
“They don’t give a shit,” he countered, leading you out of the cafe. “Besides, we’re already breaking rules. Even if we aren’t acting on anything—“
“Is there anything to act on?” you probed, sticking close to him out of fear Derrick was still around searching for you. Dr. Peña shot you a knowing look over his shoulder. 
“There’s enough to drive me fucking crazy,” he admitted. 
You stopped in your tracks, shocked—and twistedly pleased—at his confession. He noticed your reaction, stopping to turn around and look at you with a pleading expression. 
“I didn’t mean—“
“I know what you meant,” you echoed his words from earlier. He ground his jaw and looked down at the sidewalk for a beat before pulling out a cigarette and lighting it. You watched his lips mold around the cigarette as he took a deep drag, his brows furrowed as if he was in pain. 
“I’m not…” He shook his head again, looking up at the night sky. “I’ve been teaching now for five years. Never once have I done this shit. Never once have I let myself get involved. Until you.”
“Dr—“
“Javier,” he cut you off. “Call me Javier when it’s just us. It’ll make me feel better about how fucked up this is.”
“What’s fucked up about a woman in her late twenties and a man in his thirties talking?” you asked, stepping closer to him to feel a bit more of the thrill that did such a good job at blocking out all the bad shit going through your head. 
“I’m your professor,” he explained, watching you carefully. “There are rules against me developing this exact infatuation I can’t seem to fucking shake.”
“You’re infatuated with me?” you chuckled, more out of shock than amusement. Though you’d obviously sensed he saw some sort of potential in you that caused him to act like less of a dick than he did with everyone else, you’d have never guessed in a million years that he was interested in you. 
Javier chuckled darkly, stepping closer to you until you could smell his cologne. “Infatuated is an understatement.”
“And what would you say if I told you I was just as infatuated?” you asked, closing the gap between the two of you as you lifted your hand to rest on his chest. Not pushing him away like with Derrick, but beckoning him closer. 
He whispered your name, sending chills down your spin. “We can’t.”
“We’re not doing anything,” you countered, sliding your hand up to the back of his neck just to feel those soft brown waves that have been calling your name this last week. Javier grabbed your hand and lowered it gently, his thumb smoothing over your skin. 
“I’ll stay up with you tonight so that you can feel safe, but that’s it,” he whispered, his eyes darting across your face. “Okay?”
You wanted to frown, to throw a fit and beg him to not be such a stand-up guy, but that would be like asking a fish not to swim, the wind not to blow, a fire not to burn. He simply was a stand-up man and no amount of seduction could change that. “Okay.”
He let out a soft sigh, stepping away from you. 
“You’re lucky I have shit to grade tonight,” he joked, trying to lighten the mood. “You might consider helping me with some of that, TA.”
You chuckled, nodding. “After a nap.”
“Sure,” he chided. “Take it that’s code for hell no.”
“Would you look at that. You’re more clever than you look, Professor.” 
Tumblr media
258 notes · View notes
sitp-recs · 1 year
Text
Tumblr media
Another year is almost over, and what a year this was for the Drarry community! This list is a “thank you” to everyone’s continuous patience and support during my recent break. I considered not doing anything but in the end I got some free time and didn’t have the heart to break tradition. So here it is, my last reclist of the year showing I’ve actually read A LOT in the first semester alone lol. I did my best to include different tropes and lengths, popular works and hidden gems. As a side note there are no Erised works in here, as the fest is still going on and authors are yet to be revealed. Classic disclaimer goes “pls mind the tags, this is not intended as the ultimate reclist etc etc.” It’s a personal selection based on my tastes and preferences; the idea is to celebrate these fantastic works and their beloved creators. This fandom keeps on giving and I’m so happy to be part of it. Enjoy, give these some love and see you next year!🥂
Drarry:
Without Sunshine by @sweet-s0rr0w (T, 1k) 
Trust SS to come back from a writing break with this banger, holy shit. Brilliant concept, perfect execution. I can’t believe this is only 1k, there’s so much build up and details I wanna learn more about. This tender and urgent apocalyptic AU will steal your heart with perfect vibes and the softest flower shop romance.
Receipts by @moonflower-rose (M, 2k)
Rosie never fails to blow my mind with her creative mind and brilliant sense of humor. This is the perfect bite-size snack, hilarious and so very sweet. I am obsessed with Draco & Pansy’s brOTP, their banter made me laugh out loud and we are treated with Drarry and Ginsy! Here’s your next read if you’re looking for something short, sexy and witty. You’re welcome 💅
Bright Side by @floydig (T, 2k)
Floyd is another master of short form and here’s why. This series of vignettes made my heart ache for these two broken boys finding their place - and each other - in he war aftermath. I’m impressed by how sharp, nuanced and sensorial this is. The heat! The humidity! Love the strong sense of place, it’s so intimate it feels like you’re intruding into something private and special.
Willing Blood by @lqtraintracks and @the-starryknight (E, 2k)
This iconic duo tailored a short yet intense creature fic dripping UST and gorgeous characterization as per. The way Harry and Draco are drawn by - and crave - each other left me salivating, I’m feral for their dynamics. Ultimate power couple vibes (reluctant Draco + fearless Harry make such a great match!) and great evocative 1st person POV.
The Mating Habits of Snidgets by @shealynn88 (G, 3.5k)
I can’t believe this doesn’t have more comments, such a lovely hidden gem. I found it when I needed a soft read before taking a break, and have been thinking about “am I your little bird, then?” since. Quidditch rivals to lovers is becoming my kryptonite and this story does a great job exploring what brings them together despite their social gap. The character development is so good this feels like a 30k story packed within 3.5k.
Magpie by @corvuscrowned (E, 4k)
If you ever have to choose a dark!Harry fic to read, I urge you to go with this one. His klepto characterization is so damn lush and compelling I was half terrified half turned on the whole time 😔✌🏼Thanks to Crow’s masterful and addictive writing, there’s no possible way to resist his charm when it comes with razor sharp dialogue and sexy power dynamics. Come collect my jaw on the floor pls
No Distance by @skeptiquewrites (E, 4.8k)
Is it fair to include a sequel in order to make everyone go read this fabulous verse? Who cares, not me 🤷🏻‍♀️ Tee’s way of writing Drarry always leaves me aching for this kind of love. Their longing for each other is strong but unhurried, the dialogue is fantastic (the nose piercing exchange!) and the smutty scenes hit all my boxes. The characters feel so lovely, tangible and relatable as real people. I will never get enough of this verse, no matter when or where they are, as long as they’re together.
An Emerald In The Sky by @corvuscrowned (M, 6.6k)
My favorite read of the year - as you probably already know since I haven’t stopped screaming about it. My heart belongs to this breathtaking Draco, so full of yearning and melancholy, as he falls in love with time traveller Harry and wonders if they’ll ever get to be on the same page. The astronomy motif only makes it all even more poetic and devastating (but in a cathartic, hopeful way!). This hurts as much as falling in love and I wanna wrap myself in this fic and never let go.
Per my last letter (I hope you choke on it) by @fluxweeed and @lastontheboat (T, 10k)
Possibly the funniest thing I’ve read all year, which is not surprising considering flux’s inimitable brand when it comes to humor. This epistolary slow burn is light and creative and such a delight. I got immediately attached to the characters and giggled my way through Drarry’s banter; special kudos to Harry’s amazing crew and their perfect spot-on voices. An adorable comfort fic to be revisited at all times!
Witness Marks by @gryffindorhearts (M, 15k)
After so many excellent vampire fics this year, it’s getting hard to resist this trope. Here’s a quiet and atmospheric gem that made me fall hard for clockmaker!Draco. Such an original concept! I adore the lore behind his job, his strained relationship with Lucius, the way he’s pulled towards mysterious Auror Harry. Also- the flirting and sexual tension at the Tate Magique?!! Chefs kiss
Yours Truly by @skeptiquewrites (M, 15k)
It’s getting impossible to choose a Tee favorite, my god. Go check her brilliant microfics then come feast on this stunning take on fake dating, choke-full of light humor, found family feels and wonderful world building. Smooth pacing, phenomenal cast, have I mentioned Draco’s into magical ecology?! My favorite kind of slow burn, sweet, tentative, heartwarming and so damn romantic.
Take the Moon by @tackytigerfic (M, 15k)
The perfect kid fic exists and I can prove it! Nothing leaves me aching and raw open like Tacky’s Harry with his soft, gentle yearning for hot dad Draco. I’m so in love with his love, I could actually feel my chest expand with this series of incredibly tender and precious moments of friendship, complicity and domesticity many couples will never experience. Extra bonus points for the SEXIEST non-explicit smut and the brilliant commentary on the autistic spectrum, especially related to kids. My whole kingdom for little Scorpius 👑
With Hands Full of Dusk by @corvuscrowned (E, 15k)
Yes I’m proposing to Crow after posting this because I suddenly feel exposed with 3 recs 😳 hands down the best case fic I’ve read this year, I’m obsessed with Drarry as creature hunters and the suspense-y vibes here. The slow burn is mature and thought-provoking, heavy with a deep sense of loneliness and so evocative it hit me just right. This story is sharp but also strangely comforting, a perfect read for a rainy or foggy day. I wish I could bask in its atmosphere for the first time, over and over again.
Preserving Lemons by @saintgarbanzo, art by @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (E, 17k)
I’m so happy I found the time to check this one fic from Fan Fair because this was a truly special read, surprising in the best ways and very cathartic. The gorgeous prose finds a perfect tone between sexy and contemplative bringing food, gender, racial and political discussions together in a coherent and powerful way I wouldn’t think possible for a 17k fic. Loved seeing Harry and Draco so open and vulnerable, experiencing who they really are together. Lush, powerful and healing.
Heartlines by @sorrybutblog (T, 22k)
One of my first reads this year remains a iota fave, this was so much fun and so charming. A delightful case fic combining sentient house, Auror Harry, smitten Draco, everything we deserve. The best thing is the surprisingly clever and charming humour, it made me giggle at the most unexpected times, giving the suspense a light tone I can’t get enough of. Despite the underlying tension, this will make you smile from beginning to end.
What Makes a House a Home by @writcraft (E, 27k)
The only Drarry fic Writ writes this year ends up being a banger, figures 🙌 honestly this is a masterclass in tension building with a gorgeous take on recluse!Harry and delicious slow burn. It was so cool to learn more about this Harry through Draco’s curious eyes, as the forced proximity pushes them together. Sexy adult dynamics and compelling characters, right up my alley!
At the Doorway, On the Stair by dwell_the_brave and @p1013 (T, 30k)
I love myself a good mystery fic and this was such a nice surprise, so very spooky and immersive. The author did a fantastic job creating an intriguing atmosphere while advancing the plot, I was at the edge of my seat trying to figure things out while falling in love with “ghost” Draco as he tried to help Harry along the way. Excellent slow burn and a gorgeous setting that will lure you in!
Eager for the Sky by @oknowkiss (M, 35k)
This list wouldn’t be complete without a classic 8th year and here’s my 2022 pick by this author whose talent and range blows my mind. This fic pulled me back from my fandom break quite violently; I ate it up in one night and was immediately taken by their Quidditch rivalry and achingly sweet romance. The Drarry journey is so very wholesome it filled me with wonder and nostalgia for my teenage years. Being the multishipper I am, the brief nod to Harry/Ron at the end was just my kind of extra treat!
Rush (For A Gap That Exists) by @sleepstxtic-drarry (M, 42k)
I never thought I’d get obsessed with a F1 AU but here we are. Another incredible ride that pulled me in with impressive, detailed world building and sexual tension so insanely electric it was hard to resist. Brilliant movie adaptation keeping the Drarry dynamics recognizable with sexy and complicated UST. I’ve also loved the interesting storytelling format and exciting twists which kept me at the edge of my seat.
Heal Thyself by astolat (T, 47k)
This fic requires no introduction, I imagine everyone has read it by now. Once again Astolat slaps us in the face with her superior storytelling skills, effortlessly building this rich and compelling magical healing universe told from this brilliant Draco POV. His arc is a triumph, his voice perfectly spot-on, sharp but charming, proud and bratty and competent in ways that made me very emo. This has become an instant Healer!Draco classic and has one of my all-time favorite characterizations. A masterpiece to be thought of - and talked about - for years to come.
Vis-à-Vis-à-Vis by @vukovich (E, 50k)
I wasn’t prepared for how immersive and exciting this would be, what a ride! The secret identity motif and case fic atmosphere got me immediately hooked, I couldn’t get enough of those perfect cat-mouse dynamics, the thrilling twists, the delicious pining and the intense, hot smut I deserve 🤌🏼 Vuk’s narrative voice is a delight, lush, full of personality and with an easy humor that makes this story even more surprising and remarkable.
what husbands are for by @softlystarstruck (E, 52k)
Yet another charming creature fic I’ve read in one sitting, this has the most wonderful sloooow burn - with lots of tension and non-sexual intimacy - and some great world building full of interesting lore and political shenanigans about vampire & wolf verse that I found quite interesting. I’m fascinated by fashionista and prosthetic artist Draco, such a cool job idea! A refreshing take on “enemies to friends to lovers” with Bee’s soft & sweet trademark.
Meet Me at Midnight by @the-starryknight (T, 57k)
I’ve been in love with Starry’s work for so long, and they still render me speechless when a new fics comes out. MMM is the most creative and cathartic fic I’ve read this year. This jaded craftsman Harry holds my heart in his hands, and the impressive amount of world building and lore behind the Dreamwalker figure sets an enchanting atmosphere. The settings are vivid and immersive, the slow burn so very tender and romantic it left me aching. And Teddy is absolutely perfect which is a big bonus on my book since I love him so much. This is a heartfelt love letter to every creator out there struggling with burnout. Here you’ll find hope, healing, and resistance to start 2023 the right way.
The Trouble with Wanting by waldorph (E, 60k)
Draco fans, rejoice! Those who adore a convincing posh and quirky characterization need to check this brilliant rendition asap. Positively Slytherin with its mischievous charm, this is fun and sexy af. Love myself a good old Draco-centric story following his post-war journey until he finds Harry his place in the new order. The Silver Trio is an absolute delight and this smitten Harry instantly found his way into my (and Draco’s) heart. One of the best get together fics I’ve read in the past few years.
9 ½ Days by @magpiefngrl (E, 69k)
Technically I’m cheating since this is from 2017, but I want to take a minute to appreciate Magpie’s generosity and hard work finishing this even after going on a Drarry break. One of my all-time faves when it comes to canon divergent war fics, the flawless narrative combines an urgent and dangerous “on the run” atmosphere with the softest teenage love, gentle, charming and tentative. It was bittersweet to see their journey coming to an end but this adventure was so well done and the ending was so emotionally satisfying, I can’t rec it enough.
Kept in Cages by @sweet-s0rr0w and @ihopeyoubothstaysafefromharm (E, 76k)
An epic Drarry romance mixing two tropes we all love: down & out Draco and magical creatures! This fic is very creative with a rich and detailed world building, and also many interesting and charming creatures. SS brings her tender melancholy trademark and an intriguing subplot involving Draco’s parents that I found very engaging. I loved this lonely Draco arc, his quirky personality and all the little things that make him strong and proud instead of meek and pitiful. Joy’s artwork is a masterpiece on its own and helps bringing this beautiful, magical universe into life.
A Case of You by @epitomereally (E, 97k)
This lovely reunion fic combines so many of my favorite tropes it felt like a special treat for me. Case fic, break up/make up, Unspeakable Draco, non-linear narrative, forced proximity, sparking sexual tension, what a feast! I found myself invested in both timelines, waiting for those beautiful, competent and stupid men to get their shit together and become the power couple we deserve. The pacing and character development are so smooth this barely feels like 100k, and have I mentioned how hot bossy Harry is? Oof!
In the Bleak Midwinter by @the-fools-errand (E, 105k)
Once again this author takes my breath away with another excellent, refreshing and exciting AU - this time based on Peaky Blinders - and I’m so impressed by the inventive world building here. Not only it expands to accommodate a huge cast, but also translates every little detail into the HP universe. Gripping narrative, clever plot, delicious enemies-to-lovers sexual tension and a heartbreaking Sirius arc that will hit you right in the solar plexus. You can’t go wrong with this author’s AUs, 10/10 recommend.
When Times are Dire by @aibidil (E, 130k)
I’ve been following this fake marriage epic since it first started posting and was super excited to see it being finished this year. Trust aibidil to do older!Drarry justice: their witty personalities, fond camaraderie and clever dialogue serve impeccable friends-to-lovers dynamics. I’m so into this brand of old couple domesticity and their exchanges with the grown-up kids are sweet and fun. Perfect balance of light humor, found family vibes, sweet romance and sexy times, this story has everything!
Rarepairs:
Mischief Managed by @maesterchill (E, 1.7k) - Harry/Sirius
Few things left me as emotional as this perfect gift that marked Em’s first (and maesterful! ha!) exploration of this ship. The way she grasped everything that hits me right in the feels is almost terrifying: it’s as if she looked into the most vulnerable parts of my brain and went “hmm tender devotion, idyllic aesthetics, foreplay, cute endearments, filthy wall sex, happy ending”👩‍🍳 and put together this light, sexy, fun and wonderfully hopeful smutty short that made me cry at the spot. Don’t forget to check the equally lush and self-indulgent sequel here!
Weather Warning by @sweet-s0rr0w (T, 1.7k) - Draco/Albus 
One of the best, most refreshing takes I’ve ever seen on this ship, this is so very different from your usual age gap tone and vibe, and I’m here for it. I was immediately charmed by their voices and light yet charged dynamics, T-rated but still holding so much heat and promise. This short leaves a strong impression and will make you crave for more ;) it’s also the perfect way to be introduced to this ship, come along and satisfy your curiosity!
Coming Up for Air by @lqtraintracks (M, 2k) - Harry/Teddy
*sigh* the amount of times I’ve read and cried over this stunning Harry/Teddy romance... this fic means so much to me because it was written by the one who set the foundation for how I see this ship, my favorite rarepair ship, so many years ago. With an incredible amount of character and feeling packed within 2k, this has the flavor of mutual devotion I yearn for, and a tormented Harry being loved and seen by this wise, generous and understanding Teddy, as they find their way back to each other. It doesn’t get any better than this!
Like A Brother Would by @wolfpants (E, 5k) - Harry/Ron
Tent sex my beloved! Another rarepair master, Wolf delivers everything I love the most about this ship - the easy familiarity, the tenderness and quiet devotion, the shared understanding and delicious sexual exploration amidst war chaos. It’s painfully clear how much they care about each other. Hung service top Ron is a sight to behold and I wonder how such a short fic was able to convey the depth of their trust and connection. Oh, to be young and feel love's keen sting… *Dumbledore’s voice*
Green Light by @sorrybutblog (E, 6k) - Ginny/Hermione
I got obsessed with Ginny/Hermione very recently and this was my first venture into this ship - not gonna lie, it was so much more than I had expected. Don’t let the (deliciously hot and self-indulgent - as it should be!!!) smutty tags distract you, this has fascinating dream-like summer vibes and perfect characterization, with spot on voices and a light tone of mirth and freedom that made my heart smile. Living for the edging and the “no one’s cheating everyone’s getting laid” tags 💦
The Hollow by @wolfpants (E, 12k) - Draco/Remus
This ship had never even crossed my mind before and here I am, utterly obsessed with this verse Wolf created so masterfully. Poignant and devastating, this fic has such a compelling narrative. My jaw was on the floor as the story went on and both characters revealed their layers through sexy smut and heartbreaking melancholy. There’s so much nuance to them, so much yearning and pain bringing them together and informing their decisions. Trust me when I say Drarry and Wolfstar fans will also adore this!
Still the pine-woods scent the moon by @fluxweeed (E, 15k) - Harry/Remus
I rarely read fics featuring Remus but both Flux and Wolf decided to slap me in the face with hot daddy vibes, and who am I to say no? Hands down one of the hottest, most erotic things I’ve read this year, a masterclass in UST that had my heart racing in anticipation. Scorching smut and a mesmerizing Harry desperate to be seen and treated right. I love how easily they fit together, I was immediately sold on this rare pair. Don’t read this at family dinner kids, you’ve been warned!
A Life Worth Remembering by @writcraft (E, 23k) - Established Drarry + Severus
Never thought I’d read this triad with de-aged Snape but watching his delightfully stubborn young version trying to resist those hot daddies was way too satisfying. This fic surprised me in so many ways, especially in tone and characterization. I love how their dynamics are slowly established here; Severus’ POV actually delivers not 1 but 3 superb character studies and we get to see how loving Harry changes these two difficult men and brings them all together. A nuanced and adult portrayal of open relationships, this is a must read for anyone who’s into voyeurism intrigued by this triad.
just call this what it is by @queenscrown (M, 27k) - Harry/Draco/Theo
The softest poly fic you’ll read today, this 8th year triad was based on this art by @t4tdrarry​ and celebrates wholesome friendships and gentle healing. Harry, Draco and Theo come together first as friends then as lovers in such an organic, uncomplicated way I wanted to live inside this verse. Love their easy banter, Harry’s sass (!), his camaraderie with Hermione and the way she helps him figure things out. A sweet and comforting hidden gem that deserves more readers and love.
you will burn right now but then you won't regret it by @thistlecatfics, art by SecondSilk and @veelawings - Fleur/Tonks
I’d never expect to find such a complete fic for this rare pair (which I admit I haven’t explored much), this was an absolute feast bringing together fascinating characters (love this badass Fleur!), politics and A+ family drama. I loved this deep dive into the Black family - so much angst, so much plot! Complicated and heartbreaking, this is a a wonderful exploration of trauma and a treat for any femslash fan looking for a nuanced and carefully developed romance that makes both characters justice.
Passion, Patents, and Pen Pals at the Ministry by yrfrndfrnkly and @violetclarity, art by @anaxandria-writes and @veelawings (T, 32k) - Hermione/Pansy
Easily my favorite Pansmione fic this year, this was such a surprising and refreshing story. The charming protagonists and clever development mixing dialogue and epistolary create a lively and exciting work universe at the Ministry. I felt immediately immersed in their routine None of that would work without the perfect supporting cast (meddling Harry is such a gem!) and the unique spice only an identity porn + epistolary combo can bring. Fun and refreshing, a must read for all femslash fans who are thirsty for good long fics. 
322 notes · View notes
sanguine-tenshi · 1 year
Text
Bullying Billy
Fandom: Stranger Things (TV 2016) Rating: Explicit Chapters: 1/1 Relationship: Billy Hargrove/Eddie Munson Tags: Oral Sex, Dom Eddie Munson, Sub Billy Hargrove, Eddie Munson's Missing Gag Reflex, Eddie Munson Has a Jock Kink, Slurs, Crying During Sex, Billy Hargrove Cries Oh So Easily, Throatpie
Summary: Eddie finds a way to extract an apology from Billy.
AN: So, this is just a quick bit of extra content from a series I'm currently working on. If you are interested you can read the series here, but do read the tags. Yeah? It ain't for everyone. I'm working on the final part and this is one of the extra content chapters. Did I project onto Eddie with the tit biting? Let me live! Damn!
•─────⋅ᓚᘏᗢ⋅─────• 
Billy ignores Tommy as the guy leaves. His entire focus is on Munson. The guy circles him, face blank, eyes searching, looking, analyzing. Billy knows the guy is noticing too much, way too much. He glares back, dares Munson to say something.
Munson stops and hums. “We haven’t really met each other, have we? I’m Eddie Munson."
Billy snorts, he knows enough about Munson already. “King Freak and the team's fag whore."
Munson just laughs at him. It’s sincere, amused. And then he stops abruptly and stares at Billy without blinking. Billy is tense immediately. And then Munson is walking towards him, leaning forward, too close, uncaring of Billy’s personal space. Billy jerks back. There’s something unsettling about the guy. There’s something to Munson that tells Billy that he wouldn’t fight fair. Billy knows the type. The type that doesn’t fight for the fun of it. The type that doesn’t even fight to win. No. No, Munson is the type that fights only to survive. Step after step Billy dodges Munson, keeping the guy out of his personal space. It isn’t until his back hits the wall that he realizes Munson was herding him and... and like an absolute idiot, Billy just let him.
There’s nowhere else for Billy to go and Munson is way too close. Billy glares at the guy, flexes his arms, widens his stance and prepares for a fight.
Munson hums. “Takes one to know one I guess,” he says slowly, eyes darting to one of the visible hickeys on Billy’s neck.
Immediately Billy is tense, teeth bared, daring Munson to do something, to say something. “What do you want freak?” Billy snaps at the guy, at the end of his patience.
Munson tilts his head, rocks on his heels. “You said you aren’t affected by pissing me off. So...” he trails off, just to further annoy Billy.
“So what freak?” Billy snaps at him, not in the mood to play any games with the asshole.
And then Munson is in his space, hands on the wall boxing Billy in. Billy’s shoulders jerk up as Munson leans in, his head falling forward, near, warm breath on Billy’s ear and neck. “So... How about I show you what you are missing out on?” Munson whispers into his ear.
Billy snorts and relaxes, leans against the wall more comfortably, catches the side of Munson’s grin. “Yeah? You wanna show me why the team gets in a tizzy the second you start ignoring them?” Munson leans back so he can fully grin at Billy.
“Well yes, but also let’s make a game of it. What do you say?"
Billy grins back. “What do you have in mind freak?”  
Eddie licks his lips slowly and Billy follows the movement. “I gotta keep blowing you until you apologize.”
Billy’s eyebrow pops up at that, something is not quite right there, that can’t be all of it. “I don’t see how you can win this little game of yours.”
Eddie’s grin turns impish at that. “That’s the thing, Hargrove, you don’t get to cum until you apologize. Let’s see who lasts longer.”
Billy grins back, there’s no way for him to lose, not really. “Alright, let’s see what you’ve got.”
And then Eddie’s lips are on his skin, right behind his ear, in a soft kiss, tongue darting out for a taste, a tease. Eddie’s lips trail down Billy’s neck, pulling on the skin gently, carefully, teeth scraping over sensitive spots, tongue licking over old hickeys. One hand falls to Billy’s shoulder, trails down, unbuttons all the buttons it finds, fingers tracing newly revealed skin, feather-light. Billy fights shivers, swallows groans, forces his breath to remain steady.
“What are you doing, Munson?”  
“Turning you on,” Munson says into Billy’s skin, breath warm, sending goosebumps down his arms. “You ever tried sucking on a flaccid cock? It ain’t fun,” Munson tells him and then bites down, leaving a bruise of his own at the base of Billy’s neck.
Billy groans. “Don’t say flaccid,” what a disgusting word.
Munson laughs into his skin, tickling Billy. His hand trails further down, down to Billy’s cock. Hand cupping the hardening bulge, squeezing and rubbing. “Sorry,” Eddie says as his lips trail down to Billy’s chest. Billy finally lets out a loud groan... and then Munson bites down, hard.
“Ow! What the fuck?” Billy jerks away from the pain, but the fucking wall is right there.
Eddie laughs. “Sorry. Sorry. Just wanted to bite down, they are so firm.” And then he’s on his knees and undoing Billy’s belt and pulling the zipper down. Billy’s breathing picks up. He looks up at Billy, catches his eyes, grins wide. “Let me make it up to you,” he says with a completely unnecessary wink that makes Billy roll his eyes.
Eddie looks back down and pulls Billy’s pants down, letting his cock spring up, already half-hard. Eddie’s hand encircles the base, squeezing tight. “Really?” Eddie glances up at Billy from under his brow, grin salacious. “No underwear?” Billy’s breath stutters in his lungs. And then Eddie is swallowing him down, all the way, with no pause, no hesitation.
Billy fights down a scream, turns it into a whine, hips twitching. He feels like a raw nerve, too sensitive, too responsive, body still ruined from yesterday. He realizes he won’t be winning this. He looks down, hand flying up to his mouth to muffle his noises as Eddie sucks his cock and pulls back, tongue pressing against the underside of Billy’s cock, pushing it up against the ridges on the roof of Eddie’s mouth. Eddie pulls all the way back, leaving only the head in. Munson glances up at Billy, tongue playing with Billy’s slit, eyes filled with amusement.
Billy realizes Munson knew. He knew what happened yesterday, knew Billy would still be too sensitive. Billy realizes he’s been played. There’s no way for him to win this. Eddie sucks him back down, Billy’s cock sliding down his throat easily. Billy bites down on his palm. Muffles a groan. He’s already too sensitive, already on the edge.
Eddie works him up easily, turning him into a whining mess. Eddie isn’t just good at sucking dick, no, the fucker also enjoys it. Billy barely holds in his noises, muffles the escaped ones with his palm. Eddie’s mouth is so, so warm, it sucks Billy’s whole cock down so, so easily. Billy’s hips keep twitching. Eddie keeps one hand on a hipbone, pinning Billy to the wall, his other hand is squeezing Billy’s base tightly, stopping him from cumming. Tears spring to Billy’s eyes as he’s kept on the edge. Fuck he can’t.
“P-please,” he stutters out, he needs to cum. Hips trying to follow Eddie’s mouth.
Eddie glances up and pops off his cock. “That’s sweet, but not the word I’m looking for, big boy,” Eddie speaks into Billy’s slit, breath a warm tickle, a tease. Billy’s thighs shake. Eddie grins. “Come on, you know how to end this, sweetheart,” and with that, he’s swallowing Billy back down.
Billy screams into his hand.
It’s so much, too much. His cock feels raw. He’s too sensitive for this. As much as he’d like for this to go on, for this sweet torture to continue, he can’t. He can’t handle it anymore. It’s too soon. Eddie is pulling back up again.
“I-I’m s-sorry! Fuck!” Eddie hums his approval right around Billy’s cock. “Shit!” Billy groans, throat clicking shut. Fuck. Fuck, that is too good, too much.
Eddie lets go hand gliding to Billy’s other hip to pin him in place firmly as he sucks Billy down one final time. Billy’s mouth falls open as he cums silently, right down Eddie’s throat. His breath stutters as he breathes in, knees giving out, but Eddie is there, holding Billy up as he catches his breath. He comes back to himself to Eddie’s soft murmurs and his hand running up and down Billy’s sides.
Billy scoffs. “Get off me...” he growls out softly, pushing the guy away, done with the babying.
Munson just laughs but goes easily anyway. “Already did that,” he says with a grin as he steps away and Billy groans at the shitty humor.
Billy takes a moment, takes one deep breath before he starts putting himself back together before he pushes away from the wall. His knees still feel way too weak, but hell if he’ll let Munson know that. Munson watches him casually, lighting a fresh cigarette as Billy steps away.
“Guess you are good for something,” he says, hoping for some kind of reaction. He’s disappointed when Munson just shrugs at him.
“We’ve all got our strengths,” he comments, casual and relaxed. Billy scoffs at him.
“Guess I’ll be seeing you around.”
Munson grins at him and does a showy exaggerated bow. “This humble bard is delighted to be of service to Your glorious Grace.”
Billy rolls his eyes at the idiot and leaves without a word.
8 notes · View notes
partly-cloudyskies · 2 years
Text
So around late summer I decided that I Need A Hobby and like don't get me wrong I do enjoy writing I'mma keep doing it but aside from that and video games I don't have a lot going on and what I do have going on involves staring at a screen for bad amounts of time.
So I thought what if I do something that is expensive.
This is around the time I got back into Star Trek after ST Enterprise broke my interest in the franchise. Turns out Star Trek is good again. My dad was the one who had gotten me into it when I was a kid. And at that time I had gotten into another hobby that's right you already know what I'm talking about
gluing badly painted pieces of plastic together
Model making!
So I decide shit I'm due for a midlife crisis. All my models I made as a child were destroyed during a move let's repeat this mistake!
So I did.
Tumblr media
I've been working on these since August and it's been fun! Defintely a highlight of becoming Old. It's a lot of thinking and patience and planning and being frustrated and watching one small mistake snowball into a disaster so as a writer I'm in my element. AND I spend a lot of money to glue tiny plastic bits together! The benefits speak for themselves.
So all this is to show what I've done so far.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
My first model was the Grissom and, well, it's a first model. The colors are wrong the paint job is bad the decals are torn. But it's a small model and cheap too and that's why I started with it. A lot of good lessons, most of them about using the right tools for the job. Tempted to get another one just to contrast with what I've learned.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
My next model was the larger Enterprise-A (these are all 1/1000 scale). At this point I had gotten an airbrush and also started using washes, which is where the black lines come from. An improvement! Still I was having trouble with assembly. Needed to learn how to fill and sand down gaps between parts. There are also painting errors but at least the brush strokes aren't so obvious and you'd need to look real close so whateva
Tumblr media Tumblr media
So like, I said that I didn't much like Enterprise. Too much time spent on the time war, too much let's do space 9/11. But I do like the ship design and it was on sale so yeah. I think I improved on the assembly and filling. I wish I had spent more time accenting the ship by picking out more pieces in bronze. But really the whole thing is kind of ruined by the big damn decal that sits awkwardly on two knobs that causes the whole thing to wrinkle up. It's annoying. If I knew this would happen I would have cut out a space around the knobs so the decal could settle better. Like look at this.
Tumblr media
Awful.
Anyway.
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Just finished last night! The original Enterprise! I've gotten better at assembly and filling in gaps, but it's still not good. Lots of little gaps that I should have caught, but not as many as before. Plus this one I mixed paints to get the gray green hull color and I'm pretry happy with the result. Learning to dry fit parts to anticipate problems further down the line. But overall I'm pleased with how this came out. The original ship has a very simple design but it's intricate in places. I feel like you could paint a version that looks cel-shaded to look like the animated series version. idk might be fun.
I have long term plans. My sister sent me a model with an LED light kit for my bday. Not confident enough to tackle that yet but will get to it. Gonna continue to collect more versions of the Enterprise in the meantime, tho that's gonna be a whole thing. Wanna branch out into other model fields too. My sister asked me to do a couple miniatures for her ttrpg group and Iight try a gunpla at some point. We'll see!
4 notes · View notes
goldentsum · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
━ pretty submissives pt. 2
CHARACTERS: tsukishima kei, kageyama tobio, oikawa tooru, kuroo tetsurou
WARNINGS: smut, 18+ content, sub! males, dom! reader, bdsm, sex toys, whiny subs, bratty subs, bondage, oral sex, handjobs, ass play (male), pet play, age play, mistress kink, mommy kink, guided masturbation, voyeurism
AUTHOR’S NOTE: lol tis filthyyy <3 i am hiding my pain away with smut stfu- dont @ me wanting to cry but wrote porn instead- unedited bleggh
part 1 - miya twins, sakusa, suna
— tsukishima ♡
• this brat likes testing your patience! tsukki may go subby but he won’t go down without a fight. that way it hurts his pride less-- 
• one time, he really tried to take back some dominance from you but you started degrading him and smacking his face.. he came in less than a minute.
• and that’s how you both knew tsukki was a masochist 
• put him back in his place and humiliate him! it may hurt his pride but the hard on between his legs says that he likes it--
• seeing the tall and prideful man on all fours with a tight leash on his neck and a mussel to stop that snarky mouth of his is feeding dangerously on your dom side
• tsukki would try and degrade you but when you snap back, he’ll get teary-- baby would try to serve some sadist type of shit on you but if you do the same to him, he’ll cry
• play and bite his lips until its all raw and red, he likes it. though, he’ll complain about it afterwards as if he wasn’t moaning like a whore just earlier. 
you smirked at the weak glare the man sent you. tsukishima was sitting on his legs, hands neatly on his lap. the strong act he tried to maintain before was going down hill and it was amusing. you snickered and you caressed his aching cock with your feet making him gasp and kneel over but you tugged on the leash, almost sending him on all fours. 
“didn’t i told you to keep your eyes on me, whore” you growled, a teasing smirk on your red lips. oh how tsukishima wants to wipe that arrogant smirk off your lips. he furrowed his brows and went back to his previous spot with small pants escaping him. 
you noticed the way he pursed his lips and tugged on the leash again, choking the man before you, “you have something to say to me, puppy?” 
tsukishima bit his tongue at that and shook his head, though he was beyond pissed at your prideful and arrogant play, he can’t really deny the arousal that was slowly beading on his cock. 
your smirk fell and you gripped his chin, “use your words. do you not want to talk? do i have to get your mussel, pup?” 
tsukishima’s breath hitched at the mention of the damn mussel, his cock twitching against his stomach. “n-no, mistress..” 
you hummed in satisfaction and leaned back a bit, admiring his nude body on display just for you. you licked your lips when his long cock caught your eye, the head was red and leaking with precum already even though you barely touched him. 
“you like this, tsukki?~ look at how hard you are” you teased, pulling the leash once again as the tall man was forced into your arms. tsukishima yelped and tried to steady himself by supporting himself on your arms. 
you sneaked a hand between his legs, caressing his cock. the blond closed his eyes tightly, gasping against your chest as you played with his body. 
stroking his cock with an amused smirk, you tipped his chin towards you. your darkened eyes stared into embarrassed and teary golden orbs. you squeezed his length, coating his dick with the precum that leaked out. tsukishima moaned and tried to close his eyes again but you weren’t having none of that. 
you halted your actions on his cock and slapped him lightly on his cheek, gentle enough to not hurt as much but strong enough to get him to pay attention to you. “none of that, pup. look at me. look at how your slutty body gets off with such dirty acts~” 
— kageyama ♡
• he’s a little :>>
• kageyama has an oral fixation, he likes using his mouth whether that’s on your fingers, nipples, or your clit-
• if you have a nipple piercing, baby boy would be in complete awe! he thinks it looks super good! or even if you wear rings! he likes the feeling of the metal on his tongue. 
• pretty boy looks good when he sucks on your fingers, that slick tongue swirling around your digits, coating them with thick spit. he gets super red and needy while he does it too! he looks at you with half lidded eyes, moaning around your fingers. 
• baby doesn’t even know his cock is getting hard while he plays with your fingers.
• please take care of him </3 he gets super anxious if you don’t say anything, kageyama feels like he did something wrong so reassure this baby!
• buy him toys and stuffies! it makes him really happy and shy~ <3 
• also not @ that one time where you caught him humping one of his teddy bears-- 
“now what do we have here?~” your voice cut through kageyama’s series of needy moans making him yelp and stop his constant humping. his ears turned red at the fact that you caught him doing such impure act. 
“m-mommy--” he sniffled, tears welling up on his pretty blue eyes. kageyama turned to you, a pout on his lips. he didn’t want you to think you weren’t taking good care of him cus you are! he was just feeling so needy today and you had to go to work. 
kageyama really tried to control his urges but the more he tried to ignore it, the more it intensifies as every shift of his hips made him more sensitive. 
you shook your head playfully at that and closed the bedroom behind you, stalking slowly towards the trembling man. he slumped on the stuffie and tried to reason but he was just babbling incoherent words. you hummed at his chattering and run a hand through his hair, wiping the sweat on his forehead. 
“is my baby feeling needy?” you cooed, you bit your lips at the beautiful sight. your boyfriend is so fucking beautiful. cheeks all red, eyes teary with tears of frustration of not getting to cum and sensitivity. your hand lowered down to his cheek, stroking the warm skin. 
your eyes darkened when your fingers trailed down to his lips and instinctively, kageyama opened his mouth, already licking the tip of your fingers. the dark-haired male whined around your digits when you started playing with his tongue, thrusting it in his mouth. 
“words, baby boy” kageyama’s eyes rolled back at your tone, moaning loudly. he opened his eyes and looked straight at you, lips trembling around your fingers. 
“p-pwease helph meh, mwommy” he babbled, slurring his words as he still tried to lick your digits.
“atta boy~ don’t worry, mommy will help you cum~” you cooed, removing your fingers out of his mouth and trailed down his stomach, feeling the flexing muscles, then towards his aching cock. you coated his length with his spit, thumbing the swollen tip. 
kageyama gasped and his hips moved at the sudden contact. you smirked down at him slightly as he held your wrist, though not really stopping you just something to ground him. “let’s hear those pretty moans, baby boy~” 
— oikawa ♡
• a wholeass confident sub. he knows he’s a good sub and he takes pride on that
• you can’t even reprimand him cus he follows your rules to the t. so headpats and cuddles for tooru pls <3
• though he follows your rules, oikawa doesn’t really pay attention to his body and it’s limits. all he knows is that he wants to make you proud and feel good. 
• so please take the time to appreciate his body, praise him. yes, he gets compliments all the time but when it’s coming from you and in that moment? it just feels so intimate that he’ll cry.
• kiss his skin, caress his body. make him feel loved and he’s all yours. <3 
• when he gets too into the play, he really forgets everything else but you. so what better way to stop and slow down than make him show you how he pleasure himself <3
• tooru doesn’t really masturbate all that much so he’s a little clumsy so guide him through it <3 HE GETS REALLY SHY TOO
• when you stare at him like that, admiring his body, praising him, telling him how much of a good boy he is, how beautiful he is? oikawa’s offering you his heart pls take care of it :((
you smiled at oikawa, his breath ragged with every slow stroke he does as he massaged his cock. your eyes trailed up and down his body, admiring the way he arch his back and the way his thighs trembles. 
“slowly, baby~ you don’t wanna ruin your orgasm now do you?” you said, leaning back on your legs on the mattress, getting a good view of his cock and his stroking. 
oikawa whined, eyebrows furrowed. the slow build-up once again was making him impatient and it was getting to him. he wants to cum so bad, you denied him a couple of his orgasms already. he hic-ed, feeling his tears trail down his red cheeks. 
you cooed at the sight and leaned closer to him, hovering above him. oikawa gasped at the slight contact of your clothed body on his heated skin. he removed his hands away from his cock and wrapped his arms around you. 
letting a hand caress his cheek, wiping the tear away. you let out soft praises on his forehead, kissing it several times as you do so. oikawa sniffled, biting his lips as he savor your affection. he was always a sucker for it, always the soft boy with a big heart 
“p-please... i want to cum” oikawa whispered, lips quivering as he wet it with his tongue. he gasped when he felt your hands on his cock. you grinned at him then went back to your previous position between his legs. 
you blew air into his cock making the man whimper on the bed, writhing around trying to make you move. you snickered at the pout he sent your way. 
“such a pretty baby, you are tooru~” you complimented and before he can say anything, you took him in your mouth in one go. oikawa choked on air at the feeling of your warm and wet mouth around his sensitive cock. 
oikawa moaned when you swiped your tongue on the red tip, swallowing his length as you bob your head. 
he gripped the blankets beneath him, eyes rolling back. you removed your mouth off him, jerking his length. “wanna cum, baby?” 
he sobbed and nodded his head frantically, feeling the band on his lower stomach threatening to snap once again as he pray that you would let him cum this time. “p-please! i want to cum! need it! it hurts!” he cried
you grinned and took him into your mouth again, moving faster. the pretty male gasped and his hips started jerking making you gag on his length. his eyes rolled back to his skull at the feeling of your throat tightening around him, his mouth wide open as he released several loud moans. 
you sneaked a hand to his balls, massaging it. your tongue traced the prominent vein on his cock and oikawa keened at that and came with a loud broken moan. you hummed in satisfaction and continued to bob your head, your hand jerking the rest of his cock. 
you lapped at the thick cum he released, slurping it up as he shivered and sobbed at the sensitivity. “t-thank you.... thank y-you” 
— kuroo ♡
• okay some of you may think he’s all dom and won’t sub but you’re forgetting something... he’s a simp. he would do anything for you! also, kuroo thrives for your attention!
•  he loves hard shit! i know it! bdsm, toys, bondage? perfecttt!! <3 
• kuroo tried pegging once and now he’s addicted! fuck his ass while you degrade him is his go to to de-stress 
• make him cum several times until he can’t feel his cock anymore. he loves the pain it brings. the sting. the sensitivity. 
• also because of the fact he screams and cries.. so his voice goes all raspy and his throat is scratchy
• choke him. collar him. he will propose to you <3 KSKSKS
• but after all that bdsm shit, please take care of his tired body. aftercare is a must for this baby or he’ll be so detached after. kiss his bruises. kiss his swollen and red lips. mutter sweet nothings to him. tell him how much you love him and he’ll sleep with a tired but soft smile on his face
“yes... yes, moreee. m-moree” kuroo chanted against your pussy, eating you out like a starved man. he groaned against your wet cunt, tongue swiping at your slit as he tasted you. his hands were on your thighs, pushing them together so he can feel your thick thighs against his face. 
he gripped your thighs, moaning like a bitch in heat. he slurped at your essence, eyes rolling back at your taste. his hips moving unconsciously. you moaned, caressing his hair, as you looked down at his fucked out expression with a smirk. 
“such a dirty boy~” you snickered when kuroo moaned lewdly at your words, his eyes rolling back to his head as his mouth worked on your cunt faster. he wiggled his tongue inside you, licking your gummy walls. 
“ahh.. fuck, tetsu” you moaned softly which only urged him to work on your pussy harder. you chuckled breathlessly at his eagerness as you turned your head a bit. you looked at his twitching cock. 
you put the cock ring earlier but the man was still leaking precum everywhere. his cock was so beautiful. thick and long, the tip red and swollen. you grinned and moved away from tetsu’s mouth. 
you heard the man whined at the lost of contact. you faced toward his shaking thighs and sat on his stomach as you turned your head back to look at him. god, he looks so pretty~ 
kuroo was panting, chest heaving heavily. his lower face was covered with your wetness as he constantly licked his lips. his eyes blown wide with lust. 
you smirked at him and touched his cock, snickering when the touch made him whimpered as he arched on the bed. paying no mind to his senseless babbling, you lowered yourself to his cock, using his trembling thighs to support yourself.
kuroo’s eyes rolled back to his head at the way your wet and gummy wall clung to his sensitive length and it was enough to make him cum but the cock ring was preventing him from doing so. 
he looked at you with teary eyes, eyebrows furrowed. you smirked and then face forward to reached for the dildo beside you, slowly inserting it into his prepped ass which earned you a husky groan. “make me cum and i’ll think about it if you deserve to cum as well~” you cooed.
kuroo cried when you started moving, your pussy clenching tightly around his dick, while your hands thrust the thick dildo in his ass, prodding his prostate. his hands flew to your hips, his half-lidded eyes watching your ass bounce in front of him, “f-fuck!” 
6K notes · View notes
andysbubba · 3 years
Text
home to me
↳ andy let you go once, he doesn't wanna lose you again
a/n: a little series? this one's probably gonna have another chapter or two hehe <3
𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐲'𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 | 𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭
---
Andy's stomach churned when he sees you. In a very good way. It's been a good two years since the break up and he can barely believe that he's seeing you right then and there— in the corner of the cafe that Andy knows you love going to. Your voice made his heart flip. It's so goddamn beautiful and Andy misses it so damn much.
He doesn't even know why he's so stunned at the sight of you. It's the only reason why he's there— why he's always going there almost every weekend, hoping to get a glimpse of you sometime. You're in the fuzzy, furry jacket that you're always wearing on chilly days, your hair pulled up with a claw clip and your laptop right in front of you with a cup of coffee right by the side.
He tried to get over you, he really did. But even after all the women he met after you, no one made him feel the same way you did. The butterflies in his stomach he gets just talking to you like some teenager, or how his heart just flutters when you smiled at him with that beautiful grin.
Andy couldn't help but look at you every two minutes, while he's waiting in the queue for his turn. He's thinking of what to say if he even has the guts to walk up to you and say hi.
The break up wasn't necessarily bad... it was mutual. Kinda. You were in the middle of your studies and you just wanted to focus on doing well and getting your masters. It's not that Andy was a distraction— really, he actually helped a lot. But between studying and trying to make sure you don't abandon Andy, you realised that taking a break would be good for the both of you.
You were young, only 24 while Andy was 14 years older than you are. He's so mature and wise that you just felt that you just wanted to grow as your own person before you and Andy took it any further and got more serious. You thought that you'd work on yourself, fixing up your flaws and make yourself just grow into a better version of yourself. And as much as Andy disagreed, he didn't want to force you to keep being with him. He thought that maybe, you both could just grow as time passes, and that you can change right next to him.
But he just agreed with you, because he definitely does not want to pressure you into being in a relationship with him no matter how much he actually wants you to stay with him. So technically, it was a mutual break-up to you. But he didn't really feel the same.
And unsurprisingly, Andy simply cannot get over you. Two years passed, and he just wishes that you're by his side again.
"Hi! What can I get for you?"
Andy snaps out of his trance, stepping towards the cashier and ordering his coffee to-go with a bagel as well. He takes a quick glance at you before he decides to change his mind. "Actually— I'll just have those here."
Wait— you recognise that voice.
You instantly glance up from the screen of your laptop, watching the familiar back and broad shoulders standing at the cashier. Holy fuck- Andy?
Your gaze turns back down to your laptop, your mind trying to decide between approaching him or just letting him go... again... like you did 2 years ago. He still fits into those polo tees like a glove, the jeans barely doing his ass justice but it really accentuates his goddamn thighs.
Fuck. Two damn years and you still have it bad for him.
"Can I join?" Andy glances down at some blueprint or floor-plan thing you have on your laptop. "Unless I'm interrupting— you look busy."
"Andy—" You turned to him and back to the opened floor-plan on the screen. "No, no. Hey-" You lowered the screen and put it aside, leaving some space for Andy. You gestured at him to join you in the booth.
Andy takes up the offer, setting the cup in his hand and the bagel right in front of you before he slides in. "Hey,"
You let out a breathy laugh as you look at him, fidgeting with your fingers underneath the table. "Been a long time."
"Yeah," He nods, offering you one of his adorable smiles as he rests his forearms on the table. "I stopped seeing you around, thought you moved away."
"I thought you did— till I heard the news talking about one of your cases." You retort, lips curling into a soft smile. "How've you been, Andy?"
"Same old, y'know. Long hours at the office and takeout nights. Nothing really changed." Andy grins, "How's everything goin' for ya?"
Oh— and he definitely isn't wrong when he said 'nothing really changed'. For this 40-year-old man to still look like the Andrew Stephen Barber you met like 4 years ago? Phew.
"Uhm- pretty good! I'm uh- I just signed a contract with Perkins and Will."
Andy's lips curled into a wide grin. "You did it!"
He remembers?
Your head tilts as you look at him. "You remember?"
"Of course, hon. That's your dream firm." He reaches over table and pats your hand. "I'm happy for you, Y/n."
"Thank you, Andy," You brush a hand through your hair, eyeing Andy in his whole polo tee and jeans glory. "I'm surprised you aren't working on a Saturday morning,"
Andy lets out a laugh at your words, "Yeah- I just thought, y'know. Uh- I'm old enough to stop being such a workaholic."
You raised a brow at that, "Andy, you aren't old." You give him a suggestive glance as your eyes trace his whole figure. "Definitely don't look like it."
"I'll say the same thing for ya, Y/n." Andy didn't bother hiding his gaze either, eyes trailing down your body till it's back up to your face. "Two damn years and you still look as gorgeous as ever, sweetheart."
A breathy laugh leaves your lips. "Always as flattering as ever, Mr Barber."
"You know I'm an honest person, sweetheart." Andy winks before he takes a sip of his coffee.
You hum as you run your finger on the edge of your own cup. "I remember you telling me that all lawyers are really good liars."
You love how familiar this feels. It's like nothing has changed and both of you are back in 2019. Good, good days. Letting Andy go was a dumb move on your side, you realised that pretty soon after the break-up. You should've known that you and Andy would've made it work someway, somehow.
"C'mon, honey. Y'know I can never lie to you." The wide smile he has on his lips is as charming as ever and god if it doesn't just make you fall in love again- as if you ever fell out of love with him in the first place. Andy clears his throat, a hand inching to the back of his neck and softly rubbing the spot. You instantly realised that he's a little nervous. "You dating anyone?"
You let out an almost silent snort, scoffing at his question. "Ya think? I just called you hot five minutes ago, handsome."
Andy takes a bite of his bagel, looking up at you through those goddamn long eyelashes as his mouth moves to chew the food and those fucking pink lips making you stare at him like a horny teenager.
"You've got to stop staring at me like that, sweetheart." He warns, but the glint in his eyes is telling you that he really doesn't mind you staring him up like that.
Your brows raised immediately in defence. "Like what?"
You tried your best to fight the grin fighting its way to form on your lips. But Andy is a goddamn lawyer, after all. He knows his shit and he knows that you're just being a tease.
He huffs, brow arched as he looks at you. "Like you wanna eat me." He replies shortly, lips curling into a smirk. "Cause I was planning to take this slow after 2 whole years. And you aren't helping."
You hum, picking your cup up and taking a sip from it, hiding the grin forming on your lips behind the cup. "You can still wine and dine me if you wanna." You set the cup down and lean forward, head tilted to one side with your head resting in your palm. "But y'know, I'm pretty impatient."
Andy laughs, backing away from you and resting back against his seat. "Guess it's good that I've got enough patience for both of us, huh?"
You laugh at his words. "We'll see, Mr Barber."
He takes your words as an invite to ask you out. "Dinner tonight? My place."
You playfully rolls your eyes, ignoring the little flutter in your heart. "Who's impatient now?"
"It's a yes or no question, sweetheart."
"Still that cute little loft?"
"I'll text you my new address later."
You couldn't fight the grin forming on your lips. "It's a date."
---
He was at the grocery store when he pulled out his phone and goes to your contact to shoot you a text. It has always been there, saved and never deleted. He didn't want to get rid of the hope that he might have you back.
Andy: 242 Warren St [sent 3.24pm]
Andy: See you tonight, sweetheart. [sent 3.25pm]
You didn't reply so Andy just assumed that you read it. He's looking forward to seeing you again tonight and he's excited.
---
It wasn't till you got home that you realised that Andy doesn't have your new number.
-
LOL I LOVE CLIFFHANGERS.
thanks for reading and uhm come join my taglist if you liked this little chapter? I'm definitely looking forward to writing this one.
do tell me what you think about this, lovelies! i'm kinda excited to see where this goes
-haney
taglist: @milea @ajeff855 @fanofalltheficsx @justile @christowhore @amelia-song-pond @melissad1974 @thegirlwiththeimpala @bval-1 @suchababie @ephemeralfics@franzliszts-wife @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hallecarey1@paintdripsandbrownies-blog @notbrooklynsblog @perfect-peter@alwaysclassyeagle @coffeebooksandfandom @gitasor @mansaaay @iguess-vall @feralherbs @kaiparker-avengerssmut
373 notes · View notes
jxtina-86 · 2 years
Text
Good For You
Sometimes you just have to forget everything else and focus on here and now. RomanReigns/Alexia. See here for the rest of the series/order to read.
Warning: Language/Hints of smut
Rating: MA
Lyrics are taken from Good For You by Selena Gomez
I'm on my 14 carats, I'm 14 carat Doing it up like Midas, mhm Now you say I got a touch So good, so good Make you never wanna leave So don't, so don't
“Y'know, there was a time where it was me asking you if you were ready yet,” I grumble as I make my way down the stairs and into the lounge. I frown at my wrist, my fingers still busy fixing my cufflinks.
“Funny,” Lex's voice calls out to me from the kitchen. “But I guess perfection takes time.”
“Damn right,” I chuckle as I clock myself in the mirror and pause to adjust my collar and then my cuffs once again.
A low whistle echoes through the room and I turn to see Lex leaning in the doorway, one leg crossed over the other as her eyes drag slowly up my frame.
“I thought this was your birthday celebration, not mine,” she flashes me a smile, drawing my attention to her deep red lips. “You scrub up well.”
“You too, baby girl.” It's true, her body tightly wrapped up in black lace that stops mid-thigh, exposing her beautiful legs to me, her feet bound in those shoes that make me groan inwardly. Her hair is loose, the thick waves flowing over her covered shoulders and halting just above her elbows. She raises a hand to brush a stray lock away from her face, her engagement and wedding ring glinting at me as she does.
Crooking my finger, I beckon her towards me. As soon as she's near enough, I curl my fingers around her lace-covered wrist and pull her into my arms. I let them envelop her, breathing in her perfume as she stares up at me and this time I let my groan escape as my fingers graze against the bare skin of her back.
“Y'know, I think this restaurant might also deliver...”
She laughs softly, shaking her head. “No way, big guy. You're gonna have to wait to unwrap this particular present.”
My arms squeeze her a little tighter, my head dropping down to meet hers. “You know patience was never my strong point.
Her lips meet mine with a soft sigh. “I know,” she says when she pulls back. “You think it's easy for me to say no? I mean....” She lets her words hang in the air as her hands slide up my chest, her fingers pushing my collar wide so she can grip the back of my neck.
If she has anything more to say, the words are lost as my mouth finds hers again. But despite my efforts, I'm soon watching her pick up her clutch from the couch and then letting her usher me towards the front door.
Gonna wear that dress you like, skin-tight Do my hair up real, real nice And syncopate my skin to your heart beating
The drive to the restaurant is quiet, Lex humming away to the radio as she gazes out of the window. As we wait for the lights to turn green, I take another opportunity to sweep my eyes over her body and wonder, as I always do, how incredible she is. Not just in the way she looks, but in her resolve and attitude.
The last few months haven't been easy. I'd be lying if I didn't feel the same disappointment she was feeling as every month came and went and she continued to be as regular as clockwork. In the back of my mind, I knew that it would be a miracle if it did happen so quickly, but that didn't stop the gut-wrenching feeling that took over every time. But since that one night when I came home to find her crying in bed, it's been tough to forget how close we came and focus on the future instead. I felt so fucking helpless. All I could do was hold her and tell her that it would be okay. I had to be the voice of reason when all I wanted to do was share in her grief and frustration. By her own admission, she's never had the traditional dream of marriage and kids and a white picket fence. But that doesn't stop her, or anyone for that matter, wanting the chance to carry a child. I suspect that now it's so close, within touching distance, that the want and the need is desperate.
And as much as I was telling her that we couldn't rush this, that we couldn't put ourselves under so much pressure, my own want and need were fighting to the surface. I wanted to stop the pain she was feeling, I wanted to show her how happy she made me just by being her. I needed her to know that as much as I wanted her to carry our child, it didn't make her any less of a woman if she couldn't. I needed her to know that I hated to see her broken like this, I wanted her to know that all I wanted in the world in that second was to make it all okay. But I couldn't. And I still can't.
The pain of those few days will always be with both of us. There isn't enough time in the world to push that completely from our minds, but between us, we can do our very best to do exactly that. It's a fine line between wallowing in the past and using it as a way to push forward, but somehow we managed it. There were moments where we'd lie in bed, sometimes together, sometimes on other sides of the country and express how it still tore at us. But that was mixed in with the more familiar, and usual banter between us. The gentle teasing, the whispered wants and desires. The pressure slowly started to ease and although it didn't ease the disappointment when she got her next period, the feeling passed as quickly as it came.
“Ro.”
I blink as her hand creeps over my thigh.
“You missed the turn.”
I glance in the rearview mirror at the retreating parking lot and then flick my eyes forward as I look for somewhere to turn around.
“Sorry,” I murmur.
She chuckles. “What were you thinking about that got you all distracted?”
“You.”
“Why do I always get the blame?” And then she's quiet for a bit. “Maybe tonight we just focus on us.”
I cast her a sideways look and she raises an eyebrow. “Your forehead crinkles when you're thinking about... everything,” she explains. “But maybe we can forget about that for one night at least.”
“Since when did you become the voice of reason?” I wonder out loud as I pull into a free space and shut the engine off.
Her hand reaches for mine. “Since you gave me a reason to be.” Her fingers slide against mine. “You're an incredible man, Ro. You've been my rock for the last month, even from the other side of the country, even with everything you have going on at work, you've always been there for me. I have no idea how you do it and you have no idea how grateful I am. But as you've told me time and time again, we can't keep focusing on what happened.”
“Lex,” I start, but she interrupts me with a squeeze of my hand.
“So we're going to focus on something else. Like celebrating your birthday for one.” Her hand slides up my arm as she shifts in her seat. “So why don't you focus on how you want your dessert...”
She pauses and I swallow hard as her eyes darken and she sucks her bottom lip between her teeth.
“And I'll focus on making sure it's just how you like it,” her voice is a husky whisper as she leans over the centre console, her other hand brushing against my thigh as she drops a chaste kiss to my lips.
“Lexi,” I mumble against her lips.
But she hushes me with a sly grin. “You don't eat your dinner, there's no dessert for you.”
I groan as she slips from my grasp, moving away to open the passenger door. “You're a tease, Lex.”
“Good things come to those who wait.”
**
I'm on my marquise diamonds I'm a marquise diamond Could even make that Tiffany jealous, mhm You say I give it to you hard So bad, so bad Make you never wanna leave I won't, I won't
“That was divine,” Lex tells the waiter as he removes our plates from the table.
He smiles in return. “Would you like to see the dessert menu?”
Lex's eyes turn to me, her mouth curling into a small smirk. “Please.”
“What you do that for?” I can't help but whine as the waiter moves away. “I thought we were having dessert at home?”
Under the table, Lex's leg moves against mine. She holds my gaze steadily as she reaches for her wine glass and takes a long sip.
“That's your dessert, big guy. I'm having mine right now.”
I shift uncomfortably in my seat, leaning forward to catch her free hand in mine. “We could always take it to go...”
“What and not have the pleasure of watching you squirm?” She grins back at me.
I groan and she giggles quietly as the waiter returns and hands over the menus, her gaze dropping to take in the options. I reluctantly lean back in my chair and reach for my own drink. I'm almost tempted to raise a toast to how well we're both doing at not talking about anything other than just us. As we waited to be seated, my hand was slowly caressing her exposed back, a smile tugging at my lip as she leaned back against me, her head coming to rest on my shoulder. She had gazed up at me, her eyes warm and soft, her mouth begging to be kissed. My arm curled around her waist as I held her close, my nose nestled in her hair as she let go of a small sigh.
My eyes never left her ass as we followed the waiter to a table in a secluded corner. Her hand was locked in mine, her hair swishing back and forth as we wound our way through the room. Even as we looked at the menu, my hand never left hers, my fingers grazing the diamond of her engagement ring and then the smoothness of the wedding ring and I remembered everything I swore to her on that day.
“You sulking over there?”
I glance up and meet her eye. The menu has been laid to rest and I dread to think what her decision will mean for my already twitching dick.
“Nope, just thinking about this is all gonna add up to some major revenge when we get home.”
“Revenge?” she raises an eyebrow. “When I have been nothing but-”
“A tease?”
She pouts. “I was going to say considerate.”
“Baby girl, there is nothing considerate about the way you've been carrying on all night.”
“I take offence at your insinuation.” Her voice is dangerously low, but her eyes are sparkling as she bites her lip. “I'm wearing lace, black lace in fact, which I know is your favourite because you like to peel it off my skin. And I'm wearing the heels you love me in because you say they make my legs look super long and I know that you just can't wait to have them wrapped around your waist. Oh and I wore my hair down because I know how much you like to imagine grabbing huge handfuls and wrapping it tightly around your wrist as you-”
“Are you ready to order, madam?”
I bite back the growl that's starting to rumble through my chest as Lex smiles up at him. “Yes, I will take the chocolate fondant with cream.”
“And for you, sir?”
I shake my head and offer him the menu.
“You going to continue?” I murmur when he leaves.
“Continue with what?” Lex's fingers circle the stem of her glass. “I'm pretty sure your imagination can fill in the gaps.”
“It could,” I lean forward and reach out to push her hair behind her ear before letting my fingers trail over her lace-clad arm. “But I know that talking about it does something to you, Lexi... And you said that you'd be focusing on making sure my dessert was just right. And I want it extra wet...”
Her breath hitches as I graze my finger along her forearm.
“I wanna run my finger between your legs and feel your panties sticking to your pussy, baby girl.”
She holds my gaze, her mouth a small O as her cheeks flush. And then a smirk tugs at her lips.
“Who says I'm wearing any panties?”
My other hand clenches into a fist as I search her face for any signs to confirm or deny her statement.
“I never thought I'd say this, but you'd better be wearing panties because-”
“Because what?”
“Because otherwise, you'll be in trouble.”
She grins. “I like trouble.”
“I know,” I groan.
“So if I am in trouble, what you gonna do?” she taunts with a grin, before leaning forward to whisper. “Don't hold back Ro, you want me extra wet, remember?”
I'm about to open my mouth to reply when the waiter rematerialises with Lex's dessert.
“I'm waiting,” she reminds me as she slices through the fondant with her spoon, the chocolate inside slowly escaping to mix with the cream.
My mouth feels dry as I watch her raise the spoon to her mouth, her eyes locked with mine as she wraps her lips around the utensil. A soft murmur of appreciation drifts towards me as her eyes flutter closed for a second.
“Damn, that's good.”
Her foot is sliding against my leg again as she goes back for a second slice. And fuck, I can barely remember my own name let alone what she's waiting for me to say. I'm too entranced watching her devour a damn dessert and fighting to keep my hands to myself because all I want to do right now is drag her to somewhere far more private than this corner and make her scream my name.
“Cat got your tongue?” Her eyes dance wildly as she observes my tense jaw and clenched fist. “Oh, Roman, sometimes I think you're all mouth and no action. I asked you what kind of trouble I'd be in if I wasn't wearing panties. And you were about to give me an answer. So tell me. Tell me what you're going to do to me.”
I wet my lips with my tongue as she goads me gently.
“I mean, judging by my past experience of when I've been in trouble with you, you're all about the denial. You push and push me right until the edge and then,” she pauses to lick the chocolate from the back of the spoon. “You just leave me hanging. Can you imagine if I did that to you? If I was on my knees, my mouth stretched around your dick and just as you were on the brink, I pulled away and denied you? And you call me a tease?”
She shakes her head. “You're the tease, Ro. You're the worst tease of them all.”
“Lexi.” My voice is gravely and she looks at me questioningly. “You really think I'd want to deny myself the pleasure of watching you come undone? No way. Tonight, I'm going to make you cum until you're begging me to stop. I'm going to fuck you every which way until you have no idea if you're on your back, your front, your side, on your knees or on your feet. Trust me, baby girl, tonight I'm going to be all mouth and all action.”
I lean back and watch as her hand trembles ever so slightly as she raises the spoon one last time. Her cheeks are flushed as she tugs the spoon from her lips and lowers it back to the plate. I let her contemplate her next move, watching with interest as she shuffles in her seat and dabs at her lips with the napkin.
“That's mighty generous of you, Ro. I would have thought that you'd want me to be all mouth and all action.”
I give her a smug smile, reaching forward to cup her cheek, my thumb falling to graze her bottom lip. “Why do you think I want you on your knees, baby girl?”
A small whimper floats through the air and I chuckle softly before raising my head to look for the waiter.
“I... I'm going to use the ladies,” Lex murmurs, her bottom lip slipping from my grasp as she speaks. “I'll meet you out front?”
I nod as she gets to her feet and my eyes yet again fall to her delicious looking ass as she walks away from me. Fuck... How the hell am I going to make it home without pulling over and tugging her onto my lap?
“Sir?”
“The check, please.”
“Your wife, she has taken care of it.”
I glance up at him and then towards the direction that Lex disappeared in. She's no longer there and I wonder how long I've been staring aimlessly into space, my thoughts completely elsewhere. The waiter is still hovering, so I clear my throat.
“Right, thank you.”
He nods and walks away as I slowly rise and start to make my way towards the exit. Lex is nowhere to be found in the lobby area of the restaurant so I head outside.
“There you are.”
I turn to see her leaning against the wall, ankles and arms crossed as her eyes glint in the half-light.
“I was attempting to pay.”
“And I beat you to it. Your birthday, remember?” she pushes off the wall and steps closer to me. Her arms circle my waist and I feel her push something into my pocket. “Come on.”
She reaches up to press her lips to mine before she moves away, her heels clicking on the concrete as she heads towards the car. I turn to follow, my hand moving to my pocket.
I swallow hard as my fingers find lace. Damp lace.
**
'Cause I just wanna look good for you, good for you, uh-huh I just wanna look good for you, good for you, uh-huh Let me show you how proud I am to be yours Leave this dress a mess on the floor And still look good for you, good for you, uh-huh My fingers are already pushing Lex's hair away from her neck as she fumbles with the key in the lock. I touch bare skin, a thin strip between her hairline and the lace neck of her dress and I lower my mouth to brush barely-there kisses against it. She whines my name as the door finally gives way and I can push her inside.
“Upstairs. Now,” I growl in her ear as she attempts to move away towards the kitchen. My hands fall to her hips, tugging her with me as I approach the stairs.
“So needy,” she giggles, the sound fading into a gasp as my hand slaps against her ass. She tosses me a look over her shoulder and I point towards the stairs. “Fine, fine...”
I pause at the bottom, watching her take the first few steps alone. Her calves flex as she moves and I have to fight back a groan that's threatening to give me away.
“You coming?” she calls, turning as the stairs curve. And then she grins. “Kind of reminds me of that time I sat here and you crawled up these stairs to me.”
I never need a reason to remember that particular moment in our long history together. Has it been that long? We spent hours christening every room in this house and yet I could do it all over again in an instance. That's how fucking bad I still want and need her.
“Baby girl,” I finally exhale. “You know damn well, I ain't gonna be the one doing any crawling tonight.”
She chews her lip thoughtfully. “And what makes me think I'm going to crawl for you?”
I chuckle deeply as I climb the steps towards her. “You want this dick, you gotta crawl for it.”
She leans against the wall, one foot resting on the next step up. I'm eye-level with her now, close enough to see her eyes are dark and stormy, close enough to see her chest is rising and falling in shallow breathes, close enough to see her thighs tense as I let a smirk spread across my lips.
“You okay, baby girl?”
“Fine,” her voice is shaky as I close the gap between us, my hands finding her hips once again, pulling her from the wall and against my chest.
“Cat got your tongue?” I grin as I brush my nose against her flushed cheek.
“Asshole,” she mutters, but she greets my mouth with heated eagerness. We stumble up the final few stairs, her lips never leaving mine as I back her against the wall once again, inches from our bedroom door.
But there is no way I'm taking her here and now, not like this, not here. In the car on the way back from the restaurant, I had ample time to think up exactly how I want to unwrap my present. And there is no way I'm letting her change my mind. Her hands are already tearing at my jacket, my shirt. I let her for a moment, kicking away the former as it falls to the floor.
“Stop.”
She pulls back with a frown.
“My birthday, Lexi. I want it my way. Bedroom. Now.”
She slips from my grasp. “And what way would that be?”
“You'll find out.” I cast my eye around the bedroom as we enter, my gaze finally falling on the plush chair in the corner of the room.
I drag it from its current position, angling it just right before I take a seat. Lex eyes me from her stance at the foot of the bed.
“Thought you wanted to unwrap me?”
“I do, just not yet.”
She raises an eyebrow, realisation crossing her face, along with a small smirk. Walking towards me, she glances over her shoulder and then back at me.
“Really?”
I nod. “You'll see why.”
“I can see exactly why already,” she grins. “You're a bad man, Mr Reigns.”
I groan as she slowly sinks to her knees, her hands easing the tight skirt of her dress higher. Her eyes never leave mine as she shifts her legs a little wider and painstakingly slow, starts to make her way towards me on her hands and knees. In the background, I can see her ass bobbing in the air but I can't seem to tear my eyes away from hers. But suddenly she offers me a way out, her head dipping low for a split second and in that second I stare at the mirror behind her, groaning as I take in the sight of her tanned legs, her tight thighs and...
“And you're a bad girl,” I exhale slowly. “Fuck, Lex...”
With the skirt of her dress pushed high, the material has risen up over her ass, revealing bare, glistening skin. This was never my intention, but fuck, it's a welcome consequence of my request and position. My dick is throbbing at the sight and I'm so caught up in watching her wet pussy tease me in the mirror that I almost jump when Lex's hands come to rest on my knees.
I tear my eyes away and stare down at her, taking in the devilish grin and lust-filled eyes that greet me.
“You wanted me to crawl...” she whispers huskily. Her hands slide up my thighs towards my belt buckle, the metal and leather echoing around the room as she deftly unfastens them and then moves to the button and zipper of my pants.
I lift my hips for her as she slides them to my ankles, hissing as she scrapes her nails over my thighs on her return. She pushes my shirt a little higher, rising herself so she can press kisses to my newly exposed abs. Her hair falls forward, tickling my thighs and stomach as her fingers slip inside the waistband of my boxers. Pulling back slightly, she slowly tugs them away. A harsh groan leaves my mouth as my painfully hard dick springs free, the tip hitting her lips in the process. She grins up at me, her hand wrapping around my length as I lift my hips once again and help her rid me of my boxers.
She pushes my dick towards me, lowering her mouth to the underside, her tongue wet and warm as she licks from base to tip in one long, steady motion. She presses her lips to the tip once again, letting it part them ever so slightly and I hiss as the tip of her tongue slides against the slit. Her hand circles me once more, her grip firm as she takes just the head into her mouth, her tongue taking its time to explore and familiarise.
Lex pulls back for a second and I watch fascinated as a thin string of saliva hangs between her bottom lip and the tip of my dick. Her tongue darts out to break the join and I grunt as her fist tightens around my length as she licks from base to tip once again. Only this time, her lips part easily and I slip further into her welcoming mouth.
“Lexi...”
I can feel her lips stretch into a smile as she takes more of my dick, her lips soon stretching to accommodate me as I feel her tongue flatten against the underside of my length. She lets me slip out for a second, catching her breath before she takes me back in, her tongue desperately covering every inch of me as I slowly sink further and further in, cursing loudly as I feel the tip scrape the back of her throat.
I fight to keep my vision clear as I stare down at her, watching how her eyes flicker closed, her nostrils flaring slightly as she breathes around me. Reaching down I brush the hair from her face, pushing it back over her shoulders and away from her forehead. My fingers tangle in the loose waves as my hand comes to rest on the back of her head, my hold gentle as her eyes flash open.
“Fuck, baby girl, you have no idea how– Shit...”
She swallows around me and I'm straining to keep my hips still, struggling to keep it together as she starts to bob her head back and forth. I glance up at the mirror and instantly look away because if I carry on looking, I'm gonna cum right now and I'm desperate to make this last a little longer. Her legs are spread out beneath her and I can still see a hint of her bare ass as her head rises and falls on my dick.
My hand curls around her hair tightly as she ups her speed, my own head rocking backwards with a loud groan.
“Jesus, Lex... That's it, take my fucking dick...” My head snaps forward once again as I watch her plump red lips move back and forth, her nose brushing against my skin as she takes me all the way in.
Something cold brushes against my thigh and I jerkily grope for it, my fingers finding my phone which must have slipped out of my pocket when I sat down. A sly grin crosses my face as I carefully tug it free and swipe my thumb across the screen. Suddenly Lex appears both in front of me and through the camera lens, my eyes flickering between the same image before me.
“Baby girl,” I groan. “I gotta remember this...”
Her eyes flick open and up at the exact moment I hit the button, the image of her lips around my dick forever captured in digital form. She rolls her eyes at me as I raise the camera again, this time catching her just as she pulls back, my hand firmly gripping the back of her head as she takes a deep breath.
“Why don't you just film it?” she gasps.
I raise an eyebrow. “Really?”
She flashes me a grin. “Happy birthday, big guy.”
A growl tears through me as she takes me back into her mouth in go and I struggle with what to concentrate on, desperately fumbling to pick the right setting on my phone as my fingers dig deeper into the back of her head as she moans around me. My hand shakes as I try to focus on capturing every second of this moment, darting up to the mirror for a split second before I drop the lens back to stay on Lex and her torturous mouth.
“Lex... I'm...”
Her hands grip my thighs as I take control of her movements, my hand forcing her mouth up and down my length, her moans vibrating over my length as I tumble into my release with a shout. She swallows around me, easing me from her lips as she does, coaxing me dry with her hand as she licks me clean. My thumb halts the video clicks off my phone as I toss it to one side to pull her upright.
“You have no idea how fucking hot you look when you do that,” I murmur against her throat, my hands sinking to her thighs and bunched up dress. “But you know, you look even hotter when you're thrashing around on my mouth...”
I rise and turn her around, my fingers finding the small buttons at the back of her neck. Plucking them open, I reach down and slowly pull the dress up and over her head, revealing her naked body beneath. Tossing the dress aside, I smooth her hair with both hands, cupping her face as I lean down to kiss her. My hands push her hair back over her shoulders before sliding down to cup her breasts, my fingers twisting her already hard nipples, feeling her jerk against me.
I slip one hand around her waist, urging her to arch backwards as my mouth trails wet kisses down her throat to her breast, my tongue circling her nipple as I tweak the other again between my fingers. Her own fingers are lacing their way through my hair, tugging the band free as I move to her other breast and wet it with my tongue.
Easing her down into the chair, I step back and rid myself of my pants and boxers around my ankles and finally shed my shirt as well. Sinking to my knees, I push her legs apart and pull her to the edge of the chair. Her eyes are cloudy as they stare down at me in anticipation.
“Eyes over there,” I murmur, nodding behind me to the mirror. “I want you to watch how much I love my dessert...”
A soft moan drifts through the air as I press open-mouthed kisses to her inner thigh, slowly working my way towards my ultimate prize. I nudge her legs even wider as I approach, watching out of the corner of my eye as she stretches open before me. Her scent is intoxicating, her wetness glistening as I brush my nose across the small strip of hair just above her core and work my way down the opposite thigh.
“Ro...”
“I'm a tease, remember?”
A hand curls around my hair and forces my face up. “Please?”
Her eyes are full of want, her lips plump and swollen from earlier. Her breasts rise and fall as her breathing changes rapidly. And I'm left wondering how I could ever say no to her.
“Ssh, baby girl. You know I got you.”
A lazy smile crosses her face as she watches me work my way back towards her centre and I raise my eyebrows at her. With a small frown, she raises her eyes, but I continue to watch her face as I slide a finger across her slick entrance. Her eyes widen at the sensation and I grin to myself as I lower my own gaze to the task at hand.
My finger slips inside her with ease, the sound of her slickness music to my ears, along with the hum that ripples through her body. Leaning forward, I trace my tongue around her entrance, groaning wantonly as I get my first taste tonight. She's exquisite as always, a taste that's uniquely hers and the only taste I could ever want. Twisting my finger inside her, I seek out the spongy spot inside her, gently pressing the pad of my finger against it as I continue to lick my way up to her clit. She bucks against me, her breathing heavy and laboured as she gasps out my name.
Flicking my eyes back up at her face, I watch her head roll back for a second, her eyes half-lidded as she struggles to keep watching her own reaction in the mirror behind me.
“Like what you see?” I murmur.
“Mmm... Ro...”
But I don't even need to ask, I don't even need to look at her, I can tell just by the way her pussy clamps down on my single finger, yet I can still move it with ease as it becomes coated in her juices. I push another finger inside her, listening to her whimper above me as I shift closer once again and breathe heavily over her clit. She flinches and then bucks her hips again, forcing me to curl my arm around her waist and press her back down into the chair.
But her thighs can still move and as I close my lips around her clit, they shift to my shoulders, tight in their grip. I can feel the heel of her shoe scrape against my back and I thank God that my back is mostly covered in the ring. The marks she leaves on my skin are most definitely not within the PG realm. I suck harder on her clit, feeling her pussy tighten around my fingers again as I continue to work them in and out of her.
I know what she needs to get off and as much as I can get her there with my fingers, I know that for the optimum effect, my hands need to be elsewhere. But I fuck her with them a little longer, pumping in long, hard strokes as my tongue flicks over her clit again and again until her thighs have a death-grip on my neck. Pulling my fingers from her, I grapple with her thighs, pulling them from my neck and forcing her legs wide again.
She gasps above me, my name an echo amid her moans as I lower my mouth to her entrance for a moment, my tongue lapping at her leaking juices before I tug at her clit with my lips once again, my teeth grazing the sensitive bundle of nerves as she howls and thrashes above me. Both hands are in my hair now, as she holds me to her, her body arching as she screams.
I lick her clean as she did to me moments before, my hands gently soothing her thighs as I do. Reaching up to her hips I slowly ease her to her feet, pressing kisses to her stomach as I rise myself. Grazing my cheek against hers, my hands curl around her wrists and I slowly take a step backwards, pulling her with me.
“I'm not done with you yet,” I murmur as I turn her around to face the mirror. Nudging her closer, I push her hands to the wall on either side of the frame. My foot urges her to widen her stance as she leans forward, her hair falling over her face. Sweeping it back over her shoulders with one hand, I curl it around my fist and gently tug her head back up so she can look at me through the mirror.
“I want you to see what I see every time we fuck, baby girl.”
She swallows with a nod as I drop my own gaze to my dick. Reaching between her legs, I sink my fingers inside her once again, coating them with her juices once again before I rub them over my dick and fist it slowly, letting out a husky groan as I spread her essence on me. Looking back up, I can see her watching me.
“You're beautiful, Lexi. You're a goddamn goddess, you know that?” I whisper as I line my dick up with her entrance and slowly ease myself inside her.
A sharp gasp fills the air as she stretches to accommodate me, her body threatening to double-over as I do. I curl an arm around her waist to keep her steady as her hands slip slightly on the wall.
“Ro... I... My legs...”
“I got you, I won't let you fall.”
She nods in reply, her eyes still on mine via the mirror as I slowly start to thrust in and out of her. I keep her close, my hips the only part of me moving as I rock her head to one side with my hand still in her hair and lower my lips to her throat.
“Fuck, Lex... You feel incredible... And you look... Shit, baby girl, you look fucking hot...”
I drop the hand from her hair, reaching for her breast instead, my fingers pinching her nipple sharply, grinning at her as she bucks back against my hips. I do it again, relishing in her response each time, my own hips driving forward to meet hers as she pushes back on me.
Checking her arms aren't about to give way, I ease back from her body, still rocking my hips against her. My eyes drop to the small space between us as I drop my hand from her waist to her ass and squeeze hard. Her back arches and I chuckle lowly, making her hiss in response.
“Like that, Lexi? You want more?”
She nods. “Yes... Aw, fuck, Ro...”
My hand connects with her ass with a loud smack and she jerks back on my dick once again. Throwing caution into the wind, I let go of her waist and reach for her hair again, bundling thick locks into my fist and pulling her back until her whole body starts to arch. She whimpers at me, her eyes unfocused as I slap her ass again and the whimper turns into a hiss which slowly escalates to a moan.
“Harder...”
My hand hits her backside once again, the skin rippling on contact as I pull her back harder and slam into her with renewed force.
“Shit... Ro... I'm so fucking close.”
I grin at her through the mirror, my hand sliding over her waist and between her legs once again. Her head tries to drop forward as I rub her clit with my forefinger, but my hold is tight and I pull her back to me, thrusting up into her as I whisper in her ear.
“Watch yourself, Lex. Watch as you cum...” My own breath is started to become ragged as I feel her tense around my length. “That's it, take it, go on, cum on my dick...”
Her eyes flicker closed but I slide my fingers hard over her clit and she opens them with a start, her mouth dropping open as a moan escapes her and she starts to shake against me.
“Ro... I... FUCK!”
I coax her through it, my finger soft on her clit as she trembles in my arms and threatens to collapse completely.
“Lexi...” I groan against her neck in between soft kisses. “I'm close too, but I want... I want you on top of me.”
She nods, her hair sticking to her skin as I slowly ease out of her and pull her to the floor with me. Flipping onto my back, I face away from the mirror, still wanting her to have the perfect view of what she's giving me tonight. I pull her on top of me, nudging her off her knees with a sly smile.
“Bounce on me, baby girl...”
I ease my hands under her thighs to hold her up as she slowly lowers herself onto my dick. Her head rocks back for a second, her nails scraping over my stomach as she tries to steady herself. I grip her thighs tighter, helping her move up and down as her head rocks forward again and her eyes find her reflection in the mirror.
“Shit.”
It's barely a whisper, but I know what she can see. Because it's what I can see. Her pussy slicking up my dick as she rides me, her legs spread wide as she slides down to the hilt and then back up until only the tip remains inside her.
“Lex... You carry on like that, I'm not gonna last much longer,” I grunt as she slowly moves her hips in a circle, grinding down on me as I dig my fingers into her thighs.
“That's the plan, big guy... That's what you wanted, right? To have me ride you like this until you cum? Fuck...”
I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting to control the feeling in the pit of my stomach. “You gonna cum again too, Lexi?”
“Aw, shit, Ro...”
I open my eyes to see her move one hand between her legs, her fingers rubbing fast circles on her clit as she grinds down furiously on my length.
“Jesus... Lex...”
Her name slips from my lips over and over again as I pulse inside her, my head feeling like it's about to explode as I feel her grip me tightly as her howl echoes around the room. Her legs finally give way as she collapses on top of me.
Her hands slip to her feet and she kicks off her heels, sighing softly as she nuzzles against my neck. I can feel our joint essence slipping along her thigh as she rests against me, but I haven't got the strength to move, let alone move her as well. So we lie in silence, catching our breath as I slowly push her hair from her face and cup her cheek.
“You're amazing.”
She smiles, her eyes closed. “You too.”
“No, Lex, listen to you me. You're astounding,” I kiss her forehead. “I really... I really don't know how you do it. You tell me that I've been your rock, but you're stronger than you realise. There is no way I could have made it through the last month if it wasn't for you. You are my rock, Lex.”
She opens her eyes and they shine up at me.
“Hey, don't... Don't cry,” I hastily beg. “I didn't mean to make you cry, Lex. I know you wanted to just focus on us tonight, I wasn't trying to bring up what happened... Fuck...”
“I'm not crying,” she whispers. “I just... I love you, Ro.”
I smile softly. “Love you too.”
“I just wanted to give you a birthday to remember, that's all.”
A low chuckle rumbles through my chest. “No way I'm forgetting this in a hurry.”
She frowns and then groans. “You have to delete those photos. And that video.”
“Why?”
“Why? Because I know what you're like with that phone, you leave it everywhere and who knows who might get hold of it.”
“It's password-protected.”
“I don't care, delete them.”
I groan and pull her face to mine. “You really think I want to share things like that? That stuff stays strictly between you and me.”
“Delete them,” she repeats against my lips and I reluctantly agree.
“Only if you look at them first...”
“Why?”
“Because I want you to see what I see,” I tell her.
“And what's that?”
“The most amazing woman in the world. A woman who'd do anything for me. From giving herself to me for my birthday to being my rock through thick and thin.” I brush my lips across hers again. “You're too good to me, baby girl.”
“I do my best,” she shrugs, but I'm not going to let her off that easily.
“You are,” I repeat insistently. “You've always got me, Lex. And I can never thank you enough for that.”
She's quiet as she meets my eye. “Ro...”
I brush my fingers under her eyes, the tears finally giving way. “We've got plenty of time for everything else, Lex. But right now, we've got us. And we'll always have us.”
“Us,” she murmurs against me. “Always.”
“Always.”
Fin x
70 notes · View notes
sixeyesgojo · 3 years
Text
dad time // Gojo day 2020 ♥
Summary: in which Gojo practically adopted you as his kid.
Pairing: Dad!Gojo and his kiddo, Shoko is the cool and drunk auntie
Word count: 1,252
Content warning: not for the weak heart because this is SOFT
A/N: I wrote and posted this on AO3 on Gojo day 2020. posting this for comfort after today’s chapter <3
Dad!Gojo will be a series (requested via AO3) and this is the kick-off of said series. More to come in the next few days as I slowly construct this blog. Let me know if you want to be included in a taglist or something - just shoot me a message!
Tumblr media
If there was anything Gojo learned from this, it was that time passed quickly. Almost too quick for him. Not that he ever regretted saving you that day on the street.
-
It happened on one of his missions. He had been sent to exorcise this certain first grade curse in Nanami's stead. The latter had been injured severely in his previous mission. Nanami claimed that he was fine after having been healed by Shoko but the woman sternly insisted that he would rest for a day until he was completely fine again. For Gojo's favorite junior - whom he loved to the point that he wrote very short but endearing letters at least once a week - Gojo had agreed to take on the mission instead. After all, his students could fend for themselves for a day, as he believed in them.
The curse was nothing too special, at least not to Gojo. He had, once again, exorcised it in the blink of an eye after arriving in the nick of time. He was about to depart when his ears registered a whimper nearby. Turning around, he scanned the area until he caught a glimpse of a little shivering and crying mess that was you. Behind you were two charred corpses that reeked of cursed energy; you had been lucky to not have been hit by the curse's cursed technique.
Damn, hadn't he come so late, they two probably still be alive, Gojo thought. He let out a sigh and picked you up. "I'll bring you to a place where it's safe for you," he spoke softly, then warped away while carrying you as the curtain dissolved.
You were two years old at that time.
-
And so, three years passed, just like water flowing in a river. Though admittedly, he had an ulterior motive of raising you into a responsible adult - which had proven to be hard - and formidable Jujutsu Sorcerer to walk alongside him, Gojo had taken you under his wing and fully adapted to his role as a foster parent quite quickly. The beginning was a little rough as you just kept wailing and he was restless, not knowing what to do, but he had somehow managed. He had the means to do so, after all.
It was one of Gojo's rare days when he knew he would get off work earlier than usual and he promised that he would spend the whole day with you. So, here you were, waiting for your foster dad to come out. You were wearing a shirt he had gifted you as a souvenir after coming home after a long day: it was a black shirt with white lettering that said "if lost, return to the strongest dad". Gojo loved this shirt so much, he had gotten himself a matching "I'm the strongest dad" counterpart. Of course, you had it with you because you liked the idea of matching with your favorite person in the world.
Holding Shoko's hand while waiting for Gojo in front of the school building, you had been bugging her for the last 30 minutes by asking repeatedly, "When will daddy come, auntie?" to which she would reply with a smile, saying, "Patience, kiddo." Shoko had always played a big part in your life, being one of your dad's very few close friends. She had always been like an aunt to you and you loved her dearly. But your #1 and utmost favorite person in this world was still your childish dad.
"Auntie, my feet hurt," you pouted. Wordlessly, Shoko picked your small form up. Your little fist resting against her shoulders, holding Gojo's shirt.
After some more waiting, the door finally opened, revealing a certain white-haired sorcerer with a big grin on his face. "Ohh? Look who it is! It's my favorite little munchkin!" Gojo exclaimed and Shoko could almost see the happiness in him manifesting around him. He was as dorky as always. Your little fist held out the shirt to him as you pouted. He understood right away as he eyed you. Taking the shirt from you, he saluted with a joking voice, "As you wish!" With a snap of his finger, he was wearing the shirt already. His blindfold also switched with casual shades.
"Thanks for babysitting, Shoko," he turned to her and thanked his colleague and friend to which the said person replied, "It was a pleasure to hang out with Y/N, as usual." You kissed your beloved auntie on the cheek ("Goodbye auntie!!") before she let you down so you could take your rightful place, which was on Gojo's shoulders. He always carried you like this when the two of you spent time in town. It was a simple gesture but you always felt like you could conquer the world (or at least as far as you could see from up there).
"Where do you want to go, sweetie?" the sorcerer asked as he hoisted you onto his shoulders. "Dad, I want to go eat ice cream!!" you voiced your wish. Like dad, like kid, Gojo thought as he smiled. "I was thinking the same thing, Y/N! Wanna go to our usual place and get the special sundae with me?" he suggested. You nodded enthusiastically before realizing he probably would not see your nod. "Sure! But only if you don't gobble down all of my vanilla scoops again..." you said and puffed your cheeks.
"Aww, baby, I'm soooooo sorry. I acknowledge that it was, in fact, pretty mean of me but I reeeeeaaaaaally couldn't control myself last time," Gojo chuckled, "This time you'll get a biiiiig share of my part, okay? It's a promise."
The tall sorcerer treated the both of you to a big sundae of 20 scoops, which you shared, at your favorite ice cream parlor. As promised, he let you have a considerably big share of his part. Usually, kids would be satisfied with just that - but not you. You were Gojo's kid after all, taking very well after him and his horrible sweet tooth after all these years of being together with him - and he knew that well. This was exactly how following ice cream, the two of you happily spent time eating kikufuku, cotton candy, daifuku and the like. It truly is a miracle you haven't ended up with dental caries yet.
If there was anything Gojo loved in this world, it would be spoiling you rotten. He would stop at nothing to make you happy and carefree as these emotions being displayed on your face were his favorite. Seeing you smile never ceased to make his heart beat a little harder out of his own happiness. Talking about spoiling you rotten: on that day, he had bought you new clothes (since you started growing out of your old ones), a few new plushies you had eyed and restocked your secret candy stash ("but do not tell auntie Shoko about this, okay?").
After spending a wonderful day and enjoying dinner with your dad, the two of you went home hand in hand.
Later on, he tucked you into bed as it was time for you to sleep. "Dad, thanks for today. I love you," you said and he replied with a kiss on your cheek and a chuckle, "I know, I love myself too." You rolled your eyes.
The Jujutsu world may fear this man but to you, he was just your dorky dad whom you loved more than any other person in this world.
754 notes · View notes
Text
Fully Completely 3
Warnings: non-consent sex and rape (series), violence, mutual irritation, harassment
This is dark!Loki x reader and explicit. 18+ only.  Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.
Series Synopsis: There’s a new face in Birch and he’s come to haunt your door.
Sister series to Smalltown Bringdown, When the Weight Comes Down, and Little Bones
Note: On to part three. Sorry for being a human disaster.
Thanks to everyone for their patience and feedback. :)
I really hope you enjoy. 💋
<3 Let me know what you think with a like or reblog or reply or an ask! Love ya!
Tumblr media
Chapter 3: Or it will move right through me
💀💀💀
Jerome annoyed you as he picked through your tool box and clicked the ratchet noisily. He was excited but impatient and complained that you were taking so long. You told him if he wanted to pay out of pocket for labour, you could finish faster. 
You sat by his bike, parts strewn at your feet, and bent your head to look under the tank. You still had a lot to go and hadn’t yet added anymore of the gross chrome to the frame.
“Do you realise how filthy this is gonna get?” you huffed as you sat up and leaned your elbows on your legs, “not to mention how ridiculous it looks.”
“I like it. It’s just my style,” your brother grinned, “I don’t remember you spending this much time on Bucky’s ride and you and him--”
“He had me replace the tailpipe, you want nothing short of a rebuild,” you scoffed, “and you’re not the boss.”
“Don’t remind me,” he rolled his eyes, “guess it could be worse though. It could be Steve.”
“Thank god it’s not,” you chuckled, “I don’t know how many women had to toss beer in his face before he latched onto that mousy one at the bakery.”
“She’s nice,” Jerome shrugged, “far as I know. She doesn’t talk to anyone but Steve.”
“I wonder why,” you tisked, “he has insecurity written across his forehead.”
The tinny bell rang and the door whooshed open as the wind caught it. Jerome glanced over and dropped the ratchet noisily into the drawer of the tool box. You growled in warning as you spent much of your spare cash on those. He apologised quietly as he squared his shoulders at the man who appeared.
“Hey,” Bucky wiped the flakes from his hair and blew out a shiver.
“Bucky,” Jerome said rigidly.
The other man nodded and stepped further inside the garage. He shoved his hands in his pockets and paced aimlessly around the concrete floor. You watched him as you fiddled with the bolt in your hand.
“You wanna head down to the bar?” It wasn’t a question as Bucky came to face you, “I gotta talk to your sister.”
“Sure,” Jerome replied sharply, “you got it, boss.”
Bucky grumbled and waited for him to leave. He sniffed and kicked his toe into the floor.
“So… what’re you doing here? Been a while so must be urgent,” you sat up on the rolling stool and stretched your back.
“The whole town’s talking about it. You fighting him,” his brows drew together, “I told you I’d take care of him.”
“You didn’t,” you said evenly, “so I did.”
“I talked to him--”
“And said what?” you snorted.
“Look, you don’t understand. You said it yourself, you don’t care about my business. You don’t get what’s going on but what I need from him is bigger than your temper.”
“Excuse me? This is my fault? He broke into my shop, he followed me from that diner and he put his hands on me,” you stood and tossed the bolt away, “what do you want me to do, Buck?”
“First, I want you to remind yourself who I am. We’re not fucking anymore so that mouth isn’t as cute,” he warned, “and I want you to play nice.”
“All you have to do is keep him away from me. How hard is that for a man like you, huh? You’re the big dog.”
“Watch it,” he pointed at you, “I won’t tell you again.”
“He’s here to deal with you, not me,” you insisted, “he grabbed me, I defended myself, and I’ll do it again.”
“This isn’t grade school anymore, you can’t fight the boys,” he sighed.
“What are you saying?”
He was silent as his jaw ticked and his blue eyes strayed to the ceiling. You stepped closer and gripped your hips as you stared him down.
“There’s nothing else I can do for you. Nothing else I will do. He’s your problem.”
He met your glare and you scoffed in disgust, “you’re fucking serious? What do these idiots have on you?”
“It’s not what they have on me, it’s what I want from them. I’m planning for something bigger than Birch, that means there’s gonna be some sacrifices,” he shrugged.
“Sacrifices? Is that what you call it? Well, here’s one for you, the next time you get a little scuff on your tank or your headlight starts to flicker, you can head down to Carl’s,” you scowled.
“Don’t do this,” he gritted through his teeth.
“I can get business without you. I do better work than Carl, you know that. So go, I’ll deal with that asshole on my own, how I see fit.”
He inhaled and lifted his chin. He closed his eyes and thought. 
“Damn it,” he swore, “you can’t make anything fucking easy. What is it with you women and your god damn--” he lifted his hand and stopped himself, “you get in the way of my business, and you won’t be so worried about Loki.”
“Oh yeah? That’s what he said about you,” you mocked, “what’s with you men and your egos?”
His lip curled and he breathed through his teeth. His eyes lit up and he punched his palm as he turned away quickly.
“I hope he has his fun with you. Maybe he can fuck some sense into you,” Bucky growled, “God knows I tried.”
“You weren’t that good,” you snipped.
He kicked the shelf of wipers hung near the front of the shop and grunted. He stormed to the doorway and stopped to look back at you.
“You’ll be wishing it was me…” he hissed.
He waved you off and continued through the front door, slamming it behind him loudly. You stared at the scattered packages of wipers and bit down on your tongue. You wanted to run out and strangle that idiot but you knew how he could be. It was the reason you broke off your little fling; he was too much like you. Hard-headed and volatile.
💀
You weren’t going to change just because the town was overrun by asshole men. You were standing your ground and that meant you were going to finish your club sandwich and enjoy one lunch without interruption. 
The café was busier that day as the snowfall dwindled and the streets were mostly cleared as the plows made their regular rounds. You looked through the window as the school kids stopped by the bakery for hot drinks on their lunch and circled the rim of your mug with your fingertip. You sensed it was only the lull before the storm.
Further down you could see the corner of The Asp and heard a rumbling engine. Your shop remained empty except for Jerome’s bike. Since Bucky’s visit, you were too worked up to concentrate anyway. You wanted to take your wrench and knock every man in town in the head with it.
Nora brought your sandwich as Kimmie didn’t work on the weekends and your side of soup. You would eat both and leave satisfied. You wouldn’t let anyone ruin your day off. Well, not that you had very much to do aside from that.
You dipped your crusts in the tomato soup and stared at the seat across from you. Empty. Perfect.
You scooped the last of the bowl into your mouth and wiped your lips with the napkin. You stood and gulped up your coffee. You left money on the table and headed out. A peaceful, solitary lunch all to yourself.
You skipped the shop and continued down the street. You pushed into the hobby shop you rarely ventured into, more a bookshop if you were honest. You greeted the man at the counter with a smile. When you were a girl, you remembered he ordered you a special set of paints as the ones in his store were all dried up. Lu, you recalled his name.
You went to the shelves of models and looked over the new arrivals. You took the Smokey and the Bandit Trans Am off the shelf and smirked. Your father had one just like it when you were a kid. It wasn’t exactly new. You grabbed a bottle of black paint with it, always running low on the stuff, and headed for the counter.
Lu punched the buttons on his till and you heard a creak. Light footsteps emerged from the basement of used books as you opened your wallet.
“I didn’t take you as bookish,” Loki’s voice made you cringe.
You didn’t answer and counted out the bills for your purchase, “actually, you got any glue? I didn’t see any on the shelf.”
“Hmm, oh,” Lu turned and bent to reach into a box, “haven’t stocked up but these came in just before the storm.”
He added the orange and white tube to your bag and you added another bill. He counted out your change and handed it to you.
“Quite interesting what small towns can hide,” Loki didn’t wait to step up to counter and stood close, his sleeve against yours, “An antique edition of Whitman. One of the only Americans I read.”
You looked down at the worn tome, the edges fraying and the letters faded. It was marked up to a couple hundred. You could appreciate a love for reading but you weren’t entirely sure some old paper was worth all that.
“I’ll need the reading material as my visit has been prolonged,” he mused as you grabbed your bag and headed for the door, “my brother is due to return so I will stay in his place… get to know the town of Birch more intimately.”
You hid your disgust at his words and continued out the door. His exaggerated tones stuck in your head as you passed the window and absently swung your bag. You hated him. You really did. You should have bashed him over the head with that dumb book. 
You thought of that day in the snow and smiled. You knew that shame lingered in him. You would have no problem repeating that scene.
You came up to your shop and stopped short. The burly redhead who arrived with the pestilent man stood at your door, peering in through the window, angling his head as he tried to see around the blinds. You cleared your throat as you neared.
“Something I can help you with?” you asked dully.
“Oh, ah,” he turned and laughed at himself, “I thought… Loki, I thought he’d be here.”
“No. He wouldn’t be,” you said, “he’s down at the book shop.”
“Thanks. He apologise?” He prodded.
“You seem to know him well. You think he did?” you challenged.
“Ah, nah,” he smiled awkwardly, “s’pose he didn’t.”
“S’pose he didn’t,” you echoed, “it would be smart if you kept him away from here.”
“Yeah, uh, should do,” he sidled past you and you listened to his heavy boots clump along the beaten snow.
You took out your key and unlocked the door. You closed it quickly behind you, that man’s presence set you on edge. He hadn’t shown any of the venom of his associate but he was loyal to him. You double checked the locks on all the doors and made certain all windows were closed. 
You went up stairs into your apartment and stripped off your coat and boots. You sat at the small table where you ate those dinners you didn’t forget and unpacked your new model. You sorted the pieces and spread out the instructions. The image of the car on the box brought back nostalgic memories. You wouldn’t know all you did about bikes if it wasn’t for your dad. You missed him every day for the last… too many years.
You lost yourself in the tiny parts. You hunched over the table and carefully dabbed glue onto the plastic. Your eyes began to itch as the windows dimmed and you got up to turn on the lamp. You kept building well after dark and finally left the half-finished car on the table.
You stretched out your limbs as you stripped down to only your loose tee and yawned. You fell into bed and turned on the old tube television. You hit play on the VCR and the loud previews blared from the boxy speakers. You rolled yourself in your comforter and sat through the same movie trailers you’d watched a dozen times.
You were never a romantic but you the movie was another shadow of your childhood. Your grandma used to watch Kathleen Turner whenever you went to her place. She would serve you yogurt and berries and turn on the cheesy action flick and if you slept over, she would put in the sequel right after.
Your rituals kept you sane. You found it was easier to know what to expect and given your temper, it was better not to be surprised. You were always the trouble child and you regretted all those times your dad had to come talk to the principal or walk you home from school. You promised him you would be better.
Still you didn’t regret what you did. He always told you to stand up for yourself. Hell, he taught you how to throw a punch and all your best insults were inherited from him. You smiled as you thought of him and hugged your pillow as the intro played and the credits flicked up one name at a time.
You drifted off in the glow of the television and the sound effects sank into your dreams. You were still in Birch but thick vines had grown around all the buildings and billowing leaves shrouded the skies. The town had turned to jungle and you could hear the growls and grunts of beasts unseen.
You spun as a twig snapped and a snake uncoiled from a branch and fell into the brush at your feet. You stepped back and it slithered towards you. You stumbled and ran away as you could hear its skin smoothly glide through the grass at your feet. You tripped as its long body wrapped around your ankles and you crashed to the ground.
You struggled as the snake constricted your body and wound its neck around to face you. Its green eyes shone as its black scales gleamed. Its tongue flicked against your cheek and you felt its hot breath as it opened its mouth and revealed long, frightening fangs. You screamed as its bite loomed and you woke with a start.
The visions of the wild jungle faded but the heat did not. You blinked as an amber haze took over the room and you fought through your messy blankets and tumbled onto the floor. Your curtains were alight along with much of the wall. You bachelor was blazing with orange flames and you could barely see the door through the smoke.
You coughed and scrambled to your feet. Your eyes streamed and you blindly ran for the door and flew down the stairs. The shop was almost entirely engulfed as you reached the lower landing and you fumbled with the front door as flames licked closer and closer.
You burst out into the frozen night and your feet were numbed by the ice and snow. You retreated from the burning building, your life set aflame, and turned back as you reached the sidewalk. Sirens screamed and made you wince as you crossed your arms and chattered against the cold.
“Pity,” the slither made your skin crawl, “though I suppose it is a blessing you at least saved yourself.”
You glanced at Loki as your vision blurred with the tears of realisation. Everything you had was turning to ash before you. You blinked away the droplet and sneered at him. He smirked and you knew. He smirked and he knew. It wasn’t an accident.
362 notes · View notes
cjsinkythoughts · 3 years
Text
FATWS One Shot #7 - Revels
Word Count: 2921
Warnings: Cursing, That’s All, it’s a Really Tame One Shot
Setting/Characters: Party Scene in Avengers: Age of Ultron; Lots of Characters so I’m Not Gonna Name Them All
A/N: I know…it’s very late. I wanted to have it out on Friday, but I dunno, guys. My motivation as of late has been very low. I finally decided to just sit down and write tonight. So here it finally is!
This one is pretty mild compared to others. There’s a few feeling things in here, but it’s mainly just the reader hanging out with the team. The ending’s written a bit weird, but I didn’t know what to cut it off because the writers did a nice job of making the Mjolnir scene flow into the scene with Ultron’s appearance, but I didn’t want to write the whole fight with Ultron, I just wanted the lifting scene.
Listen here, though! Prepare yourselves to be conflicted even more with Steve! I made it a lot more…touchy than I was planning on. Don’t come at me! It needs to be done! This’ll be one of the last ones focused on Steve like that though. The next one is reader and Wanda bonding and then after that I don’t have any more planned for AoU, so we’ll be going to Civil War, which is where reader meets Bucky officially. So Bucky’s coming soon!
I’m gonna update my WIP List and - maybe - my One Shot list and post those later, along with a poll because I dunno which series I wanna start on next.
Thank you all so much for your patience, understanding, and support! As always, not beta’d, so please excuse the mistakes, all are mine! Be kind to yourselves and others! Enjoy and stay tuned!
FATWS Series Masterlist
cjsinkythoughts Masterlist
Tumblr media
*******
Buzz. Buzz. Buzz.
You set your bag down and looked at your phone, vibrating from where you just left it on the counter. You looked at the time and squinted. Seven. You supposed it wasn’t too late, but you weren’t expecting any calls. 
Tired, your feet dragged as you moved across the room to get your phone. You were helping Fury set up the Helicarrier again while still remaining “dead” to everyone. It was the last thing you were doing before joining the Avengers full time. You were a bit hesitant to be in the spotlight after all these years, but after much pressuring from your team, especially a certain blonde, you finally caved. It was time for a change anyways. It might even be good for you.
Speaking of blondes, Bubba flashed across your screen, a picture of him with some scruff that you took one day in spite of his protests because you’d never seen him with a beard before lighting up behind the contact name.
You answered it, rubbing your eyes with the heel of your hands as you did so. “Hi, bubs. What’s-”
“Where are you? I miss you. Are you coming soon?”
You chuckled at his whines, an eyebrow raising as you processed his words. “Whaddya mean? I’m at my place. Where am I supposed to be?”
“Honey!” You giggled at his groan, finding it amusing how childish he could be at times. “The party? Tonight? Remember? You promised you’d come. I don’t wanna be here without you.”
“Oh shit,” you hiss out. “That’s tonight?” Moving across the kitchen to check your calendar, you scrunch up your face when you see ‘Avenger’s Tower 6 pm’ written in the square. “It’s Saturday. Aw, Stevie. I totally forgot.”
“Oh. So…are you - are you not coming, then?”
Frowning at his fallen tone, you shake your head. “I’ll be there. Just…give me a bit.”
“No, no. It’s okay. You sound tired. You don’t have to-”
“I’m on my way, Steve. I did promise after all. I’m an hour out.”
You could hear his surprise in his voice. “An hour? You’re not in D.C.?”
“I’m a little bit upstate. Just in a safehouse while I help Fury work on something.”
He let out a contemplative hum from the other side of the line. “That secret project you still won’t tell me anything about?”
A smile appeared across your lips as you walked to the bedroom to change into something a little more appropriate, settling for a comfortable romper instead of dealing with a dress. “You know I can’t, bubs. You haven’t told anyone, right?”
“No ma’am.”
You giggle softly. “Alright. Thank you. You’ll find out soon, probably. It’s almost done. Promise.”
“Then you’ll come live here? With me - the team, I mean? I miss you. The team missed you. On the raid.”
“Oh yeah. How was it?”
“Get here and I’ll tell you.”
You laughed, shaking your head. “I’m coming, I’m coming. See you then, bubba.”
“Okay, honey. See ya then.”
*****************
It was nearly nine when you got to the Tower, but any party thrown by Stark didn’t end until at least ten, so you knew you were fine. Just…fashionably late. A concept you knew Tony understood and you wouldn’t hesitate to remind him if he brought it up.
You were pleasantly surprised by how tame the party was. Sure there were a hundred people you doubted even Tony knew, but no flashing lights, the music wasn’t blaring, and no one was grinding on anyone. Everyone was just talking, drinking, and having a good time.
“Hey! There you are! Capsicle said he called you, but that was hours ago!”
Speak of the devil. You grinned and let Tony pull you into a hug before taking the drink he offered. “Yeah, well, I had a few things to do today.”
His eyebrow quirked up. “A few things, huh? Anything I should know about?”
“Nope!” You popped your lips and gave him a smirk. “Not everything’s about you, Mr. Stark.”
“Yeah, well, we missed you this week. Fun raid.” He looked you up and down and nodded, gesturing to your outfit. “Alright, you know what? I accept this. This is okay. Not what I had in mind, but you pull it off.”
You laughed, shoving his shoulder playfully. “It’s comfortable, okay? Where’s Steve?”
The billionaire rolled his eyes and gave you a look. “Don’t worry your pretty little head. He’s over playing pool with Wilson. C’mon! I wanna get you drunk and complain about my perfect, heroic, billionaire life to my favorite teammate!”
“I just need to tell him I’m here.” You snicker. “And don’t let anyone here you say that. I don’t want my rep to become Tony’s favorite.”
He chuckled with you and gave you another squeeze. “Alright, alright. Come find me later, though. I do have something I need to show you.”
You shook your head, already knowing where the conversation was heading. “Tony! No! I don’t need a suit! Thank you, I appreciate it, but I’m really okay. I like fighting in sweatpants.”
“Fine!” He huffed out. “But at least let me show you some designs I came up with. I put a lot of hard work into them, you know.”
Tapping his chest, you nodded. “I’m sure you did. I’ll come find you and you can show me, but that’s it.”
He smirked, drawing an ‘x’ over his heart with his finger. “Cross my heart.”
“I’m serious, Tony!” You point at him as he started walking away. He just blew a kiss towards you, making you laugh and roll your eyes again.
Turning, you scanned the room for the pool table where, supposedly, Steve was playing with Sam, who you had no idea was gonna be here. You’d been helping him out with the whole James - Bucky, you reminded yourself - Barnes thing during your free time. No such luck yet. The man was literally a ghost, even for you.
You couldn’t stop the smile on your lips when you finally caught sight of him, his brown leather jacket hugging his shoulders a grin on his face as Sam talked to him about something. Quickly making your way over, your arms wrapped around that ridiculously tiny waist, crossing over his stomach. You felt him tense at the sudden contact, before he relaxed at a kiss to the nape of his neck and spun around.
The beam he gave you made your heart flip, his muscled arms winding around your neck. “Y/N! You made it!”
His boyish excitement made you laugh. “I told you I’d come. Hi, Sam.”
Sam nodded and waved. “What’s good, Y/N?”
“Who’s winning?” Slipping out of Steve’s hold, you leaned over the table to study the games process.
“We just started a new one.” Steve informed you. “Wanna join?”
You raised an eyebrow at him. “You sure you wanna be embarrassed in front of all these nice people?”
“Oooh!” Sam winced. “Smack! Alright. Put your money where your mouth is, Y/L/N. Ten bucks says I win.”
“You’re on, Wilson.”
A few more drinks, a couple games, and thirty extra bucks later, Tony called you over impatiently. Steve gave you a questioning look as you heated up, Tony waving his arms dramatically and shouting your name. God, he’s so embarrassing.
“He wants me to look at suit designs.”
Steve frowned at your explanation. “I thought you told him no?”
You chuckled. “I did. I’ll be right back, bubs.” After kissing his cheek, you head over to Tony. From there, you end up bouncing around from teammate to teammate, laughing and joking around with them.
Until Steve dragged you back with him again. “Excuse me.” He interrupted you, Clint, and Natasha’s chatter, grabbing your elbow and taking the drink you had in your hand. “I’m stealing you.”
“C’mon, man! It’s called sharing!”
Natasha laughed and nodded in agreement with Clint’s statement. “Everyone’s gotta have a turn, Rogers.”
Steve hummed, walking backwards and pulling you as you giggled in amusement. “You just had your turn, Romanoff.”
“Sorry guys.” You shrugged when the two looked at you incredulously. “Captain’s orders.”
“Damn right.” Steve nodded firmly.
“Watch your language!” Clint shouted with a pointed finger.
You raised an amused eyebrow at Steve’s groan. “Your language? They do know that you have, quite possibly, the worst mouth on the planet, right?”
He sighed, pulling you to the side of the room and wrapping his arms around your waist. “It’s something that happened on the mission. Which you would know if you were there.”
“Steven.”
He blinked innocently at you. “What?” At your pointed look, he let out a sigh, dropping his forehead to your shoulder. “Did I do something wrong? Is that why you’re avoiding me?”
“Who said I’m avoiding you?”
“C’mon, honey.” He lifted his head, his eyebrows furrowed together. “Don’t hurt me even more. I know you have.”
You shook your head, lips turning down and hand raising to cup his cheek. “Stevie, I’m not. I promise. I’ve just…I’ve just been busy.”
He pouted. “With Fury?”
Giving him a weird look you shook your head. “No. I mean, yes, but I’ve also been helping Sam out with your friend while you help the team with the rest of the HYDRA bases. You know that. What’s going on with you?”
“I’m sorry.” He sighed, ducking his head to your shoulder again. “I’ve just missed you.”
“I know, bubba. I’ve missed you too.”
The real truth was you had been avoiding him. Not on purpose. Kinda. You just felt something different around him. Something you’d never dealt with before. And you didn’t want to deal with it now, so you haven’t been. It was why you were so hesitant about becoming a full time Avenger. Well, that and the fact that you’d been in the shadows for a decade and you weren’t sure how well you’d do in the light.
“Where’s Sam?”
“He had to head home. Long drive. His excuse, not mine.”
You gasped in offense. “And he didn’t even say bye?! Rude!”
Steve chuckled, his nose brushing against the skin of your throat, breath tickling your collarbone. “I’m sure he’ll call you in the morning or something. Apologize for leaving so abruptly.”
You hummed, swallowing the lump that suddenly appeared in your throat. “Tell me about the language thing. What happened?”
He groaned, but straightened and told you about him accidentally scolding Tony, before he proceeded to tell you about the rest of the mission, including the Maximoff twins. 
“Why is it that war always seems to breed more war?” You asked with a sigh.
“They’re just kids trying to do what’s right.”
“We all start out that way, don’t we?” You shook your head. Kids. they shouldn’t be fighting in a war. They shouldn’t have to deal with that. “It’s just a shame.” Your voice is muffled by his shirt after you pressed against his chest.
“Yeah.” He sighed out. “Wanna go get a drink?”
Pulling back from him and looking around, you noted that most guests had already gone and it was dwindling down to just the Avengers and a couple allies. “Yeah. Wanna sit down too. I’m kinda tired.”
“Alright, honey. Let’s go sit down.”
It wasn’t even half an hour later when you were all sitting around the middle of the room, everyone else having gone, but Dr. Helen Cho, Rhodey, Maria, and the team. You were in the same boat as Helen, who was basically passed out on an armchair. You’re legs thrown over Steve’s lap, stretched out to let your feet rest on Thor’s thigh, who was on the chair on the other side of the captain. You were hugging Steve’s arm, your head resting against his shoulder, a small smile of content across your features as you listened to the team banter and tease.
You started laughing at Clint’s comments towards Thor’s hammer while spinning the drumstick he had for whatever reason. “Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power! Whatever, man! It’s a trick!”
You and Steve exchanged amused grins as Thor challenged Clint, who stood up with no hesitation and headed to the hammer.
“This is gonna be good.” You chirped, taking the bottle Steve handed you as the archer stopped in front of where it was placed on the table.
Clint stuck his tongue out at you, before turning back to Thor and gripping the handle. He tugged for a moment, grunting, before laughing in slight embarrassment. Chuckling, you snuggled closer to Steve’s side, your eyes feeling heavy. He turned his head to nose your temple and kiss your cheek.
“Oh brother.” You giggled, sitting up with interest as Tony stood up and unbuttoned his suit jacket.
“Alright, so if I lift it, I-I then rule Asgard?” Tony asked in clarification, slipping his hand through the strap.
“Yes, of course.” Thor confirmed with an amused smirk, shooting you a wink when you nudged his knee with your foot.
Tony braced himself, setting his foot on the table. “I will be reinstituting prima nocta.”
You rolled your eyes, scoffing. “Oh God, Tony.” Steve squeezed your knee with a slight chuckle as the billionaire tried lifting it to no avail. You gave him a weird look, watching him leave the room, before turning to Steve. “What’s he-?”
“Alright! Let’s try this again!”
Another fit of laughter left you and the team when Tony strutted back in with his Iron Man glove on. And when that didn’t work, Rhodey joined him with his War Machine glove. 
Your eyes were watering and you tried holding in your laughter, but you couldn’t help it, pressing your face into Steve’s arm to muffle the sounds. You felt his shoulders shake with silent chuckles, which didn’t help your own.
When Bruce went up, an awkward silence filled the air after he tried Hulking out, but then you started laughing again.
“Your turn, bubba.” You nudged the blonde, who gave you a look, before shrugging and patting your thigh. 
“You gotta get off then, honey.”
You rolled your eyes but swung your legs off him, letting him stand up. He rolled his sleeves up, stepping up to Mjolnir, a few encouragements from the team, before pulling on the hammer. You thought you saw it shake a little, but Steve yanked some more and it didn’t move, so you figured you were imagining it.
Steve sighed and let go, putting his hands up in surrender with a grin like the good sport he was. Thor laughed. “Nothing.”
You shrugged at the super soldier who plopped back down besides you as the others tried getting Natasha to go up. “You tried.” 
He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms and leaning back. “Well if Romanoff isn’t going…your turn.”
“Wh-what?” Your eyes went wide.
“I did it.” He gestured to the hammer. “Now you gotta.”
“Hold on, hold on. We didn’t agree on th-”
“Honey.” He gave you a little pout, cocking his head to the hammer. “C’mon. Just a tug.”
You narrowed your eyes, but your lips turned up and you straightened off the couch. “This is peer pressure. Captain America, everyone.” He chuckled as you stepped over to Mjolnir. “It’s not gonna work.”
Tony snorted. “Not with that attitude.”
“C’mon, Tones. If none of you could.”
The billionaire shrugged with a grin. “Never know if you don’t try.”
You deadpanned at him, gripping the handle and trying, in vain, to pull it. You didn’t put nearly as much effort as everyone else. “Wow. Look at that. What a surprise.”
“What was that?! You barely touched it!”
Giving a shrug, you started back to your seat. “I’m guessing if you’re worthy or whatever, it wouldn’t take that much to lift it.” You fell onto the couch, your head landing in Steve’s lap as you looked upside down at Thor and pointed at him. “But I do have a question for you.” The god looked at you in interest, gesturing for you to continue. “What does worthy mean? Like, what makes a person worthy to lift it? You couldn’t lift it a while back - I know, I read the files. SHIELD agent, remember?” You added when you saw him open his mouth to question you.
You blinked at him curiously, tilting your head, watching as his brow furrowed. Tony cackled and clapped at the silence in answer. “Oooh! She got you! All difference to the Man Who Wouldn’t Be King, but it’s rigged. And the lack of response to Y/N’s question just makes it more obvious.”
“That’s not what I meant-”
“You bet your ass.”
You rolled your eyes, letting it go as Maria teased Steve about Clint’s foul language. “Did you tell everyone about that?” Tony ignored Steve’s question and continued to ride on Thor and his hammer.
“Why are they trying to make sense of it?” You questioned, highly entertained, but also very tired, turning to press against Steve’s stomach.
“It’s Tony. I couldn’t tell you. C’mere.” Steve shifted you so that you were sitting up, but he was holding you more comfortably. “Try getting some sleep.”
You hummed and nodded against him, but a high pitched whine made you wince and stand up, Steve unconsciously standing a bit in front of you. A suit of Tony’s, damaged with wires hanging down and oil leaking out or places that didn’t have metal keeping them in, came in and you inwardly sighed at the bad feeling tugging at your gut.
So much for sleep.
***********
***********
***********
All Works Taglist (Open):
@happygoreading @bibliophilewednesday @breadqueen95 @marvelettesassemble @w-wolfhxrd @the-larry-romance​ @abitofeverythinggg
189 notes · View notes
battybatzgirl · 3 years
Text
Hey Mr. Sandman, You Missed a Spot
AO3
Summary: 
It's not that Hunter doesn't ever sleep, Eda's come to realize. It was that he falls asleep sporadically, most of the time in really weird places.
Or: 5 times Eda catches Hunter taking a nap
Part 1 of the Finders Keepers Series
---
Here’s the thing about Eda: she loves naps. Eda likes to be cozy, so usually, that equated to curling up under a blanket, lazing around, and falling asleep. The Owl Beast shared that sentiment, the creature that lived within her constantly wanting to nest. Those animalistic instincts were weird, but when you lived in a house with a demon who also liked to bury himself under a pile of stuffed animals, you kind of got used to it.
Here’s the thing about Hunter: he doesn’t sleep.
The kid has been living with them for only about two weeks, officially replacing Eda as Public Enemy Numero Uno in the eyes of the Emperor. When he’d showed up on Hooty’s doorstep, all bloody and barely conscious, Eda thought it was some kind of cosmic trick. The Powers That Be had to be pulling her leg because this was the second time the leader of the Emperor’s Coven had shown up to the Owl House with nowhere else to go.
Luz had been ecstatic to welcome him in, apparently excited to finally fulfill her dreams of becoming a middle child in their weird little found family. King was less thrilled, but eventually warmed up to the idea of Hunter staying with them as long as he taught King his secrets on how to command an army.
Hunter himself even seemed unnerved at the thought of living with them. He tried to leave a few times when he was still wounded, but his little bird palisman (Rascal, she’s heard him say) effectively herded him back into the house by continuously dive-bombing him and nipping at his ears. And after Belos put out a wanted poster for the kid, making him the Isles’ number one most wanted traitor, leaving wasn’t really an option. Not if he wanted to stay alive.
So eventually, Hunter begrudgingly accepted that yeah, he lived in the Owl House now.
And alright, Eda isn’t heartless. The kid was lost, wounded, and an enemy of the Emperor. She can work with that.
Getting to know him has been a challenge, though. Hunter has a lot of weird quirks. He holds himself so seriously that Eda has a hard time remembering that he’s a teenager and not a fully grown middle-aged man. He hardly ever smiles. He’s jumpy, practically jolting out of his skin every time you walk into the same room. He’s clearly Going Through Some Shit, as Eda so eloquently calls it, remembering how Lily went through the same thing when she slowly broke free of Belos’s freaky subjugation.
But still. The kid doesn’t sleep.
Eda first notices it around day four of his residence. She’s up early to go to the market, stepping into the living room and nearly transforming into her Harpy Form out of pure shock when she sees a figure messing with her bookshelf in the back of the room. Wide maroon eyes lock on hers from across the room and she feels the feathers that sprung to her skin recede.
“Titan, kid,” she breaths, “You nearly killed me. What are you doing up? It’s Saturday, you should be sleeping in.”
“Um…I did sleep in,” Hunter responds, as if it’s obvious.
Eda feels a frown tug at her lips, “The sun isn’t even up yet.”
The kid just shrugs a little lamely, and Eda feels a twinge of concern in her chest. (And ugh, feeling concerned for a guy who dangled you over the Boiling Sea is certainly weird.) If this was sleeping in for him, he couldn’t have rested more than five hours.
She steps closer, taking a second look at what he’s doing. Half the books are spread out on the floor, the other half stacked neatly back on the shelves in some kind of order.
He notices her looking, “I, uh, took the liberty of reorganizing your bookshelf. Or organizing it, since it didn’t really seem to have a system.” The kid ducks his head, the tips of his ears flushing pink. “I- I can put it back the way it was if you want, or organize them in a different way.”
That’s another thing about Hunter: he always has to be doing something. Being useful. Without direction, he crumples. It was always, What do you want me to do now, Miss Clawthorne this and I completed this task, Miss Clawthorne, what’s next that. His brain operated on a transactional level—I do this thing for you, you do this thing for me. And since Eda was housing him, he felt like he had to constantly be doing things for her. Constantly proving himself worthy to be here, repaying her. Hunter couldn’t seem to wrap his head around that she didn’t want him to do anything except stay comfortable.
Eda has thought up a hundred different little tasks for him to do in just his first four days. She’s running out of odd jobs to give him, and if she has to keep telling him what to do she’s going to start pulling out her hair.
“You’re fine, kid,” she says. “Keep doin’ what you’re doin’ if it makes ya happy. But you shouldn’t be up this early. You should at least take a nap later.”
Hunter tilts his head. “But that wouldn’t be accomplishing anything.”
“You don’t hafta be working all the time,” Eda stresses. “It’s okay to sit around and just exist once and a while. Actually, I think that should be your priority. Take a nap, relax, go cloud watching, take a walk—any or all of the above.”
“That sounds like doing nothing.”
“That’s because it is doing nothing.”
His face hardens, taking on that soldier-like seriousness that encompasses his entire demeanor. “Being lazy can’t be a priority.”
“Don’t think of it like that, then,” Eda almost snaps, wishing for a nice hot mug of apple blood. It was too damn early to deal with the repercussions of Belos’s all-work-no-play mindset. “Think of it as acting your age. Did you ever get to take naps as a kid in the Emperor’s Coven? Is relaxing just a foreign concept to you?”
He doesn’t answer, staring at her with those bagged eyes and guarded expression, and Eda throws up her hands in defeat.
She leaves then, her patience running too thin to continue arguing with him. She doubts he’ll actually go back to sleep. He probably goes back to doing whatever he was doing with that bookshelf. Eda makes a mental note to tell King to knock all the books off, just so Hunter can reorganize it later. Just for something for him to keep him occupied.
1.
Eda doesn’t even notice the first time it happens. It was one of Luz’s friends, Gus, who pointed it out.
The kids were gathered at her home after school, spread out on the floor of the living room along with various pillows and blankets. Luz found some card game she knew buried somewhere in the piles of human trash Eda has laying around, and the girl has been spending the better part of an hour trying to explain how it works.
“So the Wild Card doesn’t make you turn into a wild animal?” Willow questions, holding up a black card with looks like a colorful pie chart on it.
“Nope!” Luz says cheerfully. “It just becomes any color you want it to be to go with the rest of your hand.”
“But the card doesn’t actually change color?” Amity asks.
“No, it only represents the color,” Luz clarifies, and Eda has to admit, her girl has a ton of patience. She’s been quietly watching from her place on the couch, half-listening to their conversation, half-reading the Isles’ latest edition of You Gossipy Witch, a tabloid where a writer is speculating about her true form. Apparently, some people think she was raised by feral, wild owls on some far away barrier island, and has come to reside in Bonesborough just because she ran out of mutant rats to eat.
Weird.
But entertaining!
Gus holds up one of his cards, “So are blank cards bad, or—"
King jumps over his shoulder, landing on the deck of cards in the middle of their little circle and making them fly everywhere. “I have taken dominion over ALL YOUR CARDS. All of you must grovel for a taste of my wealth!”
“Actually, the point of the game is to get rid of all your cards,” Luz reminds him gently. “That way, when you get down to one card, you shout Uno! And you win! If no one else makes you draw anymore, that is.”
King deflates a little, apparently put off by the idea of less is more. “Oh.” Luz smiles and pats him on the head, and he brightens up. “Okay, let’s play, because I wanna make all of you draw as many cards as possible! You'll drown in your cards! Choke on them, even!”
As they start gathering up the cards that King threw everywhere, Gus lets out a little gasp. “You guys—is Hunter asleep?”
That immediately draws Eda’s attention away from the magazine. Her eyes flicker to the blond witch, laying on his stomach just on the edge of their group. He was still having a hard time socializing, especially with Amity, but Luz was determined to include him in all friendship activities. She said wanted to teach him how to be a kid, and hell, if anyone could knock some seriousness out of that boy it would be Luz.
Hunter is indeed asleep—his face is mushed into the forearms pillowed under his head, and his red palisman has weaseled its way to nestle in between the crook of his elbow. His breath comes out in soft little sighs, and Eda feels something in her melt.
“Awwww, he looks so peaceful,” Luz croons, mushing her palms against her cheeks. Amity’s already scooched past her, snapping photos on her scroll. Eda can’t blame her. She knows a good blackmail opportunity when she sees one.
Eda’s off the couch and catches King mid-pounce. “Whoa there, none of that buddy.”
“But Edaaaa,” the demon whines, his little arms and legs flailing in mid-air. “I have to conquer him when he least expects it!”
“Ehhh, let the kid sleep. Save your conquests for when he’s awake and can put up a fight.” Eda sets him down in his place in the circle, and the kids all glance at each other before turning back to the cards.
She notices that they’re more mindful to keep their tones softer, probably to not disturb the sleeping boy. And when Hunter wakes himself up about half an hour later, they don’t mention it, seamlessly integrating him back into their game.
2.
The second time it happens, Raine is walking Eda home. It’s early in the evening, and the pair just got done with a fabulous date—a picnic with apple blood and sweet (and stolen) baked goods? Titan, take Eda now, she’s found her perfect match.
She’s still riding that high, not noticing Raine stopping until they tug on their clasped hands. “Hey, who’s that? Is he okay?”
Eda follows where they’re pointing their finger. It’s Hunter, slumped against the base of an oak tree, fast asleep. His chin is tipped forward and a book open on his chest, and even more strangely, there’s a small pile of leaves on his lap.
“Oh, that’s just my—” Eda stops herself, the word catching in her throat. Hunter was a child in her care, yes, but he wasn’t quite her kid. Not like Luz or King. The blond witch was still too jumpy, baring his teeth and snarling at anything that tried to get close to him.
He calls her Miss Clawthorne, for Titan’s sake.
“—Hunter,” Eda finishes lamely.
Raine raises an eyebrow. “Your Hunter?”
“He’s uhhh, one of Luz’s friends who just so happens to be living with us. Not a big thing.”
Raine shoots her a deadpan look but strides forward anyway, kneeling next to the sleeping blond. They keep their voice to a low murmur, “Should we wake him? That can’t be comfortable for his neck. He’ll probably be sore later.”
“Eh, let him rest. This is more sleep than he usually gets.” Eda steps closer, kneeling down on his other side. It’s the side that has his scar, the slightly raised red tissue standing out even more so than usual now that he wasn’t constantly moving. She’s almost asked him how he got it, but he’s clearly sensitive about the subject. She’s seen the similar marks on his arms, and something tells her there are a whole lot more scars that he’s hiding.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who gave them to him.
Still, it’s hard to ignore just how young he looks. When he’s stripped of all of his snappy comebacks, quick defenses, and that guarded demeanor Belos forced onto him, he’s reduced to exactly what he should be:
A kid.
“Oh!” Raine startles in surprise. Eda looks up to see the cardinal palisman fluttering down from above them, carrying a few leaves in its beak. It hops down onto Hunter’s lap and deposits the leaves in the little growing pile on his leg.
A smile worms its way onto Eda’s face. She runs a finger across the little bird’s head, “Trying to keep him warm, huh?” The bird lets out a trilling note of confirmation. She lets the bird be, turning back to Raine, “I think Rascal’s got this covered. If he hasn’t come in before nightfall I’ll come out and get ‘em.”
The bard casts one last glance down at the sleeping boy before they stand. “Y’know, he kind of reminds me of someone.”
“Oh yeah?” Eda weaves her arm through Raine’s as the pair reassumes their walk.
“Yeah,” Raine hums. “He kind of has the same build as someone I met when I was held hostage in the Emperor’s palace. The Golden Guard. Did you hear that he ran away from the palace? There've been rumors that the Emperor himself is tearing apart the Right Arm looking for him.”
“Uh, about that...”
Raine stops, turning to look at her square in the face. Eda gives them a sheepish, toothy grin.
“Oh my god,” Raine says. “You adopted the Golden Guard?”
“Hey now, adopted is a very strong word—”
The bard cuts her off with a delighted laugh. “How am I not surprised?” Eda feels heat rise to her face, but can’t help but return Raine’s infectious smile. “Only you, Eda. Only you.”
3.
The third time it happens, Eda’s passing through the upstairs hallway, intent on curling up into her nest for an afternoon nap of her own. She hears a shuffling noise as she passes by the glorified storage closet that they gave Hunter as a room, and can’t resist a peek inside.
What she finds is definitely…not what she was expecting. Hunter is laying flat on his back on the floor, his feet elevated on the little cot they’d given him. Yeesh, that couldn’t be comfortable. Soft snores woosh past his open lips, his face turned toward a crystal ball that’s playing some cartoon he must have been watching before he fell asleep.
His body is nearly covered in stuffed animals.
“King,” Eda hisses. The horned perpetrator is in the middle of dumping his entire army onto the blond witch’s chest, pinning down his arms with plushies. “What did I tell you about burying people alive?”
The demon pauses from where he’s been slowly arranging his army over Hunter’s sleeping form. “He’s got plenty of room to breathe! I didn’t cover his face,” King protests. “Can’t subjugate someone who’s dead.”
“No subjugating—” your brother, she almost says, “—Hunter.”
King squints at her, but then grumbles and starts slowly taking the stuffed animals off the boy’s body. Crisis averted, Eda slips back out into the hall, mind swirling. That was the second time she’d almost referred to Hunter as hers in passing. The feeling is too raw to speak out loud yet, but there’s a growing warmth in her as she watches Hunter acclimate to his surroundings in the Owl House. With every day that goes by, he’s more comfortable around her, around Luz and King and Hooty, and he’s starting to come out of his shell. He’s growing softer, less quick to snarl, becoming more Hunter and less Golden Guard.
Unconsciously, Eda’s started viewing him as part of their little family. Two weeks ago, that thought would have made her uncomfortable. Now, she welcomes it with open arms.
Ugh, she’s getting so soft.
4.
The fourth time it happens is when Eda’s flying home from visiting Lilith. She’s only been gone for the day, and is hoping that leaving Luz in charge hasn’t led to any freak fires, the resurrection of the dead, or other various natural disasters. Unfortunately, even her most responsible kid is pretty reckless, so Eda’s expectations are set pretty low.
It’s probably sometime around 2 a.m. when she makes it home sweet home. She swoops in close, intent on landing on the front door but stilling mid-air when she sees something on the roof of the tower. Even from up here, it’s not hard to distinguish the form of a looming body.
Eda’s heart leaps into her throat and she takes Owlbert down into a dive. Her body is tense when she lands, her staff already aimed toward the person lurking by the edge of the roof. “Alright listen bucko, you better step back or—wait.” She sees what looks like a lump of feathers sitting on top of the person’s head, and Eda squints in the darkness. She quickly pulls out a light glyph, sending the tiny ball of sun forward.
“Hunter?!” Eda’s tense posture relaxes. The kid doesn’t answer, and it takes her a beat to figure out why. He’s dead asleep, slumped precariously over the telescope they use for stargazing. Eda has no idea how he’s even standing at all. Kid probably had a ton of practice of falling asleep on his feet during long, boring meetings with the Emperor.
“Wakey, wakey.” She places her hand on his shoulder, gently, but he wakes up with a full-body jerk, startling the palisman on top of his head. The cardinal chirps once in irritation, fluttering to rest on Eda’s shoulder instead.
Hunter’s eyes are wild for a moment until he seems to register where he is and who he’s with. He relaxes then, letting out a yawn so huge it would put any lion to shame. “…Eda?”
“The one and only,” Eda says, ignoring how her heart squeezes at the kid finally calling her by her name. “Wanna tell me why you’re up here in the middle of the night?”
“Waitin’ for you,” he mumbles, voice rough with sleep. His eyelids drop and he sways dangerously on his feet. “Wanted to… t’make sure y’got home safe.”
The warmth in her chest expands and eclipses her entire body in that fuzzy feeling she gets whenever one of her kids does something particularly adorable. Thank Titan it’s dark and Hunter is too out of it to notice the smile that spreads across her face. If he was fully awake, Eda gets the feeling that A) he probably never would have admitted that he was worried about her, and B) would have snapped at her for smiling at him like that. “Well, I’m home now, so let’s get you to bed before you topple over.”
Eda wraps her arm around his waist and nudges him along, practically carrying him back downstairs, their palismen following close behind. She doesn’t mind. Someone had to make sure he didn’t fall off the roof.
“Night, kid,” she says, tucking him under the blankets on his cot. Hunter doesn’t respond, already having slipped back into unconsciousness. And if she brushes his bangs tenderly out of his face, no one ever has to be the wiser.
5.
The fifth time it happens, Eda’s gotten used to it. It's not that Hunter doesn’t sleep, she’s come to realize. He just falls asleep in weird places. Why, she has no idea, but honestly, the kid looked so tired all the time, she wasn’t going to question it. They had bigger things to worry about.
The Day of Unity is just around the corner, and Belos has become more irritating than ever.
Eda hadn’t even thought that was possible for him, but apparently, it was. The scouts around Bonesborough have tripled, their captains leading more and more raids, butting into shops to check everyone’s papers, and invading random districts.
Oddly, Belos’s priorities seem to have shifted. He’s still sending out grunts to round up any wild witches, but the guards have been playing a weird sort of hide-and-seek, going beyond just patrolling the marketplaces to actually tearing into people’s homes. From what she’s heard, the guards never take anything, just searching the place top-to-bottom before leaving empty-handed and moving on to the next house.
Belos was looking for something.
And unfortunately, Eda’s got a pretty good idea of what he’s after.
Said thing just so happens to be slumped across from her at the kitchen table, dead to the world. It’s late into the night, and most of the kids have already gone to sleep. Too on edge to lie down, Eda’s been keeping herself busy by concocting more potions while the late-night news plays on her crystal ball in the background.
Hunter, striving to be helpful, volunteered to stay up and help.
It wasn’t long before the kid slowly started to nod off, face supported by his palm as his eyelids started to droop. He’d been in the middle of mixing two ingredients—highly flammable ingredients, mind you—and Eda plucked the vials out of his lax grip just in time. Honestly, it was a miracle the kid never killed himself in the Emperor’s Coven with how randomly he falls asleep.
He probably never got the chance to sleep at all, a voice reminds her. She remembers how dead-exhausted Lily was during her first few days at the Owl House. It was probably safe to assume that the Emperor had a habit of running the head of his Coven into the ground.
Hunter has been picking up on Belos’s tightening grip, too. He’s been getting quieter, more reserved. He’s come to the same conclusion that Eda has: the Emperor was tearing apart the whole of the Isles to get him back.
Why, though, is anyone’s guess. Hunter has long since explained that his uncle always said that the Titan had big plans for him, and it probably has something to do with the Day of Unity, but beyond that, the Emperor had always kept him in the dark. Luz has a crazy theory involving clones and blood magic, but that sounds like it’s a plot point straight out of one of her Azura books. King thinks Belos wants his artificial staff back, and Hooty predicts the Emperor is just sad because all his Coven leaders are leaving him to join Hooty’s superior best friends club.
Whatever the reason, Eda’s made it pretty clear that she’s not gonna bend to Belos’s intimidation tactics and turn him over. That smarmy gold jerk could set the whole Isles on fire and Eda still wouldn’t hand him over. Hunter’s part of the Bad Girl’s Coven now, and Belos can just suck it. And she’s not afraid to say that to his stupid face, either.
So when the cauldron at the end of the table that holds the scrying potion suddenly begins bubbling on its own, Eda may very well get her chance.
She’s up on her feet in an instant, dashing to the other end of the table just as the steam rising off the potion begins to warp into a familiar figure.
“Edalyn,” Belos greets, his voice sharp like a dagger. “I do hope I’m not interrupting your evening, but I needed a word with you.”
Ugh, scrying potions weren’t supposed to work both ways! Belos was too damn powerful. He could probably peer into their lives as much as they could peer into his.
“Sorry, but now’s a bad time,” Eda shoots back. “Why don’t you hang up and call back literally never?”
“It’s come to my attention that you have something of mine,” the masked man continues smoothly as if she hadn’t spoken. “I’d ever so appreciate it if you gave it back.”
Eda’s lip curls back, feeling the itch of feathers poking out of her joints. She wants to shift into her harpy form and leap through the potion to claw out his eyes. “Sorry, Belos,” she says, dripping smug bravado, “We wild witches operate solely under the laws of finders keepers. Your kid? Mine now.”
Eda expects that the Emperor would very much like to vaporize her. “Make your threats wisely, Owl Lady. You have no idea what you’re up against. Everything will be easier for you and your little friends if you just hand the boy back over to me.”
“Fat chance.” Eda throws back her shoulders and shoots him a sharp grin. “Sounds to me like you’re threatening one of my kids, and we weirdos stick together. Going after one of us is basically asking for all of us to bring you down. Remember how well that went last time? How my human cracked your mask and publicly humiliated you during your big let’s-turn-Eda-to-stone ceremony?”
The Emperor looks as though he has some choice words to say, but Eda doesn’t care. Hunter is her kid now. She glowers at him through that mist, voice lowering in with deadly promise. “You’ll have to drag him back to your Coven over my dead body.”
“That can be arranged,” sneers Belos.
“Try me, antler boy.” Then Eda whacks the cauldron and sends it tipping over the edge of the table. The connection is immediately severed as the potion goes splattering over the hardwood, and the resounding CLANG of the bowl makes Hunter shoot violently out of sleep.
“Huh?! Whassit—Eda? What happened? Are you alright?”
“Fine, kid,” she says, swallowing down the rage that’s still bubbling hot in her throat. “’S alright, just got a little clumsy and knocked over a cauldron. Sorry for waking you.”
“Sorry for falling asleep,” Hunter responds. He grabs a towel and hurries to clean up the oozing purple goo.
Eda waves him off, “Eh, I don’t mind. You kids need your rest. Growing bodies and all that.”
Hunter still hesitates, looking at her for a beat too long as if double-checking to make sure she wasn’t really upset. Eda holds back a sigh, a twinge of pity flickering through her that he’d even have to look at her like that in the first place. All the damage from Belos couldn’t be wrapped up in a month, she supposed.
She snatches up the cauldron, still dripping with the ruined potion. Peachy. She’ll have to call Lilith to get her scrying potion recipe. Though maybe not having this in the house was a good idea. Eda doesn’t want to risk His Royal Highness dropping in on any more unexpected house calls.
“Eda?”
She looks up at Hunter. The kid chewing on his bottom lip, wringing the half-soiled towel between scarred hands.
“I just…I wanted to say thank you,” Hunter says shyly. “I know having me here hasn’t exactly been easy—not only because of the fugitive thing, but because I’m…” He flounders for a moment, and Eda can only pretend to know what’s going through his mind right now. “…me,” he finishes finally. “You’ve been so kind and patient with me, it’s so much more than I deserve, and no matter what happens next—”
“Hey, no.” Eda cuts him off with a swift and gentle beratement. She sets the cauldron on the table and crowds closer to him, curling one hand around his cheek. The kid automatically leans into the touch, and Eda can’t help but wonder how Belos could have ever hurt a child who was as sweet as this one.
“You may be one bratty little shit, but you’re my bratty little shit. And Mama says you deserve all the smothering that comes with being a child of the Owl Lady.”
Then, to prove her point, she swoops down and quickly places feather-light kisses on the tip of his nose, forehead, and his scar, until Hunter squawks and shoves her away. He’s practically glowing, flushed all the way to the tips of his ears.
“Gross,” he snaps, rubbing furiously at his face. “I’m never helping you with your potions ever again.”
“I’ll accept your terms. Now get upstairs, it’s way past your bedtime.”
“I don’t have a bedtime, I’m not a baby.” Hunter sticks out his tongue but obeys, slipping out of the kitchen and disappearing into the rest of the house. Eda shakes her head as she watches him go.
Kids. What could ya do with ‘em?
58 notes · View notes
Text
Babylon (l.h)
End Up Here -Part 5
Pairing: Luke Hemmings x 5sos! Fem! Reader
Summary: A lot has happened and too many things were left unsaid. Even after a month they still find ways to be in each others mind.
Warnings: Angst and smut. Mentions of vioence, physical abuse, mental abuse, sexual abuse, harassment, cheating, fighting, sexism, frustrations, alcohol. Language and some grammatical errors (English is not my first language, I’m sorry)
Word count : 10.1 k
Author’s Note: I cried a lot writing this, so I’m sorry. Final Part coming up March 16th! Remember that Reblogs, Feedback, Comments and Likes are very important! You have no idea how much they help me ❤️ Hope you like it and Happy Reading 🦋🌻✨
My Materialist // wanna be part of my tag list?
Tumblr media
Series Materialist || part 1 || part 2 || part 3 || part 4
Tumblr media
Liked by banksmadden, 5soslover55 and 1,750,316 others
yn5sos how did I end up here?
View all 55,432 comments
ashtonirwin who’s there with you?
hater7 pathetic
ynfan2 LEAVE HER ALONE PLEASE
5sosfan9 this is so irresponsible. I thought you were better.
↪️ yn5sos me too
*
“OUT OF CONTROL: Singer Y/N L/N seeing partying once again after the concert. L/N was last seen with a crowd of people, none of which were her bandmates” 
“Sensitive, are we? On their last concert, Y/N L/N from the band 5 Seconds of Summer was caught running away from the stage mid-show, leaving her poor bandmates Calum Hood and Michael Clifford to finish the song for her. L/N came back minutes later to finish the show. Videos show the singer crying along to the love songs” 
“5SOS BREAKING UP? SINGER Y/N L/N GOING M.I.A ON BAND’S SOCIAL MEDIA LEAVES FANS CONFUSED AND WORRIED” 
*
“Y/N?!” Ashton kept banging at the door. His patience ran thin as the girl refused to answer “Y/N! C’mon!” 
“She’s still not answering?” A voice called behind him. 
Calum and Michael were already dressed up, ready for another day of interviews in a foreign language. Ashton assumed that the girls were already downstairs waiting for them. 
The older man shook his head, frustration clear on his face as he kept banging on the door like it was his drums. 
“Y/N, I will break down the door if you don’t open it!” 
It wasn’t an empty promise. They could pay the hotel after but he’d be damned if something happens to Y/N. 
She hasn’t been herself since Luke left. When they came back from doing promo that day they were met with the news of him leaving. Y/N didn’t leave her room that whole day. 
They were mad, furious even, with Luke. All the things they warned him about were thrown down the drain. They told them not to believe the media and to talk to Y/N but he did none of those things, he only made it worse for all of them, especially the girl who was now spending half the tour absent-minded over heartbreak. 
She told them several times that she was fine “I asked him to leave” She would say. But they know better than to believe her right away when she says those stuff, not after that night when she told them the truth about Madden. They swore never to make that mistake again, but history was repeating itself! Only this time it was ten times worse. 
Y/N would go out every night after the show, no matter in which part of the world they found themselves in. She was determined to drown herself in alcohol rather than self-pity. They tried to spot her several times but she wouldn’t listen, so they agreed that at least one of them would accompany her whenever she went out just to make sure that she is safe and that she doesn’t go too far. 
Last night, however, it was Michael’s turn but Beth felt sick so he couldn't go. He texted Calum, but he was already asleep so he didn’t see the message. Ashton was out with Dani for a date night and when he came back he found Michael in the lobby asking for some medicine for Beth’s stomach and when Calum answered their call with a sleepy voice they realized that Y/N was alone. 
And now she wouldn’t answer the door. 
“Y/N, I swear to God!”
“Why do you gotta bring the lord into this?” 
The three men turned around and found Y/N standing next to them. Her hair was messy and her makeup was smudged, but his eyes remained empty as she looked at them quizzically. 
“Were you already downstairs this whole time?!” Ashton asked, raising his voice. Y/N cringed as she shushed him.
“Ugh, could you talk any louder? My head is killing me”
Calum looked at his friend up and down, realizing what was happening “You just came back, didn’t you?”
All three of them turned their heads to her, unable to believe what was in front of them. This wasn’t the Y/N they knew. She was never like this, ever. 
Y/N rolled her eyes at the sad, angry, and pitiful looks of her friends. She didn’t need to answer what was obvious. 
“Where were you all this time?” Michael asked “We were worried sick” 
“Wow, thanks dad,” She said with sarcasm, walking towards her door as she tried to find her key somewhere along with her pockets “I was at the bar. Did you know they open 24 hs? There’s no such thing as the last call here! I love this country” 
She let out a little squeal of joy when she finally found her key, pushing Ashton out of the way with the side of her body as she inserted it on the lock. 
“We have an interview in 30 minutes!” He reminded her.
“Yeah, your girl told me that downstairs” She answered before she started to close the door “Have fun with that” 
But before she could close it completely, Ashton’s foot got in the way.
“You can’t keep doing this, Y/N,” He said with a serious tone, ignoring the pain of the door hitting his foot, still trying to close on him. 
Y/N pushed a little harder “I want to sleep, Ashton. Good night” 
“No! Goddammit, Y/N. This has gone too far!” 
She opened the door, making Ashton trip, and almost fell to the floor in front of her. She was beyond pissed as she began to talk.
“No! Everything has already gone too far, I’m just catching up!” She spat loudly, making the boys look at her in surprise “Madden went too far, the media went too far, the industry went too far and Luke went too far. And I let them crash into me like I’m just a bystander, waiting to pick up the pieces they left of me! So excuse me for finally doing whatever they thought I did. Forgive me for catching up to this fucked up world and finally live up to their false expectations! But I’m not allowed to break down, not right now and probably not ever! So I will keep running. Maybe that way, if I catch up, they’ll leave me the fuck alone” Her eyes filled with tears as she spoke, but she will not cry in front of them. Not anymore “So, good fucking night” 
Ashton closed his eyes when he felt the wind of the door slamming inches away from his face. He raised his hand to knock again, but soon he let it fall with a sigh. 
He turned around to face the guys and they all had the same hurt expression, not because she hurt them, but because she was hurting herself. They all thought she was doing it unconsciously, but now it was rather obvious that she knew exactly what she was doing. 
Y/N is destroying herself because there’s almost nothing left of her. So she’s speeding up the process. 
“We can’t leave her like that” Michael said in a whisper, none of them were looking at the door right now, all their eyes were set on the floor as they contemplated their options.
“Well, she doesn’t want to see us. That’s for fucking sure” Calum murmured. 
The three men stood in silence in the hallway. Breathing heavily from time to time as their minds tried to find a way to reach out to Y/N before it was too late. 
“We have to do something” Michael broke the silence again, fidgeting with his fingers as he met the worried eyes of his two best friends “The fans are already saying that she’s going to leave the band and-“
“No,” Ashton interrupted him, clenching his jaw as the headlines of the articles ran through his mind “We are not letting that happen” 
“But what if she wants to?”
“Then that’s not our Y/N/N,” He said “And I refuse to lose her this way or in any way, for that matter”
After a few minutes, it was clear that Y/N was not coming out of her room any time soon. So the boys had to get downstairs to get to the interviews, already thinking about excuses to justify her absence once again. 
They wanted to stay with her, but management was already being too hard on them as it is, and they didn’t want Y/N to pay the consequences if they didn’t show up to at least one promo interview. So they had no choice but to leave her alone in her room. 
Once the elevator doors opened, the three of them were met with the worried eyes of their girlfriends who quickly met up with them halfway. 
“How is she doing? She didn’t speak to us when she came through the doors” Bethany explained as she stood next to Michael, grabbing his hand in comfort.
Ashton just shook his head.
“We talked,” Kat said with a sigh “We decided that we are staying here with her” 
“What?”
“You’ll be fine in the interviews without us, but she needs someone. Even if we just wait for her in the lobby all day. Someone needs to check up on her” Kat continued. 
“She’s lonely,” Danielle followed, “Even if she doesn’t want to admit it. She’s hurting too much for words to even describe” 
The boys knew they were right. Even if Y/N doesn’t want to, they will still be there for her every step of the way. They were not going to leave her to drown. 
“Thank you,” Ashton said, truthfully “But there’s gotta be something else we could do for her… just standing by and keeping an eye on her while she wastes away is just…” 
He couldn’t finish the sentence, he didn’t need to. They all knew what he was referring to; that damn feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. 
“We’ll figure something out,” Calum said confidently “We are not going to give up on her”
*
There was nothing much to do back in L.A. as Luke found out when he stepped out of the plane almost a month ago. His life has completely changed since he met her and now… Now she was gone and he was left with nothing.
It was his own fault, that’s what he reminded himself every single day since the morning Y/N asked him to leave. He acted on emotions rather than with reason, angry with the world that allowed him to get close to her just to rip her out of his hands the moment he realized his mistakes. He should’ve listened, should’ve fought, should’ve stayed. He should’ve done a lot of things and now he doesn’t even have the chance to fix it. 
He hasn’t checked anything about Y/N since he came back. No articles, no tweets, no posts… nothing. He feels as if he didn’t have the right anymore. He never had the right to do it from the beginning, not without letting them fill his brains with lies that eventually left him in pieces.
How could he? How could he let all those things get to him? Everyone told him to ignore them, not to believe the lies that were written for the clicks and the gossip. He knew the truth, he lived with it, and yet, he had turned on her the second it had become too much. 
Y/N was a private person and Luke could never understand why. Why if she was so private with her life did every news article write about her? They were all lies. And if he had at least an ounce of decency he would’ve realized that sooner and stand by her side instead of siding with the media. Yet, those thoughts were sticking with him at the back of his head, haunting him even in his sleep. 
How easy it was for him to turn away from her. How easy it was for him to leave her. But how hard it was to ignore the love he feels for her, knowing that she won’t take him back and with good reason. Y/N deserves better, in every way, shape, or form. She was such a bright light in such a dark world, and he just hopes she will be strong enough to see it someday, even if he’s not by her side anymore.
God, he was just a fucking idiot. 
And now, as he walked past the coffee shop where they first met while he fought the urge to cry again, he was willing to beat himself up for it. For losing the only person he cared about just because he wasn’t brave enough to fight for her as he should’ve. There wasn’t anything that didn’t remind him of Y/N, nothing he could do to shake the self-inflicted pain he caused, so he thought better than to let it consume him. 
Luke sat on an empty bench near the campus, his classes didn’t start until a month from today but he longed for some kind of distraction. Once he settled, he took out his notebook and started writing. He doesn’t write about love anymore, rather he wrote about the loss of it while still mourning it fresh on the flesh. Finally understanding what Ashton meant when he said that heartbreak breaks you, and, for a moment, he thought about how she might feel at this moment; if she, at least once, thought of him with something wasn’t hate.
He spent hours sitting outdoors, writing as if his time were to end at any moment. He wrote letters of forgiveness, poems of grief, and free thoughts of the guilt he was feeling. He didn’t mention her, but they were all about and for her. For his Y/N who was now a world away and who he will not call his ever again. 
It must’ve been late when his phone started to ring; the streetlights were starting to lit up the pavement as the sun started to set, leaving soft shades of pink and purple to cover up the sky. He didn’t know the number, so he let it ring thinking it might be just one company trying to sell him something he didn’t need. 
But the unknown caller was relentless; calling and calling until Luke decided to answer after the fourth time. 
“Hello?” He said, annoyed by the interruption. He didn’t want to talk to anyone; not like he had anyone to talk to, after all. 
“You fucker” The voice at the other end said. Luke froze when he recognized it. 
“A-Ashton?” 
“Were you expecting the fucking queen?” He sounded angry and even through the phone he left Luke completely intimidated as he sunk into his seat. 
“How - Whose number is this?” Luke asked, knowing he had all their numbers saved in his phone. 
“Would you have answered if you saw my name on the screen?” He wouldn’t, they both know it. But at the same time…
“Why are you calling me?” He finally muttered, his head wrapped around the only reason Ashton, out of all people, would be calling him. He knew it was not to catch up “Is Y/N okay?! Did something happen to her?!” 
Something must be terribly wrong if Ashton was calling him. That man was very protective over his best friend and Luke was sure he would’ve killed him if he found him the day where he yelled at her, knowing that Y/N must’ve told him everything. He knew Y/N was not going to forgive him and neither will the boys for that matter. That day he lost more than just his girl. 
Ashton laughed without any kind of humor “No, she’s not. Of course, she’s not! You happened to her, mate. I don’t know what the fuck you did but she hasn’t been the same since you left.” 
Luke’s eyes widened “She didn’t tell you?” 
If he thought about it, it really wasn’t that surprising. Y/N never talked about her problems with him, but the boys always knew everything, them being the only people she knew she could trust with her whole heart. Luke had always been jealous of that, but once he found out the truth of why she kept some things for herself he understood why she could only trust her bandmates with it. He immediately thought that she would tell them everything, every word he said and the hateful words he wrote, but she didn’t and that could not mean anything good. 
“She told us enough. That you believed the lies of her and Madden and didn’t let her explain before you lashed out and she asked you to leave. Not a single detail about it, only that you were gone and were not coming back. I guess she didn’t want us to kick your ass, but Luke, you better be certain that-”
“I know!” Luke said with a sigh “I deserve it” 
“Dude, what the fuck did you do to her?” 
How could he tell him? How could he mutter the courage to tell one of his best friends how he absolutely fucked up? Ashton would hate him, with every reason in the world he should hate him. Luke just hoped that he didn’t. 
He, Calum, and Michael were the only friends he knew since he met Y/N. They took him in, welcomed him into the group with gritted teeth with the only condition to never hurt their friend. And after a year of being friends, he broke not only Y/N’s trust but theirs as well. And the fact that Y/N didn’t tell them what he’d done seemed cruel because now he had to. Breaking more hearts than their own. 
“I fucked up, Ash” Luke muttered, rubbing his eyes with his fingertips as he crouched forward on the bench and placing his elbows on the top of his thighs, getting ready to face the consequences of his actions “I fucked up badly. I was just- You saw those articles, you saw those tweets and those photos. She never talked about him so I thought… What was I supposed to think? She had a reputation, and with the way, she acted the night before it all made sense to me. So I snapped”
“Luke, I swear to GOD if you touched her-”
“NO! God no, I would never!” Luke quickly stated, horrified at the thought of ever hitting her. He was not like that. He would never be like that “But the things I said to her… fuck, Ash. I threw everything in her face, called her a whore and a cheater without giving her a chance to explain herself. I was so fucking angry and she didn’t say a word. She took all of it in silence and I kept going, even when she begged me to stop I kept going... I didn’t know. You must know that I didn’t know what happened to her or her past with Madden. If I knew then I would’ve never-” 
“But you did” 
Ashton's words were simple, but they cut deeper than a knife through Luke’s heart. He never heard him sound so disappointed and angry. It reminded him of her and the last words she said to him.
“Luke, this girl has been through so much and you still went and dragged her through the mud just to hurt her”
“I didn’t want to-”
“Don’t fucking interrupt me” Ashton barked into the phone “You did. She gave you everything she could give and you threw it on her face like it was nothing without a chance to explain herself. And it’s not like she could run off, turn off her comments and go back to a normal life! I have never seen Y/N so broken since-” He stopped “What did she tell you?” 
Luke knew he was referring to Madden. He remembers her face covered in tears, lips trembling and body shaking as she told him what happened in that relationship. He finally saw the hurt and scars that covered her soul. 
“She told me what she could” 
Ashton sighed “Then you must know that she would never go back to him,” He said, Luke could tell by his voice that he was hurting, too “He met her at a concert in our second world tour as a solo act. He is the son of a very famous producer and they hit it off right away. We didn’t know exactly when things turned for the worse, but we knew something was happening. She would cover herself more, never hanging out with us unless he was present, she wouldn’t eat in front of him or talk to any of us directly unless it was something about work and that still pissed him off. We all heard the rumors of him cheating on her, but she always dismissed them saying that he loved her and he would never do that. I still wonder what other things we didn’t know that she’s still processing.
It wasn’t until the night he almost killed her that we understood the severity of it. She came by my house while I and the others were hanging out. She was bleeding all over herself, her face was covered in blood just as her shirt and pants. It was terrifying; I don’t remember ever driving that far to the hospital, paying the nurses to keep quiet because she kept asking to keep it a secret. That bastard broke her nose and one of her ribs. She had bruises on her arms, stomach, eye, inner thighs, and legs and a cut over her eyebrow. She lost a lot of blood on her way to my house so Calum had to donate some of his because she needed a transfusion. She stayed in the hospital overnight; the next morning we filed a restraining order against Madden and she moved in with me that same day, promising herself and to us that she would never let someone do that again to her. We promise we would never let anything happen to her from that moment on” 
Luke was shedding silent tears at Ashton’s story, all the things he imagined happened to her didn’t compare to the reality she suffered. And he only made it worse. 
“She was never the same after that” Ashton continued “Until you came into the picture” 
Ashton could hear Luke crying over the phone, his sniffs had given him away. But he knew he needed to hear this; he needed to know. 
“We didn’t want you to get close to her, afraid you might hurt her the same way Madden did, but she insisted that you were different, that you were a good guy. And against our better judgment, we believed her. We never expected that little by little, we would get our Y/N/N back. She was smiling again, laughing and singing songs about the love we never thought she’d be able to sing again. It was so obvious that she loved you that we couldn't do anything about it but be happy for her, you brought her back to us. 
I guess Madden saw that and didn’t like it, that’s why he came to see her that night. We don’t know much about what happened there or what he said to her, but she was shaking when she came back. All she said was that he cornered her, threatened her and called the paparazzi that worked for his father to take pictures of them, and since we were not in America, there was nothing the restraining order to do to help her”
“He did what?!” Luke shouted at the phone, fuming over the fact that that fucker decided to get close to her when she was vulnerable. He promised that if he ever saw him he’d kill him. 
“Now you care about what happened?” Ashton asked in return, frustration lacing his voice at Luke’s sudden feeling of protection “Luke, she called you over ten times that day as she was breaking down in the green room. She asked us all if we could get ahold of you because the driver came back without you. She was so fucking scared and you weren’t there when she needed you by her side. So don’t you fucking dare get offended right now. It already happened and you weren’t there” 
Ashton was right. Luke had no right to be furious at the moment, given that he was the one who abandoned her deliberately when he saw the pictures of her and her abuser. He had the excuse of ignorance, but that wasn’t enough. It never has, not it ever will be, because his girlfriend needed him at the time and he left her alone. 
He cried into the phone, not caring if Ashton could listen or not. He was so fucking angry at himself, at Madden, at the world… He was supposed to protect her, he said he would and then he gave the final punch. He failed her because of his insecurities. 
“I’m sorry” He cried, but Ashton was having none of that. 
“I’m not the one you should be apologizing for”
“She doesn’t want to-”
“Listen to me you shit” Ashton hissed into the phone “I don’t care what you think she wants. She is destroying herself over the fact that the last person she thought would hurt her left her because he chose to believe the lies of the media over his own girlfriend”
Luke’s heart broke all over again “She’s what?” 
“Oh my god, how dense are you, dude? Now you decide to ignore the gossip?! She’s been going out all night, drinking herself to death and refusing help from any of us. She is slowly killing herself by killing her soul” He sounded worried, scared even, as he muttered the last words “We are losing her” 
“Wh-what can I do?” Luke asked helplessly. Not being able to bear the thought of Y/N being gone. 
“We booked you a flight. Figure it out and don’t make us regret it” 
*
“Forgetting the lyrics again? Y/N L/N surely knows how to displease an audience”
“Y/N L/N MISSES YET ANOTHER INTERVIEW AFTER PAPARAZZI CAUGHT HER AT A PARTY THE NIGHT BEFORE”
“What is going on with YN?” 
*
He arrived late to the hotel, having his flight delayed for a few hours, and the boys were already waiting for him in the lobby. Luke took a deep breath as he spotted them from afar, they were talking among them, concerned looks covering their expressions as they looked through their phone. 
Luke walked up to them, mustering enough courage to say “Hi,” 
The three men turned towards the blonde, Calum quickly walking up to him and punching him in the face, caught Luke by surprise as he backed up holding his nose and looking at Calum with widened, surprised eyes. 
“That’s for hurting my best friend, you asshole!” He said, making the other guests look in their direction. 
Luke hissed as he made sure he wasn’t bleeding “Thank you. I deserved that” He said, blinking twice “But to be honest I was expecting Ashton to deliver the blow” 
“Calum won at rock, paper, scissors” Ashton shrugged “But that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. We still need to have a serious talk and I might punch you there” 
Luke nodded, understanding that he did not only fail Y/N, but he also failed them. He promised them that he would take care of their best friend and they believed him. They even helped them get together and served as trust advisers for Luke about what it means to date a celebrity and yet he ignored every single one of them. 
He might never get their trust back, but now they needed to focus on other things more important than that.
“Where is she?” He asked. 
“Out,” Michael answered “The girls went with her. We don’t want her to be alone when she’s drunk” 
They started walking towards the door, getting into the car that would take them to Y/N and the rest of the girls. “Do you know what you will say to her when you see her?” Calum asked. 
“No,” Luke answered honestly “I guess I’ll know then”
“And you better not fuck it up again, Hemmings, or I swear it’s going to be the last thing you do” 
*
The dance floor was crowded. People were dancing one against the other as the beats of the songs reverberated all over their bodies and started the flame of having just one night of fun. Among them it was Y/N, dancing in the corner with her friends and ignoring their concerned eyes as she moved freely thanks to the alcohol that was cursing through her veins. She knew she had to wake up soon, but she just wanted to keep living this dream every night instead of facing the nightmares that would come in the morning.
She missed how easy everything was before that night when the nightmare started. When she couldn’t find Luke in the crowd of their concert nor their bedroom late at night. Now she doesn’t even want to go to sleep, knowing that she won’t find him there ever again, all because she asked him to leave. 
But he wanted to leave, even before she asked him he was already getting his stuff to leave her “cheating ass”, writing words that describe their relationship as toxic. Is that what it was? Were they toxic or just scared? She couldn’t tell the difference anymore, not after spending night after night trying to erase those words out of her mind, but they were already scared forever in her skin. She promised herself she would carry them as a battle wound, as proof that no matter what you do, you could never win when the whole world seems against you even when you have done nothing wrong… Unlike now. 
She knew what she was doing, she knew she was disappointing a lot of people. She was disappointed in herself, too, but she couldn’t stop. The world was finally telling truths about her and it felt nice to at least have that. They denied her the truths for so long, feeding everyone lies that they would believe without hesitation or her explanation, just like Luke did, and now she was finally acting like people supposed she had. Now, at least she had control over that. 
She wondered if Luke ever thinks about her. If he’s forgiven her for whatever he thinks she’s done or if he continues to read the articles and rejoice in the fact that he was right, even when he wasn’t, he was right. Maybe he’d be proud? 
“Darling, are you alright?” She heard Bethany shout over the music. All the girls were looking at her. She didn’t realize she stopped dancing. 
However, she just nodded “I’m going to get more drinks!” She said, faking a smile even though the girls could tell that she was crying. But she was so far out she couldn’t even feel the tears that rolled down her cheek.
Y/N gripped the marble countertop of the bar, trying to hold herself steady. She was thinking again, she didn’t want to think anymore. She ordered two shots of tequila and drowned them down before asking for two more. But before she could drown the fourth one, someone snatches the drink out of her hand.
“Heeey” She slurred “Don’t get between me and my- oh, hello!” She smiled happily at the stranger who took her drink from her “You look a lot like my ex-boyfriend” 
Luke’s eyes widened at the word. She has never called him her boyfriend in front of people before. He glanced behind her and saw Michael, Ashton, and Calum already standing next to their girls, nodding encouragingly at him. 
“Ex-boyfriend?” He asked, eyes meeting hers and noticing the glimmer of tears in them. But she kept on smiling and nodding before she started to pout.
“But shhhhh,” She said, laying her head on the counter, almost like she wanted to take a nap “It’s a secret. No one knows we’re together… or were together. They will never leave him alone if they find out”
“Who?” 
Y/N looked to the sides, almost as if making sure no one was listening before she leaned into him and whispered “The media,” Then she started to giggle “If they found out I have a boyfriend then they will want to know everything about him! And poor Luke wouldn’t be able to handle that, he shouldn’t go through that” 
Luke’s heart broke at the sight of the drunk girl sighing in the bar, holding her empty shot glass and sniffing every other word to stop the tears from falling.
“He doesn’t deserve that, the hate. He’s a good guy, a little shy and awkward, but he’s nice. But the media is cruel and a liar, and I don’t want him to feel baaaaad. How stupid it is that because I love someone they should get hated on, right? Hahaha, I just wanted to protect hiiiim, cause I love him sooo so much. I even protected him from my friends! You know?! I never told them what he did to me in case they wanted to keep their friendship going, Luke is a very shy guy and he loved them very muchhh, I couldn't take that from him"
“Even if he hurt you?” Luke’s words were careful and filled with pain. When the boys told him that she was getting drunk each night he never imagined her this far gone. He never imagined her this sad. 
Y/N shook his head “I deserved to get, hic, hurt” She said between hiccups “He said I was a cheating whore monster liar, b-b-but I don’t blame himmmm. I’m sad but at least he doesn’t have to deal with me anymore and this BULLSHIT” She yelled, throwing her hands up to the sky. But then she started crying, sobbing as she tumbled backward before Luke caught her.
Luke was trying to contain his own tears as she sobbed into his embrace “I just want to tell him that I’m sorry I couldn’t protect him from myself” She cried “I wanted to be happy with him but we are both sad and toxic for each other. That’s what he said in his poem. I-I-I just w-want him to be ha-happy” 
Luke cried as he held her, burying his face into her hair as both of their bodies trembled. Even when she had every right to hate him, she still wants to protect him. Something he should’ve done. 
“I’m so sorry, my love” He cried, making Y/N look at him with worried, tearful eyes.
“Oh, don’t cry, stranger,” She said as she cupped his face and wiped his tears “I’m sad but you should be happy!” 
“Why?” 
“C-cause you’re not me” 
Luke stared into her eyes, she was smiling while the tears kept falling. Even at her lowest, she tried to be strong for everyone around her, even the stranger she thought he was. He pressed his lips on a thin line and nodded, hugging her tighter as if he was trying to hold on to the last piece of her that didn’t show coldness to him before she remembers everything in the morning. At least he would hold her one more time. 
Y/N didn’t understand much of what was happening but she returned the hug with the same energy, letting the stranger cry into her shoulder as she rubbed his back with her fingertips, wondering what Luke was doing right now. She decided that she didn’t want to know. 
“I want to sleep,” She said after a minute of holding the man. 
Luke pulled away from her, wiping his tears as he nodded “Then let’s get you to bed, my love” 
She shook his head, pulling on his hand as he tried to walk them out of the club “But Luke won’t be there when I wake up” 
All the wind was knocked out of his lungs, did she want him there? “I’ll be there,” He said. 
“What?” 
“He’ll be there. I promise”
Luke gave one last look at the group. They were all staring at him with worried and hopeful eyes, actually surprised that this didn’t end badly just yet. Luke nodded at them and pulled Y/N with him, the rest of the guys followed him into the car as they made their way back to the hotel. 
Y/N slept all the way back, her head was placed in Luke’s shoulder as the blond kept staring at her, silent tears still dying on his cheek. The guilt was eating him alive; it was painful to see her this way, but at the same time he knew that she was at peace as she slept, letting the world fade for at least a few minutes before reality came crashing down.
When they reached the hotel, Luke carried her back into her room. He sat her down on the bed and started to take off her shoes as she lazily rubbed the tiredness from her eyes, suddenly waking up for a moment.
“Luke?” She asked. Luke raised his head and was met with her eyes already locked with his, a glaze of new tears adorned her pupils as she whispered “Am I dreaming right now?” 
“No,” He answered, voice as soft as hers as he got up and placed a kiss on the top of her head “No, you’re not, darling”
“Good. I always hate to wake up without you there” She said, looking over her shoulder to the empty side where Luke used to sleep. 
They both stayed quiet for the rest of the night. Luke took off her silk shirt and leather pants and helped her put on one of the big shirts she’s used to sleeping in. He wiped the makeup off her face and followed her nighttime routine without missing a step. When she was done, she curled up to her side and quickly fell into a deep slumber. 
Luke stared at the girl, his heart aching for her as he saw how fragile she looked while she slept. He thought about all the things she said that night, how he never considered her side of the story before. How he just assumed that she was hiding him because she didn’t want people to find out she was taken when in reality she didn’t want people to hurt him the way they hurt her. The way he hurt her.
Tears started to pick up in his eyes again. He hated to cry but there was nothing else he could do at the moment. Everything became too much too fast and he didn’t know if he could fix it. So all he could do was cry for the girl he loves and the girl he lost, not knowing if she would ever come back to him. 
“I’m sorry” He whispered in a quiet sob, getting into bed with her and holding her close “I’m sorry, Y/N. I’m sorry, my love” He kept murmuring into her hair until sleep claimed him as well. 
*
The next morning Y/N wakes up in her hotel bed but she doesn’t know how she got there. She looks to her side but the bed is empty, yet she finds an aspirin and a bottle of water in her nightstand. She wonders who was the poor soul that had to go with her last night to make sure she doesn't end up drunk in a ditch, at least they succeeded. 
Then she hears water running up in the bathroom and her heart sinks. Did she bring someone here last night? No, she wouldn’t do that. But she was very drunk… Oh my god, what did she do? 
Luke could hear her shuffling in the bed as he brushed his teeth. “It is now or never,” He thought, but he didn’t know what he would find behind the door. She didn’t know him yesterday, but today was another story and Luke’s heart shrank at the thought of Y/N hating him for coming back, even if it was to apologize to her. He was terrified, but he was tired of running away. 
As soon as he opened the door he was met with Y/N’s surprised gaze. The girl was quick to cover herself up, cheeks tinted red at the sight of her ex-boyfriend in her hotel room. She didn’t miss the flash of hurt that ran through his face when she did that. 
“Luke…” She said in one breath, suddenly feeling self-conscious by his presence “What are you- Did we-?” 
“No,” He answered quickly, stepping closer to the bed “No, we didn’t. You were drunk and I- You know I would never do that to you” 
“I thought we didn’t know each other…” 
Her words lingered in the air between them, creating a tension that could be cut with a knife. How fast did they become strangers when they used to know every single cardinal point of their bodies, every breath they took and what they meant, every sigh, every look… Now they were just two people in a room with so much to say but with no words coming out of either of their mouths.
Luke noticed how her eyes changed. While they were no longer filled with tears, they now laid emotionless in front of him, dull and empty as she stared at him. 
“I did this to her,” He thought “I took the light of her eyes. It’s my fault” 
She cleared her throat, breaking the silence as she spoke “Well, thank you for bringing me here last night. You can go now” She said, tearing her eyes away from him as she sat on her edge of the bed. 
Luke stood still “No,” 
“I’m asking you to leave” Y/N clarified, her voice growing stronger but still a bit sore. 
“And I’m telling you I’m not going” He responded, taking tentative steps towards her “Something I should’ve done all those weeks ago” 
He was standing in front of her in a matter of seconds; he crouched to meet her eyes but she quickly turned her face away “Y/N, please” He begged, his hand coming to rest on her cheek as his knuckles caressed her skin while the other one was placed on top of her hands, both intertwined with each other on top of her thighs “You could look at me yesterday, please don’t deny me at least that. Let me see you, my love” 
But Y/N didn’t move, her face stayed turned to the side with her hair covering most of it. She couldn’t look at him, she just couldn’t. It was too hard, too painful. Luke sighed.
“Okay, it’s okay. You don’t have to, but at least listen to me, yeah? I just- I need you to listen, Y/N, please” He pleaded, placing both hands on top of hers “Y/N, I love you” 
The knot in his throat became tighter as he noticed how the veins of her neck tensed and she started to grip her hands tighter. But she needed to hear this, and even though it hurt to see her like that, he continued. 
“I love you. I love you. I love you” He said, voice breaking at the end, impossible to fight that choking feeling in his throat “I loved you since the moment I saw you. You were all dressed up in Calum‘s clothes and you had a pen in your hair, and I thought you were the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen, but you were so nervous about trying to clean the coffee you spilled that you didn’t even notice I fell for you without knowing your name” He let out a tearful chuckle “I started to fall that day and I haven’t stopped, not even for a second. Y/N you are- You are the best thing that has ever happened to me and I was an idiot for not seeing that. I don’t know what I have to do for you to forgive me, but I’ll do anything, my love. Anything to make it better. Cause I followed you blindly from the start, and I’m so sorry I let you down. I’m so, so fucking sorry that I let my insecurities come in our way. I love you, even then I never stopped loving you”
He could see how her chin started to tremble, she was trying to hold off the tears as much as him “I - I wish I could go back in time. I would’ve never said the things I said, I would’ve never doubted you or left without listening to what you had to say. I should’ve fought harder for you, but I was a coward. I still am, if I’m being honest, but I will not run away, Y/N. Not anymore. I know I will never deserve you, but I’ll do my best and try. Because you, my love, are the love of my life, the greatest love I have and - and I can’t -“ 
It became too much for him. He couldn’t say anything else without breaking down. But he wanted her to know how much she meant for him, how much he is willing to fight for her if she lets him. She needed to know how sorry he was and how much he still loves her. But the words got stuck in his throat. The poet was left speechless.
“Y/N you are so strong,” He finally said “So strong, my love. And I’m so fucking proud of everything you do, I always have and always will be” He brought her hands to his lips and started pressing kisses all over it while wetting them with his tears “I wish I could take back everything I said. All those words were said out of anger and jealousy, that is not how I see you at all. You are so beautiful, Y/N, inside and out. So kind, so smart, so giving… You are perfect. And I love you, I love you, I love yo-”
Suddenly his words were interrupted by her lips as she started kissing him. Y/N didn’t want to keep listening anymore so she did the only thing he could, the thing she wanted to do the most since she saw him come out of the bathroom. 
Their hands flew to cup each other’s cheeks, keeping their faces as close as they could, feeling how their tears became one as they started to deepen the kiss. They rocked back and forward with the intensity of their energies colliding once again, it was everything they needed and more. Suddenly, Luke got up from the floor and brought Y/N along with her, pressing her against the wall as their lips never left each other.
“I love you” He breathed into her lips before kissing her again and again and again, already getting lost in the feeling of euphoria she brought to him “I love you”
She kept crying as their lips met, savoring every word, every praise that came from his mouth, trying hard to hold on to them as she felt her breath become short “I missed you” She cried into the kiss, pulling away to see his face. 
Luke’s eyes were blown wide as he stared at her, their lips were pink as they tried to catch their breaths. He knocked his forehead against hers before kissing it lightly “Please, forgive me” He begged, holding her tight against his chest. 
“Luke,” She whispered as she tugged on his shirt, making him look back at her “Kiss me” 
He looked at her softly, his baby blue eyes saying more than he ever could as he caressed her cheek one more time before leaning down and trapping her lips with his. He had no rush because there was no other place he’d rather be, no other person he’d rather spend time with. Only her. Only his Y/N. 
Her hands traveled tentatively under his shirt, softly caressing the skin of his back and his stomach as she parted her lips to grant him more access and control. Luke’s hand that was not cupping her cheek rounded around her waist, bringing her body closer to him with the need of feeling her, all of her. 
“Y/N…” He groaned, tilting his head back when he felt her kiss along his jaw and neck.
“Please…” She murmured against his skin, sucking and kissing on the spot that she knew would make him shiver. 
Luke pressed her against the wall with his body completely covering hers. He grabbed the back of her thighs and lifted her feet from the ground as she locked her legs around his waist. “Please,” She begged again, closing her lips around the shell of his ear and slightly biting into it. She could feel him getting hard as her hips moved forward, her core pressing against his hardening cock. She moaned softly into his ear  “Please, Luke. Please” 
The movement of her hips was all Luke needed to lose himself to her, thrusting right back at her and moaning at the friction of her soaked panties against his clothed erection. Her sound became more breathy and he knew she was getting close just by the friction alone, having spent too much time without this feeling. 
“Y/N…” Luke groaned into her after a particularly hard trust “I-”
“I know” She breathed “I need it too,” 
Without a second thought, Luke turned both of them around, still holding Y/N by the back of her thighs as he placed them back into the bed. Now it was his turn to kiss along her face, her lips, her neck… everywhere she would give him access to and would leave her breathing his name. His hands fidgeted with the hem of her shirt, taking it off completely in one swift move and occupying his hands by touching her breasts, massaging them softly as his lips closed against one of her nipples, tongue circling around the hard pebble until they were nice, erect and wet from his kiss only to do it again with the other one. 
Y/N was a whimpering mess under him, her fingers tangling in his hair as he sucked on her sweet spot, kissing down her body until his lips found her wet panties. He kissed over her clothes bundle of nerves, making her moan and begged for more as he swiftly hooked his long fingers at either side of her hips and pulled them down, kissing along her thighs up and down and up again only to finish tongue deep into her hole, lapping at her arousal and moaning against her at the taste of her. He always found her exquisite. 
Stars were playing behind her eyelids as she felt one finger inside her while Luke’s lips closed against her clit, sucking it lightly as he inserted another finger per her request, thrusting then inside and out as she chanted his name like a prayer when her walls clenched against them. 
Luke licked her clean as her fingers played with his hair, relishing this intimate moment as a precious memory for the future. When he pushed himself up he noticed that there were a new set of tears rolling down her cheeks “Are you okay, love?” He asked, “Did I hurt you?” 
She shook his head, looking up at him with teary eyes “I love you” 
His eyes soften at her words, hands caressing the side of her face as he leaned in without thinking, kissing her tears away with such care, never wanting to see them again.
“Luke…” She whispered, kissing his chin “Luke, make love to me” 
Blue eyes met Y/E/C, sharing all the love he had in them before leaning down again to trap her lips with his; tongues dancing together like it was the first time all over again where no other words were needed. 
Y/N helped him out of his shirt and shorts, pumping his cock in her hands as he moaned in her ear how good it felt before lining it up with her entrance, quiet gasps leaving each other’s mouths as they felt the familiar stretch when he bottomed out. 
Soft words and kisses were shared as Luke’s thrusts were slow and steady. It was silent, needy, passionate; it was everything they needed and more. Their hands explored the familiarity of their bodies, leaving faint marks as they enjoyed their shared pleasure.
“Please,” She begged against his lips, moaning as Luke started hitting her spot “Please, please, please, plea-” 
Her orgasm came over her like a wave and Luke was entranced with her face as it contorted in extasis, helping him reach his climax as he cum inside her, painting her walls as his thrusts became sloppy. 
They stayed like that for a while, kissing on top of each other as their bodies stayed connected in the most intimate way. But soon Luke had to get up, getting a wet cloth from the bathroom and cleaning her up, whispering sweet nothings to her as he did so. 
He climbed into the bed next to her, pulling her closer against his chest as his back rested against the headboard, drawing circles in the soft spot of her back and resting his chin on the top of her head. 
They must’ve fallen asleep after a while because when he opened his eyes again he felt Y/N crying into his chest.
“My love?” He asked, worry lacing his voice as he accommodated himself better so he could see her face. Y/N eyes were puffy and filled with tears as she struggled to contain a sob “What’s wrong?” 
Y/N sniffed, voice breaking as she asked “You love me?” 
Luke furrowed his eyebrows in confusion “What a stupid question,” He said as he started playing with your hair “Of course I love you” 
“But what else?” 
Her question confused him, even more, when he saw pure heartbreak spread along her face. 
“What else what?” 
“You love me and what else?” She repeated her question. 
“What else is there?” 
Luke’s answer made her lips tremble as a new set of tears filled her eyes. His heart fell to his stomach with her reaction, not knowing what he did to make her this upset “Baby, what’s wrong? Is love not enough?” 
Y/N shook her head as she took a deep breath, trying to find enough voice and courage to say what she needed. 
“I’m not perfect, Luke” 
“I know,” He said, bringing his fingers to caress your cheek but you shook your head.
“No, you don’t know” She stated, tears rolling down her cheek “You still see me as something out of your reach, as something you don’t deserve because you hold me to such standards that is impossible for me to live up to your expectations. I will let you down, even without wanting to, I will. And- a-and I don’t think I’ll be able to stand that look in your eyes once I do. I can’t go through that again” 
She cried softly for a while, trying to find the right words to say.
“Luke, I need you to listen to me very carefully and really think about what I’m asking for here, okay, love?” She said after collecting herself just enough. He nodded as he gave her his undivided attention “Luke, I love you. More than anyone in the world, I love you. I thought I would never say those words again but I can’t deny my feelings for you nor do I want to. I love you. But I also love my life” 
Luke’s eyes were fixed on her as she spoke, nodding along to what she was saying. She took another deep breath before continuing. 
“A life that is filled with concerts, traveling and recordings and parties and interviews… A life that I chose to follow my dreams and make them come true. A life I am not going to give up because it’s mine and I truly love it. But in this life, there are some bumps in the road. There will always be people trying to bring me down, sending hate to me and the ones I love, spreading rumors all around where sometimes you won’t be able to distinguish fiction from reality. With people trying to get to me, by flirting or abusing their power with threats. But I keep going, I deal with all of that because that’s just the way it is. I will go to an interview that might get twisted, I might go and get flirted on by a random stranger that works for publicity. I might have rumors of me dating people I haven’t even met! All of that without my consent or knowledge. But I agreed to this when I agreed to follow my dreams and I can’t help it when it happens and most of the time I can’t say anything about it even if it hurts. 
And when that happens I need to know that you will trust me. Because I cannot possibly ask you to leave your dreams to follow mine, meaning that we won’t be together all the time like we’re used to. And I need to know that you will trust me when I’m away from you”
Luke stayed quiet, his mind running a thousand miles per hour at her words. Could he trust her? When they were together on tour, and even at home in L.A, the rumors about Y/N were strong, so much so that he didn’t know if they were true or not. And even though he knew her, he still wasn’t sure. He doubted her, more times than not he did which ended up in him losing her until last night. He trusted her now, but…
“I don’t know,” He answered honestly, feeling like the weight of his shoulders was being lifted as he spoke “I don’t trust my mind, not when it’s about you. Not really. I trust you here, right now but I can’t promise that my insecurities won’t get in the way, changing that for the future. But I can try, I’ll do my best-”
“What if your best is not enough, Luke?” She asked, sucking the air out of both of them. 
“What?” He asked in return, voice small and soft. 
She sighed, blinking through the tears “What if- What if it’s not enough? You love me, but you don’t trust me. I love you, but I’m scared you’re going to run away every time you hear something about me that could tint the image of me you have in your mind. I’m scared of that Y/N because I’m not her and I might never be able to compete with her. I wish I could tell you that everything will change for the better, that love will be enough. But if we can’t see a future now…”
“There might not be a future at all” Luke finished for her. 
The truth hurt more than they could ever have imagined, but it was still the truth. Without trust, there is no love that could endure the passings of times, but they could try, couldn’t they? 
“What now?” He asked after a moment of silence. 
“Hold me?” 
Luke opened his arms and Y/N nested into them, setting her head upon his chest and letting his heartbeat be the melody of her heartbreak. “I love you” She whispered into his skin.
“I love you, too” 
“I might never stop loving you” 
“You don’t have to” 
She sighed “I know, that’s what scares me”
Luke nodded, even though she couldn't see him. He let his fingertips trace up and down her arms and back, serving as the only comfort he could give right now.
“Stay with me tonight?” She asked, tilting her head so she could look him in the eyes “Just one night the two of us where we can leave the world behind. Just us and for tonight that’s enough”
He smiled sadly “Morning will come eventually” 
“And what will happen to us in the morning?” 
Luke let out a sad sigh “I don’t know” 
.
.
Tags: @iknowyouthinkimbulletproof @mystic-232 @talksoprettyjjx @theshyspy @hoodhoran @flaneurcth @notinthesameguey @bubblegum18 @irwin-fletcher-ash @just-here-to-escape-from-reality @1980holland @wiiildflowerrr @myloverboyash @nicebasscalum @calumspupils @secretsicanthideanymore @the-ghost-of-ash​ @alltimesos @kingxnichole @givebuckyhisplumsnow @hufflehemm @wildflower98 @girl-toxxic
189 notes · View notes
dreamingofaizawa · 4 years
Text
Short Stack
Okay, so I recently started a series called Saving Her Sanity, and I had only gotten one part posted. But the more I reread it, the more I really hated the way I’d written it. So I’m postponing that and starting a different series. It’s gonna be a real rollercoaster ride of emotions, so buckle up.
Pro Hero! KiriBaku x ProHero! Fem! Reader
**18+ Fic**
Warnings: Angst, fluff, habitual self-harm, dissociation, swearing from obvious sources, alcohol. Coming up in later parts: smexy times, biting kink, double penetration, unprotected sex, more angst, traumatic past (but not super detailed cuz I can’t handle that shit my heart hurts already)
Word Count: 6.9k
Author’s Note: Alright folks, the reader is a fucking savage and stronger than the fucking hulk cause why the fuck not? Tbh body type isn’t discussed, the only thing is that she’s short af and the angry pomeranian and redhead boulder are freaking giants. Also, everyone’s in their mid-late twenties here. 
Part 2 - Part 3
Enjoy the read!
*
*
*
You dove out of the way of chunks of concrete, barely making it behind the corner of the alleyway. You took off sprinting, hopefully drawing the villain away from civilian activity. Thankfully he chased after you, onto an abandoned street, out in the open where you had the upper hand. Twirling around, you materialized a scythe and swung it straight at the enormous arm coming at you, nearly chopping off the villain’s fist completely. 
He stopped in his tracks and howled in pain, giving you the opening you needed. You charged him and dropped to the ground, taking his legs out as you slid under him. A chain materialized in place of the scythe and you wrapped it around his ankles and his undamaged hand, hog tying him in place. You’d only been fighting the villain for about five minutes, and backup wasn’t going to be there for at least another two, so you put a quirk cancelling cuff on him and began to wrap his bleeding wrist to keep him from bleeding out. 
As you waited for backup, you sat down and leaned against the villain, who’d passed out from blood loss, and tended to your own wounds from the encounter. Backup arrived, but it wasn’t what you expected. Instead of police, stomping toward you was none other than the number two hero Ground Zero. His vermillion eyes glanced between you and the villain that was quite literally twice your size, and the expression on his face looked ever so slightly confused at the scene he was witnessing. 
He stopped at your feet, glaring down at you for a few seconds, looked back at the villain, then back at you, and when he opened his mouth to speak the most absurd thing you’d ever heard came from his lips.
“How the hell did you do that?”
You looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, slightly irritated at the implication behind the question. Without a word, you stood up and dusted the dirt off your butt. You walked a few yards away, pulled out your phone and dialed the police, making sure they came with a vehicle that could fit the huge villain. When you turned back around to face Ground Zero, you didn’t expect him to be so close to you. He leaned down so you were face to face, narrowing his eyes at you and letting out what sounded like a growl. “I don’t like being ignored, dumbass.”
You rolled your eyes and glared right back at him. “Well I don’t like to be undermined, Ground Zero. I may be small but I can handle myself in a fight.” And it was true. You were very small, at a whopping 5 feet tall (152 cm). His eye twitched and jaw clenched, and you could almost see the steam coming from his ears. Before he could retort, you saw something being launched from behind him. You swung your leg under him and pinned him to the ground just in time to dodge a manhole cover as it whizzed above your heads.
Without hesitation you launched toward the second villain that appeared and quickly had him immobilized and cuffed on the ground next to the first. You turned back to the number two hero, who was still on the ground watching you with wide eyes. You walked over and held your hand out to him, offering to help him up. To your surprise he actually grabbed your hand and let you pull him to stand. He didn’t let go of your hand, instead looking at it, bewildered. 
“Can I have my hand back?” you looked at him blankly. He blinked a few times before releasing his grip. Soon the police arrived to take the villains, and once they left, you began to walk back to the agency since your patrol had ended a little while ago. Ground Zero ran after you and grabbed you by the wrist, turning you around to face him.
“What’s your name?” You raised an eyebrow at the man. “My hero name is Inventory. Now If you don’t mind, I’ve got paperwork to fill out.” He let go of your arm and walked alongside you. You knew why he was walking with you, seeing as you worked as a hero at his agency. As you walked into the building he turned to you with a quizzical look. Without even glancing in his direction you gave a small sigh. “Why am I not surprised that you don’t even know I work under you?”
He seemed slightly shocked. He made it a point to know who was working for him. After all, he couldn’t have anybody screwing up his agency’s reputation. Somehow, though, you’d managed to slip under his radar. Though considering your stature, hero rank, and the fact that you hadn’t made a single mistake since your debut, he figured he’d just brushed you off.
After you filled out all your paperwork, you changed out of your hero costume and into workout clothes and hit the agency’s gym. Like you always did, you went straight to the separate room reserved for sparring, expecting to have to go back out and find a partner. Today, though, you didn’t. As you entered the room, there was a certain angry blonde and a very muscular red-haired man sitting against the wall. 
“Well if it isn’t short stack” Ground Zero called out to you. Well that’s one way to get you mad. You tilted your head sharply to one side, then the other, your neck popping loudly as you took a deep breath to calm your anger. “Hello, Ground Zero. I didn’t expect you to be in here. I’ll just leave you to it then.” The irritation seeped into your voice as you turned around to leave the room.
Of course, the jackass had to go and say something else. “What? You too scared to spar against me? Am I too big for you to handle?” God damn it. You both knew you had taken down much larger opponents than him, and you knew it wasn’t very smart to fight your boss, but at this point you were pissed. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath through your nose.
He stood up and began stalking towards you, his heavy footsteps ringing in your ears. You dropped your duffel and whirled around, walking to him and meeting him in the middle of the room. At least sparring was only hand-to-hand combat, because you knew he’d easily overpower you if he could use his quirk. But you trained almost exclusively in hand-to-hand, because your quirk wasn’t combat related.
As you dropped into your fighting stance, he narrowed his eyes at you, clearly confused at the odd stance you were in. In all your years of training, you had developed your very own fighting style. He quickly shrugged off his confusion and put his arms up in front of his face, ready for whatever you were about to throw at him. The two of you stood there, waiting for the other to make the first move. As predicted, his patience ran out and you easily ducked and dodged the first few quick jabs he threw.
He kept throwing punches, each one a little more intense, and you could see he was getting irritated from how you were dodging every single one. Soon enough he was lunging at you with each punch he threw, his anger getting the best of him. Five minutes of him punching and you dodging had him fuming. You hadn’t even thrown a single punch. Still, it was a game of cat and mouse with you dodging everything he threw.
The whole time he’d been aiming at your face and shoulders, keeping his strikes high. But suddenly he launched at you and his right fist aimed straight for your stomach. Got him. You planted your right foot and spun counter-clockwise, grabbed his wrist with your left hand, grabbed his shoulder with your right, and used his own momentum to fling him over your head. He landed on his back with a thud, all the air pushed out of his lungs from the impact. 
You knew he’d have to take a few seconds to get up from that, and that meant you won the match in a single move. You stood over his head, smirking down at him. He glared up at you with eyes wide as saucers, wheezing from the throw, and the redhead cackled from his spot against the wall. You kneeled down and hunched over, your noses inches apart, and said, “Still think you’re too big for me to handle?”
Staring down at him, you stood again and walked over to the redhead. “Hi, I’m (y/l/n) (y/n), hero name Inventory.” You introduced yourself and held your hand out for him to shake. He took it and introduced himself as Kirishima Eijirou, a.k.a. Red Riot. You walked back over to Ground Zero and once again held your hand out to help him up. This time, he slapped your hand away and got up himself. “The name’s Bakugou Katsuki,” he said, scowling at you.
Kirishima got up and came over, “Come on Bakugou, don’t be a jerk just cause you lost. Sorry about that (y/l/n), he’s just prideful.” You chuckled lightly, waving it off, “It’s fine. I’ve heard ALL about Ground Zero’s friendly personality and peppy attitude. Anyway, It’s been fun, but I should get going.” Kirishima stopped you before you could walk away. “Hey, (y/l/n), we were gonna go out for drinks after this, you wanna join us?” You looked over to Bakugou, who didn’t give any input, choosing instead to glare at the corner. “Sure I’ll meet you outside in ten.”
You picked up your duffel and went back to the locker room to change into your civilian clothes. The bar was only a couple blocks away, so you all left your stuff in your cars and walked over. Bakugou didn’t say anything the whole way there, still wallowing in his humiliating defeat. You, being the smartass you are, decided to poke the bear.
“Stop sulking Bakugou, I haven’t lost a sparring match since high school. Besides, if we were to use our quirks you’d most likely win the match. You don’t gotta be all depressed about it.” His head snapped toward you and his hands popped and crackled at his sides. It was probably meant to scare you, but you only put your hands up in mock surrender. 
When you got to the bar you all ordered your drinks and sat down at a booth. Kirishima looked at you and started asking questions. “So, (y/l/n), if you’re so sure you’d lose to Bakugou’s quirk, what’s yours?” You answered him like you answered everyone else who’d asked you the same question. “Basically, it’s like an inventory in a video game, hence the hero name. I can “store” things in a pocket of space and materialize them whenever I need them,” then you held out your hand and materialized your car keys and cell phone.
His eyes went wide and he started gushing about how cool and convenient that is. Meanwhile, Bakugou just rolled his eyes and mumbled “showoff” under his breath. Kirishima elbowed him and told him to behave, making you giggle at the dynamic of the two. Despite being at a bar, the only one that drank any alcohol was Kirishima. What really shocked you was that he was a terrible lightweight, and getting him to walk back to the agency was proving extremely difficult, because he was leaning nearly all his weight on you and Bakugou didn’t bother to help.
In fact, Bakugou was busy snickering at the sight of you trying to keep Kirishima from stumbling out onto the road and taking you with him. You’d be lying if you said Kirishima wasn’t heavy, but years of weight training and hero work pays off cause you could easily squat over 200 lbs even if you were tiny. So about a block from the agency, you’d had enough of trying to keep Kirishima from falling over and you just stopped walking.
Kirishima was too out of it to notice. But Bakugou turned and started teasing you for not being able to handle the weight. You just rolled your eyes at him. Before Bakugou could move and take him off your hands, you took a deep breath, and hauled Kirishima onto your shoulders in a fireman carry. Bakugou’s jaw dropped, and he froze in place, just staring at the scene in front of him. That both annoyed you and made you extremely proud, cause you just impressed the number two hero. You were sure the scene was at least a little funny, a giant hanging off your tiny frame, but you ignored it.
Once you had Kirishima secured on your shoulders, you started the trek to the agency. Again, Bakugou was completely silent, but you could tell it wasn’t because he was sulking. Once you were back at the agency, Bakugo led you to his car and got Kirishima settled in the back seat while you stretched out your arms, popping your shoulders and neck. You were about to say bye and head back to your car when Bakugou stopped you. 
“Thanks for carrying him. It was impressive. Unexpected,” he said, not making eye contact, “And the match earlier…You did good. I haven’t been beat that bad in a while.” It almost looked like he was blushing, but it was so subtle you couldn’t tell. You smiled softly at the compliments. “Thanks, Bakugou. I had fun. I’ll be going now.” You turned to walk to your car, but he stopped you again. “Oi, short stack!” You froze at the name, and turned around with a sickly sweet smile on your face, “Yes, Bakugou?” “What’s your number?” It was your turn to be shocked. But you got over it and recited your number to him as he punched it into his phone.
When you got home it was just after midnight, so you got ready for bed and lay down to sleep. The next few days passed relatively quickly, occasionally running into Kirishima or Bakugou. There wasn’t any villain activity in the area, and your gym time was productive. You got a couple of people to spar with you when you needed it, and spent any extra time weight training.
The next day you were off, just like every day you had off, you went straight to the agency and hit the gym. You spent a solid hour at the punching bag and went to go spar again. This time there were five others in the room, which was extremely rare. Normally the room was empty. Two pairs were already going at it, so you asked the fifth if she wanted to spar. 
You’d already worked up a sweat at the punching bag, but you needed the spar, so instead of finishing quickly you made sure to take a couple punches and throw a few before ending the match. You kept the same partner for a few matches, winning each one, and soon the others were watching as you won two more rounds.
The partner you’d been sparring with tapped out to get water, and someone else quickly took her place. You immediately jumped into another match. And then another. And another. Soon they tapped out as well, and by then there were a few more people filing into the room to watch. It confused you, because you’d never seen more than ten people in the padded room, but you ignored it and began another match with yet another partner.
After another few rounds, your new partner tapped out, and you decided it was time to get some water. But it wasn’t until you stepped back out into the center of the room that you realised nobody else was starting a match. Nobody else was sparring with anybody, all their eyes locked on you. As you looked around the room, you noticed it was getting crowded with people, all your previous opponents had already left, and a new opponent stepped out to challenge you.
Now this was strange. Even with your opponent getting into his fighting stance, you looked around the room, confused as to why there were so many people. You dodged a jab, snapping your attention back to your opponent. Well that was a dirty move. At his next swing you ducked under his arm, lunged to his side and swept his legs out from underneath him, ending the match before he could even blink. Playing dirty gets you knocked the fuck out as far as sparring goes for you.
The crowd that had gathered cheered at the quick takedown, and yet another opponent stepped out. You lost track of time, sparring dozens of different opponents, never losing a single match. If you began to tire all you did was end the match quickly to regain energy. After you went to refill your water for what must have been the 20th time, you checked the clock. It was already noon. You’d been sparring for five hours. 
When you went back into the room, another opponent waited in the middle. You apologized and said you had to leave, and the crowd dispersed within minutes. You showered and changed, and as you left the locker room you got a text from a number you didn’t recognize.
?:
Oi short stack, what are you doing right now?
Correction, you knew EXACTLY who this was.
You:
Just got out of the gym. Why?
Bakugou:
Where?
You: 
At the agency
Why?
You didn’t get a reply, but you didn’t need one, cause Bakugou was waiting for you outside the building, sitting in his car, with Kirishima in the passenger seat. “You haven’t had lunch yet right?” Bakugou asked. You shook your head no. Kirishima spoke this time, “Great! Let’s go eat, I’m starving!” Bakugou rolled his eyes and told you to get in, and you chuckled as you got into the back seat.
During the ride Kirishima asked about your day, and you told him about the strange occurrence while you sparred, with a crowd forming to watch and people popping out of nowhere to challenge your winning streak. “Wow (y/l/n)! You still haven’t lost? I should spar with you and see if I can win!” You giggled at that and agreed to spar with him next time. And you kept reiterating how strange it was that there’d be so many people in the room at once, when normally there’s only a handful at a time.
They both questioned it but soon shrugged it off as Bakugou parked the car in front of the sushi restaurant. Lunch was a whirlwind of Kirishima asking you questions, you asking them questions, and Bakugou bickering at Kirishima when he ignored Bakugou entirely. It was fun seeing the two so close. Eventually the conversation rounded back to your sparring matches earlier.
“So how long were you there? If a crowd formed you had to have been at it for a while.” Kirishima asked, trying to figure out how long you’d fought people. You answered sheepishly, a bit embarrassed that you’d lost track of time so easily, “Well...when I checked the clock it’d been about five hours.” Both of them froze, staring at you with wide eyes. Your face burned and you took a sip of your water. Bakugou was the first to talk. “You’re a fucking beast.” Kirishima’s expression went from shock to concern. “Are you ok? Like, how are you not passed out right now?”
You assured him you were fine, and explained how much time you spent in the gym nearly every day, even after patrol. Your gym time only seemed to surprise them more, and after they told you about their gym schedule, you realised just how much time you spent in the gym, and the more you thought about it, the more you realised how lonely you were.
Kirishima seemed to catch on to your stress and smoothly changed the subject. After lunch, Bakugou drove you back to the agency, and Kirishima asked if you wanted to go to their place for drinks. “Sure, as long as I don’t have to carry you again,” you laughed. Kirishima turned and looked at you, his cheeks nearly as red as his hair. “Wait...you carried me?”.
Bakugou barked out a laugh. “Yeah shitty hair, she threw you over her shoulders and hauled your wasted ass back to the car.” Kirishima’s face somehow burned brighter and apologized profusely, but you waved it off. “Nah, it’s fine! Besides, if Bakugou wasn’t being such an ass I wouldn’t have had to carry you. I just got sick of trying to keep you standing upright while he snickered at me being short.” Bakugo scoffed. “Well you’re definitely not tall.” “I don’t need to be to kick your sorry ass.”
At that Bakugou went silent and Kirishima exploded in a fit of laughter. “Put a sock in it shitty hair! And you!” Bakugou glared at you in the rearview mirror, “I’m gonna beat your stubby ass next time!” You looked at him with a smirk and a raised eyebrow. “Is that a challenge, Ground Zero?” He growled at the mention of his hero name. “Yeah short stack, it’s a fucking challenge.”
Soon the car parked in the parking garage, and you all went up to their shared apartment. It was spacious, and very modern. Bakugou pointed out the bathroom and went to the kitchen to grab three bottles of beer. The three of you settled into the living room and the conversation went just like lunch did. Most of the questions were directed at you, and you answered honestly. 
The questions were generic and friendly, what you like to do in your spare time (besides going to the gym), your favorite foods, colors, your likes and dislikes, your pet peeves. After the first round of questioning you’d only got through one bottle of beer. “Hey, what other kinds of alcohol you got?” you questioned Bakugou. He got up and listed his menu from the kitchen. You asked him for a glass of the cream liquor, and he returned with a glass filled with the liquid. 
After hours of aimless conversation and a few more glasses, you found yourself slowing as the alcohol permeated your system. That was your signal to ask for a snack and water, and you stopped your intake of alcohol. Bakugou caught on to your self cut-off. “You don’t need to limit yourself. We’ve got a spare room if you need to stay the night, and if you need to call in tomorrow the agency has plenty of people to take over your patrol.” His statement shocked you, and you looked at him like he was crazy.
He spoke again, “If you’re cautious about sharing a place with two guys, Kiri’s nearly wasted already, he can’t do shit, and if I were stupid enough to do anything I’m sure you’d kick my ass before I got within a foot of you. As for tomorrow, both of us are off, and like I said, the agency is not short-staffed. And i’ve got meds if you’re worried about a hangover, and I don’t mind lending you clothes if you need them.”
You were stunned. Completely and utterly bewildered. But he made good points, so you decided to take up his offer to spend the night. “You know what, I’ll stay. But I'm gonna slow down with the alcohol, because hangovers are a bitch to deal with even with painkillers.” And with that, the three of you continued talking. Soon Kirishima passed out and Bakugou hauled him into his room. Surprisingly enough, when he came back out he actually engaged the conversation.
He asked about your fighting style, how you developed it, how long you trained. Most of his questioning was about your physical strength and tenacity, nothing personal. But then he asked why you spent so much of your time in the gym instead of with friends. And you answered honestly and bluntly, probably mostly because of the alcohol. “To be honest, I’m not much of a social butterfly. I don’t really have friends, because I don’t ‘make friends’ with people. In fact, you could call me antisocial. I don’t really like talking to people. I don’t speak unless spoken to or unless speaking is necessary.”
And he only dove deeper. “Why not? The world too scary from down there?” he teased. You laughed darkly at the comment, choosing to drain your glass of alcohol in favor of answering the implied question. He looked at you and raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”
“What is what?”
“You avoided the question.”
“Well it wasn’t really a question, just a jab at my height again”
“Yeah, and you didn’t jab back.”
You huff, “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I think I know exactly what the fuck I’m talking about.”
“Just drop it Bakugou.”
“I won’t drop it. Not until you give me some kind of answer.”
“Are you always this insensitive or is it just the alcohol?”
“Spill it (y/l/n).”
“Ugh fine! But I’m not giving you any details.” You crack your knuckles, take a deep breath, and a long drink of water before you talk again. “I used to like making friends. But all the friends I made turned out to be liars and fakes. I was used. A lot. After a while I finally had enough, so I stopped approaching people. I decided if people want to be in my life they can approach me. I got good at reading people, and I shut them out fast if they weren’t good for me.” You sighed, praying that was enough to sate Bakugou’s drunken curiosity. It wasn’t.
“And if people approached you with the intention of using you? If you read them wrong?” he pried. Screw it. You already spilled this much right? Might as well get it out. “I got really good at pretty bad things. I don’t usually read wrong, because I’m suspicious of everyone that walks into my life.” Internally, you prayed that was enough for him. “What kinds of bad things?” Well that’s unfortunate.
“Things like eavesdropping. Spying. Hiding. Manipulation. Lying. Deceit. Long story short, I have trust issues. It’s easier to keep people at arm’s distance than make friends that could hurt you.” At that, Bakugou goes quiet, his eyes studying your face. And you stare back at him, waiting for the judgement that comes with opening up to people. Waiting for the ‘maybe you should openup more’ and ‘just give people a chance’. But his answer is unexpected. His face softens ever so slightly as his eyes lock onto yours, his voice low, soft and somewhat comforting. “Sounds rough.” You look away, trying to keep your breathing steady, not giving tears the chance to fall, “I’m gonna turn in. Good night, Bakugou.”
Moving quickly, you disappear into the spare room and curl up into the bed sheets. Why the hell are you crying? You’d talked about this before. So why now, of all times, are you suddenly sobbing into your hoodie, clinging to it like your lifeline? You try your best to keep quiet, hoping the only other person awake doesn’t hear you. You don’t know how long it’s been, but you hear the door handle turn, and you freeze, closing your eyes and steadying your breath, going completely silent in mock-sleep. It was a technique you’d perfected long ago, turning off your emotionsin order to avoid confrontation.
You hear heavy footsteps, knowing who it is that just stepped in. He was the only other one still awake. You feel the bed behind you dip, and strong arms curl around you and turn your body, burying your face into Bakugou’s solid chest. His deep voice rumbles softly in your ear. “I know you’re not sleeping shorty. I listened through the door and heard you crying. Just let it out.” And before you can stop them, the tears you’d willed to disappear begin to pour down your face. So you sob into his chest, his arms tightening around you as your entire body shakes.
Soon you’re drifting into sleep, your body giving in to exhaustion. You’re in a deep sleep, and Bakugou stays there, holding you, until the last hiccups subside. He leans away to look down at you, and brushes strands of hair away from your face. “How long has it been since you’ve cried, princess? How long since you bottled up those emotions inside you?” He questions your sleeping figure. He presses a soft kiss into your forehead, gets up and tucks you under the blanket before silently leaving the room and going to bed.
*
*
*
When you wake up, your eyelids are heavy and swollen, making it hard to open them. You tenderly massage them open, remembering the reason they’re so puffy and sore. Despite the discomfort of your eyes, you feel refreshed and light, a weight lifted off your chest that you didn’t know was there in the first place. No, it was more like it’s been there for so long you’d gotten used to the pressure. Slowly, you sit up and blink away sleep.
You check the clock and it’s 8 am, a couple hours later than you normally get up. At the foot of your bed is a set of folded clothes. You quickly change out of the clothes you slept in, and into the t-shirt and sweatpants that you assumed were Bakugou’s. As expected, they’re giant on you, but they’re comfortable, and they smell like Bakug-- NO. Stop. You shake the thought out of your head as quickly as it came and go out to see if either of the guys are up.
You quickly get your answer when you see Kirishima lounging -- freaking SHIRTLESS -- on the couch. Talk about eye candy, damn. Like sure, his hero costume doesn’t exactly hide anything, but it’s different when he’s laying across a couch in nothing but gray sweatpants. Again, you clear the thoughts before they screw you over, and greet him. “Hey (y/l/n) how’d you sleep?” “Pretty good, thanks. I’m surprised you’re up so early Kiri.” He laughs at the observation, “Yeah. Bakugou got me up a little while ago and I couldn’t go back to sleep.” Yeah, that makes sense. You nod and make your way into the kitchen, and as expected, Bakugo is there.
“Good morning Bakugou,” you greet him. “Morning shorty. How’d you sleep?” You answer with the same reply you gave Kirishima a few seconds ago. You lowered your voice a little and leaned slightly toward him, “Thank you, by the way. For last night. I really needed that.” He just nods, focusing his attention to the fridge to find breakfast. Satisfied with that, you turn and head back to the couch and chill with Kirishima until Bakugou calls you to the table to eat.
You ask them what they do on their days off, and today the plan was just to stay in and lounge around the house, not doing much of anything and just relaxing. So, that’s what you did. As the hours passed, you found yourself liking the company of the two men, despite their imposing size. You didn’t feel small with them. But the question lingering at the back of your mind was why? Why were you so comfortable around them?
Thoughts buzzed around in your head like a hurricane, mixing with the doubt that they were in any way comfortable with you, and the fear that they were only using you for what men always seem to want. Soon you were telling yourself all the bad scenarios that would end in them leaving you all alone again. You didn’t even know them all that well, but you had become attached and were already bracing yourself for the inevitable loss of the two. The memory of crying to Bakugou last night swirled into your mind and wouldn’t disappear.
You were spiraling into a panic like you always did when people got close. But it was hidden, suppressed, contained. Whenever you panicked it never showed, the only telltale sign being your sudden need to scratch the soft flesh on the inside of your elbow. You hadn’t scratched in so long that any previous wounds had completely healed over, the only evidence left were small patches of discoloration, only evident if you stare long enough. That was about to change as your nails dug furiously while you stared off into space.
Kirishima was the first to snap you out of your spiral, grabbing your wrists and shaking you out, calling your name frantically. Your senses began to drift back, and the next thing you noticed was the sting on your forearms and the light stain of blood on your nails and fingertips. Your eyes drifted from your wrist up to your inner elbow, and you winced at the sight of blood seeping out of the shredded welts. It looked like it should have hurt more than it did.
“Bakugou! Get the first aid kit from the bathroom! (y/l/n)’s bleeding!” Kirishima called out to him. You heard quick heavy stomps and a curse from the blonde before he came over to examine your arms. He looked at you, and you looked back at him, still dazed from your inner turmoil. He knew from that look you were out of it. Instead he questioned the redhead to ask what had happened while he was in the kitchen figuring out what to make for lunch.
“I don’t know! I was watching tv and when I turned to ask her something she was staring off into space and scratching at her arms! She was bleeding before I even turned and I grabbed her before it could get worse.” Bakugou clenched his jaw and went to get a wet washcloth to clean up the blood. You were watching this all unfold before you, still not quite attached to reality. When he returned, he put the cloth on his lap and grabbed your face in his hands, stroking your cheeks with calloused thumbs. He called your voice, attempting to ground you, and didn’t stop until you finally took a few quick breaths and blinked, answering him with a small ‘sorry’.
He grabbed your wrists, which Kirishima had already released, and spoke to you in a hushed tone, but still strong and intense. “(y/l/n) I need you to listen to me. Are you allergic to anything? Anything at all?” It took a few moments for you to regain your mental balance, but you shook your head. “No. Nothing.” He let out a soft breath and with that he began to clean and dress your arms, wiping away blood and cleaning your fingers and nails in silent concentration.
By the time the entire ordeal was over, the different sensations from the sting of the alcohol wipes to the cool ointment and the soft gauze had grounded you completely. As Bakugou went to put the first aid kit away, Kirishima reached out and gripped your shoulders, looking over your face and into your eyes with tender concern. “You okay little pebble?” He moved his large hands so they rested at the sides of your neck, his thumbs gently brushing at your jaw.
You blush lightly at the endearing nickname and the new sensation of his hands. Leaning slightly into one of his palms, you nod. “Yeah, I’m okay. I don’t really wanna talk about it, but I’ll be just fine. I just got distracted.” He looked at you with a face that said he didn’t believe your excuse, but he’d drop the subject because you asked him to. Letting his hand release you, he gives you a toothy, mischievous grin. He leans in closer to you and nearly whispers, like he was about to reveal the world’s biggest scandal.
“That was the most gentle I’ve ever seen Bakugou. Thanks for bringing that side out of him,” he says, flashing another smile. You giggle a little at the thought of the explosive male being gentle, not quite believing it if you hadn’t been subject to it. Then you remembered why he’d been there, tending to the wounds you’d subconsciously inflicted on yourself. Your eyebrows knitted together lightly, remembering the spiral and being shaken out of it by a panicked Kirishima. When Bakugou came back, you grabbed one of their hands in each of yours.
“I’m sorry for worrying you,” you say softly. After a few moments of silence, you decided you owed them an explanation of some kind. “And thank you for catching me. The scratching is a nervous habit when I’m stressed. I thought I got rid of it, but obviously I haven’t. It’s been a long time since it happened last, and it was triggered by my own drifting thoughts. It’s purely subconscious and I don’t realize what I’m doing until the pain becomes too unbearable and snaps me back to reality.”
By the end of your explanation, the two were looking at you with concern and understanding. Kirishima gently smiled, and Bakugou’s features relaxed, when you squeezed their hands appreciatively. The comfortable silence was suddenly broken by a low growl. You laughed at the comedic timing of your stomach and glanced at the clock. It was just after 12:30, and Bakugou got up to go make lunch. After eating you asked to wash your clothes, and asked to use the shower. Kirishima got you a spare towel and plastic wrap to cover your newly dressed forearms. Five minutes under the hot water and you were already feeling suffocated. The steam clouded your lungs, making it harder and harder to breathe.
You knew you had a problem with hot water. You always have. Jacuzzis were never relaxing for you, and you loved the cool water of the ocean the deeper you dove toward inky blackness. You turned the handle in the shower, letting the water turn cold. Your body shivered slightly from the sudden temperature change, but quickly relaxed as the cold water washed away all the stress from a few hours ago.
When you had finished up you went to go relax on the couch again, settling into the space between the two. Now with your mind clear, you began to wonder something that you probably should have wondered a while ago. How tall were they, really? They stood over a foot taller than you, so they had to be at least 6 feet tall. You looked from one to the other, your head swiveling back and forth, before you decided to just ask them.
Bakugou barked out a deep laugh, “Why you wanna know shorty? Finally realizing how scary we look from down there?” You rolled your eyes at him, but he answered anyway. “I’m 6 foot 4 (193 cm).” Kirishima looked down at you and beamed, “I’m 6 foot 6 (198 cm).” Bakugou scoffed, and you giggled at the blonde getting upset over height. Suddenly you bounced up from the couch and turned to the two, barely containing the thought that suddenly popped into your mind. Out of the two, the redhead seemed like the more likely to carry out your request, so you turned to Kirishima with wide excited eyes and a lopsided grin like a kid in a candy store.
“Can you carry me?!” you blurted out a little too loud. Kirishima blushed hard, and then you realized how ridiculous the request sounded and rushed to explain. “Sorry! That sounded weird right? I just wanna know what life looks like from that high up! I’m only 5 feet tall so…” you rambled a little before Kirishima laughed and stood up. “Sure little pebble.” He turned you around and squatted down, put his left arm around your waist and right arm against your thighs just above your knees and told you to lean back and sit on his arm. 
Once you were seated snugly, your back pressed against his chest, he stood up and you gasped a little from the new angle. The floor looked so far away, and you knew that if Kirishima decided to hold you by your armpits your feet would dangle a foot from the floor. Bakugou looked up at you from the couch and scoffed. “Alright shitty hair, put her down before you drop her and she breaks her legs from the fall.” Your hilariously rebellious brain took that as a challenge. You smirked at Bakugou, his eyes daring you to do exactly what you were thinking. But before you could move he looked at the redhead behind you, and the arm around your waist tightened as he reached to grab his right bicep. He slightly activated his quirk, locking you in place. 
“Aw, c’mon! You’re no fun! I’ve jumped from buildings before and landed perfectly fine!” You whined as you squirmed in Kirishima’s arms. Both of them laughed at your struggle, and once again, your brain instantly settled on ‘challenge accepted’. You quickly surveyed your surroundings, going about the best way to escape Red Riot without damaging any of the heroes’ property.
Before either of them could react, you materialized quirk-cancelling handcuffs and clasped one side around Kirishima's left wrist. The instant it went into effect, you brought your foot up and back down into the redhead’s stomach just hard enough for his grip on you to loosen up. When his right arm dropped to grab his abdomen, you slipped down along his body, grabbed the free cuff on your way down and snapped it around the leg of the coffee table, Kirishima landing flat on his ass with an ‘oof’.
Once again, Bakugou just stared in shock. You crossed your arms and smirked at him, “What was that about dropping me, Bakugou?” He was silent. Kirishima chuckled from his spot on the ground. “Damn, you’re a sneaky one little pebble.” You turned back around and took a deep bow. You materialized the cuff’s key and released him, storing them back in your quirk’s storage space. Finally recovering from his shock, Bakugou looked at the time and said, “Alright, short stack. Let’s go spar.” You turned to him and spoke what your brain had thought only moments before. “Challenge accepted.”
463 notes · View notes
spencerhotchner · 3 years
Text
Alternative {spencer reid}
Chapter 2
summary: Since quarentine was announced, Y/N decided to rewatch all seasons of Criminal Minds. On a lonely night she wished she could be in that universe instead of this. What happens when she wakes up in 2008 in Quantico?
warnings: angst, a very confused reader, regular cm stuff and my grammar (if you find anything else pls lmk) 
word count: 2.1k
a/n: ok, i am really excited about this series. and really thankful that y'all are liking it. also, i hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as y'all did the last one! it didn't end up as long as i wanted it it but ig its ok right.
series masterlist
part 1 | part 2
Tumblr media
You could hear some familiar voices on the background as you began to regain conciseness, voices you could identify anywhere. You kept your eye shut for a while, feeling the tiredness and dizziness your body was screaming at you despite the fact that you have been unconscious, and on the floor apparently. Even though you're head was still too slow to think straight, you noticed that your face mask wasn't on you anymore. 
“Who is she?” you heard the familiar voice of Shamar, or Morgan, given the circumstances. 
“Apparently she knows me.” that was Spencer’s turn to speak. 
“I met her this morning.” JJ states, you could only imagine the faces they would be making at her, wondering how and why. “I bumped into her walking on the street, she seemed pretty confused but yet she still knew who I was.” 
“Well, that’s weird.” Emily said.
When you finally decided to open them, you felt like you were still dream. Once again you found yourself asking what was going on. Why was the whole cast of Criminal Minds standing there simple staring at you and why were they acting like their characters? Out of the two explanations that came to your mind at the moment, only one made any sense. I was a tv prank, it could only be. There would be no other logical reason to it, other wise. 
“Are you ok?” Hotch asks, offering a hand. 
You stared at him trying to figure out what to say, but without saying a word you took his hands and got up. The whole team was looking at you, with weird expressions. You felt almost like you were an unsub, you hated being stared. 
“Yes, I mean, no!” you say. “Is this a prank of something? Because, damn, you guys went too far down with it. Fuck!” you say, finally snapping. 
“I’m afraid I don't know what you are talking about.” Rossi said. 
You tried not to but as soon as you realized you already had a big sarcastic expression on your face. How wouldn't they? They were tv stars and they were clearly acting, you've seen it. 
“Oh, you're not?” you said, as sarcastic as you could be. “Ok, let me enlighten you all, since you ‘don’t know what i’m talking about?’. I woke up in this freaking random apartment by myself wearing the exact same thing I was wearing the night before.” 
“...and where is the part we fit in there?” he replies. 
You ignored him, sighing and trying to push your anxiety down. 
“As I was saying, I was wearing the exact same thing and I was in Bellevue, in Washington state. I have no idea who decided to pull this off but as much as I love the show, I am not enjoying this.” you say, looking around trying to find cameras. 
They all kept staring at you, Rossi was the only one who didn't seem worried about, it was like he thought you were on drugs or just delusional. You were even starting to believe in that. JJ and Spencer kept staring at each other, possibly trying to figure out what was going on, and how you knew them. 
“You believe you were abducted, then?” Hotch finally says something. 
You sigh again, trying to be patience. All you wanted was to go home, when you said you wanted to meet the cast - all the hundreds of times you said it, you didn’t mean this. You closed your eyes, because suddenly all you wanted to do was cry. You couldn't count how many times you imagined this happening and it was being just awful. You hated being confused, lost and being pictured as crazy. 
“No, Agent Hotchner” you spilled his name, sarcastically. “I am sure.”
He looked at you without much expression - as usual, but you could tell he was superseded you knew him, just as much as the team. Morgan step forward, walking towards you. You stared at him, trying to remain calm. 
“Listen, we can't help you if you don't let us.” he said. “Can you tell us your name?”
God, don't they realize this is funny? I do not wanna be acting, some pictures would do the job just as fine. 
“Y/N Y/L/N” you say as you watch Rossi give Garcia a look making her nod and direct herself to her ‘cave’, certainly to search you up. 
“Alright, you have someone we can contact with?” JJ asks. 
You nodded, yes you did. But they wouldn't pick up the phone, as you tried multiple times this morning on the old cellphone. What if something happened to them? This was all so confusing. 
“But she won’t pick up the phone, I tried.” you said.
Once again, you caught yourself wondering what was going on. And that was the moment you kind of got what was happening. Would it be possible that you shifted to this universe? Maybe this wasn't all a prank and your wish had just became true. You probably should've thought about it before asking for it. At once it hit you, what you said to your friend just last night. 
“What is something you would want to do right now?” your best friend asked you, leaning a bit towards you, laughing drunkly.
“Um, I’d really like to be in Criminal Minds right now.” you say laughing as you best friend rolled her eyes. “No, listen! I’d love to meet Spencer Reid and I don't know, it just sounds better than quarantine.”
“Yeah, sure, because serial killers are just not bad at all, huh?” she laughed. 
Maybe this was true, maybe you did shifted. And if you did, you sure sounded like a crazy person, and probably a stalker. You looked around trying to figure out if you could sit somewhere, it all became took much for you mind at that moment. 
“Can I sit... Can I sit somewhere?” you asked, probably looking as ill as you sounded.
You watched as Reid rushed to bring the chair. You set down trying to figure out how you'd leave there, and how you'd shift back. Staring at them you felt your heart warm a little, you dreamed about this for so long - as it was all it was, a dream, until now, at least. 
Before you could say a word you watched Penelope come back and whisper in Rossi’s ear, probably what she found out about you. Which, maybe was everything, since you had no reasons to hide a thing about your life, which was quite boring, in fact. 
“Who are you?” Rossi says, like he’s ready to arrest you.
“I-I already told you.” you answer. “I’m Y/N.”
If you needed any proof about what was going on that was it. It was like you did not even exist, like you weren't real. She probably didn’t find anything because you’re not from this universe.
“Alright. What can we do for you, Y/N?” Morgan asks.
“I need to go home.” you let it out. “I don't know how I ended up here in Quantico.”
Garcia stares ate you, almost like she felt pity about your situation while the rest of them kept a suspicious look at you. It’s not like you blame them, anyways, you would think it’s weird for somebody to come out of nowhere knowing your name and claiming to be pranked. 
While you were sitting there, with all those eyes at you, you thought that maybe giving up and trying to figure it all out by yourself maybe would be better. How would they help you, anyways? It is not like they could send you back. And it is also not like you didn't actually wish for this. 
There are some wishes that are entirely rhetorical. 
“You know what? I’m good.” you fake a smile, obviously. “I’m just gonna go.” 
You stoop up fast, not giving them much time to contest you. Spencer looked confused, more than any of the others, for some reason. Maybe he was just curious on how you knew him, or JJ. Either way, you wouldn't know. 
Hotch looked at you, wondering your action. Why were you so desperate at one time and tried to pull off as if it was ok? It was definitely not ok. Your smile looked fake, your body seemed tense and your eyes looked as lost as he could think someone could be, as he has seen a lot of lost eyes. 
“Thank you, for your attention, though.” you say. “I’m sorry for taking your time agents.” 
You stormed out of there, not even realizing that you left your jacket in there. How could you? Not when you ran out of there as if your live depended on it. You let a sigh out as you got out of the building, not even noticing when the tears started to come down at your cheeks. 
At that moment you didn't care at all about where you were, you set on the floor, letting the tears roll down and the sobs come out. You never wished to be away from your reality, it only seemed nice in your dreams. Right now, all you wanted was to go home and hug your parents, or even just see them. You felt lost, as lost as a five year old who can't find his mommy at the park. 
You got scared as you felt a big hand touch your shoulders. As your turn, to see who was it, Spencer looked as nice as you could ever picture him to, or see on the screens. His face resembles worry, like he was actually wondering what happened to you and why where you there. 
“I believe this is yours.” he hands you your jacket. 
You stare at him before.
“Yes, thank you.” you wipe the tears away. 
“No- No problem.” he said, sitting by your side. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah.” you answered looking away. 
“You don't have to lie to me.” he said, as you looked back at him. “I wanna help you, but I can only do that if you cooperate with me.”
Why would he?
“I don't know where I am. I mean, I do know but I don't know how I ended up here. I understand what is going on, I did after a while but I don't know how to change this situation. I don't know how to go back home.” you said. 
Not like he’ll understand, anyways.
"Maybe... Maybe me and my team could help you figure it out?” he tries. 
“I doubt it.” you shake your shoulders. “I know that you guys are awesome at your job, don't get me wrong, to be honest I’m quite the big fan.” you laughed a bit. “But it’s just out of hand.” 
He stops, looking at you. Gave up offering help, you were not accepting he felt it. No, he knew it. It was his job to know what body language was telling him, anyways. He didn't want to stare at you, but he felt like he needed to. He was stuck at your looks, so pretty, yet so lost. 
“If we can't help you, is there anything I can do for you?” he asks. 
You looked right into his eyes. Thinking, if you should say it. Maybe so, it wouldn't kill you, it was not like it was the real world of something, well maybe it was but you couldn't care less. All you wanted was somewhere to stay this night and figure out how to get back.
“I do need a place to stay tonight.” you say, smiling little at him. 
He had a weird look on his face when you said that, like he wasn't expecting it. Because he wasn't. That moment he considered himself a crazy man, because he knew the risks and yet was up for it.
“Uh, ok.” 
Taglist: @feverdreamreid @andromedasstarship @paulaern @theetherealbloom @thatsonezesty13 @reidsalvez​ @pieceofreid @nymeria-targaryen​ @greeny-kitten​ @peppermintnight @notebookgirl30​ @2sarvinem @holding-on-to-my-youth​ @mggsprettygirl​ @iifloweringnightsii​ @iidontgiveafuckuniverse​ @mcntsee​
207 notes · View notes