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wiypt-writes · 3 years

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Soft Landing

One Shot

Summary: Vacation get-aways don’t always let you escape the past, but maybe you can help bring Andy back to the present. Just be careful not to pick up too many bumps and bruises along the way… Pairing: Andy Barber x Reader

Warnings: Smut (NSFW, 18+) Angst, language!

A/N: So this is another entry for @imanuglywombat ‘s “Is That Even A Sex Position” weekly challenge. This position is called “Louise”. See here for more information. This is my first time writing for Andy, and it appears I can’t even do a single smutty one shot for Lawyer daddy without inserting a fuck tonne of angst so…sorry!!!

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this story bar the reader and other mentioned OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Tagged my permanent tag list.

Masterlist

*****

You stirred in your bed, turning over and reaching out for your husband only to be met empty space, your fingers grasping at the cool sheets. Blinking, you propped yourself up on your forearms, squinting as your eyes grew accustomed to the low light in the hotel bedroom before you sat up, stretched a little and swung your legs out of bed.

You made your way out of the bedroom, poking your head into the next room down and, satisfied everything in there was as it should be, you made your way through to the living area of the suite and glanced around, spotting that the curtains covering the door leading to the balcony were blowing a little in the soft breeze.

You padded over to the door, pulled back the curtains a little more and you could just make out Andy’s frame, his broad, bare shoulders silhouetted against the early morning sun. Shoulders which carried a much heavier burden than when you had met almost six years previously.

You had been fresh out of law school back then, and he was not-so-fresh out of a break up with his wife. Neither of you had been looking for anything, but as is always the case, you always find the best things when you’re not searching.

Simply put, Andy Barber had swept you off your feet.

At almost 10 years his junior, the comments at first had been unkind but not unexpected. You’d been labelled “the rebound”, his “early midlife crisis”, a “convenient way to keep his dick warm whilst he got over Laurie.” But talk is cheap, as you had both proven when three years to the date you’d met he got down on one knee and you became relabelled his fiancée.

A year post that you relabelled again as his wife. And some twenty one months ago you’d relabelled once more as the mother of his child. A daughter he claimed looked just like you.

Ironically, you’d actually fallen pregnant on the last vacation you had taken. A family getaway to Mexico following Jacob’s acquittal when you’d all wrongly assumed the horrific dream was over, and you could finally wake up and get on with your lives.

You couldn’t have been more wrong.

In some sick twist of fate, you’d discovered you were pregnant the day of the accident that had claimed Jacob’s life, and later that of Laurie’s. The elation you and Andy had felt at the fact you were going to be parents together had been wrenched away from you in a single phone call from the police, and once more that shroud of dark despair had descended on your life turning the dream into a nightmare once more.

And for Andy the nightmares still continued, some two years post Jacob’s death and you knew without even seeing his face that was what had woken him and why he was now sat on the balcony of your stunning ocean view hotel suite in Cascais, Portugal instead of being in bed besides you.

“Hey.” You spoke softly as you slid the door open and he turned to look at you, his eyes carrying the familiar warmth that they always held for you, as you stepped into the balcony, taking care to leave the door open a crack just in case your daughter woke.

“Hey, Sweetheart.” He gave you a smile as you approached the sun-lounger he was perched on, facing out over the Atlantic, the first glimmer of the mid-June sun peeking over the horizon. “I didn’t wake you or Lia did I?”

Lia, or Halia to use her full name. Chosen by you and Andy for its meaning. A Hawaiian name for remembrance of a loved one. In this case the brother she would never meet.

“No, I checked in on her. She’s flat out.” You assured him, as he moved his legs, dropping them either side of the lounger allowing you to sit in between them, cross legged as you faced him. You studied him for a moment, cocking your head to one side as he gave you a gentle smile. “Get out of there, Bubs.” You gently reached up, tapping the side of his temple and he took a deep breath, his hand curling round yours, lacing your fingers together.

“Sorry, just got caught in a memory.” He offered as explanation. And to be fair, you didn’t need him to clarify any further. You knew, you always knew.

“You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.” He swallowed, so you didn’t press further. You respected his wishes, just like he did to yours.

“Do you want a hug?” You offered instead, and he gave a soft smile, opening his arms. You shifted onto your knees, scooting forwards a little, wrapping your arms around him as he pressed his face into your neck, taking a deep breath as your hand ran through his soft hair and down his neck in gentle, sweeping arcs. You sat in silence for a moment, the lapping of the waves against the shore the only noise you could hear as you held him close, feeling him nuzzle further into you.

“Thank you.” He mumbled against your skin and you pulled back a little, sitting back on your heels as you looked at him

“What for?”

“Everything.” He shrugged, his hand reaching up and tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, his eyes soft as he studied your face for a moment, his gaze flicking to your lips before it went further down and he arched an eyebrow. “And for wearing that.”

You chuckled a little as you glanced down at the pale blue silk slip, one of the thin straps had slipped down your shoulder slightly, your nipples pebbled against the thin fabric. “Well, someone bought it for me.” You looked back at him, smiling as you tugged your bottom lip in between your teeth.

“Yeah?” Andy’s eyes moved back to yours. “Anyone I know?”

“No, just someone very special to me.” You leaned forwards to press your lips to his.

“He’s a lucky man.” Andy whispered against your mouth

“I’m the lucky one.” You mumbled back. “And, whilst we’re on the subject, I would also like to thank you for what you’re wearing.” You grinned, your hands flat on his chest, smoothing down a little before they trailed back upwards, curling over his strong shoulders.

“I’m not.”

“Exactly.” You smirked, kissing him softly again.

Eventually the teasing pecks flowed into something much stronger, Andy’s arms curling round you, pulling you closer, domineering swipes of his tongue against yours set every single nerve in your body on edge. Your hand moved back down his chest, tracing his soft abs before you palmed his growing bulge through the sleep pants he was wearing, causing him to grunt a little.

Without a word, one of his hands trailed up the outside of your thigh, the other making its way along the inside of your opposite knee and you shifted a little, parting your legs, as his fingers delicately danced upwards to where you wanted him the most. When they softly parted your intimate lips he gave a little groan as he realised you were wearing no panties, and you swallowed as his fingers swirled in your slick, the pad of his thumb grazing your nub ever so gently.

“Always so ready for me.” He hummed.

“Yeah, it’s a curse.” You whispered back, as his spare hand slid the other strap of your slip down, his lips pressing a tender kiss to your shoulder as he pulled the front of the garment down, freeing your breasts. As he kissed his way along the swell of your cleavage, his tongue softly teased each taught nipple and your whimper caught in your throat, emerging as nothing but a soft squeak of delight. You felt his mouth curl up into a smile against your skin and you gently wrapped your hand around his wrist, halting his teasing fingers.

“Andy, I want you.” You whispered, your head falling back as you rocked your hips forwards against his hand as you held it in place. “Please.”

Andy didn’t reply, but with a grace unbefitting a man of his stature, he moved, kneeling up as he pulled his sleep pants down, his gorgeous cock springing free and slapping gently against the thin strip of hair that led down from his belly button. He drew his knees apart slightly as his hands grabbed your hips and he hauled you towards him, his lips pressing back to yours.

You positioned yourself over him, your knees hugging his torso as you lowered yourself down, both of you giving a groan as you took him in. Your feet remained by his knees, one hand sliding round his neck, fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck, the other gripping at his forearm.

Andy rolled his hips upwards as you pressed your forehead to his, noses bumping together as he moved you gently, his rhythm slow and needy from the off. Large hands slid along your thighs, gently palming your ass before they slid up the back of your silk slip, coming to rest tenderly on your spine, holding you close. As he rocked upwards, you let your head fall back slowly and let out a soft sigh of delight as his lips caressed your throat, barely there kisses moved down your neck, that beard you loved so much scratching your skin as he went. Your grip on his arm and neck tightened a little, your nails softly grazing the nape of his neck as he once more lavished affection on your chest, and this time it was his turn to let out a soft groan into your skin. He loved when you touched him there, you’d often made a joke about how if he was a cat it would make him purr.

His mouth moved upwards again, tongue dipping into the hollow of your throat, tracing a path up to your jaw before his lips caught yours again, the kiss deep and needy, like he was at that moment. Your tongues danced lazily together, matching the slow, steady roll and rocking motion your hips were making. With a low grunt, Andy broke away, pulling back a little, his nose nudging your chin as he placed a soft kiss once more to your neck, his rhythm never changing as his hands pulled you even closer, pressing your chest into his.

“Baby, look at me.” His voice was a whisper, and it was a request not a demand, but a request you were more than happy to meet. Your eyes locked onto those deep, ocean blues which were blown with love and lust and you simply held his gaze as he continued to rock up into you, stroking that spot inside that drove you wild.

You could feel the burning, deep in the pit of your stomach, and your hips started to move a little more as you ground down against him, desperate for the friction against your clit and you let out a little cry as you found it, Andy bucking up a little deeper and faster, reading your body language perfectly, just like he always could.

Moving your hands, you cupped his face, the pads of your fingers tangling in his beard as he closed his eyes, those ridiculously long eyelashes fluttering against his flushed cheeks and you pushed down again, rotating your hips, watching with satisfaction as he tipped his head back, a groan flowing freely from his lips, the softly whispered “don’t stop” barely audible, his voice was that deep.

Seeing him so suppliant was something you would never get tired of, because you loved this beautiful, wonderful man with everything you had. You’d both been through so much, yet still made it through the other side as strong as ever, the ultimate sign of your love sleeping in the room inside as you gave yourselves to one another whilst the dawn continued to break over the ocean, tendrils of light purples, oranges and yellow snaring around the pair of you, enveloping you in their warmth, heating the very depth of your souls.

“I love you.” You pulled his face back to yours, kissing him once more, your lips resting against his as you told him again. “I love you.”

“I love you too, so fahkin’ much.” His Boston twang grew more pronounced as did the movements of his hips, his rolls turning into thrusts as you met him movement for movement, pushing down, rocking yourself against him. The burn you had been feeling was now boiling hot as it bubbled to the surface, and you knew that any moment now you were going to erupt into flames.

“Fuck, Andy, I need…”

“Take it, Honey, it’s all yours…” He surged upwards, his hands flat against your back, pulling you to him as you kissed him deeply, before you’re head tipped back as the world around you tilted on its axis, your stomach tightening as you clenched down around him, your release crashing over you like the waves on the shore below. Your entire body went rigid, his name on your lips became nothing but a choked, strangled moan as he continued to rut up into you, his face pressing into your neck as he chased his own bliss.

"Fuck, Sweetheart..." Andy growled as with one final thrust upwards, his body stiffened and he spilled himself inside you, his cock twitching as the aftershocks of your orgasm kept your walls clamping down on him. His head tipped back, eyes fluttering shut and his jaw clenched before he relaxed a little, chest sagging as his arms clutched you to him, as if he never wanted to let you go.

Which, if he didn't, that was perfectly fine by you.

You leaned forward gently, sliding your nose along his, your lips brushing together as he gave a soft smile. With a satisfied sigh he leaned back, taking you with him as he made to settle you down against the back of the lounger you were laying on. Only he didn't stop, he kept going, his eyes flying open with surprise as the back of the lounger collapsed and you were suddenly pitched forward as the other end tipped up sending Andy crashing backwards onto the balcony with a loud bang as the metal frame of the lounger hit the sandstone tiled surface, you still clutched securely to his chest.

There was a pause as the pair of you looked at each other in surprise before Andy's head fell back and he gave a huge bellow of laughter and you hastily clamped your hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle the noise, trying to supress your own giggles. One of Andy's hand's moved from your back as you sat up a little, legs still straddling his waist, his softening cock still stuffed deep inside you. He curled his fingers around the wrist of the hand you had pressed over his mouth and he pulled it away, pressing a kiss to your palm, his beard twitching as he continued to chuckle softly, his eyes crinkled at the corner.

"You okay?" He asked, his lips curling up into a smile and you nodded, running your hands through his hair as his fell to your hips.

“Yeah, I had a soft landing.” You teased, causing him to snort out another laugh. "All these years and you can still make the Earth move for me, Barber."

"Well, I aim to please." he quipped as you leaned down to press your lips to his.

"Is everything alright?" You head a voice say which stopped you mid kiss. Your eyes flew open, as did Andy's and the pair of you looked at one another, as Andy started to laugh again.

"Yeah, fine, just a little...mishap with the sun lounger." You called over to where the voice had come from, the next room down to yours.

"But thank you for asking." Andy added, polite as always.

"No problem!" The male voice shot back, before you heard the sliding of a door and the click of a lock as it shut.

"Reminds me of that time at my parents when we broke my old bed." You giggled and Andy snorted, his hands smoothing over your thighs.

"In my defence, that thing was almost as old as me.”

"Well that's a load of shit." You grinned, looking down at him, your hands sliding through his rumpled, fluffy hair. "I only got it when I was eighteen, and given that you're ten years older than me that would mean-"

"Yeah, okay, shut up." He mumbled as his hand reached round the back of your neck, pulling you back down to him.

#uglywombatsexpositionchallenge #andy barber #andy barber x reader #andy barber x you #reader insert #andy barber smut #chris evans #chris evans characters

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spine-buster · 3 years

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peaceful easy feeling ft. b.boeser | five

A/N: This is the last part of this mini series! I know this adventure was short but thank you all for coming along on the ride :) A quick reminder that I will be announcing my new fic, who it will feature, a small blurb, & a clue as to what to expect from it this Thursday at 7:30pm EST. Happy reading!

CONTENT WARNING: parents with disease/sickness (Parkinson’s); parent death; swearing; sex; alcohol use; lots of emotions.

* * * * *

“You look beautiful, baby,” Brock cooed as he adjusted his cufflinks – well, not really. He was looking at Grace, not really caring about his cufflinks. Seeing her stand there in her beautiful dress, her hair curled and pinned, and her delicate jewelry hanging off her ears, neck, and wrists…she was a vision. He was so lucky.

They were about to leave to attend the Parkinson’s Foundation of British Columbia Gala. Grace had planned virtually the whole thing, though she worked with the head of the foundation on most major decisions. She arranged the venue, catering, got major sponsors (okay…the biggest were her uncles, but there were a lot more), organized the silent auction, and arranged the entertainment for the evening. Everyone who attended their weekly meetings would be there. Brock knew the Aquilinis would be there. It was a party, yes, and a function to raise money, yes – but at the end of the day, it was a culmination of Grace’s strength after Hamish passed away.

“Thanks, babe,” she smiled over at him, taking one last look at herself in the mirror. “Are Petey and Svea ready to go?”

Brock nodded. “Petey’s been texting for fifteen minutes asking if we’re on our way yet,” he joked.

“You can blame it on me,” she winked. “Unless Petey takes a good look at your hair. Then he’ll know it was you.”

Brock laughed out loud, taking the few steps needed to stand right in front of her and wrap his arms around her. “Hey…before we go,” his voice was low and he looked down at Grace. “Your dad would be so proud of you for planning this.”

Grace nodded her head. She knew. It was a lot of work, and she completely went in head first with planning all of it and maybe, sort of taking over the entire operation, but it was worth it. She had planned something that would raise money that, hopefully, would fund research so that nobody would have to go through what she went through. She didn’t just want to be known as an heiress daughter of a billionaire; she wanted to be known as so much more. An heiress who used her money to fund research projects and arts centres; an heiress who donated her time and money to worthy causes. She once told Brock that she knew she wasn’t the smartest girl in the world, but that she thought she had a big heart. She hoped this was the start of others in her community, and in Vancouver, realizing that she had a big heart.

***

“Grace, this is amazing,” Svea couldn’t help but say astonishingly as she took yet another look around the giant room, decorated to the nines with flashing lights and impeccably dressed people chatting and drinking and dancing. Svea knew Grace would be busy throughout the night, so she wasn’t trying to hog her after their limousine ride together. But now that Svea got her alone, she had to verbalize it again, just like she did when she walked in. “Like, I don’t think you understand. It’s incredible.”

“Want to let me plan your wedding to Elias?” Grace winked, taking a sip of her drink.

“Oh shut up.”

“There she is!” the women both heart Elias yell. They turned around and saw him and Brock walking towards them, both with drinks in their hands. “Grace, this is so cool.”

“Thanks Petey. And thanks for donating your jersey.”

“Anything for you.”

Grace focused her attention on Brock. “Esther wants us to take a group photo with everyone before everyone leaves,” she said, and Brock nodded his head in agreement. She looked at Elias. “If I get everyone together right now, do you mind taking it?”

“Like I just said Grace, anything for you.”

***

Fatigued, physically and mentally exhausted, but still somehow feeling the adrenaline coursing through her veins, Grace climbed into the limousine with Brock, Elias, and Svea at the end of the gala so they could go home. They dropped off Elias and Svea first, naturally, and Elias had to wake Svea up as she slept on his shoulder throughout the ride. It left Brock and Grace alone in the limousine together, hands clasped together as the driver drove through the streets of Vancouver.

“You did amazing tonight,” Brock mumbled, his voice low and full of sleepiness but still so direct and meaningful. “I love you so much, Grace.”

“I love you too, Brock.”

“When we have kids, I’m gonna let them know this was the night I knew you’d become my wife.”

Grace stiffened at Brock’s words, but he was too tired to notice – the small smirk on his face not disappearing despite anxiety – not adrenaline – now coursing through Grace’s veins. She thought about the implications of his words, how he just outright admitted that she was the one for him. She thought about her feelings for him, and if she felt the same. She did. But was it possible to still be apprehensive? She loved Brock with her whole heart. She’d never met anybody like him, and likely would never meet anyone like him again. She loved him too, with everything she had.

But then she thought about her parents.

Her parents were young and in love once too. Her parents were once obsessed with each other and madly in love. Her parents had decided to get married and have a child. Her parents had decided what Brock was laying out on the proverbial table – what Brock was so willing to give her – and look what happened. Things didn’t work out. Love didn’t work out. Love was complicated. They separated. Grace went to live with Eliza but didn’t like it because she missed dad. She told Hamish who told his lawyers. His lawyers brought it to the judge. Divorce proceedings started. Grace went to live with Hamish. Eliza demanded alimony for her lifestyle, to maintain it, if not to exceed it. Eliza demanded child support. Eliza demanded nannies, a multi-million dollar house, and expensive cars. Hamish would tell Grace her mother was selfish. Eliza would tell Grace how stingy her father was. Eliza would tell Grace how her father only wanted custody so he didn’t have to pay child support. Hamish told Grace Eliza only wanted child support and alimony so she could hire babysitters and nannies while she went to spas. A pawn while she was at her mom’s in Shaughnessy; a pawn while she was at her dad’s in West Point Grey. A pawn when dropped off at school at Crofton House. A pawn at the dance studio, her happiest place.

What if she and Brock turned out the same way?

***

“You okay?” Brock asked Grace.

Grace wasn’t there. She was somewhere else, in her mind, thinking about events long passed. “Your father’s the cheapest man I’ve ever met,” she could hear her mom say in the kitchen as she waited for her cereal before school at seven years old. “Cheap cheap cheap cheap cheap! He’s always been so much work to be with, your father. He refuses to get you a Range Rover – did you know that? Your dad wants you driven around in some…in some…I don’t know, some Toyota.”

“Yeah, sorry,” Grace said absent-mindedly, giving her pasta a few more twirls to make it seem like she’d eat it. “Will I still be able to go to dance?”

“Who knows?! Your father may even take that away from you too! It scares me, the things he’s taking away from you.”

“But I love dance.”

“Well then maybe you should stay with me. Daddy will pay me to take you to dance.”

***

“Your mother is a piece of work, let me tell you,” Hamish mumbled as he slapped his cellphone down on the counter. “She was always so much work to be with. Always so much work. Now she wants $60,000 a month in alimony. Alimony!”

“What’s alimony?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hamish said. “Have your teachers taught you yet what it means to be selfish?” he asked. Grace nodded her head. “Well your mother is selfish. One of the most selfish people in the world.”

“Grace? You coming to bed?” Brock’s voice was groggy as he stood in the doorway of the ensuite, his usually well-kept hair everywhere, his eyes sleepy.

“Yeah…yeah, sorry,” Grace apologized, getting up from her seated position on the toilet lid. “Sorry baby.”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah I’m fine,” she said, grabbing Brock’s hand and leading him back to bed.

“You’d tell me if it wasn’t right?” he asked softly as she cuddled up against him in bed.

“Of course,” she said, a nervous lump in her throat. “Of course.”

***

“Gracie…please tell me what’s wrong,” Brock said in a low voice as he tried to wrap his arms around her, only for her to flinch slightly and back away. That hurt him more than anything.

“Nothing’s wrong,” she said unconvincingly.

“Yes it is—”

“Can we just drop it,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee. “We’re supposed to be on a date.”

***

“What’s the matter with you?” Elias asked, sick of seeing Brock so gloomy and moody the past several weeks. He’d noticed a change in him, and though Brock was usually very open about what he was feeling with him, he wasn’t this time, and Elias was…skeptical. Well, not skeptical – worried. This time, Brock had a girlfriend and was moody, and Elias didn’t know what to expect. “What’s going on?”

“Something’s wrong with Grace,” Brock revealed to Elias.

“What’s wrong?”

Brock shook his head. “She won’t tell me. But she…she zones out a lot, like she’s thinking about something…and it’s so intense that she doesn’t even hear me calling her.”

“What’s she thinking about?”

Brock shrugged. “She doesn’t tell me. She’ll never tell me.”

“Well when did it start?”

Brock thought about it. He really thought about it. He liked to think he was in tune with changes in Grace. “The gala.”

“The Parkinson’s Gala?” Elias clarified. Brock nodded his head. “Well, could it be about her dad?”

“It’s something more,” Brock was adamant. He knew she would be sad and would never be the same after her dad died. That was a given. No-one was ever the same after the death of a parent, so he didn’t blame her for that. “It’s…it’s something more.”

***

“Is everything okay with you?” Svea asked delicately as she and Grace were shopping at Holt Renfrew. Well – Grace was shopping at Holt Renfrew. Svea was basically just following her around, because it wasn’t like she could afford anything.

“I’m fine,” Grace said unconvincingly.

“Are you sure? Because you know you can talk to me if things aren’t okay.”

Grace took a deep breath in, trying to compose herself. Knowing what she knew about Svea’s parents and their love story, she doubted that Svea would be able to provide any…critical insight, so to speak. But Grace tried anyway. “How d’you know a guy is your soulmate, Svea?” she asked.

Svea was taken aback. It was quite the loaded question to lead with. “I’d say it’s when you can picture the rest of your life with them. At least that’s one aspect to it.”

“Can you picture the rest of your life with Elias?”

“Yes,” Svea answered automatically, because she could. It was as friends, sure, but she still pictured the rest of her life with him. “Can you picture the rest of your life with Brock?”

Grace paused. Her response wasn’t as quick or forthcoming. “Yes.”

“But?”

“But what?”

“There was a pause there,” Svea said. “But what?”

“But what if, like, things change?” Grace asked. “What if the love doesn’t last? What if it breaks down?”

“You mean like your parents?”

Grace didn’t want to glare at Svea – she really didn’t, because Svea was one of the sweetest people alive – but she did. She glared at her. “No,” she said forcefully, trying to cover.

“Love always lasts. True love always lasts. Look at Elias and I – I mean, we’ve loved each other our whole lives—”

“You and Elias won’t even hold hands or kiss each other,” Grace said angrily, unable to control her emotions at this point. “You won’t even admit you love him romantically. How the hell is that love?”

Svea just stared at Grace, unable to formulate words. Tears welled in her eyes too, and when Grace saw them get red, she hated herself even more. She hated herself already for making Brock worry, for not telling him the truth, for hiding things from him; now, she hated herself even more for making Svea emotional. “I’ve gotta go,” she said, leaving quickly, unable to look back at Svea as she left her in the middle of Holt Renfrew alone.

***

“If you don’t tell me what’s wrong right now or I’m leaving,” Brock said sternly, his voice raised. Both of their voices had been for the last while now, since they were fighting. He looked at Grace as she stared back at him indignantly from across the kitchen. “We can’t have a relationship if we don’t communicate – if you don’t tell me what’s been bothering you.”

“There’s nothing wrong.”

“Is it something I did? Did I say something?”

“It’s not you.”

“Then what is it?”

“There’s nothing wr—”

“Tell me what’s wrong!”

Grace stayed silent. She could feel herself going red. She could feel the emotions in her bubble up. She knew she wouldn’t be able to hold it in much longer. “Leave.”

Brock furrowed his brows. “Excuse me?”

“Leave my apartment now.”

Brock stood stoic in spot. “You don’t mean that—”

“LEAVE!” Grace screamed at the top of her lungs, taking every ounce of strength left in her to not cry.

They were in a standoff. Brock stood stoic. Grace stood stoic. Staring at each other, waiting for the other to move. Neither did for a while, waiting it out to see who would crack first. She didn’t mean it, Brock kept thinking. She doesn’t mean it. She doesn’t mean it. But with every second that passed, with every heave of Grace’s chest, with every moment of silence signaling her refusal to budge…

Brock cracked.

He picked up his keys, gave Grace one last look, and walked out the door.

***

It was a few agonizing, excruciating, unbearably lonely few weeks later when Brock received a phone call in the middle of the night. 2:38am. His phone’s ring blaring throughout his empty apartment.

“Hello?” his voice was groggy, tired, exhausted.

Silence.

“Hello?” he asked once more, louder this time. If it was any one of his teammates he’d knock them dead the next time he saw them – Petey especially.

The voice was small and defeated when it finally did speak, asking Brock the question, “What if we end up like my parents?”

Brock was wide awake now. He got up in bed dramatically, holding his phone against his ear so tightly that he could hear the charger fall out of the electrical socket. “Gracie,” the shock was evident in his voice.

“Will you come over?” she asked.

Brock threw the covers off his body dramatically. “I’m on my way right now,” he said. He’d drive his car in his slippers if he needed to.

“Be careful.”

“I’m coming. I’ll be there soon.”

***

“C’mere,” Brock said the millisecond Grace let him in, wrapping his arms around her and engulfing her into a hug as she clung to him like he’d float away and wrapped every limb she had around him. He’d made it to her apartment in record time, speeding through the streets of Vancouver to get to her. It was probably dangerous, but it wasn’t like there were other cars on the road at 2:45 in the morning. “Talk to me Gracie. Talk to me,” he urged as he felt her tears against his skin.

“I’m so sorry,” she mumbled into the crook of his neck. “I’m so—Brock, I was so bad. So bad.”

“Shhhhh shhhh shhhh, don’t,” Brock cooed. “Just tell me what’s wrong. What’s going on in your head, Grace?”

“Brock…” she began, swallowing her tears before continuing. She pulled away slightly so she could look him in the eye, wiping her own red ones with the palms of her hands. She knew she looked awful, but she also knew Brock didn’t give a shit. “I just miss him so much.”

“Your dad.”

Grace nodded quickly. “Every part of me misses him. But then I started to think about how awful he and my mom were during the divorce,” she explained. And to Brock, that said everything. Grace told him about it ever since they met – the general, the specific, the nitty-gritty details – and it was awful. To have that whirling around in her mind would have definitely affected her. It all made sense to him now. It all made sense, knowing she never wanted to go back to that. “And I got scared…I got so scared. I just kept remembering how bad it was. So on the night of the gala when you said—”

“So it was something that I said—”

“Nonononononono,” she vehemently shook her head, bringing her finger up to his lips to silence him. “No no no no no. I—Brock—I love you with every part of me too. But…but what if we end up like my parents? What if we fall out of love? What if it—what if it ends badly? What if we ended up hating each other? They’d always say things like it was so hard to be with one another and—”

“Is it hard to be with me?” Brock asked, not wanting her to go any further and knowing that at this point, he needed to intervene.

“NO! Never!” she exclaimed. She never wanted Brock to think that ever. She cradled his face in her hands. “Being with you feels natural. It feels like it was always supposed to be this way. It’s so easy. It’s so peaceful.”

“Then that’s how it’ll always be, a peaceful easy feeling,” Brock whispered. “What’s there to be scared about, baby?”

Grace shook her head, tearing up again. “Nothing when I’m with you.”

“We won’t end up like your parents because we’re not your parents,” he said. His words were so simple but they hit Grace like a ton of bricks. “We’re different people. I love you more than anything, and the thought of hating you—Grace—I—it’s never, never crossed my mind. I never could. You give me everything. Do I give you everything?”

She nodded. “Everything.”

“Then I’m gonna keep giving you everything. And I’ll do it till the end of time, Gracie. Because I love you. I can’t picture myself with anyone else. I can’t…I can’t picture going through pain with anyone else besides you.”

Brock’s words were loaded – she knew that. “I can’t picture going through pain with anyone else besides you.” Grace nodded. The sentiment was so serious, but so right. When she really thought about it, would she have wanted to experience this pain with anyone else besides Brock? No. He meant the world to her. And that’s how it was always going to be. “I’m so dumb,” she shook her head at herself.

“You’re not dumb. For what you went through, it’s a legitimate worry,” he reassured her. “But I promise you, I promise you, I’ll love you with everything I have and you’ll love me with everything you have, and we won’t end up like your parents.”

Grace was overcome with emotion. “I love you so much, Brock.”

“I love you too,” he leaned in to kiss her, once, twice, then again and again. When they stopped, he wrapped his arms around her body and lay down on her couch, bringing her body down with him. He wiggled out of his hoodie. Then he pushed her body down slightly, and that’s when Grace knew exactly what he was doing. She lay her head on his bare chest, listening to his heartbeat.

“Can you feel it?” he asked softly.

Grace nodded.

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some-days-we-get-sundays · 3 years

Text

prompt request: Sophie is jealous

There is a knock on the door to Mary and Ryan’s place.

Mary goes to open the door and Sophie is standing on the other side looking amazing in a red blouse and black jeans. She also looks kind of sad but not in an unhappy way, more somber if anything with a lot going on in her eyes and an expression that Mary can’t quite read. Sometimes she wishes she had Alice’s skill of deciphering people.

“Hey, Sophie. I thought you’d be with Kate. Did you go and see her?” Mary opened the door wider and allowed Sophie to walk in. The two women made their way to the couch.

Sophie sighed as she slipped her shoes off and sat down. “Kate’s gone.” Mary made a face because she knew Kate was leaving again, off to the next great adventure. She had made peace with it. She was just happy that she got Kate back - the real Kate, and that she wasn’t dead. Mary still wakes up crying and drenched in sweat when she has dreams of Kate and her funeral. She would love for Kate to stay and for them to catch up, but it’s enough right now knowing that she’s alive and safe. And that she remembers who Mary is again.

“Kate came and met me at The Hold Up. She had her stupid motorcycle helmet in her hands and said she was leaving. Going to go find Bruce and your dad.” Sophie rolls her eyes and her voice sounds even more raspy than usual.

“Yeah, Kate told us she was going.” Mary thought Kate would at least stick around a bit longer for Sophie. “I’m sorry Soph. I know she loved you so much. She’s been through a lot and, I know the feeling. She needs time to figure things out. She’ll be back.” Mary tried to be comforting and give Sophie what she needed in this moment, even though she wasn’t too sure exactly what it was Sophie needed. But she rubbed her back anyway and went to put on some water for tea. She felt like this was more of a tea moment than a let’s get hammered and solve clues under the direction of a mad man moment.

Mary came back a few moments later with tea in hand.

“You know, you should really start leaving some clothes over here to hang out in. If you weren’t so tall I’d say you could borrow something of mine. I feel a girls night coming on.” Mary said and laughed softly. Sophie brought her tea to her lips, blew on it, and then set it back down. “I might have shorts that would fit you, and Ryan has some oversized sleep shirts. You could borrow something.” Mary thought out loud.

“I don’t know if Ryan would want me over here getting that comfortable.” Sophie didn’t actually mean this, she knew her and Ryan were in a much better place. Sophie offered Ryan her couch to crash on. They were no longer Crowie and the Ex-Con with no future. They were really starting to just become Sophie and Ryan. Wildmoore.

“Oh come on, you and Ryan are tight now. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you two being a lot nicer to each other.” Mary lightly bumped her shoulder into Sophie’s.

“Where is Ryan anyway?” Sophie asked attempting to be nonchalant. She picked up her tea and blew on it some more as a distraction and to help with her façade of appearing uninterested.

“Um, I think she went to go meet with Imani.” Sophie sputtered and almost spilled her tea.

“Woah girl, you alright?”

“Yeah, just, this was way hotter than I was expecting.” Sophie laughed awkwardly and tried to recover. “She’s with Imani?” Sophie pressed out her bottom lip in consideration before her next comment. “I thought they were over?” Sophie didn’t know for sure if Ryan and Imani were over but ever since Luke got shot, she and Ryan were spending a lot more time together and Imani was nowhere to be found. Ryan hadn’t even mentioned her. Unless Ryan and Imani just sexted and spent late nights together. Sophie found herself annoyed with the thought of Ryan and Imani spending late nights together and sexting.

“Um I don’t know actually now that you mention it. I mean you were there when I told Ryan I don’t want to be included in her little sexcapades so maybe that’s why we haven’t heard from the two of them as of late.” Mary offered. Sophie was quiet. So Mary kept talking to fill the silence. “But Imani is cool, you’d like her.”

“I know Imani is cool Mary, she saved us from jail with her fancy lawyer knowledge. Besides, Ryan wouldn’t date somebody uncool. I mean except for Angelique.” Sophie said as an after thought.

“Ohhh you didn’t like her either!?” Mary exclaimed and put her hand on Sophie’s shoulder.” Mary laughed joyously. “Whew I thought I was the only one! Girl maybe we do need to get out the hard stuff from the cupboard!” She gave Sophie a look letting her know that she was down to turn up whenever she said the word.

“It’s not that I didn’t like her. She just wasn’t good enough for Ryan.” Sophie said matter-of-factly. Mary sat there in stunned silence at Sophie’s admission. But before she could say anything, Sophie tried to clarify.

“I-I just meant like she’s Ryan Wilder, bad ass extraordinaire, Batwoman by night and day, bartending babe on the side. Angelique was just bringing Ryan down. I never saw it until I got to know Ryan and realized she was always covering for Angelique, and Angelique was taking advantage of Ryan’s kindness and the emotional attachment that was there from when they were kids. Ryan felt like she owed Angelique, when really it was the other way around. Ryan’s a good person. She deserves someone who knows that but doesn’t use it against her, someone like-”

“Someone like you?” Mary offered up slowly, testing the waters.

“Are we singing Adele now?” Sophie went for a joke hoping that she was coming off as aloof. Mary just kept staring back at Sophie with a grin on her face.

“Stop smiling Mary. Ok what? If you’re thinking I want to date Ryan, I don’t.” Sophie inwardly cringed as this sounded like such a lie even to her own ears.

“Well it doesn’t sound like you want anyone else to have her.” Mary was feeling emboldened. Sophie didn’t seem mad, she just seemed either unaware or in denial. Mary continued, “you didn’t like Angelique, which I am with you on that one. And you sound jealous of Ryan spending time with Imani. So if all these girls that Ryan gets with upset you, then why don’t you just ask Ryan out? You just said she deserves better. You could be better.”

Sophie took a long pause and stirred her tea. Seemingly gathering up courage to say what she was going to say. “Ryan and I are finally friends. It took so long for us to get to this place of genuine understanding and respect. I don’t want to throw dating her into the mix. And yes, ok, she’s gorgeous, like drop dead gorgeous- she is. But what if things go horribly wrong and then we’re back to square one. Or even worse, we don’t even talk anymore because we hate each other so much. I don’t want to take that risk. I care about her too much.” Mary sat there with her eyes wide and a shit eating grin on her face. She had no idea Sophie had all these feelings. She thought at the very most Sophie was just crushing.

“Oh my gosh, you totally love her!” Mary squealed.

“Shut up Mary. I don’t.” Sophie got up to bring their empty tea cups to the kitchen and to try and calm her nerves and distance herself for a second from Mary’s prying and absurd accusations.

“You love her! You love her! You love her!” Mary repeated trying to get Sophie to admit it.

At that moment the door suddenly opened and in walked Ryan.

Mary froze and Sophie came out of the kitchen to see who it was. She had a fleeting thought that it would be Kate and that maybe she had changed her mind and decided to stick around. Sophie then had another fleeting thought that Ryan and Mary should possibly change the locks. Just incase Kate isn’t Kate again or something.

“Um who loves who?” Ryan grinned as she came inside and closed the door. She kicked off her shoes and ran a hand through her loose curls. Sophie came back and sat on the couch. Her and Ryan gave each other quick smiles. The energy between them was so different than it had been only a few short months ago. Before, Ryan would have been demanding to know why there was a crow in her loft.

“Kate loves Sophie.” Mary quickly covered.

“Oh.” Ryan simply said and walked off to her room. Mary and Sophie looked at each other with nervous expressions. Not soon after Ryan left she was back in an oversized shirt and some sleep shorts. Sophie had to try hard not to slowly run her eyes up and down Ryan’s entire body. That girl was banging.

“So how is Imani?” Sophie awkwardly and quickly tried to take the attention off of herself and change the subject. She was still curious where Imani came from and how long she was going to be staying. Ryan shot Mary a look, and Mary put her hands up in mock surrender. “Hey, I barely said anything. Sophie asked where you were and I said you were with Imani.” Now it was Sophie’s turn to shoot Mary another glare. Ryan was smiling wildly and looking between the two. She hadn’t realized that she was the topic of conversation while she was gone.

“So, you been asking about me huh Soph?” Ryan teased.

“Girl please. It was just so peaceful and quiet over here so I was just making sure you weren’t getting yourself into trouble somewhere.” Sophie quipped.

“Oh I was definitely getting into trouble.” Ryan shot back with a smug look on her face. “I was getting into a very sexy kind of trouble, I got into trouble maybe 3 of 4 times actuall-”

“Ok we get it Ryan.” Sophie snapped. “I mean, we get it.” Sophie said a little softer this time. Then without warning Sophie got up, hurriedly walked to the door, opened it, and rushed out, slamming it shut as she left.

Inside the loft, Ryan and Mary gave each other puzzled looks and Ryan pointed to the door as if to say, what was all that about. “You should go after her.” Mary said simply and then retreated to her room. Ryan shook her head in confusion and then went to find Sophie.

Ryan didn’t have to go far as Sophie was sitting just outside the door against the wall. Ryan stood in front of her. Sophie didn’t look up so Ryan slid down next to Sophie against the wall. Ryan put her hand on Sophie’s knee and now the ball was in Sophie’s court. Ryan patiently waited and hoped that Sophie would share what was bothering her. Sophie had been there for Ryan this whole year, and Ryan wanted to return the favor. Sophie looked up with pools of water in her autumn colored eyes threatening to spill and Ryan’s heart broke just a bit. Sophie was always so strong but Ryan didn’t want or need her to be. Sophie was allowed to break and fall apart, and in that moment, Ryan vowed to always be there to catch her and help pick up the pieces when she did.

“I’m sorry for running out like that.” Sophie said quietly and sniffled.

“Soph, you do not need to apologize.” Ryan reassured her. They were quiet again for a few beats.

“So, you really like Imani.” It wasn’t a question, more like an observation.

Is that what this is about, Ryan thought. Is Sophie- is she jealous? That can’t be right. If she was jealous that would mean... Ryan looked over again slowly at Sophie.

“Imani is great.” Ryan started. She watched as Sophie sunk into herself more at that statement. Ryan continued, “but it’s not serious. It’s just sex and comfort and the closeness of somebody. I know I talk a big game and don’t get me wrong, being Batwoman is amazing, it’s everything I’ve ever dreamed, but it’s lonely. And whoever I’m with I can’t even share myself fully with them. I think I’m going to break it off with her anyway.” Ryan was thinking out loud at this point. Up until now she didn’t mind having a fling with Imani, it kept her company. But like her and Luke had discussed, it was hard dating and being a Superhero. And if Sophie was into her...

“Kate left.” Sophie said suddenly. Ryan sighed. She looked at Sophie, put a finger up to her cheek and caught a stray tear that was sliding down the side of her face. “I know.” Ryan said. She wiped her damp finger on her sleep shirt.

“I think I’m... relieved.” Sophie finally said. This surprised Ryan. She thought Kate was the love of Sophie’s life.

"She was the love of my life, but I think the key word is, was.” Sophie said as if reading Ryan’s mind. “I think I loved who she used to be. When she came back I was different and so was she. And when she took off again, I realized I wasn’t all that upset or hurt. It took losing her to realize that while I loved and cared deeply for her, she’s not my soul mate. She represents a time in my life that is special but it’s not where I am anymore. And then I met someone named Ryan Wilder.” Sophie smirked and looked into Ryan’s wide shocked eyes.

“Me?” Ryan said with the cutest look on her face that Sophie had ever witnessed.

“Yes you. Ryan, you annoyed the hell out of me, you pissed me off, you irritated and enraged me-”

“Ok girl, damn. We get it.” Ryan rolled her eyes. Sophie let out a raspy chuckle and continued.

“You challenged me, you made me see things that I didn’t want to see within myself and within the Crows. You inspired me, you amazed me, and you thrilled me. I wanted to be a better me because of you Ryan. And then when I found out that you were Batwoman...I knew I had it in me to fight the system in the way that you do. And I could no longer keep working with the same people who you were trying to take down. I had to pick a side. And I’m team Ryan.” Sophie smiled.

Ryan laughed and lightly shoved her. “You’re team corny. But thank you. Thank you for choosing me.” Ryan said turning serious for a moment, but she couldn’t stop another grin from overtaking her features.

“I’ll always choose you, Ryan.”

Ryan visibly swallowed and then she looked at Sophie. “So, you really do have a thing for women in suits, huh.” Ryan teased.

“I have a thing for you.” Sophie retorted.

“Wow, just getting right to it huh?” Ryan flirted back. Sophie shrugged, “I want you Ryan. And I don’t want to step on Imani’s toes or anything but-”

Sophie felt warm, soft, wet lips press against her own. She instinctively flinched and then closed her eyes and sunk into the feeling of Ryan’s lips pressed against her own. Sophie immediately sucked and pecked at Ryan’s bottom lip and then she dipped her tongue into Ryan’s mouth, she let Ryan dip her own tongue out and she lightly sucked on it while Ryan sucked and kissed Sophie’s top lip. She felt Ryan’s hands in her hair and so she moved her hands to Ryan’s waist, and slipped them slightly under the oversized shirt Ryan was wearing. She had wanted to feel Ryan’s abs for quite some time now. Ryan smelled like shea butter, lavender, and eucalyptus. Sophie’s senses were shooting into overdrive. A cough interrupted them as someone walked by. They both realized they were still sitting out in the hall.

“We should go inside.” Sophie said and then laughed. Her face was flushed and her blouse that was tucked into her jeans was now hanging loosely untucked. They got up and opened the loft door and saw Mary race to the couch.

“Um hey guys.” Mary tried sounding as casual as possible. “You guys wanna stay up and chat?” Mary offered. She wanted all the tea and it was worth a shot. Ryan and Sophie knew they had been caught.

“Goodnight Mary. Oh, and Sophie’s staying over.” Ryan said as she walked Sophie to her room. Mary noticed Ryan held Sophie’s fingers gently in her hand. Mary squealed.

“Details! I want details in the morning! And pancakes.” Mary shouted as an after thought.

“Deal.” Ryan said as her and Sophie giggled and Ryan closed her bedroom door behind them.

#this is way longer than i intended it to be #sophie moore #ryan wilder #wildmoore

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quietmyfearswith · 4 years

Text

girl at home ; andy barber x fem!reader ; 3/3

status — completed series

word count — 4,110 words

warnings — angst??? lil fluff?? SMUT, passionate sex, unprotected reader (tho imo she’s on the pill) swearing

pairing — andy barber x fem!reader

a/n — last part of girl at home! after this i’ll be working on my august walker series. lmk what you guys think of this one :’) also tysm for 205 followers!!

tagging @tonystankschild

masterlist | series masterlist

Y/N found herself aimlessly driving around. No known destinations in mind; she just wanted to stay away from the house that once made her feel welcome but now she began to rethink about how it just gave her a false sense of home.

Spotting a bar she decided to grab a drink — a non-alcoholic one, she wasn’t going to risk an impaired driving ticket. Upon entering the facility, she spotted a co-worker of hers, Sheila, and waved at her. “Hey Y/N, come over here!”

She nodded and took the empty seat beside her, “You alone?” Sheila nodded as she gulped a bit of her drink. Ordering a drink, she turned to Sheila, “What brings you here?” Shrugging, the blonde answered, “I come here every Friday night, and before you ask it’s not to get lucky. But I just reward myself with a fancy drink after a week’s hard work.”

Thanking the waiter for the arrival of her drink, “Well good for you for having a reason to celebrate.” Picking up the sadness in her tone, the blonde asked, “What’s wrong with you? It’s unlikely of you to spend time out.”

Her mind immediately went to her earlier conversation with Andy’s former wife, but she didn’t know if it would be a good idea on her part to open up about it to someone. Sensing her uneasiness, Sheila reassured her, “Don’t worry I can keep an open mind and a sealed mouth.”

Nervously chuckling, Y/N then found herself unloading her baggage after sipping her drink, “It’s just, you know how I rent a room in Andy Barber’s house right?” Sheila nodded, prompting Y/N to continue her story, “Well over the past months that I’ve spent with him, we became close. Close enough that I thought that there was something special between the two of us.”

“Oh snap! There goes your first mistake; you two continued on without clarifying the label between the two of you,” Her comment had her taken aback and Sheila just sheepishly shrugged her shoulders, “Sorry, shouldn’t have commented. Keep going with your story.”

“And I don’t know? I’m overthinking now because Laurie asked about Andy and I, then she said that the only reason Andy acts the way he was around me is that I’m convenient for him. That no other woman would look at him and take interest in him, so really there was no other option for him but me.” Y/N didn’t notice how there were a few stray tears that littered her face and she was quick to wipe them away. Sheila then rubbed the forearm of the girl who sat beside her, “Have you talked to Andy about this?”

Shaking her head, she wiped the remainder of her tears with a tissue, “I didn’t. But what for? To confirm that I was indeed just convenient for him?” Just at the thought of it Y/N could feel her heart breaking. “Well I don’t know but I think you need closure.”

Y/N rolled her eyes at her opinion, “Closure? What the fuck for? We never clarified if we were in a relationship therefore we don’t need to end anything,” She scoffed. Sheila just gave her a pointed look, “But you and I both know this will eat you up alive if you don’t get to set things straight with him.”

“You have a point,” Y/N conceded before continuing, “But should I talk to him, I’m gonna need a new place to live.” Sheila scoffed at her statement before taking a swig of her drink, “Lucky for you I have a spare bedroom; so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“How ‘bout I stay over on yours for the weekend? Just to see things out. Not really because I packed some things because I needed to get away,” She joked, which had Sheila laughing as well. “As long as you’re driving me home, we can have a sleepover.”

As they both got in the car and the only sounds came from the music playing on the stereo. “One thing though,” Sheila slurred out, “How come Laurie suddenly talked that way about you and Andy?” Not knowing the answer to it Y/N just shrugged, “Do you think that Laurie’s jealous of the two of you?”

Ceasing at a stop light, Y/N looked over to Sheila with a wrinkled expression, “What are you going on about?” Sheila explained as she gestured with her hands, “Think about it, she asked about the two of you, criticized whatever was going on between the two of you, and talked shit about you. Perhaps she’s threatened?”

Without moving her eyes away from the road she scoffed, “What if she’s right though? That I’m just there to warm up Andy’s side and make him feel not lonely.” Slapping her thighs as the alcohol finally settled in her system Sheila guessed, “Doubt it. But really the only way to find out is by talking to him.”

“I’ll cross that bridge once I get there, but now I don’t even want to think about him right now.”

The weekend went relatively well for Andy. He didn’t have to spend time alone with Laurie, since there was always something the three of them did together. For one it was a great opportunity to bond with Jacob and that he got to know his new life more.

As Andy was saying goodbye to his teenage son, the younger Barber joked, “So will you finally ask Y/N out?” The lawyer ruffled his son’s hair, “Maybe you should ask out the girl you had an eye on too, huh?” The two then joked around for a bit before Laurie told Jacob to get in the car already. Hugging one last time, Andy bade goodbye, “I’ll see you soon, okay, bud? Be good.” The teenage boy nodded against him, “It was good seeing you, dad. I’ll miss you.”

As he was watching his son head to the car, Andy felt Laurie’s presence behind him, “Whatever it is you said about me and Y/N was way out of line.” The woman could only scoff, “It’s true and you know it. The sooner you accept, the better.” Breathing heavily through his nose and crossed his arms, the lawyer willed himself to not lose composure and just said goodbye to her, “Bye Laurie, don’t expect that I’ll contact you.”

Laurie was about to say something more, but opted not to and instead just patted Andy’s back before strolling her way to the car. Waving adieu to his son, the smile that graced his bearded face dropped when they vanished his line of sight. Reaching for the phone in his pocket, his frown deepened when he noticed that there were no texts or calls from Y/N, despite the fact he was trying everything to reach out to her.

Hey Y/N, I haven’t heard from you since Friday. Please call or text me back. I’m really worried about you, honey.

As he sent the text, he lowered the phone on the dining table, staring at the phone as if he’d intimidate it well enough to earn back a reply from the girl he’s been missing. “Where are you, Y/N?”

The remainder of the Sunday afternoon Andy spent it waiting for Y/N in the living room. He even ordered her favorite takeout just in case she came back hungry. But as the stars littered the sky and darkness took the place of light, there was still no sign of Y/N.

As quietly as possible, Y/N opened the front door and entered the house. She had three hours before needing to go to work and she dropped by in order to shower and change into her work clothes. Tiptoeing her way to her room, she froze upon seeing Andy’s hulking figure fit itself into the couch. She peeked a bit and was relieved to see that he was fast asleep; but was also curious as to why the lawyer spent the night here and not in his bedroom. When he moved to lay on his other side, Y/N held her breath and sprinted quietly to her room in order to do what she came here for.

Once she was showered and dressed for her day’s work, Y/N decided to prepare some of her bags already; some having been already filled halfway with her clothes and other belongings. Looking down on her phone she noticed that Andy would soon be waking up given the time. In her haste to exit the premise, she wasn’t able to fully shut her bedroom door as she quietly made her exit. But before doing so, she glanced at Andy’s sleeping figure with sadness and longing.

Andy’s body was scolding him for not sleeping on his bed and instead making camp on the couch; he then decided that missing a day of exercise wouldn’t be too bad. Rubbing the sleep of his eyes, he peeped at the window to see if the compact car of Y/N was parked outside. Sighing heavily upon noticing that he still had a bit of time to just lay in his bed before heading to work; he then decided to rest on his bed for a bit. On his way up, the bedroom door he rented being left half opened stood out to him. The few times he’s been in Y/N’s room was so that they could cuddle as they slept together, and those instances flooded his mind as he entered the room and glared at the bags that were laid out in the bed — some of them containing Y/N’s belongings.

“What the fuck?” He muttered to no one in particular, but a part of him was hoping the room would suddenly talk back and answer him about the questions he had racing through his head. Fumbling with his phone, he texted Y/N:

Where are you? Why are your bags packed?

Y/N had decided to grab some breakfast on her way to work, and as she was sipping on some hot chocolate, she saw how Andy texted her yet again. The man clearly did not grasp the concept that she wished not to speak with him. Yet she also felt guilty about how he bombarded her with texts and calls over the weekend and yet not one were opened or returned; so she decided to spare him with a simple reply:

I’m moving out.

And that didn’t sit well with the lawyer as his eyes bulged at the reply and immediately flooded her with texts, mixed with the occasional phone calls. The girl having had enough of it, turned off her phone before going on with her day at work.

The lawyer did go to work — however he wasn’t in his best state of mind that day. His thoughts preoccupied with questions about why Y/N was avoiding him and the reason behind her sudden desire to move out of the house. Knowing that she always got off from work earlier than him pushed Andy to leave work early. He fed his co-workers some bullshit about not feeling well because of something he ate over the weekend — well if he was being honest, it wasn’t really something he ate, but because of someone who made distasteful comments — and they believed him without a doubt after seeing how distant he was today at work.

On his way home, he again decided to drop by her favorite restaurant to grab some of her go-to orders. Arriving home, he prepared the dining table with the food he bought; they’ve only spent two days apart and Andy came to realize how much he’s missed Y/N considering how they’d spent so much time together. It was like she was engraved in his daily routine and with her absence, he felt lost.

Hearing a rattling of keys, the lawyer was hopeful that it was Y/N and that they could have the chance to talk. Seeing how she quietly walked around the room gave Andy the impression that she had been purposefully avoiding him. “Shit!” She slightly jumped when she peeked on the dining area and spotted the familiar blue eyes she’d grown to adore.

“Why are you so surprised?” Andy implored as he crossed his arms. Recovering from her initial shock she managed to offer him a valid response, “Well I always come home before you. And you were looking right at me as I entered.”

The lawyer had to give it to her, it was a plausible excuse; but her surprise wasn’t his main concern right now. Standing up from where he was seated he walked towards her, planting a hand on his hip, “Why haven’t you been answering my calls and texts? And why are you moving out?”

Shifting the weight between her feet, Y/N refused to look up at him, “There’s no signed lease, I’m not infringing anything.” Displeased with her answer, Andy angrily exhaled, “No, but I’m owed an explanation.”

Chuckling at him, “An explanation? I don’t want to live here anymore; not when I’m only here to rid you of your loneliness,” Without realizing it, tears were starting to flow out of her eyes. Shocked with what she said, Andy placed both his hands on her shoulders to get her to look at him, “Rid me of my loneliness? What are you talking about?”

Pushing his hands off of her, she wiped her tears away then bitterly recalled, “Laurie talked told me; The only reason we have, whatever it is we have between us,” She pointed to the space she created between them, “Is because you know no woman would want you hence why you settled for me.” It was ridiculous how she was crying in front of him, but she just felt emotionally exhausted with the whole ordeal that she didn’t have the enough energy to fight back the feeling to cry.

Whereas Andy’s heart broke at the sight of Y/N breaking down; despite her frail attempts to push him away, he fought her against it and engulfed her in a tight hug. “What Laurie said isn’t true,” He tried to comfort her as she rubbed her back, “I’m not with you because I have no other option.”

“You call me honey; and apparently that’s what you called her,” She scoffed, “Besides, we didn’t put on a label on what we had going on.” The lawyer’s heart shrunk in sadness at what she just said, he also realized how awful he was treating her and how badly she was feeling about the whole ordeal.

“I’m so sorry about the whole nickname thing, sweetheart,” He said as he pressed a kiss on the top of her head, “It was the nickname on the top of my head and I should have known better not to grace you with that one as well.” He pushed her away from him slightly so he could see her face clearly, wiping the tears that tarnished her beautiful face, “And I regret not initiating for us to have a label.”

Y/N could only focus on the negatives and turned away from Andy, “You have nothing to apologize for.” She went for the fridge to grab some water, suddenly feeling thirsty after letting out a few tears. Andy looked at her and was patiently waiting should she have something more to say; which she did after sipping the water, “I’m the only one to blame for falling for you.”

Had he not been paying close attention to her, he would have missed what she just said. But his orbs widened, hopeful that she meant what she had just said and hopefully didn’t regret so. “You fell for me?” His question had Y/N suddenly realizing that what she had mumble didn’t slip past Andy; looking at the bearded man in front of her — who’s face glimmered with optimism — and she couldn’t bring herself to cover up what she mindlessly confessed, not when it looked like gave life to the man in front of her.

“Yeah, I did,” She admitted silently as her fingers circled around the rim of the glass, “But it’s fine if you don’t feel the same. If it was just a fling for you or whatever, it’s fine.” She sounded dejected that Andy swore to himself he’d do everything in his power to make her feel the opposite. Closing the distance between them, Andy wrapped one of his hands around her waist, pushing his front flush against hers. While his other hand grasped hers and held it against his chest, “Whatever bullshit Laurie fed you isn’t true. It was a mistake to call you honey and I swear you’ll never hear me say that to you or to anyone ever again.”

Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion for she didn’t know where Andy was going with this; but she didn’t speak up as she felt that he had more things to say. “You’re not someone I’m settling for — whatever the fuck that means — but you’re someone I actually want to be with. Ever since you came to live with me you’ve made me feel happy, loved, and cared for. I never thought someone would be able to make me smile again, but you did. You breathed life into me just when I was on the verge of giving up.”

Kissing her hand that he held, he spoke with the utmost sincerity on his voice, “I’ve fallen for you too and even though it’s terrifying to open up to someone, I don’t regret doing so,” He took a deep breath before revealing, “I love you, Y/N.”

Letting out an audible gasp, “You what?” Andy smiled softly before kissing the space between her eyebrows, hoping to rid her of the wrinkle she formed, “You heard me, I love you. I may have not said or shown it much to you, but I do.”

Her eyes were glossy with tears again, but not because of the earlier reasons. She felt her heart beat fast as it swelled with love and appreciation, “Andy, please don’t fuck with me right now.” The older man’s body vibrated with loving chuckles, “I’m not, sweetheart,” He kissed her lips briefly, they both could feel their bodies significantly relax, “I love you, and I understand if you don’t feel the same,” He added with his lips still touching hers.

Andy was nervous when Y/N untangled her hand from his and was preparing for the worst — that she didn’t feel the same or that she was still adamant about moving out from his house. But was genuinely surprised when her arms wrapped themselves around his neck, standing on her tiptoes so her forehead rested against his, “I love you too, Andy.”

Sealing his lips against hers was the only reply he could offer; his hands sliding from her back down to her thighs. Tapping on the back of her thighs he briefly broke their kiss, “Jump, sweetie.” And he caught her with ease as she did so. Her hands clawed at his long sleeves, unbuttoning it as Andy carried the two of them up to his bedroom. Once she got rid of his shirt, she planted kisses along his neck, “I love you, Andy. I’m sorry I didn’t talk to you about it first.”

They were halfway through the journey to his room but the lawyer pressed Y/N against the wall as he stopped undoing her shirt, “I love you too; and I understand why you didn’t,” He sucked a hickey into her neck before saying, “I need you bad right now, sweetheart.”

When her back hit the soft mattress, Y/N removed her work pants along with her panties. Andy looked down on her hungrily as he took off his pants and boxers. Lunging towards her, he kissed her deeply, tongue wrestling against each other, his hands gently massaged her breasts. “God I missed your touch,” She moaned as the lawyer fiddled with her nipples, tweaking and pulling on them.

“It will teach you not to run off,” Andy smirked as he enveloped a breast in his mouth. Moaning out loud about how good it feels, one of her hands pulled on his hair and directed him to focus his attention to her other breast. He complied with a smirk, “You’re such a needy little thing, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I’m sorry for running off. I love you so much and I just need you,” She mewled out, chest heaving up and down. Declaring her love for him felt so natural and good that she couldn’t stop professing it. The same could be said for Andy; as his kisses trailed down from her chest to her pussy he kept on muttering with every kiss, “I love you. I love you, baby.”

Feeling his tongue lick and massage her hard nub, Y/N squirmed, “I need you inside me, Andy, please. I just need you inside me.” Stopping his assault, Andy made his way up to face her and kissed her lips before asking, “What are the magic words, sweetheart?”

“I love you, Andy. Please I need you inside me,” And the man was pleased with her answer as grabbed his cock and didn’t tease the both of them any further and slid in. “Fuck, I love you too,” He groaned as he could feel her walls clinging into his cock tightly. The juices she was producing gave him the lubrication to slide in and out of her without hurting her.

Andy made her wrap her legs around his torso, allowing him to rut into her deeper and harder — but still doing so with passion. He laced both his hands with hers and held onto them tightly, “There’s only you, sweetheart,” He placed short and sweet kisses on her lips before reaffirming, “You’re the only one I love.”

The tip of his cock hit her sweet spot and she let out a loud moan into Andy’s mouth as they both were passionately kissing — which resulted in the lawyer groaning and slamming into her faster this time. “I’m so close, Andy. You make me feel so good.” Fueling his ego, Andy let go of one of her hands to rub in her swollen clit. Her wails getting louder, “Only I can make you feel this way. You know why that is?”

Too blissed out with the simulations she was receiving, all Y/N could do was shake her head. And that was a good enough answer for Andy as he grunted out, “Because I love you; I’m gonna make you feel all my love.” His thrust then became rapid, harsh, and desperate; as if trying to convey what he felt for her.

“I love you too,” She moaned out before kissing him and Andy was more than willing to reciprocate the kiss. And as they both were making out Y/N whined out, “I’m cumming, I’m gonna cum hard.” Andy told her he was close too and focused on slamming into her hard and it did the trick since she climaxed and came so hard her walls gripped onto the lawyer’s cock so hard he had no choice but halt his movements because she was too tight. The way her walls massaged his cock had him spilling his load as well.

They both caught their breaths with their foreheads pressed against each other’s, staring deeply into each other’s eyes. Andy snapped out of their post-orgasm haze and laid down beside Y/N without removing his cock from inside her. Wrapping both his arms around her frame, he pulled her head against his chest, “That isn’t just a fling for me, okay?” She looked into his face and could see how serious he was.

“I wanna be with you; take you on dates, go for vacation, have lazy days, bribe you to go to work late because I wanna have sex,” Y/N slapped his chest at his last remark and could not help but do the same, “So really what I’m trying to say is — will you be my girlfriend?”

Smiling so wide her jaw ached she nodded as she leapt so her face was right in front of his, “Yes, yes, I wanna be yours, Andy. I love you so much,” And she littered his whole face with kisses, each kiss coupled with a declaration of her love.

“I love you too, baby,” He mumbled in content and her head laid again on his chest; stroking her hair as a comfortable silence enveloped them. Andy was just more than grateful that he let her in his house, and she turned it around making it feel like home. A home that’s now filled with love and happiness.

#quietmyfearswith #My writing #please dont steal my work thank you #andy barber x reader #andy barber angst #andy barber fanfic #andy barber smut #andy barber fluff #andy barber x fem!reader #chris evans fanfiction #andy barber one shot #andy barber series

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patandpran · 4 years

Text

Coffee and Coding

A PangxWave Coffee Shop Au...

Wave was on the hunt for Wifi. That’s all he needed. He was in the middle of an extremely complicated coding assignment when his internet crashed at his apartment. If he didn’t get the assignment done in time, there was no telling what his Professor was going to think of him and he certainly wasn’t going to get the TA position he wanted so badly.

He stopped out of his apartment building and stalked the streets for a ‘free wifi’ sign. The first place he came across was a coffee shop. He wasn’t particularly a Java consumer but he was kind of desperate so he walked inside, his computer bag slung over his shoulder and walked up to the counter. He looked up at the menu and decided to order something completely at random because he had no idea what all of the different drinks were. To Wave, coffee was coffee. There didn’t need to anything fancy about it.

And yet, when he looked down from the menu, he almost dropped his computer bag and his order flew from his mind. The young man standing behind the counter was smiling at him so openly and unabashedly that it made Wave’s breath hitch. No one, especially not a complete stranger, had looked at him this way before. Wave’s eyes fell to the Barista’s name tag, which read: ‘Pang’.

When Wave did not immediately share his order, Pang smirked slightly and muttered, “Do you know what you want? I know our menu can be kind of overwhelming…”

“Uh….” Wave usually prided himself on being articulate but he could not seem to string a coherent sentence together.

“I’m going to be honest with you, I just started working here but, if you trust me, I can just make something and bring it out to you.” Pang suggested gently, noticing that Wave seemed to be indecisive.

Wave nodded slowly and held out phone to pay by ‘tap’ but Pang held out a hand to stop him. Pang explained, “You seem stressed. It’s on me. I’ll just cash it out as one of my practice drinks but, in return, you have to tell me how it is. Deal?”

“Deal.” Wave confirmed, still in a bit of a haze because of Pang’s kindness.

Pang nodded toward the tables in the coffee shop. “Go get set up and I’ll bring the drink to you in a bit. Our wifi password is ‘CoffeeisaGift’”

Wave nodded again and made his way over to a table to set up his computer. How the hell was he going to be able to focus on his work when Pang was so naturally distracting? Wave cursed himself for finding the Barista so interesting.

As much as he knew that he needed to get work done, Wave couldn’t help himself. He kept staring back at Pang who had an adorable look of concentration etched across his face as he worked on Wave’s drink. There was only so much Wave could do about concentration when a cute guy was going out of his way to make a drink especially for him. But, alas, he had work to do so he finally refocused and got to work on his assignment.

“Sorry it took so long. I wanted to practice some foam art.”

Wave looked up from his screen to see Pang hovering behind it, a steaming cup of coffee clutched between his hands. Pang had a nervous look on his face, his brows knotted together, and Wave had the sudden urge to reach up and smooth them out. There was no reason for Pang to be nervous - Wave would gladly drink anything he made.

“No problem. I was able to get a lot of work done.” Wave shared and a grin spread across his lips as Pang set down the mug to the side of his computer. “Thanks again for making me the drink.”

Wave looked down and saw a smiley face floating in foam at the top of the drink. . When he looked up, he saw Pang studying him expectantly. Pang obviously wanted to get Wave’s verdict on the drink and even though Wave was not a coffee connoisseur, he was the king of opinions.

He brought the cup to his mouth and took a small sip, making sure that he didn’t burn his tongue. The taste was sweet but subtle and shockingly the taste of coffee was not too prevalent, which Wave actually preferred. He put the cup down and looked up to Pang, “That is delicious. What’s in it?”

A look of amusement crossed Pang’s face and Wave wondered what could possibly be so funny about what he had said. Pang noticed Wave’s confusion and clarified, “You have a foam moustache. It’s kind of adorable.”

Before he could even process Pang’s words, Pang had grabbed a napkin and was wiping Wave’s upper lip with foam. No one, especially a stranger, had been in Wave’s space like this before but Wave was shocked to find himself completely comfortable with Pang’s presence. When Pang was done, he pulled away the napkin.

“It’s a latte with coconut milk.” Pang explained. “Natural sweetness from the milk and because I wasn’t sure if you were okay with lactose or not, I thought I’d go with an alternative.”

“T-thank you.” Wave managed to get out, sliding his hands around the mug once again. “It really is good, though. How long have you been working here?”

Pang seemed surprised that Wave wanted to continue the conversation and he checked behind him to see if there was any new customers lingering. When he saw none, Pang pulled out the chair and sat across from Wave at the table.

“I’ve been working here for just a few weeks.” Pang explained. “I go to Ritdha University so I live in the area too.”

“I go there too!” Wave expressed with a bit more enthusiasm than he probably should have. “What’s your major?”

“Oh, cool! I’m surprised I haven’t seen you around. Political Science.” Pang answered. “I want to be a lawyer or maybe work in government some day. What about you?”

“Computer science.” Wave responded and took another sip of his drink. “Actually, that’s why I’m here… my Wifi from my apartment went down so I had to come here to complete an assignment on time.”

“Oh, you mean you didn’t just come for the coffee?” Pang teased and leaned over to see what Wave was working on. “What’s the assignment?”

“Coding…” Wave felt his cheeks get hot. “Uh… it’s not that interesting…Geeky stuff.”

“That’s not geeky.” Pang sat back down and respected Wave’s privacy. “I think there’s nothing more intriguing than someone who is openly passionate about what they do, especially when it’s something that most people might not understand.”

Wave felt himself relax significantly because of Pang’s words. Wave tried to recall a time where he had instantly felt so connected to someone and couldn’t think of anything. There was something about Pang’s smile and energy that put Wave at ease.

“Why do you want to be in Politics?” Wave wondered, wanting to divert the conversation away from himself but also wanting to know more about Pang.

Pang got a serious look on his face and chewed his lip for a moment, clearly trying to put his thoughts together before sharing them with Wave. This was a quality that Wave couldn’t help but admire. Pang was really thinking about his response before he shared it.

“I want to help people.” Pang finally answered. “I think that sometimes people don’t have a voice because of certain societal limitations. I want to help people find that voice and help the world become a bit more just and equal.”

Wave was surprised by how mature Pang’s answer was, considering how young he looked. Wave figured they were around the same age. Pang had really thought about it while Wave had chosen technology because he had an affinity for it and had always been told that it would be a lucrative career path. His answer compared to Pang’s seemed juvenile and selfish.

“Wow, we’ve been talking this whole time and I still don’t know you name…” Pang prompted when Wave did not respond right away.

“I’m, uh, Wave.” Wave spat out, having been planning his response and compliment about Pang’s initial answer but felt more comfortable answering Pang’s question anyway.

“I’m Pang.” Pang shared, pointing to his name tag. “But I, uh, guess you already knew that. Anyway, sorry for chatting your ear off, I guess you probably need to get back to work instead of being distracted by an annoying Barista.”

“You’re not annoying.” Wave protested, wanting to make sure that his awkwardness was not coming across as disinterest. “The drink is amazing. Thanks again.”

Pang got up to his feet and smiled at Wave, “Well, I’m glad to hear that I’m not as horrible as I thought I was at making coffee. I should probably get back to work anyway…”

“O-okay.” Wave murmured, slightly disappointed, but he tried to keep his composure neutral.

Pang nodded and made his way back behind the counter and returned to his work tasks. Wave returned to working on his assignment, sipping away at the drink Pang had made him every so often as he got closer and closer to completing it. He was so lost in a world of binary that he did not even notice how dark it was getting outside. When he was finally done, he looked up from the screen and noticed that there no other customers left behind in the coffee shop.

Wave went to take one final sip of his drink and was surprised to find that it had gone cold. He drank it anyway and started to pack his things up, trying to see out of his periphery if Pang was still behind the counter or had already gone off shift. Wave picked up the mug to return it to the counter.

“All done?”

Pang appeared in front of Wave so suddenly that the mug slipped through his fingers in surprise. Thankfully, Pang reacted quickly enough and was able to catch the mug in his hands. Wave winced apologetically as Pang placed the cup on the counter.

“Not so good with your hands, are you?” Pang shared in a suggestive tone and Wave’s eyes grew wide in shock. Pang registered Wave’s reaction and quickly clarified, “I was kidding. Sorry. I shouldn’t be making jokes like that when we’ve only known each other for, like, five minutes.”

Wave’s gaze dropped to the floor to avoid Pang’s but after a quick breath, he looked up again and shared, “No worries. And, yah, I got the assignment done so I can sleep easy tonight… speaking of… are you supposed to be closed already?”

Pang smiled sheepishly and shrugged, “You just looked so focused and I did some extra deep cleaning. I really didn’t mind staying behind a bit later than usual.”

“You didn’t have to do that.” Wave muttered, a bit embarrassed that he had received special treatment and likely inconvenienced Pang.

“I know.” Pang confirmed, staring intently at Wave. “But I wanted to.”

“Oh…” Wave, once again, was taken aback by how straightforward Pang was. There was no BS, Pang seemed to the type of person who went for what they wanted, when they wanted. Wave was quite envious of that.

“Sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable.” Pang shared, “There’s just something about you that makes me want to get to know you more. You’re kind of an enigma, like a mystery I want to solve.”

“N-no it’s okay.” Wave assured him and a soft smile played on his lips. “I’m just not used to this kind of attention, especially not from someone like you…”

“Someone like me?” Pang echoed, clearly confused.

Wave considered his words carefully before responding, “Someone so confident, kind, friendly… I usually only get approached by people who want something from me… like, help on an assignment, want me to fix their computer, that kind of thing….You don’t need help with homework, do you?”

Pang chuckled lightly. “No, I think I’m okay. I’m sorry that’s your experience though. It probably makes it hard for you to trust people…”

“Yah…” Wave agreed, shocked by how quickly Pang seemed to be able to figure him out.

“Well, if you’re willing to take a chance on me, I would love to earn your trust.” Pang stated plainly. “Coffee’s great and all, but, would you maybe want to grab a drink with me sometime?”

Wave was at a complete loss of words. Was Pang, the adorable Barista, asking him out? He didn’t want to jump to conclusions too quickly so he tried to play it cool. He managed to get out, “Um, sure.”

Pang pulled a napkin from the dispenser on the counter and scrawled his number on it before passing it to Wave. “No pressure. Call or text me if you’re interested.”

Wave nodded, in a bit of a daze, and Pang guided him to the front door of the coffee shop, obviously needing to do some other last minute duties to close up the coffee shop. Wave walked through the door and turned to face Pang, who was hovering on the threshold, beaming at Wave.

“Thank you for the drink.” Wave murmured, and felt his cheeks grow hot before he blurted out, “I’ll text you later on tonight.”

Pang’s eyes lit up before he nodded, “See you soon, Wave. I look forward to getting to know more about you…”

With that, Pang disappeared back into the shop and locked the door behind him.

Wave, who had been so determined that the universe was against him when his Wifi stopped working that morning now was quite sure that he was meant to stumble upon that coffee shop on that particular day…

The universe might have taken his Wifi but it had given him the gift of Pang.

#pangwave #pang x wave #the gifted graduation #tgg #the gifted #my writing #cass writes

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melodious-madrigals · 3 years

Text

we should just kiss (like real people do)

hi @misha-winchester, i am your wondertrev secret santa! i hope you had a lovely christmas season/whatever holidays you may celebrate, and i hope you have a very happy new year.

Pairing: Diana Prince/Steve Trevor Words: 8′609 Rating: T (swearing) AO3 tags: Modern Setting/No Powers, co-workers, Fake Dating, ‘and there was only one bed’, Hallmark-movie-esque midsunderstandings, Happy Ending Summary: Etta just invited Steve’s significant other along on their group holiday vacation. The only problem? He made said significant other up to get out of a series of set-ups six months ago, and forgot to set the record straight. Enter Diana, his newest co-worker and real-life crush, who doesn’t have any holiday plans and is somehow offering to help him out.

i have been derelict for too long, but no more! i’m so sorry that it took me so long, and i hope you enjoy this trope-packed fic, because i couldn’t decide on just one, and then it sort of ballooned!

Read it on [AO3] or below the cut.

***

“Shit.” Steve’s head thunks against his desk.

“Problem?”

He looks up to find Diana Prince, the newest legal consultant at their NGO standing in his office door. She’s intimidating and smart and beautiful and possibly also the kindest person he’s ever met, and even though they’re friendly, she’s the last person to whom he wants to admit what’s wrong. But she’s also looking at him with such genuine concern that he spills his guts anyways.

“The last time my friend Etta tried to set me up with someone, I told her I was already dating someone, and now she wants me to bring them on our annual holiday trip to one of our friend’s cabin.” Steve kneads the space between his eyebrows, trying to get rid of the tension headache that’s starting to form.

Diana tilts her head, confused. “That’s kind of her.”

“I’m not actually dating anyone,” Steve clarifies. “I just said it to get her off my back. And now I have to either say I lied—which will not go over well for obvious reasons—or say that I broke up with the person and get all sorts of ‘holiday pity’.”

Diana leans elegantly against his doorframe. “People go their separate ways all the time, no? Besides, maybe it’s a bit soon for a weekend away with friends.”

Steve winces. “It’s possible that I told her this almost six months ago and never corrected the record.”

“Ah,” says Diana, taking the liberty of moving into his office and sitting down across from him. “So it’s rather a large deception then.”

“I didn’t mean for it to get so out of hand? It was just so nice to not have my friends nagging me about my dating life. They’re well intentioned but a little too insistent sometimes.”

“Okay, so telling them is out of the question,” Diana says, very seriously. And—uh-oh, she’s going into problem-solving mode. He’s absolutely mortified that his very capable and very attractive co-worker is taking time to talk with him about this when she’s a literal international human rights lawyer and university lecturer with plenty of other things to be doing. “Hmm. Isn’t that what Craigslist is for?”

“Ha,” says Steve. “I’m never going to be able to get someone to come with me over Christmas on such short notice.”

“Not everyone has plans on Christmas,” Diana argues.

“Yeah, I get that; I’m not even Christian,” says Steve. “But a lot of people still go home because it’s a long holiday.”

“I’m not Christian either and I don’t have any family here in the States. We exist,” Diana jokes.

“Want to be my fake date, then?” The words leave Steve’s mouth before his brain can catch up and tell him what a massively stupid idea that would be, to fake date his real crush, for lack of a better word.

“Yes, alright: if you can’t find someone on Craigslist, I’ll do it,” says Diana, and then before Steve can process: “Anyways, I’m sorry for taking up so much of your time. I just dropped by to give you a hard copy of my revisions. She hands him the legal brief, shoots him a quick smile, and saunters out of his office, apparently unaware of the dazed state she’s left him in.

I’ll do it? Is she serious? For a second, Steve’s mind runs away from him before he shuts it down. She was just being polite; he’s certain of it. There’s no way she wants to give up her days off to go to a cabin in the middle of nowhere with people she doesn’t even know.

Steve reluctantly writes up a quick wanted ad on Craigslist and hits post before he can overthink it. He can definitely do a fake date for the holidays, right? That’s something normal people do.

Three days later, he’s gotten a dozen responses to the Craigslist ad, but most of them are variants of either “is this some weird sex thing?” or “can you please post this story on reddit’s r/relationships with an update on how it went because i’m 2000 miles away but very invested in this”. None of them are a real live person that he can take on the trip to meet his friends.

His brain has also been playing Diana’s I’ll do it on repeat pretty much constantly, so on Tuesday evening, after most people have already gone home for the night, he steals himself and wanders down to Diana’s office. If she’s in, he’ll ask. If she’s gone, it’s a sign, and he won’t bring it up.

She’s still there, illuminated only by the glow of her computer and a small desk lamp—the overhead light is turned off and her coat is on, like maybe she was in the process of leaving and then went back to her desk to dash off one email that turned into several.

He taps on the doorframe.

“Steve!” she says, smiling when she sees him. “What a pleasant surprise! Have a seat, I’m just finishing something up. It’ll only be a moment.”

He smiles nervously and takes one of the chairs opposite her desk, patiently silent as she taps away at her computer.

Three minutes later, she folds her laptop closed and turns the weight of her attention to him.

“Thank you for being patient. What can I do for you?”

“I just—were you serious?”

“Hmm?”

“The other day—were you serious about being my fake date if I couldn’t find someone on Craigslist?”

“I—yes, I was.”

“Wait, really?”

She shrugs elegantly. “I have no holiday plans.”

“You’re sure.”

She tosses him an amused expression. “I am. It’ll be nice to meet some new people.”

“Right. Well. Can I, uh, buy you dinner or something while we go over the details?”

Diana considers him for a moment. “How does Thai takeout at my place sound?”

“Like a fantastic idea.”

On Friday, Steve is extremely antsy. He’s taken a half day, and he and Diana are driving up to Charlie’s cabin after her lecture lets out.

She’s in a good mood when he picks her up, and the ensuing discussion crosses a half a dozen different topics. He doesn’t think they’ve ever had a boring conversation, and they’re more than halfway there before Steve remembers that he wanted to run through the basics of their fake-dating mandate again.

“I’ve never really been much for PDA,” he says, “so they won’t be surprised if we’re not particularly demonstrative. A little hand-holding and casual touching here and there and we’ll be fine.”

“Yes,” replies Diana, amused rather than annoyed. “You mentioned this the other day.”

“Did I? I guess I’m just nervous.” He’s already feeling a little guilty about lying to his friends (again), and he’s suddenly wondering if he’s capable of pulling it off.

“They asked me to invite you—er, my significant other—to a dinner in October. I don’t think it’ll come up, but—”

“I spent a week of October in Europe, and have plenty of university functions to attend,” Diana reassures him. “Saying I was busy that night probably isn’t even a lie, and besides, that was months ago. Take a breath; this will be okay.”

“I’m just rethinking this,” huffs Steve.

“You’re welcome to tell them I’m just a friend that needed a place to stay for the holidays,” Diana offers calmly.

“No. No, I’m committed to the lie now.”

“Okay. Then let’s do this. I’m here for you, you know.”

“Yeah,” says Steve, glancing over at her in the passenger seat before turning his attention back to the road. “Thanks.”

They’re the last ones to arrive to the cabin, because everyone else was able to take the full day off, so they walk into a full house.

“Oh, it’s so lovely to finally meet you!” exclaims Etta, pulling Diana into a hug before they’ve barely gotten in the door.

“You must be Etta,” Diana says, once she’s been let go. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Hey, Etta,” Steve says, pulling her in for his own hug.

“Everyone else is in the living room.”

They make their way down the hall, towards the sound of all the voices.

“Steve!” yells Sameer from across the room when they round the corner. A cheer goes up—it’s possible that some of them have already had a glass or two of wine—and Steve pulls Diana forward to introduce her.

“Everyone, this is Diana. Diana, this is Napi, Charlie, Etta’s wife Adrienne, Sameer, and Sameer’s fiancée Noor.”

“It’s so lovely to meet all of you,” says Diana, moving forward to shake hands and give hugs, along with Steve.

“You’ll want to drop off your luggage in your room, I’m sure,” Etta declares forcefully, shooing them back out of the room once they’re done with the greetings.

“Alright, alright, we’re going,” acquiesces Steve.

“Well, dinner will be done shortly, and I’m sure you’re hungry. Best get settled in before you go into a food coma.”

“Stop making sense,” he snarks, but they all know he’s joking.

“Second door on the left!” calls Etta after him, as they traipse up the stairs. There’s a niggling in his brain about this room, because he’s been in it once and it’s—

“Shit,” says Steve under his breath upon entering the room, because it’s one of the rooms with a single queen bed instead of two twins.

“Is there something wrong with the room?” asks Diana, a step behind him. “I’m sure we can fix it, whatever it is.”

“No, it’s just—I didn’t even think about this,” says Steve, gesturing at the bed. “Usually when I come, I’m in a different room with Charlie or Napi.”

Diana surveys the space in front of them. “You mean the bed?” Her nose wrinkles. “Are you really that uncomfortable sharing?”

“I—no, of course I’m not. I just didn’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

“Well then, that’s settled. I am not uncomfortable. Which side do you prefer?”

Of course it’s not a big deal. Right. He’s making too much out of this because he might—possibly—have feelings. But for Diana, it’s just two adults sharing a bed, which is perfectly natural. But now she’s looking at him expectantly, which makes him realize—“Uh, left, I guess.”

The way she smiles, he gets the distinct impression that his answer has pleased her, that he’s chosen correctly, if such a thing is possible. (He thinks, stupidly, that he would do quite a lot to chase that smile.)

Meanwhile, Diana drops her duffel on the right side of the bed.

“Do you mind if I change quickly before dinner?”

“Yeah, no, of course. I’ll just be downstairs.”

Steve heads back downstairs and pauses in the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face.

He can definitely share a bed with Diana. They’re adults. It’s not strange, and it’s not romantic. It’s just two people sharing a sleeping space because there are not enough beds.

He reenters the living room to find Charlie and Sameer in the middle of an argument about who’s the better cross-country skier while Noor, Adrienne, and Etta chat over a cup of tea and Napi watches over several pots in the kitchen.

“The answer, of course, is neither of you. Noor is the best skier here.”

Charlie squawks indignantly, and Sameer laughs. “That she is.”

“Can someone set the table?” asks Napi. “Dinner is about to be ready.”

Steve, as the closest one to the kitchen, pulls out the plates and silverware and starts setting up the table, while the others slowly drift towards the dining area.

And then there’s a gentle pressure on his elbow. “Can I help with anything?” asks Diana, softly, and when he turns, he feels the air knocked out of him.

Diana is all comfort, in simple black leggings and a chunky winter sweater instead of her usual pristine business wear, but she’s all the more beautiful for the casualness. Her face, too, is wiped clean of standard makeup and her hair is down, and he realizes that she has freckles. They’re faint, just the slightest smattering over her nose and cheeks, but Steve is close enough to see them, and for a second he wants to touch them, trace them into constellations.

Then he realizes he’s staring and jumps a little, moving to rearrange the plate in front of him.

“You could, uh, fold the napkins, I guess? There isn’t really a whole lot to do.”

They work in tandem as the rest of the crew files in, loud and boisterous as they dish out their meals.

“So, Diana,” says Etta, once everyone is settled in their seats, “tell us all about yourself! Steve’s been so tight-lipped about you that I was starting to think you didn’t exist.”

Steve almost chokes on his wine, but Diana doesn’t so much as flinch, simply smiling at Etta and saying, “Well, I’m not sure what you’d like to know, but I’m originally from one of the Grecian islands and I completed my studies in the UK. Right now, I’m splitting my time between the US and the Netherlands.”

“Oh, what part of the Netherlands?” asks Noor. “Sameer and I both lived there, at different points!”

“Just the Hague, I’m afraid,” says Diana ruefully, because it’s not known for its charms.

“Diana’s on a prosecutorial team at the International Criminal Court,” Steve clarifies, which prompts a number of impressed looks all around the table.

“We’re in between cases right now,” Diana says, “and we’re only just starting to file some pre-trial motions for the next thing on our docket, so I took a position as a guest lecturer here in the States. A friend of mine convinced me to take the consulting position at the ARGUS Foundation since it’s not full-time.” When Diana pauses, she notices a number of raised eyebrows around the table. “I think the expression in English is ‘I wear a lot of hats’,” she jokes.

“She’s a wonder,” interjects Steve easily, and he doesn’t even have to work at the soft look that he gives her. (He’ll interrogate the fact that it’s just how he looks at her later, when he’s alone and can have a nice little panic about it.)

“I just like to have purpose,” says Diana, and then Noor asks her about her last case, and the conversation takes on a life of its own.

Diana, as he suspected, gets on well with his friends, fitting in as though she’s known them years instead of hours, and they migrate into the living room after dinner, talking and laughing into the late hours of the evening.

“They are all lovely,” Diana tells him the moment the door to their room has closed behind them.

“They’re okay,” says Steve, but his face is pulled up in a smile, and Diana just laughs. He’s spent all evening getting to look at her whenever he wants, and even though they’re alone, even though there’s no need for his eyes to keep finding her, he doesn’t want to pull them away.

“They’re all so interesting!” Diana exclaims. “Sameer and I talked about linguistics for a full half an hour, and Etta and Adrienne’s stories are incredible!”

That makes him laugh. “Yeah, Etta’s something else.”

They talk a little more as they get ready for bed, and finally there’s nothing more to do but turn out the light and get under the covers. Steve’s tired enough that he thinks he has a decent shot at falling asleep, but he feels a little awkward as they both shift carefully on their respective sides.

“Hey,” he whispers into the deepness of the silky black night. “Thank you again for being here.”

“It is my pleasure.”

He listens to Diana’s breathing quickly even out, and though it takes him a little longer, he too falls asleep without too much trouble, despite her nearness.

To his great relief, or maybe to his great disappointment, they wake up in almost the exact same positions that they fell asleep in, on completely opposite sides of the bed.

“Good morning,” says Diana softly, hair slightly mussed and eyes still a little heavy with sleep, and frankly Steve’s not sure how he’s going to make it through the rest of the trip, because he likes her so much and also doesn’t want to impose his feelings.

“Good morning. I hope you’re ready for another insane day.”

“Once I’ve had some coffee, absolutely.”

“Well then,” says Steve, “let’s get you some coffee.”

Coffee is followed by breakfast, which is chaotic because everyone is up at slightly different times and traditionally, they fend for themselves for breakfast which means in practice that half a dozen people end up doing things in the kitchen at the same time.

The rest of the day is no calmer, as they all pack themselves up and spill outside for a snowy hike that lasts most of the afternoon. Diana, Etta, and Napi establish themselves as the fastest hikers early on, and they sort of naturally split into two groups. The whole group meets back up at one of the lookout points, where the faster group has lingered to let the rest catch up.

Steve uses the viewpoint to check in with Diana. “You doing okay?”

When she turns to him, her cheeks are rosy with exertion, her breath is coming out in silvery puffs in the cold air, and her eyes are dancing. “Excellent, you?”

“Really good.” They take in the snowy view in front of them. “Hey, I didn’t mean to leave you on your own,” Steve says, suddenly feeling a little awkward.

Diana snorts. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I was the one that walked ahead of you. If I’d been bothered, I wouldn’t have split off with Napi and Etta.”

“Right, of course.” He feels a bit stupid; she’s never struck him as the type to do something she really didn’t want to.

“We should probably walk back together though. For appearances.” She winks at him, and before he can respond, Noor is at his elbow.

“Can I take a picture for you two?”

“That would be great,” says Diana, handing Noor her phone as she slips her arm around his waist.

Pictures are snapped, and then they’re headed back down the trail. Steve ends up so engrossed in his conversation with Diana that the rest of the group fades away, and on the last straightway after they’ve descended, Diana reaches out and casually links their hands. Even through their gloves, it’s a giddy feeling.

That night after dinner, Steve steps outside for a moment of respite from the noisiness of the cabin. He breathes deeply, and stares at the patch of sky not covered in clouds, picking out a familiar constellation.

“Diana’s wonderful.”

Steve looks up from where he was leaning against the balcony railing to find that Etta has joined him outside.

“Yeah, she’s pretty great,” Steve agrees.

“I’m sorry you didn’t feel comfortable introducing us earlier,” says Etta so sincerely that Steve feels a squirming guilt welling up. “But if this was the pace you needed to go to be sure of your relationship, to make it solid and lasting, I’m glad you took the space to do so.”

“Right,” Steve echoes.

“Seriously, Steve,” says Etta, touching his arm, so that he’s almost forced to look at her. “You and Diana are so well-suited, and she’s good for you—I’ve never seen you like this.”

“What’s this?”

Etta contemplates him a moment. “You’re happy,” she says simply, and Steve rolls his eyes, because if Etta thinks just being in a relationship equates to—“but it’s not just that. You’re…still. Calm. You’ve usually got this frenetic, discontented energy, and with Diana it’s quieted.”

It makes Steve pause, but before he can say anything—refute her or maybe, heaven forbid, agree with her—Diana herself is bursting onto the balcony.

“There you are!” she exclaims, wrapping her arms around him from the back, and fuck, maybe it is his instinct to relax in the split second before he remembers that this is all an act. “Charlie says we’re roasting marshmallows over the fire, and I’m told that you have the technique perfected,” she says, with all the exuberant glee of a child.

Steve pointedly ignores the knowing, indulgent look on Etta’s face as he turns in Diana’s arms to face her, a small but unquashable smile on his face. “That’s a classic holiday tradition for us—I was wondering when Charlie was going to break them out. Have you ever had a s’more?”

“No, but I’m looking forward to it!”

“Well, then we can’t let Sameer or Etta roast yours; they always burn them.”

“It’s meant to be eaten with a little char,” says Etta.

“Absolutely not!” Steve doesn’t have time to say any more, because Diana has laced her hand in his and his gently tugging him toward the interior.

“Right. This is an American classic and you’re gonna love it.”

After making her the perfect marshmallow—gold and toasty, and soft all the way through without being burned—the rest of the night is spent roasting increasingly silly things over the coals and drinking copious amounts of hot chocolate and eggnog that are optionally spiked, utterly warm and cozy.

“Tell me something about yourself,” requests Diana, when they’re tucked into bed later, still on their own sides but far closer together than they were the night before.

“Like what?”

“Something—well, not something secret, if you don’t want to. But something that most people probably don’t know.”

Steve considers her for a moment, shifting so that he’s facing her, the moon providing just enough light that he can see the contours of her face. “I wanted to be a pilot.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I wanted to be a fighter pilot.”

Diana grins. “I can see that. What stopped you?”

“I decided I wouldn’t really be helping people, and helping people is what I wanted to do. What about you?”

“What did I want to be?”

“No, just—anything.”

“Hmm,” says Diana. “My favorite childhood memories are those of my aunt, Antiope.”

“Was she the cool aunt who spoiled you rotten?”

“She was the aunt that got me up at six in the morning every day to train.”

“Wow, that’s neat, I guess,” Steve deadpans, and Diana laughs in the darkness, rolling onto her side so that she’s facing him, so that they’re almost nose to nose.

“She was also more indulgent than my mother, yes.”

“I think we have very different definitions of indulgent,” says Steve.

“Perhaps,” says Diana, and despite how late it is, they spend another hour or two trading secrets in the darkness before falling asleep. Steve learns, among other things, that she loves cherries more than any other fruit, that she’d rather take the metro than a cab any day of the week, that she played the harp for a while and misses playing music but not playing the instrument itself. When they finally drift off to sleep, it’s still facing each other, fingers inches apart.

Steve wakes up feeling incredibly comfortable and very cozy. It’s only when he stretches a little that he realizes that the warm weight against his chest is not his blanket, but Diana. During the night, they must have migrated into each other, because now that his brain is coming back online, Steve realizes that not only is Diana tucked into his chest, but their legs are twined together. His shifting causes her to stir a little, but only to nuzzle against him a little before settling.

This is fine; he’s not freaking out. Not about how they’re accidentally pressed together, or about how much he likes her, or about what any of this means. Not about lines blurring and becoming harder to make out, not about lying to his friends. He’s fine.

Taking a breath, he weighs his options. He can wait for Diana to wake up and pretend he’s still asleep, and let her figure out how to react, or he can try to extricate himself now. Although it might wake her up, and then it would be doubly awkward, and—

And he’s waited too long in deciding, because Diana stretches a little sleepily and then blinks her eyes open, looking up at him.

“Good morning,” she says, apparently unbothered by their position. It’s making him spiral in confusion, and want, because it would be so easy to lean forward and kiss her, but neither has she directly expressed interest in him romantically, so he’s not about to actually do it.

“Did you sleep well?” asks Diana, gently untangling herself and sitting up.

Now that Steve thinks about it, he realizes that he’s slept better than he has in ages.

“Yeah,” he affirms a little hoarsely. “You?”

“Very well.” He’s considering saying something else—anything else, maybe apologizing for how closely they slept or, alternatively, telling her he adores her—when she continues, “How do you think everyone would feel about quiche?”

“Quiche?”

“One of the few reliable things I can cook,” says Diana, “but I have a good recipe, and I’m quite certain we have everything I’d need.”

Steve blinks. “I think it’d go over well.”

“Perfect!” Diana slips out of bed, sliding across the room with more of her infectious energy as she gathers her clothing for the day.

By the time Steve gets downstairs post-shower, Diana’s got the crust rolled out and blind-baking and has a number of veggies sautéing.

“Oh, good, you’re here! Can you pass me the mushrooms?” she asks, and he obliges, then takes it upon himself to crumble the cheese for her.

“Do you cook a lot?” he asks, and then curses himself, glancing around to make sure they’re alone and that nobody heard what was clearly a question that he, by all rights, should know the answer to. Blessedly, the only other person up is Napi, and he’s out on the porch.

“Not if I can help it,” says Diana. “You?”

“I enjoy it,” says Steve.

“Enjoy what?” asks Sameer, who’s just come down the stairs.

“Passing me ingredients when I tell him to,” teases Diana, successfully covering up what may have been a slip-up, because Sameer just rolls his eyes.

“You two are ridiculous.”

“More like adorable,” says Etta, who has apparently also been summoned by the smell of brewing coffee. “By the way—how did you two start dating? I’ve been meaning to ask since I never heard the story from this one”—she gestures at Steve—“and I’m sure it’s equally adorable.”

Steve can’t believe they’ve come this far without being asked, and that they didn’t do a better job of anticipating this question. He’s about to bumble his way through a response, but Diana, who is now pouring the egg mixture into the pan, has it covered.

“It’s sweet to me because it is ours, but I think you’ll otherwise find it quite boring. My third day of work, I came to his office by accident, looking for another colleague, and we traded a couple of jokes. Two days later, a bunch of people from the office went out for drinks after work, and I ran into Steve again. We spent a lot of the evening chatting, and when we left for the evening, he walked me to my train, and as we were waiting on the platform, he asked me out. He was kind and funny and handsome; there was no reason not to say yes.”

For a moment, Steve feels like he’s been hit by a train, because that’s actually how they met. They did spend an evening chatting, and he did wait on the platform with her. The only bit that didn’t happen was the asking out, and now he wonders what might have happened if he had. Then he reminds himself that it’s all an act, and she’s supposed to be acting like she likes him. He’s getting reality confused with the little mirage they’ve created.

“—it is sweet though,” Etta is saying when he snaps back to attention, unsure of just how much he’s missed.

“Yes, Steve is very thoughtful,” says Diana fondly.

He doesn’t really get a chance to ask her about it, because soon everyone is crowded around the table for breakfast, and that quickly turns into a card game, where they get separated by a few seats. It all somehow blends into lunch, as people swap in and out, Sameer and Noor doing the cooking, this meal, with Adrienne flitting in and out to help as she puts up a few extra lights for tonight’s Christmas eve celebration. He tries not to think about it too much, because Diana looks like she’s having a good time, and he is too, and eventually he gets swept up in the game, focusing on counting trump and keeping track of tricks and arguing genially with Charlie about who may or may not be cheating.

“Steve.” Diana pulls him aside after lunch, tugging him into their room.

“What’s up?” She looks entirely too serious, and it worries him. Is this about their story? Is something wrong?

“First kisses are always a bit awkward,” she says bluntly.

It’s so out of the blue that Steve’s brain doesn’t even short-circuit. He just blinks. “Yeah, usually.”

“Well, I just saw Adrienne putting mistletoe up. Your friends are wonderful people, but if we don’t get caught under it naturally, they’ll make sure we do.”

She’s got his friends pegged; that’s absolutely how they operate.

“They’ll recognize something is off if we’ve never kissed. I think we need to practice.”

Now Steve’s brain short-circuits.

“Practice.”

“It’s the only way to make sure it’s not during an ambush.” Her eyes are wide and she’s very close, so close that one of them could erase the distance without even taking a step, but she’s paused, waiting.

Waiting to see if it’s okay, if she has his consent.

His thoughts flick back, inexplicably, to this morning. (Was it really just this morning that they woke up tangled together? It seems a week ago already.) Knowing what it’s like to kiss her will probably explode his brain, but not knowing is worse. He nods, just a fraction, words caught in his throat, and then she’s closed the distance and pressed her lips to his.

Fireworks are for dramatic novels, but the world still shifts on its axis. It’s soft and slow, exploratory, but the pressure is somehow just right, and it consumes him. It’s everything he never let himself imagine it would be, and more. When she eventually pulls away—seconds, minutes, hours later, he’s not sure—he chases her lips for a moment before remembering himself, marshalling his reaction and pulling away in equal measure.

“Right, so. No mistletoe first kiss,” he manages, because seriously, what the fuck, he’s never had a first kiss feel that natural, that right.

“Mission accomplished,” says Diana faintly. “I think we’ll be fine.”

“Fine,” Steve echoes, and he thinks he sees Diana’s gaze flick back to his lips, dark and heavy, but then there’s the pounding of feet on the stairs and shouts outside their room.

“Steve! Diana! Are you in for another round of cards before we start the movie marathon?”

Diana startles, and takes three steps back, smoothing down her hair, her shirt, before opening the door to find Adrienne there, looking at them expectantly.

“Yes, of course,” says Diana.

“Oh,” smirks Adrienne, giving them a once over. “I can come back.”

“No, it’s alright. I’ll come down now; I want to get a cup of tea before we start up again. Steve?”

“I—yeah, a cup of tea would be great. Black tea—”

“—with a dash of honey, I know,” she says fondly, as if this is old news and not something she’s clearly picked up in the last day and a half.

“Thanks.”

When he collects himself and comes downstairs a few minutes later, he spots Diana across the room, head thrown back in laughter as she chats with Napi over the kettle.

She fits, he thinks. He’s seen her in professional settings, being diplomatic even when she doesn’t want to be, but here, she’s relaxed, and from everything she’s said, she likes his friends as much as they like her. Isn’t it sort of everyone’s dream that the person they like gets along with their friends?

He takes another second to try to untangle his thoughts before he gets ushered back into the fold and has to pretend that everything is uncomplicated.

Christmas day dawns bright and cold, and sees, for the second day in a row, Diana snuggled into Steve. Despite another meandering conversation in the dark—in which he absolutely chickened out of asking her about the backstory she created for them, or the kiss—and starting the night on different sides of the bed, they seem to have rolled together in their sleep, and if he didn’t wake up with an absolutely parched throat, Steve would’ve probably gone right back to sleep, enjoying the warmth. Instead, he extricates himself gently, and by the time he gets back to the room a few minutes later, Diana is up and dressed, dashing any plans he might’ve been entertaining for a bit of a lie-in.

As with most things on their holiday trips, the day is centered around food. There’s a huge brunch, and then a little foray outside—nothing like the hike the day before yesterday, just a little walk that turns into a snow angel contest—and then it’s back inside to start cooking Christmas dinner. It’s Etta and Charlie taking point, because, as Steve explains to Diana, the group rule for any and all holidays is that those who observe do the traditional cooking, and everybody else takes care of the clean-up.

At one point in the afternoon, a trivia game gets pulled out, and in a classic showdown of boys (Steve, Sameer, Napi) vs. girls (Diana, Noor, Adrienne), the ladies trounce them thoroughly. There’re plenty of mimosas and someone starts a Christmas playlist, and honestly, Steve can’t think of a better Christmas in a long, long time.

They don’t really exchange ‘real’ gifts, but they do have a long-standing tradition of an intense game of White Elephant, which happens after dinner.

No less than 4 items (a succulent in a corgi-shaped pot, a coffee mug with some gratuitously dirty language on it, a pair of wool socks with Munch’s The Scream emblazoned on them, and an umbrella patterned with cartoon gentleman amongst the raindrops so that it’s always raining men) get stolen so many times that they hit the limit. (Diana walks away the proud owner of the socks, thanks to a strategic steal by Steve, which sets her up to steal them for the last time.)

The mood is so light that Steve has almost forgotten that this isn’t quite real, that he’s lying to his friends and sort of lying to Diana, too. That comes crashing down when they bump into each other coming back into the living room.

See, Steve and Diana had managed to casually avoid the newly strung up mistletoe all of Christmas Eve and most of Christmas day—at least together, that is; at one point Steve finds himself under the mistletoe with Sameer, and they both dramatically grip each other for a theatre kiss—by sheer luck, but their luck runs out after White Elephant. Steve has gone into the kitchen to deposit an empty tray of food, and Diana is on her way back from the bathroom, and they collide in the doorframe.

Instinctively, Steve puts a hand out, touching the small of her back lightly to anchor himself and steady her. It’s just a casual touch, but he lingers a second too long.

“Oooh, look! Steve and Diana are under the mistletoe!” sings Adrienne, pointing from across the room.

Steve glances up automatically, as though maybe Adrienne might be wrong, even though he knows damn well that there’s mistletoe hanging there.

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” chants Etta, clearly a little tipsy, and the rest of his asshole friends join in the chant.

Steve’s eyes flick to Diana’s, and she raises an eyebrow, inclines her head almost imperceptibly. It’s permission, so he leans in and gives her a quick kiss, their lips barely touching. He’s not sure he can handle more in front of his friends right now, not with all of the emotions pooling in his stomach.

“Boo!” yells Charlie. “You and Sameer had a better kiss than that!”

There’s general clamoring of assent, and Diana reaches out and cups a hand to his cheek, to a great whoop from someone in their little peanut gallery. “If you are uncomfortable, we do not have to do this,” Diana murmurs, low and close enough that only he can hear it.

The real problem is that Steve wants little more than to kiss her again, but he feels guilty about it.

“It’s okay.”

She searches his eyes for a moment, and then closes the rest of the distance, kissing him properly. He sinks into it, and relishes in the little gasp he elicits when he deepens the kiss just a little. It’s the catcalling that splits them apart, and he’s sure he looks a little shell-shocked.

“That’s a kiss!” hollers Adrienne.

To his surprise, Diana doesn’t immediately move away from him, but stays tucked into his side, blushing a little.

“You’re all just a little too invested in our love life,” she admonishes lightly, but the point is missed as Etta launches into a bit of a ramble about how Steve introduced her to Adrienne by accident and how she’s been looking to return the favor, but that she’s glad Diana is here.

Steve watches Diana go a bit pink again, and wants to pull her aside, try to clear some things up, but then there’s another round of mulled wine, and they settle in for one last Christmas movie before the day ends.

Diana goes to bed before Steve does, while he stays back to have another round with Charlie, and by the time he realizes that he wanted to talk to her alone, she’s fast asleep.

The morning of the twenty-sixth is chaotic from the start; Diana’s up and out of bed before Steve wakes up, and then everyone is scrambling to pack up before they all drive back to the city. This time, Diana and Steve have got Sameer and Noor with them, because they came with Napi, who’s leaving directly to visit some extended family, and Etta and Adrienne don’t have enough room because they’re Charlie’s ride. It’s a pleasant ride, and Noor, Sameer, and Diana spend a solid half hour swapping in and out of Arabic to tease Steve, who does speak three languages himself, but doesn’t count darija as one of them.

They drop Noor and Sameer off with promises of seeing them at Etta’s party on New Year’s Eve, at the very latest, and suddenly they’re alone again.

“Thank you again for doing this,” says Steve. “You were the best fake date I could’ve asked for.”

“It was my pleasure,” says Diana. “I had a really good time, and a fun holiday.”

“And you really don’t mind putting in an appearance at the New Year’s Eve party?”

“Not at all. I’m actually looking forward to it.”

“Good; I think everyone is looking forward to having you there.”

They’re quiet as they pull up to Diana’s building.

Before Diana can move to get out of the car, Steve takes a deep breath. “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course, anything.” Her wide eyes are trained on him, and he almost loses his nerve.

But it’s now or never; he has to know if this is just him or if she feels something too. “If I had asked you out, that night on the platform, would you have said yes?” It feels like the safest version of the question he wants to ask.

Diana doesn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

It knocks the wind out of him and is simultaneously one of the best things he’s ever heard, because maybe that means there’s still time to make a proper go of it.

“Do you—”

He’s cut off by Diana leaning forward and kissing him sweetly, and he instinctively pulls her a little closer, deepens the kiss without consciously thinking about it.

“Sorry, I interrupted you,” says Diana, biting back a smile when they eventually pull apart, breathless. It makes Steve laugh, and he can’t fight the grin that’s also building. There’s no one around to fool, no one around even to prepare for; this is just them.

“Do you want to come to mine for dinner tonight?” Steve asks, bubbling with a profound sort of happiness. “For a real date this time?”

“I would love that,” says Diana, grinning. “No tricks, no fake backstories. Just us.”

“That’s the best thing I’ve heard all day.”

“Just give me a couple of hours to shower and change and answer a couple of emails?” Diana says.

“How does seven sound? I’ll cook.”

“I can’t wait.”

He watches her go, almost floating from how giddy he feels. As he drives home, he mentally goes over what he’ll need to get for the meal he wants to make. Truly, it was the best fake date ever; he might, he thinks, even consider posting the story of it to the r/relationships thread like one of the Craigslist messages asked, because it’s so wonderfully peculiar.

“Right on time!” says Steve with a grin when Diana knocks on his door that evening for their date.

His smile falls when he notices her face, tired and serious, despite how light it had been only hours ago.

“Steve, I have to go,” she says without preamble.

“What?”

“I’m flying back to the Netherlands tonight.” What? That can’t be right; she’s not due back for several months, and even that’s only a trip. Steve’s brain lags a second and then realizes she’s still talking, dark eyes all apologies. “—straight to the airport from here, actually. I just came by to say goodbye. It seemed like the sort of thing that should be done in person.”

“But what—”

“You know who Patrick Morgan is, yes?”

Of course he knows who Patrick Morgan is; he’s a war criminal who was only caught and extradited recently. It made waves when jurisdiction was given over to the ICC, at least among the relevant international communities.

“The war criminal?” he asks, just to confirm.

Diana nods. “That’s the one. Look, I’m not really meant to be talking about my cases, but I’m on the prosecutorial team and his lawyers are good. They’re trying to file a pre-trial motion that would—well, let’s just say it would be bad if the judge ruled in their favor. We’re scrambling and I’m needed back at the office, in person.”

“Shit.” There’s nothing else to say, really. She’s the one who can make sure Patrick Morgan doesn’t hurt anyone else, and that’s that.

“It’s awful timing,” whispers Diana, and there’s true regret in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”

“No, don’t apologize. You’re doing what has to be done.”

“I wish it didn’t,” says Diana. “I wanted to—I don’t know, go on a proper date and go to your friends’ New Year’s party with you, and this has just—it’s mucked it all up, hasn’t it?”

“An understatement,” says Steve, laughing wetly. Maybe—

“I have to call the ARGUS Foundation from the car, get everything squared away in regards to my commitments there. Gods, this is such a nightmare.” Diana’s pacing now, and Steve can see all their possibilities slipping away, now that she’s returning to the Netherlands. It’s not the most important thing, this casualty of what could have been, but it still breaks a little piece of Steve’s heart all the same.

“I wish we had more time,” says Steve, a little bittersweet, because there’s not much else to say. Diana sends him a sad smile and nods.

“I really have to go. I might even miss my flight as it is.”

“Right, of course.”

She looks at him hesitantly for a moment, like she’s going to say something more, and then pulls him into a hug. As she pulls back, she kisses him softly. It feels like goodbye more than any words could.

Then her phone rings, and she looks at him apologetically one more time, a quick, “I’m sorry,” before taking her leave and answering it. He hears her frustrated Dutch echoing down the hall as she walks away.

After she leaves, he feels a little aimless, and a little numb. It doesn’t quite sink in that Diana is gone, but he does think, absently, that something bad was bound to happen, because nothing catastrophic happened over the holidays—no real fights, no disastrous weather; it all went too smoothly.

The next few days are a slog: he’s back in the office, technically, but everything has slowed down substantially in between the holidays, just enough to not really keep him occupied.

It scares him a little how much he misses Diana. They were sort-of friends before the fake-dating charade, more friendly-coworkers than anything, but he got used to her being a part of his daily life absurdly quickly and is having a hard time adjusting back. They could have been something spectacular, he knows, if circumstances hadn’t made it impossible.

She texts him when she lands, and he’s glad to know she’s made it safely, but it ignites a fresh wave of ache such that he’s almost glad she doesn’t answer his text back, or text again. He ends up ignoring his phone, mostly, trying to distract himself from thinking about what wasn’t meant to be. (It’s bad luck with fate: if they’d had more time, if they were something real, he might consider moving, but it’s too soon, too early, even if he thinks he might already love her.)

On New Year’s Eve, he spends most of the day cooking, Netflix on in the background, whiling away time before the party Etta and Adrienne are throwing.

“Where’s Diana?” asks Etta, when she opens the door and finds Steve there, alone, carrying three tiers of Tupperware and a bottle of champagne, because of course she does. All his friends adore Diana too.

“She had to fly back to the Netherlands for a case,” says Steve morosely, unable to say anymore because he might choke up, and crying is fine but not during a New Year’s Eve party.

“Oh, what a shame she’ll miss New Year’s! When is she coming back?”

The fresh, stricken look on Steve’s face tells Etta everything she needs to know. “Oh, luv, I’m so sorry. I know long distance isn’t easy.”

It’s the perfect excuse presenting itself, really. In a month, Steve can say that the distance was too much, and Etta will understand, and that will be that. He’ll be out of this lie, too, with no one the wiser that it started as a fake thing. But right now, Steve is still mourning the fact that it never got to be anything real in the first place.

“It is what it is,” says Steve, trying for a smile.

“Well,” says Etta, also going for something resembling cheery. “We’ve got plenty of alcohol and a place for you to crash tonight, if you want it.”

“Thanks, Etta.”

He whiles away the night nursing a glass of wine and floating amongst friends and acquaintances, trying to enjoy the merriment. Etta, bless her, must spread the word that Diana had to leave for work, because only Noor asks after her, right after he gets inside. After that, he doesn’t have to answer any further questions, and instead focuses on the laughter and brightness radiating from his friends.

At a few minutes to midnight, he slips off to a quiet corner, not quite ready to face the rowdy, kissing couples.

Somewhere behind him, the apartment door slams, and there’s something of a commotion, but he doesn’t bother to investigate until—

“Did I make it in time?” asks a breathless voice.

Steve turns, and there, standing in front of him, a vision in a bright red coat, is Diana.

“But how—?” She’s meant to be in Europe, but she’s very much not. She’s here.

She’s here.

“We finished a little early and I got the first flight out. I took a cab from the airport to get here as fast as I could.”

“You hate cabs,” says Steve helplessly, fixating on something that’s very much not the point because it’s one of the many strange things they talked about, and because it’s somehow easier to focus on than any other part of it.

“I wanted to be here.” Her eyes are twinkling, and Steve can’t quite believe she’s here, on New Year’s Eve, and—shit.

“But what about the case?”

“We got the motion thrown out,” she exclaims, delight lacing her words. “We’re proceeding as scheduled. I’ll have to go back for a bit starting in May, but—”

That phrasing catches Steve’s attention. “Wait, you’re not moving back to the Netherlands permanently?”

“What?” asks Diana, looking genuinely perplexed. “No! It was just a business trip, inconveniently timed. I was never moving back. Did you think—”

“I thought—” says Steve, at the exact same time.

There’s a look of recognition on Diana’s face, as if she’s doing the maths, going back over the conversations they had once more in her head. She bites her lip, shakes her head. Laughs.

“We are both a bit stupid, I think,” she says. “I was never going to be gone more than a week or two, but I suppose I didn’t make that clear enough. I thought it was just bad timing, since we were starting something, but you—”

Steve shakes his head, incredulous. “I thought I might never see you again, but you’re really here.”

Diana reaches out and ever so softly touches his cheek. “Yes. So, did I miss the countdown?”

Steve stops fighting the smile that’s building. “Nope. And you know, they say whatever you’re doing at midnight you’ll be doing for the rest of the year.”

“Do they? You’d best choose wisely, then.”

“I’ve got an idea.” The countdown hasn’t started yet, but he leans in slowly anyways, because he figures they’ve wasted enough time. She meets his lips eagerly, and in the background, Steve can hear Etta’s whoop of excitement, but really, the only thing that matters is Diana, and the feel of her lips underneath his.

It’s just as earth-shaking as it was the first few times, but they break apart momentarily as the countdown actually begins from the other room. When midnight hits, they kiss again, a little shorter this time, their smiles too wide to make it a proper kiss.

“Happy New Year, Steve,” whispers Diana, forehead pressed to his.

“Happy New Year,” he echoes. An endless plurality of shifting possibilities stretch before them, elastic and hopeful, and very real once more. From the other room, the chords of a piano start, a telltale sign that Charlie has started his traditional rendition of Auld Lang Syne.

“You know, eventually people are going to realize our anniversary isn’t in July.”

That elicits another giddy laugh, because somehow, he’s gotten lucky enough that this is his reality. “Yeah, but that’s a pretty good problem to have, all things considered. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

“No,” says Diana thoughtfully. “I wouldn’t either.”

***

#misha-winchester #wondertrevsecretsanta #wondertrevsecretsanta2020 #wondertrev #diana prince #steve trevor #userpine

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flowerfan2 · 4 years

Text

Love Is The Seventh Wave

McDanno, A03, 2400 words

Written for the H50 Writers Club Discord “Danny Deserves Better” challenge

“Are you serious?” she says, and all eyes in the writer’s room turn towards her. “That’s just cruel. And it makes no sense.”

“It’s dramatic, Lola.”

“Lilla,” she corrects, surprised that the douchebag even came close, given that he hasn’t spoken more than those three words to her since she started working for him a month ago. “Just hear me out. What if instead of having totally out of character bathroom sex with Joanna....”

*****

Danny’s sipping idly at his drink when he notices the woman sitting nearby. She’s pretty, her dark hair a contrast to her light silky blouse, and she’s about as out of place at this bar at ten o’clock in the morning as Danny is.

She looks up at him, and Danny cracks a smile. “You looking at me?”

The woman shakes her head. “The television’s behind you. And I desperately need a distraction.”

Same here, Danny thinks. “Well, if you’d rather have a live distraction than whatever’s on the news, I’m happy to oblige.”

The woman smiles and moves over to the seat next to him, bringing her coffee with her. “At this point I’m willing to try anything.”

“Buy you a drink? Wine, beer, scotch on the rocks?”

“Nah, I’m good. Not quite desperate enough to drink the hard stuff before noon.” She glances at Danny’s glass.

“Club soda,” he admits, and she grins.

“We’re practically twins.” She sticks out her hand. “I’m Joanna.”

“Danny.” Her hand is soft, but her grip is firm and doesn’t linger. “It’s nice to meet you. So, what do you want to talk about?”

“Oh, anything but my love life.”

A laugh bursts out of Danny. “Get right to the point, do you?”

“No sense wasting time. For all I know, you’re a reporter doing a story on bars that open before noon and you’ll have to dash off to the next one any minute now.”

“No chance. I’m a detective, actually. But I’m taking a personal day.”

She gives him an appraising look. “A cop? But you seem so nice.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Very funny.”

“So,” Joanna says, “why a personal day?”

Danny takes a moment wondering how to answer this – he’s not really sure himself – when his phone rings. It’s Steve, of course, and the fact that hearing his voice makes his whole body light up just adds fuel to the giant dumpster fire that is his life. He hangs up after a few minutes and turns back to Joanna.

“Who was that?”

“My partner.”

Joanna looks at him appraisingly, and then nods. “Yeah, I’ve got one of those.”

“You’re a cop too?”

She snorts. “Um, no, that’s not what I meant. I’m a lawyer, actually.”

Danny’s confused. “So you have, what, law partners?”

Joanna takes a packet of sugar and adds it to the fresh coffee the bartender has set down in front of her. “You’re a little oblivious, aren’t you?”

It’s said with such amusement that Danny isn’t mad, and he’s happy to play along. “Oblivious about what?”

Joanna sighs and takes a careful sip of her drink, then stirs it some more. “You’re telling me that guy you just spoke to is your work partner?”

“Yes, who else would he be?” Danny has his own answer for this, but it’s a fantasy he hasn’t entertained in, oh, at least an hour or so.

Joanna shrugs noncommittally.

They slip into a more or less comfortable silence, and Danny contemplates his club soda. It’s just as boring as it was when he started it. He’s not even sure why he’s here, at a random bar on the north shore. When he woke up this morning, knowing he had a day free to do anything he wanted, a day off from work and all of its headaches, the first thing he thought of was checking the weather report to see what the waves would be like – because surfing with Steve is one of his favorite things to do to de-stress. But then he realized that Steve didn’t have the day off too, and it all seemed pointless.

A day without obligations is hard to come by for a single working dad, and Danny knows in theory he should be enjoying it. But he’s not.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to push.”

Danny is drawn out of his thoughts by Joanna’s comment. “No, you’re fine, it’s not you.”

Joanna leans back a little and runs a hand through her hair. “Want to know what I’m doing here?”

Danny takes in her flattering outfit, her carefully done make-up. “Waiting for a client meeting?”

She laughs. “Nope. One with my partner.”

“Your law partner,” Danny clarifies.

Joanna laughs again. “Yes. Except that’s the problem.”

“What’s the problem?”

Joanna takes a deep breath. “The truth is, I’d like it if my law partner were a little more than that.”

Danny feels a rush of shame, and looks quickly around the bar – still empty, except for the bartender. “Is this some kind of joke?”

She reaches out and puts a hand on his arm. “Relax. I’m really not pulling your chain. I’m telling the god’s honest truth.” She takes her hand back and swipes at her phone. “Here, see? We go out for drinks every Thursday night, everyone in the office. Thirsty Thursday kind of thing. Last night went on a little longer than usual, since we just got some really good news on a case.”

Joanna shows him a photograph of a tall, blond woman with her arm around Joanna, both of them in business suits and holding glasses of champagne. Several other people are crowded around them. All of them are making happy faces at the camera, except for Joanna, who has eyes only for the woman at her side.

“Oh,” says Danny.

“Yeah,” says Joanna. “And I’m pretty sure Jasper – he took the picture – sent it and about twenty other equally embarrassing ones to everyone who was there, including my partner.”

“Is that good or bad?” Danny asks.

“I’m not sure. But I’m going to find out.”

“What do you mean?”

Joanna taps her fingers on the bar, clearly a little nervous. “Okay, you’re probably going to thing I’m nuts. I went for my usual run this morning, through my neighborhood and down to the beach. It’s the same route I’ve run hundreds of times, and there isn’t much beach there, just some scrubby trees by the water’s edge, but you know any bit of beach is beautiful here, so it’s all good. And this morning, for the first time ever, I saw a honu on that little beach.

“A turtle?”

“Yeah. I’ve never seen one there before, but today there was a honu right there, a really big one.”

“Okay…”

“Honu are a symbol of good luck, right? I’ve realized that if I don’t say something to my partner soon, I’m going to lose my mind, or have to quit my job, or both – and once I saw that honu, I knew I could tell her how I feel. I’m going to do it today.”

“Wow,” Danny said, feeling buoyed by Joanna’s excitement. “You really are?”

“I really am.” Joanna stands up from her chair and straightens her skirt. “I finally realized it’s too important to keep hiding from. The way I feel about her… I think I love her, you know? And I can’t believe I’m telling you all this, maybe it’s easier because I don’t know you…”

“No, I get it,” Danny says, and he does. Sitting in this random, sunny bar, with a woman he’s never met before, with no preconceived assumptions, no rules or requirements, Danny suddenly feels like he’s opening up, too.

“I just don’t want to let a chance for love pass me by, not any more,” Joanna continues. “Not if we could really be something, and I think maybe we can. So I asked her to meet me at one of our favorite restaurants for lunch, in Haleiwa. Away from the office, somewhere private… and I better go, I don’t want to be late.”

“Of course not,” Danny says, standing too.

Joanna regards him for a long moment, and Danny squirms a little. “I think today is your lucky day, too,” Joanna says.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you met me,” Joanna says, grinning as she leaves. Danny thinks she’s right.

****

Joanna’s excitement is infectious, and Danny feels himself standing a little straighter as he leaves the bar. Maybe her plan would work for him, too. He hasn’t wanted to say anything to Steve for all the obvious reasons – he doesn’t know if Steve feels the same way despite how close they are, he’s never heard Steve express any interest in men at all, and he doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. But this constant pining is wearing away at him, and he isn’t getting any younger. What if he waits another ten years and then it turns out Steve was up for something more after all – what a waste that would be. Or what if he doesn’t have ten years to make up his mind – what if Steve’s conversation with Eddie’s veterinarian this morning turns into asking her out for a date, and they hit it off and live happily ever after?

There are millions of ways that Danny can miss his chance with Steve, and only one way to find out if he’s still got one.

Danny makes a few stops on his way back to Steve’s place. He texts Tani a few times to keep tabs on the team and make sure he knows when Steve’s heading home. He’s got a caprese salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar on the table and wine opened and breathing on the counter when he hears the front door open.

Steve appears in the doorway to the kitchen, and Danny’s jaw falls open. Steve’s wearing a dark gray button-up shirt, collar open at the neck, and black slacks that hug his ass like his cargoes never quite manage. He even looks freshly shaved.

“Hey, Danno,” Steve says, voice low, and Danny shivers. He takes a step towards Steve but somehow trips over his own feet and the carving knife in his hand goes flying to the ground.

Steve sucks in a breath, and they both stare at the knife, stuck in the floorboards about an inch away from Danny’s bare right toe. “Huh,” says Steve. “Lucky.”

Danny sucks in a breath and shakes his head, trying to grab on to anything at all that makes sense. “Why’re you dressed up?” he finally comes up with, which isn’t particularly witty but is somewhat better than oh my fucking god what is going on here, which is a close second.

Steve smirks. “I’ve got a date.”

Danny’s heart sinks. He’s too late, he’s just one goddamn day too late, this is his life every single time. He was a fool for thinking otherwise.

“With that vet?”

Steve looks determined. “No, not with the vet.” Steve crouches down at his feet and retrieves the knife, then places it in the sink. He’s right up in Danny’s space. “You look nice too,” Steve says, and at first Danny think’s it’s a non sequitur, but then he takes in Steve’s expression, that cocky confidence with an undercurrent of uncertainty, and the way Steve is lining up his own very nicely clad shoulder with Danny’s, and suddenly the clouds part and all is clear.

“Wait,” Danny says. “What do you think… How did you…?”

Steve’s face does something that seems to be a cross between a smirk and a hopeful grin. “Tani said you texted her a few times today.”

“So?”

“She said you were buying wine.”

Danny bites his lip. “Again, so?”

“You never buy wine, unless you’re cooking a fancy meal.”

“I buy wine all the time.”

“When was the last time?”

Danny has to think pretty hard about it, and that’s when he knows he’s losing this particular argument. He still has hope for winning the war, however, so he stops talking about wine.

“Can we go back to the part where you said you had a date? Because you’re not acting like you have a date.”

“No?” Steve asks. “How should I be acting?” Steve somehow moves even closer to Danny, tilting his head, waiting for Danny’s answer.

Danny can feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he thinks he might be getting light headed.

“Come on, Danny,” Steve says, his breath puffing against Danny’s skin. “How should I be acting?”

Danny just blinks up at him, and then he’s saved from having to come up with an answer by Steve’s lips pressing against his own. Danny thinks he lets out something like a moan as his mouth opens under Steve’s, and he slides his hands up Steve’s back under his ridiculous shirt and pulls him close.

****

“You can’t possibly have known what I was going to do just from Tani telling you I was buying wine.”

Steve flops over onto his back. The sheet is pulled up just over his stupidly attractive hip bones, and Danny sneakily reaches out a finger to slide it back down again.

“Honestly, all I knew was that it seemed like you were getting ready for a date,” Steve says. “And it made me realize that I could lose my chance with you, anytime. You could meet someone, maybe even that woman you were talking to at the bar this morning, and it would be too late for us. So I changed into the spare clothes I keep at the office, and figured I’d give it my best shot.”

Danny pushes up on an elbow. “Have you eaten a radioactive spider lately? Drank some kind of serum?”

“No…”

“Because the mindreading shit is frankly disturbing… I literally – and I mean the actual meaning of literally, not the one the kids are using these days – I literally had that same thought today. That you’d finally get up the nerve to ask out that vet again, or fall in love while buying ammunition, or save some gorgeous lady’s pet parakeet from terrorists, and I’d lose my chance with you.”

Steve turns towards Danny, his face brimming with affection. “I guess today really was our lucky day, then.”

Danny grins into Steve’s kiss. He’s gonna send Joanna a fruit basket. And maybe give a great big donation to whatever organization looks out for the honu, because he owes them, too.

#McDanno #H50 #H50 fic #Steve McGarrett #Danny Williams

50 notes · View notes

linyi-is-dreaming · 4 years

Text

The Drop Of A Tear - 09

BTS V x Y/N (Reader)

Summary: Tae meets a woman who is very manipulative. Before he even notices anything, she got him around her finger. He decides to leave his wife Y/N and his four kids to start a new life with the new woman. This perfect house of cards that he had just started to build, starts to unfold as she starts to show her true face. Piece by piece it makes him feel sick. Tae notices his wrong doing as his house of cards starts to fall apart. Regret and hate towards himself makes him wish to turn things around. Will he be able to safe his house of cards and to get back what he once threw away?

CHAPTER 09

“Okay, I think I got it all cleaned.”, Jungkook states satisfied as he wipes the last shelf in his apartment clean. “Note to myself, never let the apartment look like this again! Tomorrow I will start to make a plan for a cleaning schedule...” He stops to speak as soon as the doorbell interrupts his thoughts. Nervously, he checks the time on his phone. In the moment in which he hears the doorbell once again, he starts to walk towards the front door. “I’m coming! Just a second.” Just to be sure that the person he is waiting for is standing outside, he looks through the door viewer. The first thing his friend sees when Jungkook opens the door, is the stressed facial expression by him which is getting replaced rather quickly with a smirk.

“I already wondered if you got lost. Did you not say you would come by earlier?”

“It is not so easy to get out of the house on time once you become a father.”

“I can’t see your daughter. Did you forget her in the car?”

“It does not mean, that my child is with me necessarily.”

“So, you could not find the building?” The way Jin looks at Jungkook says it all. He would like to ask Jin why he seems to be so stressed but as he can see himself, it might be better to push any sign of sarcasm to the side.

“I might not have been here often, but I still remember how to get to your apartment.”

“I am just joking.”, Jungkook smiles as he opens his front door wider. As he looks at the floor, he notices the water that seems to come from Jin’s jacket. “Is it raining outside? You are soaking wet.”, Jungkook wonders as he looks up and down Jin’s clothes.

“No, it did not rain.”, Jin answers sarcastically. “I thought I’d jump in a lake before I come here.”

“Sorry.”, Jungkook laughs. “Come in. I will give you some clothes that you can borrow.”

“Thanks.”, Jin says as he enters Jungkook’s apartment. “I hope you started to prepare your apartment to be kids ready.”

“Tsk. Do not worry! I got it all under control.”, he tells him as he walks into his living room. “I mean, take a look around.” Jin does not need to be told twice. Slowly, he checks the living room before he turns back Jungkook.

“Wow! You cleaned this place very well. It has been a while since I saw your apartment this clean.”, Jin says as he continues to check dinner room. “That must have taken you at least two hours...”

“My home has always been clean.”, Jungkook says defensively as he watches Jin walking into the kitchen. “Now, it is just a little more clean than usual.” Jin nods as he walks back to into the living area.

“Yeah, well… Usually it is single-man-apartment clean but not so extra clean.”

“I know I should feel hurt by your comment, but I am not feeling like that at all.”

“Good.”, Jin states as he hands him the bags that he had placed next to the couch. “Anyway, I brought the beds for the kids which you asked me for. You will really need them if they stay at your place as you said.”

“I already wondered what you have got in those bags...”

“It is really kind from you to let her stay. I just hope you know what you are getting yourself into.”, Jin warns calmly. He watches Jungkook’s facial expression very carefully. The fear that Jungkook may have not understand what he is about to get himself into, stays in the back of his mind lately. Jin knows that Jungkook is capable of taking care of them, but he also hopes that he is mentally prepared. He does not man only the feelings he has for Y/N, but what it means to be the man in the household. The words of his daughter is going through his mind as he watches Jungkook leaving the room.

“Namjoon got me kind of into it... He probably told you about it already.”, Jungkook says loudly as he gets the spare clothes for Jin from his bedroom. Irritated by Jungkook’s words, Jin looks at Jungkook as he places his hands in his wet jacket. “I confronted Namjoon about it, but he also says that it is better that she stays with her kids at my place. I do not mind having them around.”

“Namjoon? I am not talking about Namjoon, Jungkook. I am talking about a specific kid that I heard some news from.”, Jin clarifies as he takes the spare clothes from Jungkook. “Thanks.”

“One of Y/N’s kids? What kind of news?”

“Yes, one of hers. Why did you feel the need to ask who I am talking about?”

“How was I supposed to know who you were talking about?”

“Anyway, you noticed that her kids were on your mind first, right?”

“I really try to understand what you are trying to say, but I can’t understand what you are trying to tell me.”

“Well, let’s try it differently. Y/N’s princess called my daughter and told her how amazing it would be to have you under the same roof as when you were there for Y/N. She is totally in love with the idea and she keeps talking about it.”

“I am her favorite uncle, am I or am I not?”, he winks jokingly. Jin sighs deeply as he changes the clothes. “Something wrong?” Even though he might not say a word, Jungkook notices that it must be something serious. “Come on. Just say it.”

“Take a seat.” Jin suggests as he takes a deep breath. “Listen carefully. Listen and take it to heart, okay?” Jungkook nods as he sits down comfortably. “This little girl sees you more than an uncle. She is talking about you as she used to talk about Tae. You noticed that, right?”

“What are you talking about? Okay, maybe I am her favorite uncle but still-” Jungkook stops himself as he sees that Jin is shaking his head.

“I am trying to tell you that she told my daughter that if she could pick a new father or a new man in her mother’s life, it would be you.” Jungkook’s eyes move immediately into Jin’s direction as the words fell from his lips. “Jungkook, she sees you as a father, not as an uncle. Therefore, I am warning you, be careful with your actions.”

“You must have misheard something...”, Jungkook tells him as he shakes his head.

“No, I did not. I am hundred percent sure about this. Jungkook, you know how close her daughter is with my daughter. They tell each other everything and yesterday I knew that she moves in with you before you even called me.”

“But those are only words.”, Jungkook says as he starts to imagine to be a father figure for them. Of course, he would not mind being like a father to them but to be a father like an actual father figure? Even though he loves them with all of his heart, could he even be a good fit to replace a father? If he could, would he be able to be a father to them, he wonders. He sighs as he wipes his palms over his face. Jin watches how Jungkook is obviously struggling with himself. “I could never be their father. I am not father material, let’s face it.”

“You have been in Tae’s shoes since he started to treat her like shit. The kids are smart, they noticed it. They may have even heard more than you think.”

“What about Tae though?”, he worries. “If Tae hears a slightest thing about it, you know what is going to happen. This mess right now, would only be the beginning.”

“That is a worry for another day. Let’s keep it as our secret for now.”, Jin suggests as he sees the worries on Jungkook’s face. “It will only be a secret for a while and afterwards, it will not even matter.”

“For how long? For how long shall we keep him in the dark?”

“Definitely until after the divorce.” Jungkook’s eyes become bigger as Jin’s words go through his head. “You’re okay?”

“After the divorce? You know that Tae still has not signed the final paper, right? The final paper has not been signed by anybody yet.”

“I thought Tae signed the paper...I thought that only Y/N did not.”

“Y/N did not sign the divorce paper written by his lawyer yet, as she needs approval from my lawyer that there is nothing negatively for her in the paper. The mentioned single-parent-custody that Tae’s lawyer mentioned, is nothing Y/N would put her name on.”, he explains slowly. “The lawyer I found, is already writing a new one. I should receive it soon. If I am lucky, it should arrive today.”

“Your lawyer will find a great solution for her and her kids, I am sure. I will inform the others personally about keeping it down. Who knows about it already?”

“Jimin and Namjoon.”

“Nobody else?”

“Not as I am aware of.” Jin takes out his phone to take some notes. “Okay, I guess I will be busy today.”

“Me too. I have to pick them up and let them settle in. I hope the kids will be okay by sharing one room.”

“Settle in?”

“Is it not what you call it?”

“I will not answer that question... Will you need help? If you need help, I am sure that I can help.”

“No, we can get everything their need in two cars. The rest will be picked up later on.”

“Okay.”, Jin says as he nods. “Call me if you need anything else.”

“Thank you, Jin.”, Jungkook says as Jin packs his wet clothes into one of the empty bags.

“Just a little idea of mine, maybe you should ask Yoongi and Namjoon for help as well. You will be much faster if you would consider more helping hands.”

“I thought about Hoseok at first. But now then you mentioned only Yoongi and Namjoon...”

“Well, it cannot hurt to ask all three of them.”

“What if Tae is suddenly there?”

“Do you think he will drive to her house?”

“He has not shown up lately. It would be a surprise if he would not appear soon.”

“Namjoon is working on a song by the way.”

“What does his songwriting to do with this situation?”

“Maybe, you could tell Namjoon to be ready, just in case he shows up.”

“Uh, you mean that he calls him into the studio?”

“You finally got it!”, Jin praises as he pats Jungkook’s shoulder. “Okay, I got to go. Call me if you need two more hands.”

“Thanks!”, Jungkook says as he accompanies him out the door.

💧💧💧

“Everybody ready?”, Y/N asks as her kids place their last bag on the floor within the soon to be former living room. “Are you dressing up your brother again?”, Y/N asks as she watches how carefully her younger daughter picks out clothes for her baby brother. As her daughter looks up at her with this angelic smile, warmth is filling up her heart. The eye contact maybe lasted only five seconds, but Y/N notices that when her daughter looks away that her daughter's smile seems to drop off of her face immediately. Worriedly, she walks to her daughter to comfort her. “Something wrong, lovely?” Slowly, her daughter gets up with the little jacket of her brother in her hands as she gets up to stand in front her mother.

“Mom, can I ask you a question?” Her voice was so quiet, but still so tender. The insecurity is clear to hear within her voice. Not knowing what to expect, Y/N pulls her arm around her shoulder to pull her into an open hug.

“Of course, you can.” The question from her daughter does not come as fast as she expected. The long breath that leaves her daughter’s lips, makes her even more worried if something might have happened that she is unaware of. Questions are starting to fill her head. Did she miss something? Did she not notice anything that she should have had? Are the kids getting worried? As she sees her daughter opening her mouth, she tries her best to push all the worries and thought to the side. Too strong are the doubts that her daughter is doing alright with this situation. Y/N knows that she is the one child that misses her father the most. Since she had her first phone, she used to text her father poems, jokes or whatever was on her mind whenever she felt like it. This girl depends so much on her father that it hurts to see her fight with her older sister about their father. The atmosphere in the house is usually comfortable until one of her kids start to ask for the father. The change in the atmosphere is immediately to feel, which is why she is hoping that her child will not ask anything about their father.

“Why do we have to move again?” Instantly, she feels relaxed. Relaxed that she did not ask about Tae, but her question is not much easier. Moving for the third time within a year, how do you explain it to a kid? To a kid that is sensitive and still does not understand what happened between her mother and her father. A girl who still waits for her daddy to come home for dinner. A girl who still does not want to believe her big sister that their parents are going to be living separated. Y/N thought a few times about an answer, in case one of her kids would ask her a question regarding moving out. As she looks at her kids’ faces, she can see that her son seems to be waiting for an answer as well. Her older daughter on the other hand keeps staring at her little brother just the way she did the day before with her stuffed animal. Y/N takes a long breath before she looks at her daughter’s face.

“See, the thing is that this has nothing to do with you. Once you are older, I will tell you all about it but until then, I will not be able to give you any answer.”, she explains. “I hope it is okay for you that we live with uncle Jungkook for a while though.” Disappointed by the answer, her daughter sits down once more in front of her baby brother. “Do you not want to go to uncle Jungkook’s home?”

“It is okay mom...”, her daughter mumbles as she picks another jacket for her brother. “Sis, I like this one more.”

“Are you ignoring me?”, Y/N wonders as she walks closer to her daughter. But before she is even able to speak with her again, her son interrupts her.

“Will you be locking yourself in a room again?”, her son asks sadly. Her eyes immediately find his as she hears the worries and sadness within his voice. “The last time you did that, I wanted to come into your room but uncle Jungkook meant you needed to sleep... Will it be like that again? I am scared that I will not see you outside your room again.” Disappointed in herself for her former behavior, she sighs as she sits down next to her daughters on the floor.

“I am so sorry for what happened a few months ago. I wish things would have not been this way... But no, it will not be the same again. I promise you that.”, she promises as she notices that her son seems not to believe her words. The doubts are clearly all over his face. Y/N watches her son getting up to walk towards her. “Are you finally deciding to sit with us on the floor?” Her son says nothing as he hugs her tight.

“If you promise it will not be like that again, I am okay with it. I want everything to be alright again.”

“Thank you, my sweet boy. I am trying my best to get everything back to normal, but it is not so easy.” Just as Y/N puts her arms around the torso of her son, her phone starts to ring. “Wait a minute. Mommy has to check her phone.” Her son nods as he puts his arms off Y/N.

“Do you think we should let him wear the blue jacket or the yellow one?”, her younger daughter asks her son. Y/N smiles to herself with a tear in her eyes before she looks away from her kids to pick up the phone. On the inside she hoped to read one name. One name only, but it turns out to be the name that she did not want to read.

“What could he want?”, she asks herself as she reads the caller’s name. Tae. She clears her throat quickly before she picks up. “Hello? You want to pick them up today? I know you want to see your kids, but today is a bad day. You are almost here?” She can feel how the sweat is starting to escape her body as she turns around to see the kids within all the moving boxes. “Tae, I am sorry but can we arrange something within the next few days...?” As Tae keeps asking the ‘why’-question, she takes a few steps away from her kids. “Why do I need to mention a reason? Tae, please. I will text you later or you text me later in case I forget and we will arrange something. I am not trying to keep the kids away from you! Listen, the kids talked about this new amusement park, maybe that would be nice. You could spend a day with them there. I am glad you like the idea. Uh huh. Bye.” As soon as she hangs up the phone, she leans against the table as she takes a few long breaths.

“Mom, are you okay?”, her oldest daughter asks. “Was it him? What did he want?”

“It was your dad, yes. He wants to see you four.”, Y/N explains slowly.

“You mentioned the amusement park. Why do we have to go there with him? I wanted to go there with you.”

“Sweetheart, I needed to say something to keep him away from us today. You understand that dad should not know to where we move to, right?”

“Yes, I do. I just do not think it is fair that I have to spend time with him...”

“Please do not start to pout.”, Y/N says as she hugs her kid. “You are my smart girl, aren’t you?” Just as she kisses the top of her child’s head, the doorbell rings. Curious, if Tae is already here even though she asked him not to come, she looks towards the window next to the door. “I bet you already know who it is.”, she comments with a wink as she notices the faces. Before she can even tell her daughter to open the door, she can see the other kids running to the door.

“Uncle Jungkook! Uncle Hoseok!”, her son screams joyfully.

“What a greeting! Hello everyone!”, Jungkook says as he waves at them.

“Hello!”, Hoseok greets as he steps inside. “I heard this household is moving, is that true?” Her son nods joyfully. Hoseok smiles as he gives the kids a group hug before he turns to Y/N. “Okay. So Y/N, here is the plan. You and the kids stay here and we will drive your stuff to Jungkook's apartment until we are done.”

“If you plan to transport our stuff like that, be careful! Tae called me. He meant he is near the house.”, Y/N warns.

“I planned that already too. I will call Namjoon asap though. He meant he has some lyrics which could fit his voice. I will be right back.”, Hoseok tells her as he pets the boy’s head.

“Are you alright?”, Jungkook wonders as he sees her pale face. “Have you even eaten anything today? Your face is so pale.”

“I did not find the time to eat yet.”, Y/N confesses. Jungkook nods as he takes out four chocolate bars.

“Here is one for you and who else wants a chocolate bar?”, Jungkook questions the kids as he hands a chocolate bar to Y/N.

“Thank you.”, she says as she watches her kids coming together to get their chocolate bar from Jungkook.

“Thank you, Jungkook.”, her oldest child says as she takes the last piece. “Those are my favorites!”

“How could I guess that you would love the strawberry-chocolate-bar, huh?”, he jokes as he takes the sweet soft cookies from his bag. “You did not think that I will forget about you, did you?” Jungkook’s voice sounds very childlike as he sits down in front of the toddler. “Does the champ want a cookie?”, Jungkook asks as he holds it in front of the kid. As he starts to kick his feet, Jungkook decides to give the cookie to the little boy. Y/N could not help herself but to stare at Jungkook’s interaction with her little one. Tae never paid that much attention to him in comparison with Jungkook. It hurts Y/N to know that Tae never bonded with him just like he did with the other kids. As she watches her kids eat, she takes a seat to take a bite from her chocolate bar.

“Dada!”, her little one says loudly.

“I told you, I am not Dada. I am Jungkook. Can you say that? Ju-ng-ko-ok. Jungkook.”

“Dada!” Just as Jungkook wanted to try again, Y/N places her hand on Jungkook’s forearm as she sits down next to him.

“I am so sorry, but I think he will need longer until he understands not to say this word to you no more.”, she apologizes. Jungkook’s eyes immediately fell on her hands. Without thinking twice, he takes her hand in his. “What are you doing?”, she stutters as she looks into his eyes. The sweat that starts to build on Jungkook’s back, makes him worried if he is starting to blush.

“I wanted to give you the cookie bag, but I guess I forgot the bag...”, he lies as he removes his hands from her to give her the bag.

“Uncle Jungkook?”, her older son calls. “Do you want to play soccer with me as long as we have to wait?”

“Sure. But we should keep it down this time, okay?” Quickly, her son opens a box to take the black and white ball out.

“I will win anyway!”, her son yells as he storms outside with the ball in his hand.

“Wait! I want to play too.”, her younger daughter yells as she runs behind him.

“Princess? Do you want to play with us too?”, Jungkook wonders as he sees her looking after the others.

“No. I want to listen to music.” Jungkook nods before he runs to the other kids outside.

“Alright. Tae is handled, now we have to bring everything to the car... Where is Jungkook?”, Hoseok wonders as he sees only Y/N with two of her kids.

“He decided to play soccer.”

“Do not tell me that he leaves all the work to me again.”

“Don’t worry. I will take some boxes too. Sweetheart will enjoy her music whilst she keeps an eye on her baby brother, right?” The only answer Y/N gets is a thumbs up. “With which box do you want to start with?”

💧💧💧

It was for the first time in a while that her kids seem so tired from a car ride. It was not a long ride but the food from the drive thru seems to make them even more tired. With her toddler in her arms, she follows Jungkook to his apartment. She is very thankful that they do not even need to carry their suitcases at the moment as they already brought it to his place. “Welcome everybody into my home!”, Jungkook says proudly as he opens the door to his apartment. “I hope you will feel comfortable.”

“Uncle Jungkook, did your apartment get bigger?”, Y/N’s younger daughter asks. “I cannot remember that it was this big...”

“No, don’t worry. It did not become bigger.”

“Where will I sleep?”

“Come with me and I show you the bedrooms.”, Jungkook says as he takes her by the hand to lead them to the bedrooms. Curiously, the kids follow Jungkook into the first room. “As there is not so much space, you three will share this one room and your baby brother will stay in the room next to you.”

“Thank you for your effort, Jungkook.”, Y/N says as she checks out the children room. “It looks very nice.” As the three kids are discussing which bed should belong to who, Y/N walks into the toddler’s room. Jungkook smiles to himself confidently as he sees that the kids seem to like the room. Jungkook’s eyes follow Y/N until she disappeared into the other room. “Look, you even got a stuffed animal. Do you see what it is noted on the scarf? C-H-A-M-P. Do you know what it means? That means champ.”, she explains to him as she places a kiss on his cheek. “Let’s see if your siblings decided on their beds.”, she comments as she tickles him.

“I guess he likes it.”, Jungkook adds as he hears the giggle of the little boy. Surprised by his voice, she turns around to face him.

“I am sorry. I thought you were still in the other room.”

“I just explained them the rules of my apartment and now I am here.”, he smiles as the little one shows that he wants to be hold by Jungkook. “Do you want to come to me?”, Jungkook asks as he steps closer to him. “Your laughter is so adorable.”

“Wait, I am going to put him on the ground.”, she says. As soon as his feet touch the ground, he makes his way to the stuffed animal.

“You want it? Here you go, my friend.”, Jungkook comments as he placed the toddler on its bed.

“You bought him another stuffed animal?”, she wonders as she discovers another one behind the penguin.

“I thought it might make it easier for him to sleep in this room alone.”

“Look, you have a penguin in your bed. Yes, a penguin.”, she repeats as she puts the stuffed animal closer to her kid’s hands.

“And over here we also have another stuffed animal. Do you know what that is? It is a bear.” The little boy grabs both stuffed animals as he gets off the bed to sit on the ground.

“Do you hear how loud he giggles? He likes it.”, Y/N says cheerfully.

“What a relieve. I thought he might not like them.” Y/N smiles as she notices how the eyes of her son seems to fall shut. “Is he about to fall sleep?” Without even asking, Jungkook takes the blanket to put it over the lying child.

“We should leave him alone to sleep.”, Y/N announces as she walks towards the door. “Good night my little bear.”, she says as she closes the door until only a gap remains. As they walk pass the other room, Y/N peeks into their room. “They are about to fall asleep too.”, she says as she can hear them talk quietly.

“You think he is going to sleep in his room alone right away?”

“Well, for now he will.”

“Do you want a tea or anything?”

“Not really, but thanks.”

“Sounds like a ‘yes’ to me though.”

“What?”

“The way you said ‘not really’, it tells me that you are unsure if you should or not.”

“How did you know?”

“If anyone would pay attention to how you say things, then anybody would understand what you were really trying to say.”, he explains as he prepares the tea.

“Am I this easy to read?”

“It takes some time to read into your words.” Y/N’s eyes look at the floor before she looks towards the bedrooms. “Hard to believe that they wanted to go straight to bed...”

“Yeah, that surprised me too.”, she admits as Jungkook places the cups of tea in front of her on the coffee table.

“I still do not know if you like the fruity or the herbal ones more...”

“Herbal tea. I only buy the fruit teas for the kids.”

“Well, then I will drink the children’s drink.”, Jungkook jokes as he takes the cup in his hand.

“You decorated those two rooms very well. Thank you for the effort.”

“Nothing to thank for.” Just as Jungkook takes a sip from his drink, Y/N’s youngest child starts to cry. “Somebody is awake.”

“I will be right back.”, she says as she gets up from the couch. Jungkook looks in her direction for a moment before he walks into his bedroom to get some documents for Y/N. He places them next to the tea cups on the coffee table. “My little bear is already asleep again.”, Y/N announces as she walks back into the living room with the toddler in her arms.

“Is he?”, Jungkook asks as he checks on him. “He is. That was quick.”

“The other kids are already asleep as well.”, she says as she points to the room in which the kids are sleeping in. “I guess a drive thru food is more than enough for them.”

“Well, sometimes food is all it takes to knock some kids out.” Y/N smiles as she looks up at Jungkook.

“Thank you for organizing the help. I am glad that Yoongi and Jin were also able to help us even though we did not tell them that we might need them.”

“Sure thing. Uhm, do you not want to lie him down?”

“I do not want to wake up the other kids.”

“They will not even realize that you are walking past their room.”

“I can hold him.”

“All night?”

“They are sleeping so peacefully.”

“Shall I put him in his bed whilst you make sure that there is not too much light shining into their room?” Y/N nods as she surrenders the little boy to him. “Come here my little champ.” Too distracted from the paper on the coffee table which says her name, she stops in her tracks to read a little from the first two pages. It did not take long until she knows what they are. The divorce papers which Jungkook’s lawyer seem to have prepared.

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weregonnaneedmorewhiskey · 4 years

Text

Covet

Chapter 1

Chapter 2- “You look like a bougie hooker but in a good way”

Let me know if you want to be tagged by sending an ask or a DM :)

Songs for this chapter:

Touch Me, Tease Me- Case ft Foxy Brown & Mary J. Blige

March 22nd

"So, did he tell you where's taking you?" Adrienne asks me whilst I apply a layer of Fenty lip gloss onto the deep pink lipstick. Turns out, I wasn't going to be forgotten so easily by James Brooks since he texted this morning asking me for drinks. After the party, I thought I should google him because 1. He could be lying about who he is because there are crazy people out here and I'm not trying to get murder for acting like a dumb bitch and 2. A part of me was weirdly enough curious about him. Maybe it's the Miami heat or maybe it's Taty's words finally sinking in.

"Yeah, some expensive bar. Can't remember the name but I thought I probably shouldn't wear jeans there. How do I look?" It wasn't an overly dressy look but dressy enough to not feel out of place once I got. Just a little black dress with thin straps that just about covered my ass, pair of lace up stilettos and my signature gold hoops. "You...look like a bougie hooker but in a good way. Like a hooker that only messes with NBA players or A-Rod when he was still a fuck boy"

"Good to know" I reply sarcastically. Another 20 minutes until he arrives. "Do you think you'll fuck him" I knew Adrienne gonna ask that. "Haven't given it much thought but I'm not stupid. If he's willing to give up the dick, then I'm gonna be there to receive it" Ok Taty's words have definitely sunk in. My phone flashes with a text from him. In the lobby. "A, He's in the lobby".

"10 minutes early. Impressive. Well have fun and be safe. Hold up" She goes into her suitcase and throws a condom in my direction. "Because I know you wouldn't think to take one with you". That's the good thing about Adrienne, she's the mom friend you need in life. Well...in terms of her being like a mom, she's kind of like Regina George's mom. But her heart is in the right place.

There he was. Stood in the lobby as if he had just stepped out of a GQ Magazine spread. James had that timeless attractiveness that stretched beyond what was happened to be in style. Sort of that Marlon Brando thing.

"Well...you look good" he greets me.

"Why? Did you doubt that I wouldn't look good?" I joke. When did that comment come from. I don't say things like that

"Quite the opposite. Just to clarify, you are of drinking age right?"

“Yes and you’re how old? About 45?” He definitely didn’t look 45. More like late 20’s, early 30’s. 33 at a push.

“I’m 32” Damn, I was just a year off!

“Based on the car, I see you’ve done well for yourself for being so young”

There was a matte black Tesla Model S parked outside which James got into the drivers seat.

“Something like that”

We arrive at the bar. James leads us to a booth in one corner of the room. I notice there’s no one else in this corner of the room.

“It’s just us two” I point out.

“Yes. Thought it would be nice if we had some privacy. If you don’t mind...”

“No, I don’t mind” We go and sit down in the booth. Soon after a waiter comes to take our drink orders in which James goes out of his way to order a bottle of Merlot.

“You come here quite often?” I ask him.

“From time to time. A lot of my clients like to come here and have events”

“These clients you mention, so are you like a lawyer or something?”

“No” he says. “I do marketing for a talent agency”

“Wow, impressive. Who does your agency rep?” I ask him.

“Lebron James, Travis Scott, Margot Robbie, Ben Affleck, Doja Cat, Kaepernick” Well I definitely wasn’t expecting those names at all.

“Your agency represents all those people? That’s...a lot of people” A lot of people? That’s fucking huge! No wonder he drives a Tesla. Probably not his only car based on the clientele.

“So what’s your major or have not decided it yet?” James snaps me out of my thoughts/state of shock.

“It’s Art with a minor in Latin American Studies”

“So you’re an artist?” He asks. The waiter comes back with the bottle of merlot. James pays for the bill and slides the waiter a $20 tip.

“I guess you say that but it’s not what I want to do after college. I’m more interested in art dealing” I take a sip from my glass and let the flavours dance on my tongue. It’s deep and fruity.

“Good wine?” He asks.

“Yes. Nice choice. I’m typically not a wine person. More into whiskey” I let him know.

“Well I’ll remember that for the next date” He lets me know.

“The next date? What makes you so sure they’ll be one?” I raise my eyebrows at his confidence

“I just have a feeling. Plus I can be quite persuasive”

I know I technically shouldn’t be attracted by him making a statement like that but yet it’s rather sexy.

“Well I would like to see it” Taty’s words have sunk in. I’m on a date with this guy, might as well have some fun with him and besides I may never see him again.

”What were you doing at the party the other day. Doesn’t seem like your kind of scene”

“It’s not. Well...not all the time. My friends dragged me to the party. I was quite happy spending the day with Audre Lorde but can’t say that I regret going to the party” He smirks at the last bit of my sentence.

“I wanna know more about you” James tells me, still wearing that smirk that’s shamelessly sexy.

“So do I. Who goes first?” I tell him. I think that liquid courage is setting into my bloodstream.

“Well since I asked you out, I think you should go first. Only fair” he takes a final sip from his glass before pouring a new one.

“Well, I’m originally from San Francisco. I’m a Virgo, My mom is Latina and my dad is Black. Got one brother. I go to Berkeley. Your turn” I finish off my glass and he goes to pour a new one for me.

“Alright. I was born in Seattle but I moved to Boston when I was 13. I have one brother as well. Went to Columbia for college, was living in New York until a year and a half ago” He gives me his brief bio but I have this feeling there’s more to him than he’s telling but it’s the first date and I didn’t give him much info so I guess it’s tit for tat.

“Why did you leave New York?” I ask him

“Needed a change of scenery” he gives a very brief answer.

“Well alright then” I can’t figure it out but there’s something about him I can’t put my finger on.

“Why are you staring me like that?” Once again snapping me out of my thoughts.

“I’m trying to figure you out. I feel like there’s more to you”

“Well, we could get out of here and find out more about each other. Maybe I could find out if you’re a scotch or bourbon girl since you mentioned you like whiskey” He does not bullshit at all.

“And where would we go then to drink this bourbon or scotch since we’re already in a bar?”

“I think I know a place. It happens to have some great art pieces as well that a potential future art dealer might like” That smirk was back on his again.

“Well, now I’m interested. Let’s go then” I finish the glass of wine and we leave the bar.

Tag list: @emjayewrites

#henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill #henry cavill x poc henry cavill x woc #henry cavill x black reader #fanfic #fanfiction #woc reader #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x black ofc

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ofstormsandwolves · 4 years

Text

Five times Joan accidentally got a dog and one time she didn’t

Zoey x Joan

All ages

Fluff, humour, a little bit of emotional hurt/comfort

Zoey, Joan, Mo, several dogs Joan has no right owning...

Joan keeps accidentally acquiring new dogs. Until one time, she doesn't. Zoey doesn't know what to say.

Read on AO3

The first time: Burberry

“Sorry I’m late,” Joan said, sliding onto the bar stood opposite Zoey’s. “Work was chaos.”

“No problem,” Zoey responded with a smile, sliding a drink across the table towards her partner.

Seeing the drink, Joan’s eyes lit up. “You’re a life saver.” She put her bag on the table and reached eagerly for the drink.

When they’d arranged to meet for a mini-date after work at a nearby bar, this one sans karaoke, neither of them had anticipated Joan’s meeting with the board members running quite so late. Still, she was here now, and Zoey wasn’t going to let anything else ruin her night.

That was, of course, until Joan’s purse moved of its own accord.

“Uh, Joan, did your bag just move?”

Joan, who was busy sipping her cocktail, frowned before looking to her bag. “Oh. Yeah. That’s Burberry.”

Zoey squinted at the bag. “It says it’s Louis Vuitton,” she said, pointing towards the lettering all over the purse.

Joan rolled her eyes, smiling at her partner’s lack of awareness. “Yes, the bag’s Louis Vuitton,” she said, reaching for the purse. “It’s Burberry making it move.”

She opened the bag then, and the tiny head of a white miniature Poodle popped out, looking a little surprised by its surroundings.

“I thought she was arriving tomorrow,” Joan continued conversationally, as though she hadn’t just revealed that she had a puppy in her purse in a bar. “But my dog person screwed up and dropped her off today instead.”

Not quite knowing what to say, Zoey stared at the dog for several long seconds. Finally finding her voice, she tore her gaze away from the puppy to look to the brunette opposite her. “Cute dog.”

“She is,” Joan said happily. “You know, I’ve usually only had big dogs. They’re much better at scaring away paparazzi and stuff. But Burberry seems quite nice.” She frowned then. “I just hope Tomford and Hermés get on with her.”

“So, uh, you didn’t mention you were getting another dog,” Zoey said slowly, still a little baffled by what was happening.

“Oh yeah, well, I didn’t know. Not until lunchtime, anyway.” Joan frowned. “I think I may have subscribed to something?” She waved a hand dismissively. “Whatever.”

“You think you subscribed to something?” Zoey echoed. “What, like a dog-buying service? Do those even exist?”

The older woman fixed her with a look. “Zoey, if people want it, it exists. I’m sure there are dog-buying subscriptions. I mean, I pay my dog person to buy me dogs. That’s their job. Maybe I signed some subscription agreement when I signed the contract.” She shrugged, and took a sip of her cocktail. “I’ll have my lawyer look into it.”

Burberry, still in the bag, was starting to whine a little then, and she was attracting attention from other patrons.

“I’m not sure we should have a dog in here, Joan,” Zoey said then, noting some of the looks they were getting. “I mean, they serve food.”

“But I promised you a date night,” Joan responded with a frown.

“We never said the date night had to be out of the house,” Zoey offered, realising her partner felt bad about them leaving so soon. “We can go to my place, or your place, and watch a movie or something.”

“And you’re alright with that?” the other woman questioned.

Already slipping off her chair, Zoey smiled. “I wouldn’t have suggested it otherwise. Come on.”

Taking Joan’s hand, she tugged her from her seat. Joan grabbed her purse and followed the redhead towards the door.

The second time: Gucci

Joan hurrying into a meeting barely a minute before they were about to start was odd. She was a woman who hated people who weren’t punctual, particularly when it came to work. That hadn’t changed since taking over as temporary CEO of SPRQ Point, and Zoey couldn’t help but survey her partner with concern.

Of course, there was no way she could raise her concern in the middle of a business meeting, so she bit her tongue and turned her attention to her tablet while Joan hurried to get herself ready. It wasn’t until something was practically shoved under her nose that the redhead blinked up at her partner.

“Hold him, will you,” Joan said, sounding distracted.

On autopilot, Zoey accepted the small grey French bulldog and settled the puppy in her lap without question. A few people around the table frowned, but nobody dare ask questions as Joan began talking about the latest SPRQ Point device they were launching.

In all honesty, the puppy was pretty well behaved. Zoey suspected it was a little stunned, possibly too stunned to react to what was happening around it. The puppy sniffed her tablet, and her, and squirmed a little, but seemed alright with being sat on her lap for the forty-minute presentation. Occasionally, some of the other coders, team leaders, and managers around the table would shoot Zoey and the puppy a confused look, but they all seemed to know better than to say anything.

When the meeting was finally over, and people vacated the conference room, Zoey let out a sigh of relief.

“Care to tell me where this little guy came from?” Zoey asked Joan pointedly as the older woman put away her notes and tablet.

Joan glanced up in the middle of sorting through her things, before returning her attention to her bag. “Well, it turns out that subscription service doesn’t run out until the end of the month.”

Zoey blinked. “Uh... What?”

That earned her a look. “The subscription service, for the dogs. You know; the one we cancelled after I got Burberry last month?”

Considering the puppy had crashed their date night, Zoey wasn’t likely to forget, so instead she nodded. “But we cancelled it before the end of last month. So what’s with this little dude?” She held up the dog to emphasise her point. The dog yawned.

“Ugh, apparently they take the subscription money in the middle of the month, not the end. So by the time we’d cancelled, I’d already paid for this month. Hence,” she pointed towards the bulldog, “Gucci.”

Gucci yawned again, and curled up in Zoey’s lap. “Well,” the redhead sighed, “he is cute...”

“Exactly,” Joan said definitively. “Now come on, I’m treating you to lunch.”

Then she swept Gucci up from Zoey’s lap and disappeared out the conference room door.

The third time: Prada

“You know,” Zoey said with a poorly-hidden smirk, “when you texted to suggest a picnic in the park for lunch, I didn’t realise you’d be bringing a friend with you.”

At the teasing comment, Joan rolled her eyes, and looked over at the Australian Shepherd puppy asleep between them. “I’m sorry, ok? I don’t even understand where this one came from.”

“Well, guessing by the breed, I’m gonna say... Australia?”

Joan gave her partner a look at that, clearly unimpressed by the joke. “I’m serious, Zoey! I don’t even know if I’ve paid for her! And, of course, she had to be delivered right before I was supposed to meet you for lunch...” She shook her head, picking at the food she’d bought them both for lunch. “I was going to take you to that new Italian place.”

Zoey’s eyes went wide at that. “The... The super expensive place?”

Joan nodded.

“Oh.” Zoey didn’t know what else to say. “You really don’t have to, Joan. I, I mean, I’m fine with a picnic. Actually, I think I might prefer it. Not- not that I don’t like going out to eat with you, but it doesn’t have to be fancy restaurants all the time.”

Joan looked like she was about to say something then, but her phone buzzed and she rolled her eyes. “Ugh. Probably someone calling me back for a meeting-” She frowned when she saw the message. “Uh. It’s my dog guy.” She blinked, reading the message silently. “Huh. Apparently I did order Prada here.”

Zoey wasn’t surprised by that. Just a little confused. “I thought you’d gotten rid of your dog guy? You know, after Burberry and Gucci showed up? I mean, this will be your fifth dog, Joan. You’re outnumbered five to one in your own house!”

“I cancelled the subscription, I didn’t fire my dog guy,” Joan clarified, before fixing Zoey with a look. “Do the dogs bother you?”

That made the younger woman frown. “Uh, no? I love dogs. It just... It seems like a lot, Joan, particularly given how much you’re working right now.”

Joan sighed then. “I know. I know. No more dogs from now on. I’ll fire my dog guy tomorrow.” Then, she held out a box of expensive-looking chocolate truffles. “Chocolate?”

The fourth time: Cartier

“Ok, so I lied.”

The defeated look on Joan’s face, coupled by the Great Dane puppy she held under one arm made a smile blossom across Zoey’s lips despite what the puppy signalled.

“Joan,” Zoey said then, trying to adopt a serious tone even as she wanted to laugh at the sight of her partner with such an adorable puppy, “I thought we agreed no more dogs right now?”

“We did,” Joan nodded furiously in agreement, “and I absolutely intended to stick to that. But I kind of didn’t... I didn’t fire my dog guy, ok? I lied about letting him go.”

Thankful that the office was pretty much deserted due to the lateness of the hour, Zoey sat back in her chair and folded her arms across her chest. “So you didn’t fire your dog guy like we discussed?”

“No,” Joan admitted, “and I’m really sorry about it. But it turns out he was so pleased that I’d decided to keep him on that, well, he gave me Cartier here.” She indicated the puppy dangling under one arm then.

“Your dog guy gave you a free dog for keeping him on?” Zoey clarified, not entirely sure what to make of it.

“I tried telling him that we’d said no more dogs for the time being, but it would have been rude not to accept the gift.” Joan moved towards Zoey’s desk. “We don’t have to keep him, Zoey. I know we agreed that five dogs is enough. But...Well, Tomford’s been sick, and it feels so quiet in the house while he’s at the vet’s, and-”

“Joan, I love you, but you have four other dogs at home. And besides, we’re picking Tomford up tomorrow, and I’m not sure how he’ll feel about a puppy running around the place.”

“He doesn’t mind Prada or Gucci,” Joan said, although Zoey could tell be her tone that she knew her argument was weak.

“He’s used to them, Joan. He’s lived with them for ages. I mean, I’m not a dog, maybe Tomford will be fine with another puppy. And I know that you’re stressed out about him not being well. But seriously, you have to tell your dog guy not to get you any more dogs for, like, the next six months.”

Joan’s shoulders slumped at that, but she nodded. “I guess you’re right.” She looked around then, apparently only just noticing how quiet the fourth floor was. Seeing they were virtually alone, she looked back to Zoey with a soft smile on her face. “I love you.”

Zoey smiled back. “I love you too. Why don’t you wait downstairs, I’m nearly done.”

Joan moved towards the elevators then, before pausing and turning around again. “Does this mean I get to keep Cartier?”

The fifth time: Dolce & Gabbana

“Joan? Care to explain?”

Zoey Clarke stared at her partner, waiting calmly for a response. It wasn’t that Joan was twenty minutes late to movie night. It was why she was twenty minutes late to movie night.

“I told you I was getting another dog,” Joan reminded her, a little put-out. “You knew what I was doing.”

“Yes,” Zoey agreed, folding her arms across her chest and surveying the two puppies under Joan’s arms. “But you said one. I’m counting two. Did you buy two dogs without telling me?”

“Don’t be stupid,” Joan said, rolling her eyes. “I only ordered one. But, apparently, they’re inseparable and had to come as a pair. I got the other one free.”

“You got a ‘buy-one-get-one-free’ offer on German Shepherds?”

“Ugh,” Joan huffed. “Yes! Why is that so hard to understand?”

Ignoring her partner’s annoyance, Zoey arched an eyebrow. “What exactly are you going to do with two more dogs?”

At that, the brunette scoffed. “Uh, feed them, train them, look after them?”

“But Joan, you’ve already got four dogs! I know you’re upset about losing Tomford and Hermés so close together, but this is kind of ridiculous.”

Frowning, Joan looked to the two puppies she held. She surveyed them for several long moments before letting out a reluctant sigh. “I’ll call my dog person tomorrow. Tell him I don’t need any more.”

Zoey gave her a small smile. “Good.” She looked to the two puppies. “They’re cute. What are you calling them?”

At that, Joan grinned. “They’re brother and sister,” she informed her partner. “Zoey, meet Dolce and Gabbana.”

The first time: Armani

When the knock on her apartment door came, Zoey rushed to answer it. Joan was already ten minutes late to pick her up for their date, and the last thing she wanted was for them to get accosted by Mo and be even later.

“You’re here- Joan?”

Zoey blinked, as Joan breezed into the apartment in a gorgeous black dress. However, her eyes were instead on the live animal clutched under Joan’s arm.

“Joan,” Zoey repeated, “is that a bear cub?”

“Huh?” Joan asked, before glancing at the brown, furry animal under her arm. “Oh, yeah. I think so. The man claimed it wasn’t, but it sure as hell isn’t a dog.” She plopped the animal onto Zoey’s couch then. “Can I leave him here?”

“W- Wha-” Zoey spluttered, wide-eyed and still staring at the blinking bear cub.

“Just while we’re on the date,” Joan continued then. “I mean, we have reservations at that new Italian place, and you have no idea who I had to kill to get them.” She looked at the bear. “He’ll be fine for a few hours.”

“Joan, we can’t leave him in the apartment!” Zoey argued.

The older woman frowned. “It’s only for two, three hours tops. Besides, he’s tiny. He’s not going to do much damage.” She looked around at the decor. “Although there’s not much to damage...”

“Joan!”

“Oh, Zoey, Armani will be fine! Just put some water down for him.” Then, she headed for Zoey’s kitchen.

“Armani? You named the bear Armani?” Zoey followed her partner, wide-eyed.

“Yes. Why, did you have a better suggestion?” Joan pulled a bowl from a cupboard and filled it with water, before heading back into the sitting room and placing it on the floor.

Zoey hurried after her, baffled at the conversation they had to have. “Joan, you can’t keep him. He’s a wild animal! Or, well, if he’s not wild then he’s been stolen from a zoo! Either way, he can’t live with you.”

“I know,” Joan shrugged. “I would have sorted it, but I was already running late, and the man kept insisting he was a dog even though he wasn’t, so I thought ‘to hell with it!’ and brought him with me.”

Exasperated, Zoey threw her hands up in the air. “So you paid the guy?”

Joan waved off her concern, though. “Eh, wasn’t much. Only $500 or so.”

“You bought a bear, Joan! I’m pretty certain that’s illegal.”

“Then I’ll pay the fine and give Armani to a zoo or something. Zoey, I don’t intend to keep him. I’m not stupid.”

“But you named him Armani!”

“Because it suits him. Now, are we going to continue arguing about Armani, or are we going to dinner?”

Before Zoey could respond to that, Mo breezed into the apartment.

“I thought you two had a hot date? Why are you here, arguing about fashion designers- Oh, hello...” Mo trailed off at the sight of the animal on Zoey’s couch.

“Joan accidentally bought a bear,” Zoey explained with a sigh, folding her arms across her chest.

“I ordered a dog,” Joan clarified.

Mo winced. “Well, that’s not a dog.” He considered the animal for a moment. “Cute, though!”

At that, Joan grinned. “Isn’t he? Zoey doesn’t want to leave him alone in the apartment, though.”

Mo brightened then. “Oh, well I can look after him.”

Zoey arched an eyebrow at her friend. “You want to look after a bear cub for the night?”

“Sounds like fun,” Mo shrugged, seating himself on Zoey’s sofa next to a baffled Armani. “Besides, how many people get to look after a real life bear cub?”

Zoey stared for a moment, trying to process exactly what was going on, before shaking her head in frustration. “Fine,” she said, grabbing Joan’s hand. “But the minute we get back, we’re calling animal control, or the zoo, or something. We’re not keeping a bear.”

She tugged Joan towards the door then, ignoring her partner as she called “Bye, Armani!” to the animal. As she turned to close the door behind her, she just had time to see Mo lean down towards the cub.

“You and I are going to have a lot of fun, Armani!”

Rolling her eyes, Zoey slammed the door shut and tugged Joan down the stairs.

#zep fic #zoey x joan #zoey clarke #joan bennett #zoeys extraordinary playlist #my fic

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oh-theatre · 4 years

Text

Objection!: Chapter 23.5

Chapter title: Anybody Happen to know how the Hell To Do This?

A/n: Eyyy! After two weeks Im back!! Just finished finals and decided hey finish your filler chapter! SO :D ANyway YES THIS IS A FILLER CHAPTER!! Because I couldnt write an actual one and ALSO NEEDED SOME LOGICALITY DEVELOPMENT ANYWAY IM SORRY IT SUCKS AND ENJOY

hi my names maria and i make everything bAD AND DRAMATIC FOR NO REASON :(

First | Previous | Next

words: 3476

summary: Patton and Logan work through some thing

pairings: Eventual logicality, prinxiety, platonic demus, romantic remile

warnings: Law and Courtroom, past trauma, crying and yelling, cursing

Ao3 Link

The first thought was panic, panic as Patton felt an even heartbeat behind him, an arm securing him. His mind runs to the previous night. A safety around him.

“Where should I put him?” Logan asks, cradling a snoring Remus, struggling to find a comfortable position. Patton looks at his reflection in the mirror of his bathroom, his tired eyes happier than usual.

“He likes the middle” Patton responds, he hears careful shuffling but not justification with an answer. He finishes preparing for his sleep, brushing any stressful knots out of his more than curled hair. “Log-” He quiets himself, his eyes land on the bed where a confused Remus sits up as Logan mumbles in his dazed state. He stifles a flustered chuckles.

Yet he felt the furthest thing from safe, absolute fear as he stumbles out of bed. Clutching instantly to the plastered walls of his room, his safe haven.

“Come here” He whispers to Remus, he waddles towards him jumping into Pattons arms. He laughs sweetly, placing a gentle kiss on Remus’s head. “Bed?” He asks, Remus nods through a yawn. He glances back at Logan but moves to the twins room, tucking in his son, making sure he feels comfortable, and safe. A promise of protection before he returns to his own room.

“No” He cries in a panicked hush, his palms forced closed. Logan startles awake standing fast as he watches Patton's breathing become unstable. The lawyer moves carefully, keeping a safe distance.

“Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell” He hears Logan mutter into the pillow, he covers a giggle before kneeling on the floor in front of the lawyer. He strokes his hair delicately, watching as Logans eyes flutter awake. “Mm?”

“Hi” He greets, the moon sneaking its way into the room. Logan smiles back through his state.

“I should head home” He decides, trying to get out of bed. Patton chuckles, shaking his head.

“Dont be ridiculous, its past midnight” Patton chides “You can stay here” He continues his gentle strokes. Logan musters up the laziest fight, feeling as though he’d only be intruding.

“Pat? Breathe for me?” He requests so gently. Patton nods, recognizing the voice, he watches as Logan approaches him. “You're okay” He assures, Patton loosens but keeps alert. He meets Patton face to face, taking his shaking hands in his own. “Come here” Once Patton eases into Logans hold, his flinching gone, the lawyer leads him to the couch, wrapping a soft blanket around him.

“Ill go to the couch” Logan concludes, he sits up taking Pattons hands as they face each other.

“Adorable, come on lay back down, Ill get you some tea” Patton offers, Logan hums in satisfaction. He returns to find Logan struggling to keep his eyes open.

He feels safe once more, the familiar feeling returns. Patton remains, squeezing deep into his palms, feeling the pressure of his nails. Logan acts quickly, making a calming tea as he hands it to Patton, sitting in front of the man. Patton sighs, feeling his face heat up. Logan strokes away any loose hairs, covering Patton's shining eyes.

Once the tea is placed Patton situates himself on the other side of the bed, checking his phone before he shuts it off. He feels the bed move ever so slightly as Logan adjusts, his arm meeting Pattons in his deep slumber. The lawyer waits for his typical reaction, for the deep panic to emerge, the whimpers of desperation, yet it never came. As Logan wrapped his arm around Patton, pulling him closer to his chest, nuzzling as he kissed Pattons neck. The lawyer felt nothing but safe.

“Goodnight love” Logan mumbles, a hot flutter as Patton instantly falls into the name.

“Im sorry” Patton bites his lower lip, Logan releases a sweet chuckle.

“You have nothing to apologize for, really” Logan promises, taking Pattons free hand in his own, the father bites his lip scared to object. Hoping to stop the lawyer from digging any further. “Was that...something left over?” He hints, Patton averts his sullen gaze.

“I guess, Im sorry” He goes again, feeling stupid as Logan treads around him. Logan leans forward, kissing him softly on the forehead, keeping his protective hold on Patton. “You should go, I'm so sorry” He rambles.

“Patton enough apologizing” Logan begs, trying to keep his worrisome voice under control. Patton shakes his tired head, his eyes barely flinting.

“I'm a mess, you shouldn't have to deal with me” he pouts, rubbing away the gentle tears that begin flowing. Pathetic. You got emotional… “You should go, I am so sorry” He blubbers, every decent or controlling instinct floods away with exhaustion. “You'll get bored, and then you'll resent me and-” He chokes back a sob

“Patton what-”

“I'm afraid I'm not enough for you!” He blurts, his arms squeezing tightly to his chest as they fold over his heart. And there he was, a timid child, so desperate yet so undeserving of validation. Logan falls silent, not sure whether he holds a right to reach out.

“Not enough?” He barely breathes “You are more than enough, you are everything” He takes Patton's cheek. “I think you're just tired, maybe we need to talk about boundaries”

“Boundaries?” Patton tilts his head, Logan bites back a saddened expression, the concept so foreign to the father. He pushes through nodding.

“Yes, for example, when I get rather upset or frustrated I prefer to be left alone” He tells, Patton notes this keeping it locked in his mind. “Now you” Patton raise a brow, furled in confusion as he tries hard to think.

“I...I dont…” He fights to conjure something, to simply please Logan. He slumps his shoulders, resigning his efforts. An overwhelming pit of guilt forming in Pattons stomach but soon his mind clears. He’s not doing this to please Logan, this is for him “I want-” Logan raise his brow “I need you to be patient with me” He states, Logan bites back a proud smile

“Patience, I can do that” Logan agrees, he knows that it doesn't matter but a simple affirmation goes a long way. “What else?” Pattons never gotten this far

“I need you to tell me what you're doing.” Patton continues, though confused Logan nods. He notices the couch begin to shake, Pattons leg taps rhymically.

“Explain” Logan regains his attention

“I need- I just...I want to know what's going to happen.” He attempts to clarify his silly thoughts “If you're going to hug me, tell me. If you're going to hold my hand, let me know. If you're going-” He shakes his head “I just need to know whats going to happen” Patton pleads, not that his partner needs much convincing “It won't always be like that, just, for now...I need to know”

“And that makes perfect sense. You can tell me if you feel the need to but I dont require the same courtesy” Logan assures, Patton finds his honesty comforting “I need there to be space” He adds. Patton waits, playing with the loose strings from his blanket. “I don't want to be coddled or cared for every hour of every day” Somehow they both ease into the room, the warmth returning as it becomes their home, their place. “I need there to be communication, I'm going to take your hand now” He smiles, Patton allows him to do so, grateful for the genuine effort. “I need you to inform me as to what's going on in your head, how you are feeling” He rushes the next part “I know it may take time, but I hope you can try, slowly” A comfortable silence takes place, the pair listen to the morning world as each aspect awakes for the day. Playful fiddling takes place between them, a routine so easy, so familiar, they could perform it should they choose. A storm Logan think has passed, no forming a rainbow in its own time, finds one last raincloud.

“I need to be allowed to… be” Patton barely utters the last word. Logan jerks his head back towards him, watching as the light sparkle of blue averts its gaze. Fearing his own temperament, knowing where this stems, Logan maintains a calm demeanor. “I need to be allowed to be emotional, to feel, to be excited-” He stops his rants, catching a crisp breath. “I need to be me” He realizes, a discovery it seems more for himself, his eyes widening only slightly.

“Patton, I can promise you, under no circumstance will I ever stop or discourage you from being you” He squeezes the mans nervous hands. “You shall never feel that way again, If I can help it.” He takes a sharp but deepened breath. Patton leans forward, connecting their lips of promises and a new hope for them. “I need you to bring me coffee every morning” Logan jokes

“Nice try, love you though” Patton teases leaning forward, an excitement to say the phrase so true and so deep, taking his chin as he kisses him once more. It felt nice, to have it simply happen with no resistance, no feeling of obligation. “Breakfast time” He stands, taking their empty glasses to the kitchen. The even rush of water clearing his scrambled mind. Scrambled...scrambled eggs, he prepares the recipe in his mind.

“Mmm” He hums, pleasant as the calm morning happens. “Oh I hear children” He notes, sweet feet scatter towards him. “Good morning Remus” Logan greets, Valerie rushes by making her way to her father. Remus wastes no time securing himself in Logan's arms.

“Are you my dada now?” He exclaims through a yawn, Logan freezes as Patton drops a shattered glass. Logan jumps up instantly, tightening his hold on Remus.

“Angelface stay back!” Patton rushes, Valerie stops in her tracks, her wide eyes staring curiously. “Lo?” He asks, Logan nods taking Valerie away from the kitchen. Once the danger is cleared away, and a hushed conversation between the lawyers takes place, they sit the twins down on the couch. “Good morning my gems”

“Good morning papa!” They both greet with delighted smiles. Logan watches, trying hard not to let his smile grow. Patton laughs, stroking their messy hair.

“You had a question crabcake, care to explain?” Patton jumps right in, his son buzzing back. Logan fiddles with Valerie's excited feet, he's not sure why but neither seem bothered.

“Because he's my dada now!” Remus giggles “You love him, I love him and he loves me and you which means we’re family! Does that mean hes my dada now?” Remus decides, Patton looks up hoping a threatening flood will stop. Patton sighs, finding it much too early to watch Remus and Valeries hopes dim. ”You always say that love makes a family, no matter what” He grins, his toothy grin melting Patton.

But why should they?

Why should Patton say no?

Because of Logan, this isn't up to him, this is more than just about him

“Oh Remus, I-”

“You're absolutely correct Remus” Logan chimes in, Patton turns to him. “We are family now” He amuses the young boy. Patton takes his cheek kissing him, nodding through the most fragile of tears.

“Fam-ily!” Valerie cheers “I love you” She giggles, squeezing tightly to the two lawyers. Remus joins in soon after both run off to the backyard, to play in the remains of the dewey morning. The pair stand moving to the kitchen, facing each other once more.

“You didn't have to say all that Lo” Patton thanks, fiddling with Logans gentle fingers. “I know we haven't really had a moment to talk about...what all this means. I'm sorry if that put you in an uncomfortable position” Patton breathes

“Love, we can talk about this later, no reason to put them down on this fine morning” Neither phased by the adoring name, Patton finding it quite common really. “In addition, I am not uncomfortable” Logan assures, he kisses Patton's cheek, leaving a very flustered Patton to fall back into his blushed routine.

~~~

“My idea of a perfect family isn't marrying a woman!” Patton argues, Logan cocks his head as he closes the door into Patton's office. The lawyer waves to Logan, frustrated as he paces back and forth. “My children mom! My beautiful twins, the man I love and my friends! That's my family!” He shouts, Logan debates whether he should be upset or if his heart shall beat faster “Mother! Do not come down here!” He scoffs, angrily hanging up the phone, clutching the chair.

“How's your day going love?” Logan jokes, Patton rolls his eyes playfully.

“Haha very funny” Patton purses his lips, Logan smirks at him, flipping through some loose files upon the table. The door creaks open, a sweet assistant peeking her head through. “Whats up Willow?” Patton inquires

“Uhm, I-” She fidgets, her face heating up quickly. Logan adjusts to look at her. “Miss Bernard would like to speak to mister Tolentino” She swallows, Logan stands cautious but looks to Patton first. Both prepared to rejoin in the hallway but it seems the young lawyer has her own plans. She steps in, taking a grim look around.

“Thank you Willow” She looks to the assistant, was that a hint of mockery?

“Thank you Willow” Willow repeats clearly deriding her words, both sharing a solid glance before the assistant removes herself, bored of the high and mighty. An amused glance is shared between the men but Diana carries on.

“What can I do for you Diana?” Patton inquires with a smile, fully aware of her intent to question Logan. He upholds his kindness, knowing things don't have to be strictly business.

“Must you be so nice” She jokes, her relief setting in “Unfortunately Patton Im here to talk to mister Tolentino. Seeing as he was-”

“Your predecessor on the case?” Logan finishes, interjecting with his formulated words. Diana nods in agreement. “Makes sense to me, would you care to follow me to my office?” He stands, dusting off his prim outfit. She smiles uneasy, finding his presence less comforting then the shining one of Patton. Logan turns to Patton, leaning over the desk to kiss him sweetly on his soft cheek. “Dinner?”

“Dinner” Patton concludes, returning his focus to his work as the two lawyers leave him.

Diana walks silently alongside Logan, skipping through the marbled halls, playing her own game. The lawyers find no qualms but no connection, simply they are, as two isolating figures.

“Owo we have to set boundaries!! Oh Patttttooooonnnnn” Roman mocks in the utmost nasally voice he can conjure. Logan sighs as they continue walking. Roman joins their journey, skipping delighted.

“I'm going to slap you” He threatens, Roman laughs, shaking his head.

“Do it coward, I dare you” The judge challenges, Logan stops them in their path. Staring right into the previously fiery eyes, now filled with an amber fear. “You should know Patton tells me everything”

“Not to be made fun of I presume?” Logan contradicts, Roman rolls his eyes nudging the lawyer. “That's what I thought” He holds his head up high

“Dude, i'm just screwing with you, I think its good” Roman assures, Diana hums softly on her end. Finding no place in this conversation she skims her files. “Miss Bernard” Roman greets

“Your honor” She breathes, a hint of annoyance. The two actually present themselves quite similarly, Logan notices. “Mister Tolentino I hate to interrupt but I do have a lot of work to get to-”

“Yes, I understand, apologies” Logan laments, turning to a gazing Roman “Roman, I will talk to you later” He nods, the judge walks away seemingly joining an idle James by the fountain. A sweet kiss shared between them, Logan raises an eyebrow but continues walking. Once they've reached his office, the shift in temperature hits the young lawyer quickly. A chill runs down her spine, tensing it as Logan barely glances her way. “Please, do sit” He offers, however his tone commands. But she does, and soon they face off yet seemingly on the same team.

~~~

“City councilman?” Patton breathes softly into the phone. He listens, though silent, his mind practically stretches with his thoughts. He walks through the crowded halls, frantic as he packs away his things. “No I mean..Im..I need to-” Cut off by more opportunities and new journeys, he smiles at a patient Logan who waits by reception. “yes , no Leo I understand-” He bites his lower lip, shaking his head “Got it, thanks”

“Everything alright?” Logan checks, taking his hand as he approaches. Feeling his anxieties wash away, dripping to the floor, feeling safe in Logan's touch. He leans in kissing his cheek, the softest of skin.

“Yeah, let's get to dinner” He pushes the other things out of his mind, watching his worries and questions seep away, himself leaning into the security of Logans gentle, curious smile. It doesn't take too long, besides the constant checking in with Virgil and the twins the ride itself is peaceful. The lawyers find themselves settled into the restaurant fast enough.

“I think it would be in our best interest to get right into business, as to enjoy the dinner once we have concluded our discussion” Logan advises, tapping the table. Patton sets down his water nodding.

“I couldn't agree more” Patton traces the brim, listening to the faintest hum from the glass. “So…” He drags it out, Logan smirks under the dimmest of lights.

“The kids” Patton states

“Yes you have them” Logan replies, knowing his words were silly. He was nervous, he wasn’t sure how to approach this, how to express a certain desire he assumed would go away but stuck through. “I would like, through the course of our relationship and however that might progress, to be apart of their lives” he explains, Patton keeps his face. He loved Logan, truly, but his kids would always come first. Every person who had even the tiniest place in their lives Patton made sure that for whatever he could do that they were safe and happy. Now he knew Logan and he knew he wanted him in their lives. But that was then, that was when he knew what he would be doing, now things change. To be blunt, now he isn’t just looking at a friend and caretaker, he’s looking at someone who’s going to be around for awhile, someone who will raise and discipline and love his kids.

“A father” he whispers, realizing to himself. Logan only hears the whistle of his soft words but not the substance. “Logan I don’t doubt that, but do you understand what you’re getting into?” He wasn’t just looking out for his kids, he wanted Logan to understand. He could be jeopardizing his relationship, his everything with Logan but he’s not going to allow the man to end up with something he doesn’t want, can’t handle or doesn’t make him happy.

“I don’t think I do either” Logan admits, he leans forward “But I don’t you did when you first had them. It’s a learning process, a place to grow.” Patton goes to rebut but Logan moves fast “And that is what you have to be understanding, that is what you have to be willing to do. Wanting to do” he breathes “and I want to. I want to learn, I want to be, in the most forward of terms, a parent” Patton inhales gently, soft breath not filling his mind quickly enough. “If you’ll let me and if you want me to” he adds, reaching out a hand, ready to receive. Biting his lower lip Patton takes the hand.

“Congratulations, you’ve got the job” He jokes, though forced his voice chuckles. Something sits uneasy with him, it’s not Logan it’s simply his uncertainty. He doesn’t know where to go from here, how does one go from being a friend to someone you love, who will be around, who your kids will see and soon enough see them as more than just ‘Dads friend’. Wide eyes as the reality set in, Patton didn’t know how to do this anymore. He had been on his own for so long, through every late night, every sickness, every fight, every tantrum and every tear. He didn’t know how to share that with someone, how to let them in.

He didn’t know how to let it be a good thing

How to let his previous fears wash away and embrace that maybe someone really wants to love him and care for him, and he can do the same without the fear of obligation. Someone who wants his kids as much as he does, to sit through those nights, to snuggle as they watch movies, to help when they get too much.

He didn’t know

And that frightened him

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savysavannah · 3 years

Text

Challenge 1

Special thanks to @damian-schreave and @hadleyjaneharper for the rps.

Also the last section is not in fic format because its 2am, im lazy, and you get the gyst from the RP. Apperantly this is too long so part 2 soon.

The Prince was off in Paloma for a bit so we were of little use in the Palace, no idea why they had us move in so early. Therefore, I’d spent most of the day with some books I’d grabbed from the library. Primarily they were legal books since it never hurts to brush up. But every once in a while, such as now I’d need to go and grab some food.

I brought my notepad and a book on contract law with me and walked into the kitchen. There was another girl also in the kitchen. We haven't spoken to each other, she didn’t seem unfriendly or particularly awful company, just hadn’t really had the moment to. I grabbed a plate of fruit and wondered if she would say anything. After a moment I sat down and resumed reading.

Then a small sad sigh came from the young woman who was looking down at her phone with a sad face. It wouldn’t be too bad if I took a break for some conversation. However, the young woman looked troubled, she may not be in the mood. I yawned and stretched then mumbled, but loud enough for her to hear, “God, I could use a drink.” and wondered if the other would take the bait.

There was a beat before the other spoke, “Long day?”

“More or less. Lots of reading, missing work. How about yourself?”

She shrugged “Its...different than what I’m used to. Lots of sitting still when I’m used to spending my days moving around.” SHe grimaces then sighed, “The adjustment period is always the toughest, though.”

I thought for a moment trying to remember the occupations of the selected, “The dancer?” I asked.

She grinned “Yeah. Hadley.” She raised an eyebrow, “And you?”

“Lawyer.” I said and stood from the table, walked over to Hadley and held her hand out, “Savannah Mars, Labrador, three.”

She shook my hand, “Nice to meet you.” then thought for a moment, “You said you were missing work? Do you work at a law firm?”

“Kinda. I work for the Illean Civil Liberties Union in their legal division. It's a non-profit which focuses on civil rights and for me civil legal cases. Lgbt+ rights defense, domestic defense, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, that’s really cool.” She said, seeming actually interested in my work. “Are you missing the casework, or something else?”

“It's pretty hard for me to step back from my work. Since I'm kind of left worrying about my clients. A new guy took over my cases but I'm trying to still work in my own way by studying up on some legal sections I work in less frequently but still may come up. Such as contract law.” I explained not fully hearing her other question.

She nodded, “I understand, sort of. I’m left worrying about how my ballet company is going to perform, with somebody else taking over the role in the Nutcracker that I’ve had the past few years.”

“Yeah the transition really is nerve wracking. Have you seen them perform though?” I asked hoping that could at least provide some solace.

“I’ve seen pictures on Instagram, but no videos yet. We were just finishing up our performance of Cinderella when I left. Nutcracker rehearsal started a few days after, but it’s a show we do each year, so... “ She sighed “ It /should/ be fine.”

I nodded, “well if they assigned them the role try and have faith in their qualifications. That's what I'm keeping in mind for mine. They did go to law school so it's fine. They got the role so it’s fine.” I said partially for her and partially for me.

She sighed a little hesitant, “Yeah, you’re probably right. Competition is just gonna be a bitch and a half when I’m sent back.” She chuckled wryly.

“Well maybe you'll win and then you won't have too. Who’s gonna take a role away from the future queen of Illea.”

“That’s extremely unlikely to happen.” She then almost smirked “What about you? If you win, nobody’s going to tell you no in a courtroom.”

I laughed, “If I win I'll kill myself.” Then I realized how dark that sounded, though it didn’t seem to phase her.

“I hate to say that I feel the same way, but…” She shrugged and nodded, “I feel the same way” For a moment I was confused, why would she join if she felt the same way? Then it clicked, a dancer would be a five, lower class, need the money.

“You're a five right? Did you apply for the money? If you don't mind my asking that is. It would just make sense why you'd dislike to win.”

“It…” She bit her lip, “Kind of? It’s a long story involving a deadbeat mom, a shitty health care system, two starving artists, and a kid with leukemia.” She said with an apologetic smile. Whatever she’d be apologizing for I can’t say.

“Well shit man, I'm glad you got in then. Both for the money and for a break from that. I know this society fucking sucks and we've got a likely shit for brains hier, but if you ever need a lawyer I'm here to help. Hopefully, being a three now will provide some help for you too.” I said then caught myself making a mental note to not be so vulgar with my language.

She gave me a small smile, “Thanks. Now I just have to figure out what I’m doing with the rest of my life, after throwing my career into dance, only to become a Three.” She laughed, “What about you? Why did you enter? It sounds like you had a pretty cushy gig going on.”

It wouldn’t be smart to tell the truth, but lying when Hadley had been so open felt wrong, I sighed and said, “My brother. Basically he forged my entry and I didn't want him to get into legal troubles for that. He's a fucking idiot.” I sighed and let that last cuss word slide as he is a fucking idiot.

She snorted, “Men really do only have two brain cells.” She gave a small smile, “I’m sorry that you ended up in that situation, though. That’s rough.”

“Yeah. I tried to beat him up but my other brothers stopped me. It was really a mess. Had to find out from a waitress asking for a photo with me.”

She shook her head, “My best friend told me that he was so upset to see me, “throwing my life away,” as if I hadn’t entered to help him and his brother.” Sounds like an ungrateful ass. She sighed and looked down at her fruit, “When did life get this messed up?”

A question with too big of an answer. A bit panicked and not knowing what to say I took a strawberry off my plate and held it out to her, “Fruit?”

She chuckled and took the strawberry, “Thanks.” She takes a bit, chews, and then pauses, looking at Savannah, “You know what I could really go for right now, though? A good gin and tonic.”

“God that'd be great. You know what, let's make some. One glass can't hurt.”

She shrugged, “Sure, sounds fun. I’m down.” She looks around, “I know they keep the wine in that cabinet, but I haven’t found the liquor yet.”

After gathering our ingredients we get to work making the glasses, “so, what's your plan in all this?”

“In the selection?” She raises an eyebrow and then shrugs, she starts pouring things into the mixer bottle, “Stay here for as long as I can so I keep making stimulus checks, and then get sent home before I’m stuck spending the rest of my life here.” She finishes pouring and looks at Savannah, “You?”

I sighed, “about the same. Give the money to the non-profit I work for. I was hoping I could root for you to win, you seem like you have a good head on your shoulders to influence him, but the more I think about it the more I realize that's like damning to hell.

She snorts, “Well, I still appreciate the compliment, and I would’ve said the same about you.” Then she sighs, “I’ve always known that it’s been like this, though. He gets to squander every penny he has on luxury shit, whereas my paychecks…” another sigh, “But life isn’t fair.”

“Yeah. And then waste the money on useless shit and trying to pass dumb laws like making 'cats' illegal instead of actually fixing the problems in this country.” I said and poured myself a glass of the drink.

She poured some for herself and then shook her head with an eye roll, “Don’t even get me started on that debacle. Why even joke about things like that?”

“Because he doesn't comprehend how the people of his own country are suffering. He's just so blind with privilege. Not that I have much to speak on but at least I freaking try to think about others in the country and their situations.”

She gave me a small smile, “You didn’t seem like the type to blow your money on worthless things to me, at all. I don’t even know what I’m going to say to him when we have that interview in a few days.”

“Yeah I think im just gonna be polite for the sake of not causing a scene that'll haunt me my whole life” I said and took a sip, then clarified, “polite though, not kind.”

She nodded then drank too, “I really went from putting on one type of show for Twos to another.”

“Any idea what you're gonna do as a three?” I asked.

She pursed her lips and shook her head, “I haven’t taken a science or maths class since I was eleven, and I don’t have the money for university. I guess I could work as a translator, or if that doesn’t work out, marry a five and go back to dancing.” She took another sip of her drink, “Hopefully I’ll be here long enough to figure it out.”

“Do they not have like threes who are dance teachers? I haven't really looked much into the area myself but it may make sense.”

She shook her head, “For me, at least, it was mostly Russian immigrants who were former dancers themselves, so Fives.”

I thought for a moment, “Well if you ever need history lessons, english, or legal aid I'm around. I dug into my pocket and pulled out a business card, since it’s not like either of us plan to be here long, “Just all the way up in Labrador. Where are you from again?”

“Allens. So, not too far. Thanks.” She replied and looked at the card.

“Welcome.” I replied, finished off my drink then wrote down another idea.

Hadley narrowed her eyes curiously, “What are you writing?”

“Just an idea for a proposition with the ICLU. There are probably other girls in a similar situation as you being lower caste now upper be it through marriage or selection, it may be helpful to talk about implementing a caste readjustment program.”

She lifted her head, smiling just a little, “That sounds like a great idea.” Then a little quieter she added, “I'd appreciate it.”

“Hopefully my boss will agree and pass it onto the innovation department. I'll write a quick memo about it to her later.” I smiled happy to have something to do.

“You really love your job, don't you?” She asked.

I nodded, “It makes me feel like I have some kinda purpose. As cheesy as that is to say.” Making actual change in Illea instead of just prancing around doing whatever else I could have grown up to do.

“No, I get that.” She looked down, “As a kid, I never really felt like I belonged, but on the stage, dancing?” She looked a little distant, “Standing out was a good thing.”

I nodded, “Mhm. Have you thought of ways you could continue working while at the palace?”

She smiled, “Actually, I had a conversation with Prince Eaton about that, and I’ve been able to work out a schedule that allows me to still practice, even though I have to do a little more work to catch up on lessons.”

“That'll be good. If you wanted too you could put on a performance and donate the profits. That way you could be working towards a goal too instead of general practice.”

She tilted her head, “That's an interesting idea. I’ll keep that in mind.”

I nodded, “Well it was nice meeting you, Lady Hadley. But it is probably time for me to get back to work.” Then held out my hand to shake goodbye.

She took it, giving it a shake. “Nice to meet you too.”

It was pretty late in the afternoon by the time I was escorted to the interview room. Damian was in a navy blue suit jacket, dress pants, and a white button up shirt. He smiled at me as I got closer. His eyes flicker to my nametag for a second before he speaks, “Hello, Lady Savannah. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.”

I smiled trying to stay polite, then gave a small curtsy, “The same to you, your highness.”

He smiled back, taking a few steps back and gestured for me to go into the interview room. In the room is a sofa, surrounded by stage lights and a few cameras, what a romantic first meeting. There is one camera on a swivel stand, that is currently focused on Damian and I. He starts walking into the room, looking at me as he talks, "How have you found your first few days here, so far?"

I debated giving him a short one word answer of 'fine' but Danny's words of 'don't ruin your own happiness" slipped into my head. "They've been fine. I've enjoyed your library. It's helped me feel like I can in some ways continue working by catching up on legal matters normally outside of my areas of expertise."

He nodded while smiling then took a seat on the sofa, "So you're a lawyer, then? What kind of law do you practice?"

Reluctantly I sat next to him, hopefully I wouldn't catch an STD from proximity alone, "Yes, I practice primarily civil and criminal law with the Illean Civil Librities Union. So primarily defending people who are in bad situations due to outdated laws which need amending." My tone came out more passive aggressive than intended, but it was slightly justified as he should have been working to amend said laws and help people instead of partying.

"That's a great thing, to be doing. What got you into law?"

"Well I was at the University of Labrador. My best friend I'm the sorority I was in decided to go to a protest over women's rights in illea. We went, someone man came and antagonized some women, she defended herself verbally, got arrested, felt up by the officer, then was unable to do anything legally about it. I felt that was unfair so I decided to look into being a lawyer, liked the process, graduated in 2 years, went to Yale and here I am."

He lets out a low whistle, looking down for a second. I couldn't help but be a but prideful at my accomplishment, then looks back up at me, more serious than before, his jaw tense, "I'm really sorry that happened to your friend." He said and fell silent. What a conversation killer.

"It's fine." I said trying not to dwell on it, "How was your time in undergrad? Partied a lot, I saw." I said the passive agressiveness coming out again.

He smiled, a little more relaxed than before, but not as relaxed as he was when he first entered the room, "I enjoyed my last few years of freedom before entering the real world, yes." He then raised his eyebrows, grinning a little wider, kind of teasing, "And what about you? Being in a sorority and all, I doubt you were much of a homebody yourself."

I couldn't help but completely flush and bit down my urge to absolutely smack him upside the head. "It was a brief phase. It was fun. But also a waste of time." I chuckled a bit remembering my airheaded behavior in that year, "had I already been working harder I may have been able to finish faster and help more people."

He grinned a little at how flustered I was, which just made me want to punch him more, then smiled a little more genuinely towards the end, "We're still young. We have our whole lives to keep fixing things."

i frowned, "That isn't true. We never know when we're going to die. Something could always happen so we should be trying to help as much as we can. Not to mention while we" I paused after my slip of the tongue, but didn't correct it "partied in undergrad people were suffering who could have been helped."

There's a flicker of a frown on his face when I mentioned how short life is, but he lets it go, tilting his head when he looks at me, "We can't save everyone. That's impossible. We can try to do as much as we can, but there will always be more people in need of help.

"Partying isn't trying."

He raised his eyebrows, "You didn't even know you wanted to be a lawyer, back when you were partying in college."

I got kinda flustered again, he's right, there's no logically sound way to win. Yeah but I should have, I wish I had. Would have made the time a lot less regrettable." I said then cleared my throat, "Though, this is a bit of a heavy topic for our first meeting, don't you agree? Your- Damian." I barely corrected myself from saying Your Highness.

He chuckled, "A bit, but it's different from the surface level talk about work and provinces." He inclined his head, "Though, if you think about it, you never would have discovered your passion for law if you hadn't joined your sorority." He shrugged and gave a stupid grin which made me blush even more.

Finally I snapped and turned to point a finger at him, "You won okay. I can't regret something if I didn't know to do something better, but that doesn't make topless jello shots any less of an embarrassing memory." I exclaimed then heard what I said and wished to curl into a ball and die.

He chuckled a little, "We all have our moments. It's okay."

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door then, and a guard pokes his head in. Damian nods at him, then turns and looks at me, "Unfortunately, we'll have to exchange stories another time. It appears our time today is up."

I sighed in relief at my rescue, then mumbled under my breath, "Thank God." I stood to curtsy, "Your-" I cringed a bit at the error, "Damian."

He chuckled again, "It was a pleasure to meet you Savannah. Until next time." He smiled at me when we got to the door, and stopped in the doorway.

I smiled back politely, "Thank you for the conversation. Till next time."

*savy was taking a break from her work and decided to out for a walk in the gardens. She had always been a fan of taking runs when stressed snd the gardens were providing a peaceful alternative. She was walking around when she thought she saw a bunny in the bushes. Being the gal she is she wanted to see it closer so she stepped off the path and walked into the gravel. Immediately her heel sank in the gravel. She lost her balance for a moment but didnt fall. Instead she panicked. She debated stepping out of her shoes to get it out but she didnt wanna hurt her skin on the gravel. Instead she tried to wiggle it loose and hopped no one was near*

*rip savannah, but Damian is out distressing by playing basketball at that point in time, and from where he's standing as he shoots this basket, he can see someone clearly struggling with something in the gardens. he can't see who it is, or what the problem is, but he figures he should go check it out. he tucks the basketball under one arm, jogging towards the person he can see, calling out* Hey, everything okay?

*savannah hears him call out an knows immediately it's the last person in the world she'd want to find her like this* Absolutely peachy! *calls back and debates ditching the shoes*

*he slows to a stop when he gets closer, his eyes going from savannah's face to her foot* Mmm, looks like you've got yourself in a bit of a sticky situation, there.

*is extremely flustered* no situation at all. I said I'm fine. *aggressively wiggles the heel and almost trips so she squeaks but manages to catch herself*

*when he sees her almost trip, he lunges forwards to catch her before she hits the ground, but then she catches herself, so he's like "oh was that for nothing?" he looks down at the shoe, furrowing his brows, thinking* Here, let me help with that, before you actually fall.

I'm not going to fall and I don't need your help. I'm perfectly capable of defeating some gravel on my own

*he takes a step back* Alright... if you insist... *hes not going anywhere, just watching her, waiting to see what she'll do*

*huffs when she doesnt hear him walk away and continues to wiggle then huffs when shes not getting anywhere* Fine. If you're just going to stand there anyways you may as well help.

*he chuckles, setting the basketball down on the ground, kneeling down to look at the gravel and the heel, before beginning to dig the heel out with his fingers* Not the best shoes to walk off the path in.

*rolls her eyes* I didn't think about that. I thought I saw a bunny and got distracted

*he can't help but raise his eyebrows at that, grinning, twisting the heel a little to unscrew it from the gravel* Was it at least a cute bunny?

*his tone is a little teasing*

It was cute, be careful with your tone though when your face is near my foot. *once its free she steps back on the path so she doesn't sink again*

*he chuckles, joking* What, are you planning on giving me a royal nose job with your shoe?

You could probably use one. *offers a hand to help him stand back up*

*he picks up his basketball, taking her hand, still grinning at her, teasing* Maybe it's just the angle you've been looking at it from.

*stands on her tiptoes looking at his nose* Nope. It's a little off. Nose job it is.

*she pinches his nose* its a big flaw. Doubt you'll be able to get a wife like that

*he chuckles* I don’t know, my nose has never gotten in my way before

*considers* You're right, I'm sure that was just your sense of responsibility that got in the way.

*he raises his eyebrows* You know, I’ve never turned in an assignment late, or anything for work late. Never asked for an extension.

I somehow find that doubtful. Your reputation of being a loose partier precedds that of a responsible duitiful person.

Well, it’s the truth. *he shrugs* If you’re really curious, you could email my professors. It’s all about finding a balance. *he smiles*

*grumbles because he seems to be honest about it* What did you even study?

I dual majored in political science and marketing. You?

*sighs in relief* at least you werent a buisness major. Political Science and History for me on a prelaw track.

*he nods, smiling, genuinely curious* Did you prefer one over the other?

Probably political science. I mean I love history it's why I added it. For fun since it's just like learning stories and seeing the modern day impact of said stories. But political science felt more efficient. Like it helped me have a better understanding of the philosophy of political thinking which has helped me a lot in law. Plus I just liked the professors more.

*he smiles* Understandable. Good professors make it so much easier to learn the content

*smiles* yeah and lots and lots of highlighters. Did you have a favorite topic in political science?

*grinning* I took a really cool course on comparative political economies - I really like the economic side of things. That, and the classes I had to take on international politics. *he looks over at savannah* What about you?

Probably civil politics. I've always been a fan of civil work. I honestly thought about working for the AFEI instead of the ICLU but decided I wanted to do more personal legal work than policy legal work. But it's always been the work that has interested me more since it's important to bring up civil conflicts within the country and try to help as much as possible. But learning about where we came from in terms of The United States vs the civil policies of Illea was an interesting course for me, especially because of the overlap of History and Political Science.

*he nods as she talks, thinking that all over* I think work guided what classes I liked as well. Because beyond national politics, I also have to think about international politics, trade agreements, and maintaining Illéa’s position in the world.

*seems slightly surprised* so you actually liked your major? I assumed you just were kinda forced to pick it

I was kind of forced to, but I could still pick the classes that interested me more. *He shrugs* Plus I really enjoyed my marketing major.

*thinks for a moment* Can I ask you something and have an honest answer? No bullshit PR answer. I'm just trying to figure out if we can trust you to be our future king through this, at the very least.

Sure *he nods, pursing his lips a little* Ask away.

Do you actually want to be the king of this country? Like aside from the perks you have from it, do you care about the work?

I do care. *he pauses, swallowing* I really do. It’s just...it’s a lot of pressure to accept from a young age.

*she thinks for a moment* Noted. Thank you for your honesty. *Looks at the basketball* Do you play much?

*he smiles kind of sadly* Not as much as I used to. I’ve gotten a little busy helping to run the country, and such.

*gets an idea* Do you wanna make a bet with me?

*he grins* Depends on what it is

Basketball. I'm working on a program right now with the ICLU, a coworker wants to come visit me and discuss about it but appreantly work visits aren't allowed during this. If I can get more hoops in you'll arrange that?

*he furrows his brows* Better yet, I could just organize for your coworker to visit under the guise of another event going on. Just give me a few weeks to work out the details.

*kinda chuckles because shes competitive* oh? Youre scared you'll lose? But if that's what you prefer

*he laughs* No, I just know I’d win, and I’d hate to deny you the ability to see your coworker

Fine. You'll set up the meeting, then I'll just prove to you that I would win had their beem stakes.

*he narrows his eyes at her, extending a hand to shake, still grinning* Deal

*shakes it firmly then kicks off her heels planning to walk to the court barefoot.* Would be an unfair advantage for me to still be in them

*he raises his eyebrows* Why, they helped square up the height difference between us, at the very least *he chuckles*

*almost elbows him over that but barely stops herself* I don't need that help. I'm perfectly capable of crushing you independent of my shoes

*he laughs* I played basketball in uni, you know?

As did I. Well- not in a club. A guy who I was *ponders for a moment* acquainted with, played it therefore I played with him and his friends fairly often

*he raises his eyebrows* And how tall was your acquaintance? Because I’m used to playing with people my height, but also my mom and sister, who are - *he puts his hand somewhere around his shoulder because they’re 5’4” and 5’5”* - about this tall

He was around 6'3. His friends the same or more. Don't worry I'm well aware of the disadvantage of my height and very prepared to utilize it

*he chuckles* Oh, I’ve got to see this. *when they get to the court he starts dribbling the ball casually, walking towards the middle of the court* Do you want to start with the ball, or should I?

*thinks for a moment and puts her shoes down on the edge of the court and rolls up the bottoms of her dress pants a bit* You can start with it.

*he raises his eyebrows at her rolling up her dress pants, but he nods* Okay, if you insist. *he waits until he’s ready before starting the play*

*she walks up prepared to steal since she cant block*

*he starts dribbling more seriously, quickly maneuvering around her, taking three large steps with the ball, and then shoots a basket, and it goes in*

*she kinda huffs about that dislikes. But once he has the ball again she tries again, this time getting it and doing her UNDER THE LEGS MOVE AND SHOOTS*

*he turns around, a little in shock* That is not a legal move!

Hmmm *puts her finger to her chin very smug* I dont think it explicitly says in the rules that you're not allowed too. You use your height I'll use mine *VERY SMUG*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best 2 out of 3? Whoever gets this next shot wins, then

*SHES BEING COCKY NOW* Aw is the wittle princey calling it quits so soon? His fragile ego damaged? *bats her eyes teasingly*

*he narrows his eyes* Fine, best three out of five, then. *he starts dribbling the ball right from here he is, and it’s a long shot to his basket from there, but he’s pretty confident, so he goes for it, and somehow it actually goes in. he raises his eyebrows at her* Still think you’re gonna win?

*crosses her arms* That was luck. *goes to get the ball since shes closer*

Or just sheer skill. *he smirks a little*

*turns to face him just to roll her eyes and gets the ball. She then dribbles it back to the middle or something idk how basketball works*

*he follows her to the middle, standing in front of her, knees bent in that “ready” position idk wtf it’s called lmao*

*that position makes knees wide so she dribbles and goes to do her fast under the leg move again*

*he sees it coming this time, and takes a few steps back, keeps his arm in front of him to reach for the ball, which he gets, and then dribbles across to the the hoop he has to score in, taking the shot, and watching it go in again. he grabs the ball as it bounces back up, raising his brows at savannah* One more, or are you good? *he grins a little*

*huffs again and crosses her arm* Fine we'll call it at 3 to 1. But in my defense it's been awhile.

*he grins* Well, you’re always welcome to practice out here with me, if you want.

I can't tell if you're being taunting or not *rolls her eyes and walks up to him then holds out her hand to shake for the end of the game*

*he takes her hand and shakes, then gives her a genuine smile* No taunting. I mean it. I’d love to have someone new to play with.

I'll consider it then. I am getting slightly bored of your homes running path for exercise.

*smiles back even tho she doesnt wanna because it was a nice offer*

*he tilts his head from side to side* Yeah, the running trail through the gardens is kind of short. There are better ones /in/ Angeles, if you ever want to check them out

Not sure I'm allowed to just waltz on out of here, but I'd love the names of any you know. My grandmother lives near her so I'm sure I'll be visiting soon enough after this if not immediately so.

*he shrugs* I could also drive you sometime, if you want. I /do/ have a car.

*seems a bit surprised* You know how to drive?

*he furrows his brows* Of course! I got my license as soon as I was legally allowed to.

But its not like you need too? Don't you have like drivers?

*he looks a little confused and taken aback* I’m sure some exist, but why would I want someone else to drive me when I could be free and drive myself?

I'm not sure. I just know rich people, like for example my cousin *mumbles for a moment to find the phrasing* So my grandmother is in charge of the Mars Candy Corporation. My mom's older brother Nathaniel will be taking over it, his kids also my cousins all have drivers. They're like twenty something now but Jackson is always bragging about how he doesn't have to take the effort to drive himself places. I just assumed other people who could afford them would have them, especially busy people who could work instead of drive.

*he blinks* Wow, I never even would have considered that. *he shakes his head* No, I like driving. Being able to roll the windows down and blast the music...it’s like a few moments of freedom. *he shrugs, smiling a little sadly*

*she noticed the smile then something clicks* so freedom is your vice. You act out to feel free, thus the partying. You mentioned earlier the responsibility of being a prince being am influence on the partying. A lack of freedom makes sense. *she knows shes getting too personal but her curiosity and worry for the future gets the best of her* But what does that mean you're going to do when you're king? You'll have even less. How do you plan to maintain that restriction without bursting and needing freedom?

*he stiffens a little at her analysis because damn it’s spot on, but sighs towards the end* Getting as much out of life as I can now. I always knew what my future held for me. So I can plan accordingly. *he forces a small grin, trying to joke* Besides, with any luck, I’ll be old and almost out of energy by the time I’m king.

*furrows her eyebrows concerned* That doesn't work. *sighs* Believe me I'd know. But we aren't wired to run off memories. Instead we develop habits and coping mechanisms. Everyone snaps from time to time, you'll go back to what made you happy last. For you I assume that'll be partying. Which is something you can't do as king, and assuming it wont be till your old isn't right either, regardless of if that was a joke it's not something that you can lean on since millions of people could be relying on you and you'd be unprepared. You are going to be king, You are not going to have freedom, you are going to be under immense pressure and responsibility, honest answer, what are you going to do when you need to snap?

*he narrows his eyes at her, this time more out of irritation than anything else, and he’s a little sarcastic* Gee, thanks for the reminder. Though, for the record, I /haven’t/ partied since uni, and I have no plans to in the near future. So perhaps I’ll rely on my other coping mechanism, such as basketball, or taking a drive.

Yeah well it's the truth and uni wasn't that long ago. It's hard to break habits. I mean I partied like 4 times a month in undergrad and I still use it. That was forever ago but that's not how humans work. You're gonna lean on what you've leaned on. You're going to get shitfaced, you're going to want what you used to have, you're gonna idolize those times in uni and want them back. But you're not going to have it and it's going to be hard and shitty but you have to tough it out because of the country that relies on you and this is proving to me that you're not going to be a reliable King for the people who need you.

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