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davidpastrsnack · 4 years

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girls need love - mikko rantanen

a/n: here it finally is! mikko is absolutely adorable but also so hot and i think it’s time he gets some more love on here. this is filthy, but you probably already knew that lol. the title is from girls need love by summer walker ft drake, a bop that gave me so much inspo. also major shoutout to @hookingminor for always screaming about mikko with me. i hope you all enjoy and please let me know what you think!

word count: 5k

You were completely zoned out, the sounds of the bar overcoming your senses as you stirred your nearly empty, watered-down drink. Nate and Tyson were howling about some locker room argument they had earlier that day while Tyson bumped into your shoulders, falling over in laughter at their foolery. The bodysuit you had on was driving you crazy, you wished so badly that you could be laying across in your sweats at home instead.

You needed more alcohol if you were going to get through this night. Your gaze trailed to the bar, only to catch a glimpse of the one person you had been avoiding all night, a beautiful girl hanging off his arm drinking up whatever story he was telling. You subconsciously rolled your eyes at the way they were drooling over each other, pushing off the table with a scoff to go get another drink.

It had been a rough week for you, but Tyson would not take no for an answer when he called you that morning asking you to go out with everyone. Just five days ago you had broken up with your boyfriend of a year and a half after finding half a lingerie set that did not belong to you under the bed in your shared apartment. Sure, you were beyond hurt that Alex would betray you like that, but it was almost alarming to you how quickly your anger turned to relief.

It wasn’t that Alex hadn’t treated you well, until he didn’t, of course, but as the months passed in your relationship so did the excitement and passion. The two of you coexisted in that apartment, always saying hello and goodbye but there was barely anything in between. Not to mention the sex had plummeted downhill. He was never amazing in bed, but in the beginning, you still enjoyed it because you were having so much fun with him. Now you couldn’t even remember the last time you had an orgasm at the hands of someone other than yourself.

You stomped up to the bar, your heeled booties clicking against the hardwood floor before they rested on the base of the stool you sat on. You easily grabbed the bartender’s attention, giving her your order before your head fell into your hands, running them through your hair while you waited.

But of course, you couldn’t just get your drink in peace. Only minutes later you felt a body slide in next to you, shame crashing over you as you immediately recognized the scent of his cologne. You slowly lifted your head, your gaze locking with his as you confirmed that it was, in fact, Mikko.

“What do you want?” you groaned, eyes squinting as you looked up at him.

It was taking everything within you not to drag your eyes down his body. He looked incredible, per usual. He was wearing all black, except for his crisp white designer sneakers. His bright blonde hair was longer than usual, the soft waves hanging over his forehead. His baby blue eyes were sparking down at you, slightly glazed over making it clear that he had his fair share of drinks tonight. His dark pink lips curved in a smirk as he heard your words, a comeback already falling off the tip of his tongue.

“Why so grumpy, Y/N?” he teased, leaning his arms against the bartop encroaching on your personal space even more than his big body already was.

“Not in the mood, Mikko,” you warned, smiling at the bartender as she slid you your drink. “What happened to your little friend, hmm?”

The smirk on his face grew bigger, your jealousy not going over his head.

“So you were watching me?” he grinned, patiently waiting for your response as you sip your drink.

“It’s pretty hard to miss you when you’re eight feet tall,” you threw back, swinging your legs off the stool before heading back to the table. You meant it as an insult, but Mikko saw your bluff, just laughing as he watched you saunter away, his eyes lingering across your frame. His height was one of the things you found so disgustingly attractive about him and he knew it.

You and Mikko had a complicated relationship, to say the least.

You befriended Tyson over two years ago, one of your roommates briefly dated him and you hit it off when she introduced him to the group. You stayed in touch even after they broke up and you now considered him one of your closet friends in Denver. You were immediately welcomed into the crew of his teammates and Mikko caught your eye right away, the feeling mutual. He was in awe of you: the way you laughed at Gabe’s dad jokes, the way you blushed when EJ forced you two to talk, the way you cared so deeply for everyone in your life. You were perfect, but Mikko was as shy as they come. He stayed in his comfort zone, admiring you from a far distance despite the constant encouragement from the guys. He never garnered the courage to get to know you more personally, and before long you were with Alex.

From that point on, your relationship turned from polite acquaintances to the two members of the group that were constantly going at each other. Mikko had been beating himself up for letting you go and it was easier for him to deflect his feelings through meaningless chirps. You felt the same way. You loved spending time with Alex but part of you always wondered what it would have been like if you had just made a move with Mikko.

Now that you were single again, you couldn’t help but think about if things could change. So much had happened since you first met, but the physical attraction was still heavy between you two, if not more now that you didn’t have any reason to feel guilty for it.

You slid back into the booth, resting your head against Tyson’s shoulder as you observed the conversation. He was in for one tonight, his cheeks already flushed bright red and his eyes glazed over. Great, you thought to yourself, already imagining the struggle you were going to have when you tried to get him home later.

Your moment of peace was short-lived, however, your stomach dropping when Mikko sat down directly across from you, his legs brushing up against yours under the table. You picked your head up and rolled your eyes in disgust, bringing your drink up to your lips for a long sip. He left you alone for the time being, but it didn’t take him long for him to turn his attention back to you.

“So, Y/N, where’s our favorite Alex?” he questioned, eyebrows raised as he looked at you, his sarcasm almost as thick as his accent.

Your heart sank and you just stared back at him dumbfounded. Did he not know? There was no way none of the guys told him, right? Was he just playing a sick joke on you? You decided that it couldn’t be the latter, Mikko was a lot of things but he wasn’t cruel.

The table was silent, everyone’s eyes on you waiting for your response.

“Well, Mikko,” you hissed, emphasizing his name, “We broke up so I have no idea where Alex is.”

His face fell as he heard your words, he had no idea. The guilt washed over him instantly, eyes trailing down to where your hands were anxiously twirling the straw of your drink. The awkwardness at the table was like nothing you had ever felt before, and you wished you could disappear at that moment. You were doing fine without Alex, more than fine actually, but you didn’t need to be reminded of your failed relationship in such a cold way, by Mikko of all people.

The tension was finally broken by Tyson, his drunk rambling in full swing as he raised his glass.

“We love you, Y/N,” he slurred, throwing his arm around your shoulders, “Plus, when’s the last time that asshole got you off?”

Your eyes went wide at his words, your head snapping to glare at him. You and Tyson were very close, and for better or worse you shared nearly everything with him. You trusted him with anything, but you couldn’t count on him keeping his mouth shut when alcohol was in the picture.

Your cheeks heated up with embarrassment, only getting worse when you caught Mikko’s eye. He had a soft expression on his face as he stared at you, but there was a glint behind the blue of his irises that you had never seen before.

That was the last straw and you quickly left the booth, heading straight to the bathroom in hopes of gathering yourself. Ever since you and Mikko had started going at each other, you always kept up the facade that Alex was the perfect man. It was now very much so obvious that he wasn’t with Tyson exposing the fact that he barely managed to satisfy you for over a year. You didn’t know what was worse: your embarrassment or your anger.

After almost ten minutes of wallowing in the filthy bathroom, you pulled yourself together enough that you were ready to go back out. Hopefully, by now they had moved on, Tyson’s slip up just a faint memory. You opened the door, only to run into a broad chest as soon as you stepped outside.

Goddammit, Mikko.

You didn’t need to look to know who it was, pulling back right away to put some distance between the two of you.

“Mikko, please,” you begged, “Can you please just leave me alone tonight?”

You finally raised your gaze to meet his, the emotion making your voice shaky as you pleaded with him.

“No,” he spoke, his voice deep as he inched closer to you.

You shook your head, a small laugh slipping out of your lips in disbelief of his audacity. You backed away from him even further until your body bumped against the brick wall. You were stuck, his scent intoxicating you as he inched closer.

“I don’t want to leave you alone,” he continued, his fingertips dragging up the skin of your exposed forearm.

Your breath hitched as he touched you, the close proximity clouding your senses and leaving a trail of goosebumps up your arm.

“I want to take care of you, Y/N.”

Your eyes slipped shut as he spoke, his body nearly completely encroaching on yours now in the dingy corner of the bar.

“Mikko,” you whispered, your head falling to look at your feet. There was no way he was saying what you thought he was, what you secretly hoped he was.

He placed his thick pointer finger underneath your chin, urging you to look at him.

“I’m sorry about Alex, I really am, but I don’t think you are. I was a complete idiot when I met you and I’m not doing that again.”

Your eyes were wide as you stared up at him, waiting for him to continue. Your heart was racing beneath your chest, your cheeks flushed as his eyes burned into your own.

“Come home with me, Y/N. Let me take care of you like I should have been doing all along,” Mikko finished, his voice trailing off as he stood before you.

One of his hands snaked around your waist, just lingering there, barely touching you as your head fell to rest against the hard brick. His other hand was pressed to the wall right next to your head, his bulging bicep clouding your peripheral vision.

Two years. You had spent two years admiring Mikko from afar. And now here he was, offering himself up to you on a silver platter. There was no doubt in your mind that he would absolutely worship your body if you let him, and you wanted to let him. You were ashamed to admit how many times you had thought about him while getting yourself off over the years. He was just so big, so strong, and you couldn’t stop your mind from imagining what it would feel like to have him wrapped around you.

“Take me home, Mikko,” you whispered, the slightest smile creeping onto your face as he smirked down at you.

“Yeah?” he questioned, wanting to check that you were sure.

“Yeah,” you nodded, “But hurry up before I change my mind,” you smiled, your hand brushing against his chest as you teased him.

He rolled his eyes, a deep laugh coming from his throat. But the tension was back right away, your heart stopping as his gaze flickered down to your lips and he leaned in. You closed your eyes in anticipation, so ready to finally have him touch you, but just as your mouths were about to connect he swerved, instead pecking your cheek. You pouted as he pulled back, a cheeky grin across his lips as he started to back away from you.

“I think you can wait a little bit longer, prinsessa,” he spoke, urging you to follow him back to the table.

-----

Less than fifteen minutes later you were in the back of an Uber, Mikko’s hand sitting dangerously high on your thigh as he stared out the window. After your encounter outside the bathroom, you told the guys that you weren’t doing well and you were going to head out. He took his chance to slip out with you, claiming that he wanted to make sure you got home okay considering his comment was why you were leaving. Or so they thought.

The ride to his place was quick, and you were grateful because you didn’t think you could go much longer without him touching you. The tension in the car was palpable and you were convinced even the driver could feel it in the air. Mikko got out first, offering you his hand to help you slide out. You gulped as you felt his hand completely engulfed yours, your mind wandering to what else was that big.

The painful anticipation didn’t last much longer, Mikko pinning you against the door as soon as you both were inside. His lips found yours immediately and you sighed into the kiss, two years of tension finally being released. You worked perfectly against each other, the first moan of the night coming from you as he bit your bottom lip between his teeth, letting it snap back so he could re-tangle your tongues. His hands were wrapped around your waist, fingertips sneaking under the hem of the black top you had on. He pulled away from your mouth, trailing wet, hot kisses down your jaw and neck.

“Fuck, Mikko,” you whimpered, your hips rutting up as he found your sweet spot below your ear. He smirked against your skin and knowing exactly what you needed he moved one hand down to your ass so he could hike your leg up across his hip. His hardening length was now pressed against your core and you couldn’t control the moan you let out, desperately needing more from him.

“Mikko, please,” you begged, your hands tugging the base of his blonde curls.

“Okay, baby,” he whispered, lifting you up with ease and carrying you to his room, his lips still attached to your neck.

He dropped you down on the bed, pulling back from you only to take his shirt off before he was hovering over you. You ran your hands across his pale skin, the ripples of his muscles in contrast with your soft fingertips. He stared down at you, his baby blue eyes burning into yours, and leaned down to press a kiss to your forehead. Your eyes shut at his tender action, your hands wrapping across the expanse of his back.

He continued his assault on your neck, this time soothing the many marks he made in the entryway. The tops of your breasts were now spilling over your blouse, his plump lips biting into the flesh. You pushed him away just enough so you could yank the shirt off, Mikko swearing under his breath as he saw the black lace bra you had on. His hands slipped around your back, unclasping it before attaching his mouth to your nipples. Your body arched up into his at the contact, Mikko smiling as he trailed down your stomach before pausing at the waistband of your jeans.

“How do you wanna cum first, baby, hmm?” he cooed as you squirmed beneath him, “Tongue? Fingers? Both?”

“Anything, Mikko,” you pleaded, “Please just touch me.”

“Whatever you want, prinsessa.”

Mikko finally unzipped your jeans, sliding the denim off your legs painfully slowly. He groaned as he saw your matching panties, a dark chuckle leaving his mouth at the wet spot seeping through the lace.

“You really need this, huh?” he smirked, his middle finger delicately tracing the outline of the material.

“So badly, Mikko,” you whined, lifting your hips in search of more friction.

Mikko didn’t waste any more time teasing you, instead hastily ripping the panties off and hooking your legs over his shoulders, attaching his mouth to your dripping core. You cried out at the contact, his tongue licking a long stripe up your slit before reaching your clit. He moaned into you at his first taste, the vibrations sending shockwaves through your body. Your head was thrown back against the pillows, your hands tangled in his blonde hair as he flicked his tongue against you. He moved one of his arms to rest against your stomach, keeping you in place as he pulled moan after moan from you.

“Fuck, fuck,” you cried out. Alex hadn’t gone down on you for at least the last six months of your relationship, but even when he had it didn’t feel anything like this. Mikko seemingly already knew your body inside and out and he was getting just as much pleasure out of it as you were.

“So good, prinsessa,” he groaned, “So good for me.”

His dark pink pout wrapped around your clit, the pressure overwhelming your senses. He switched between flicking and sucking, your back arched off the mattress as you felt your climax approaching.

“Fuck, I- I’m gonna cum,” you moaned, “Don’t stop, don’t stop.”

Mikko didn’t stop, rather he went faster, your high crashing over you as your mouth hung open in a silent scream. Your hands pulled his hair so tight, your body tensing as his tongue coaxed you through your high, only stopping when you pushed him away, the sensitivity getting to be too much.

He pressed a gentle kiss to your swollen clit before pulling away, trailing kisses down the inside of your inner thighs while you came down.

“Feel good, baby?”

You laughed at his question, you had never felt better.

“So good, Mikko.”

Your body felt numb, still not recovered from one of the best orgasms you’ve had in years. Your hand pushed Mikko’s hair out of his face, his eyes meeting yours as he smiled up at you. You played with the curls for a few minutes, the smell of sex thick in the air, before he got antsy again.

“Ready for another?” he asked, a cheeky smirk on his face as you looked down at him.

You pulled your bottom lip between your teeth and gave him a slow nod, having an idea what he had in mind.

You were right, as soon as you gave him the all good Mikko’s middle finger was back on your core, spreading your cum around before slowly slipping inside. Your head fell back at the stretch, it only took one of his thick fingers to make you ache. He stared up at you as he moved it in and out, gaging your reaction before adding a second.

“Yes, Mikko,” you whined, your breath hitching each time he brushed your g-spot.

He picked up his pace, the filthy sounds of your wetness filling the air as he pumped in and out. The contrast between the roughness of his fingers and the smoothness of your walls was making your eyes roll back, your high already approaching.

“You want another one, baby?” he hummed, his accent growing thicker.

You couldn’t find the words to respond, just nodding as you looked down at him. He looked so pretty, his face hovering above you as his blue eyes stared up at you, smiling as you lost control of your body. His arm was flexing with each movement, hitting your g-spot perfectly over and over again.

“Mikko- Mikko,” you screamed, your climax overtaking you as he added his thumb to the equation, rubbing tight circles on your clit.

Your legs started shaking, your heels digging into his back while Mikko fucked you through your high, words of encouragement falling from his lips as you cried out his name.

“So pretty, prinsessa,” he cooed, “Such a good girl.”

He finally pulled back, slipping his fingers out of you and licking your cum off of them one by one. You were in a state of complete bliss, your body tingling from the two orgasms and his pants hadn’t even come off yet. He kissed up your body, smiling into you when he reached your lips. You sighed into him, the taste of yourself lingering on his tongue. It didn’t take long for you to get desperate for him again and you could feel him resting heavy against your leg.

You separated from him, whispering, “I need you, Mikko.”

“Fuck,” he groaned, sitting up so he could shake his pants and boxers off.

You audibly whimpered as you saw him completely bare in front of you, he was large. Without even realizing you were doing it, you reached out for him begging him to come back to you. Mikko let out a chuckle at your eagerness, grabbing a condom from his nightstand before leaning over you again.

“I got you, Y/N,” he murmured, throwing the foil to the side.

“How do you want me?” you purred, giving him your most innocent eyes as you gently stroked him.

Mikko nearly gave out at your touch, mumbling a fuck before he responded.

“Turn around,” he ordered, his hands spreading over your ass when you did what he said.

A soft smile crept onto your lips, you had a feeling that’s what he would want. You arched your back, your ass resting against his lower stomach as he gripped your waist. A whimper escaped your lips as he teased your entrance with his tip before finally sinking in. Your mouth fell open as he stretched you out, he was without a doubt the biggest you had ever had.

“Shit, so fucking tight, prinsessa,” he murmured.

He made sure to go slow, pausing once he was all the way in to let you adjust.

“Mikko, please,” you moaned out once you were ready.

He took the hint right away, swiftly pulling out before slamming back into you. Your mind went blank as he moved, he was hitting so deep within you with every thrust. He slid one of his hands from its post on your waist to the back of your neck, holding you there for more leverage.

“Fu- Fuck,” you cried, surely loud enough for his poor neighbors to hear.

“Feel good, baby?” he questioned, continuing his relentless pace.

He leaned down to rest his body against yours and you whined at the feeling of having him completely envelop you. Your head was pressed into the pillows when you felt his hot breath on your neck.

“Were you jealous when you thought about me fucking that girl like this, hmm?”

His accent was so heavy at this point that his words were barely understandable, but you knew what exactly he said. You couldn't muster up a response, rather a deep groan came from your throat as you nodded.

“Don’t worry, baby, I only fuck you like this, like that piece of shit should have been this whole time.”

Your body almost collapsed at his words, the contrast between the cute, funny Mikko everyone loved and the filthy one that was fucking you into next week clouding your senses.

“I- I’m so close,” you whined

Mikko snapped his hips even faster and snaking one hand down to your clit.

“Come on, baby, cum for me.”

The pressure on your sensitive nub was too much, his small circles sending you over the edge right away as he continued to brush your g-spot.

“Mikko, Mikko, Mikko,” you screamed, your mind completely blank as he fucked you through your climax, prolonging your pleasure for as long as possible. You had never had an orgasm so intense, stars filling your vision as the pure pleasure overtook your body.

The way you cried and clenched around him had him giving in as well, his loud moans as he came the hottest sound you had ever heard.

“Fuck, Y/N,” he groaned as he finally slowed his hips, leaning over you once again to press a trail of kisses across your spine while you tried to regain your breath.

He stayed like that for a few minutes, moving your hair to the side to continue kissing around your neck before he finally slipped out. You winced at the sudden loss of contact.

“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay,” Mikko cooed as he went to throw out the condom and get a damp towel to clean you up with.

You laid on your stomach as you waited for him, your body too weak to even think about moving. Before long you heard his footsteps coming towards you, a soft smile on his face as you turned your head to look at him.

“Come here, honey,” he spoke, a quiet laugh leaving his lips as he saw you completely fucked out on the bed.

Mikko grabbed your waist, gently flipping you over so you were now resting on your back. You winced again as he brushed the washcloth against your still so sensitive core, but he tried to relax you with a kiss to your forehead. You opened your eyes to watch him walk around the room, his arms flexing as he pulled on a fresh pair of boxers. Your eyes slipped shut once again, the physical and emotional exhaustion hitting you.

“Here, prinsessa,” you heard from just above you, looking up to see Mikko sitting right next to you. You were surprised that he was still using pet names now that the activities of the night were over, but you were even more surprised to see a shirt in his hands.

“Oh, I-,” you stumbled, “I don’t have to stay, Mikko,” you whispered, realizing that now you would have to figure out what your relationship was going to look like moving forward.

“I want you to stay,” he rebutted, “I mean- if you want to.”

“I want to,” you reassured, sensing that he was feeling vulnerable after his confession.

“Good,” Mikko smiled, moving his hand to push a strand of your hair behind your ear.

You took the shirt from him, slipping the soft fabric over your head. It was huge on you and you didn’t miss how his eyes lingered on the Rantanen 96 that was written across the sleeve. Mikko lifted the sheets so you could slide beneath them, pulling you flush against his body as soon as he was under them as well.

Mikko’s strong arms wrapped around your waist, his fingertips resting under the hem of the shirt on your bare skin. His legs tangled with yours while he tucked his head in the crook of your neck. You were completely enveloped by his large frame, your body relaxing as he gave you a gentle squeeze.

After just a few minutes of comfortable silence, you heard his quiet voice tickle your ear.

“Y/N?” he whispered.

“Yeah?” you responded, your voice barely loud enough to hear.

“I really mean what I said before. You deserve so much better. Someone who can treat you right. And not just with sex, but obviously that too,” he nervously laughed, his tired rambling continuing, “I don’t know if I’m totally out of line here, but I really want to be that for you.”

You couldn’t contain your emotions as Mikko spoke, the tears burning the back of your eyes as you took in his tender words. You had settled for mediocre for so long, and he was right, you deserved better. You turned in his grasp, your hand gripping his forearm as you looked up at him.

“Oh no, don’t cry, prinsessa,” he cooed, his thumb catching the single tear that was rolling down your cheek.

“I’m fine,” you chuckled, blinking until you could see clearly again. “I just- yes, Mikko. I really want that too.”

The grin that spread across his face was one of pure joy, his arms tightening around you as he pulled you even closer to him. Your head fit perfectly in the crook of his neck, smiling into his skin when he pressed a kiss to the top of your head.

“I have to say, I’m impressed that you went so long pretending to hate me,” Mikko chirped, the playfulness of your relationship coming right back.

You pulled back with an exaggeration gasp, your eyes wide as you stared up at him. His dark pink lips were spread open as he laughed, his blue eyes sparkling in the dim light.

“Keep that up and I won’t be pretending anymore,” you challenged, nuzzling back into his bare chest.

“No this is way more fun,” he giggled.

You rolled your eyes at him, sliding your arm around his toned middle as you felt your eyelids grow heavy.

“Good night, prinsessa.”

“Good night, Mikko.”

This was the last place you expected to find yourself tonight, but you knew it was exactly where you were supposed to be.

#mikko rantanen #mikko rantanen imagine #mikko rantanen smut #nhl imagine #nhl writing #hockey imagine #hockey writing #nhl smut #hockey smut #my writing

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buckys-forgotten-plum · 4 years

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A Witchy Kinda Love

Pairing: Witch!Bucky x Witch!Reader (Magic!AU)

Prompt: The world you lived in was known to be full of magic and strange, otherworldly things... But you knew true love was just an old witch's tale even if your familiar insisted otherwise...

Warnings: swearing, fluff, Bucky in cute outfits, way too much italicization, and also this thing is long as fuck. (10,410 words...oopsies)

A/N: Okay this got wayyyy outta hand but who the fuck cares? not me. I would love to give a HUGE SHOUTOUT to @buckybarney who helped a lot in giving me the confidence and drive to finish this fic as well as @smutsonian who created this dope as mood board and also helped me edit a lil bit. You guys make me so happy and I love and appreciate you both so much<3

✸ ✴ ✦

“Calcifer will you please come help me with this?” your exasperated voice could be heard from the balcony of your studio apartment as you struggled to balance the hoard of glass bottles in your arms.

Not a moment later, a small fox came trotting onto the (very overgrown) terrace, “Ya know I have things to do too. I’m not your butler,”

You scoffed at your familiar's grumbled complaint before handing him a couple bottles to hold in his mouth and wrap his tail around, “I know you’re not my butler Cal. But I got you that essence of toad the other day so the least you could do is help me organize my potion materials for a bit.”

The fox let out a low growl and walked back into your small apartment while you followed behind him, “You know how hard it is for me to form opposable thumbs lady? It’s gonna take a lot more than essence of toad for me to comply,”

You glared playfully at the fox before sighing and rolling your eyes, knowing exactly what the sly creature was trying to get you to do, “Calcifer if you want pheasant for dinner just ask,”

There was no response, just the quiet clinking of bottles rolling to the floor as you and your partner began to sort through everything. You really need to start organizing your stuff better. Last week you mixed up your newt toes with skinks and almost blew up your home, so it’s safe to say that your clutter has hit a breaking point. You left Calcifer to sit on your frameless bed as he sorted your bottles to go back out onto your small terrace, breathing in the scent of all of your plants that had happily covered every inch they possibly could. You figured it was as good a time as any to harvest all the herbs you’d need for the month and bottle them up for safe keeping. Quietly humming to yourself, you went around plucking the healthiest looking leaves, sprigs, and sprouts you could find, setting each pile onto the antique writers desk you had put out there as a space for your potion making.

“Hey Calcifer do you know where I put my Ever-Writing Quill?” You question, brows furrowing as you dig through the drawers of your desk.

“You don’t remember? You sat on it last week and snapped it in half!” The fox’s response was followed by a string of cackles and snorts as he laughed to himself about your misfortune.

You let out a loud groan of frustration, tilting your head to the sky and stomping your foot in a small childish fit. “Why didn’t you put it on my shopping list?” You ask, walking back inside to glare at the creature comfortably sitting on your bed.

Calcifer smiled widely, his pointy teeth fully on show in a sly grin, “oopsies, my bad!” he raised what would be his paws but are now little hands due to his helpful transfiguration powers, and held them in an innocent shrug.

You squint your eyes at the reynard but hold your tongue, shoving your feet into a pair of leather boots. “Come on, you’re coming with me to the market so I can get a new quill,”

It didn’t take too long before you had gathered everything you needed, making sure to grab your sweater as the weather hadn’t gotten much warmer in the past months and you absolutely hated to be cold. It only took a stern glare and a threat to have salad for dinner to convince Calcifer to go with you. Though you didn’t miss the petty and painful nip to your calf as you walked out of your door and into the dank hallway of your apartment building.

✸ ✴ ✦

The sky was colored a dark grey with intimidating clouds, blocking out any chance of sun or warmth as you walked down the streets of your small town. You passed by cute little shops and a restaurant or two as you made your way to the market. Your boots stomped loudly on the cobblestone walkway, echoed by the light clicking of Calcifier’s nails while he trotted beside you.

Your town didn’t have many witches, but the non-magic residents were still fully supportive of you and all the other witches and warlocks that resided in the small rainy town of Adelaide. You had lived there for years and not once had you come in contact with what your community called “Salamers”, bigoted people who had hate filled vendettas against your kind. Many of your friends who had lived in bigger cities had told you about their horror stories involving bigoted people who had cursed (pun intended) and swore at them. Your friend Peter even told you about a man who had spit on him after finding out he was a witch.

The thoughts of such hateful actions caused a crease in your brow to form and it didn’t leave until you were at the small stone entrance to Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie, the only entrance to the market for miles. It was one of your favourite things about the magical world. The outside looked like just another building with pretty stone walls and a worn wooden sign displaying the name, but to anyone with a high enough magical presence, it was an entrance to the biggest market in the wiccan world. Hundreds of vendors were beyond that door, hidden away to a different space and time by a carefully constructed spell performed by the most powerful witches in existence.

You couldn’t help the excited pulse of your heart as you opened the door and stepped into what seemed like an entirely different universe. The hustle and bustle of busy shoppers instantly clouded your vision and ears. The air was warm and lighting low in the crowded alleyway that led to the entrance and exit of the marketplace. You took only a moment to get used to the different surroundings before setting off on your way to the real Wanda’s Magickal Menagerie.

It only took a few steps before you heard the loud yip of pain from your familiar, instantly making you whip around to see what happened, “I hate it here, Y/n! Everyone steps on my tail, it smells weird, It’s dark, everything is all muted because apparently witches only like the color red and I’m colorblind-”

“Alright ya baby c’mere,” you interrupted Cal’s whining, bending down and allowing him to jump up and wrap around your shoulders.

“People have no respect for familiars, it’s so uncool,” he grumbled into your ear, resting his snout on the ridge of your shoulder.

“I know, buddy. But you know how much I hate going out alone. I really appreciate you coming with me. When we’re done here we can go to the butcher and you can pick out what bird you want for tonight,” Your hand came up to softly scratch your friend behind his ear, soothing his nerves and continuing on your way to your final destination.

It didn’t take long before you arrived at a small wooden hut, a modest sign with an address hanging out front for advertisement to passersby. You quickly approached the shop and pushed the door open, entering the cozy and familiar atmosphere of Wanda’s business.

“Hey Y/n! Cally, hi baby!” Your entrance was met immediately with happy greetings from your long time friend.

“Hey Wanda,” you and Calcifer greet in unison, smiles adorning both your faces.

The red headed witch skipped towards you, wrapping you in a warm hug and lovingly petting the fox around your shoulders. “How’ve you guys been? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever,”

“We’ve been trying to declutter the apartment. Y/n’s become such a hoarder.” Calcifer blurts out, letting one of his signature cackles break free.

“I am not! I’ve just been experimenting with my potions, so I have a lot more ingredients and supplies right now,” You hurriedly explain, not wanting to have your friend think of you as a crazy old witch with a hoarding problem.

Wanda lets out a quiet giggle at the pair of friends in front of her, finding the relationship between you and your familiar adorable, “What brings you in today? Did you lose your monkey paw again?”

You playfully roll your eyes at Wanda, “No, I uh... I broke my Ever-Writing Quill,” you admit, trying to fight the warmth that crept up your neck and cheeks.

Wanda let out a quick burst of laughter before turning around and leading you through the many shelves and tables of her shop, “Come on, I just got a fresh shipment in,”

✸ ✴ ✦

“Thanks Wanda! I’ll see you and Vis for brunch on Sunday,” You smile and give your friend a kiss on the cheek goodbye before exiting her shop.

“Alright Cal, is there anything else you need before we go? Do you want me to get you more fur oil? Are you good on that incense you like?”

“Yeah I think I’m okay, at this point I just want food,” He grumbled, lifting his head up from your shoulder and sniffing the air.

You nodded your head in understanding and began the trip back to where you first entered the marketplace. The walkways were absolutely packed; it was nearly impossible to keep from bumping into other shoppers. Calcifer could be heard grumbling profanities every time someone brushed or bumped against him. You couldn’t blame the poor creature, he was naturally anxious and didn’t like strangers, so making trips like these were never too fun for him. You were trying your best to avoid people, but luck was against you and as you were ducking out of the way of one man who looked exactly like Merlin, you ended up running right into someone else.

You fell right to the floor, Calcifer tumbling from your shoulder and sliding a few feet away due to the force, “Ah! Calcifer? Cal are you okay?”

“Shit! are you okay? I didn’t see you, I am so sorry,”

Ignoring the stranger above, you frantically look around for your lost friend and spot him a few feet away from you, curling up into a scared orange ball and shoving his snout under his hind leg to hide. You scramble over to him, scooping his small body into your arms and holding onto him tightly, “Oh Calcifer I’m so sorry! I should have never asked you to come with me, I know you hate it here and now look what happened,”

You couldn’t help the stress induced tears that welled in your eyes as you pet the shaking fox in your arms, “I’m okay, Y/n. Just a little shaken,” His voice was quiet and you knew he wasn’t being completely honest but you knew getting out of the crowded place was more important at that point.

A tall figure suddenly shadowed over you, making you cower out of instinct and scoot back a few paces, “Hey are you and your fox okay? Really, I didn’t see you. I should have been paying more attention, let me help you up,” A hand comes down offering to lift you from the dirty concrete.

With one arm tightly holding onto Calcifer, you use your other hand to grab onto the strangers and lift yourself up. “Thanks,” You mumble out quickly, keeping your head down and immediately walking away, your mind completely focused on getting the hell out of these cursed alleyways.

Once you had fallen out of the exit and back onto the cobblestone streets of Adelaide, you could finally take a deep breath. Leaning up against the cold stone wall near the entrance, you closed your eyes, sucking in the fresh air and gently petting the creature still firmly gripped in your arms.

A choked cry escapes you suddenly, “I am so sorry Calcifer,” You absolutely hated that you had caused your friend such a terrible experience. He could’ve gotten hurt, someone could’ve stolen him away from you, the street was so crowded you would’ve never found him again! Calcifer would’ve never forgiven you! Might not even forgive you now! Just the thought of it-

“Alright calm down kid... I’m perfectly fine. Paw hurts a little bit but, really, I’m okay,” the fox in your arms looked up at you, a small smile on his snout as he nuzzled into your hair.

“Are you sure? I can take you to the vet-” Before you can continue to worry about the injured animal, a deep voice sounds from above you.

“Uh hey...”

You quickly wipe the tears from your cheeks and look up, eyes widening in surprise as you stare into steely iris’s that seemed to have a mission on copying the sky that day. “H-hello,”

As you stared at the burly looking man in front of you, you couldn’t help but side eye his stature. Adorning all black with little glints of silver rings and buckles here and there, a few tiny scars marking his well-structured jaw and cheek bones, and good god those boots must be so heavy and-is that a metal hand peeking out from the long sleeve of his leather jacket?! This guy is too scary to be this attractive...

“I uh... I was the one to bump into you earlier. It’s totally my fault and I really didn’t mean for you to drop your fox like that-it’s just that my familiar took off and I just wasn’t paying attention and it seemed like a pretty bad fall and you were so focused on protecting your pet-” “He’s not a pet,” you spit out quickly, a stern glare etched into your features.

“R-right, right sorry-I just-I was-I misspoke...” he trailed awkwardly, roughly dragging a hand through brunette hair and grimacing at his own failure to compose a sensible response.

“Are you a witch?” you mumble out quietly, your glare softening into a more apprehensive, yet curious, stare.

“Uh yeah, yeah I’m only entry level though. My friend Sam helped me get into the market so I could get a few things but then...ya know”

You stood silently, not exactly sure of what this weirdo wanted from you. If he thought you were going to apologize he was very mistaken. What if he planned to rob you? To take Calcifer and run? The thought made your grip on the animal even more secure, if that were even possible.

“Is your arm okay?” Worried eyes gazed down at your arm and the man took a small step forward.

“What?” You try to flinch away from the soft grasp of his hand around your bicep, but only end up pushing yourself against the wall.

The man inspected the inflamed scrape that burned a path along your forearm and up to your elbow, “That looks pretty bad doll, do you want some medicine? I think I might have a little with me. Hey Sibi!”

“Holy shit!” A sharp intake of breath forced its way into your lungs as you saw a giant white wolf bound up to the man. Your breathing sped up, heartbeat following along with it as you gazed upon the giant beast.

“Do you mind? I gotta get into my bag,” He asked gently, the wolf immediately turning to give him easy access to a large pack that was slung over her back, “Thanks Sibi, can you go find Sam? Tell him I’ll be a bit longer than expected,” The wolf let out a gruff noise of agreement and nodded it’s head before heading back through the magical entrance.

The man turned back around and walked towards you once more. You didn’t flinch this time when he reached for your arm, careful to make sure you had a good grip on Cal before opening a bottle of light blue gel and tapping some out onto the palm of his hand, “My name is Bucky, by the way,”

“Okay,” you mumble out awkwardly, your anxious nature getting the best of you and blocking any form of friendly communication to come across while Bucky covers your wound with the gel.

“Her name is Y/n, I’m Calcifer,” You stare down incredulously at the fox, not expecting him to introduce you to this stranger.

Bucky smiled up at you and the fox, shiny white teeth on display, “Pretty name for a pretty girl,”

The comment instantly made your face heat up in embarrassment. “Thank y-you...”

Bucky straightened up after he was done dressing your wound, thankfully taking a step back to give you some space. Why wasn’t he leaving? Why did he care so much about some rando he ran into at the market? Maybe this was just a front to try and rob you...

“Well uh... I just wanted to make sure you were okay. You seemed real spooked back there and I could tell you hurt your arm so I just wanted to check up on ya,” Bucky’s eyes shined brightly as he explained himself. A pink tint colored his cheeks and neck as he sheepishly stared down at the ground.

His shy nature made your lips tilt into a small smile of your own and you couldn’t help thinking about how cute he looked like that, “thank you, that’s very kind,” you mumbled out.

There was a beat of silence as you and Bucky avoided each other's eye contact before a familiar patronizing voice interrupted, “Hey kid if you’re done flirtin’ with this guy can we go home? I’m starvin’ right now,”

“Calcifer!” you scold immediately, the familiar burn of pure embarrassment instantly appearing across your face.

Bucky, however, didn’t seem to be bothered by the fox’s comment and burst out into a fit of deep chuckles, running his metal hand through the long tresses of rich brown hair.

“Your fox is cute,”

The comment made Calcifer let out a gruff murmur of disagreement, making you join Bucky in his laughter, “Yeah, I’m really happy he chose to stay with me. Um... I should probably go. Cal hasn’t eaten since breakfast and I still need to go to the butcher-” “There’s a butcher in this town?” The pure curiosity on Bucky’s face made your smile grow that much more as he finally took in his surroundings.

“Yeah, it’s about two blocks down from here, it’s Calcifer's favorite place,” You say, backing up a few steps to signal your exit.

“A-alright! well, uh it was nice meeting you! Maybe I’ll see you around sometime?” The male witch fumbles with his words as he realizes the conversation is ending.

“Sure, maybe,” you nod in agreement, fully turning around and beginning the walk towards your destination.

As you walked away you couldn’t help but let the small smile on your face grow. What a dork he was... Almost as awkward as you were, the way he kept messing with his hair- ”He’s still lookin’ at ya... And what was all that stuff you were thinking about getting robbed? Why were you so fixated on gettin’ robbed?”

“Calcifer for christ’s sake!” Your voice was filled with exasperation, rolling your eyes at the familiar's comments and ignoring the fact that the cute witch was still watching you walk away.

“Are you seriously thinking about how him staring at you is cute? Humans are so weird...”

“Stop reading my thoughts you creep!”

✸ ✴ ✦

A groan echoed throughout your apartment as a streak of the bright morning sun landed on your eyes and woke you from your slumber. Clapping a hand down onto your eyes to block the light, you roughly slide it down in hopes of wiping the fatigue that plagued you. Slowly but surely, you untangled yourself from your sheets, stretching your waking limbs and yawning with an over dramatic sound. You blindly felt around for your phone that was lying on the floor directly by your mattress. Once you located the small device, you tapped it on and read the time. 10:47 am, Sunday...Fantastic.

You laid on your mattress for a bit, unaware of anything but your tired bones. The only reason you didn’t fall back asleep right then and there was the light buzz that came from your phone. You lazily picked it back up and stared at the too bright screen, taking a moment to comprehend the text that popped up on your home screen.

Wanda Maxi: Hey! Are you on your way?

What? On my way...

“OH FUCK” You bolt out of bed, slipping on part of your sheet that was draped onto your wooden flooring and almost face planting.

“Calcifer wake up we gotta have brunch with Wanda and Vis!” you scream out to nothing specific, unaware of where your familiar was.

As quickly as possible, you gathered an outfit, shoved a toothbrush into your mouth to brush it a little too harshly, got your hair ready, and threw your clothes on. It’s not until you’re almost done getting ready before you see the bright fox bolt in from the balcony, “How could you forget about brunch? This happens every week for fucks sake!”

“This isn’t entirely my fault! You knew about it too!” you argue while lathering deodorant onto your underarms, already sweating from the stress of the situation.

“I’m a fox! You think I keep alarms?” he yells back at you, not bothering to stop and look at you as he gathers your things while you hurriedly tried to shove your foot into a shoe.

Once your shoes were on and Calcifer had given you everything you’d need, you ran to your door and swung it open, “You wanna run with me or do you want me to carry you?”

“Oh please you can barely run by yourself. You couldn’t handle the weight,” Calcifer scoffs, running between your legs and out of the apartment.

You immediately lock your door and run after him, “So rude...” you huff to yourself and catch up to the fox.

✸ ✴ ✦

It only took you about five minutes to sprint across town and make it to the small clay cottage that your friends had lived in for years now. The mossy dark brown Terracotta roof and grey wooden door that had ivy vining in and out of it gave a lovely natural look to the house and you couldn’t help but admire the wonderful home the couple had built.

Calcifer’s quiet pants mixed with your wheezing as you stumbled up to the door and knocked loudly to signal your arrival. The door swung open, revealing a smirking Wanda.

“You woke up late again didn’t you?”

Still catching your breath, you nodded and followed her into her home. Wanda looked gorgeous, as always, wearing a light and flowing yellow sundress with matching shoes and a pretty white ribbon that was tied into her hair.

“I’m so sorry Wanda, neither of us set an alarm,” you breathed out, following her towards the kitchen.

“It’s okay sweetie, we didn’t have to wait or anything, all of us were busy talking about the latest man who was admitted into the Grand Council,” she smiled back at you, warm eyes shining from the sunlight that was coming through the glass doors that led to their garden.

You tilt your head in confusion when you realize her phrasing, “All of us?”

Wanda gently put a fist to her temple, her face twisting into a slight grimace, “I’m sorry sweetie I completely forgot to mention I invited some friends today! Don’t worry, they’re both great and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,”

You nod your head hesitantly, not entirely believing your friend. You wondered who she had invited... Many times over Wanda and Vision have told stories about their old friends who they had met throughout their lives. From your understanding, they had built a wonderful family together and had helped and cared for each other for years so you had no doubt they would be friendly.

Before you had time to voice whatever worries you had, you were interrupted by the fall of multiple pairs of footsteps. It didn’t take long for three men to walk into the room, all talking enthusiastically over each other. You automatically recognized the slim man walking over to Wanda as Vision, his bright eyes greeting you as he wrapped his arms around Wanda’s slim waist.

You turn to the other two guests and are unable to hold in an audible gasp when you recognize one of them. Those chilling eyes copied yours as they widened to an almost comical size.

“Y/n...” The sound of your name coming from his full, pink lips made your hands clam up.

He was dressed much more formal today with a navy blue sweater over a button up shirt, dark jeans and the cutest wing-tipped shoes you’d ever seen. He looked like he had just gotten out of church with his grandmother.

“H-hello..” you mutter back, a heavy cloud of confusion and stress surrounding itself around you.

“Oh...Do you-do you guys know each other already?” Wanda tilts her head a curious finger flickering between the two of you as her squinting eyes try to find the connection.

Bucky glances at you, then Wanda, then back at you, as if to ask the question of who would be telling the tale of your meeting. You however settled for staring up at the ceiling, handing that responsibility off to Bucky.

“We um, bumped into each other at the market the other day,” his answer comes after a slight moment of hesitation.

You held back a scoff at his choice of words... More like you ran over me and almost killed my familiar.

“Oh great! So then you’ll only have to meet Sam,” Wanda smiles and gestures to the stranger who had refrained from speaking up until now.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Sam Wilson,” he greets you with a bright smile, a charming gap between his two front teeth and a warm glow emanating from rich brown eyes that winked mischievously.

He was quite handsome and his automatic charm caused the fog of awkward shyness to thicken in your mind, “Nice to meet you too,” you smile politely and shove your hand out for him to shake.

A deep chuckle sounds from within his muscular chest as he grasps your hand and gives a firm shake. You quickly tell him your name before stepping back and allowing a new conversation to start. It was hard to focus on what everyone was saying as you felt the obvious gaze of Bucky peering at you from across the kitchen. You found the best way to keep yourself from staring back at him was to focus on the small amount of dirt that you could see hidden underneath your nails. You really needed to get them done again... Although it gets pretty difficult to achieve correct measurements with the long pointy acrylics that seem to be your go-to choice.

“I dunno man, I just have really bad vibes about that Pierce guy... Steve agrees with me,” Sam’s comment brings you back to the conversation which you had apparently zoned out of.

“Where is Steven? I thought he said he would be able to attend today?” Vision, always the formal talker, had a questioning glint to his eyes as he switched his focus from Sam to Bucky, then back.

“Liberty wasn’t feeling too good so he had to take her to a vet,” Bucky was the one to answer.

“Liberty?” a questioning tilt to your head signals your confusion.

Bucky smiles at you before answering, “Yeah, she’s Steve’s pet. Super cute golden retriever that he picked up at the pound a couple years back,”

“Oh... Is he not a witch like you guys?” it surprised you that there was someone amongst their group that wasn’t practicing magic.

Bucky subconsciously takes a step towards you, his body language changing to signal he was now solely focused on you, “Yeah he tried a few years ago but, it didn’t really go too well,”

As Bucky answered he held up his metal prosthetic and wiggled his fingers, “Are you serious?! Your friend did that to you?” you gasp in shock, your eyes widening in amazement as you reach out to touch his arm without thinking.

The metal was smooth and you were so enamored by the new information as well as the mechanical appendage that you failed to notice how tense Bucky got and how multiple pairs of eyes were staring at you. Your fingertips gently ran over the cool ridges of metal sections, “Wow... Did he turn your arm metal or did... did something else happen?” you glance between pretty blue eyes and steely metal.

Bucky slowly reaches his arm out so you have a better view of what it’s like, “Actually that was kind of a joke,” he stutters, an awkward smile gracing his lips, “The real story is way more depressing,” he mumbles.

You halt your movements and stare up at him, the familiar yet heavy weight of embarrassment settling itself deep within your chest, “O-oh... I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to overstep-” You pull your hands away, folding them tightly against your chest.

“No it’s okay! Really I’ve had a lot worse interactions,” he chuckles and reassures you once again that you didn’t overstep any boundaries.

You nod in understanding but inevitably go back into your default of shy silence. Bucky stares down at you with a kind smile in hopes of making you feel a little less like an ass. It doesn’t work.

After a few moments of deafening silence, Wanda makes a move over to the oven, “Alright everyone, quiche time!”

“Aren’t you vegan?” Bucky mumbles, walking over to the table and preparing to sit down. As Wanda gives her response and mentions the fake eggs she found at the market, you walk over to the table as well. Bucky pulls out the seat closest to you and gives you a reassuring nod. You give a thankful smile and sit down, allowing him to help you push it back towards the table.

“Thank you,” your quiet voice has Bucky grinning as he sits down next to you.

“Of course, doll”

Brunch goes off without any more awkward spells and with the help of Wanda’s amazing skills in the kitchen, you begin to feel yourself relax with each bite you take. The afternoon goes on with the others telling you about how they met, silly stories about their friendly adventures, and at some point the conversation turned to you and what it had been like growing up a witch. It was a unique characteristic that none of your friends, new or old, had experienced.

“Well, my dad is the one who originally got me into it... He was an aura reader like Wanda, and my mom focused more on spell casting and potions,” a warm grin on your lips signal the fondness your memories bring as you tell about your childhood, everyone was completely invested.

“especially Bucky” Calcifer pointed out silently, giving you a knowing smirk from where he sat on the floor next to you.

oh fuck off you stupid fox

✸ ✴ ✦

With full stomachs and a few full containers of leftovers, you, Sam, and Bucky stood gathered outside of Wanda’s front door as you all belted out a chorus of goodbye’s and excellent days.

“It was really nice meeting you Y/n, make sure to keep in touch! I’ll be waiting for a carrier owl,” Sam winks at you as he begins to walk down the path towards the sidewalk, effectively leaving you and Bucky by yourselves.

“He didn’t even let me say goodbye back...” you mumble out, staring at the confident figure that now waited at the property line by a pretty bush of hydrangeas.

“Yeah... He’s weird like that,” Bucky agrees, glancing at his friend before fully turning his attention to you, “um so I’ve been meaning to maybe like... um maybe get your contact info? I just... I was maybe thinking we could grab like, tea or something sometime?”

As you take in Bucky’s words, you can’t help but notice the awkward and anxious movements he had started, reminding you of the first day you had met him. It made your lips twitch up just slightly.

“Oh? like, my phone number?” the dumb answer almost had you on your knees with how hard you cringed.

Bucky let out a breathy chuckle, “Uh yeah, yeah or like maybe an address? Or ugh that’s probably too personal-” “No! no it’s um it’s not,” you answer a little too quickly, discreetly pinching the skin on the back of your hand as punishment for your blatant lack of social skills.

After a quick beat of neither of you knowing what to do, you finally speak back up, “You could come over tomorrow if you’d like,”

Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why would he want to come over so- “Yeah I’d love to!” Bucky answers enthusiastically, pulling his phone out from his back pocket and holding it out to you, “Just give me your number and I'll text you, we can figure out the details later, K?”

You gingerly take the smartphone in your hands and type in your number, forgetting to put a name in for yourself before handing it back to him. Bucky’s hand slightly brushes yours as he takes it back and you’re too busy focusing on the lingering feeling on your hand that you miss the cheeky grin on Bucky’s face as he types in a contact name.

“Hey tin soldier! You ready yet?” Sam’s smooth voice has you turning around with a start at his unexpected call.

Bucky nods towards his friend, waving him off and turning back to you, “So I’ll uh, see you tomorrow,”

“Tomorrow,” You confirm with a nod of your own.

Bucky’s smile grows tenfold and he takes a small step towards you, hesitating for only a moment before he leans in and gives a chaste kiss to the apple of your cheek. He doesn’t wait around to see your reaction, jogging over to Sam and slapping him on the shoulder before walking off down the cobblestone streets.

Standing with your eyes the size of the moon and your face as hot as the goddamn sun, you don’t fail to catch the string of comments that your sleazy little fox makes.

“Oh Bucky please just take me away! I’m too shy and socially inept to even speak to you properly, please I just love you sooooo much!” Calcifer’s high pitched mocking made your blood boil as he wheezed with laughter.

“Shut up you stupid fox!” you yell at him, hooking your foot underneath his belly and pushing up and forward to flip him on his side.

The reynard continued to cackle hysterically as you walked away from him. You could hear the broken comments he made as Calcifer continued to berate you on the bumpy interactions you always seemed to have with the handsome witch.

“You’re sleeping outside tonight!” you call back to him, a smug tilt to your lips.

The laughing stopped immediately and was replaced by the clicking of little nails on mossy stone.

✸ ✴ ✦

Calcifer’s eyes were glued to your figure as you made a mad dash around your apartment to make sure everything was clean and properly put away. Your socks allowed you to slide across the wooden floors as you shoved the rest of your freshly cleaned towels into a closet and slam it shut. Quickly turning the other way to sprint then slide the rest of the way to your little kitchenette where an almost comically small oven bakes banana nut muffins.

“You are a nervous wreck right now kid,” Cal points out, a hint of worry in his mostly humorous tone.

You look over at him, cringing at the realization that, yeah, you probably do look like a nervous wreck...

“It’s just that... No one has been over in a while and the last person that did come over was Wanda and I know she doesn’t care all that much about my tidiness so it was okay but I have no clue as to how Bucky is going to react and it's not like I don’t want to impress him, I mean I don’t need to impress him like my life doesn’t depend on what he thinks but,” “Christ’s sake kid-” “I mean for gods sake my bed is on the floor! He’ll probably think I’m some broke slob who-” Knock Knock

“Oh my gods,” you whisper scream, no doubt did your aura radiate pure panic...

You shuffle over to the door, shoving your face up against it to look through the peephole and make sure it was the only person you were expecting. Taking a deep breath, you try and center yourself, then open the door.

“Good morning, Bucky!” you greet, a bright smile on your face as you take in your guest’s appearance.

Bucky is looking extra handsome today as he wears a dark grey cardigan over a white shirt, dark fitted jeans and, to your extreme surprise, black Converse.

“Hey, Doll” he smiles back softly at you, quickly taking in your simple outfit of a cute yellow crop top and black shorts, “T-these are for you,” he mutters quickly and pulls a pretty bouquet of wildflowers out from behind his back.

You beam at the thoughtful gesture and Calcifer doesn’t miss the sense of pride that Bucky gives off at your excited reaction, “Wow, Bucky these are so cute! I love them, thank you very much,” gingerly taking the bundle of fragrant colors, you invite your guest inside and immediately go to your kitchenette to find a receptacle for them.

Once you find a nice little vase to put them in you spin back around to find Bucky looking around your small apartment, “Um...It’s not much-but the rent is really good and since it’s just me and Cal it works out pretty nice. If you aren’t comfortable we can always-” “I love it, Y/n. It’s really... you,” he glances back towards you, the look in his eyes warming you from deep within your chest.

“Hey, tin man” the both of you jump slightly as Calcifer interrupts the thoughtful interaction.

Bucky crouches down and reaches his hand out to the fox, “Hey... Nice to see you again Calcifer”

“Where’s your dog?” completely ignoring Bucky’s polite greeting, Calcifer passes by him.

“Oh uh... Sibi is still in training so I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to bring her into someone else’s home just yet,” the man answers awkwardly, dropping his hand and standing back up to his full height.

Calcifer be nice you little skeez.

I’m just tryin’ get to know the guy, alright?

You roll your eyes at the red animal and tell him to go onto the balcony. He thankfully listens, giving you and Bucky some privacy.

“Sorry about him... He can be a little difficult sometimes,” you apologize quickly, nervously rubbing your clammy hands on the front of your shorts.

Bucky chuckles and shakes his head, “It’s alright, I understand,”

You give a questioning look at his phrasing and he quickly moves to elaborate, “Well, uh I guess-Ya know- since you guys are really close... I can understand why he would be protective because um, well since I’m like I’m trying to-” “Trying to what?”

Bucky’s face was beet red as he tried and failed to explain himself to you, who had absolutely no idea what he was going on about, “In any case, I’m sure he’ll warm up to you soon,” you smile warmly at him and turn towards your oven.

The embarrassed man watches as you take out the piping hot tray of muffins and set them out on the counter to cool. His stomach growls low as the deliciously sweet smell hits his nostrils.

“How about we go sit down while those cool off?” you suggest and lead Bucky over to the small sofa that sat against the only free wall.

You tuck yourself into one corner, folding your legs so they were pressed against your chest as you tried to give Buck as much room as possible. It was quite adorable to see the tall, beefy guy try and squeeze himself onto your small couch. A quiet laugh escapes you and he glances towards you, his cheeks tinged pink, “Guess M’not really made for studio apartment sized things,” he chuckles.

Glad to see he isn’t upset about the cramped seating arrangement, you relax a little bit and start asking Bucky about his life. The two of you fall into easy conversation, talking about your childhood, past and current friends, how Bucky got into magic, your familiars and anything else that came to your minds.

By the time there was a slight lull in conversation, it was already mid afternoon and you couldn’t help the growls that sounded from your stomach.

“Um, do you want me to make us some lunch? I have like, sandwich stuff or mac n cheese?” you ask, swinging your legs off the couch and standing up to stretch.

“Yeah that sounds good, you want me to help?” Bucky follows your movements and you shake your head.

“S’okay, if you want you can go onto the balcony and I’ll be right out,” You smile up at him, turning to your little kitchen and focusing on making lunch.

Bucky makes his way out onto your balcony covered in vining plants and hanging bottles filled with god knows what. Calcifer was asleep on a slightly rusted chair in the corner, his tail and legs curled into his body, making him look like a furry ball of orange. Bucky had never seen a work space quite like it. Sam was more of a trader so there wasn’t much potion making in the home they shared together. As he stared in wonder at all of the bottles covering the antique desk and a good part of the floor, curiosity got the best of him and Bucky couldn’t help but to start picking them up and exploring what was inside.

Most of the bottles were labelled so he didn’t need to worry about those ones, the curious man was more interested in the unmarked ones. Popping off the cork to a green glass bottle filled with a powder, he brought his nose up to sniff and immediately gagged at the overpowering scent.

“What is that?” he grumbled quietly to himself, closing that one and picking up a new one.

This bottle did in fact have a label, but it was chicken scratch and for the life of him, Bucky couldn’t tell what the hell it meant as he picked up the murky glass bottle filled with what seemed to be a bright purple fog and opened it, taking in a quick whiff.

Almost immediately Bucky felt the effects of the mystery potion and he had to steady himself on the desk so he wouldn’t fall over. Blinking a few times, he gathered his wits and slowly stood straight up.

“Whaaat are you doing?” Your curious voice from the sliding door made Bucky jump and spin around, hiding the bottle behind his back.

Your eyes quickly shift from the chilling blue irises of your guest to the suspicious amount of movement happening behind his large frame. Bucky lets out a quick scoff before answering, “What? Nothing, just checkin stuff out ya know,”

His poor attempt at a casual demeanor was lost on you and it was quite evident in the suspicious squint of your eyes as you continued to stare at the man in front of you.

“Which bottle did you sniff?” you ask flatly, sticking your hand out expectantly, the other hand making its way onto your hip.

“I-I didn’t sniff any bottle,” Bucky mutters out, metal hand going up to scratch the back of his neck awkwardly.

You waited only a moment before he spoke again, seemingly unable to hold back his comment, “That’s a lie I sniffed this bottle,”

He immediately took a bottle out from behind his back and placed it in your still awaiting palm. You knew what it was as soon as you saw the color of the substance inside and began to laugh. It was the hardest you had laughed all day and the resounding noise of your joyous fit surely made its way down to the cobblestone streets below. Your right hand left its initial place on your hip and placed itself over the left side of your chest as you bent over to steady yourself.

“Y-you just inhaled a shit ton of Truth-Be-Told Smoke” You cackled out loudly.

Bucky, though entirely confused, couldn’t help the smile that painted itself onto his pink lips as he stared at your beautiful figure shaking from the prettiest laughing fit he had ever heard, “Your laugh is really pretty,” he blurted out, immediately slapping his hand over his mouth afterwards.

The compliment startled you enough to calm your laughter and straighten your posture back out, “Thank you, Buck. So I’m just gonna assume you’re wondering what’s happening right now,” He answered you by quickly nodding his head.

You giggled and continued on, “Basically, this stuff is used mainly as a partial ingredient in other potions, but by itself, especially undiluted, it’s a high performing truth serum. You won’t be able to say anything except for what comes to your mind for quite some time,”

“That makes me really nervous,” Bucky’s voice sounds strained as the hand that was covering his mouth moves to wipe down his face in stress.

“Well don’t go sniffin’ a girl’s potions next time!” you giggle out, walking over to return the potion to its proper place.

“You smell really good,” before you have a chance to react bucky groans in frustration, “Fuck I am so sorry,”

A light laugh escapes your lips and you look up at Bucky’s grimacing face, “It’s okay, I don’t mind. Plus it’s nice to know I made the right decision on what body wash to buy,”

You motion Bucky to follow you back inside, ensuring there would be no more accidental roofying. Two sandwiches sit side by side on the small sofa, a little pile of chips next to each one.

“This is really kind of you, Y/n” Bucky smiles, lifting up both plates of food and waiting for you to get comfy next to him before handing you one.

“It’s no problem Bucky, you’re my friend now and-” “I don't want to be your friend,” he bursts out, making you frown.

Bucky quickly fixes his mistake, “No sorry- I uhm- I misspoke I-I don’t want to just be your friend.” another grimace makes its way onto his face, “That’s embarrassing for me to say, I’m embarrassed,”

If you weren’t already sweating nervously, you were now. Clammy hands grip at the paper plate on your lap as you try and will your face to extinguish the fire that has engulfed it. “B-Bucky, I um…”

“I’m sorry I said that… It probably makes you never want to see me again,” Bucky mutters out, anxiously playing with the small pile of potato chips.

“Actually…” you begin, taking a deep breath and continuing, “It doesn’t bother me at all,”

Bucky lets out a long breath of air, “Holy shit really? That’s fucking awesome because I wasn’t gonna tell ya that today but then I smelt that thing and I’m sweating real bad right now with how nervous I am-I should not have said that, but now that you said what you just said-”

You put your hand up, signaling for the witch to stop his word vomit and laughed, “Bucky you don’t need to worry… Honestly, I am just as nervous as you,”

Maybe it was because of the state Bucky was currently in, maybe it was because of something completely unrelated, but it made you feel brave enough to admit more than what you would’ve ever imagined. Bucky somehow willed himself into eating his sandwich, stopping every once in a while to blurt out a random compliment about you, the food, your apartment, anything. He even complimented how adorable it was that your mattress was on the floor, saying it just made everything feel so much comfier and he wished his apartment was like this. You took the comments in stride on the outside, though on the inside you were dying out of embarrassment. No one had ever said such nice things about you, and to the volume that Bucky was going, even if it was against his will, it still shocked you a bit.

By the time you were both done eating, the effects of the smoke seemed to slow down a bit, which allowed the nervous man beside you to withhold all of his thoughts, though it did keep him from lying still. As you stood to clean up the plates and napkins used during lunch, Bucky mimicked you, following you to the kitchen.

“Today was really nice Bucky...Thank you for coming over,” you smile up at the tall man beside you and try not to swoon when he returns the warm smile.

There wasn’t a beat of hesitation before Bucky responded, “It was my pleasure, sweetheart,”

The term of endearment had your face aflame, something that has become a recurring struggle whenever you were around Bucky and his stupid compliments that always got to you.

“Ya know, you’re quite the sweet talker when there’s nothing holding you back,” you tease playfully, making Bucky let out a quick bark of laughter.

“Was I not a sweet talker before? I must have had some kinda skill since ya let me spend the whole day here,” a sly smirk is pulling at the corners of his lips as Bucky leans down closer to you in a mocking way.

You roll your eyes and put a hand to his shoulder, effectively pushing him away and giving yourself some much needed space. If you didn’t breathe properly soon, you were gonna pass out.

Bucky stayed at your place for a bit longer until he got a text from Sam saying that Sibi was getting anxious and that she missed him. You couldn’t help the grin that made its way onto your face when he explained why he had to leave, thinking it was absolutely adorable that Bucky was the only one who was able to calm that gigantic wolf. When it was time for him to go, it became a waiting game of who was going to initiate the final goodbye.

Standing by your front door, leaning on the trim, you stared into the piercing blue eyes of the man opposite of you, completely unsure of what to say. In all honesty, you didn’t think it’d go this well. For Bucky to spend the entire day cramped up in your apartment with you, eating snacks and joking around as if you had known each other for years… It shocked you a bit when you truly thought about it.

Bucky sighed, leaning against the opposite frame of the door as he stared back down at you, “So…” a nervous hand came up to subconsciously tangle into the hairs on the nape of his neck, the Truth Be Told must be wearing off, “I um… Today was really great,”

You nod your head in agreement, “Yeah it uh-it was,” your fingers begin to tangle and pull at each other.

“Do you...Maybe wanna...Do it again? Soon?” he mumbles out, breaking eye contact as he begins to focus on his shoes.

A little pinch to the back of your hand ensures that what you just heard was real and you nod, “yes, that’d be awesome! I um… Whenever you’re free of course,”

Y/n and Tin Man sittin’ in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

You quickly turn around to see Calcifer prancing in a circle in the middle of your apartment, a sly grin on his face.

Gods what are you Five? Shut up you stupid fox! I’m gonna throw you off the balcony!

“Doll? You okay?” Bucky chuckles lightly as he sees your face scrunched up into a cute little scowl that makes him want to squish your face between his hands.

Calcifer's annoying cackles were heard echoing in your apartment as you turned back around to face Bucky, “Yeah, yeah no I’m good… You were saying?”

“Just that I was free on Thursday, if you maybe wanted to get coffee with me… But it’s really no big deal if you don’t want to, I would understa-” “No! Er-I mean yes! Yes. I would love to get coffee with you on Thursday,” You cringe at your awkward response and bite the inside of your lip to keep yourself from screaming in embarrassment.

The bright smile on Bucky’s face grounds you a little bit and gives you the courage to meet his pretty blue irises, “So Doll, I uh was thinking-” Before he can finish his thought, Bucky’s phone pings loudly, making you jump a little, “Sorry” He murmurs.

Snatching it from the pocket of his jeans, Bucky takes a look then immediately lets out a quiet sigh, “That’s Sam, I really gotta go,”

Trying not to let the disappointment show, you nod your head and straighten up, silently wishing he could stay longer, “Okay...Um I’ll see you on Thursday then…”

Bucky’s head tilts to the left as he considers your shy demeanor and he can’t help but reach out with his right hand and lightly grasps yours, “I’ll see you on Thursday, pretty girl,”

You suck in a breath, feeling Bucky lightly tug on your hand and willingly following his lead. Taking a tiny step forward, which was really all you could take with how close the two of you were all ready, the breath your holding tightens in your chest as Bucky leans down closer to you. You could feel the warmth of his breath on your cheek, the brush of his long eyelashes ghosting over your temples, and the light squeeze on your wrist from his large hand. Bucky’s lips were soft as they pressed against the corner of your mouth in a light kiss that made you feel like you were in the clouds.

It didn’t last as long as you’d like and once he pulled away, you were able to let out the painful breath that stayed in your lungs for way too long. Bucky gave a quick wave before backing up a few paces, turning around, and walked the rest of the way down the hall. Leaving you to stand there breathless with the lingering feeling of his soft touches.

“You two are gross,” The floaty feeling that had fallen over you evaporated as you heard the familiar’s voice from behind you.

“I’m gonna hit you so hard,” You yell over your shoulder, turning around and slamming the door behind you. You pick up a slipper by your door and make your way over to the cackling fox.

“W-wait wait! OW”

“Stupid fox”

✸ ✴ ✦

-3 Months Later-

“Steve c’mon, stop interrogating my girl and come help set the tent up!” Steve turns his attention from you to his best friend, a smile on his face as he gets up to help Bucky set up the large canvas tent.

“We will continue this later,” the blonde says pointedly before leaving you by yourself at the wooden picnic table.

It had only been a little over three months since you had met Bucky Barnes, exactly two since he had worked up the courage to officially ask you to be “his girl” as he put it, and two hours since you had properly met Steven Rogers. How you had gone so long without meeting Bucky’s platonic other half was beyond you, but apparently the guy was a busy bee, and since your little potion shop out of your apartment had taken off, you didn’t exactly have much free time on your hands either. Fortunately, with a little luck and a lot of asking around for favors and covers for work, You, Bucky, Steve, Sam, Wanda, Vis, and all of your respective animals were able to take a long weekend to go camping.

“Are you guys ready to eat? These sandwiches won’t keep for much longer,” Wanda stands up from the green metal cooler, hands full of deli sandwiches that she had made for the trip.

A chorus of agreeance sounded across the cozy little site you had booked as you all gathered around the redhead. Bucky came up beside you, wrapping his metal arm around your waist and placing a soft kiss to the crown of your hair.

“You excited for the weekend, doll?” he murmurs into your hair sweetly before placing a few more kisses there.

You laugh lightly at his endearing behavior and smile up at him, “Of course I am Buck. I may never get the chance to spend this much time outside of my apartment again,” you joke, leaning up on your tiptoes to kiss your boyfriend on the sharp line of his jaw.

After everyone had gotten a sandwich, along with whatever they wanted to drink or eat with it, you all squeezed onto the benches of the picnic table and began to chow down. Everyone talked animatedly about what the plans were for the rest of the weekend. Swimming, fishing, “Building a bomb ass fire” as Sam gracefully put it, all of it sounded like a blast to you. If you were being honest, you were just excited to be out of your apartment for more than a few hours at a time.

“So, you’re a potion maker huh?” Steve asks, mouth half full of potato chips.

Bucky lets out a groan and rolls his eyes, “Stevie let the girl breathe for fucks sake,”

The group laughs at Bucky’s annoyance, but then looks at you, “Well, uh yeah… I um was taught at a young age, so it’s something I’m really good at and I know it’s not the best job or anything-” ''It’s an awesome job, kid. I think you’re doing real good. Our own little entrepreneurial witch!” Sam interrupts your babbling, a bright smile on his face as he pats your back just a little too forcefully.

“I mean… I’m not a witch so I obviously don’t really get it like everyone else does, but you seem to be doing really well,” Steve assures you, sending a sense of pride into your chest.

You had managed to impress Steve Rogers… Not bad, Y/n.

The guy is actin’ like he’s Tin Man's father… The hell is that about?

You turn your head over to where Calcifer is curled up on a dark blue camping chair, bright yellow eyes trained on the blonde man who was still stuffing his mouth with food.

Calcifer they’ve been friends for ages, it’s normal.

The fox lets out a quiet snuff in response before getting up from the chair and trotting over to the table.

“Cal do you want some of my turkey?” Bucky asks, taking a few pieces of turkey from his sandwich and setting it beside him on the table.

Calcifer doesn’t answer, just hops up on the bench and silently eats the portion of meat. It’s taken a while for Calcifer to warm up to Bucky… And though progress if few and far between, the two have definitely gotten closer in the past couple of weeks. The biggest issue at first was how crazy Sibi acted around other familiars, but after a while and a good amount of training from you and Bucky, the hyperactive wolf finally settled and was on track to be a wonderful helper for her witch in training.

“So… Do you guys have any plans of moving in together soon?” Wanda hesitates as she not so sneakily takes a chip from Vis’s plate.

You and Bucky look to each other for only a moment before responding, “We’ve been looking at places to go. It’s hard cause we wanna stay in Adelaide but without buyin’ a whole house, there aren’t many options for apartments,” Bucky explains, a small shrug to his shoulders.

“And there’s no way all four of us could fit in my apartment,” you add, copying Bucky’s shrug.

Neither of you were in too much of a hurry to find a place of your own, as you were both content in the homes you were in now. The idea of living with Bucky was quite appealing but you knew the more realistic thing to do would be to wait, save, and research to make sure you both lived in a comfortable environment.

“You guys are so cute it makes me wanna die! Who knew you’d be the ultimate witchy power couple?” Wanda’s swooning caused you to laugh a little as Vision looked at her with mock hurt in his eyes as if to say ‘what are we then?’

Before anyone had a chance to add on, an unexpected voice responded, “I did,”

Your laughter immediately ceased and your attention snapped over to the other side of Bucky’s large frame. Calcifer sat proudly on his haunches as he gazed back at your shocked face.

“W-what do you mean you knew?” Bucky stuttered, equally as shocked as you were.

“I just knew. From the first day you guys met, it was obvious it was that true love bullshit you humans talk about,” the fox brushes off both yours and Bucky’s shock as if it was nothing.

The rest of the group laughs as the pair of you stutter out broken objections to Calcifer’s claim, “A-are you kidding me Cal? That stuff is like… a myth or something,”

“Yeah, I mean I’m in love with Y/n n’ all but-” “You’re in love with me?”

All of the banter around the table halts as five pairs of eyes stare at a now tomato faced Bucky Barnes. “U-um, yes. Yeah-I um, yeah I’m in love with you…” Bucky’s voice is quiet and you’re not sure if he actually said what you heard, but that thought is soon wiped from your mind as an eruption of cheers sounds from your friends.

A grin makes its way onto your face as you stare up at those pretty blue eyes that you really never got tired of looking at, and you can’t help but bring your hand up to run along the stubble of Bucky’s jaw, “I’m in love with you, Buck”

Bucky lets out a sigh of relief and immediately leans down to press his lips against yours in a passionate kiss, both of his large hands framing each side of your face to pull you closer to him.

“Told ya so”

“Shut up you stupid fox!”

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kdacher · 5 years

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Two Paths That Finally Meet: Chapter 1

Notes: Okay so it’s somewhat long and it doesn't mention the boys a whole lot but it has all background information that will help the story out later. Shoutout to @bunnyhopz2000 who came up with the idea and helped me come up with the plot :) Also, i will be using the hashtag 2PTFM so you can find all chapters there!

Ever since I was a baby, my life was picture perfect. Everything had always happened to go my way, well almost everything. I did happen to grow up without a dad as he passed away when I was only three years old in a work accident, and ever since then, it’s just been my mom and me. Like every other girl at my school, I lived in a massive house in Atherton, California, which, kind of made me fall into the typical rich, popular girl group.

At a young age, I fell in love with gymnastics, more specifically, the balance beam. Going into my senior year of high school, offers have been pouring in from many schools like Oklahoma, Florida and even Louisiana, which are some of the top gymnastic schools in America.

This was my life: perfect. Well, until the day of July 24th, 2018 when my life changed in the blink of an eye.

___ ___ ___

“Hello? Miss. Amber Davis?” I slowly opened my eyes, smelling the disinfectant from the hospital, as I slowly sat up from the cold, leather chairs I had layer across in the waiting room. My eyes were burning and bloodshot from all the crying I had done earlier as I looked up at the figure in front of me. She was tall, with a surgical mask around her neck and was holding a clipboard.

“Hi, you must be Amber, I’m doctor Wagner.” She stuck out her hand for me to shake, then sat down in the seat beside me, pulled her glasses down over his eyes and began to skim over the papers. I peeked over her shoulder trying to get a glimpse but she twisted to face me, hugged the clipboard snug against her chest, and began to speak.

“Your mother sustained many life-threatening injuries in the accident. We did everything we could in surgery, but I’m afraid that she isn’t going to make it through the night and if she does make it, she will never be the same.” I looked up at her and nodded, feeling my heartbreak into a million piece and the tears began to roll down my face. She pulled a couple of tissues out of her coat pocket and handed them to me, then wrapped her arm around my back and rubbed it up and down, attempting to comfort me.

“Sweetheart! I got here as fast as I could. How is she doing?” Someone’s wrinkly arms were wrapped around me. “Grandma!” I cried as I jumped up and over the seat to hug her. Dr. Wagner then stood up from where she had been seated and approached us.

“Are you the mother of Mrs. Abbie Davis?” Doctor Wagner asked. My grandmother pulled away from the hug and faced her putting her arm around my shoulder pulling me close to her.

“No, actually I'm her Mother in law, her parents aren’t from around here. Katharine.” She stuck her hand out for a handshake and doctor Wagner introduced herself. “So, what happened to my sweet Abbie?” she asked. Dr. Wagner looked down at me “I think we should let Amber see her, and we can go chat.” We began walking down the long, plain hallway leading to the ICU. When we arrived, Doctor Wagner took the key card dangling from her neck off and inserted it in the door to open it. She then hauled a heavy, wooded chair from the hallway into the room, placing it against the wall and gestured for me to sit in it.

“If you need anything you can find us in the cafeteria or a nurse should be checking in every hour or so.” She smiled and handed me a brown wool blanket. “Please Amber, try to get some sleep, it’s pretty late and it will make you feel better.” She then dimmed the lights and shut the door leaving me alone with my mom.

I tried falling asleep multiple times, but I just couldn’t. Every time I tried, my thoughts would keep me awake and the only thing comforting me was the beeping that her heart monitor had which was indicating that she was still alive. Eventually, I gave up and pulled my chair next to her bed. I grabbed her cold, bruised hand and rested my head beside it.

“Mom, I don’t know if you can hear me but I just need to let you know that I love you so much and that I need you to fight for me. Please, mom, you can't leave me.” My voice began to crack. “I can't lose you like we lost dad. Please, mom, I need you, I can’t do it without you.” The tears began to pour down my face again, staining the white bed sheets black from my mascara.

Not realizing I had finally fallen asleep, I was awoken by a loud, beep that didn’t seem to stop. At first, I thought it was just my alarm, but when I couldn’t find the snooze button, my head sprung up and I realized that it wasn’t just a nightmare. As I looked at the heart monitor, there was a straight, thin, green line across the screen. I jumped out of my chair and bolted out of the room and down the hall meeting Dr. Wagner who was sprinting towards her room with a swarm of doctors. One in which stopped and basically drug me back into the waiting room.

About an hour later, Doctor Wagner appeared in the waiting room. She pulled the mask down from her face and she had a discouraged look on her face. “Amber, Katharine. We did everything and couldn’t revive her. I’m so sorry.” When those words left her mouth I collapsed into my grandmother’s arms, squeezing her tight and began to sob. She ran her hand through my long blonde hair and shushed me, trying to calm me down

____ ____ ____

A couple weeks passed and I was finally starting to get out of bed a feel the slightest bit better. That was all up until I was finally somewhere other than my room. There was a loud knocking at the door and I glanced over at my grandmother who was standing up from the couch. She handed me the TV remote, which I tossed on the coffee table where my feet were.

She swung the door open to see a lady wearing a black pantsuit holding a black leather briefcase. “Hello, I am here to speak with Amber Davis.” When I heard my name I reached for the remote to turn the volume down on the TV, and sat up putting my feet on the soft fur rug and began to eavesdrop.

“I’m Nancy from social services, I am here to discuss a home placement for her if that’s okay.” My stomach began to ache and everything around me began to spin. I heard the door squeak open and high heels begin to click against the tile.

“Amber, someone is here to speak with us.” My grandmother announced as she turned the corner from the front entrance.

“And you must be Amber,” Nancy said as she sat in the white chair across from me. She then unzipped her briefcase, and digging through many files until she pulled out a yellow file labeled “ACD.” She opened the file, handed a copy to my grandmother and me, and began to skim through it.

“Okay, so it says here that you were born January 2nd, 2001, since you will not be 18 until then, we will have to find you a home. You will live there until your 18 and you can either choose to stay or leave.” She said pointing to a line highlighted in yellow so we could follow along. “Now if you skip to the top of the last paragraph on the second page it states that you were adopted on the fourth of January 2001 to Mr. and Mrs. Davis. Is this correct?” she glanced up at my grandmother, who looked at me with an ashamed look in her eye and nodded “Yes, that’s correct.”

They began a conversation about the adoption details, which I clearly wasn’t a part of because I had no idea. This had my head spinning and I felt like I was going to pass out. After a good five minutes of trying to work it out in my head, everything was finally falling into place. I always questioned why my parents were both super tall, with brown eyes and dark brown curly hair, which was the complete opposite of me. I had straight golden blonde hair, green eyes, and I was never really that tall. Nancy began to speak to me again, which snapped me out of my daze.

“Okay anyways, on that date, your parents and birth parents signed a form that stated if anything were to happen to your parents, you would be moving in with them rather than a foster family. Since this is the case I have arranged a flight for you on Wednesday.”

“What do you mean, a flight.” I snapped back

“Well, your family is living in Michigan, so you will have to move there.”

“Who are they,” I asked. Nancy then pulled a picture out of the file. It was a family of four. They had two sons, one looked to be about the same age as me.

“So, these are the Caufield's. Kelly, Paul, Brock, and Cole.” She replied by pointing at each as she said their name. “Oh, and it turns out Cole it's your twin brother. Says here he was born fifteen minutes before you.”

My blood was now boiling for so many reasons. One of which, was that I was moving in with a family that picked my brother over me and basically disowned me.

“Alright, that’s all for today. I will see you bright and early Wednesday morning!” She then grabbed the folder, put it back in her briefcase and marched out the front door.

#usa ntdp #ntdp #cole caufield #trevor zegras #spencer knight #owen lindmark #Jack Hughes #alex turcotte #Patrick Moynihan #2PTFM #hockey #hockey imagines

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shurisneakers · 6 years

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espresso [4]

Summary: In which your best friend’s brother begins to set you up on dates when you mention that you haven’t been in a relationship in years, but things don’t go as expected.

Warning: swearing, dating, anger issues

A/N: this is my entry for the beautiful @bithors writing challenge!

hey hey big shoutout to @samingtonwilson because every time she betas this and sends me the revised copy im like!!!! a QUEEN!!!! holy shit!!!

here’s my ko-fi if you’d like to support my writing <333

Previous part- Part 3 || Espresso Masterlist

“No. Fucking. Way.”

“Yes fucking way! Ain’t she beautiful?” Bucky beamed, running his hands gingerly over the door of his new ride. An old muscle car, a sleek black with a few scratches and dents, but proudly glinting in the moonlight.

You let out a low whistle, glancing up at Bucky as you crouched beside the car for a better look. “Gorgeous. She got a name?”

“I was debatin’ Grace, but now I’m thinkin’ she’s more of an April. What do you think?”

You would have teased him, but this was genuinely the happiest you’d seen him in a long time. Alight eyes were crinkled at the corners and his grin was one of the largest you’d ever seen, and heck, you wondered why he couldn’t be like this more often.

“Shits, that’s perfect.”

You sent him a pair of finger-guns when he opened the door for you and he rolled his eyes in feigned exasperation, smile still stretched over his lips.

In an empty threat, he replied, “Say shit one more time in plural and you’re walking there on your own.”

“Well, God forbid a girl has funs,” you joked only to be met with a groan of annoyance. “Oh, calm down.”

Once in the car, you immediately went to set your feet on the dashboard, legs crossed at the ankle, but received a deadly glare. You slowly lowered your feet, never breaking eye contact with him even as your features twisted in playful fear.

As you tugged your seatbelt on, you asked, “When’d you get her?”

“Two days ago. Couldn’t afford the payments on the other one. Sold it to some frat guys ages ago and took whatever was left after payin’ off the bank to get this one.” He sighed contentedly as he turned the key in the ignition so the engine roared to life. “DMV shit got delayed. She’s probably, like, a third-hand vehicle and needs the upholstery totally ripped up and replaced– but I think she’s pretty great.”

With a soft sound of disagreement, you shook your head. “She’s a ten out of ten, no need for anything. I’m happy for you.”

You tucked your hands behind your head, leaning back into the worn out leather seats which had turned soft over years of use, and a soft sigh of comfort left your lips to prove your point.

“How are your classes going?” he asked after a moment, still smiling softly at your previous statement.

“Getting fingered by Wolverine would be less painful,” you replied casually so Bucky choked and coughed on an inhale. You laughed quietly. “How’s engineering going?”

The indicator made a clicking noise you thought must have sounded less out of tune years ago as he took a left turn. “Shitty. Fuckin’ hate it.”

Eyebrows furrowed, you tilted your head with an agape mouth. “Shitty? Two days ago it was the shit, you said you loved it, that you elected to major in it.”

He gave you a tight-lipped smile and half a shrug and, immediately, you knew something was wrong. While you and Bucky didn’t often discuss your respective career choices and plans for the future, each time you did manage a conversation adjacent, he’d mentioned it was something he’d wanted to do– hell, had he not mentioned it, the number of shitty jokes and puns he made in its reference would have convinced you alone.

“Didn’t want to at first. But Becca advertised wanting to go into journalism all throughout high school and it’s not– it’s not a traditionally lucrative job, at least for the first few years.” He shrugged again, this time in a bit of insecurity, nervousness, but his eyes remained trained on the road. “Figured one of us should be able to embrace that nontraditional job so I picked up something more secure. Something secure because things at home are, you know…”

He had trailed off, but you knew what he meant. Money was a sensitive topic for both, Rebecca and Bucky and, although they could never be ashamed of their family, their pride kept them from asking for help from you despite your continued offering.

“Anyway, she ended up choosing poli-sci for law school for the same reason, so that was pretty ironic,” he grinned and you could see it didn’t reach his eyes, maybe hurting his cheeks as much as it hurt you just to see it.

You remained silent and your teeth wreaked havoc on your lower lip as he continued, “Can’t do anything about it now, though. But, if I could, I’d change my choices in an instant.”

Toying with your fingers in your lap, you asked, “What would you major in instead?”

“I don’t know, it’s kind of stupid really–“

“Didn’t you wanna write?” you added softly, eliciting a look of surprise from him.

He glanced at you quickly. “How’d you know?”

“You were always writing in high school. I saw you with your little notebook every lunch, Bucky,” you laughed, images of an acne-covered Bucky with shoulder-length hair bent over a tiny journal, scribbling for the life of him.

He groaned in embarrassment, a light pink dusting over his cheeks. “I can’t believe you noticed that, Christ. The emo phase was strong.”

“Well, if it helps, I think you’d be a kick-ass writer. I’d be first in line to buy your book. Wouldn’t even sell it on eBay after getting you to sign it.”

He fell silent at that, choosing to bite his lip in place of a response. You’d begun to wonder if you’d said something wrong when he whispered, “Thanks, Mario.”

You didn’t say much more, only turning to look out the window. It wasn’t too long before you heard him chuckle to himself but before you could ask him what he was laughing about, he spoke up, “This is so sad. Alexa, play Despacito.”

You snorted. Fuckin’ dork.

Bucky was leaned against the door of his car as he waited with you until your date for the evening arrived, keeping you engrossed in the utterly ridiculous nonsense you both spoke about.

“I’m just saying, if you made coffee with Gatorade and injected it into your bloodstream, you’re basically God. Like, who the fuck would need heroin then?” you tried explaining for the fifth time, unable to keep the smile off your face. You had your arms crossed over your chest in an effort to keep yourself warm whilst Bucky’s hands were shoved into the pockets of his sweatpants.

“Gatorade is for cowards, we use only Red Bull in this holy house– it actually does something. How about if you mixed vodka, ground espresso beans, and protein powder, then snorted it–”

You clicked your tongue. “Intravenous is more effective–”

“Didn’t realize the offer of a date included you, James.”

In a bit of a laborious task, you looked away from Bucky to the guy who came to a stop before you. Dark hair gelled back and darkness which wasn’t hidden by his glasses surrounding deep hazel eyes, he wore a simple black sweater over a pale blue t-shirt. “But I’m not complaining. Love me some three-way action.”

“Tony,” Bucky sighed, smiling nonetheless. “This is–“

“Mario? I figured.” Tony flashed a quick smile at you.

Immediately you could hear loud sniggering from beside you, making you spin to face him in annoyance. “You have got to stop doing that! What the fuck?” you exclaimed, punching a laughing Bucky on the shoulder as he feebly tried to defend himself.

“My name’s Y/N, not Mario,” you stated to clear the confusion, rolling your eyes at Bucky who burst out laughing again, clearly showing no remorse.

He looked from his watch to you, not fazed by your exchange with Bucky. “Ah, I see. Well, shall we get going? Game’s about to start.”

“See ya later, Mario. Have a good time, guys.” Bucky ruffled your hair as you tried to swat his hand away, taking a step towards Tony as he looked at you with a small smile on his face. “I’ll be on the other side of the court if you need me.”

“D’you want to get some food during halftime or before the first quarter?” Tony asked once Bucky waved a goodbye and jogged to join his friends.

“Halftime sounds good, I think the game’s about to start,” you answered, sending him a half smile.

He only nodded and adjusted his glasses, beckoning for you to join him.

You both made small talk and it turned out he wasn’t nearly half as bad as Peter. He rarely spoke of himself and only mentioned he would be looking for a sustainable source of energy in the future, something about wanting to lessen the environmental burden of current energy dependencies.

It started out well enough, the both of you commenting on the players who you knew. You waved at Sam from your place on the bleachers and he shot you a wink in response

“Sam’s starting tonight and it’s against the Gotham Jokers. S’why Bucky and everyone else is here,” you explained, leaning forward to rest your elbows on your knees.

“Wilson? Number seven? He’s your friend?” Tony asked, squinting at the ball as it was tossed into the air, soon taken by one of the Jokers.

You didn’t bother sparing him a glance as you watched Sam quickly steal the ball back and passing it to Rhodey. “Yeah. Why d’you sound so surprised?”

“Think he’s a bit overrated, that’s all,” Tony mumbled, making you reel back and stare at him disbelievingly. “Got the whole school worshipping the ground he walks on.”

“Captain of the team, MVP last season. He got scholarships to three different prestigious universities, too,” you recited, jumping to your feet as Sam made a shot from the three point line, the ball going in effortlessly with a swish. You looked over your shoulder to raise an eyebrow at Tony, “Still think he’s overrated?”

He only shrugged. “Guess not.”

The next few minutes flew by quickly, Tony progressively getting more invested in the game as it went on. He occasionally let out a cheer when you did, but other than that, he was more observant than anything.

But just as the Jokers were about to pass the ball, Tony jumped to his feet with a scowl, “Double dribble! Double fucking dribble! He stopped! What the fuck, why isn’t anyone calling that out?”

“Tony, he didn’t hold it. There was no double dribble,” you urged as the people surrounding you turned to glare at you both.

“Jesus fuck, this entire crowd is ignorant. Uneducated,” he stated angrily, sitting down in a huff.

You patted him on the back in attempted consolation, but he only ignored you, continuing to glower ahead.

Everything was fine and dandy until the Jokers’ defense pushed one of your team’s players when the referee wasn’t watching. In Tony’s defense, everybody reacted loudly to that. But no one had the passion Tony had when he leapt up like a fucking Jack in the Box, fists thrown in the air. “What the fuck!?” he screamed to no one in particular.

“Yeah, what the fuck!?” you echoed, cupping your hands around your mouth.

“You fucking blind ass, stupid piece of shit, punkass bitch!” he raged, pupils dilated and eyebrows furrowed.

“Okay, never mind.” You promptly sat down, trying to pull Tony with you but he shook you off fervently. You thought he resembled the fucking Tasmanian Devil from Looney Toons.

“That was a foul! Why don’t you use your fucking whistle, you trick ass little bitch?! Try blowing something other than your own dick for once!” he screamed at the referee, shaking his arms around wildly.

“Jesus Christ,” you whispered, putting your head in your hands as he ranted on and on for another ten seconds before finally sitting down, cursing steadily to himself.

When your team made an effortless basket, you prayed it would calm Tony down. And to some extent it did work and he kept quiet until the first quarter was up, only rolling his eyes when people turned to look at him.

Ignoring them from that moment on, he tilted his head as he watched Sam send a wink to a girl who only rolled her eyes playfully in response. “Who’s that?”

“Sam.”

“I know that’s Sam, I’m asking who the girl is.”

“Sam’s girlfriend, Sam,” you replied as you laughed at his expression of confusion.

“Sam has a girlfriend… named Sam?” You nodded as he sighed, smiling despite himself. “Fuck, what would their couple name be?”

“Well, they’re Sam and Sam. Or as I like to call them,” you dropped your voice as he raised an amused eyebrow, “Sam.”

“That’s so fucking creative, how did you ever think of that name?” he asked, a smile on his face that made him look ten times less stressed than he’d been mere moments ago.

You actually didn’t mind Tony at that moment. You might have even considered him to be fun.

That was until the next quarter started and the referee called a foul on Sam for apparently no reason and Tony was back on his feet, face red like one of those ugly Angry Birds. He then started in a shrieking voice, “Oh, so now you want to blow that whistle, you piece of utter shi–“

Tony gave you a ride back to your apartment after the game which had ended much later than you thought it would. You knew Bucky had left after the third quarter when he sent you a text saying he needed to get up early for his shift, but he asked you to call him when you got home safe.

You wondered if he was still awake but, as you’d promised, you called him the moment you crossed the building threshold.

“Hello?” his rasped in an infinitely exhausted voice– you instantly regretted calling him.

“Hey, fuck, sorry. I didn’t think you’d be asleep. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, get some rest,” you said hurriedly, guilt seeping through your words.

“No, no, it’s fine,” he paused and you could hear him yawn despite the muffling over the line. “Is everything fine, baby?”

“Yeah everything’s– wait, what did you just call me?” you asked as you bit your tongue and your eyebrows shot up in surprise.

The silence you were met with was quickly followed by a string of curses, presumably since he perceived what he’d said. His voice was clearer as he replied, “Shit. Sorry, Mario. It just slipped out. I’m, like, half dead. Is everything alright?”

“Yeah. Just called to talk about the king of anger paralysis, clone of Charlie Sheen, Tasmanian Devil embodiment–”

Bucky cut you off with a sigh. “Tony?”

“Oh, yes. Wanna hear all about my super great time with dear Squidward or should I save it for tomorrow?” you asked as you jogged up the stairs to your apartment.

You could hear rustling on the other end before he yawned once again, saying lightly, “I’m ready. Go on for as long as you want.”

“It all started when he called the referee a ‘fucking blind ass, stupid piece of shit, punkass bitch.’”

Bucky sighed. “Oh, shits.”

PART 5

TAGLISTS ARE CLOSED

#bucky x reader #bucky barnes x reader #mcu fic #bucky fic #bucky barnes fic #bucky fluff #bucky barnes fluff #bucky angst #bucky barnes angst #college!bucky #college!au #college!bucky x reader #kumis5kchallenge

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second-hand-heaven · 6 years

Text

Rubba Dub Dub (Three Heroes in a Tub)

superwonderbat drabble for the prompt “cuddling in the bath”

Ao3

Summ: Clark is fascinated by Bruce’s huge bathtub

again, shoutout to @tantalum-cobalt for co-writing this <3

It’s no exaggeration to say that Bruce Wayne has a lot of money. And money can certainly buy a lot of big things. He’s got a big house, a bigger estate, a big family, a big… bed. And apparently, a big bathtub. More of a hot tub, really, with all the bells and whistles and room enough to fit three people comfortably.

Clark’s never seen a bathtub big enough to comfortably fit himself inside, let alone to fit more than one of him. It opens up tantalising new possibilities for getting clean, perhaps while not alone. Clark has been thinking about them since the first time he saw the tub.

Clark floats to Bruce’s bedroom window, opening the latch and flying across the sill, making a beeline for the bathroom. The spacious bathroom is filled with afternoon sunlight, spilling in through the frosted glass window. It’s all sleek granite and tile that Alfred keeps so polished Clark can see his face by his feet when he looks down.

Bruce should be at work for another few hours and the rest of the house quiet. That giant bathtub beckons Clark forward. The taps don’t squeak when he turns the water on; the plumbing in Wayne Manor is much better than his mid-tier apartment.

Clark opens drawers and cupboards while the tub fills with water. He’s not sure what he’s looking for but he knows it as soon as he sees it. A single bottle of bubble bath, hiding behind a pack of new toothbrushes and a box of tampons, still with the safety seal intact. Bingo.

Clark turns back around and finds the tub has filled almost to the top. Another excellent thing about Wayne Manor’s plumbing: the best water pressure Clark has ever had the pleasure of experiencing. A few squirts of bubble bath then he quickly turns the taps off and strips, kicking his clothes into a rough pile.

The water is a little too hot but that doesn’t bother Clark. He climbs in gracelessly, water splashing over the side, soaking into the ridiculously fluffy bath mat. Oops. He probably shouldn’t have let the water run so long. It comes up to Clark’s neck when he sinks down, feelings almost silky from the bubble bath.

On the shelf beside the tub, three pairs of eyes stare at him. Three little ducks, all in a row, dressed respectively in armour, a cowl, and one with a very familiar hair curl.

What on Earth? A peel of laughter bubbles from his lips, unnaturally loud in the echoey bathroom. Of all the things he expected to find in Bruce Wayne’s bathroom, rubber ducks weren’t even close to being on the list. Maybe they belong to Bruce’s kids? They’re all a little too old for bathtime friends, he thinks, but it’s not like he can judge.

He sets them down on the surface of the water, watching them bob across the light waves he makes with every movement. Batman and Wonder Woman bump together, rubber bills touching, and Clark grins in delight. He’s taking a bath with the Justice League’s trinity, what more could he want?

But wouldn’t it be nice if Bruce and Diana were here, if the real trinity were taking a bath together? As nice as the rubber versions are, Clark would rather run his fingers through Diana’s hair, feel Bruce’s muscles against his back. Lips against his neck, his cheek, hands massaging hard to reach places, slipping further and further down his back until-

Clark is broken from his daydream when he hears Bruce enter the bedroom, his oxfords light against the floorboards, naturally quiet even in his own home. Not that it matters since Clark heard his heartbeat before the car even turned up the driveway.

“Clark?” Bruce calls out, knowing, always knowing, although Clark has to concede the open window is a bit of a give away. That and the clothes strewn across Bruce’s bed.

“In here,” Clark says, even though it’s obvious Bruce already knows.

The door pushes open and Bruce leans against the frame, arms crossed, the fabric of his rolled up shirt sleeves pulled tight across his biceps. “What are you doing?”

“Taking a bath.” He suppresses a smile at the way Bruce’s eyebrow twitches.

“Clark, get out of the bathtub,” he grunts.

“No.” Clark sinks lower beneath the bubbles. They tickle under his nose and he sneezes, spluttering at the soapy water that goes up his nose. Bruce just rolls his eyes.

“How long have you been in here? It’s got to be freezing… you’re re-heating it with your vision aren’t you?”

“Maybe.” Clark’s lips are barely above the surface. “Join me?”

“I have work to do.” It’s a lie. If Bruce had work to do, he’d be doing it.

“I know your knee is acting up again. Come on, this will help.”

“Are you a doctor now?”

“Met U gave me an honorary doctorate.” Clark grins. “So yeah, guess I am a doctor now.”

Bruce rolls his eyes but starts unbuttoning his shirt. Clark couldn’t tear his eyes away even if he wanted to. Each item is folded meticulously and set on the lid of the laundry hamper, out of reach from the expanding puddle of water on the floor.

Bruce’s left knee is bathed in purple and blue as he steps into the bathtub, careful not to put weight on it. Clark winces in sympathy as Bruce sinks beneath the bubbles, sitting opposite Clark in the tub. Their legs tangle together, feet sliding along muscular calves.

“See?” Clark says, carefully avoiding Bruce’s injury. “This is nice.”

Bruce just grunts at him, his foot brushing past Clark’s knee and-

“Bruce?” Diana calls out from the other room, the sound of her heels clicking growing louder and louder with each step.

She stands in the bathroom, hands on her hips, eyebrow raised in disapproving half-smile. “Boys,” Diana says, her tone chiding, “we have reservations in an hour.”

Dang. Clark had completely forgotten about dinner. But food is the last thing on his mind right now. “Dinner can wait, come join us.”

Bruce hums his agreement; the reservation is in his name after all, and it wouldn’t be the first time Bruce Wayne cancelled last minute. Or was unfashionably late. It might be the first time it’s because he’s relaxing not working himself to death though.

Diana sighs and kicks off her heels. Clark beams at her, feeling more and more like the cat that got the cream. Even better, he’s the man that got Batman and Wonder Woman.

“You’re a bad influence, Clark Kent,” Diana says as she slips off her dress, letting it pool on the floor, along with her underwear.

“Who me?” Clark says, the picture of innocence.

Bruce snorts and holds out a hand for Diana to help her into the tub. More water sloshes over the side, creeping across the tiles and soaking into Diana’s pile of clothes.

“Come here,” Clark says, arms stretched out to receive them. When neither moves, he sighs, and reaches out for them. Clark pulls them both close, their wet skin sliding slickly together like well oiled machine parts. They fit together, the three of them, pieces of a jigsaw, snug and at home in each others arms.

The three little ducks bump into each other, Superman between Wonder Woman and Batman. Perfect, Clark thinks, smiling contentedly at his ducky counterpart from between his lovers.

FIN

#superwonderbat #dc #dc trinity #trinity #superbat #superwonder #wonderbat #diana prince #wonder woman #clark kent #superman #bruce wayne #batman #fic #my fic #tantalum-cobalt #cuddle drabbles #baths #Trinity tuesday

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mang0fruitblast · 6 years

Text

I’ll Never Leave You

Summary: “Frank,” she begins as she wipes her eyes and steadies her voice, “You don’t know how much you mean to me. I’ve been feeling so alone lately without Matt and Foggy’s so occupied with Marci and work he doesn’t realize all that I’ve been going through. It’s made me feel better—and safe, just knowing you’re out there. I’m glad you sent the flowers. I was afraid—” she breaks off again. “I was afraid that the elevator was going to be the last time I saw you alive.”

Hesitantly, she looks into his eyes. In them, she can see a multitude of emotions, some she can read, some that make her shiver.

Frank sets down the wine glass and says tenderly, with purpose, his voice low and deep, “Karen, I’ll never leave you.”

Set right after The Punisher ends // Thanksgiving fluff

Note: So after years of mooching off everyone else with countless fandoms, I'm finally getting my shit together and writing something for once. This is my first fanfiction ever so I'd appreciate any comments about anything!! I intended this to be a one-shot, but if I get an idea for continuing it, I will!

Shoutout to @throwndownsilvergirl on tumblr for giving me the idea of a Thanksgiving fic

Also on ao3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12850413

It’s after 6 p.m. The meeting with Curtis and the other veterans is over now, and for the first time in a long time, Frank doesn’t have anywhere to go. He doesn’t have anything to do or anyone to see. He contemplates asking Curtis if he can join him and his family for their Thanksgiving meal, but he doesn’t want to barge in. Plus, he’s sure that Curtis is tired of his shit and all the violence that follows Frank wherever he goes.

For a brief moment, he considers Micro and his family, but then shakes his head. The Liebermans just got their father back; they want to spend time with him, not the murdering liar who had left their lives as abruptly as he entered them. Besides, Curtis and Micro, though he admires and is fond of them, are not who he wants to spend his Thanksgiving with.

He thinks about calling her. Karen Page. The woman who entered his life as he began his crusade as the Punisher and persisted in hearing his story in the hospital room. The woman who wasn’t afraid to point a gun at his face. The woman who was compassionate and would readily give her money to the homeless on the streets. The woman he was beginning to feel something real for. A feeling similar to what he felt for Maria but had since evaded him since her death.

But even though his fight is over, Frank is loath to reintroduce Karen in his life. He doesn’t want anyone, not one person, to know what she means to him and to use her to get to him. He would rather have both his eyes gouged out like Rawlins, have his face broken in a thousand places from glass on a carousel like Billy, be stabbed in the neck like Stein than let one hair on Karen’s head be touched by someone trying to reach him.

He thinks back to that night last year when Karen had that hand cannon pointed at his face. The way she held it, like she meant business, almost seemed that she’d used a weapon like that before. However, he didn’t think she’d actually use it, not on him, but he was proud of her for owning it and not being afraid of holding it. It was the first time he began to think of Karen a little differently. And that partly led to what he did next. He heard the faint click of safeties going off, and in that instant, he knew that unless he did something, what happened to his family would happen to Karen in a few seconds. He dove for her, shielded her, protected her. He didn’t know much about this woman, but he knew he had to make sure she didn’t get hurt.

Now, he knows a little better. She’s been trained more. She can take care of herself more. If he’s not involved in her life and if she stops trying to dig up the dirtiest of the dirty of Hell’s Kitchen, what she can do to protect herself will be enough. But he knows better. He knows that there’s no way she’ll stop doing what she’s doing, and he knows there’s no way he can stay away from her. Not anymore.

He wishes he could call her, but he can’t. He feels like he’s taken so much from her life and also she’s such an accommodating person that if he called her she would say “of course, Frank, come on over” even if she didn’t really want him there. He wants to be there with her, but he cares too much about her to be selfish and get what he wants without considering if it’s what she wants.

Quickly, he decides what to do. He goes to the nearest open grocery store and buys a dozen white roses. White roses, meaning pure. Karen, meaning pure. He’s not sure if she would agree with that meaning due to some hints she’s given about her past, but compared to him, Karen is as spotless and blameless as a baby lamb.

He asks the cashier for a spare piece of paper and a pen and hastily scrawls a note on it. “Karen. I’d like to see you, but I don’t know if you have plans or are in the mood to see anyone right now. If it’s okay for me to stop by, you know what to do with these.” He doesn’t sign it. She’ll know who they’re from.

He walks the now-familiar route to her apartment, places the flowers outside her door, and walks away as quickly as he can. Not expecting much, he crosses the street to another building and climbs to the roof, settling into his old sniper spot, the place where he’s kept an eye on her all this time. When he peers through the scope of his rifle to Karen’s apartment, to his shock, the flowers are already there, on her windowsill.

He grins, the first time he’s smiled since he can remember as he quickly packs up his rifle and heads back over to her apartment. Climbing the stairs for the second time this hour, anticipation lightens his heart. Roughly, he knocks on the door. He waits a moment, then says, “Karen, it’s me. You don’t need your weapon.”

Karen opens the door with a sheepish look on her face. She tucks the gun into the waistband of her sweatpants. “You can never be sure in this city. They were just saying on the news that a CIA agent named William Rawlins was brutally murdered and his killer is still at large.”

Frank misses the twinkle in her eye. “I had to, Karen. He killed my family. I had to.” His voice raises several levels in volume and Karen can hear the fervor with which he says it. It’s the same fervor she heard when he told her, by the river, that he couldn’t let the same thing happen to her.

“I know, Frank, I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it that way. Here, come on in.” She takes a step back and opens the door wider to allow him and his huge artillery bag to fit through. He walks in and dumps his bag on the floor feeling awkward in Karen’s apartment. There’s so much her everywhere. He looks around. Worn copies of the Anne of Green Gables series lie on her bookshelf. On the stove, he can see a couple pots. The delicious smell of spaghetti sauce fills the air. Through the French doors leading to her bedroom, he can see that her bed is unmade, her work clothes on the floor, neglected since yesterday, when she threw them off as soon as she got home. When he looks back at Karen, she’s pouring red wine into two glasses. After she offers one to him and he accepts, she studies him.

He has a gash on the side of his head that’s healing, but still looks nasty. His breathing is a bit labored. Both his eyes are bruised. She wonders if this look, this perpetual state of injury, will ever end.

“Frank, is there something I don’t know about Rawlins? You look like you’ve taken a hit, which means since it’s you, you were probably hurt pretty badly. When are you going to take care of yourself?”

Frank just shrugs.

Karen knows that this means that he was, in fact, hurt pretty badly. She grows frustrated with him for continuously putting himself in these situations.

“Dammit, Frank, you could’ve died! You could’ve died and left me too!”

“Red died and you seem to be doing okay,” Frank mutters under his breath. He’s jealous of the blind crusader because he has Karen’s affection. Unfortunately, she hears him.

“Of course I’m not doing okay! One of the only friends I have in the world is dead! I’m trying to put on a brave face, to move through the stages of grief, but inside, I feel like I have no one to turn to besides you! And if you left me too, I don’t know what I’d do!” By this point, her voice has risen an octave and she’s practically crying.

“I don’t know what I’d do,” she repeats softly, as tears flood her eyes.

“Frank,” she begins as she wipes her eyes and steadies her voice, “You don’t know how much you mean to me. I’ve been feeling so alone lately without Matt and Foggy’s so occupied with Marci and work he doesn’t realize all that I’ve been going through. It’s made me feel better—and safe, just knowing you’re out there. I’m glad you sent the flowers. I was afraid—” she breaks off again. “I was afraid that the elevator was going to be the last time I saw you alive.”

Hesitantly, she looks into his eyes. In them, she can see a multitude of emotions, some she can read, some that make her shiver.

Frank sets down the wine glass and says tenderly, with purpose, his voice low and deep, “Karen, I’ll never leave you.”

He hesitantly opens his arms and she falls into them, fitting as perfectly in them in this moment as she did in the moment after Lewis blew himself up and Frank had to pretend to hold her hostage, her back flush against him, to get away from the SWAT team. While her heart thrilled in that instant, there was too much anxiousness surrounding them that she couldn’t focus on the feeling. Now, they have all the time in the world, and she lingers, fully appreciating the fluttering in her stomach, the quickening of her heartbeat. She’s still nervous, though, about this thing, this feeling, between them, and after a minute, she awkwardly pulls away.

Frank senses the newfound tension between them and breaks it by asking, “So, what’s for dinner?”

“Oh, shit! My water is boiling!” Karen darts over to the stove, opens a box of spaghetti and dumps it unceremoniously into the pot. She takes the lid off the smaller saucepan, stirs the contents, blows on the spoon, and tastes the sauce. Nodding at herself, she again covers the pot, and turns around.

“So,” Frank begins with a half-smile on his face, “Spaghetti on Thanksgiving?”

Karen flushes slightly before she answers. “My grandma was Italian growing up, and she’d always make us spaghetti for special occasions. Usually Christmas and when someone requested it for their birthday. She was born in Italy, so it’s the real deal. It’s a day long process to make it, so when I’m up for it, I make a huge pot and freeze the sauce to defrost later when I want a little taste of home.”

Frank’s eyes soften as he hears this story. He realizes he doesn’t know much about Karen since she’s so private about her personal life, so he relishes this moment of revelation. He listens as she continues.

“I know it’s weird to have spaghetti on Thanksgiving, but I didn’t feel like doing a lot of cooking, and I could use the comfort it brings me.”

“No, it’s great!” Frank is quick to add. He can’t help but think of Maria and how making spaghetti was a big part of her family’s traditions too. He’s always considered himself a spaghetti snob since first tasting her sauce, but after smelling Karen’s apartment, he thinks that she could give Maria a run for her money in this regard, among others.

He resumes his thought in a teasing voice.

“I’m learning so much about you. You don’t like conforming to the traditional food eaten on holidays. You actually own sweatpants and t-shirts. What’s next, a hidden child I’ve never heard of?”

Karen giggles and with that, it’s like they’re old friends. They chat amicably as the pasta cooks and Karen pours them a second, then a third glass of wine. During dinner, Frank laughs more than he had since Maria, Lisa, and Frankie died.

After their meal, he helps her clean up the kitchen and dishes. They sit in Karen’s living room and pour the dregs of the wine bottle into their glasses. For a while, they just sit, enjoying each other’s company.

It’s nearing the end of the night. They can both sense what’s about to happen. Frank, trying to be the polite gentleman, thanks Karen for the wine and the food and begins to make his way to the door.

“Frank…” He turns, hopeful.

“Please, stay.” He does.

Frank falls asleep on the couch. He doesn’t want to push any boundaries. He wakes up in Karen’s bed. She’s tucked into him, their bodies gently curved together. He smiles and closes his eyes, then falls back asleep.

When Karen wakes up, she smiles too.

#first fanfic ever lmk what yall think!!#kastle #kastle fanfic #kastle fanfiction #the punisher #karen page #frank castle

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