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kingdomof-omens · 9 months

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The Best Way to Get Over Someone is to Get Under Someone Else

Masterlist Can also be found on Wattpad This is a work of fiction based on real people. If you don't like it, don't read it.

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Pairing: Noah x OFC, Jolly x OFC, Noah x OFC x Jolly

Warnings: threesome, double penetration, anal sex, shibari, female oral sex, P in V sex, praise kink (mild), degradation (mild), erotic asphyxiation, language, orgasm denial, slight BDSM vibes, mentions of cheating, barebacking (use protection!)

Note: This was a part two request sent in by FevMotionless on Wattpad.

Also, have this fic that I've spent weeks on. Writer's block was a bitch, so just take it lol.

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It had been almost a year since the night Noah made Ismine's fantasy come to life. She woke up the next morning with Jolly missing from their bed, already off to start his day. They didn't talk again about that night, but no awkwardness had come from it. Their relationships were the same as it had been before.

In the time since that night, Jolly had even met and started dating a beautiful woman by the name of Jordan. Ismine and the guys had all met her and they all welcomed her with open arms, bringing her into the mix of their little chosen family. She got along with everyone, and Jolly was a lot happier than usual, coming up with some great ideas for the guys' new album.

That's why when Jolly seemed to distance himself from everyone in the house, it was something Ismine picked up on. She noticed he left his room less and less, even telling Noah he'd listen to a new song idea later which was incredibly unusual for the Swede.

So one night, while Noah was locked in their home studio, Ismine climbed up the stairs and carried her body to stand in front of Jolly's bedroom. There was no sound coming from inside and no light casting underneath the door indicating he was even in. But Ismine hadn't seen him leave in days and knew he was holed up inside.

Her fist had rapped on his door before she could even think about it, causing Jolly to stir inside his little haven. She heard him bite out a muffled "What?" through the door, so she grabbed the knob and entered.

Living with a bunch of men and seeing the messes they created was one thing, but the state of Jolly's bedroom was completely appalling to her. Especially since he was the neat freak of the bunch.

Food wrappers and cups had littered every surface of his room, notebooks and torn pages were thrown everywhere on the ground, and Jolly....poor Jolly was curled in his bed looking so disheveled.

His long hair was thrown up into a messy bun and he was wearing the same clothes from the last time Ismine saw him leave his space. And to be honest, he had a musk of BO coating himself indicating that he hadn't even taken a shower...which was concerning in itself.

"Hey bubs...been wondering where you been. I haven't seen you." Ismine spoke softly, making her way over food wrappers and torn paper to sit next to him on the bed.

"Yeah, well. You found me. Congratulations." He spit back, curling into himself further to hide away from her.

"What's going on in that brain of yours to make you become a recluse, hmm?" She reached out and pulled the tie from his hair out, his long tresses cascading the pillow. She attempted to run her fingers through his locks, but the mats and knots that had formed prevented her from doing so. Instead, she gently started working the knots out with her fingers, hoping he would open up to her.

All he did was huff out in response, hugging his pillow tighter to his chest.

"Joakim." She became stern, no time for bullshit or beating around the bush. "What happened?"

He let out a long sigh and threw the pillow to the side, sitting up against his headboard. Ismine started rubbing his knee as he picked at his fingers in his lap, his head hung low.

"She...she cheated on me. With some fucking asshole from the bar."

"Jordan cheated on you?"

"That's what I said isn't it? Yep. And quite a few times, actually. She claimed I was 'too busy in the studio for her' and she felt 'lonely'." He scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "Fucking bitch."

"Is that what's had you holed up in here by yourself? Jolly...you know you could have came to us and told all of us. We're worried about you." Still rubbing his knee, her other hand grabbed his and held it, her thumb rubbing smoothing circles into the skin.

"Why? So you all can pity me like you're doing now? I don't need your fucking pity, Ismine. I need to bury myself in someone and just fucking forget her."

Memories of their rendezvous a year ago flooded Ismine's mind and her eyes had widened in response. She let go of Jolly and put her hands in her lap to hide the excitement that was building from those memories.

"I, um..I can ask him." She whispered out, looking over to his side table to avoid his gaze.

"What?"

"I can ask him if he'd like to...you know. Share again. If that's what you need."

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She was sitting on her knees atop Jolly's bed this time, hands currently being tied behind her back by Noah. He was taken aback by her request a few nights ago and asked if she was okay with it since he knew how Jolly could be after a breakup. He saw the multiple women leaving their house in relationships past, makeup smeared down their face and the limp they carried as they scurried out the door. He explained these things to Ismine so she knew what she was asking for, but she didn't mind. Noah had told her he didn't care as long as he was involved, so if Jolly got too carried away Noah could stop the whole ordeal.

As he tightened the last knot on the rope that was binding her arms behind her back, he kissed her temple and whispered encouraging words into her ear. Jolly requested to come in as Noah was already pleasuring her and her moans were going to be the call for Jolly to come in.

She was warned that it would be rough, and she'd be lying if she said it didn't cause her to squeeze her legs together, excitement pooling along her inner folds.

As Noah undressed in front of her, she could feel sparks igniting through her body, the anticipation of the night coating her insides. There were many times where she replayed the scene from a year ago through her head, getting herself off to the memories. She truly thought it was a one-time thing, and as her boyfriend tugged on his dick a few times before walking towards her, she was silently thanking whichever god granted her wish of it happening again.

Noah wrapped his long, slender fingers around the back of her head and tugged on her hair, bringing her closer to him. His mouth crashed into hers, his tongue quickly darting in her mouth, before pulling away and telling her to turn around.

Ismine nodded at the command and slowly walked on her knees to face the headboard of Jolly's bed. Noah's hand was still gripping her hair and he pulled her head back, forcing her to move her body backwards on the bed. When she was seated in the center, his other hand came to grip at her hip, and the hand tangled in her hair pushed her down, folding her in half.

"It's just us here, babygirl. I want Jolly to hear all of the pretty noises you're going to make. Got it?" Noah asked, letting go of her hair and sliding his hand down her spine.

"Yes, sir." She answered into the pillows, goosebumps forming on her arms.

Noah chuckled before lowering his body behind her perked ass. He took his hands and spread apart her puffy lips, eyeing the slick that was already coating her folds.

"Looks like you wanted this just as much as he did. Is that right?" He asked, taking a single finger and running it up and down her folds, coating the digit.

"Y-yes sir." She stumbled out, trying to force her body to keep breathing.

"Such a naughty girl. Why didn't you ask before, baby? I would've loved to see you come undone around him." His finger intruded her cunt on the last word, forcing a gasp to escape from Ismine. Her walls clenched around him at the intrusion and he felt his dick twitch in response. His finger started to slowly pump in and out of her, coating his hand in her arousal.

Ismine's face was turned to the door, low moans echoing through the room. Jolly wanted to hear her pleasure, and she made sure to make it so.

"God, I want to taste you." Noah said as he placed a kiss on her ass cheek and pulled his finger from her. She felt herself clench at the emptiness as Noah maneuvered his body to lay his head underneath of her, his hands coming around to grip her upper thighs.

"Ride me, babygirl. Cum on my tongue."

Ismine let out a long moan at Noah's words, forcing her legs wider. His hand came up to grip the rope holding her arms behind her back and he helped her raise her body up, coming to sit on his face. When she was steady, he let go of the rope and gripped her thigh tightly again.

She moaned again when she felt the flat of his tongue putting pressure against her clit and she waited for him to to lap at her. She looked down at Noah between her legs and he cocked a brow at her, silently reminding her that he had told her to ride him. She bit her lip in response, slowly starting to rock her hips back and forth.

He kept his tongue still against her, letting her chase her own pleasure against him. She rolled her hips back and forth over him, moaning out when he would curl his tongue and flick at her clit as her hips rocked back.

She could feel the warm embrace of her orgasm clutching at her insides, ready to snap and wash over her. That was until she felt a hand tangle in her hair and grip her strands tight making her wince from the sudden sting.

Her climax rushed through her, causing her to cry out from the sudden pleasure and she pressed her hips down onto Noah's face to ride through the waves. She felt a mouth kissing her shoulder and she turned her head to see that Jolly had made an appearance, him being the one to pull her hair and cause her to undoing.

He smacked her ass as he kissed her shoulder, tugging on her hair to turn her head more to attack her lips with his. They shared a heated, messy kiss as Noah crawled out from underneath Ismine.

"Did he make you feel good, sweet girl?" He whispered as he pulled away from their kiss. His fingers tenderly traveled down her spine and over the mound of her ass until he was burying them in her cunt, feeling her soaked from arousal.

She whimpered out at his intrusion, her body accepting his fingers with ease. His fingers worked inside of her rubbing against the spongy spot until she could feel the coil tighten in her belly again, another orgasm approaching quickly.

Just as the stars were about to burst behind her eyes, he removed his fingers quickly from her, and pushed her down onto the mattress. "Jolly, please! I'll be a good girl, I promise. Please let me cum!" She begged the Swede as she was trying to rut her hips against the mattress for the needed friction.

Noah leaned down next to her face and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Oh, we'll make you cum alright. You'll be spent by the night is over. Your pussy will be so sensitive, you won't even be able to sit when we're done with you." He kissed her temple as Jolly smacked her ass again, forcing a long moan to drawl out from her chest.

Jolly turned to Noah with an eyebrow raised. "You got the stuff?"

He answered Jolly with a scoff, pointing to the varies objects laying on the side table. "Yeah, right here."

Jolly smiled in return, pulling his shirt over his head. He kicked off his sweatpants quickly, his hard cock bouncing against his belly as he laid down on the bed next to Ismine.

Hs hand caressed her cheek as he spoke softly to her. "Oh, sweet girl. Your boyfriend here is going to warm you up for him while you ride me. Think you can handle us both?"

Her eyes widened and she tried to turn her body to face Noah, who was now at the foot of the bed, stripping himself of his own clothing.

Jolly guided her head to look back at him, reassurance in his voice as he told her "we don't have to. It's up to you, we won't do anything you don't want."

She bit her lip, looking Jolly in his eyes. She could see the heat in them, yes, but she also saw care and compassion. This was Jolly's fantasy, one that he asked to be played out and she could back out with no harm, no foul. But deep inside, it was Ismine's fantasy, too. After the last time they were together, she would sometimes imagine a scenario when she had both men inside of her fucking her senseless.

"I want it. Please, Joakim. I'll be a good girl, please just do it." She begged, raising her ass in the air for Noah, who had just popped the cap on the lube bottle, ready to squeeze some of the sticky substance on his fingers.

Jolly chuckled and raised his head at the other man, nodding at him to signal to help move Ismine on top of his body. Noah had a devious smile on his face and a hard cock to show that he, too, had thought of this as well.

The men helped Ismine maneuver so she was sitting on top of Jolly, and his cock was now pressed between her folds. Ismine couldn't help herself, rocking her hips back and forth on the Swede. The tip of his dick was hitting her clit just the right way, stimulating the aching bud.

Noah grabbed her hips from behind and helped her rock, pushing her body forwards and pulling it backwards. "Gonna cum on his cock, baby girl?"

Her eyes were closed, reveling in the pleasure as she nodded, moaning out a breathy "yes." Her eyes popped open when she felt a warm hand grip her throat, seeing the man below her biting his lip and feeling him tighten his grip on her.

She bit her lip and nodded, indicating to Jolly that yes this is what she wanted, and yes keep doing it. Just as her vision was starting to blur and little black dots creeped into her eyesight, the grip on her throat was released, and Ismine sucked in a breath as her orgasm washed over her again. She cried out from the pleasure as Jolly brought his hands to massage her breasts and Noah let go of her hips. She bent forwards over Jolly as her pussy was clenching around nothingness, her whole body convulsing from the earth shattering orgasm.

Jolly wrapped his arms around her, grabbing the rope that held her arms back and planted kisses to the side of her head, whispering praise as she came down from her climax.

As the last waves were coursing through her veins, she felt a cold sensation press against her tight hole and her body jumped forwards slightly, causing the men around her to chuckle.

"Just breathe, sweet girl. Noah's going to get you ready now. You okay with that?" Jolly asked her, his hand tangling in her hair and his finger tips rubbing her scalp.

"Just relax baby. I'll take care of you while you ride Jolly." Noah soothed her, one of his hands rubbing her ass cheek.

She looked at the man below her and nodded, relaxing her body and slightly moving it backwards until she felt Noah's finger circle her forbidden entrance. Jolly's arms came between their bodies, gripping his length and pressing it against the entrance to her cunt.

"Now beg." He commanded, slightly entering the tip of his cock inside of her and withdrawing it just as quickly.

She moaned out at his words, trying to lower her hips to engulf his erection. Noah's hand gripped her hip, stopping her from moving.

"Please. I need you two. I need to feel you inside of me!" She moaned out, Noah's finger still circling her tight ring.

"You think she deserves it?" Jolly looked around Ismine, asking Noah.

"I don't think she wants it, to be honest. I didn't hear her beg enough." Noah answered, pushing the tip of his finger inside of her ass.

She moaned at the intrusion, the slight sting of pain quickly disappearing with the warm embrace of pleasure. "Please. I'll be a good girl. Just please do something. I need you so bad."

Jolly, finally satisfied, thrusted upwards into Ismine causing her to cry out. "Yes! Thank you!" She yelled out as her eyes rolled into the back of her head.

"Oh, so she likes to thank us for using her?" Jolly asked into the air as his hips moved to snap into her again.

Noah chuckled from behind Ismine as his finger slowly pumped in and out of her hole. He could feel Jolly working her from the inside and a low moan escaped his chest.

Ismine was panting above Jolly, reveling in the feeling of both of her holes being stretched. Even though she had just came, she could feel the coil in her belly starting to wind tight again.

Jolly had started to keep rhythm for her, a slower pace than he would like, but he wanted her to relax and be engulfed in the pleasure as her boyfriend worked her open for him.

He was twisting her nipple with the tips of his fingers when she let out a cry and moaned out "another" to Noah. Happy to satisfy, Noah pulled his finger out of her and poured more lube on his hand. His forefinger and middle finger pressed against her ring as he asked if she was ready. She nodded quickly, letting a low moan escape as Noah's fingers pushed forwards.

Jolly could feel Noah's fingers through her walls, and as weird that it could be out of context, he enjoyed the added sensation on his dick, moaning when he felt Noah scissor his fingers inside of Ismine and slowly pumping to open her up.

Ismine was above him panting with her mouth wide open, surrounded by a warm embrace of pleasure. Jolly took his hand off of her breast and his fingertips tenderly touched her lips. She looked down at Jolly and flicked the tip of her tongue against his finger tip, sending a shock straight to his member. He twitched inside of her and he could hear Noah moan, feeling Jolly.

Jolly's middle and ring finger entered Ismine's mouth, her tongue swirling around his digits as she gently suckled on them. Jolly bit his lip in return, moaning when she sucked harder. He couldn't help himself, really, when he shoved his fingers further into her mouth, touching the back of her tongue. She slightly gagged around his fingers causing Noah to moan from her body clenching around the two men as she gagged.

He kept his fingers there as she moaned out around them. Her saliva dripped down his hand as her eyes rolled to the back of her head, loving the feeling of being used.

Jolly's hips kept a steady pace fucking into her, not enough to bring her to her climax, but enough to make her brain melt into mush and make her relax as Noah pulled his fingers from her and lubed up his dick.

Noah leaned over the two on the bed, his chest against Ismine's arms that were tied around her back, as he started planting sweet kisses along her shoulder blade. He moved her hair away from her neck, sucking a purplish spot into the skin. She could feel him pumping himself against her ass cheek, and she moaned around Jolly's fingers again, so impatient for what was to come.

"You ready for me, baby?" Noah asked against the shell of her ear. With Jolly's fingers still in her mouth, all she could do was nod and moan out, hoping Noah understood how desperate she was to feel both of them inside of her.

"As great as her pussy feels, and how much I love being inside of her, I'm going to need you to hurry up because I really don't think I can last much longer." Jolly grunted below Ismine when her walls clenched around him.

Noah stood from the bed and added more lube to himself, chuckling at Jolly. "With as impatient as you're being, maybe next time we should tie you up and make you wait."

Next time.

Ismine heard it, oh yes she did. And she'd be lying if she told you that phrase didn't throw gasoline on the mild fire burning in the pit of her stomach at this moment. She let out a guttural moan at Noah's words, ticking her hips forwards to meet Jolly's thrusts.

"My naughty girl here is more impatient than you though." Noah told Jolly, smacking Ismine's ass before lining himself up. Jolly buried himself to the hilt and brought his hips to a stop.

"We're gonna let him work himself inside of you, sweet girl." Jolly told Ismine as he removed his fingers from her mouth. "Tell us if it's too much. Okay?"

"I will. Just please. I need it" she begged the two men, leaning down into Jolly's chest more to spread her ass wide to Noah.

Noah placed his left hand on her hip, and, while gripping himself with the other hand, pushed the tip of his cock through her ring. Because he worked her open so perfectly while Jolly fucked her from below, the tip popped in with ease and Ismine let out a gasp at feeling Noah enter her.

He pushed his cock into her more with small, shallow thrusts. They had anal sex before, sure. But with an addition of another cock in the mix, Noah had to go slow to make sure her walls were ready to handle both of them.

When his hips finally met her ass cheeks, he let out a satisfied moan and gripped her hip with a force that was sure to leave bruises. With her hands tight behind her back, Ismine opened them and placed them on Noah's hips to keep him seated inside of her for a moment.

"How are you feeling, sweet girl?" Jolly asked her as his hand cupped her face and his thumb ran soothing circles on her cheek.

"So full...feel so good." She panted out, opening her eyes to look at Jolly. Jolly saw the intensity of the arousal in her pupils that were blown wide.

"Let us know when you're ready." Noah told her as he kissed her shoulder blade while the hand that gripped her hip moved to caress her side.

"M-move." She spoke out into Jolly's neck.

Hearing her command, Noah started to slowly thrust in and out of her as Jolly started to do the same. The two men were thrusting opposite of each other, making sure her holes were never near empty of them.

Ismine let out a cry at the pleasure. She was releasing a series of moans into Jolly's neck as the two men took what they could from her.

When the two men's thrusts increased, she could feel their rhythm overlapping each other, causing both of them to enter her at almost the same time. "H-holy shit. Oh my god, it feels so fucking good!"

"You fucking like this?" Noah asked her as Jolly gripped her hair, yanking her head back so she could look at his face.

"Yes, yes! Please don't stop." She moaned out as Noah slapped her ass.

"This what you wanted? Both of us- oh god, both of us having our way with you?" Jolly's grip in her hair tightened, a slight sting of pain shooting through her scalp.

All Ismine could do was moan out a "yes" as she felt Noah grab the rope holding her arms back and yanking her torso up causing Jolly's grip to let go. Jolly, instead, wrapped his hand around her neck, applying slight pressure.

"Think you can cum around us both?" Noah leaned down, grinding his hips into her.

"Gonna be a good...a good girl and cum for you."

Jolly's grip on her neck tightened, cutting off some of the blood flow to her brain. Noah brought his hand around her, running his fingers through her soaked folds to circle her clit as he continued to grind into her ass.

"God, you're so fucking wet for us, aren't you?"

"Like a needy whore." Jolly replied for her through clenched teeth. Jolly's hips were thrusting into Ismine with earnest now, trying his best to make her dive off the edge of the cliff before he reached his end of the finish line.

Jolly's other hand came up to pinch and pull at her hardened nipple, rolling the bud between his fingers. One of Noah's hands tangled in her hair, pulling taut. Ismine was loving the mix of pleasure and pain that her body was experiencing. She felt a painful sting when Jolly pulled her nipple and then slapped her tit, causing her eyes to roll to the back of her skull. At the same time, Jolly's cock had hit the sweet spot inside of her, a whine leaving her lips.

With Noah's cock working her from the backside, it put pressure on Jolly's, making it much easier for the Swede to angle his dick to constantly rub against the spongy spot that had her stringing moans and pants together.

Ismine could start to see stars forming behind her eyes, the lack of blood flow making her more light headed than she already was from Noah rubbing her clit viciously. Just as she was about to speak up and tell Jolly to let go, Jolly's grip loosened and she sucked in a deep breath as the wave of her orgasm crashed into her. She screamed out in pleasure as the warm embrace of her climax engulfed her. Noah and Jolly both released high pitched moans as they felt her walls clench around their cocks.

Noah slowed his attack on her clit, still rubbing the swollen bud to work her through her orgasm. As her body shook and twitched between them, they both kept fucking into her to chase their own releases. Noah could feel Jolly's thrusts through her pulsing walls become sloppier as his moans became louder. This, in turn, made Noah's eyes roll to the back of his head, his own undoing becoming imminent.

Before he could mumble out a warning, Noah's hips snapped to bury deep inside of Ismine, hot ribbons of cum shooting into her as a long whine escaped his lips.

Ismine was still moaning between the men, overstimulated from the feeling of Noah releasing inside of her as Jolly's cock pounded into her pulsing cunt. She couldn't form coherent words, her voice babbling away at the men trying to tell them how good she felt as Noah leaned onto her arms, panting against her sweat slicked skin.

Jolly's moans were increasing in pitch as his hips could no longer keep a rhythmic pace. His hand reached up and grabbed her breast, squeezing a little too tight to help ground himself as his climax punched him in the gut and stars burst behind his eyes. He buried his cock in Ismine's pussy, panting out between "oh god" and "holy shit" as his semen coated her inner walls.

Ismine couldn't help when her pussy clenched around Jolly, helping milk him of all his cum. She loudly moaned out as she felt his cock twitch against Noah's softening member from deep inside her core.

The three of them laid on the bed panting against each other's skin as they were coming down from their highs. Noah was the first to separate from the pile, removing his softened cock from Ismine and running to the bathroom to grab her a washcloth.

As he disappeared into the bathroom, Jolly lifted Ismine and placed her next to him on the bed. He sat up next to her and started undoing the many knots that had her arms secured behind her back. As he undid each knot, he rubbed soothing circles into her skin and kissed where the knots had lay. All Ismine could do was breathe out into the mattress, well spent from the night's activities.

Noah returned from the bathroom and spread Ismine's legs to clean the mess that spilled out onto her thighs as Jolly kept untying her. Noah was placing gentle kisses on her lower back as he cleaned her up, praising her as he took his time to make sure to not overstimulate her from the sensitivity.

Jolly finished untying the knots that held her captive and stood from the bed and grabbed his sweatpants off the floor, scurrying to the bathroom to clean himself off.

He returned from the bathroom and saw Noah laying back on his bed with Ismine cuddled into his chest. Noah was playing with a strand of her hair, twisting it between his fingers as hushed words were whispered into her ear. Jolly stood at the doorway gazing at the couple for a moment. The love between the two was something Jolly searched for in a woman, and maybe the reason he was so pissed at Jordan for cheating was because he thought he had found that kind of love in her.

But Jordan was the last thing on his mind at the moment, especially when Ismine lifted her head off of Noah's chest and patted the empty space next to her as she grinned at Jolly across the room.

A smile formed on his lips as he stepped closer to the bed, turning out the lights before laying down next to her. She turned over and laid her head on top of Jolly's chest, causing him to pause with his arms suspended in air and glance at Noah to make sure this was okay.

Noah just chuckled at the sight of a frozen Jolly and wrapped his arm around Ismine's waist, his fingers grazing against the exposed skin on Jolly's torso. Jolly relaxed his body when he noticed that Noah didn't care that his girl was cuddled up to him, and he lowered his arms to wrap around Ismine, snuggling closer to drift off to a much needed sleep.

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bbyquokka · 2 years

Text

Stormy Night

⛈️ pairing: Han & f!reader

⛈️ genre: fluff

⛈️ synopsis: you're terrified of thunder and lightening. Han comes over and comforts you

⛈️ warnings: mention of anxiety, thunder, lightening, smut (mainly dirty thoughts, under 18, dni) lip biting, jealousy, pet names (Han calls reader baby, sweet thing, hun, angel)

⛈️ words: 2.5k

⛈️ a/n: uhh, idk. I wanted to try and write some skz stuff. I haven't written something like this in a veryyyy long while so pls forgive me if it sucks 😖 i had thunder and lightening a few days ago and it inspired me to write this. so uh, yh (: feedback is always welcomed and if I missed anything in the warnings, pls let me know. Ty and enjoy

⛈️: master list

Putting on the last of your make up, you took a step back, admiring yourself in your full length mirror. Tonight, you was going out with your close female friend whom you haven't seen for a while due to busy schedules and what not. However, tonight was the night that you was going to get together, have a drink and a good ol' catch up

Smoothing down your red dress that extenuated your curves, your phone buzzed.

girly 💕: so sorry (Y/N) but i cannot come tonight ): Chris made a surprise visit and we are going to spend some well deserved time together, if you get what i mean (; love ya!! 💖😘

You let out a sigh before texting back that it was all ok and that you hope that she has a good night. Looking back in the mirror, you felt a little disappointed. All dressed up for nothing, well, maybe it wasn't for nothing. Googling to see if there was any clubs open right now and surprisingly, there was. Why let all this effort go to waste?

It seemed like the world was against you because as soon as you picked up your purse, you heard the pitter patter of rain hitting your bedroom window. You threw your head back in frustration, throwing your purse on your bed, throwing a mini tantrum.

"Well, guess i'll stay at home seeing as the universe so badly wants me to." You mumbled to yourself, stripping yourself until you was just in underwear before throwing on a vest, sweat pants and a over sized hoodie. You washed your face and re-styled your hair into a messy bun, hours of effort gone to waste, just like that.

Closing your bedroom light out, you made your way to the living room, turned on the lamp and plopped yourself down on the sofa. Sitting with your feet's up on the sofa by your side, you grabbed the remote and flicked through the endless pages of channels. After what seemed like hours of endless browsing, you settled for a murder documentary. The rain continued to hit your window, showing no signs of ending any time soon, but instead, it got harder with some added wind.

"Hmm, must be a storm incoming." Grabbing your phone and opening up the weather app, true to your word, a storm was approaching. Closing the app, you settled for browsing your social media sights, liking and commenting on your friends posts, seeing what scandals the latest's celebrities were in, your tv had become background noise at this point.

You opened up Instagram, scrolling through your feed when you see a picture of your best friend and Chris. You liked it, smiling a little at yourself but also feeling a slight pang of jealousy. Your best friend and Chris have been together for one year now and they're a match made in heaven. He treated her like a princess, calling and texting her whenever he had time, sending her surprise chocolates or roses at her work place. It made you envious and wish you had someone like Chris in your life.

You continued to mindlessly scroll when you came across a selfie from none other, than your childhood friend, Han. He was squishing his cheeks together in the most adorable way, making you awe to yourself. you liked the picture and commented "looking oh so adorable, Hannie 😍💘🥺" You and Han have been best friends since the ages of 10, when you moved in next door. Your mother and his got on very well, encouraging you and Han to do the same. Soon enough, you both became glued to the hips. Watching anime together, doing homework, skipping school, even getting grounded the same time by both your parents. He even vowed to marry you one day claiming that all girls have 'girl germs" and are icky apart from you.

You both have several things in common, from eating at both your favourite restaurants, reading manga at a café together or just simply staying at home and watching anime. For your eighteenth birthday, he surprised you with a beautiful, silver ring decorated with small diamonds (not real of course) claiming it was a friendship ring whilst sliding it on the only finger that seemed to fit, your ring finger. You soon transferred the ring onto a silver neck chain, in fear of loosing it.

The older you both became, the more you realised that you couldn't live without Han in your life. You depended on him for the littlest and the biggest things. He was a shoulder for you to cry on, the person who would make you uncontrollable laugh to the point you thought you was getting a six pack. Han is goofy and loveable, but he is also serious when needed and gives the best advice possible. Reminiscing on the memories made you realise that maybe, you like Han more than a friend. Maybe, you're in love with him.

A flash of lightening appeared, pulling you out of your memories. You bit your lip, hoping it wasn't what you thought it was. "Please no.." you whispered to yourself. Unfortunately, a loud boom of thunder shortly followed, making you jump, dropping your phone on your lap. Your hands instantly went to your ears, covering them, an instant reaction. You've been scared of thunder and lightning for as long as you can remember. you'd be a trembling mess, crying and whining, hiding under your bedsheets. At the time, Han was always with you, comforting you and doing whatever dorky thing he could do to take your mind off it.

However, this time is different. You're alone in your one bedroom apartment, feeling vulnerable, like you was 10 years old all over again. Han was an hour and a half away from you due to adult stuff. Since he moved away, spending time with him lessened and lessened. sure, you texted and phoned each other, sometimes facetime, but it was short lived.

The weather was fierce, wind howling, rain hammering on the concret, the sound of thunder and lightening getting louder and louder with each second. At this point, you're a trembling mess, hands still covering your ears, knees tucked under your chin, rocking yourself for some sort of comfort. A sudden boom of thunder made you jump and scream. Pulling the hood of your hoodie over your head whilst grabbing a blanket, you continued to tremble, your anxiety spiking, heart racing as tears collected in the corners of your eyes. Biting and picking your lips raw until there was nothing left, a thin layer of sweat started to coat your body. Your phone vibrated in your lap, making you jump slightly. Looking at the caller ID, you felt reassurance. It was Han.

"H-Hello, Hannie" You all but whispered

"(Y/N) are you okay? I know you're scared of this weather and wanted to see if you was okay." Hans voice was laced with worry and concern as he awaited your reply. "(Y/N) you still there?" Your words got caught in your dry throat. you gulped down any saliva you had left before opening your mouth, but the only thing that came out was a scream as more lightening followed by thunder filled your eardrums

"Hannie! Im terrified, Help me please. Im so scared!!" Tears rolled down your cheeks as you cried for him, desperate. You heard him shifting around, asking his room mate, Lee Know, if he could drive him to your place.

"Hold tight, hun. I'll be there before you know it!" Han was shuffling around, putting his coat and trainers on, whilst Lee Know grabbed the car keys. "I'll be there, I promise!" You whimpered before Han hung up.

Moments later, Han had arrived at your apartment. He was soaked, the wispy bits of his hair at the front, dripping slightly with rain. In one hand, he was carrying a plastic bag filled with goodies from the store. In the other, he was fishing around in his pockets for the spare key you gave him months ago. Cheering victoriously when he found it, he put the key in the lock and turned, making his way inside.

"(Y/N) It's me. I'm here!" He looked around before kicking off his trainers and taking his soaked coat off, hanging it somewhere for it to dry. "The rain is fierce tonight! it was a five minute walk from the car to your apartment complex and I'm soaked!" He laughed as he made his way to the living room, where you hadn't moved since the phone call. Walking to the sofa, his heart dropped a little as he saw your trembling figure, curled up in a ball, eyes and cheeks puffy and red from crying. He dropped the plastic bag and knelt beside you.

"Hey sweet thing." He said softly, extending his hand out to cup your cheek and wipe away fallen tears with the pad of his thumb. You whimpered a little, bottom lip sticking out slightly. The familiar warmth filled you up with comfort. You placed your hand on top of his and smiled slightly, buring your face into his hand. He is a sight for sore eyes, thats for sure.

"I bought you your favourite snacks. Thought we could cuddle together, eat and watch a movie." You nodded and whispered that it sounded lovely. He stood up, grabbing the plastic bag, unpacking it on your coffee table. He then made his way to you spare cupboard, where you kept extra blankets and clean bedding. Sitting up, you smiled when you saw him plod to you, carrying your weighted blanket. He sat next to you, shoulder to shoulder, carefully placing the blanket on both your laps. Grabbing the remote, he put on a cheesy, romantic movie, making you look at him and raise your eye brow.

"Some things never change, do they Hannie?" You chuckled

"C'mon, its a good movie!" he protested, making you roll your eyes slightly. "Yeah, yeah, whatever you say." He chuckled as he watched the movie. You was being to calm down a little bit, feeling comfort in the warmth that radiated from Han. His familiar scent was calming. As you felt yourself slowly relaxing, thunder erupted suddenly, making you grab onto the hoodie Han was wearing.

"Hey, it's okay. I'm here baby." He took your hand gently, holding it as his thumb rubbed over your knuckles softly. You swallowed and nodded, leaning your head onto his shoulder. Letting go of your hand, he put his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. You started to feel exhausted so you closed your eyes, slowly feeling yourself drift. Han noticed and laughed softly.

"Lets get you to bed, (Y/N)" Shaking your head no and whining as he stood up, extending his hand out for you to hold.

"Don't want to." You pouted.

"Why not?"

"I dont want to be alone.." You admitted.

"I'll stay the night, dont worry. I already told Minho that i was planning on sleeping here tonight and he said it was okay, so c'mon, lets gooo." You shrieked as he picked you up, throwing you over his shoulder. You laughed and wiggled in his grip as he made his way to your bedroom. Gently placing you down on the bed, you looked up at him.

"That's better. That's the giggle i love to hear so much." You looked away shyly, face turning a slight shade of pink. You cleared your throat before grabbing the bottom of your hoodie and lifting it above your head, removing your sweat pants in the process. Throwing them to the side, you looked up at Han, who was staring at you, cheeks also turning a light pink. You tilted your head slightly, confused as to why he was looking at you so much and when you realised why, you blushed a bright shade of red.

Han was currently looking at you, not knowing where to place his eyes. You breasts looked plump and round, nipples hard through the material of your vest. You was wearing your sexiest underwear you owned, material just enough to cover your butt cheeks. Your eyes were glossy from the crying, lips swollen from the biting and the red tint that lay across your cheeks made you look oh so innocent.

Han wanted nothing more than to wipe that innocent look off your face, to pin you down and fuck you into the night and possibly into the morning. He wanted to make you cry out his name, fill your mind with nothing but him. He wanted to corrupt you. He wanted and needed you right here, right now but the timing wasnt right. The rational side of him was telling him that now is not the time, that you're still vulnerable. Sure, the thunder sounded further away indicating that it was soon going to be over, but Han knew you too well to know that you'd be 'okay' You needed time and comfort and as as much as he wanted to see your body twist and turn in the endless amounts of pleasure he so wish he could give you right now, he needed to be sure that you was okay.

You cleared your throat causing Han to lick his dry lips and swallow his saliva. He turned on his heal, making his way to the closet for spare pillows and duvet. He was stopped in his tracks when you grabbed his wrist suddenly. Looking over his shoulder to see you looking at him.

"Wait.. I want you to, urm-" A wave of shyness hit you. You looked away and bit your lip. You wanted Han to sleep in the same bed as you, to hold you and caress you. You used to share a bed together when you were little but now, its different. You're both adults with wants and desires. You both could feel the sexual tension in the air and as much as you also wanted Han, you knew that his rational side wouldnt allow him to do such things.

"Go on.." He encouraged you, turning to face you

"I want you to sleep with me. Not like sexual, haha, i meant like, y'know, like how we use to. I'm still scared so, urm- please Hannie?" Looking at him innocently whilst using his pet name that drove him crazy, Han wished he wasnt such a rational guy. He nodded and striped down into nothing but his underwear. His body showed signs that he was clearly working out, much to your liking.

You crawled into bed, head hitting your soft pillow as Han did the same. Turning to your side to face him, you ran your fingers through his hair softly, loving how long it was getting and how soft it felt against your fingers.

"Thank you, Hannie. For tonight."

"No need to thank me. I'd do anything for you, you know that baby." He took you hand and kissed your palm, looking at you through his lashes. "Now, get some sleep, you must be exhausted" You nodded slowly, allowing sleep to take over. You curled up in a small ball, cuddling the duvet, Han watching you, his eyes and heart filled with nothing but pure love for you.

"Sleep well, angel. I love you."

#stray kids #skz #han jisung #skz smut #stray kids smut #skz fluff #stray kids fluff #jisung #stray kids fanfic #hwang hyunjin #skz x you #skz x reader #kpop #skz jisung #stray kids imagines #stray kids oneshot #stray kids fic #han

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sleepysnk · 3 years

Text

the chapter you've all been waiting for.

Team Player: Chapter Six

Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: 3.0k

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Masterlist

The sound of Eren's alarm woke him out of the deep sleep he was in.

He groaned as he reached over to grab his phone which was still blaring the annoying sound of his alarm. It was morning already? He felt so exhausted and he just wanted to roll over, and sleep the rest of the day away.

But sadly he couldn't.

Eren's eyes squinted as he looked at the screen which read the time, it was 8:55 a.m. He sat up in his bed and rubbed his temples, his hair was messy from sleeping, and his ankle slightly ached from the pain he was in.

Sighing, he sat up and grabbed some clothes. His body felt tired as he yawned and stretched his muscles, feeling a few joints pop as he moved around. Boy did that feel good.

Eren tied his hair into a bun and threw on a sweater and sweatpants. His usual. Eren didn't really care to get dressed, who was he impressing? Plus it was a pretty chilly morning, the temperatures were dropping as fall began to become more known. He just wanted to be comfortable.

Eren wrapped his ankle with the wrap given to him by the nurse, and popped a few medications into his mouth before heading out of his dorm to the main campus for class. The exhaustion going through him was enough to make him walk slower to class, plus with his limp, it made him slower than usual.

He was never usually this early to class, most of the time Eren was with Jean or Reiner talking about the game or simply goofing off. Unfortunately, most of his teammates avoided him or just gave him dry responses. It was difficult for him and in a way, it kind of hurt a bit. Seeing your own teammates being so against you that they have to avoid you really sucked.

"You're here early Eren… that's a surprise." Professor Ackerman said, opening the door to his room.

Eren rubbed the back of his neck and walked into the empty class. A few students trailed behind him and went to their own seats, Eren stared into space waiting for class to begin.

Within a few minutes, Professor Ackerman stood at the front of the class. "Good morning, I hope you all are doing fine or whatever. Let's talk about what you're going to be doing today," he explained, grabbing his papers.

Eren sighed with boredom and tapped his pencil on the counter. What was he going to do this time?

"Today you're all going to be starting a brand new project. It's based on the unit we've been covering for the last two weeks, so I hope you've been taking notes and paying attention. To save some time, I decided to partner you up with someone else in the class," Professor Ackerman said, leaning against his desk.

A few small groans and eye rolls came from students hearing the words "project" and "partners".

"Enough of the groaning, I know it's not ideal but it's better than going through 20 different presentations." he said and crossed his arms. "I'll be pairing you with someone randomly, this project must be done as a pair. If I see that one person did more than the other it will deduct points off your grade," he added.

Eren leaned back in his chair and looked around the class. He pondered as to who his partner could be.

"Listen for your names and once I call it raise your hands," Professor Ackerman said, looking around the class.

Different names began to be called, some people groaned at the realization of who their partners were, others just shrugged and seemed unfazed by it all.

"Eren Jaeger and (Y/N) (L/N)."

Eren's eyes went as wide as saucers hearing that name again. (Y/N) and Eren hadn't talked in years, especially after the embarrassment that went down their freshmen year. He knew she was in his class, but he never really paid much attention to her.

"Get started on this immediately, the project will be due next week. No funny business either," Professor Ackerman said and turned to sit at his desk.

Eren shifted in his chair and watched as (Y/N) made her way towards him, she seemed totally unfazed and sort of annoyed by the situation she was in.

She had changed quite a bit. It had been about 3 years since they last talked with one another.

"H-Hey.." Eren said as she plopped down in the chair next to him.

(Y/N) looked blankly at him and opened her laptop. "Here.. put your email in," she said, avoiding his gaze.

Eren put his email in and pushed her laptop back towards her. The atmosphere felt awkward and thick between them.

"Do you want to go to the library? When you have the time," she asked and averted her eyes towards him.

Eren nodded, looking up from his phone. "Yeah.. that's fine," he replied.

The two sort of silently worked with each other, no words were spoken between them. Eren felt the tension and so did (Y/N). Who could blame them? It had been 3 whole years since they last had an encounter like this. Of course he'd see her sometimes in the hallways, or getting some coffee, but they never spoke verbally to one another.

"Alright you're all dismissed, remember to work on this project as much as you can." Professor Ackerman said.

Eren and (Y/N) stood up. "I'll see you later," she said, walking away from him.

This was going to be just great.

Most of Eren's classes seemed to fly by as it was now the end of the day. He was supposed to meet with (Y/N) in the library later, of course it was awkward. She didn't seem too interested in what he had to say, nor did she seem talkative.

(Y/N) sat in the library patiently waiting on her phone. Curse Professor Ackerman for putting them together. Her view on Eren Jaeger did not change one bit. His actions caused a lot of embarrassment for her, a lot of people saw the video of her that day in biology, and they made fun of her.

It wasn't an overstatement to say she hated Eren Jaeger.

She stared at her laptop screen as she heard the library doors open. Her eyes averted to see Eren making his way towards her, she noticed his limp which made her brows furrow.

"Hey, sorry for being a bit late. I got caught up with my friend," Eren said, throwing an apologetic look her way. "So uh.. I have some ideas for the project," he added.

(Y/N) nodded. "What are the ideas?" she asked, raising a brow.

"So.. we could add some different examples of the different bacteria. You know? Shorten it down a bit, because if we make it longer than we should he'll take points off." Eren explained. "Let's do it that way," he added.

(Y/N) wasn't exactly amused with the idea. She felt like shortening it would also give them points off.

"I don't think we should do that. If we make it too short then we get points off too," she replied.

Eren stared at her confused. "Then we just make it medium. I'll do the easier slides," he said, shrugging. "It'll be a good grade for the both of us. You're smart so," he added.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows and felt irritation going through her. "Dude that's not fair to me at all. We should just do every other slide, that gives me all the hard work. It isn't fair," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Look, it's easier for the both of us. It is fair, let's just do it my way," he said, looking at her.

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. "We did it your way last time and you fucked it up," she replied.

Eren looked at her and furrowed his brows. "You're still mad about that?! Come on (Y/N), get over it. You're being overdramatic," he said, crossing his arms.

That's when she had enough and grabbed her stuff, pushing it into her backpack.

"Where are you going?" he asked as he watched her sling her backpack over her shoulder.

(Y/N) scoffed. "You know… your teamwork skills are absolutely shitty. You're selfish and you always think for yourself. That's why our project went to shit freshmen year, I'm tired of biting my tongue with you. Fuck off Eren," she said standing up. "Maybe for once.. take a look at the shit you do from other people's point of view," she added, exiting the library.

That's when it hit him.

He did have shitty teamwork skills. (Y/N) even said it herself.

Everyone was right about Eren, he was a selfish person. The answer was clear in front of him. Guilt washed over him as he realized what he had done, not just to his team, but to (Y/N) too.

He had to find (Y/N), maybe she could help him.

(Y/N) stared at the ceiling as frustration ran through her.

Eren Jaeger really didn't change huh?

"Why are you sulking? You seem pissed," her roommate Sasha asked while plopping down on her bed.

(Y/N) laughed a bit and sat up. "Eren Jaeger… that's why," she replied, leaning her body against the wall. "He's so stupid," she added, looking at her roommate.

Sasha nodded. "Oh! I remember him, he's such an asshole. Did you see his giant fail?! It was so funny," she said, beginning to laugh at the thought of the video.

(Y/N) looked at her and shook her head. "No? I personally don't care what he does. I'm probably gonna email Professor Ackerman… I can't stand working with Eren. He wants everything done his way! He never listens," she replied, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

Sasha's phone began to vibrate. She grabbed it and grinned. "Oop! Connie texted me, I gotta go (Y/N). I'll see you later," she said, standing up to get her shoes. "I hope you feel better! I'll kick Eren in the nuts for you," she said giggling.

(Y/N)'s lips drew to a smile. "Alright.. have fun with Connie. Not too much fun though," she replied, winking at her.

Sasha opened the door to their dorm. "No promises!" she replied, exiting the room.

The door shut with a click and (Y/N) was now alone in her dorm. It was a usual night with Sasha leaving to go see her boyfriend Connie. (Y/N) wished she could have that luxury with someone else, but she wasn't exactly interested in anybody. Her dreams were just too much for love.

A sudden knock came from the door.

Confused, (Y/N) stood up. Sasha probably forgot a condom or something, the girl was always so forgetful.

She opened the door expecting Sasha to be there. "Forget a condom-" her eyes averted to see Eren standing there with his backpack.

"Can I talk to you, please?" he asked with desperation in his voice. "I won't be here long," he added, looking down at her.

(Y/N) fell silent and opened the door wider so he could enter. "How do you know where my dorm is?" she asked, furrowing her brows.

Eren looked back at her. "We did the project in your dorm, plus I never really forget what dorms I go to." he replied, looking around her dorm.

"So why are you here? If you're here to work on the project, I don't want to hear it." (Y/N) asked, crossing her arms.

Eren sighed, placing his backpack down. "Look… (Y/N), I realized what I did to you earlier was wrong. You're right.. it isn't fair to you, and I realize that now. I'd like to also apologize for embarrassing you freshmen year, I was childish and I feel guilty for doing it." he said.

(Y/N) was surprised hearing Eren sound so apologetic. She's never once heard him speak that way towards anyone.

"I appreciate the apology… but it still doesn't change what you did. I can forgive you Eren, but I can't forget," she replied, looking down at the floor.

He nodded. "That's understandable," he said.

The two fell silent as the tension took over. (Y/N) decided to ease the tension a bit.

"What happened to your ankle?" she asked, pointing down at his ankle which was wrapped.

He chuckled. "Oh, you concerned for me now princess?" he asked, smirking.

She rolled her eyes and opened the door. "Get out," she said, pointing at the outside of the door.

Eren put his hands up in defense. "Wait wait! I'm messing with you, I'm sorry. That was too soon," he replied, smacking his head. "Let me explain," he added, sitting down in the chair next to her bed.

(Y/N) closed the door, crossing her arms as she watched him take out his phone. Her brows furrowed as Eren seemed to be looking for something on it.

He held it out to her. "Here.. this is what happened," he said, looking up at her.

(Y/N) took his phone from his fingers and played the video which was from Twitter, specifically a sports account. She watched as Eren caught the ball and was tackled to the ground, she could see the way his ankle bent. She cringed as she saw the replay of it.

"Ouch… that looks like it hurt," she said, tossing his phone back towards him. "But why are you still here?" she asked, nodding her head in confusion.

Eren pushed his phone into his sweater pocket. "I got kicked off the team.." he replied, looking at the floor.

Her (e/c) eyes widened hearing the news. She heard people talk a lot about Eren, he was popular considering he was on the football team. She knew he was at D1 level. That's why he was here.

"Um.. if you don't mind me asking, why?" she asked, sitting down on Sasha's bed.

Eren ran his fingers through his messy bun. "It's uh.. kind of a long story in a way." he replied. "I can explain it to you if you'd like," he added, giving a weak smile.

She nodded and looked towards the floor. "Sure… I guess," she said, crossing her legs on the bed.

Eren sighed. "Basically at the most recent rival game, I ended up playing while I was hurt. My coach told me many times that if I was in pain I should come off the field, but I was fine the day before. I just thought it was nothing," he explained, shrugging his shoulders. "Then during the last play, which we were in the lead by the way, I ran for Jean's ball and we ended up hitting each other. The ball bounced off of us and it intercepted, so they won by a touchdown." he added.

(Y/N) nodded and started to process what he said. Sounds like a selfish move in a way, to her at least.

"So wait… that doesn't explain how you got kicked off," she said.

He chuckled a bit. "I'm getting to that," he said, adjusting his body in the chair. "Basically my coach told me the other day that I was benched, or you know kicked off, because I have shitty teamwork skills and apparently I'm selfish. I guess my other teammates have said it too," he added.

She nodded her head again while listening to more of what he said. She could see why his coach did it, sometimes you have to do things for the best possible outcome. Considering it was Eren Jaeger out of all people, he probably didn't see why.

"That is crazy.. I'm sorry," she said and rubbed the back of her neck. "I know things will get better," she added, laughing a bit. Eren stared at her as she sat there awkwardly. "Uh.." she said, looking around the room.

Eren shook his head. "Sorry.. um, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." he said. "If you want to listen," he added.

(Y/N) furrowed her brows. "Okay.. go ahead," she replied, adjusting herself on Sasha's bed.

Eren leaned back in the chair. "I need help," he said. "And you are the only person I know that can help me. Please, help me fix my teamwork skills." he said with a pleading tone. "You don't have to of course, but I need this (Y/N). I need this season majorly for my career," he added, looking at her with desperation circling in his eyes.

She stayed silent as her gaze dropped to the floor. Would helping him be beneficial at all? Doesn't he have other friends?

"Um.. Eren-"

"Please. I need your help," he said, cutting her off.

She sighed. "What's in it for me huh? I'm not doing it unless I get something in return," she replied, crossing her arms.

He looked around the room for a moment. "You can do the project your way, I won't interfere or tell you what to do." he said, raising his brows a bit.

She thought for a moment. She'll get a good grade and if it leads to him just shutting up, then fine.

"I'm not so sure Eren.. I doubt I can help you," she said, shrugging a bit.

"(Y/N). Please. I'm literally begging you at this point, you have great teamwork skills! I remember your presentation in biology and how you got the best grade in the class with your partner, please help." he pleaded.

She sighed, blowing air out of her nose. "Fine.. but we do it my way. We'll meet up again in a few days to get started," she said, standing up.

Eren's eyes were wide. "Wait really!? Thank you (Y/N)! You're fucking awesome," he said, grinning widely at her.

Heat rushed to her cheeks hearing what he said. "U-Uh, yeah whatever. Text me and we'll talk about it," she replied, grabbing her phone and handing it to him.

Eren put his number in and handed her phone back. "Say less, I'll see you in class." he said, giving her a toothy smile.

"Yeah whatever," she said, opening the door so he could leave.

She watched as he limped down the hall and exited the front doors of the residence hall, she closed the door to her dorm and leaned against it with a sigh.

What was she getting herself into?

tagging: @ererokii @eremiie @moomii-hime @thicmitten @callmepromise @katsuhera @basket-flower-chick @flam3bird @kc-braun @just-a-little-sad @daughter-of-the-stars11 @chayauwu @lunamoonawatcher @sof-yeager @ryan249057

#anime #attack on titan #shingeki no kyojin #aot x reader #aot x y/n #aot imagines #aot fanfiction #snk x y/n #snk x reader #snk imagines #snk fanfiction #shingeki no kyoujin fanfiction #eren jaeger #eren jaeger x reader #eren x reader #attack on titan fanfiction #anime fanfic #team player

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msmarvelouswinchester · 3 years

Text

Irresistibly Yours

Chapter 1 - The Elevator

Summary - Y/N Y/L/N moves to NYC in hopes for a fresh start after a nasty breakup. There she meets her neighbor, the cynical lawyer, Dean Winchester. A love-hate relationship starts evolving between them ever since they met in the elevator one morning but a desperate situation and a string of lies forces the two friendly rivals to go on a date or rather a fake date. Will sparks fly between them when Dean gets to know Y/N real and up close? Will Y/N finally find her Prince Charming in the grumpy, workaholic, divorce lawyer?

Pairing - Lawyer!Dean Winchester x Y/N

Warning - None for this chapter

Word Count - 1981

Square Filled - Moodboard ( @girl-next-door-writes )

A/N - *Cracks knuckles* Ta-daaaa! The series is finally here it's already Sunday where I live and I was dying to share this! It's going to be a wild ride ahead. So buckle up your seatbelts and enjoy the ride!

This is also my submission to @flamencodiva's Writing Challenge and @deanwanddamons' 2K Blogiversary challenge (congratulations on your milestone, Sian). Prompts are in bold.

Beta'd by @miss-nerd95 (Thanks again, hon❤️)

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

Series Masterlist Masterlist

Throwing her bag over the table, Y/N slumped down on the couch, letting out a sigh. The pressure from the higher-ups, consistent criticism of your work and impending deadlines were weighing heavily on her shoulders and she was in a desperate need of a break.

She looked over to the stack of papers on the table that now lay abandoned. The rejection from the publishing company was the fucking cherry on top. Y/N buried her face in her hands in frustration as she was almost on the verge of a mental breakdown, a few angry tears rolling down her cheeks. Letting her head fall back, she swiped away those angry tears, letting out a long sigh of defeat.

“Why can't I ever do anything right?” She mumbled, her breathing heavy as she bit down on her trembling lips.

In her late twenties, after a nasty break up, Y/N had a marvellous thought that she needed a fresh start. So she had left her corporate job back in Atlanta and moved to New York to pursue her dreams of becoming a writer. She had secured a good position in one of the leading magazine companies and started to write the novel that she had been planning since she was seventeen, but lately nothing seemed to work out the way she wanted. Sure, she was getting paid well but it wasn't enough compared to how much she had to deal with her shitty coworkers and bosses. She had now lost every motivation to continue her novel after the first draft got rejected by the publishing companies enough times to make her feel insecure about her writing.

“Why can't my life just be a goddamn Hallmark movie?” Y/N muttered under her breath as she picked up a cushion and covered your face, letting out a muffled scream.

Her wallowing time was interrupted by the blaring noise of her phone in the awfully quiet apartment, making her nearly jump out of her skin. Another frustrated groan left her lips as she saw the person calling her.

“I told you to stop calling me, for god's sake!” Y/N yelled into her phone.

“Come on, Y/N. One dinner.” The man on the other end pestered. “You know, at work people talk about how uptight you are. Let yourself go, once in a while.”

“Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. Michael- I'm not interested. I told you a hundred times before and I'll say it again. Leave. Me. Alone!” She said. The line on the other side went quiet.

“Bitch.” She heard him say before the call disconnected.

“Fuck off!” She yelled again, knowing fully well he couldn't have heard her now. Y/N finally decided to put him in her blocklist because Michael didn't seem like he was gonna stop otherwise.

It wasn't that she had a stick up her ass for not wanting to go on a dinner date with her coworker. Honestly, she missed the whole first date experience, but Michael was definitely not the guy for her, or for any other girls out there in her opinion. He threw around sexist comments around the office like it was some cool shit and chivalry was definitely dead for him.

Y/N finally got up from her seat, shoulders still tense from the day's events. Opening the refrigerator, she stood there gawking at the leftovers in it.

“Cold pizza….spaghetti….chocolate brownies….” She looked at your dinner options, weighing each one's pros and cons before settling on - “Brownies it is.”

Taking out the chocolate confection , she returned to the couch. She put on Netflix as she browsed through it's movie section.

“Stupid Prince Charming-” she scoffed, biting into the delicious the chocolate chip brownie in hand. Grumbling at the unrealistic standards of Netflix rom coms, she still pressed the play on the film The Proposal.

Finishing her 'dinner', Y/N picked up the comforter, nestling deep into her couch as she watched the coldhearted Margaret fall head over heels for her assistant, the exhaustion kicked in.

“Fuck!”

And that's how the next morning started as Y/N woke up one hour later than usual. She had fallen into a deep sleep on her couch before Andrew even got to propose to Margaret, which was not exactly the wisest decision as the next morning, her neck and back screaming in pain.

The girl knew she was going to be late to work today by the time she had left the house. Hair up in a messy bun, a bag hanging from her shoulder, she tried to smoothen down the creases on her skirt before rushing towards the elevator in high heels.

“Hold the door!” She yelled at the man inside as soon as the door started to close. She sprinted towards the elevator as the man kept looking at her, an annoyed look evident on his face when he slammed the button, taking a step forward to keep the door from closing.

“Thank you!” Y/N huffed, as she got in the elevator. The man chose to remain silent and he pressed the ground button on the elevator. “I am so screwed today! I have never been this late to work!” She babbled on but the man still maintained the stoic look on his face. Y/N slightly turned to face the man of stone. He was probably in his thirties, his dirty blonde hair, sparkling green eyes and light stubble on his cheeks went very well with the crisp grey suit he was wearing. One hand in his pocket, he just stood there, jaw clenched together, eyes focused on the shut doors.

“You know, I should have set the alarm! Stupid-”

“Do you ever shut up?” The man finally spoke, a look of disinterest passing his face.

“Wow. Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed, I guess.” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Excuse me?” His voice was hard.

“I said, someone woke up-”

“I heard what you said. I am just not interested in listening to your morning fuck-up story.” He scoffed.

“Woah, okay.” She widened her eyes at his disrespectful comment, “I just-” The elevator reached the ground floor of their apartment building and the doors opened with a ‘ding’.

“I think you don't want to waste anymore time talking since you're already running late.” Y/N gasped slightly at the audacity of the man. “Have a good day, Miss L/N.” The man wished before moving out of the confined space as Y/N narrowed her eyes at him and wondered how he knew her name.

“Have a good day as well, Mr….” She trailed off as she got out of the vator as well.

“Dean Winchester.” He said as he walked away, never once looking back as Y/N stood there, bewildered at what just happened.

Hands balled up into fists in apprehension, Y/N inhaled audibly, as she stood on the other side of the door. She was late to the meeting by half an hour, twenty-four minutes to be precise and nothing annoyed her boss more than tardiness.

“Y/N, it's a pleasure that you finally graced this meeting with your presence on this fine morning.” Abaddon’s words laced with acute sarcasm made it quite clear that Y/N was doomed when she entered the room. The remaining four pairs of eyes in the room were zeroed in on her, as she abashedly took a seat at the far-end of the table. She couldn't risk her job because of her smartass mouth and she was already on thin ice, so she kept quiet and let Abaddon carry on with the meeting cause even Cruella De Vil would be hiding her face in shame if she ever met Abaddon. She was an Umbridge before her coffee and a Regina George after drinking her coffee. There was no way she was going to spare the poor girl today.

“As I was pointing out, our sales have gone down in recent months quite drastically. Readers are saying the contents are not relatable or entertaining enough….”

A yawn threatened to leave Y/N as she listened to Abaddon go on about the poor performance of the company, her mind preoccupied by a certain green-eyed man. She had never seen Dean in the building before this morning. He was annoyingly good looking and rude and Y/N couldn't seem to get rid of the image of him looking dapper in that grey suit. She was barely able to focus on what Abaddon was saying.

With Dean Winchester still running through her mind, Y/N trudged back to her small cubicle after the painfully hour long meeting.

Plopping down on the chair, covering her face with her hands, she exclaimed, “I need coffee!”

“Thank me later.” She turned her head to Meg as she pushed a hot cup of coffee towards her before going back to her own cubicle.

“Black, just like my heart.” She said before inhaling the strong smell of the drink. Taking a little sip, she let out a sigh of content. “Jesus, I needed this badly.”

“Yeah, you look like shit,” Meg chuckled, earning a glare from her friend. “Did you even take a look at the mirror today? Honestly, I am not even exaggerating, I-”

“Meg, I’ll forever be grateful to you for this cup of coffee, but please stop talking.” Y/N groaned loudly.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Michael walking towards her and put on headphones and turning the volume up, trying to look busy. “Heads up, incoming douchebag.” The brunette said. After the hubbub of the morning and the shitshow of a meeting, Michael was the last person Y/N wanted to see.

“Morning, Y/N.” The smug smile on his face made her cringe. This had been going on for a month now. She thought after last night, Michael would finally back down, but apparently she was very wrong. “My messages don't seem to get through anymore.”

“She blocked you. God, take a hint.” Meg muttered.

“She's right. It's ‘cause you can’t seem to take no for an answer.” Y/N huffed.

“One dinner. Just one.”

“No.”

“She said no. Isn't that enough?” Meg jumped to her friend’s rescue when she saw her fumbling and getting uncomfortable. Michael inched towards Y/N anyway, completely ignoring his colleague’s comment, a smirk evident on his face.

“Y/N, don't be so uptight. What harm does a single dinner gonna do?” He asked.

“It’ll be cheating. I have a boyfriend.” Y/N blurted out, making Meg’s eyes go wide, but it actually seemed to work as Michael moved away from her.

“A boyfriend?”

“Yeah. We have been going out for a while now.” The said man frowned as he thought the words over before leaving her space with a little nod of his head. Maybe it worked on him without any hassle, but she knew this lie would come back to bite her in the ass if the whole office got to know about it. Oh, and they would know since turning around, Y/N saw Ruby staring at her, a grin appearing on her face as she took in all the juicy gossip. The lie was now gonna spread like wildfire.

“Spill.” Y/N turned to look at her friend who stood there, hands folded, eyes wide, brows raised in utter disbelief. She puckered her lips as she waited on Y/N to explain who just frowned in reply. “Well? What happened? I want all the details, Y/N!”

“Oh come on, L/N. Share the deets.” Ruby snickered. “Who's the man that actually managed to capture your heart?”

“Dean Winchester.” The name tumbled out of her lips so easily and that was how she knew she was screwed.

Chapter 2

Feedback is highly appreciated!

Let me know if you want to be tagged in this series!

#deanwanddamons2kcelebration #girl next door's make me feel bingo #dean x reader #dean winchester x reader #dean winchester fic #au dean x reader #dean winchester #irresistibly yours #au dean winchester x reader #dean x y/n #dean winchester x y/n

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winter-fox-queen · 3 years

Text

The Gentry’s Gifts: Max Phillips

Hello! This is sort of a sequel to the Pero story, in that we saw Max and now we know what he was doing there and what choice he needed to make.

Warnings: Cursing. Angst. I had the trick of having to put both blank canvas characters into one story, lol. But I think I finessed it. The “you” character is a blank slate, mostly gender neutral (mentions of wanting to have children could sway your perception one way or the other.). Not betad.

This is my late #writerwednesday entry, thank you to @autumnleaves1991-blog and @clydesducktape

Prologue:

Max Phillips slammed the hospital doors open, eager to get outside. The sound beeping machines seemed to echo in his ears, making them hurt. The smell of the place stuck to the back of his throat.

He tilted his head back in the afternoon sun, and breathed in, breathed out. Tried to make himself calm down. The Autumn are cleared his head as he jogged across the road.

“Bad day?” A voice asked.

Between two benches, almost hidden in the orange leaves, was a woman, instead of the ‘Nam veteran he usually passed a few moments talking to. Her wiry steel colored hair was in a messy bun, covered by a turban. She wore layers and layers even though it was a warm fall day. “Where’s Raffi?” Max asked.

“His daughter found him. He decided to try living with her again.”

Max nodded. “I hope it works out. She wasn’t…apparently he isn’t easy to live with. Bad dreams.”

“It’ll be better now.” She said with such serene certainty that Max believed her. He gave a little wave and walked away.

He was back, twenty minutes later. He put a chocolate shake in front of her, and a boxed fried chicken meal. If he had known his folklore…which, sadly, he would become intimately familiar with, he would have understood her amusement. Milk, bread…these were the Old offerings.

Instead he shrugged, uncomfortable. “What? I figure everyone likes chocolate. And I needed to eat, too.” He sat next to her.

“How old are you?” She asked, though she knew.

He shrugged. “Seventeen.” He buttered a biscuit and took a huge bite. He ate like he was starving. “Why?”

“You seem to be awfully young to be hanging out with homeless people. Where are your parents?”

He shrugged again. “My mom’s gone. My father…”. He pointed towards the hospital doors with his chin. “He’s dying.” He hunched over the greasy box of chicken, potato strips and biscuits, eating like it was the only thing keeping him sane.

She sighed.

He looked at her, and she shook her head, and ate the food he brought her. You are going to go off the rails Max Phillips. You are going to go off the rails so badly and there’s nothing I can do about it.

The Present:

He entered the library through the basement, crept up the stairway. The first floor was nearly empty…the university library kept late hours so that students could cram late into the night, but it was Thirsty Thursday and most of the students were elsewhere.

He waited until you were focused on the book cart again, back towards the main floor, and got himself around the corner. Then he pulled out his cell and dialed the front desk.

You now turned to go to the phone, at least he hoped so, as he disconnected the call and opened the side door to the area behind the circulation desk…

You were there, leaning against the cart, arms folded. “Nice try, but I know your tricks, Mister Phillips.”

He grinned and advanced on her, step by step.

“No no…”. You point a finger at him. “Stay back, this is a work place…”. You shoot a look towards the front desk as he backs you into your office. “You are going to lose me my job.” You hiss at him, and he bends a little, and kisses you breathless.

“Quit. I’ll take care of you.”

You wrap your arms around his shoulders. He’s cool to the touch. It’s not disconcerting, not like it used to be. “I wish I could.”

“Stop wishing...”

“If you say ‘and make your dreams a reality’, I’ll bite you.”

Max looks offended. “It’s a great slogan! Do you know how many units of Losapill those golden words have sold?”

“I don’t understand how I can love someone so much and want to punch them so badly.”

He grins down at you. “I can name several reasons why you love me.”

You smirk up at him. “I’m sure you can…let me go, honey. I’ve got to tell everyone we’re closing in half an hour.” He listened to your voice on the loudspeaker, buttery and gentle and reassuring, and smiled a little. He could listen to that voice forever. He could sell holy water to a priest, but so far all his skills had failed to net him the one thing he wanted.

He walks with you, as you check the restrooms (He even does the men’s for you on each floor, turning off the lights and blocking the doors open) and stands behind you, hands in his pockets, looking gloomy as you gently tell students to take their books to the front desk if they needed to check them out, that the library was closing shortly.

He waits, patiently, while you close up and lock the doors and usher the last people out.

“I really wish you’d let me turn you,” he says when you are both in your car and on the way home. Max often took the rooftops from his office to the university. He was fast, and strong, and being fairly indestructible made him long for the thrill of possibly getting hurt, so he parkoured his way through the city once it got dark. It was disgusting, how he looked so good after running and leaping five miles.

He shifts in his seat as you let the silence grow. “Are you ignoring me?”

“Yes.” You stop at a red light.

“Why? You said you’d think about it. You’ve been thinking about it for a month. Any idea where you are on it? Like, from the scale of one to ten…”

You’ve been wanting to avoid this. You’ve really been wanting to avoid this. “Zero.”

She waits. She waits for the torrent of salesmanship. The spiel. Why becoming a vampire and living forever is what she wants, she just doesn’t know it’s yet.

For once, words fail him. No quick comeback, no charming lines. “I can’t believe you don’t want to be with me.” He says it so softly that you almost aren’t sure you heard it.

You pull into the apartment parking lot, picks a spot quickly you can park and take his hands in yours. “Max. I do. I really do. But just…I don’t want to be a vampire. I don’t want to give up the things I would have to give up?”

“Like what? Death? Getting old? Getting sick? Being weak?” He pulls his hands away. “I am offering you unlimited time. Think of the things we can do together! And you don’t have to kill…I haven't killed anyone in ages!”

“Sunlight.” You say. “Food.” He makes a disgusted sound and looks out the window. “A family.” You take a deep breath. “Children.”

He finally looks at you again. “Then I won’t waste any more of your time.” He raises his hand, and time goes wonky for a moment, and when things snap back into place, he’s gone.

You stay in your car a long time, hoping he’ll come back. Every step up to your apartment, you look around, hoping.

It’s dawn, before you give up, dried out from crying, your mouth feels full of ashes and your heart full of regret.

The next day:

Max was not in a good mood the next day. Usually he has a nice word for, if no one else, his PA, a miracle worker of a woman he’d always been fond of, but he just glared at her and slams his door shut.

Emails. Reports. He plowed into work.

The door opened, and he ignored it, steadfast in the hope that whoever it was would go the fuck away. I could always eat them. I don’t have to be good anymore.

A cup thumped down on his desk. He looked up. He didn’t recognize the woman — her steel grey hair was neat, her suit elegant. Her heart beat strangely, and he could tell she was not — quite—human. Great. Someone new from corporate?

“I thought you said that everyone loves chocolate?” She said, pointing at the milkshake. “You’ve come far, since we last spoke outside the hospital…”

He shook his head. “I remember you, but…”. How did she come to be here? Why? His brain was still trying to match up the homeless lady with the epitome of corporate flash in front of him.

“Now, I didn’t say you moved in a good direction. How did the sweet boy who spent his last twenty on dinner for himself and a homeless woman end up being a bloodsucking asshole selling fake products?”

“It’s a long story. Let’s schedule an appointment, maybe for the next century?”

“Nope.” She reached across the desk. “You gonna drink this?”

He shook his head and she took the milkshake, leaned back in her chair, moving the straw back and forth in the lid, making an annoying shriek sound that hurt his ears.

“Do you think I wanted this?” He snapped at her. Vampires didn’t really need much in the way of sleep, but he was tired. Tired and hurt. “And who gives you the right to fucking judge me?”

“I’m one of the gentry,” she said. “That doesn’t give me the right, but it gives me the power.”

“You’re fae. That explains it. You don’t seem human.”

“I thought they taught you the rules. You never call us out so clearly. Always call us by some euphemism and hope we don’t take a notion to turn our attention towards you.”

He threw up his hands. “Why? Why does it matter?”

“Because if I wanted to, Max Phillips, I could turn you back into the weak, dying, foolish mortal you once were.”

This stopped him. “You could?” He said carefully.

“I could.”

“What’s the catch?”

She smiled. “Good boy. Maybe they did teach you something, after all.” She put the milkshake on the desk. ”You were…what? Twenty, twenty one when you got turned? I could, if I wanted to, make it as if you never got turned. I could choose for you to age to the age you should be, had you not cheated death…or I could make you start from where you are right now. If I was feeling so inclined.”

“Why would I want that?” He scoffed. “Do you think I want to get old and sick? Do you think I want to spend the last year of my life in a hospital bed, unable to even piss for myself? You think this is a fucking gift? Enticing? No.”

“So you don’t want a life with the librarian? Probably for the best. She is made out of sunlight and deserves so much better.”

He stopped. He could feel the slipping…where the darker side of him started clambering up, eager to take control and rend and kill.

“Hush.” She said, and the blood stopped rushing in his ears, the fangs stopped aching. “I shouldn’t needle. It’s just so frustrating. You were a sweet boy and you just allowed the bad in your life to make you…well, frankly, a bit of a jackass.” She shoot him an apologetic look. “OK, that was a cruddy apology. But. Back to the subject at hand. Once, you were kind to me. And if you do me a favor — one more favor — I will give you a choice. A chance to choose a life for yourself instead of being a victim of bad choices and worse luck. No strings. No further price.”

He side eyed her a long moment. He was intrigued, despite himself. “What’s the favor?”

She took a small painting out of her pocket and slid it over to him. “Another debt to pay…that woman has a soul mate out there. I know where he is. If you get her to my house tomorrow night, I can unite them, give them a chance at well deserved happiness.”

“Yeuch.” He said, then picked up the painting. “Wait. That’s my PA.”

“Is it? How delightful. Isn’t just splendid how fate intervenes.” She put a card on the desk. “This is the address. Hope to see you.” She held up her finger. “There is one thing. She can’t know. You have to get her there without her knowing why. Alright?”

“Don’t hold your breath.” He muttered.

“Good. I am glad you understand. Ciao!”

He picked up the card. And cursed a bit.

NIght, in the time middle of nowhere:

“So, Mister Phillips…are you taking me out into the middle of the woods to murder me?” His PA asked, laughing. She didn’t know he was a vampire. Telling people what he was hadn’t worked out very well at his last job, so he’d been much more circumspect this time.

“I promise, you are safe. From me. I don’t know what Corporate will do, though,” he said, turning down another road.

“So, did they tell you what the meeting is about?”

“It’s meant to be a retreat. All the heads of the various branches and their PA’s. They want to re-envision the future of the company”. He took one hand off the wheel to put air quotes in the right place. “Apparently they messed up your email address so we didn’t get the invite in time. Someone caught it and called me directly.”

“I hope the place they picked is nice…”. She was looking out the window, trying to make out the road ahead. “Carol in accounting is super jealous. I think she has a bit of a crush on you…”

“Well, I am irresistible.”

“Mostly.” She grinned at him. A square of light grabbed her attention. “I think we’re here.”

He pulled up to the house. It looked sketchy at best, and the looks his PA were casting made him wonder if her trust was stretching a little too thin.

He got out and walked up to the porch. The Fae came out this time wearing a chic, flowery dress. She ignored Max and called to his PA. “Don’t be afraid. You are here so I can talk to you about your dreams…and by that, I mean the Spaniard, with the scar over his eye.”

The PA froze. “You…you know about him?”

“Go inside, dear, and I will tell you all about him. But I need to talk to Max, here, first”

His PA stopped next to him, put her hand on his arm. “Will you be OK?”

“Absolutely. You know me.”

She went into the house.

“Come here, Max.” The Fae held out her hand, gesturing him to come up to the porch. He did. A card table was set up, with one chair. Two cards lay face down. “Here is your choice. Are you ready?”

He stood there, looking at the table, and nodded. Fear coursed through him, as strong as the day cold hands grabbed him from behind, teeth sinking into his throat…

She reached down and flipped over a card. The Queen of Spades. “Darkness ever lasting. A vampire queen even now is looking for her equal. She will choose you, and the two of you will know power beyond your wildest dreams…until enough people get angry about it and decide to deal with you both. You will not love her, but who needs love when you have sex and death and all the power you ever hoped for?”

She reaches again, flips over another card. The Queen of Hearts. “And this. This is life. Your soul will wake up, and you will be twenty one and full of possibilities again. Your heart will beat every beat that was stolen from you. The slate will not be wiped entirely clean, but you will have a chance — a chance with your lovely librarian. Children. Be kind when you were once cruel, and live a decent, good life.”

His lips were numb. “How…how long?”

“Long enough. You will not feel cheated. It will be a plain sort of life, but it will be yours, and you will have the woman you love…some would say that is worth dying for.”

“What do you know about death? Your kind just fade when they are tired of living. You will never know the absolute fucking horror of your body betraying you. The fucking humiliation that waits. The pain.”

“No.” She said softly. “I do not.” She kissed his temple. “I am sorry. If I had met you sooner, perhaps…but, in any case, I consider all debts paid. When you are ready, pick up the card representing your choice, and rip it in half. Choose well, Maxwell Phillips. May we never meet again.”

He didn’t notice her leave. He sat down, weak, at the table.

Life. Death. Life. Death.

He’d seen both his parents die terribly. After he was turned, he’d mourned, then he realized the gift he’d been given. No hospitals. No lingering disease. No pain.

His hand hovered next to the Queen of Spades. No love, but power and sex. He’d tried to recover, tried to be good, for you. And he’d started feeling the guilt. And with guilt, came all the excuses. That he was living according to the nature that had been forced upon him. That he was giving people a gift…they died, or they become something that could never die.

You don’t punish the wolf for being a wolf.

But that was why it had been easy to walk away. Because you deserved better. Not a vampire. Not a wolf. A man…

He did not hear the car, but he heard the thump of the other man’s steps as he mounted the porch.

“She’s in there…” he said, barely paying attention.

When the other man left, he repeated what he said to him, in his head. Choosing between life and death.

He picked up the Queen of Hearts. His hands were shaking. He ripped the card in half. Darkness roared around him, pulled him under.

When he woke up, he was on the floor of his apartment.

No. His fucking. College. Dorm room.

“Dude, you started early.” Evan’s stupid face appeared as he bent over him.

Max wondered if he could punch him in the face. It would feel really, really good to punch the other man in the face,

“OK, well, I’m going to an away game…see you sometime tomorrow.”

He put the palms of his hands in his eyes. “Yeah…have fun.”

Evan stepped over him. “See ya…wouldn’t want to be ya!” The door slammed shut and Max raised both hands in a one finger salute towards it.

He made himself get up and go to the bathroom. He looked younger but not better, per se. What is wrong with me? What’s this feeling?

It wasn’t just that he could feel his body working. Feel breath (was breathing always so fucking noisy?) and heat beats and aches in his neck and back from laying weird on the floor.

He’d lived for years. But right now, he was still the same angry, miserable hit mess of a man he’d been at this point of his life.

A phone was ringing, he went and grabbed it.

“Hey Maxie. Is Evan gone?” Evan’s girlfriend. Great.

Oh.

“Yeah. Yeah. Look…”

“Awesome. I bought the cutest bra and panties…”

And this is where, he thought, this is where he took the step to becoming the man you deserved him to be. “That’s great. But you know…I only want to fuck you because your boyfriend is an annoying twit.”

Shocked silence. OK still an asshole. Check. So much for being a sweet boy when I was younger. “Look. I meant what I said. You are beautiful. You are probably far, far too good for Evan. Or maybe not, if you are willing to screw around with an asshole like me. In any case, you deserve better. But you have to decide what better is.”

This treated him to a string of profanity before the woman hung up.

Then, he walked to the infirmary, and asked for aspirin. And if there were any free spots for the therapist.

Sunday, the conversation between roommates went like this:

“So you were going to screw my girlfriend?”

A shrug — Max concentrated on the video game. “Changed my mind.”

“Why?”

He paused the game. “Because you deserve better.”

He felt Evan throw himself on the couch next to him. “That’s rich, coming from you.”

“I don’t hate you. You’re just so fucking happy and peppy and optimistic and everything is going to be awesome but I think the world is shit and misery and maybe if you dialed it back a little I we could have conversations that didn’t end with me wanting to punch your face.”

“Dude.” It sounded defeated and apologetic at the same time.

Max held a controller out to him. “Sorry. I’ll try to be less of an asshole.”

He took it. “I’ll try to be less…happy?”

Max sighed. “Just don’t get me kicked out, ok? I can’t afford anywhere else and I really don’t want to end up in Transylvania.”

Two years later, he decided he could go and find you.

Most people went to nice places on their spring break.

Max got on a bus and headed to a University in the next state. They’d had their Spring break a week sooner.

There you were. Sitting cross legged on a bench with a man with a streak of blonde in his hair, and a suit coat with elbow patches. Elbow patches. Pretentious asshole.

You were tucking hair behind your ear. You liked him. Max wondered if he should leave, come back…in a year? Three? When did he have a right to become part of your life? Did he even?

You look at him and smile and it is sunshine and he can’t leave.

The man on the bench says something about class. “See you at work,” she tells him, and he lopes off in an easy walk to one of the brick covered class buildings.

Max approaches carefully. “Hey. Um. I’m thinking about transferring here, wondered what it’s like?”

She shifted her bag over, even though there was plenty of room to sit, and he took it as an invite. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

He gave her his best smile. “Everything. I want to know everything.”

#Max phillips #max phillips x reader #writer wednesday

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hournites · 3 years

Text

Bait & Switch

Hournite Week 2021 - Day 3: Secret Admirer

~.~

“And then we can head to the Pit Stop for—eeep!!” Beth jumped from her locker as a piece of white paper landed in her hair.

“Oooooh!” Yolanda poked her side. “Is that another letter?”

Beth reached up for the standard printed paper sheet folded in three. She glanced at it, biting her lip as she scanned the page. “Looks like it, yeah!”

“I’m sorry,” Rick interrupted when Courtney grabbed Beth’s arm to squeeze. “Another what?”

“Beth’s been getting letters in her locker.” Courtney pointed to the little green shelf attachment Beth had on her inner locker next to magnets and pictures of Yolanda, Court, and Rick. A small pile of like creased letters accumulated there, sitting innocuously.

“Love letters,” Yolanda chimed in.

Rick’s frown stayed in place. “Since when did Beth have a boyfriend?”

“I don’t,” Beth corrected him. “I mean, not yet? I don’t know? I haven’t reached out or anything, I just started getting them a few days ago. I’d ask Chuck to scan them for fingerprints or something, but...you know.” She laughed a bit, pushing down the way Chuck’s blown in frames still stabbed at her heart. “Anyway, there’s no handwriting since it's printed, see?” She handed it to Rick.

“Hey Beth, I notice your yellow shoes.” His eyebrows raised past his hairline. “Why does this kid have a foot fetish?”

“Rick!” Courtney scolded.

“Sounds like Bowin.”

Yolanda scoffed at the Isaac comment. “As if Isaac had the balls.”

“To you, maybe.” Beth took the letter back when she realized Rick wouldn't appreciate it. “To me, it’s kinda sweet?” She flashed her friends a shy smile. “They always have something to say about what I’m wearing.”

“So they’re watching you,” Rick deadpanned. “Not creepy at all.”

Her face fell. “You think it’s creepy? Like ISA creepy?”

“Rick!” This time it was Yolanda. Courtney swatted his arm.

“Hey!”

Yolanda veered Rick off to the side, speaking in a hushed tone. “Believe me, you and I both know the guys here can be horrible, but this all seems very PG. I don’t see anything wrong with it, and neither does Courtney. Can we not ruin this for Beth?”

Rick pursed his lips, but Yolanda crossed her arms until he gave in.

~.~

One letter turned into two, and then three. Rick leaned against the metal row of lockers as Beth tried to catch the fluttering paper before it touched the dirty floor.

“More mystery mail?”

“Second one today, I didn’t get one yesterday, I was wondering if they forgot.” She tucked it in her pocket and went for her lunch bag.

“You’re not going to read it?”

“I thought you weren’t interested.”

Rick straightened his back. “No no, I’m interested! I’m very interested.”

“You just want to make fun of what they said.”

“No!” Though he was lying and Beth knew it.

They walked to the cafeteria, Yolanda and Court were already eating their lunches.

“C’mon,” Rick pestered the girls. He leaned his arms on the table conspiratorially. “Don’t we all want to hear what Beth’s secret lover has to say today?”

“I don’t have a secret lover,” she protested, but the girls got excited at the news of Beth getting locker mail twice and Rick leaned back in his plastic chair, satisfied.

“Secret admirer, then.”

Beth shot him another look of exasperation, but he merely raised his eyebrows at her.

“What,” he countered. “Is that not what it is?”

“Um, yeah,” she scooted in her chair, pressing the letter down and smoothing it out, refusing to look up at any of them, embarrassed. “We can call them that. Aw! They said I’m pretty!” Beth squinted at the paper. “Oh, they spelled it wrong.”

As much as he found Beth’s notes weird as hell, he got a rise out of watching her stammer and flush at all the attention. Courtney’s usually the one to flail around with massive blushing and her awkward high pitched voice when confronted about Cameron. In all honesty, hearing Courtney gush about Cameron without either of them making real moves on each other got tiring. Yolanda never looked like she wanted to talk about a love life for herself ever again, so Beth’s bright eyes reading out loud her dumb letters were new. He’d never seen her so eager to get to her locker. She’d drag him out of their class together to make a beeline for it. Really, it was cute. Maybe that’s why Rick couldn’t stop teasing her.

~.~

Later that week, the group sat together at lunch as usual. Courtney’s hair would not stay up in the messy bun she’d been trying and failing to pull off. She kept wrapping a hair elastic around the ball of blonde curls. Rick watched as she huffed out an annoyed breath at the fifth time it flopped over the front of her face.

“You need a mirror,” Rick pipped in unnecessarily. He smirked when she glared at him.

“I give up!” Courtney reached across the lunch table to grab Yolanda’s wrist when she gave up for the sixth time. “Help?”

Yolanda laughed, scooting her chair over and said, “I’ll just give you a braid.”

“Oh!” Beth jumped in her seat as if she just remembered something. “My letter today said something really nice about my hair!” She unzipped her school bag to bring it out. Yolanda peered over at it while she continued to fix Courtney’s mess. She read it out loud for them.

“That’s not even that great,” Rick pointed out when Beth finished. “They like your hair. So what? Your hair always looks great, there’s no effort involved on their part.”

Beth frowned at her letter. “Really?”

“It’s superficial, don’t you think? They don’t say anything about why they like you as a person.”

“Yeah,” Courtney cut in. “Probably because they don’t know her that well? Cut them some slack?”

“I don’t need to cut anyone any slack.”

Yolanda took a bite out of her apple. “If you liked someone, what would you do?” She batted her eyelashes at him as she chewed on her snack, clearly expecting a lame answer.

“I don’t like anyone.”

Yolanda shared a look with Courtney. Courtney would do that a lot with Mike and Beth would do that a lot with himself but when Yolanda did that with Courtney, Rick always felt a bit paranoid.

“Is that illegal or something?” Rick muttered, stabbing his fork into his food.

“No,” Yolanda replied, dragging out the syllable carefully. “But let's say hypothetically that you did, would your answer be the same?”

Now Beth was waiting intently for his answer as well.

Rick pushed his plastic tray away, no longer hungry. “If I liked someone I’d let them know… like a normal person.”

Courtney stifled a laugh that irked him. Her ice blue painted nails covered her mouth to half hide whatever joke she had within.

Yolanda tugged at one of her stray curls as a warning. “Court.”

“What now?” Rick groused.

Courtney leaned forward, gripping the edges of the table. “Would you actually?”

“No offense Court, but if I liked a girl, I wouldn’t run off to tell you about it.”

Now Courtney really did laugh, but Rick was dead serious. If he liked someone, he wouldn’t make it overcomplicated. If it were someone that could actually like him back, he’d just be honest with them. No frilly notes or secret rendez-vous.

He pushed Beth’s little love letter across the table. Beth took it wordlessly, mouth pressed in a careful line, eyes inquisitive.

Not that Rick had much time to think about what he’d do if he did like anyone. There wasn’t much time for Rick to develop feelings other than the deep-rooted anger and hatred that brewed for years over the conditions of his life.

Rick shook his head at her. This wasn’t anything complicated. If he were the one secretly crushing on Beth, he’d tell her. He said as much to the girls when they pestered him some more. “It’s not that hard.”

~.~

Beth got new letters every day for the next week. It became routine for her to read them during their lunch period. The girls pushed their chairs closer together to scrutinize the text, eyes peeled for anyone they might think to be the secret admirer. Rick played along half-heartedly, though mostly ate his lunch suppressing eyerolls.

“That top looks great on you. Also, why did you take off your rainbow necklace? It's cute.”

“Hmm,” said Yolanda. “Maybe it’s a girl.”

Rick scraped his plastic fork against the paper plate on his lunch tray. “Maybe they should stop staring at Beth’s shirt.”

“I don’t mind,” Beth said, looking up at him.

Rick scraped the styrofoam plate again. These letters weren’t amusing anymore.

~.~

Beth approached him that day after training. She drummed her fingers against the green cloth of her cape along her arms, craning her neck up to look at him as he raked through his upswept hair. They were in the loft of the Pit Stop where they’d dumped their bags. Beth was on the couch, in no hurry to change into fresh clothes because she hadn’t sweat through hers the way he had. Chuck was still offline, so she had been cautioned to stay a few paces behind the others for protection. She usually chose to stick by Rick.

Rick shook out his aching fingers. His hood was hanging low over his shoulders and the heaviness of his suit weighed after the effects of his tapered strength.

“What?” he asked after several moments, acutely aware that she just stood there, staring.

“Is there anything you’re not suspicious of? Sometimes you just have to trust people.”

Rick sighed, turning around. He thought this was about the training or the sweat or the way his hair stuck up like a cartoon and he didn’t have enough gel to smooth it back down, but Beth clearly wanted to revisit their conversation from lunch. He’d rather not. “If this is about the letters—”

“It is. What’s your deal with them, really? Even my mom knows! She thinks it’s funny! I’m having fun!” She grinned widely and threw out her hands to back up her words. Like he needed to see her laugh off the fact someone was following her around the school without coming forward about it to prove it wasn’t something to be reasonably concerned about.

Rick sat down beside her on the couch, taking a moment to articulate his phrasing. He didn’t want Beth to bristle at his tone or words. He’d made the mistake enough, seen the hurt written on her face way too many times. She could handle his heat, but it always left Rick feeling shitty to realize she needed to guard herself around him. Steel herself to get offended. He needed to stop offending her, Beth was quite frankly the kindest person Rick knew. This was why Rick felt strongly about the twenty-seven ways this secret admirer situation emerged red flags. “Don’t you want to know who they’re from?”

Beth shrugged. “It’d be nice.”

“Would you date them if they revealed themselves?”

“Um.” Beth flushed. “Maybe? I don’t know. I’m not planning any weddings but I’ve thought about it, I guess.” She side-eyed him. “Are you going all big brother on me now?”

Rick almost said yes, but bit his tongue at the last second, making a face. It didn’t feel quite right. He opened his mouth instead to retort about protecting the team. Beth accepted it well enough, wrapping her arms around his middle to thank him for bothering enough to care. Rick stiffened at her hug, thrown off by the carefree way she clung to him. He placed his hand on her back and she pushed her head further against his shirt.

“I don’t want you upset with me.”

Her words stabbed at his gut. “I’m not,” he said, surprised and dismayed. Of course she’d perceive it that way even after he tried. “I’m not, Beth. Though I guess you’re right, trusting people isn’t my thing.”

“I know, I didn’t mean to be so defensive about it.” She looked up at him and removed her cowl. Her hair sprung out high, decompressed from the tight, restraining fabric. “It’s just that I wish when a note makes me smile...You’d smile back at me.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. Beth crossed her legs, eyes and hands now at the clasp of her vintage cape. Her hair expanded, reclaiming its crown over her head. It bloomed in front of him. Not just the hair, her wisdom and hope and trust to share that so candidly with him.

“I’ll try?”

A tiny pleased smile began as her thumb looped through the hook. “You will?”

“Yes,” Rick said.

The green of the cape flashed in front of them. Only a trace of that smile remained once it was neatly folded on her lap. “Thank you.”

~.~

Rick tried.

It was like now that Rick gave her his disgruntled blessing of the elusive secret admirer, Beth no longer capped the word count on her inner novel of thoughts about it. She’d speak freely without checking back or worrying that Rick would make any comments and Rick had pretty much shut up about it to her face.

This was her thing, and it made her happy. Why did it matter what Rick thought about it anyway?

Though it did matter, exactly because of how happy those typed letters made her. It wasn’t wrong that Beth saw the best in people or found cheerfulness in all uncertain things. Rick was glad for it, honestly. That persistence in her wrestled with his own stubbornness— somehow it evened each other out. Beth’s drive blazed a fire that refused to be stomped out. Rick liked that drive in her. He appreciated it, even, just as much as it sometimes drove him insane. He didn’t want to be the one to smother that flame— Not him, or anyone else.

~.~

Rick didn’t realize he was intentionally hanging around Beth’s locker to scout out her secret admirer until he caught them in the act.

He straightened up from his slouched position against the wall across the drama room, taking in the uneven dirty blond haircut and letterman jacket worn by the person in question.

At first, Rick figured the guy was at the wrong locker. He stood there rummaging into his gym bag for something. But then he produced a familiar folded paper and Rick realized this was the guy. Beth’s guy. It got very real. Beth had a guy. This guy wanted Beth. Liked her. He liked her and wrote stupid letters every day with things in it that actually made her want to like him back. And he had freckles and looked pretty short, and would probably make her laugh and would offer her his jacket to show her off to the dicks on the football team.

Rick’s eyes narrowed, seizing him up. That was right, the guys on the football team were dicks. Beth’s secret admirer was friends with them?

She wouldn’t take that well.

He looked new. Young, even. Not any of the faces he’d cataloged that tormented Yolanda over the last year and a half. Should he follow him?

Rick lurked.

The kid glanced around nervously, letter slotted in the hinges for the locker. How many days had it been? Two and a half weeks? How was this guy still skittish for sneaking around the school to send love letters to a girl? Wouldn’t he know one of these days he’d get caught?

Alright, Rick had two options. He could turn around and keep this to himself. Never say a word to anyone and let this guy and Beth work out whatever they have and just.... watch.

Or he could walk up there right now and get information. What the hell is your deal? Do you have a foot fetish? Are you another supervillain freak? How did you meet Beth? Why are your notes so uninspired? Do you even know her? Are you embarrassed that you’re into her? Why do you care?

Rick's legs marched him over, having made up his mind.

“Hey!” It came out harsher than he intended by the reaction of the football player. He yelped, backing up against the locker and widening his eyes at Rick.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear!” This poor kid’s voice cracked.

Rick squinted at him. “Who the hell are you?”

“Huh?”

“Your name. Parents? Date of birth. Alien status?”

The kid didn’t say anything. Rick sighed, already regretting it but knowing he’d have to in order to speed this along. He slammed his fist against the nearby locker, cornering him. The kid looked properly terrified. At least it was something to know those Rick Harris rumors were still thriving. “Well?”

“Joe! Joseph Kindersef. Son of Harold and Shoan Kindersef. August 9th, 2006. Um, Non-alien?”

“Sounds like something an alien would say.”

“I swear I’m not an alien! I’m just a freshman!”

“If I back off, are you gonna run?”

“I’m on the football team!” he yelled out as if that question was undignified.

Rick rolled his eyes. “You’re fourteen years old. I don’t care what team you’re on. Are you gonna run?”

“No.”

Rick relented, pulling back to put some room between them. “So, you’re the one writing to Beth for the last few weeks?”

“Yes, but—”

Rick pulled a face. “She’s a bit old for you, don’t you think?”

“Maybe, but—”

“Beth really likes the letters, okay? She doesn’t need someone that’s too much of a coward to come up and talk to her. So pick it up and do something meaningful or leave her alone.”

Joseph squeaked. “I can’t.”

“Okay so—She really likes yellow and cute shit so try sticky notes to include—“ Rick backtracked and paused. That didn’t sound normal. “What? You can’t? Yes, you can. You just have to find the guts to tell her who you are and ask her out so she can finally meet you so she can decide if you’re worth a—”

“No!” Joe cut Rick off. “I can’t leave her alone!”

Rick’s stomach sank. Joe heaved, eyes blown back wide as he grimaced as if waiting to get yelled at again.

But Rick lost the wind in his rant, lowering his voice to a shocked whisper. “What do you mean? You don’t…want to be Beth’s boyfriend?”

“No! I don’t really know her! I don’t get what the big deal is!”

Rick nearly slammed him back against the metal row. “Then why are you leading her on?”

“Oh my god!” He weaseled out of Rick’s grip, hands up in surrender. “I swear, I can explain! Just don’t beat me up, I get enough of that from the team!” He dropped his gym bag and kicked it, yanking off his letterman jacket. “God, I’m sick of this!”

Rick was at a loss for words. He clenched his jaw, keeping his fuming to a minimum to give Joe a chance. Not that he deserved one, in Rick’s honest opinion, but Beth probably would’ve wanted to at least hear his case before Rick undoubtedly scared her only potential prospect of a boyfriend away with a piss stain in his pants.

He furrowed his brows. “Sick of what?”

“This!” Joe gestured at the floor. “Blue Valley High! The goddamn team!”

It didn’t take a genius to put two and two together. The thought of it all made Rick sick to his stomach. Of course, in a twisted way it all made perfect sense. There was no villain here, only two victims. Raze the newbie recruit on the team and mercilessly bully the girl that raises her hand one too many times in class all at once. Force Joe to do the dirty work and laugh at Beth’s disappointment when her non-existent secret admirer gets shoved in her face.

Wonderful. Great plan for a group of football meatheads that barely even grieved Henry Jr’s death. Rick hated this school so much.

“Can’t you just stop?”

“No!” Joe insisted. “I can’t, I would’ve if I could!”

“What are they doing to you?”

Rick knew the answer wasn’t going to be pleasant. He crossed his arms, eyebrows raised as he stared up at the ceiling while Joe lamented over the football hierarchy in disarray, wanting to make it past waterboy dweeb status, razing punishments incorporating the abandoned construction porta potty beyond the field parking lot, and the daily checks on Joe the team did to ensure he’s following their crazy rules.

“You know what I wanna say?” Rick told the guy when his sob story was over. “I wanna say that’s your problem.” Because after this and his last encounter with Sportsmaster Rick was very close to never watching any organized game in America ever again.

“It is my problem.”

“Actually, it’s not.” Rick scowled. “You’ve entangled Beth Chapel into this, so you’ve made it my problem.”

Joe stared at him. Rick muttered under his breath, dragging a hand over his face. For some reason he pictured Courtney. If she were here right now with him, Rick could perfectly imagine what she’d say: This was part of what it meant to be a superhero. You are a superhero now.

Rick knew this, theoretically, but thinking about that word in association to himself still felt beyond stupid. Stupid, but so painfully accurate by the way a feeling ate at his insides to help this pathetic freshman. Not just because of Beth. Rick had a magical hourglass and a skintight suit and belonged to a secret crime-fighting team. But it wasn’t just about crime, it was about injustice. And this fits that bill to a tee.

He flapped his hand at Joe before he could change his mind. “Go. I’ll take care of it.”

“Huh?”

“You don’t have to do this anymore.”

“But they check at lunch every day for the letters and there are still two and a half weeks left in the month—”

“I know!” Rick groaned just thinking about all the ways this was going to ruin his entire schedule. The sneaking and evasion. The random class cutting he’d have to pull off inconveniently now that Yolanda and Pat have drilled it into Rick that he needed to get a decent pass...

Joe stepped away, looking over his shoulder at the deserted hallway, unable to believe his newfound freedom. “You need to make it sound like you care or else they’ll get suspicious,” he stressed.

“I get it.” Rick shooed him away. “Trust me. I get it.”

The anxious red splotches all over Joe’s face faded away. He sniffed, wiping his nose with the sleeve of his varsity jacket. “You really want to help me?”

“Just tell me what I need to do to make this work.”

He pulled out his dad’s notebook from his bag as Joe ranted about the nonsensical expectations the football team had of him, and what they had planned for Beth via public embarrassment by the end of the month. His dad’s handwriting blurred past as he clicked the top of his ballpoint to start on a fresh page, jotting it all down. He ended up with over a page and a half. A page is more than he thought he’d need. It was excessive and tedious and stupid enough to put an end to today. He wouldn't, though, end it today. Because of one thing Rick knew for certain. He was going to one-up the Stockholm secret admirer deal Joe had going on. Two weeks of nice deeds weren’t completely out of his reach.

~.~

Rick stared at the blank word document in front of him, tucked into the furthest computer monitor desk at the very corner of the library. Sneaking in here was easy, though it was stressful enough to make Rick’s hands sweat. It was dumb, nobody questioned a student at the library over lunch. The tenth graders came in anxious packs to prepare for their PSATs, and the juniors freaked out over college pamphlets at the communal tables. Nobody would care that Rick Harris was hunched over a keyboard, glancing down at his lap to refer to an original letter for help.

Beth didn’t even notice Rick swiped a letter from her. Her locker door swung open while she chatted about the science homework and then the muffins she planned on making and then the recipe Barbara sent to her phone that she pinned on her Pinterest board. That Pinterest board was very important, something she’d curated since elementary school after her mom accidentally forgot to include a lunch for Beth, exhausted by the first surgery she’d operated on as the new head surgeon at Blue Valley Medical Centre. This was all new information Rick only learned from their walk to get her lunch box, so Beth’s talkativeness did have its advantages some days. Rick reached over and plucked a folded letter from the pristine metal basket right over her head to stuff in his back pocket. Even if she were ever tall enough to catch that, the muffin recipe had too many steps for her to list to ever let her take her eyes off her phone.

Rick stood firm in his belief that Joe’s letters were creepy and lame, regardless of how the creepy and lameness parts were now halfway excusable under Joe’s duress and whatever. Still, he couldn’t deny he needed one in his possession to study. At least as an example for formatting one correctly if he wanted to pull this off; the font and size had to be exactly the same. And, most importantly, the letter provided a base of comparison to work from to make the letters going forward less weird.

Rick knew Beth better. He could do so much better. And he should, anyway. There’s no harm done. He’s going to have to tell Beth at the end of the month what exactly happened to her secret admirer, so she’ll know Rick became the author somewhere along the line. He’d never be caught dead authoring notes that made it sound like he had a foot fetish or some other weirdness. And if Beth likes the letters more, Joe won’t get as much shit either.

So why wasn’t this working?

Hey, Beth.

Rick stared at the screen. His eyes were dry, he needed to blink. A Hey, Beth wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere, and this letter had to be slotted through that locker rust a good half hour before the class that went into lunch.

I just wanted to let you know how kind you are. I saw you today give away your extra hair elastic to the other girl in the hallway—

No.

Beth,

Your laugh is out of this world.

Rick slammed his palm against the backspace button, the stiff keyboard jam startled the senior girl half-napping over her notes beside him. He deleted the word document altogether and started over. Nobody needed to see that. That sentence came out of nowhere. Forget that it was bad and sounded like Hallmark garbage, reading the words on the computer mortified him. Maybe it wasn’t out of limit to find Joe and force him here to do the actual writing himself. At least as a draft for Rick to work with. No wonder Joe’s letters came out awkward and stilted. But where would he even find Joe and was the answer something Rick even wanted to find out?

Rick didn’t like Beth like this. How was he going to write to make it seem like it could be implied that he did? This was fucking hard.

“Since when do you study?”

Rick crumpled Joe’s letter into his fist. He minimized the tab for the Word document. Yolanda’s braids swept over the built-in camera of Rick’s computer monitor, peering down at him with an eyebrow raised.

“Since today.” He clicked on the school browser to type in one of the chemistry learning sites he went bleary-eyed scrolling through last semester late at night.

“When’s the test?”

He shrugged. Her braids swung over his screen again. Rick shot her an exasperated high brow, flicking them away.

Yolanda shook her head at him and took the next seat. The binders she pulled out for her math assignment told Rick she wasn’t planning on leaving anytime soon. Fine. Rick put the letter on hold. It wasn’t something he wanted to rush anyway.

~.~

Beth,

Your laugh is special. Because you can make anything sound great, and find laughter in everything. It’s what you do and who you are. I wouldn’t change that about you, ever.

Rick skipped the last ten minutes of class to get to Beth’s locker while the hallway was still empty. In slipped the letter. Out went his breath.

They were just words. Once he was able to wrap his head around that fact it got a lot easier. They were just words. Nice words. For Beth. It didn’t really matter if they were poetic or fancy. They were genuine, though, because Rick wasn’t going to lie on top of everything. But they weren’t in the sense Rick felt anything romantic for her. If Beth and the girls read it and felt otherwise, it was only because they were under a preconceived notion. One Rick would explain away when it is all over.

Above all, he was sparing her any humiliation by lifting her up and giving some nice compliments. It was a win-win situation. Once Rick was able to digest that, it got a lot easier to justify the emotional connection he teased out of himself to work the right sentiment he needed and had written down.

~.~

The problem was, sometimes letters didn’t cut it. Rick didn’t always have the right words. It was because he knew how Beth’s face brightened up when he wrote something right. She’d let out a breath that was almost a sigh, hugging the letter close. It would put her in a mood nothing could deter for the rest of the day. It’s what Rick noticed two weeks ago when these started, but it was all the better now, admittedly, when they came from him. She’d show them to her mom over FaceTime at lunch, to Barbara and Pat. Beth shared her secret admirer letter with anyone that had an extra second to spare.

When Rick missed the mark, that was too obvious. Yolanda and Court never seemed to pick up the difference, and Beth never appeared dissatisfied, but Rick knew it wasn’t what she deserved.

He’d tear out pages in his notebook before and after classes Rick took without her, practicing what he’ll type up by the time he gets to the school library. The pencil in his hand would tap against the paper as he ignored the lesson, thinking about how to best word how much it meant to him to see her turn around and flash him one of those breathless grins without giving himself away. He’d shred the paper after, stuffing it in the trash. The best parts Rick kept memorized to reuse the next day.

It took another three more neutral letters for Rick to change tactics. Instead of stressing over ways to tell Beth things he didn’t mean without revealing his identity, he found a way to work around keeping the secret admirer ploy alive while cutting out the amount of time he spent failing at writing. Small things he could afford like her favourite chocolate bars when he filled his car with gas at the station, or cheap bracelets from the dollar store to add when he wasn’t confident that he wrote enough.

He kneeled down in the wet grass by the bike rack behind the school on a Tuesday, weaving in the red and yellow roses he plucked from a nice garden a block down Main street through the handlebars of Beth’s teal bike. Beth was the type of girl to press flowers in books. She’d find the roses and would smell them and then keep them with the intention of saving them forever.

When he managed to get the stem properly wrapped around her handlebars, he realized Beth forgot to lock in her bike properly. He fixed it, then leaned back, appraising his work.

He froze when he felt a warm breath against his neck.

“I didn’t know you were a part of the garden club.”

Rick dropped his hands to his sides, gritting his teeth through a polite nod at Isaac Bowin, who was peering over the bike rack in his pristine band clothes. “I’m not.”

“I see.” He scratched his nose. “That’s Beth’s bike.”

Rick eyed him. “I know.”

“That’s a nice gesture. I didn’t know you liked her.”

“She’s my best friend.” Rick stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. “It’s not like that.”

Isaac shrugged. “It looks like that.”

“Okay,” he replied lightly, rolling his eyes. Rick knew he was saving a high school freshman from being bullied by substituting his required secret admirer quotas because of his newfound moral superhero standards, but conversing with Isaac Bowin was something Rick hadn’t yet tolerated the patience for. He slipped his bag and walked around the side of the school building to go through the back. “Bye.”

Later that afternoon, Rick got tackled by Beth. He tensed as he always did when someone got a hold of him from behind, though he released the tension immediately when he looked up and saw her.

“I got flowers!” She wrapped her arms around his shoulders from his seat at their shared sixth-period class.

“Did you?” He replied, measuring his tone.

“Roses! They were on my bike. I wasn’t sure if I locked it properly this morning so I got a hall pass in geography and went to check, and they were there!”

“Wow,” he said. “That’s pretty thoughtful, right? Do you like them?”

“Are you kidding? The KitKat was great but the last time I ever got flowers was like, my fourth grade spelling bee from my mom!” Beth moved her hands from his back to slide into the seat beside him. “They’re so pretty. I love them!”

Rick glanced at her empty desk. She pulled out her school bag and pencil case. “So where are they?”

“They’re safe.” She hauled out the large math textbook and flipped to the middle, revealing the two roses, freshly pressed in. “I want to keep them forever.”

He knew it. Rick suppressed his grin. “Cool.”

~.~

“... You warm my heart, Beth.” Beth paused, taking it in. She looked dizzy. “Oh my goodness. This is a lot.”

“Stop. That’s stupidly cute.” Yolanda groaned as she ran a hand over her face as if the sweetness pained her.

“You’ve gotta write them back!” Courtney urged, taking a swig of juice.

Beth wrinkled her nose. “I dunno.”

“What! Why not?”

“I don’t want to scare them off?” Beth took her eyes off the letter at last, raising her head to meet Rick’s eyes. She straightened her back immediately. “Why are you smiling like that?”

In spite of himself, it grew bigger. “Like what?”

She didn’t reply for a moment. Her eyes squinted and she tilted her head as if to study him. “I can’t explain,” she said at last. “It’s just different.”

Yolanda and Courtney stopped talking to watch him too. Rick felt his face heat up at all of their attention. “Shut up. I’m being supportive,” he mumbled. “It’s what you wanted.”

~.~

The thing with Yolanda was that she didn’t fall for bullshit. Rick should’ve known. Books against the table with a slam, she leveled Rick a serious look of incredulity in their next class. “Who are you and what did you do to my best friend Rick Tyler?”

He stuck a hand in his pocket. Still grinning. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Says every suspicious clone, ever.”

“I’m not a clone.”

“Then what are you, sick?” She poked his cheek at the stretched corners of his mouth. “You’ve smiled more in two days than I’ve ever seen you smile in three years and in art class you were zoned out completely.” Rick batted her hand away when she clapped a whole palm over his forehead.

“I don’t have a fever.”

“You’ve got something .”

“I don’t,” he insisted again. “I’m fine.”

“Well I’m not an idiot,” Yolanda settled on as class started. “But whatever is going on, keep at it. It’s a good look on you.”

~.~

Three reasons why I’d date Beth Chapel

I’d be dating the smartest girl in school

I could share the homemade food she brings for lunch

I’d see one of those perfect smiles & it would be just for me

~.~

Three reasons why Beth Chapel should date me

I’d let her sit shotgun in my car

She could talk to me all day about whatever she’d like and I’ll listen to it all

She can stop wearing fuzzy sweaters to classes without heaters because I’d give her one of my jackets so she’ll stay warm

I actually really like her

“Ah shit,” Rick whispered harshly to himself at the computer monitor in the library. He buried his head in his hands, putting the computer to sleep. It was supposed to be generic. Nice enough that Beth would feel touched but not personalized enough that it could directly trace back to Rick. It was his ‘66 he was thinking about in the first sentence. Her effect on his mood was when she placed her arm on his during an imploring talk in the second. And the way Rick knew exactly which jacket he’d like to see her swallowed in with the pooling cuffs rolled up six times to reach her wrists for the third. And now that it was out in that 12 point font, Rick didn’t even want to delete it.

“Shit. Shit. Shit. I"m a fucking idiot.”

He whacked the side of the iMac too hard to wake up the monitor and printed the thing before he could incriminate himself more by adding extra lines. The heat that crawled up his face was sign enough that this was bad, but he’d felt that same sickly warm feeling drop in his stomach sometime before his brain kicked in to realize what he’d done. He was supposed to be doing a favour for his best friend to not humiliate her unjustly by being her pseudo secret admirer.

Not actually become Beth’s secret admirer.

The next morning, Rick waited until Beth raised her hand for a hall pass during their class before lunch. Their teacher handed over the laminated card for Beth to go to the bathroom. Rick counted five seconds then leaned over and dragged her backpack from the dusty classroom floor to his side.

She started keeping the letters she liked the most in the pocket folder of her agenda. Rick pulled them out, unfolding the papers as he read them over, eyes scanning over what he’d been writing to her, trying to find the moment in which his feelings for her morphed into something more. Rick felt stupid, reading back.

He never wanted to lie to Beth, so he hadn’t.

He couldn’t lie to himself either. This started before meeting Joseph. This started before the letters. Hell, it might’ve even started before the JSA ever stopped Project New America.

A part of Rick wanted Beth all along.

~.~

That evening, Rick locked himself in his bedroom and wrote a long and frankly terribly written letter to get his feelings off his chest. Staying up all night to perfect it, he overslept halfway through the morning. He drove to school late and worried over how to get through the day. His entire schedule was thrown off and he needed to both find a way to get his letter in and survive seeing Beth that afternoon. Bad turned to worse when teachers chased after him to pile on detentions for skipping class after he’d just started to improve his attendance.

If he wanted to make this work he was going to need support. He needed Court.

The only time Rick found Courtney alone was during dodgeball in gym class. They were somehow the only ones left on their team. Courtney used handsprings and cartwheels to avoid the red rubber balls as though her gym mark should be the deciding factor of her Stargirl training success. Rick didn’t take it as seriously, but that’s exactly why he was still winning. He launched the ball to the other side, hitting Cameron Mahkent square in the face.

“Court, get Jenny out, and then we can free the rest.”

“Good plan.”

Rick picked up another that ricocheted off the wall, missing both targets. “Hey, you know Beth’s letters?”

“Yeah?” Courtney hit Jenny, who yelped in her expensive tennis skirt, manicured hands protecting her face even though she got her hip instead.

“They’re me.” Rick caught a ball and everyone came hollering back into the game. Courtney gaped at him, motionless in front of the red line. Rick tried to warn her when another ball came flying, but it bonked the side of her curly hair before Rick could push her out of the way, and then another ball assaulted Rick from the other side, disqualifying them both.

Rick explained it all once they got to the bench. The important parts, at least, without any of the messy stuff. Joe’s razing and the awkward excuses to use the library computer every day.

Courtney grinned so wide. “Shut up!”

Rick regretted telling her immediately. She shook his arm like she wanted to make a protein shake out of it. “Shut up! Stop! Are you kidding me? That’s so sweet!” She slapped her hands to her cheeks. “Oh my god. Oh my god! That’s why you’re smiling so much! You like her!” She gasped. “You love her?!”

“Woah,” said Rick, grabbing her wrist to keep her from bouncing off the gym walls. If he wasn’t careful she’d text Pat this for his advice or something which would be horrifying. “I didn’t say anything like that.”

Courtney rolled her eyes, undeterred. “Okay okay okay but you totally are into her. Like a lot!!! A lot a lot, oh my god, Rick this is such big news! You’re falling for Beth!”

“Oh my god,” Rick muttered to himself, wanting to disappear. “Court, if I say yes will you please be quiet?”

Courtney squealed, dancing in her seat on the bench. “You didn’t deny it!”

“Okay calm down.”

“Why are you telling me? Are you going to confess? Do you need help?”

“I need you to print out her letter for today and get it in her locker. I don’t have the time.”

Court clapped her hands and squealed. “Yes! Deal! Done!”

~.~

“You know what?” Beth layered on an extra woolly sweater over her already thick-fabric shirt. Just by looking at it Rick knew it was expensive and set off some type of fashion pattern-texture dichotomy scheme. Though, what mattered was how warm it made her after shivering all throughout their homeroom period. What mattered was how she clutched at her sleeves now, creating friction to sweep out the cold that seeped into her bones. The way she held herself in front of him and how she’d feel if Rick hugged her like that soft-spun sweater instead. She pulled a sticky note out of her school bag’s front pocket and stuck it to her locker door then stepped away from it, nodding along for Rick to follow her down to their first class. “You’re right.”

“I’m right?” For his credit, Rick was cold too. The school heater conked out over the weekend and the weather was abnormally cold, even for their chilly Spring Nebraska. He shoved a hand in his pocket so he wouldn’t feel the joint pain settling into his bruised knuckles.

“You are.”

“About what?”

Beth half-spun on her heel, facing Rick in the thick of the school crowd. “My heart is in this. I need to know who my secret admirer is.”

The immediate nausea Rick got from that sentence nearly stopped him in his tracks. He couldn’t stop though, it would be suspicious and then Beth would know and then Rick very might well be sick. So he jerkily forced one foot in front of the other and swallowed the lump down his throat. “You...do?”

“We always find my letter after our fourth-period class right before lunch. So they have to be sending it out before then, right? If we both subsequently skip our third-period classes respectfully--”

“How does one skip class ‘respectfully?’” Rick used air quotes around the last word.

Beth elbowed his side lightly. “When a straight-A student like myself has love on the line!”

“ I’m not a straight-A.”

“Yeah, but you’ll be with me so I’ve got you covered.” She linked her arm in his. “It’s a buddy system. I posted a sticky note on my locker for my secret admirer to visit this morning!”

Oh no. Which meant Courtney was going to find it soon and pressure him to tell Beth too. God, no.

“And you need me there...why?”

Beth furrowed her brows, fidgeting with her rainbow necklace. “I haven’t completely ignored what you said to me this whole time. I don’t know who it really is. What if I put myself out there and they show up only to hurt me?”

“Beth, they won’t.”

“But what if you were right and it was the ISA, and they were waiting for me to lure them into a trap to kidnap me because they discovered I’m Dr. Mid-Nite without Chuck?”

“Where was this support when I suggested this as an actual possibility four weeks ago and you all ignored it and called me an asshole?” He was teasing her, honestly, but it was wild to Rick he was finally hearing her address some of his previous legitimate concerns. What good was she doing bringing this up now if she already made up her mind?

“We didn’t!”

“Yolanda did!”

“Yolanda doesn’t use that word.”

“She doesn’t need to say it! You’ve seen her glare, right? Yolanda could glare at you and brand you “ asshole ” just with her eyeballs.”

“You are ridiculous.” Beth huffed out an indignant breath. “And I wasn’t ignoring it completely.” She tugged on his sleeve. “So you should come.”

“I swear you’re going to be fine by yourself. It’s just some person here that likes you. It’s not a criminal. No need to suit up.”

“I want you there.”

He wavered at her pleading face, her big eyes hopeful sucking him into dangerous territory. “Fine,” he relented, dooming himself. “I’ll come.”

~.~

Courtney did not know how the printer at the library worked because she never used the computers at the library because she never came to the school library. Like. Since she moved here. She banged her hand against the table when she got prompted for her Blue Valley High School student account password to access her printing credits. Was she supposed to pay for that? She didn’t know. She promised Rick to get his letter delivered and he was counting on her so there wasn’t any time for messing this up.

“It’s just your initials and the last 3 numbers of your student ID card number.”

A thousand butterflies let loose in her stomach at the tell-tale sound of her crush’s deep voice.

“Cameron!” she greeted with a nervous laugh. “Hi! What are you doing here?”

“It’s the library.”

“Right!” She smacked her head. “Dumb me, of course. You must be studying.”

“Actually, I have an oral presentation after lunch and need to reprint my speaking notes. I spilled paint on my cue cards this morning. What are you working on?”

“Oh!” Courtney laughed it off. “It’s not important. Thanks for the login info!”

“No problem. Maybe we can see each other later after my grief counseling?”

Courtney nearly knocked the magic mouse off the surface of the table. “I’d love that!”

“Awesome, I’ll text you?”

“Great!” She waved as he turned around and sat down at the next computer. Courtney pulled up the tab she had with the word document of Rick’s letter to Beth and fawned over it, imagining herself in Beth’s shoes with Cameron. She printed it out and ambled over to the printing center while it was still warm. According to the school clock, which was probably ten minutes fast if it were anything like the other clocks in her classrooms, she had twenty minutes to find Beth’s locker and get it in securely without being seen. Courtney packed her bag and folded the sheet in three like Beth had been getting since the beginning of March, sticking it between her teeth as she got that bag over her shoulders.

“Court.”

She twirled around at the tap on her shoulder, not expecting to find Cameron waiting for her with a grim look on his face. “Huh?” She removed the paper and crinkled her eyes at him. “Hey!”

“Hi,” Cameron said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. “I think my essay got mixed up with your uh….letter…”

“What?” Courtney checked Rick’s letter in her hand. “No! This is um, uh it’s ‘ The Republic of Marino is a small country in the region of--’ oooooooh crap.”

Courtney snatched it from him, giving herself a papercut in the process as she swapped sheets, mind racing when she put two and two together. Oh no. Oh no oh no. The blood drained from her face.

“That’s not mine!” she yelped.

The librarian barked at them both from across the room as Cameron blinked at her with a complicated expression.

“I mean!” Courtney added in more quietly but equally harried, hissing at the stinging from her thumb. She sucked at the blood that trickled down her palm. “I printed it obviously! Because we were here and I was at the printer and you were at the printer and I wrote it!” She was going to get blood on Beth’s love letter and make her think that she’s being stalked by an ax murderer or The Gambler’s personal hitman. “These words aren’t from me ,” she stressed. “I didn’t say these things!”

Dang it, this was bad. He wasn’t going to draw her flowers anymore or cute stars passed in notes during their shared homeroom. She continued to ramble when Cameron didn’t say anything. “Actually!” She wiped her palm on her jeans and returned it. “It’s for you!”

Cameron maintained cool and collected when he pointed at the opening address, becoming amused. “It says ‘ Dear Beth ’”

“Does it!? Typo!”

“Look, I don’t blame you for developing a crush on a close friend. It happens, you don’t have to explain it to me.”

“But!”

Cameron backed away. “I’m gonna go.”

~.~

Rick let Beth drag him out of class so they could meet up with her secret admirer in the empty hallway at her locker knowing this wasn’t going to end well.

Beth tapped at the yellow sticky note on her locker that had the details of her rendezvous.

“What happens if he doesn’t show up?” Rick crossed his arms awkwardly when Beth turned around to look at him. “If they don’t show up.”

He should’ve noticed the second that he saw Beth that this had been her plan since she got out of bed. She was wearing a dress and tights that perfectly so matched her colour, it took a second glance to confirm it adhered to the no dress on skin school dress code.

Her hair had clips in them too, a moon clip that parted the left side of her afro in a way that let it drop slightly over her face like her mom’s weave. It was beautiful and she looked beautiful and Rick got stuck in those thoughts all over again when she slid down the lockers to wait, drawing up her knees.

“They will.” She patted on the dusty ground for him to sit.

“You’re not going to check your locker first?”

“You want me to?”

“Do you want to?” Rick countered.

Beth scrunched up her face at him. “I asked first.”

His face warmed and he finally sat down across from her. “Usually you rush to it, that's all.”

She stretched out her legs, pulling at the hem of her dress. “It’s not going to matter what was written in whatever they put in my locker when I get to see who they are. Meeting them in person will be more exciting.”

Bold words to say to her secret admirer, sitting right in front of her. Rick sighed and stretched out too. He drew up one leg, the other bent at the knee. “What if they’re really ugly?”

Beth rolled her eyes.

“Just asking. You can like someone’s sentiments but not their face.”

“I’m going to like their face,” she reassured him. “Even if I’ll have to learn to.”

“Okay,” Rick drawled. He was hoping if he extended the talk long enough, Beth would grow bored and give up. Just because the secret admirer won’t show up today doesn’t mean that they did so with ill-intent. Rick tried to remind Beth of this as they sat around alone. The secret admirer could’ve got swept up in a test in class or had an early dismissal. Beth wouldn’t know the difference. Rick wasn’t hurting her by playing along.

When an hour passed and Rick saw how determined she was to stick this through, the internal panic ramped up.

Of course, the thought came to him that he should come clean. It’s just that. That meant Rick would have to come clean . He hated that Courtney was right to laugh at him over this. It freaked him out to just blurt out the truth. It would take Beth by surprise. Rick hadn’t planned yet how he was going to wind the secret admirer thing down to prepare her about it all. He thought she’d get to read his letter today to gauge how she’d feel.

He stared up at the ceiling thinking through five hundred strategy plans to get out of this mess while untangling the secret as Beth played a game on her phone.

“Soooo,” Beth said some while later. “Are we going to be waiting another hour or…”

Rick jerked up, saucer-eyed and mouth agape. His brain short-circuited.

“Because we can take all the time you need, Rick.”

“You knew?” He banged his head against the metal behind him. She didn’t need a supercomputer to figure out Rick liked her before Rick figured out he liked her, did she? “Of course you knew,” he muttered to himself. The shock wore off as the embarrassment settled in, his face flushing as bright confirmation. A massive shot of adrenaline flooded through him, similar to the rush of his hourglass.

“I pieced it together a few days ago,” she admitted. “I don’t think you realize how much lighter you are now.” Beth picked herself up and crossed the hall to sit by his side. Her hand went to his right knee and she leaned forward. “Rick, it’s okay. It’s okay to like me.”

The words clogged up in Rick’s throat as she spoke softly, overwhelmed. He wanted to explain everything but it was complicated and delicate and if she’d only read his freakin letter trapped in that locker maybe he’d have a chance to get her to understand-

“Oh my god, you’re really nervous.” She lifted her hand up to give him room. “Rick, it’s just me. I like you too, I’m just a bit confused about how this all makes sense.”

“I didn’t know,” he managed out, stilted. “I really didn’t know.”

“Didn’t know what?”

“I’m not your real secret admirer.” Rick corrected himself. “I wasn’t your first.”

“Okay…”

“There were those weird letters at first. The random ones. And I didn’t understand why they got under my skin so much. But they did. So I found the guy who was making them and I-"

"Really," Beth deadpanned.

"I know, I know." Rick scowled. "I found out it was that they were being forced to.”

Sourness etched over her mouth as it pulled her lips thin together. “Oh.”

“And I wanted it to quit but by then it was involving the bullying of that other guy, not just you.” Rick sighed. “So I took over to help.”

“Rick.”

“I just didn’t want you to get crushed!” he told her, going into more detail about Joseph and the football team. “I was going to explain when it was all over what happened, and you were going to laugh it off and thank me and then I would’ve shrugged that off because it was whatever. It was the right thing to do.”

“But?”

Rick rolled his eyes at himself. “But I liked what I was doing too much for it to be normal.” He raised his head to give her a crooked smile. “I like you. ”

“You are so ridiculous,” she giggled out. She stood up and leisurely made her way to the locker. “So you have this important letter in here for me that you want me to read?” She toyed with her combination lock. “What’s in it?”

“Uh. A mess?”

“I’ll keep it for later then,” she decided and grabbed his hand. He stood up and followed her, hyper-aware of the way she led him away with her hand in his. “Come on, we have something we need to do.”

She brought him to the school library, which Rick did not understand. She sat him down at a macbook and darted in to kiss his cheek. Rick stuttered, lightheaded as she booted up his computer.

“Uh- What exactly are we doing?”

“Writing.” She tapped on his keyboard and moved his still hands over them with an exciting squeeze. “There are four more days left in the month and I don’t know about you but I’d really rather spend our free periods and after school with you on a date.”

"That is...a really good idea."

She glanced up from their screen to find Cameron watching them oddly.

Beth awkwardly waved.

“Why is he looking at us like that?”

“I don’t know. I don’t care.” Rick put his arm around her, ignoring everyone else. He leaned forward to steal her move, gently kissing away her curiosity.

Beth grinned and leaned her head against his shoulder as he typed lines and lines of compliments. “Then I don’t care either.”

#beth chapel #rick tyler #hournite #rick x beth #hournite week 21 #hournite week 2021 #secret admirer au #hournites fic

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atths--twice · 3 years

Text

Wednesday Night at the Fluff and Fold

Had an idea for a little “on the run” story the other day. Thus this little story was born. Hope you enjoy! ❤️

Late on a hot summer night, while on the run, Scully and Mulder spend some time in a small town laundromat.

September 2003

Juliette, Georgia

10:00 p.m.

There was an odd feeling of calm to pairing socks, seeing them piling up beside the other clothes, everything organized into neat stacks.

Scully smiled as she remembered helping her mother fold clothes when she was younger, loving the feel of them when they were warm from the dryer, or even helping to take them from a clothesline. Sheets were always her favorite, lifting her side up as high as she could, her mother smiling as she held tight to the other end. The sound of the snap of the fabric, the perfect fold, meeting in the middle to hand it off to her mother… she loved it all.

Socks were saved for her to do on her own, large piles of them from the whole family, left to her to sort like a puzzle. She liked being able to differentiate between them, giving the right socks to the right people, proud that she never got it wrong.

As an adult, she found that same pride in the tidiness of her own home; the dishes always washed and put away in their place, the pictures hung to her taste, her clothes always organized, going through them often and getting rid of any taking up unwanted space.

Space, she thought with a snort. That’s definitely something we are lacking these days.

Folding one of Mulder’s t-shirts, she placed it on top of his pile. One of her shirts was next and she placed it on her own pile with a sigh. Turning around, she looked at the dryer in front of her and saw it still had twenty minutes left before the cycle would be complete. Looking around at the empty laundromat, she sighed again.

Fanning herself, she lifted her long hair off of her sweaty neck. The weight of it made her think again of cutting it short like she’d had it in the past. Instead, she took the rubber band from her wrist and tied it up into a messy bun, a few pieces falling down and brushing her face. As it did, she sighed at the dark brown, nearly black color of it.

She’d had it dyed for months now, but she was still taken aback by it when her thoughts were elsewhere and it suddenly fell into her view. She did not mind it, but it was a drastic difference from her normal red.

The door to the laundromat opened and Mulder walked in with a plastic bag in each hand.. Even in khaki shorts, a black tank top, and flip flops, she could see he was just as warm as she was, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead.

“God, it’s like walking through numerous layers of warm wet paper towels. I’m sweating like crazy.”

“It’s not much cooler in here,” she said with a gesture toward the dryers. “Thankfully it’s the last load.”

“Should I get the bags from the car?” he asked, setting the plastic bags down on the counter beside the piles of folded clothes.

“Nah. Might as well wait until those are done and folded.” He nodded and jumped up to sit next to the bags, smiling at her as he did. She let out a deep breath as she glanced at the dryer timer again.

Eighteen minutes until they would pack up and head away from this small town, all of their clothes clean, for a while at least.

It had been nearly a year and a half since they had been on the run, staying in countless motels, trailers, tents, the car itself, and even once a teepee, which they had both found highly offensive, especially after seeing the decor. But it had been cold and the place warm, so they had stayed for a night before leaving the next morning

In that time, a system had been created. They had bought large plastic totes and kept everything they needed inside of them: sleeping bags, pillows, extra blankets, two tents, tarps, camping cooking supplies, some food- but not much as they did not want to attract any unwanted animals.

They also had two duffel bags which held all of the clothes they owned, rotating them by need and season.

As it was the tailend of a very warm summer, the warmer clothes had been stored in one of the totes, not needed for a few more months. The two duffel bags were now full of shorts, tank tops, shirts, and even a few sundresses, the breeze welcome as it cooled her everywhere.

The bags also held their simple toiletries inside plastic zippered bags. It was organized and fit just so in the car, allowing them to grab whatever was needed quickly. Every item was replaceable and held no sentimental value, easily able to be left behind if the situation called for it.

Clothes were worn until only one outfit remained, the dirty clothes placed in trash bags. All laundry was done at one time, visiting laundromats late at night, or any motel with on-site laundry service. The clean clothes were then put back into the duffel bags, the trash bags slipped into the totes, ready to be refilled.

It was a system that worked well, keeping them away from crowds of people, Mulder remaining safe and relatively unseen.

Sighing again, she shook her head and glanced at the bags he had brought in with him.

“So, what have you got there?” she asked with a smile, one of the bags smelling of something delicious and causing her stomach to growl.

“Well,” he said, opening the bag and removing take out containers, handing one to her. “The Whistle Stop Café is open late tonight for a summer barbecue-”

“Is it?” she said, looking at her food cautiously and he laughed.

“Pork, not human,” he assured her with another chuckle. “Someone in front of me made that joke and the woman serving food gave him such a look, I knew better than to make the same mistake.”

“Can’t really blame people when it’s heavily implied in the Fried Green Tomatoes movie and in the book… well…” She raised her eyebrows and opened the container, sniffing the delicious aroma of barbecued pork, her mouth watering.

“I also got mashed potatoes and biscuits. Homemade biscuits that I ate one of on the way over here because they had only just cooled enough to be served when I ordered them. Try one of those first.” He handed her one and he nodded encouragingly.

Taking it from him, she took a bite and then moaned as the sweet taste of butter hit her tongue. He nodded again with a smile as she took another bite and he took out utensils and napkins. She pushed herself up to sit beside him, her legs swinging as they ate, the dryer continuing to tumble the last of their clothes, both of them hot, sweaty, and sticky.

As they finished eating, the dryer stopped and while he cleaned up their food and trash, she took out the clothes, walking them to the counter to be folded. He came back in with the duffel bags, setting them on the empty counter, and began helping her fold the clothes.

In no time, they were filling the duffel bags, everything once more arranged and in order. She threw out the dryer sheets she had used and picked up the now empty trash bags, ready to put them back into the totes in the car.

“What’s in this bag?” she asked and he nodded at her to open it. When she did, she smiled, finding it full of paperbacks.

“I found a used bookstore and came back to the car, taking out the ones you’d wanted to swap if we found one. I could only find up to “O,” but maybe we’ll get lucky at the next place and find “P” and “Q.””

“There’s a “Q”? I didn’t know,” she murmured and he nodded as she looked down at the books.

They had stayed at a cabin in March and the sparse amount of books available had led to her reading ones she would normally have passed over. Particularly, a series of detective novels, the titles of each one beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.

Finding that she enjoyed them, when they had been in another town, she had popped into a used bookstore, finding the next in the “alphabet series” by Sue Grafton. She had loved them all, a distraction from their own lives for a little while. It had been some time since she had finished, and even reread the last few, holding onto them to trade in for new ones, and she was happy he had found them.

“Thank you,” she said softly, looking at “L” is for Lawless and “M” is for Malice. “I know it’s not my usual reading material…”

“Scully, there isn’t much that is usual right now.” He smiled at her and shrugged. “You enjoy them. I do too. Especially when you read them aloud and we try to figure out the ending.” She nodded with a smile and ran her fingers across the titles.

“Thank you,” she said again, lifting her head to look at him. He smiled with a nod and picked up one of the duffel bags, kissing her as he did.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered against her lips, reaching for the next duffel bag.

She put the books back inside the plastic bag and picked up their black canvas backpack. Everything else could be left behind and abandoned at a moment's notice, but not the backpack. It held everything of importance inside of it and was never far from sight.

One last look around, making sure they had everything, they walked out into the muggy and sticky Georgia night. Bags were placed back into the car and then bottles of water were taken from the totes and carried to the front seat.

Mulder turned on the car, blasting the air conditioning as they both sat, the warm air gradually becoming cooler. She closed her eyes as she twisted her head and leaned forward, letting the cool air hit the back of her neck.

“What were we thinking, huh? Coming to the south in the summer? Should have stayed up north,” Mulder said with a deep sigh and she smiled.

“It’s summer, Mulder. It’s hot everywhere.”

“Hmm. Not moist hot though. I feel… well… it’s not the best situation in my southern region either.” She laughed and opened her eyes, looking at him as he raised his eyebrows with a shake of his head.

“How does a cold shower sound?”

“Make it lukewarm, and not a solo one, and you’ve got yourself a deal,” he said with a smile and she tilted her head.

“You’re asking me to join you even after you’ve so eloquently divulged a bad case of swamp ass?” She raised her eyebrows at him, a half smile on her face, and he nodded enthusiastically.

“Absolutely. I’m sure you could do with a…”

“Yes?” she asked, her eyebrows raising higher, waiting to see how big of a hole he would dig himself into.

“Well…” He shrugged and smiled, the one that made her heart race. Innocent and sweet, with an air of mischief hiding behind it. “A nice refreshing shower after standing in that warm laundromat for so long.”

“Mmhmm,” she hummed, licking her lips and his eyes followed its path across them.

“And if it leads to some sex… well…” He shrugged again and put the car in gear, looking around before he backed up and out of the parking spot, continuing out of the parking lot. “At least we’ll get clean as we’re being dirty.” She laughed and nodded, already anticipating the feel of the water cooling and cleansing her sweaty body, his hands on her wet and slippery skin making her ache with need.

He grinned at her as they pulled up to a stop sign by the Whistle Stop Café. People were still there enjoying the barbecue, music playing and laughter ringing out into the night. They drove past the now closed used bookstore and she smiled, remembering the books waiting to be read. Looking at him, she smiled and he winked as he caught her eye.

“A refreshing shower sounds wonderful.”

“And the sex?” he asked, stopping at a light and staring at her, waggling his eyebrows.

“Sounds orgasmic,” she said in a low voice and he growled, stepping on the gas as soon as the light was green, hurrying out of town as she laughed happily.

#The X Files #xf fanfic #msr #memories #on the run #doing laundry #hot weather #gifts of surprise #happy

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suituuup · 3 years

Photo

pieces - chapter five

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca didn't expect to see her again dancing in a strip club, out of all places.

rated: E (drug use and emotional abuse)

ao3 link

As the rest of the day ticked by, Beca kept replaying the events at Sarah’s coffee shop over and over, unable to pinpoint what she could have said to make Chloe bolt like that. She managed to focus on her tasks at hand over the afternoon and headed home around 6, groaning as soon as she stepped inside when she remembered she had promised Sarah to cook her dinner.

She pondered on canceling for half a minute because all she felt like doing was taking a long shower and eating pizza in bed, but she already felt guilty about a lot of things these past couple of days.

So she took a quick shower instead and put on some comfy jeans and a plaid shirt, tossing her blow-dried hair in a messy bun atop her head. With one of her favorite blues records playing throughout her home, Beca set to work to make creamy salmon pasta with spinach, nursing a much-needed glass of wine as she cooked.

“Babe?”

“In the kitchen,” Beca called out over the music, lowering the heat on the boiling water and dropping a handful of spaghetti in. She smiled as Sarah brushed a kiss to her cheek. “Hey.”

“Hello you,” Sarah murmured, squeezing her hip as she walked past her to set a bottle of wine on the counter. “Smells delicious.”

“Hopefully it tastes good, too.” Not that Beca was worried; she had been making this dish for a few years. “Wine?”

Sarah hopped onto the counter next, humming. “Yes, please.”

Beca opened the fridge and took the bottle out, reaching on the tip of her toes (shhh) for a glass in the cabinet over her head. She poured some wine in and handed it to Sarah. “Sorry I disappeared earlier.”

After Chloe had left, Beca wasn’t in the mood to eat or finish her coffee, leaving a $20 on the table on her way out.

“Was that the friend you told me about yesterday?”

Beca puffed out a sigh. “Yeah. She’s…” It’s complicated, Beca was about to say, but she figured she owed Sarah some details after what happened at her workplace. “She’s in a bad place. And I wanna help her, but she doesn’t seem to want any help. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

Sarah covered Beca’s hand with her own, the pad of her thumb stroking her skin back and forth. “Has it been a long time since you last saw each other?”

“Over six years. We fell out of touch about five years ago. Well, she cut us all out of her life nearly overnight.”

Sarah tilted her head to the side. “Us?”

“The Bellas, from college. Chloe and I were co-captains.” Beca swallowed around the lump forming in her throat as a wave of nostalgia hit her with full force. “She just… she was my best friend.”

“I’m sorry, baby. Maybe give her some time and she’ll come around?”

Beca doubted that, but she nodded anyway. “Yeah, maybe.” She shook her head, squeezing Sarah’s hand as she mustered a smile. “Enough about me. How was your day?”

As the next week ticked by, Beca started to lose hope. In true Beca Mitchell fashion, she threw herself into work to avoid dealing with her emotions, staying at the office until midnight most days.

A knock on her open-door one night made her jolt. She had lost herself in the view and her own thoughts, unaware someone was still at the office.

Beca spun her chair around to face the door, finding Luke in the doorway. “Why are you here so late?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Luke pointed out, inviting himself in. He set a sheet of paper in front of Beca, then plopped down in the seat on the other side of her desk. “This is incredible. You’ve got to record it.”

Beca glanced down at her own handwriting, heavily regretting showing Luke that song she wrote a few days ago. “I don’t know, man.”

“What?” Luke asked, incredulous. “Becky, you haven’t been able to write a lyric for the past three years and now that you’ve got a platinum record worthy song, you don’t want to use it?”

Beca nibbled on the inside of her cheek. “It feels too personal, I’m not sure I feel like sharing it with the world.” She glared at him next. “And stop calling me Becky, this is getting old.”

“I’m serious, this might be your best work yet,” Luke insisted. “Think about it?”

“I will. Now get out of my office,” Beca muttered.

“You got it, Becky,” Luke teased, easily catching the stress ball Beca tossed at his head, chuckling at her poor attempt. “You should go home and get some sleep.”

“Yeah. Night.”

“Goodnight.”

It turned out Sarah had been right.

When Beca wasn’t expecting it anymore, Chloe called. And she sounded like Chloe. Hope flared within her once more, but she tried not to let it engulf her whole being. While Chloe reaching out was an enormous step, Beca threaded carefully, knowing a lot could happen in five days.

She wished she had been wrong, but as it pushed 1 pm that Thursday afternoon, it was pretty clear Chloe wouldn’t show. Beca didn’t have her phone number or any other way to contact her. Her heart felt heavy as she headed back to BMLJ for her meeting with Jesse regarding his movie score, and her head was too full of thoughts to completely focus on work.

“Earth to Beca.”

Beca hummed, snapping out of her daze. Jesse was staring at her in a mix of concern and curiosity. “Sorry.”

“Do you wanna do this another time?”

“No, no,” Beca insisted, straightening up. “I’m okay.” She hated how well Jesse knew her, and heaved a sigh when he gave her that look. “It’s Chloe.”

“Chloe Beale?” Jesse asked. “She’s in New York?”

“Yeah. I found her a couple of weeks ago. She’s a stripper at some hyped club in Times Square.”

“Holy shit, seriously?”

Beca proceeded to tell him everything over the next ten minutes, Jesse hanging onto every word. “Am I stupid? Trying so hard to help someone who clearly doesn’t want to be helped?”

“No, you’re not stupid. You’re a softie under that tough exterior and you care deeply about the people you love. Especially Chloe. I was in the front row, remember?”

Beca grimaced, some of that decade-old guilt surfacing. “Dude…”

“It’s fine. I’m definitely over all of that, but we both know Chloe is too important for you to just give up. And from how you described her, and that phone call? It sounds like she still cares, but she lost herself along the way and is now in so deep she has trouble coming back on her own. Maybe she just needs to hear that asking for help isn’t giving up, but rather refusing to give up.”

Those words echoed deep within Beca, and she found herself nodding, filled with newfound energy to fight for this. “I need to go by the club. Tonight. Her boss might kick me out if I show up inside, but maybe I can wait by the back door?”

“I’ll come with you.”

“You don’t have to, man. It might be hours before we see her.”

“That guy sounds creepy, you shouldn’t go on your own.”

Beca sighed. “Okay, fine. I’ll pick you up around ten.”

Beca felt like they were on a stake-out as they waited in her car hours later, parked across the back alley of the club. Winter had definitely settled in in NYC and waiting in the cold for hours in freezing temperatures didn’t seem like a great plan.

She texted back and forth with Aubrey, who once more offered to come down, but Beca was concerned Chloe might think they were ambushing her.

It was pushing midnight by the time a familiar figure stepped out of the building through the side door. Chloe was on her own.

Beca slapped Jesse’s arm to wake him up. “She’s here.”

They both stepped out of the car and crossed the street when it was clear, Beca telling Jesse to wait by the corner as she tentatively approached Chloe, slipping her gloved hands inside the pockets of her dark grey wool trench coat.

She was smoking a cigarette, clad in her glitter dress under an open fleece jacket. Her gaze flickered to Beca when she spotted her, her posture turning rigid. “What are you doing here?”

There was no bite to her tone but soft curiosity, which reassured Beca further.

“Can we talk?”

Chloe glanced over her shoulder towards the door as she nibbled on her lower lip. “Five minutes, then I have to go back inside.”

She met Beca on the other side of the alley, the orange glow of the lamp post over their heads allowing Beca to trace her features. “You didn’t show earlier.”

Chloe dragged on her cigarette. “I changed my mind.”

“Is that the truth or did someone tell you not to?” She wasn’t dumb; after meeting Chloe’s boss and knowing she was his favorite, she had an inkling the two were somehow involved. And that guy just gave off a crazy possessive vibe. Chloe’s silence was her answer. “Chlo…”

“It’s more complicated than you think,” Chloe murmured, licking her lips.

“Then explain it to me,” she demanded, a desperate edge to her tone.

“Why are you doing this?” Chloe croaked out. “Why won’t you leave me alone?”

Her question took Beca by surprise, and her mouth moved wordlessly for a few beats. “Because I care about you. And you’re not okay, Chlo. I want to help.”

“Beca…”

She thought back on Jesse’s words. “Asking for help is not giving up, Chloe. It’s refusing to give up. And I’m here. You just have to say the word, I’ve got you.”

Chloe shook her head, closing her eyes briefly. “I’m not--” Her eyes were filled with so much sadness when they found Beca’s that Beca had to remind herself to breathe. “I’m not worth it.”

Those four words felt like a knife lodging itself inside Beca’s heart. They stole all the air from her lungs and brought tears to her eyes. “What?” She whispered, her voice nowhere within reach as a huge lump formed in her throat. “That’s not true,” she said, with more forcefulness this time around. “It’s not, you hear me?”

Chloe kept shaking her head. “You don’t know me anymore.”

“Maybe I don’t know this version of you, but I know Chloe Beale is still in there, somewhere. I heard her on the phone the other day, remember? And I can see her now, under all those layers of sadness and lack of self-worth triggered by outside factors. I know her soul hasn’t changed, deep down. It couldn’t have, because you are the purest, kindest human being there is, and that has to still be somewhere in there.”

“I’m broken, Bec,” Chloe cried, her eyes filled to the rim with tears threatening to spill over. “I’m a crack addict. I don’t--” A sob spilled from her throat. “I spend all my money on coke and all I know how to do anymore is show my breasts for money.”

A tear rolled down Beca’s cheek as she reached for Chloe’s hand. “Then I’ll help put you back together. Piece by piece, for however long it takes. Whatever it takes, Chlo. I promise.”

“Chloe?”

Both their heads snapped towards the open door, where Marco stood. His features hardened when he saw Beca there, and Beca released Chloe’s hand, looking over her shoulder towards Jesse, who made his way over.

“What is she doing here?” He spat out as he climbed down the set of steps.

Chloe visibly swallowed, her fear radiating off her. “She’s just leaving.”

“No, I’m not,” Beca stated, loud and clear as her eyes shone fiercely. “I’m not going anywhere without Chloe.”

“You fucking homewrecker,” he muttered, crossing the alley in quick strides. Chloe stepped in front of Beca, as though to shield her with her own body. The anger swirling in his eyes shot a chill down Beca’s spine. “Move, Chloe.”

Chloe shook her head. “You should go back inside, Marco. Please don’t make a scene, it’s not worth it.”

Beca had never understood the expression ‘to see red’ until now; until she witnessed Marco backhanding Chloe with so much force she staggered back with a cry.

Unparalleled rage filled her, the kind of rage she couldn’t control. She stepped forward and raised her fist, clocking him in the face with a mean right hook. She wasn’t sure if the cracking sound came from her knuckle or his nose breaking, the pain in her hand muffled by the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Marco stumbled a few steps backward with a grunt, his eyes screwed shut as he covered his nose with his hand. But Beca wasn’t done, taking advantage of his dizzy state and stepping forward to knee him in the balls as hard as she could so he couldn’t walk until they were all safely inside the car.

“You guys get into the car,” Jesse ushered them, keeping an eye on Marco as he doubled over in pain.

“Chloe, come on,” Beca coaxed urgently, grabbing her hand and pulling. To her surprise, Chloe didn’t fight her. She seemed absolutely shell-shocked, even once they reached the car, as though her legs were carrying her on their own accord and her brain was miles behind. “Get inside, Chlo.”

Jesse jogged over a few seconds later and slid behind the wheel without Beca having to ask him, and she climbed in the backseat beside Chloe, relief washing over as the doors locked behind them and the car pulled onto the road towards safety.

#bechloe #bechloe fic #chloe beale #beca mitchell #pitch perfect fic

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imagine-docx · 4 years

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dresses.

Summary: Bucky is a cute single dad who needs to get a dress for his daughter because his ex wife’s wedding is in a few weeks. Insert you, the cute kids shop owner who has a ton of knowledge in this department. [ChubbyBucky!SingleDad!AU]

Warnings: swearing, and some insecurity mentions and some body shaming, suggestive content right at the end.

A/N: the amount of love i got on sneaky is astronomical! and i love and appreciate each and everyone of you who read it and enjoyed it! also, please remember to sign all the petitons, and donate if you can and attend protests if you can! black lives matter. - amanda

➽───────────────❥

Nope, nope, no, absolutely not, fuck this. Was the exact thought process Bucky went through his mind. The reminder just popped up that in two weeks was his ex wife’s marriage ceremony and reception.

Bucky and Natasha were once married, and had little Layla from the marriage. Layla was caught in the crossfire of a nasty divorce when Bucky and Nat ended things when she was only 3. When Bucky got the invitation for the wedding, he felt the same exact heartbreak when he realized Nat was cheating on him, and felt someone throw his heart into a fire when he realized the man she was currently engaged to was the exact man she cheated with.

He got up and realized that he should check if Layla had any clothes to wear to the wedding. He looked through her closet and realized Layla outgrew almost all of these or weren’t there for the wow factor.

He sighed, closing her closet. He ran his hands through his hair, he turned around and was greeted by the mirror that was there.

The divorce was hard on Bucky and it was obvious. He put on a few extra pounds around the waist, his shoulders rounded out, and his thighs filled out his pants from all the late shifts at the security firm. Another sighed escaped his lips, he was seeing his ex in laws again and he didn’t look the greatest.

He walked down the stairs and grabbed his keys, and was going to pick up Layla from Wanda’s house and take Layla dress shopping.

➽───────────────❥

“Wow you look like shit,” Wanda greeted him.

“Glad to know someone like you is caring for my kid,” Bucky sarcastically responded, allowing himself into her house.

“You already knew what you were signing up for when you knew I was dating Sam,” Wanda said, guiding him to the kitchen.

Bucky met Wanda through Sam. Sam met Wanda through the security firm, when Wanda was working for her old company and they changed the codes without her knowing, she flipped out and somehow Sam and Wanda clicked, and here they were.

“Where’s my kid?” He said, looking around for the little bundle of joy.

“Upstairs with Sam,” she responded. He eyed Wanda, “Listen, they’re bonding because I need to talk to you.”

“Shoot,” he said, grabbing a banana from the fruit basket.

“Nat’s getting married next week.”

“I know that.”

“You should get a date,” Wanda said bluntly.

“I would, if I could.” He stated, “Oh, I need a dress for the wedding.”

“Even better!” Wanda exclaimed, “That cute shop owner seems like she can help you out.”

“Wanda,” Bucky warned. Wanda was referring to you. You owned this little shop called Sew Lovely and were always helping him out with clothes for Layla.

He learned about it through Wanda as she was friends with you, and god was he smittened by you. You always helped out with what she wore, and the majority of her closet came from your little shop.

Everytime he came to see you, he felt like he was falling deeper and deeper, and it didn’t help that Layla would spend any given moment with you, and you were amazing to his kid.

“I’m trying to help,” she said defensively.

“Daddy!” He heard a little voice exclaim from around the corner.

“Hi pumpkin, did you have fun with uncle Sam and aunty Wanda?”

“Uh-huh, we coloured, watched movies, so much fun.” Layla said.

“Tell me more while we’re in the car,” he said, getting up from his seat and walking to the door. Before leaving he leaned back to Wanda, “I’m going for the dress,” Wanda smirked, “Not for the girl, for the dress.”

Wanda kept that smirk on her face, “Of course Buckaroo.”

➽───────────────❥

He decided to take Layla out for smoothies before shooting you a text asking you if you were free to help find him a dress. He poked the straw into Layla’s drink before he felt the buzz from his phone in his pocket. He pulled it out and read the text message while poking his own straw into his drink. He let out a small smile “Come love,” he said grabbing her hand before making their way back to the car.

Upon buckling her in, he brushed some hair out of her face, “We have to go shopping baby,” he cooed.

“I love shopping!” she exclaimed.

“Glad to hear baby,” he said, before navigating to the shop.

➽───────────────❥

He held Layla’s hand, while navigating to your shop. “Is aunty here?!” she asked, excitedly.

“Of course,” he chuckled as Layla dragged him into the store.

He heard someone call out Layla’s name and it could have been confused with an angel. “I knew that was my favourite sugar puff!” you exclaimed, crouching to hug her.

“Aunty! I’ve missed you!” Layla exclaimed, throwing her arms around you.

“And would you look at that, it's my favourite client,” you said.

Your hair was tossed into a messy ponytail, you were wearing an oversized white knit sweater, a pair of black jeans and some white sneakers. Even though the outfit was simple, you look like god himself spent ages creating you. “You know I would have no idea what to do with fashion,” he joked.

“Of course I do,” you joked back. “So how can I help the two of you today?”

“I need a dress for a wedding,” he said, biting back the fact it was his ex wife’s wedding. “Say no more,” you said, before crouching back down to Layla, “Alright love, we need to get you a dress. What are you thinking?”

“I want poofy! Colours! Flowers!” She exclaimed.

“Oh she knows off the bat, let’s go sugar puff,” you said, getting up and grabbing her hand and taking her around the shop.

➽───────────────❥

And that’s how Bucky spent the remainder of his day looking at dresses with you and Layla. He sat while the two of you looked around and tried things on. He admired how well you two bonded, as if you were mother and daughter, “I like this one the most sugar puff. What do you think?”

“I love it!” She exclaimed, she threw her arms around you for the second time today, “Thank you Aunty!”

Bucky looked over and saw that Layla was sporting a poofy white dress with red flowers and green leaves around it. “I love this one,” he said in awe at his daughter.

“No problem baby, I guess we have to get you matching jewelry,” you said, engulfing her into another hug.

Bucky let out a groan, “You guys have been shopping for so long.”

“Don’t rush a girl,” you joked.

Another forty five minutes and almost two hundred dollars later. They were done. “Remind me to never go shopping,” he joked.

“When you have a girl, you can never say no,” you smiled at him, making his heart melt.

“Thank you so much,” he said, feeling insecure because he knew someone like you would never like him.

“Not a problem sugar,” You said, and his heart skipped a beat. “See you next week?”

“You can count on it,” he said, giving you a small smile.

“Bye Aunty,” she said, hugging at your legs.

“Bye sugar puff, bye Buck,” you said, as they walked out the shop.

He should probably stop spending so much money at your shop, but seeing you made it all worth it.

➽───────────────❥

At this point, there was a week until Nat’s wedding and he was internally freaking out, he tried on his suit the previous night and it didn’t fit. The pants could barely make it past his midthigh, the dress shirt needed about three more inches before it could fit around his frame, and the jacket couldn’t even fit his arms.

Layla was asleep in her room, and he sat on the bed and tears started brewing in his eyes. Makes sense why Nat left, and why she wouldn’t like me, he thought referring to you.

He shut his eyes to prevent tears from slipping down his face. He steadied his breathing before shooting Wanda a text asking if she could watch Layla for a little longer than he anticipated. He tossed his phone on his bed, before dumping the suit in the trash can and going to shower.

➽───────────────❥

Bucky left work early, having asked Steve to cover for him while he went suit shopping. Once leaving work he somehow found himself on your street. He decided to see what you were up to before going suit shopping.

He walked up to the shop and saw you were sitting on the bar stool, innocently chewing at the tip of your pen while looking at the notebook that sits in front of you. You were wearing a black romper with sunflowers all over them, an oversized black cardigan that was slipping off of your body, you had your hair tossed into a messy bun, glasses sat on your nose, and a pair of black sandal heels were on your feet.

He found himself slowly walking up to the shop, opening the door, the bell went off from above him. You looked up and let out a huge smile, which made his heart melt and he returned a goofy grin.

“Got worried for you Buck, haven’t seen you in a while,” you joked.

“Dad duties call, doll,” he said walking up to the counter, “You alone?”

“Jessica and Natalie are in the back,” you said pointing your pen off to the back, “It’s fairly early, aren’t you supposed to be at work?”

“Don’t want me here doll?” He said, raising an eyebrow at you.

“No, I just need to make sure you have the funds to keep my store running,” you joked.

“Gotta go suit shopping, was on my way, and thought I should stop in and let you know I’m fine,” he joked.

“You going by yourself?” You asked.

“I have no one else doll, Steve and Sam are at work,” he said running his hand through his hair.

“I can come,” you said, quickly adding, “If you want.”

“I don’t want to drag you away from work,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Hush hush, I’ll come.” You closed the notebook, got off the stool, “Let me tell them I’m leaving and grab my bag?”

“I’ll wait here,” he said smiling at you.

“Don’t move,” you warned, before walking to the back.

He looked around at the new displays, he thought about how much time you probably put into it, “You moved, about an inch. Can’t trust you anymore, Barnes,” he heard you say from behind you.

“My apologies doll, how could I possibly make it up to you?” He asked.

You linked your arm around his, “I’ll come up with something,” you said, as the two of you exited the shop.

➽───────────────❥

The two of you found yourselves at this small suit shop at the edge of Brooklyn. Walking in, the two of you heard someone yell, “James.” And an elderly Italian man came and greeted him with a hug.

“Hi Bruno,” he said, returning the hug.

He pulled away and noticed you, “Who’s this beautiful dame?”

He introduced the two of you, before Bruno brought the two of you deeper into the store, “He’s provided suits since I was young.”

You nodded, “It’s cute.”

“How about have the pretty dame sit and I do the measurements,” Bruno said. You sat on the stool provided and sipped on the smoothie that you bought for the two of you. Bucky felt embarrassed as Bruno took his measurements in front of you, but you flashed him a reassuring smile, and he felt some of the insecurities fade away.

➽───────────────❥

An hour later and Bucky found himself getting frustrated. Nothing looked good on him. He tried navy blue suits, beige suits, grey suits, plaid suits, and to no avail he could find anything. Bruno went to look at other options, while Bucky looked in the mirror. It was obvious he was picking at his own body.

You got up and walked over to him, rubbing his back, “You look gorgeous Buck, don’t deflate yourself.”

“It’s just that,” he started, “It’s my ex wife's wedding, and I don’t look good. I want to impress the family, but I look like-”

You cut him off, “You look amazing, and she’s an idiot for letting you go. If her family doesn’t like it, that sucks, cause you’re no longer their family.”

“Thank you,” he said, pulling you into a hug.

“I got your back Buck,” you said, hugging him back, “But you should have told me we were dressed to kill, I would be on it.”

“Now that you’re in on it, what’s running through that mind of yours?” He said, pulling away.

“Black,” you said, “Can’t go wrong with that.”

He smiled before yelling out, “Bruno? You got a black suit?”

➽───────────────❥

He hated how right you were, but also simultaneously loved that you knew him that well. He smiled at you, “Doll you know me well.”

“Gotta look out for my two favourite Barnes, don’t I?” you asked.

“James, you look amazing, you just need a tie,” Bruno said, before going off to find a tie.

You got up and smoothed out the suit near his shoulders, “I owe you one,” he said, looking down at you.

“You owe me a lot sugar,” you said.

Bruno came back with a red tie, “I think this would look good on you James.” You moved away from him, and let Bruno tie the tie to complete the suit.

“The colour brings out your eyes,” you commented.

The tie was rich, vibrant, red, and contrasted nicely against the black suit and his blue eyes. “You look amazing James.”

“Thanks Brun, I’ll take it,” Bucky said, looking at himself in the mirror, smiling at how good he looked.

Bruno walked to the front and rung up the order, “You really know what’s good for me doll.”

“What can I say? I know my Barnes,” you joked.

“How about I go change, then I’ll treat you to dinner?” He asked.

“He’s living up to his word,” you joked.

“I always do doll,” he said, before walking back to the dressing room.

➽───────────────❥

Bucky was a man of his word and took you to the small dinner about three streets away, but still was on the outskirts of town. You finished up dinner and were driving back, “You know your way to a girls heart.”

“I always do,” he joked.

You two sat in comfortable silence the rest of the way back. Pulling up to your house, he walked you to your step. “Thank you for coming with me.”

“Anytime Buck,” you responded.

He scratched the back of his neck, “Are you free this Saturday?” He realized what it sounded like, “I mean, you can be my plus one with Layla,” he rushed out.

“Of course I would come Buck,” you unlocked the door, “Text me the details?”

“Of course. Good night doll,” he said.

You kissed him on the cheek, “Night Buck,” you said before scurrying inside, missing the blush that rose to his cheeks.

➽───────────────❥

Bucky didn’t see you at all that week. He was busy getting his haircut, buying other last minute things he needed before the wedding. He kept in contact with you through texts, telling you he’d pick you up at four.

It was three fifty and he was in his car, with Layla in the backseat singing loudly to the pop that played on the radio. He was nervous, he didn’t know what to expect. He unbuckled Layla, before making his way up the steps. He rang the doorbell and waited for you to answer.

Once you opened the door, he felt the wind get knocked out of his lungs. Before him you wore a red satin dress, with a low cut exposing your cleavage, the black heels accentuated the length of your legs, you had a necklace with your initial as the pendant, a small gold bracelet and some gold earrings.

“Aunty! You look so good!” Layla said, breaking Bucky’s train of thought.

“Thank you sugar puff, you look beautiful,” you said stroking her hair. You pulled the door in behind you and locked it, and dropped the key into your back.

“You look gorgeous doll,” he said, still in awe at you.

“You clean up well Barnes,” you said, “Let’s get to that wedding.”

➽───────────────❥

Bucky found himself looking at you with awe whenever you didn’t notice. A lot of the family Bucky once met at his wedding leaned into him saying that his current family was cute and received their blessings.

He didn’t notice how much the three of you looked like a family until one of Nat’s cousins pointed out that his tie, matched your dress, which matched the flowers on Layla’s dress.

He looked over and saw you, Wanda, Carol, Nebula and Sharon sitting and sharing a drink. He smiled, before he heard someone call out his name, he turned around and saw Natasha, “Can we talk?”

“What?”

“I wanted to apologize for everything, and I’m glad you found someone who treats you well and loves Lay,” Nat said, motioning to Layla sitting on your lap.

“Thanks Nat,” he responded, sipping on his soda.

“Truce?” She asked.

“Truce.”

➽───────────────❥

It was well after twelve, and Bucky was dropping you home. Layla was taken to Wanda’s earlier, and Layla was going to spend the night there. You and Bucky had a grand time, you two laughed, shared drinks, shared a few dances, and a few glances here and there.

You were wrapped up in his suit jacket due to it being colder than you anticipated when you were leaving the hall. “I had fun tonight,” you said, as you walked up the stairs.

“Thank you for coming, I appreciate it,” he said.

“Anything for you,” you said looking at him, you felt the air shift and you didn’t mind.

Both of you leaned in, until your lips were touching and moving in harmony. Your arms found their way behind his neck, and his hands were wrapped around your waist, pulling you closer. You broke away when you needed air. You gave him a sheepish smile, before he pecked your lips again.

“Glad this dress did its job,” you joked.

“You bought this just for me?” He asked, running his fingers along the satin material that was along your waist..

“Of course, I needed to match your tie, for obvious reasons, and I hope it would lead to something like this. Needless to say, it did its job,” you said brushing hair out of his eyes.

“Well, if this dress is for me, I would like to see it on the floor,” he whispered seductively in your ear.

“You better get to work loverboy,” you said, before he picked you up and took you into your house.

628 notes · View notes

a-bang-for-your-bucky · 3 years

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Playin' With Fire: The Morning After

Summary: Santiago and Dani deal with the fallout of their actions the night before. Dani starts preparations to leave for South America with Santiago. We get to dive more into Dani and Santi’s relationship, and Santi learns something about Dani’s past.

Warnings: 18+, Implications of smut, suggestive language, explicit language, ANGST, mentions of a car wreck and death (no descriptions), Dani does experience some anxiety and self-consciousness.

Word Count: 5,851

A/N: This whole series is a wild ride of emotions, and as I proof-read for posting, I find myself wanting to go in a whole different direction than originally planned. After this part, we start getting into the events of the movie, which is separated into three chapters. There are cameos in this chapter from another favorite show of mine. I know it’s unlikely that these characters would ever meet, but fuck it, it’s fan-fiction.

Dani’s alarm went off at 5:00am. Groaning, she reached over to press snooze. The light of her phone made her squint. She twisted the switch on the bedside table lamp, emitting a small glow across her room. “Shit,” She cursed, her body deliciously sore from the events of the night before.

She was never good at dealing with “the morning after’. She almost hoped that Santiago had snuck out while she was sleeping, but the warmth of the space beside her told her he was still there. What did I do? She thought. Guilt washed over her as she rolled over to face the man in her bed. She studied the features of his face, memories of the night before flooded her mind. Just the thoughts made heat pool in the pit of her stomach.

“Staring is rude, sweetheart.” Santiago’s words startled her, making her gasp. “Sorry, Teq.” He chuckled, his eyes still closed. How did he even know? Right, trained soldier.

“You’re still here?” She asked him, surprise thick in her voice. His eyes snapped open to look at her.

“Why wouldn’t I be? You know you were more than a one night stand.” He explained, bringing a hand up to brush a stray strand of hair out of her face. “In fact, I really wouldn’t mind if last night happened again.” He suggested with a smirk.

Dani was speechless, staring at his sexy, sleepy, face. “I, uh, um, I have to shower. My shift starts at seven.” She stuttered over her words, trying not to let him see the effect he was having on her. She moved to get up, only stopping because she remembered she was naked. “Could you, um, not look when I get up?” She blushed nervously, pulling the sheet tighter around her.

“Really Teq? Yeah, I won’t look.” He promised, then added, “Even though I already know you have a little birthmark that looks like a heart on your ass.” he teased her, and she smacked him with a pillow. Santiago shut his eyes and squeezed them tight.

Once she was sure he wasn’t peaking, she rushed up and over to the chair in the corner of her room, wrapping herself in her fuzzy robe. “Okay, you can open them.”

He slowly opened his eyes, taking in the sight of her. Her dirty blonde hair was a mess of loose curls. If this was how she looked every morning, he wouldn’t mind waking up with her. He knew he should feel bad. If, when Frankie finds out that he slept with her, that he is taking her to South America, he’s gonna be pissed. It might just ruin their friendship, but in this moment, looking at Dani, he didn’t care.

Dani felt self-conscious under Santiago’s gaze. She pulled the robe tighter around her body, trying to cover herself more. He noticed immediately, and all but jumped off the bed toward her. “Dani, you are absolutely beautiful. You don’t have to hide from me.” He complimented her and he meant every word. He embraced her face with his hands, his thumbs, lovingly brushing over her cheeks. Slowly, Santiago lowered his lips to hers. Gently, he coaxed her lips apart with his own, taking the opportunity to slip his tongue past them.

The kiss wasn’t hurried like the previous night. He took his time, tracing the contour of her mouth, memorizing the feeling of her lips on his. The kiss gradually grew more fervent, needy. It was almost as if they separated, they would fall to pieces. Santiago released her face, moving his hands to the tie of her robe. Dani groaned as she pulled away, his hands falling to her hips, to keep her close. “I have to shower.” She said, reminding herself more than Santiago.

“I’ll join you.” He countered, fiddling with the tie again. She shook her head.

“Santi, I have to go to work. And you do, too.” She pointed out, grabbing his hands away. Their fingers laced together as he moved to place methodical kisses to her neck.

She whimpered as he nibbled her ear and he whispered, “I’ll make it quick. Let me make you feel good, querida.” How could she say no to that?

Forty-five minutes later, they exited Dani’s room and walked into the kitchen. Benny was already up, pouring a cup of coffee. “Morning,” He greeted them with a raised brow.

“Morning, Benny!” Santi beamed with a huge smile, all but telling Benny what had transpired between them. Benny tossed a knowing look at Dani.

“Don’t say anything, Benjamin.” Dani warned him with a pointed finger, “I have fifteen minutes to get to work.” She added, as she poured the liquid energy into her travel cup. Santiago handed her the creamer with a wink.

“Oh, Danika Kate, we are so talking about this later.” Benny teased, as she flew by him, grabbing her bag and keys. Santi threw Benny a ‘bye’ over his shoulder as he quickly followed behind her.

He walked her to her white Camry, opening the door for her to slide in. She started the car, rolling down the window, and closed the door.

“Can I at least get a goodbye kiss?” He pouted. All Dani could think about was biting that bottom lip. She acquiesced to his request, nodded her head ‘yes’.

He leaned into the window, giving her a sweet peck. Dani felt her stomach flutter. She knew she was in trouble. “I’ll call you later. Maybe we can grab a late dinner and talk about Colombia, yeah?” He hoped, not really wanting her to leave.

“Yeah, I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.” She smiled, taking a quick glance at her watch. “Shit, I really have to go.” Santiago gave her one more quick kiss before telling her bye, and she drove away. The two of them were too caught up in each other to see Frankie’s truck stopped in the road, where he saw everything.

Dani had gotten to the hospital right on time. She barely made it through the ER doors before she was being called, “Dr. Reid.” She spotted the head nurse waving her over to the nurse’s station.

“Hey, Rebecca. How was your night?” Dani asked with a smile, sitting her stethoscope down on the counter to toss her messy hair into a bun, and then threw it back around her neck.

“It was hectic. We got slammed with a four car pile up after you left.” Rebecca sighed, handing her a tablet. “Bed four is ready to be seen. He came in with a complaint of ‘his worst headache ever’. BP is 185/100 with a long history of hypertension.” She presented to Dani as she looked over his chart.

Dani thanked her and moved toward the occupied bed. “Mr. Turner, this is your third time here this month. I thought we talked about this?” Dani chided, checking over his vital signs machine.

Mr. Turner shifted in the bed, “I know, Dr. Reid, but those meds made me feel so bad. I can’t take ‘em. Can’t you just give me something for the headache?” The patient requested.

Dani shook her head. “What good will it do you if we don’t treat the cause? Mr. Turner, your blood pressure is severely uncontrolled.” Dani paused, pinching the bridge of her nose, “If you don’t get this under control, you can die or have a stroke.” She explained to him, but could tell she was getting nowhere.

She pulled the rolling stool over to his bedside, taking a seat. “Here’s what I’m gonna do. I’m gonna treat your blood pressure first. Once we get that down, if the headache doesn’t go away, I’ll treat it. Deal?” She bargained with him. Mr. Turner grumbled an ‘okay’ knowing he wasn’t going to win. “Perfect. Rebecca or Nicole will be back with your medicine.” She patted him on the shoulder, flashing him a sweet smile.

Walking back over to the nurse’s station, she gave Nicole the medication orders. Dani made sure to tell Nicole to get her if the patient gave her any trouble. Dani liked working mornings in the ER. Usually, it was pretty slow.

She sat behind her computer, working on chart notes, when she heard a commotion in the ER lobby. “I’m looking for Dr. Reid. I’m her so-called best friend.” She knew that voice. Dani rose from her seat so fast she knocked it to the ground as she ran out of her office. She rushed around the corner to see Frankie being held by two security guards. “Fuck,” She mumbled, stomping toward him.

“Tequila!” Frankie boomed, trying to move past the guards. “Come on, Teq. Tell ‘em to let me go.” He told her as they continued their hold.

She shook her head, “Frankie, stop. Let’s go talk somewhere that isn’t in the middle of my ER” She looked around at the growing crowd as she grabbed his hand and pulled him toward her office. She closed the door behind them. Dani walked around her wooden desk, picking up the knocked over computer chair. “What the hell are you doing, Frankie?” She questioned him, taking a seat.

Frankie scoffed, “I could ask you the same damn thing.” Frankie sat in one of the other chairs, crossing his arms.

“I’m trying to fucking work, Fish.” She hissed at him. His nostrils flared, a quick sign that he was mad.

“I saw you and Pope.” He confessed, and Dani’s heart dropped. Thoughts raced through her mind. She wasn’t sure how to explain it. Then again, after everything Frankie has done in the last twenty-four hours, did she care?

“That’s none of your business.” She replied calmly, sitting forward in her seat. “You have no right to be upset.”

Frankie rolled his eyes, “You fucked my best friend, I think I do.” The words flew from his mouth before he could stop them. Dani’s eyes widened and she stood up.

“Get out. This conversation is over.” She demanded, pointing toward the door. Frankie didn’t move. “Get the fuck out, Morales, before I call security.” Frankie conceded, standing up, opening the door, and walked out.

Once she was sure he was gone, she let out a shaky breath, falling back into her seat. She cradled her head, thinking about how everything had gotten so messed up. Frankie had no right to be mad at her, right?

A knock at the door drew her out of her thoughts, and she lifted her head. “Shit, you okay Reid?” The doctor in the doorway asked.

She wiped the stray tears that had fallen and sniffled, “Yeah, I’m good, Karev. Have you seen the Chief? I need to talk to her.”

Dr. Karev studied her face for a second before answering, “Last I saw her, she was in her office. Are you sure you’re good?” He asked again, concerned. She nodded, and he went on his way.

Dani left her office, walking toward the Chief of Surgery’s. She stopped outside of the door, the sign read ‘Dr. Meredith Grey, Chief of Surgery.’ She took a deep breath to center herself before knocking on the door. A muffled ‘come in’ filtered through the wood. She opened the door and stepped inside. “Ah, Dr. Reid, just who I needed to see.” Dr. Grey welcomed, gesturing for her to have a seat, which she quickly took. This wasn’t good.

“I heard there was an incident in the ER lobby this morning. What happened?” She questioned her. Dani gulped, unsure of how to answer.

“I’m so sorry, Mere. It was my friend, Frankie.” Dani sighed. She wasn’t going to need to put in a leave, because she was going to get fired.

“Frankie, like the best friend with the coke addiction, Frankie? Why would he be screaming in the lobby?” Meredith wanted to know. Dani had talked to her some about what he had been going through, trying to get advice on how to help him.

“It’s a really long story. The short version is: He did something stupid, really stupid. And then I did something that may or may not have as equally stupid. He found out, and threw a tantrum about it.” Dani explained, realizing that maybe that wasn’t the short version. Meredith cocked an eyebrow at her, shaking her head.

“I swear, you residents are going to be the death of me. Keep your drama at home, Reid.” Meredith groused and rubbed her temples. Dani didn’t want to mention South America now, but she had to; A month would go by faster than she could blink.

“Um, there was actually something I needed to talk to you about. A friend of mine got me connected with a hospital in Colombia, South America. They offered me a position, and I really wanna take it.” Nervousness was radiating off of Dani as she finally spoke these words out loud. Meredith was the first person she had told that she was going. If she couldn’t tell her, how was she going to tell Benny and Will? How was she going to tell Frankie?

“That’s, that’s great, Dani. You should go. I will work on getting the paperwork you will need. And you will always have a spot here at Memorial.” Meredith promised her. Those words lifted a weight off of her. She quickly thanked her, and got up to leave. “Hey, why don’t you take the day off? You’ve been working a lot lately. You can’t save lives if you’re tired.” Meredith added.

“Thank you, Chief.” Dani said sincerely

before walking back to her office to gather her things. She quickly typed a text to Santiago. Hey, Grey is letting me off for the day. We need to talk, Frankie showed up at the hospital. She pressed send and exhaled sharply.

Santiago responded when she was getting into her car. Fuck, is everything okay? Do I need to come to you?

No. Just meet me at the house.

Santiago was sure he broke a hundred laws getting to the Miller house. He didn’t know what Frankie had done, but if Dani had left early from work, it couldn’t be good. She was already home when he pulled into the driveway. He was inside the house and in her room before he recognized he even got out of his truck. “Teq?” She was sitting on her bed, staring at the doorway.

“Frankie knows, Santi.” Was all she responded. Santiago cursed under his breath, moving to take a seat next to her. “He showed up at the hospital, caused a scene.” Dani continued to tell him everything.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Santiago groaned. This wasn’t how he wanted Frankie to find out. This wasn’t how things were supposed to be. He turned to look at her. Her face was void of any emotion. “Are you okay?” He asked. She nodded and it wasn’t entirely a lie.

The events of the day showed her that she needed to go. That she wasn’t doing anyone any good here. She knew that if she stayed, she’d destroy herself trying to save Frankie. It wasn’t her responsibility to save someone who didn’t want to save themselves. It would break her heart, but broken hearts are easier healed than broken spirits.

“So, you’re really going with me?” Santiago’s cedar eyes bright with happiness as the words rolled off his tongue. He slung an arm around her shoulder. Pulling her into him, so she could rest her head against him.

“I’m going, Pope.” She sighed, content with her decision. “Meredith is already working on my travel papers. I”m gonna finish my shifts for the next two weeks, that way I’ll have plenty of time to pack.”

“Pack?” Will’s voice made their heads whip toward the door. “What do you mean ‘pack’?” Will asked again, widening his stance, arms crossing over his chest.

“We’re going to have to tell’em eventually, Cariño.” Santiago said, placing a kiss to her head.

Dani sat there staring at Will. He had been her rock for years. The entire Miller family had taken her in after the accident. When Will joined the army, it was her he wrote letters to. When Benny joined, it was the same way. The two men quickly took over the role of ‘older brother’ teaching her how to defend herself; Their father taught her basic car maintenance; Their mother taught her to cook.

“Okay. Someone tell me what the fuck is going on.” Will cured, “When did this happen?” He gestured between Dani and Santiago.

“You have missed a lot in the last twenty-four hours, hermano.” Santiago told him as he removed his arm from around her. Dani shifted, creating some space between her and the man beside her. Will moved further into the room, taking a seat in her corner chair.

Dani fiddled with her fingers, not even sure where to begin. Santiago noticed her nerves, offering her his hand for comfort. She accepted, lacing her fingers with his. The warmth from him flowed through her, causing her to shiver. Feeling like she could face anything holding Santiago’s hand, she took a deep breath before telling Will what happened with Frankie. By the end of the story, Will’s face had his emotions written all over it.

He was pissed. How could Frankie do that to her? How could she run away with Pope? “So, you’re just gonna leave?” He asked, voice low and gravely. “You think that’s the answer?”

She shook her head, “No, I don’t. But I’m not thinking about me. I’m thinking about the good I can do there. I’m thinking about the people I can save.” Dani put emphasis on ‘can’ to try and get her point across.

Will nodded, understanding where she was coming from. They had a similar conversation when he left for the army. “If this is truly what you want, then I support you, one hundred percent.” Will gave her his blessing. Dani launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around his middle.

“Thank you, Will.” She chirped as he squeezed her tightly. She released him, straightening herself up.

“Don’t thank me yet, sweetheart. You still have to tell Benny.” Dani’s eyes widened. Benny was going to be crushed.

After the conversation, Will had left Dani and Santiago, but not before threatening that he’d hunt Santi down if Dani didn’t make it back. Santiago promised he’d protect her as if his life depended on it, which it did.

Not long after, Santiago left. His lunch break was long over and his boss was blowing up his phone. Dani used the time to herself to sit and think about everything. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she was making the right choice. She contemplated on how she was going to tell Benny. She decided to make his favorite dinner; His mom’s famous chicken pot pie. Thankfully, she had everything she needed.

Benny entered the house right as Dani pulled the meal out of the oven. “Holy shit. Tell me that’s what I think it is.” Benny grinned as he dropped his keys to the counter.

“Yep! Momma Miller’s chicken pot pie!” Dani answered him, putting the piping hot dish on the counter. “Why don’t you go clean up while it cools?”

Benny walked around the island to hug her. “You’re the best, Tequila. What did I do to deserve a best friend like you?” He questioned out loud before walking back through the house. Dani’s stomach dropped. She wasn’t ready for this.

Benny came back into the kitchen about fifteen minutes later. Dani had the table set for just the two of them. “What about Will?” Benny asked at the sight of the two plates.

“Date. Probably won’t be back tonight.” Dani replied, grabbing a beer out of the fridge. She handed it to the blonde man in front of her, gesturing for him to sit.

“Alright. What’s up, Teq? I know you well enough to know when something’s wrong.” Benny called her out. The two of them have never had secrets. Will always joked that they were more like siblings than he and Benny were.

Dani told Benny all about Frankie while they ate. She explained everything that happened between her and Santiago. “Santi, he, uh. He’s asked me to go to South America with him. And I said yes.” She whispered, and Benny almost choked.

“You can’t go to South America.” Benny said in between coughs. He cleared his throat. “Teq, you can’t go. I feel like I just got you back.”

Tears welled in her eyes, “Oh, Ben. You never lost me. You are always going to be the pain in the ass brother I always wanted.” She reached across the table to him. “I’ll text and call whenever I can. I'm not gonna be gone forever.” She promised him.

Benny stood up, his chair scraping against the tile. He pulled Dani to her feet, embracing her in his arms. The hug told Dani everything she needed to know. He was silently giving her his approval. They sat back down and finished eating, Benny asking the occasional question about what she would be doing there. She honestly didn’t know, but she was excited to see where this path would take her. When they were done, Benny helped her clean up, loading the dishwasher while she put away the leftovers.

The two of them dropped to the couch, turning on a movie. Benny hit pause and turned to her. “I gotta know. Is the sex that good, that you’d follow him to another country?” He jested, his voice playful.

Dani rolled her eyes, “Wouldn’t you like to know. Looking for tips, Miller?” She chuckled, throwing him a wink. Benny huffed a laugh, sticking his tongue out at her before he un-paused the movie.

Week by week, the days seemed to pass by a little faster. As their departure date grew closer, Dani grew more nervous. Not nervous, like she was regretting her decision, but nervous like she couldn’t wait to see what the future held for her.

Although they completely supported their friend, Will and Benny tried to get her to stay. They hated that she was leaving. They even tried to get their mom to convince her to stay. Boy, did that backfire. Momma Miller was nothing but excited for her, telling Dani to take complete advantage of the wondrous opportunity.

Dani laid in her bed, sparing a glance at her phone. 6:30am. Santiago would be there soon, coming to take her to get her stuff from the hospital. She finished her last shift days ago, but put off getting her things. A piece of her wasn’t ready to say goodbye. Carolina Memorial had been her home. She experienced all of her ‘real doctor’ firsts there.

Pulling herself together, she slithered out of bed. Throwing on her robe, she tip-toed to the kitchen trying not to wake Benny. She started a pot of coffee. As if on cue, Benny shuffled into the room as the liquid began to drip. His blonde hair a mess, sleep still heavy in his eyes. “Good morning, Benjamin.” She said sweetly. He grumbled a response that she only assumed meant ‘Good morning’. Dani never understood why Benny still got up so early, even though he was not a morning person.

Luckily for Benny, Dani knew just how to perk him up. “Coffee, black, no sugar.” She said as she handed him a cup. Benny hummed in appreciation, taking the drink. Dani poured her own coffee, gazing out the kitchen window.

In true North Carolina fashion, the weather changed almost instantly. The day before had been beautiful, but today rain moved in, fog blocking out the sunshine. Dani hated days like this. Benny, who had drained his coffee, noticed Dani staring out the Window. He knew what was going through her head; He was the one who picked her up after.

“Hey.” Benny called out to her, and she turned to look at him. He didn’t need to say anything else, he just opened his arms.

“I’m gonna miss you, Benny-boy.” She spoke into his chest, and Benny chuckled at the nickname. He hadn’t been called that in years. Benny squeezed her tighter, only pulling away when loud bangs resounded through the house.

“Must be Pope.” Dani shrugged, pouring Benny another cup of coffee. Benny took it, going to open the door for him.

“Reid, I know you’re up. ¡Vamos!” Santiago yelled through the wood.

He jumped when the door swung open to reveal a very annoyed looking Benny. “What the fuck, man?” He groaned, taking a swig of his coffee.

Santiago smiled, “Sorry, Benny. I’m here to take Tequila to get her shit from the hospital.” He apologized. Benny mumbled something under his breath, moving to the side to let his friend in.

“She’s in the kitchen.” Benny said, gesturing toward it. Santiago slapped his shoulder as he passed by him, hastily making his way to her.

Santiago knew something was wrong when Dani hesitantly climbed into the cab of his red Ford. He recognized the look on her face, the anxiety. He’d worn that look many times. He didn’t press for information though. He just gave her hand a squeeze, reminding her that he was there.

As they drove along, something had dawned on Santiago. “So, we’ve known each other for what two years now?” Santiago asked Dani. She nodded in response, keeping her eyes on the road. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

She nodded again, “Santi, you’ve seen me naked. I think we are past ‘personal’.” She replied, fingers doing air quotes around personal.

Santiago bit his lip at the memory. It was only one night, but it was one of the best nights of his life. “You’ve met all of our families, right? Why haven’t we met yours?” He wondered, never recalling her even mentioning her family. Dani sucked in a breath at the question. She knew this day would come. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to tell him, it just wasn’t a pleasant memory.

“You guys are my family.” She whispered. “Well, the only family I have left. My parents died when I was seventeen, right before I was supposed to graduate. The Millers took me in, basically adopting me.” Dani paused, feeling Santi reach over to grab her hand. “I’m an only child, so Will and Benny are the big brothers I never had. No aunts, uncles, or cousins either.” She told him. The look on his face was the reason why she never told people, the look of pity.

“I’m sorry, Teq. How? If you-” He apologized, but she cut him off.

“It’s okay. They, uh, they wrecked their car. On a morning just like this. It was horrific. The hospital that they were transported to wasn’t a trauma center. They did their best to stabilize them for transfer, but it was too late.” She felt a tear drop as she sniffled.

Santiago wanted nothing more than to pull the truck over and take her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, Dani. Is that, is that why you became a trauma surgeon?” His words faltered, not wanting to push for too much information. She nodded; All she ever wanted was to do her best to prevent anyone from going through what she did.

The two gathered Dani’s belongings from her office rather quickly. Dani didn’t want to make a big deal about it. Meredith had stopped by, warning Santiago that he better take care of Dani or else and gave him the glare. Once they left, he told Dani that Meredith reminded him of Medusa, icy stare and all. She laughed so hard her stomach hurt, telling him that’s what the interns called her.

Dani remembered the night she first met Santiago Garcia. She had just graduated med school, completed her internship and was looking for a hospital to complete her residency. She reached out to the Miller brothers, who she grew up with, and stayed very close to. They welcomed her into their North Carolina home with open arms.

It was her first week there and the boys mentioned that they were having a friend coming in for a visit. “Pope is a good guy, one of the best, but will flirt with anything that has a pussy.” Ben warned her. She laughed at her friend’s crudness.

“Benny, you know I can handle myself. There is a reason y’all call me Tequila.” She reminded him, and Benny just nodded. “Besides, that is the last thing I need. I have a residency to focus on.”

Friday quickly approached. Benny went to meet Santiago at the airport while Dani and Will stayed to prepare for his arrival. Dani was helping Will cook dinner, when he came in from the back yard. “So, uh, I burnt the steaks.” Will confessed, rubbing the back of his neck. Dani threw a kitchen towel at him.

“Will! I marinated those steaks all day! How did you burn them?” She asked him, laying her head on the counter. “What are we going to feed your friend now?” The words were mumbled into the granite, but Will still heard her. He walked around, rubbing her shoulders.

“Santi will be fine with burgers from Luanne’s. You don’t need to impress him.” Will assured her and she groaned, standing up straight.

“Yes, I do. Aside from me, he’s one of your oldest friends. I want to make a good impression.” Dani knew she sounded whiny, but she really did want to impress Santiago. Will just gave her a look. “Fine, I’ll go ahead and call in an order. You think Benny will want his usual?” She asked, reaching for her cell. Will nodded and asked for his usual too. Dani quickly ordered their dinner, telling Will it was on him because he fucked up the steaks. Will laughed, tossing her his card and keys.

“Go get our food, Tequila.” He said teasingly. She shot him a quick middle finger before grabbing her bag and walking out the door.

Luanne’s was packed that night, so Dani ended up waiting a lot longer than she thought she would. Will had sent her a text saying that Benny was back and Santiago was asking where the mysterious Tequila was. She replied promptly, letting him know that she was leaving the diner now and that Luanne threw in a few slices of her apple pie for the wait.

Dani pulled Will’s jeep into the driveway. She slid out of the driver’s side, walking around to get the bag of food. She walked into the house, yelling that she was back. It was like a stampede through the Miller household. Benny rounded the corner first, followed by Will. Santiago came around last, calling Benny a “fucking cheater”.

“Guys, slow down.” Dani chuckled, walking the rest of the way into the kitchen. “What are you cheating at now, Benjamin?”

“Fucker thought he could pull a quick one. That was my fucking mushroom and you know it, Benny.” Santi explained, flashing a bright smile in Dani’s direction. “So, Tequila, I presume?” He stretched out a hand, introducing himself.

“Nice to finally meet you, Santiago. I’ve heard so many things about you.” She replied, shaking his hand. She pulled her hand back, and Santi shamelessly let his eyes roam over her.

“All good things, I hope? And Please, you can call me Santi.” He flirted, tongue swiping out to wet his lips, before sucking his bottom one back between his teeth. Dani scoffed and shook her head.

“Well boys, you were right. He didn’t even last five minutes.” Dani snorted, handing out the to-go boxes.

“Let’s eat. Then I can go back to kicking your asses at MarioKart.” Benny joked, before ripping into the container and taking a bite of his burger. “God, I swear Luanne makes the best burgers.” He groaned. The four of them ate, chit-chatting comfortably. Dani was surprised at how easy she fell in with Santi. It was like they had known each other forever.

Dani smiled fondly at the memory. Her and Santi stayed in touch after that weekend. She never imagined she’d find herself here, moving to another country with the man.

Even now though, when Santi had taken up so much of her time, she found her thoughts drifting back to Frankie. She was leaving in less than 24 hours and she still hadn’t told him. Dani picked up her phone, thumb hovering over the call symbol in Frankie’s contact. Before she could talk herself out of it, she pressed it. The line rang once, before going straight to voicemail. You’ve reached Frankie Morales. Leave a message. “Fuck.” Dani sighed out, tossing the phone to the bed.

Maybe it's better this way, maybe I should just go. Dani knew it would be hard, not saying goodbye. So she wrote him a letter. A letter telling him she was leaving, that she was sorry, and she would see him again.

Dani and Santiago opted for a midnight flight; The airport was almost empty. "You can still stay, you know? I won't hold it against you." Santi whispered to her. He could see the hurt in her eyes. He knew leaving would be hard on her, especially after everything with Frankie.

"You're stuck with me, Pope. My name is already on the apartment lease." She smiled at him. She was more than ready to go. Ready to make peace with her past and embrace her future.

Frankie woke up and started his normal morning routine. Vanessa was already in the kitchen making coffee. "Hey, this was stuck to the door." She told him, handing him an envelope. His name in her hand writing. He ripped it open, pulling the paper out. His eyes roamed the page, reading every word.

"No. No. No." Frankie mumbled, "fuck, I have to go." Frankie grabbed his keys and rushed over to her house.

He banged on the door, not relenting until Will opened it. "Tell me she isn't gone. Tell me Dani didn't leave." Frankie cried, still gripping the letter in his hand.

Will shook his head. " I'm sorry, Fish. They flew out last night."

Frankie's heart stalled in his chest. He dropped to the concrete of Will's porch. She was gone. He never got to apologize for anything. She was gone.

Catfish,

I hope this finds you well. I tried, Frankie. I tried to call. I tried to come see you. After everything that’s happened, I figured that this way was for the best. I’m leaving , Fish. I’m going to South America with Santi. By the time you get this, I’ll already be 35,000 feet in the air.

I’m sorry I couldn’t help you. I’m so fucking sorry. I wanted so bad to help you, to be what you needed, but I wasn’t. And that’s okay.

Frankie, when we meet again, I hope things are better. I hope you are better. I want nothing but happiness for you. You will always be my best friend.

Love always,

Tequila.

TAGS: @danniburgh @speakerforthedead0 @221bshrlocked

Translations:

Querida- dear, lover

Vamos- Let’s go

Hermano- Brother

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harrysgloves · 4 years

Text

Let Your Hair Down (chapter v)

Get caught up with the Let Your Hair Down Masterlist!

word count: 3,128

story summary: Harry gets more than he bargains for when he falls not only for you but your little girl as well.

chapter summary: Harry crashes your and your daughters girls night.

warnings: Language and FINALLY THE SMUTTY THINGS okay not actual smut yet but it’s leading up to it. We got hot and heavy making out, daddy kink, choking, spanking.. you know all the goods.

a/n: Okay so the smut is being put in another chapter, don’t murder me for that! It’s my first time writing smut so it’s taking a bit longer than I thought it would.. anyways let me know if you like the chapter! xx

>>><<<

The workweek was a long and exhausting one but it definitely had its good moments. Like Harry stopping in twice to surprise you with a coffee. Something you weren't at all used to but thought was adorable as he stood awkwardly by the desk both times, looking so out of place but trying his hardest to impress you. He even took you out on your lunch break once and you hated to admit how well you two actually seemed to click and even though a month ago you were so sure you could never be with him, you felt a part of your walls start to break down the more time you spent together.

And you actually started to wonder if maybe you should give him a chance.

But now it was Friday night and couldn't have been more excited to slip on your sleep shorts and your old shirt from high school. It was a tradition in your house since the divorce to spend every Friday night with Thea, having a girls' night. Which meant pizza, Disney movies, board games, nail polish, and your favorite part; a pile of pillows in blankets in the middle of the living room where you two would curl up and cuddle before bed.

Thea was already in her own set of Princess Ariel PJs. She sat in front of the DVD cabinet, trying to find the movie she wanted to watch while you guys ate when there was a knock at your door. You quickly made your way for it, tying your hair up in a messy bun as you walked.

"Thea go find my wallet please." You said as you walked through the living room. Thea jumped at the opportunity to help you out whenever she could and made her way for your purse when you threw the front door open.

The smiling, charming, green-eyed guy in front of you was definitely not the pizza man and you couldn't help but smile at his own set of sweats he was wearing. He definitely had his pjs on and you had a sneaking suspicion that Thea had invited him since he had his guitar with him in one hand and a box of pizza in the other.

"Stopped the pizza guy on the way up." He said nodding towards the box in his hand and you couldn't do anything else but smile at him. You had no idea how someone could be so sweet.

"Was told I had to wear pjs if I wanted to come over. Oh, and I have to play her song for her before bed." He smiled as you stepped sideways and held the door open for him. That child of yours was just as sneaky as her Aunt Sarah.

"Thea!" You sang out and she rounded the corner, sliding in her socks on the hardwood floor when she stopped.

"HARRY! You came! You came!" She yelled excitedly, abandoning your wallet on the counter as she took off and hugged Harry around the legs. A small 'umpf' coming from him when she almost knocked him over.

"Thea," You said, pulling her attention back to you as you shot her your mom look. "You gotta tell me when you invite people over."

"But momma," She sighed, not letting go of Harry's legs. "It's just Harry and he promised to let me practice painting his nails at Uncle Mitch's." She pouted and if you weren't so good at ignoring it you would have easily let it slide. Your quirked your eyebrow at her, not wanting to let this go but not wanting to get into it with her in front of Harry.

"Sweetheart, your mum's right." Harry said as he leaned down to her height to talk to her, completely catching you off guard. Most people never agreed with you when you disciplined her in front of them.

"You should have asked before telling me to come here. Gotta promise you won't do that again."

"Promise." She said in a dramatically sad voice.

"Good now if you're momma says it's fine, I'll stay." He smiled as he looked up to you and Thea turned around with a big pout on her face. Her hands clapped together in a pleading way and her big lip out.

"Pleeeeease?" They both asked at the same exact time and you knew you couldn't say no even if you wanted to. They were just too cute.

"Okay you can crash girls night." You said taking the pizza from Harry's hand and sitting it down in the living room as Thea squealed, happy you let him stay. She pulled him over to the movie cabinet and had him pick out his favorite Disney movie. Insisting he get to pick it since he's the guest.

You pulled out the paper plates and napkins from the kitchen and walked back into the living room as Thea popped in the Little Mermaid into the DVD player. You smiled over to Harry, not sure if he picked it cause it was actually his favorite or if it was because he noticed Ariel on Thea's PJs. Either way it was cute.

You leaned back against the couch when you sat on the floor. Harry sat beside you, doing the same until Thea moved directly in between you two, wiggling her butt to make more room. You laughed a little as Harry looked over her to you and you shrugged your shoulders.

The movie played and you all ate pizza and then moved onto board games and eventually nail painting.

"You should have let momma paint them for you." Thea sighed as she accidentally painted the top of Harry's whole finger instead of just his nail. You looked up from painting your own nails to look at the damage done but smiled down at her.

"You just gotta wipe it off with a paper towel. You're doing a great job." You encouraged her to keep going after showing her how to wipe the messed up part of the nail polish off.

"Are your nails going to match mine?" Harry asked as he looked up towards her, while she stayed hyper-focused on painting Harry's nails, her tongue poked out of her mouth every so often as she tried her best to paint straight.

"But I can't paint my own nails good yet." She said, never taking her eyes off what she was doing.

"Well, I can paint them for you." Harry said as Thea finished his last nail. They definitely weren't the best but she did a good job for her first time. She pushed the bottle of nail polish toward him and laid her hands flat over the towel you had laying down on the floor to catch any fallout.

"Okay, we can match." She smiled as Harry got to work painting her tiny nails the teal color Thea had picked out for Harry. You smiled down at your own nails, trying your best to hide how happy you were right now. You never imagined yourself in this situation but as you sat with both of them it felt weirdly… natural.

After everyone's nails dried and Harry sang Thea her song, it was time for her to go to bed. Luckily, she was easy to put down and was out in less than 15 minutes. You quietly closed her bedroom door behind you as you walked out to the living room but stopped in your tracks. Harry had picked up everything from the night for you.

"You didn't have to do that." You said but still smiled. It was amazing to not have to worry about cleaning up when you were so ready to wind down and relax.

"Wanted to." He said, patting the spot on the couch next to him, some reality tv show playing gently in the background.

"Hold on." You walked over to the kitchen and took down two wine glasses and pulled out a bottle of wine, opening it before walking back into the living room. If you were going to have a full girls' night with him, he had to have the full experience.

"Once she's asleep I usually finish off girls night with a drink and paperwork." You sat down the glasses on the coffee table that was now moved back into its proper spot. You poured you both a glass and set the bottle down. Picking up your glass and plopping down on the couch with a sigh.

Harry quickly picked up his own glass and sat back draping his other arm around the back of the couch, directly behind you. You took a big drink from your cup as his eyes scanned your whole apartment and finally settled on the record collection you had sitting out.

"Got anything good?" He asked taking a sip from his own glass and nodded towards the records.

"Got Fine Line if that's what you meant." You teased and he barked out a laugh.

"I meant other than that." He said getting up to go through the album's but he didn't get very far through it before he pulled out your Up All Night album.

"Always knew you were a fan." He laughed silently as you sat more embarrassed than you thought was ever possible.

"Shut it Harold. I was a proud Louis girl." You snapped back causing him to whip around and glare at you.

"Wow, love, know how to go right for the low blows." He tsked as he put the album back and pulled out a Fleetwood Mac one and placed it on your record player, making sure the volume was down before placing the needle on it.

"Never claimed to be nice." You said biting your lip to stop the grin from breaking out across your face at his slightly annoyed look.

"Can't wait to tell Lou I'm chasing after someone who wants him more." He sat back down on the couch in his previous position but you snuggled up slightly closer to him. Your knees pulled to your chest but you leaned your side in close to him as you took another drink from your glass.

"God, don't tell him that!" You shrieked at the thought as you sat down your now empty glass on the table beside Harry's mostly full one.

"Afraid he won't want to be your boyfriend after that?" He grinned noticing you had gotten flustered as he leaned closer to you and tickled your sides.

"Harry!" You said pushing his hands away from you quickly as you laughed and he joined in.

"Come on, love, tell me who else is on your celebrity top 5." He said, still tickling you as you tried hard to get away. You started to stand up but he wrapped his arms around you, bringing you back down to the couch.

"No way am I telling you that!" You said through giggles, trying to wiggle your way away from him as he straddled your waist to keep your legs from kicking him. Hovering completely over you to keep tickling your sides.

"I'm not stopping till you tell me."

"Okay! Okay!" You squealed pushing his hands down and he immediately stopped tickling you, and rested both of them on either side of your head.

"God, this is stupid, you better not tell anyone. Especially Mitch." You said jabbing your finger at his chest.

"Promise. Now tell me or I'll start again." He said threateningly and you immediately covered your face and let out a groan.

"Luke Hemmings, Sebastian Stan, Chris Evans, Matt Schultz…" you rambled quickly into your hands. You knew he could still hear you by his laughing.

"Hemmings? Really?" He asked pulling your hands down to see your face.

"Hey! Don't talk shit." You started at him, trying to defend your boy.

"'M not. Just surprised. Who's the last one?" He asked as he laid his hands back by your head. You immediately covered your face again but he nudged your hands with his nose, trying to get you to tell him.

"No, it's too embarrassing." You said not budging your hands.

"Y/N, come on." You could hear the smile in his voice and wanted to throat punch him. Smug bastard. You refused and you didn't speak one word. Which meant he started tickling you again.

"GORDON RAMSAY OKAY?" You yelled as you grabbed his hands and pulled them in front of you.

"Wat?" He said laughing so hard the word barely came out.

"I know but listen, he'd make the best after sex food and a girl's gotta eat!" You clamped your hands back over your heated face and Harry literally shook with laughter.

"I didn't beat out Gordon Ramsay in your list?" He asked, still laughing.

"Hey! You're not a Michelin star chef!" You said getting defensive over your list.

"Yeah but he's old enough to be your dad."

"Oh, so we're kink-shaming now?" You quirked your eyebrow, teasing Harry but the sharp breath he drew in, let you know you hit a nerve. Oh. So he was into that.

A big smug grin made its way across your face as you looked up to him with your big doe eyes. Your brain already coming up with a thousand ways to tease him back after he embarrassed the hell out of you. You gripped onto his wrist tighter and pulled him down towards you, his green eyes widening at your sudden movement.

"What's wrong Harry?" You asked in the sweetest softest voice you could put on. "You wanna be my daddy?"

"Stop." He whined and buried his face into your shoulder but you weren't having any of that. Maybe it was the wine or maybe it was the fact your hormones were raging any time he was remotely near you that made you throw common sense right out the damn window.

"Why daddy? You don't like it?" You whispered directly in his ear, biting the side of his neck as you pushed your hips up into his.

He pulled his hand free from your grasp and placed it over your neck, squeezing the side of it. His eyes were completely lust blown and you were proud of yourself for getting this type of reaction from him but when his lips slammed on yours all thoughts of payback left your mind.

He was ferocious with his kiss, demanding. His lips were everything you had been dreaming about and as his tongue traced the bottom of your lip you didn't hesitate once to open for him. Moaning softly as his tongue seemed to move perfectly in sync with your own.

He pulled back from the kiss. Looking shocked that he had done it and quickly removed his hand from your neck but as your chest heaved up and down, you didn't want him to stop. You lifted your face up and captured his lips again.

This time it was his time to surprise you as he lifted you up from the couch and moved to sit with you straddle him. You couldn't help the involuntary rotation of your hips as you got settled on top of him. His hands immediately went to your messy bun, taking the hair tie out of it and throwing it somewhere in the room. His fingers laced into the back of your hair as he pulled you back down to him for an earth-shattering kiss.

Your hands rest on his chest as your lips moved so well together you couldn't help the small moans that left you. You were trying your hardest to not grind against him again but the electricity he was shooting down your spine with just a simple kiss was driving you insane, especially when he took your bottom lip between his perfect teeth, biting it lightly. Tired of his teasing you sat back down on him, moving your hips back and forth to get any type of relief you could. When you felt his growing bulge, you couldn't help but smirk.

"Got a roll of quarters in there?" You leaned back slightly from him, resting your forehead against his own. His hands ran from your hair all the way down your back and thighs, coming back up to rest on your ass before he gave you a harsh spank through the thin fabric of your sleep shorts. His hands went back to your waist, digging in tightly, as he pushed your hips down onto him again.

"Who said you could stop, love?" He questioned as your head fell forward into his neck as you tried to hide your moan.

"Fuck." You whimpered as his erection dragged across your clothed clit. You wanted so much more, needed it. You moved your lips to his neck kissing softly up to his ear.

"Bedroom?" You whispered to him as he kept your hips rotating around him. Your underwear were about to be completely soaked through and if he wasn't going to get you off you would gladly kick him out and finish the job yourself.

He groaned the second the word left your mouth. Your lips ghosting over his ear so he was able to hear every small breathy moan he was dragging out of you.

"Dirty girl." He said spanking your ass again, his rings biting into your skin, and he quickly rubbed his large hand over the place that you were sure was turning red.

"You got no idea." You whimpered softly at the feeling of his hand soothing the sore skin of your bum. It had been so long since you'd gotten laid. Sex stopped way before your divorce was finalized and you hadn't been with anyone else since. You weren't sure how much teasing you could take. You needed him, now.

"You're killin' me." He groaned laying his head back on the couch and pulled you back from his shoulder to look at him. He already looked like a complete mess, making you feel better for not being the only desperate one in this situation.

"Y'sure about this?" He asked, gently brushing back the few strands of hair that fell across your face. You didn't want to sit and debate over all the thoughts going through your head about if this was a good idea or not. You simply nodded your agreement but he wasn't having it, his large hand moved from your hair to your jaw, immediately getting your attention, and drawing a whimper from you. If you knew he was going to be this dominating you would have decided to do this a long time ago.

"Need to hear you say it darling." His grip was still on your jaw.

"Please daddy." You moaned, laying on his shoulder as your nails dug into his chest over his shirt. "Please fuck me."

#Harry Styles #harry #Harry Styles x Reader #Harry Styles x You #Harry Styles x Y/N #Harry Styles Fanfic #Harry Styles Fanfiction #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #mine #LYHD

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lilana163 · 3 years

Text

Chapter 1: Reunited//James Potter

April 16, 1960, Druella Black gave birth to twin girls, one the spitting image of her mother. Sharing the same gold locks, down to their perfectly plumped lips. But her eyes, she had blazing stormy orbs.

She was no doubt a Black. The other twin was quite the opposite, she looked exactly like her father, sharing the same raven hair, eye shape, and nose. Though her eyes, she had her mother's eyes. Bright beautiful emerald eyes are what she had. Stunning, yet sad. For those emeralds, orbs would become the only thing truly connecting the young girl to her mother.

Druella Black was a fierce woman, she had the looks of an angel. Though don't underestimate her angel face for even that beauty couldn't resemble who she truly was. Ugly and cruel, served the blonde right. She was a woman who despised muggles, muggle-born, blood traitors, and half-bloods. This hatred was too forever boil up inside her, with no end.

She absolutely hated those outsides of the Sacred Twenty-eight, and Druella Black's hate is not to be underestimated.

Even though being such a cruel woman Druella knew how to love and that adoration shined when with her daughters, Druella would do anything for her little ones, she'd protect her children no matter the consequences.

Though despite being an overprotective mother, that didn't mean her daughters were safe from her grasp. If those girls dare step out of line, their mother wouldn't hesitate on sending a few curses, their way. For these girls had to be impeccable, the perfect pureblood princesses. That is what they had to be.

Perfect.

" Two girls," Cygnus said scrunching up his nose as he gazed at his wife who held his two newborn daughters.

" Yes two girls, are you daft?" Druella rolled her eyes at her husband. Not in the mood to be around the arrogant prat, she was drenched in sweat. Her blonde locks were tied up into a messy bun as few strands covered her face.

" I wanted boys," her husband stated pouting, he crossed his hands over his chest watching how Druella tensed up at his words.

" Girls are better, boys are stinky, annoying, moody, and boys always seem to be running on one brain cell, isn't that right my darling Aurora," Druella replied in her baby voice speaking every word to the newborn in her hands.

" Boys are intelligent, boys can continue the Black name, and boys are strong," Cygnus told his wife who finally turned her attention to her husband, she glared daggers at the man who had a cocky smirk which she so wanted to slap off.

" I've never met an intelligent boy let alone a man and don't underestimate girls hun, they could be just as strong as a boy," Druella smirked seeing Cygnus's smirk fall, he opened his mouth to reply but instead was interrupted by a loud squeal from the doorway.

" The twins are girls!" Walburga gave a thin lip smile seeing her only friend holding the two newest editions to the Black family. The dark-haired woman snatched the blonde baby out of her mother's grasp admiring the tiny human she carried.

" Don't steal her," Druella teased laughing at her friend's actions, she knew how her best friend wanted a girl but instead gave birth to a boy who was now six months old.

" I'll trade her for Sirius," Cygnus joked but the two women didn't find it funny, Druella gave her husband a look that said did he just really say that? while shifting away from the man holding her baby close to her chest.

" Are you sure, Sirius is already a handful," Walburga replies scoffing at the memory of her finding the boy playing with the toilet water.

" No trading kids," Druella commented looking over at the door where her two eldest daughters walked in with a loud six-month-old baby.

" You can take Andy aunt Walburga, she's a pain to all in this manor," Bellatrix grins seeing her younger sister sending a scowling look while playfully biting Sirius's hands making the six-month-old chuckle each time she nibbled lightly on his small fingers.

" Bellatrix," Druella gives her eldest daughter a warning look making her second eldest daughter smirk.

" Sorry Andy, but anyways let me hold my new sister," Bellatrix walked over to her mom gently taking the newborn with the help of her mother.

" What are their names?" Andromeda asks her parents while placing Sirius on her hip.

" The twin Bella is holding is Aurora and the other aunt Walburga has is Narcissa," Cygnus tells his daughter with a toothy grin happy that he took part in naming his daughters this time.

" Welcome to the Black family, Narcissa, and Aurora," Bellatrix grins looking down at the baby admiring the newborn baby smell.

2 years later:

Cygnus and Druella had been constantly arguing about taking the twins outside of the manor, Druella hadn't let anyone other than close family members be around her two youngest daughters, Cygnus couldn't be more annoyed with his wife, it was now time to send their two eldest daughters off to Hogwarts, Druella would love more than anything to accompany her daughters in shopping for school but the only thing stopping her were the twins, Cygnus was keen on Druella taking all daughters down to Diagonally but Druella would make accuse on her two youngest daughters being too young for the world outside the walls of their manor.

" But Cygnus, the twins are too young to be around others, what if we happen to be around half-bloods or muggle born? what then, I will not expose my youngest to that filthy alley where muggle-born and half-bloods roam!" yelled Druella while brushing her long gold locks, Cygnus pinched the bridge to his nose letting out a loud sigh. The man was tired of this conversation, it was what they talked about for months since they first started having children and Druella would use the same argument for each daughter of her on why they shouldn't leave the manor.

" You are taking all of the girls down to Diagonally tomorrow, take Kreacher and Mitzi with you they could help with all four. I am not discussing this any further, the girls need to have a life outside this manor, so quite being stubborn!" Cygnus pointed his finger at his wife who glared daggers at the man standing in front of her.

" They could get a disease," Druella mumbled under her breath yet it was loud enough for her husband to hear.

" Druella Black, you are to listen to me!" Cygnus exclaimed before stomping out of the room slamming the door shut.

As her husband left the room she threw across her sliver hairbrush at the mirror, the mirror that once showed her beautiful reflection was broken into pieces small pieces covering the floor. Druella left the room in fury calling out for Kreacher to supply her with a glass of fire whiskey, she stood in the study looking out at the beautiful field watching her four daughters who leaned on a tree as the three youngest listened to Bellatrix read a story to them.

" Mistress Black, your beverage," Kreacher bowed handing the blonde her drink.

" Kreacher, tomorrow you and Mitzi shall accompany me to Diagon Ally along with the girls, do you understand?" Druella told the house-elf while lighting up a cigarette she so needed, as she put the cigarette between her lips it instantly calmed her, all the anger she felt was now gone the only feeling that went through her body was warmth.

" Kreacher understands mistress Black, and Kreacher will inform Mitzi about mistress Blacks task," Kreacher responded before leaving the room with a pop.

Druella sighed running her long skinny fingers through her gold locks, her beauty seemed to outshine the dark circles and bags that formed in her eyes, the wrinkles she had from furrowing her brows, and her pale skinny figure that showed she hadn't been eating well.

She had been fighting with Cygnus for months now and she hadn't been taking it well, the thought of him wanting his daughters around half-bloods and mudbloods made her sick, coming from a pureblood supremacist family didn't help the thoughts that swam through her mind, she was stubborn and hadn't been willing to drop the topic of exposing the girls to a world beyond their own, it was terrifying to the blonde but she knew when to drop the matter since Cygnus raised his voice which was unusual for his calm persona.

Diagon Ally:

The Black family arrived at the ally by apparating, the blonde stood tall with a green silk dress that fitted her well, along with a black fur coat, she held onto Aurora and Narcissa hands who dressed in matching green dresses with a silver bow on their hair, on Aurora side stood Bellatrix with her outfit slightly similar to her mothers and on the opposite side was Andromeda who wore a green dress with black flats.

All of Diagonally went silent as they saw who appeared, it was rumored that Druella lost her twins during childbirth because no one other than her family had seen the two small girls, whispers were heard as the notorious pureblood family walked into Gringotts looking like they owned the place.

As the family finished the fitting for robes they all walked out hand in hand just like Druella demeaned from her daughters, they halted as a very confused man tapped the shoulder of the blonde woman, hearing loud steps from behind Druella called for Kreacher and Mitzi to take the hands of her youngest daughters, the mother pushed her two eldest in front of her along with the house elves who watched over the young ones. The woman swiftly pulled out a wand turning behind to see who dared to touch her.

" Those are the Blacks don-" Hagrid began but the unknown man had already caught the attention of Druella who scrunched up her nose eyeing the cheap muggle clothing.

" I was just wondering if you could point the direction to Ollivanders, it's I and my family first time in the wizarding world so we're quite lost," the kind man asked showing off his grin while looking at the women in awe of the mention of the wizarding world.

" Muggles? I presume," Druella said with disgust which didn't go unnoticed by Hagrid who ran over to the pair.

" Yes, I'm Jo-" but before the man could finish Druella sent a charm his way, Hagrid gasped at the words which came from the women's mouth.

" Diffindo!" Druella yelled cutting the man's stomach in half and leaving deep gashes on his face, the man was about to fall on the floor but Hagrid was able to catch the man, he stared with a horrified look.

Druella turned around to see her daughters with nothing but fear in their eyes, from behind you could hear Hagrid's loud cries for a healer but no witch would step up in fear that the which who caused such a mess will do worse. The mother ushered for the elves to apparate home with the twins which they did, Druella then took the hands of her two eldest apparating to the front steps of 12 Grimmauld place the dark manor in which all Black family members called home.

" Follow me, girls," Druella commanded Bellatrix and Andromeda followed behind their mother sharing scared glances walking into the drawing-room, they sat down on the couch which Druella stood in front of, she looked at her daughter who stared back at her she let out a sigh shaking her head walking over to the Black family tree.

" You two girls will be attending Hogwarts soon, there are four houses Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin, as members of the Black family I expect you to get into Slytherin, not one of your ancestors have been sorted into anything else but Slytherin, I will not have my daughters besmirching the Black or Rosier name by getting sorted into any other house, there will be consequences if you don't wear the snake on your robes," Druella explained to her girls shooting both a stern look, the two girls nodded in understanding wanting to please their family by getting into the infamous house of Salazar.

" And girls, don't go engaging with half-bloods, blood traitors, and mudbloods. Don't make a mockery out of your blood, you girls are pureblood don't waste time with those who don't matter, and if you do engage with those filthy people who call themselves witches and wizards, mummy and daddy won't be happy, don't make a disappointment out of yourselves, it's easy disowning a family member for your accord," Druella spat with a look of disgust, she would hope that her daughters don't become what she hates the most.

#black family #druella rosier #aurora #james potter #james & peter & remus & sirius #marauders #fan fiction #harry potter

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shadow--writer · 3 years

Text

I Love your Demons, Like Devils can

Somethin soft I wrote while ignoring an essay (something something title)

Maeve x Lucas. When all I see is you 2.6k

CW: talk of past, slight nudity, overthinking

@dela-png

“Why do you love me?”

It was a lazy afternoon, warm and breezy. She closed up early, inviting Lucas over to stay the night. The sun was still high in the sky, the breeze cooling her room down. She was reading a book in a language he didn’t understand, one about star charting back home. It made her feel homesick.

He was running his hands through her hair as she laid on his chest, reading and enjoying his company.

Until this, that is.

“Why do I what?” She traced the scars on his arms, sighing. “Love, did I not give you plenty of reasons before?”

“I just…”

“Oh don’t go doing that again,” she huffed, discarding her book. She flipped over, tangling her legs in his, and pressing her chest to his. “I love you for many reasons. Your sulky puppy eyes are one of them.” She pressed a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t know why I’m feeling like this,” he murmured, kissing her again.

“One of those days?”

He shrugged, half heartedly. “People stare, how do you...tolerate it?”

“Tolerate staring? I get it all the time.”

“When...you’re with me.”

She smiled. “I don’t tolerate it, I embrace it. I think I’m very lucky, managing to love you the way I do. And to be lucky to have you love me back? Sometimes I think I’m the one who should be asking you all of this, I’m nothing special.”

He kissed the top of her head, nuzzling her cheek. “I think you’re special.”

“I think the same of you.”

“...why?”

She kissed the tip of his nose, pushing herself up. “I’ll show you.” She got to her feet and tugged him off her bed and out of her room. He shuffled after her, watching her as she led him to her makeshift dining room. Humming, she threw open her blinds and dug around for the body paint she was experimenting with.

“What are you doing?” he asked softly as she set the jar down. She knelt beside it, motioning him to sit down on the floor with her. He followed suit, letting her crawl closer.

“Shirt.”

“What?”

She tugged on his arm, making him move closer. Letting go of his hand she shifted between his legs to hold the hem of his shirt.

She peered up at him through her lashes, brows set and her mouth pulled downwards in a stubborn look. “Shirt.”

“Maeve-”

“Love, trust me.”

His cheeks reddened and he nodded slowly. She kissed his cheek. “Relax.”

“I’m relaxed.”

“Your voice is cracking.” She helped him tug his shirt over his head, tossing it to the side as she kissed the tip of his nose.

He wouldn’t meet her eye as she brushed his scars with a light touch.

“Your hands are cold,” he murmured.

She kissed his neck, biting softly. She felt his breath hitch.

“Do you trust me?”

There was a pause, a small sigh. “Y-Yes.”

She opened the jar of paint, staring at the familiar dark blue.

“What are you…”

She dunked her hands inside, coating her palms in the paint. It ran down her arms as she stared at him, lips twisting.

“First we’ll start on your shoulders. Move down your chest…” she swirled two fingers against his scars, pressing her palm against his neck, staring at the handprint she left.

She kissed the side of his jaw once, cupping his face in her hands and smudging paint along his skin and down his neck.

She dipped her fingers back into the paint, dragging them down his eyes and smudging the paint along his nose. She dragged her thumb down his lower lip and chin, leaving a strong line of blue.

“I love you so much I’ll share the greatest honour I can, our warpaint,” she murmured, brushing her hands down his arms. “The sign of our strongest and it’s our most treasured tradition.” She held up her arm. “One we get permanently inked into our skin once we come of age.”

She dipped her hands into the paint again, swirling it around his collar and pecs.

He stared at her, lips parted slightly and pupils blown wide. Swallowing all that blue.

She tilted his head up, smiling a little.

“Mo anam cara.”

He moved closer, the blue striking against his skin. His hair was soft against her forehead as he rested against her. She let her eyes flutter shut.

“And what does that mean?”

“Something you’ll just have to find out for yourself,” she murmured.

He chuckled softly, kissing her. “Okay, Trouble.”

She giggled, opening her eyes. She kissed his eyelids, making them fly open.

She took his hand, smearing paint along her lips and kissed his palm. “A kiss for good luck,” she murmured, kissing his fingertips and watching them turn blue with her touch. Her mom showed her this tradition, one only in their family. A reminder of what you have home when you left to fight.

“All dressed up in blue,” she hummed. “Strong and beautiful.” She smiled, lacing their fingers. “Look at you, one of us. Well…almost.”

“Al…most?”

She got to her feet, running her fingers along his shoulder and neck. He stiffened as she paused behind him.

She combed her hands through his hair, pulling it back and tying some of it up in a bun, letting the rest curl around his neck. Then slowly, she started to braid the pieces behind his ears.

“Why are you doing this?” he whispered.

“Scars and pasts don’t make us who we are,” she replied. His hair was hard to keep down in a braid, but she didn’t mind. It made it all uniquely him. “Bloodied hands and closed hearts are but a concept.”

She finished one side and moved on to the other.

“You have kind hands, you’ve only touched me with care and love.” She kissed the shell of his ear, nibbling softly. “Mhmmm. You’re kind, lovely and I love you.”

He let out a small squeak.

“You make me happy, my love. That’s more than I could have asked for.”

“You deserve to be happy.”

“So do you.”

He went silent.

She brushed the scar around his neck, bending down to kiss it. “I love you, Giant. Mo ghaiscíoch.”

“You’re really good at this.”

“At what?”

He tilted his head back, resting it against her stomach. “Making everything…seem okay. Even if it’s for a moment.”

“I can’t promise it’ll all go away, but I can promise I can help you. Besides, you look good in blue.”

He chuckled. “I wish I could make you feel the same. I’m kind of…”

“Say useless and I will pull your hair.”

His eyes snapped open. “What.”

She tugged on his hair lightly.

“You’re not useless. You’re Lucas. Hmm,” she paused. That wasn’t right. “Batsaikhan.”

Ah she liked him blushing, it was cute. It brought light to his freckles and the paint down his eyes and lips.

“I don’t need any usefulness from you, silly gander.”

He laughed. “Little goose.”

“Honk honk.”

“Is it my turn to offer up wisdom and paint on you?”

She giggled. “Sorry love, I’m already covered in war paint.”

He reached up to cup her face. “Ah, that’s right. How could I forget?”

She smiled, rubbing her nose against his.

“It’s the least I could do, paint symbols of my people.”

“It’s part of you,” he whispered.

“And now I’m passing it to you as well.”

“Why?”

She shifted closer, nipping at his lower lip. “Because I love you, and I wanted to. That’s enough.”

“I love you,” he murmured. “I don’t know if I’ll get used to you saying that.”

She let her voice roll into a low purr. “Well you better, because I’m not gonna stop.”

He held her hand, fingertips stained with blue. She sat in his lap, snuggling into him. He dipped his other hand into the paint, caressing her cheek and smearing blue along her skin.

“Now we match,” he said with a small smile. She leaned into his touch, kissing his fingertips again.

The dark colour stood out against his skin, making his eyes seem even more electric. She held his hand in hers, moving closer to him. His breathing hitched as she rested her palms on his chest, pressing a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth.

“I think you’re beautiful in blue,” she murmured.

He tilted her chin with his hand, leaving smudges of paint down her chin and throat. He hummed at the taste of the paint, trailing his hands down her sides to rest on her hips.

“I’ll wear it more often then,” he said with a small smile, resting his forehead against hers as he squeezed her hips.

She shifted, huffing a little. He laughed. “You’ll get paint on my clothes. I at least made you strip first.”

He kissed her again, tasting sweet. “I don’t think you mind.”

“If it stains I’ll mind,” she said, flicking the tip of his nose. She wrapped her arms around his neck, playing with the little curls at the nape of his neck. She kissed the tip of his nose, shifting off his lap. She smudged the paint off the center of his chest, slowly looping her strokes. It was messy, uneven, but it made her smile as she finished a serch bythol.

He only watched her paint, massaging the skin of her hips as she pressed a kiss above the symbol, in the hollow of his collar. She smiled, pushing back on his shoulders to look at her handiwork.

“There. Perfect,” she said with a hum, pressing her fingertips to the hollow of his throat. “Serch bythol. A messy one, but one all the same!”

“What’s a serch bythol?” he asked, taking her hand and kissing her palms. She chewed on her lower lip, ignoring the flush building under the paint.

“A...knot we’d paint and make back home. Well, obviously we’d make them back home.” She laughed nervously, her heart a steady thrum in her chest. “It’s...made from two knots to symbolize unity.”

He kissed her forehead. “You’re blushing, what are you hiding?”

She groaned, burying her face in his neck. “It’s sappy.”

He snorted, burying his hands in her hair. She knew he was getting paint in it, making it all stick together…she didn’t mind.

“Sappy? Now you have to tell me.”

She whined, making him laugh, untangling the ends of her hair. “I don’t make the rules, love.” She squeaked, digging her nails into his back. He smiled, she knew he was smiling based on how he hummed. “Love?”

“L-Lucas,” she whined.

He hummed, kissing the top of her hair. “Okay, love.”

“Stop,” she groaned.

“Ah so you can do it but I can’t?”

She huffed, wrapping her legs around his hips. “It’s unfair. You sound too sweet saying it.”

He chuckled, shifting to get a look at her face. She blushed at the knot on his chest, chewing her lower lip as anxiety ravaged her body. It was a dumb old tradition. He wouldn’t want it anyway or to know more about it. It was something dumb she did spur of the moment-

He kissed her sweetly, smiling. “You’re beautiful when you blush, but if you don’t want to tell me what it means, that’s okay.”

She sucked in a breath softly, resting her forehead against his, his bangs tickling her cheeks. “Promise you won’t laugh?”

He blinked, brows furrowing. “Laugh?”

“It’s...kind of dumb. I don’t...know why I did it! It’s so stupid.”

He narrowed his eyes. “It’s not dumb, it’s not stupid. I won’t laugh, love.” She pinkened at the nickname. She was starting to like hearing it from him, it sent sparks of heat down to her toes, making her feel like everything was okay.

“It means unity between two people,” she murmured, kissing the corner of his mouth. “It’s a fancy way to say it was made for people to express their love, romantic or otherwise. Sometimes we’ll paint it on our shields when we go into battle, the unity of mind, body and soul with your loved ones and your fellows following in battle.”

She chewed on her lower lip, feeling sheepish. It sounded so sappy she was going to turn into her dad.

He only smiled, eyes growing misty.

“D-Don’t cry!” she sputtered, pushing back. “Please don’t cry, I'll take it off, I promise! I was dumb I’ll-”

He kissed her roughly, making her stutter off with a tiny squeak.

“You better not,” he sniffed in between kisses. “I, for one, love it.” He nipped at her lower lip, making her squirm. There was a threat behind the nip.

“I’ll…” he kissed the corner of her mouth, his breath hot against her face. She flushed, burying her hands in the hair at the nape of his neck. “Make the knot for you then,” she breathed, feeling dizzy with each kiss.

“Can you show me how?” he whispered, leaving blue smudges as he ran his thumbs under her eyes. It wasn’t overwhelming, the smell and taste of him. In fact, the more she sat there, straddling his hips, covered in blue paint (which she hoped wouldn’t stain) the more she fell in love with him. Him and those electric eyes of his, large and loving.

“I’d…” she swallowed, smiling. “I’d love to.” Her dad would be thrilled with him, she knew he’d go on and on about their knots if Lucas asked.

He kissed both of her cheeks, making her giggle with the rough touch.

“I love you,” he murmured, nipping at her ear.

She squeaked, biting her lower lip. Her face was hot, making him smile. “I...love you too,” she muttered, moving to hold his hands. “Now stop touching my dress, you're going to stain it.”

He pouted, brows softening. “But-”

She silenced him with another kiss. “You’re going to ruin the paint,” she whispered, shifting away. She knew full well the paint was already ruined.

He held her hand as she stood, kissing her knuckles. His smile was slightly wicked, his eyes shining as he pulled her back down.

She yelped, limbs flailing as he held her close.

“I want to touch you though,” he murmured, leaving small open mouthed kisses along her exposed collar.

“But I don’t want your handprint stained on my ass,” she muttered, pushing his face away. “If Amani, no not only her, do you know how long we’d have to go before living it down? A lifetime.”

He nuzzled her hands, smirking. “Well maybe I want to leave a stain of my hand on your ass.”

“You cheeky bastard,” she huffed, squishing his cheeks again. “...cute cheeky bastard.”

“You love me,” he said with a lopsided smile. “A lot.”

She sniffed. “You can’t prove anything.”

“But I can, a serch bythol was it?”

“I regret telling you that.”

He moved one hand off her hip, dipping it in the long forgotten warpaint. Her nose wrinkled as he painted on her cheek. “There’s a symbol for love from me,” he said, nibbling on her lower lip. “Now we match.”

“....is it a heart?”

“...maybe.”

She snorted, batting his hands away. “No more touching. You’re banned.”

He whined, it sounded so doglike it was eerie. “But Maeve-”

She pressed a finger to his mouth. “No. Nope. No more. You’ll stain my fabric, and I’ll be sad if you ruin all of my hard work.”

He sulked, making her giggle. Her expression softened when she looked at him. Her swirls and dots were smudged by touches, fingerprints dragged across his skin, he was a mess and she was sure she was too.

But she had never felt more in love with someone than she was with him.

She bunched up her skirt, shifting over his hips again to kiss him.

“I love you,” she murmured, tracing the lines of his face with a light touch as she kissed between his brows. “I love you.”

He buried his hands in her hair as he kissed her again, feathery soft. She giggled. “I love you too, Thumbelina.”

#the arcana #the arcana game #maeve #lucas #maevas #my writing #maeve x lucas #mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm dweebs #dorks in love #somethin soft for my evening #once maeve started saying I love you she aint gonna stop #I better not overthink this #.......#im overthinking it F- FUDGE IT #dang u tunglr

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translations-by-aiimee · 3 years

Text

Dig a Grave to Dig Out a Ghost - Chapter 9

Original Title: 挖坟挖出鬼

Genres: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Supernatural, Yaoi

This translation is based on multiple MTLs and my own limited knowledge of Chinese characters. If I have made any egregious mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter Index

Chapter 9 - Flee

The flame on the table moved.

"It's here," A-Yan said, and then motioned Lin Yan to pay attention to what was behind him. Lin Yan turned around and saw that there was nothing unusual. Then he saw it.

There are obviously only three of them in the room, but there were four shadows on the wall.

Different from the familiar silence, the fourth shadow on the wall was constantly moving this time, like it was pacing around the house. At first, it moved extremely slowly, and then it got faster and faster. For a while, it hurriedly walked straight in one direction, then returned, and finally started to circle around them.

"He's looking for you," A-Yan said softly.

There was also a strange noise outside the door, like a stone falling into the water or a tree branch breaking. Soon, the courtyard was overwhelmed by the wind, and the door and windows were all squeaking. Then there was knocking on the door, like countless people waiting to come in. Not only at the door, but there were also eager knocks from the windows on all sides. Lin Yan was terrified and turned his head to see out of the window. He was met with an old face and saw an old man standing slanting by the window, wearing a full Manchu costume, and carrying a faint green lantern in his hand.

The figures in the yard gradually increased.

"Don't-, don't be afraid." A-Yan grabbed Lin Yan's hand and whispered softly: "They usually come in at this time to eat the steamed buns in the temple. They are all poor people, and there's no one to support them after they die."

Lin Yan felt that even if 2012 was really the end of the world, he would not be surprised. (T/N: This novel was written in 2012 just so this comment doesn't seem out of nowhere)

A person appeared silently in the net made by the red ropes in the room.

In the shadowy candlelight, Lin Yan saw the man; he had dark hair that parted at his forehead and hung in disarray, covering most of his face. He was very tall, with wide sleeves hanging straight and loosely on his body, splattering with old brown bloodstains. Lin Yan bit his lower lip and tried his best not to start hyperventilating. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest. Almost at the same time, the temple master stood up abruptly, took out a yellow paper from the table and inserted it in the incense burner. He spread out the yellow paper and made a scratch on his finger. Using his now bloodied finger, he quickly sketched on the paper.

The "person" in the shadow of the lamp suddenly walked back and forth in the house like he had been offended. He hit the red rope and was forced to return, but he was reluctant, and he staggered back. This weird scene made Lin Yan break out in a cold sweat, and a light sigh of surprise overflowed from his throat uncontrollably, "Heh—"

The ghost suddenly raised his head, his messy hair blocking Lin Yan's ruthless eyes. His black eyes were filled with strong killing intent, and they suddenly made eye contact! Almost without warning, his stiff body turned to Lin Yan and rushed towards him in a few strides. Lin Yan trembled all over his body and tried to hold his breath. The ghost stopped less than half a meter away from him and looked around harshly as if it couldn't see the target anymore.

Just when Lin Yan was running out of breath, the ghost finally gave up, turned around and rushed over.

The temple master began to recite a strange mantra, and A-Yan joined in. It was obvious that only two people were speaking, but there were echoes from all corners of the room. The red ropes shook together, and the ghost's steps became flustered. The barefooted figure smashed around like a fly in the room, swaying and almost falling to the ground. As the chanting of the mantra became louder and louder, the ghost staggered to the ground like he enduring great pain. He crawled around and tried to stand up, scanning the room frantically and impatiently but couldn't find his target.

The temple master pulled Lin Yan’s arm, motioned him to stay silent with his glare, and then made a deep cut in his forearm with a knife. The moment the blood poured out, Lin Yan seemed to hear the ghost let out a heavy gasp. Using all fours together, he crawled over to Lin Yan from the other end of the room. Every time he moved his body, it was as slow as torture, but it didn't stop. A-Yan picked up the cypress block with the paper figure on the table, rubbed Lin Yan's blood on the red paper. He grabbed the wound and covered the forearm, and threw the double cypress toward the middle of the house.

The ghost let out a low groan, as if he had exhausted all his energy and rushed towards the cypress on the ground. His hands kept tearing at the paper man above. The next scene made Lin Yan completely stunned. The ghost knelt on the ground, holding the block, and he leaned down and began to kiss it. He rubbed his lips against the blood-stained red paper, like holding a lost treasure.

The expression of the temple master turned vicious in an instant. He took up the short knife on the table, bit the tip of his tongue and sprayed the blood mist on the blade. The tip of the blade was facing the direction of the ghost, and the yellow paper on the table lit on fire, crackling and burning into a ball of fire. In the raging fire, the whole body of the ghost twitched violently, and his throat kept making vague groans. However, he did not resist at all and even refused to move his body. He hugged the cypress tightly in his arms, snuggling it up to his cheek in desperation and nostalgia. . .

The inexplicable shock made Lin Yan take a step back. He had never seen such a look in his life; desperate, crazy, resentful, cruel and unwilling, staring straight at the wood in his arms, touching the doll covered in Lin Yan's blood.

A big mouthful of blood poured out from the ghost's mouth and ran down the corners of his lips. The drops stained his jade-coloured shirt. His hair scattered all over the place, and also stained with maroon blood. It was a tragic scene. Lin Yan shook his head. This was simply not right. There must be some kind of mistake. How could someone who could stare at him with this kind of eyes hurt him. . .

"Buzzzzzzz. . ."

Lin Yan's phone was on vibration mode. The white light off the screen looked out of place in the flame light, and a text message popped up: "Gu's autopsy report was changed. I hacked into the hospital's archive system. The time of death on the autopsy report was different than the time the police gave us. It was three hours earlier."

Then comes the second: "I suspect that someone is interfering in this matter. Lin Yan, be careful."

Lin Yan thoughtfully recalled that the death certificate issued by the police station stated that the old woman died at 1 o'clock in the morning, so her actual time of death was instead 10 o'clock the night before. At that time, he was fighting with the ghost in front of him in the elevator. He looked at the time before going upstairs, there was no mistake about that.

He didn't even think about Yin Zhou's second text message. It was like water had been thrown onto him. Lin Yan clenched his fist, and was shocked by the disturbing scene before him. He was speechless, swallowing hard. What was he doing? He stubbornly thinks that he could never kill a living person, but does that mean he should be so willing to scatter an undeserving ghost's soul?!

Like using cubs as bait to catch she-wolves, the methods of human beings were more despicable than ghosts.

"Stop!" Lin Yan shouted at the temple master.

The temple owner was now like the enemy: "Shut up! We'll deal with that when we're finished!"

A-Yan also panicked. "Brother Lin Yan, don't say anything, it's too late to stop now!"

The eyes of the temple master were revealed in an instant, and the short knife sprayed with blood was raised high, facing the ground. The whole house seemed to be shaken by an invisible giant hand, creaking noises came from the window frames, eaves, and walls. The wandering souls that had gathered in the courtyard also seemed to be irritated; whimpering, screaming, and wailing sounded together. A cold light flashed on the short knife, which would be pierced through the concrete floor, sending ghosts back into the ground!

With a crisp snap, the yellow paper inserted in the incense burner broke into two pieces.

The ghost slowly raised his head, staring straight at Lin Yan with red eyes under his slanting eyebrows.

It only takes a moment to make a decision. Lin Yan doesn't know where he finds this courage. He tucked his phone into his pant pocket and rushed towards the ghost. A human and a ghost pressed together. Lin Yan wanted to grab the cypress block in his hands, but the ghost's persistence was amazing. His hands were stuck on the wood block. No matter how Lin Yan tried, he couldn't shake him at all.

There was another talisman paper shining. The ghost in the shadow of the lamp completely gave up resisting, curled up on the ground. He shielded the cypress between his thigh and chest, like a poor lunatic, full of unwillingness and resentment, moving backwards with difficulty.

With nothing but love on his lips, who would truly spare his life? This desperate ghost was more sentimental and righteous than humans.

With panicked thoughts, Lin Yan used his tongue to clean the wounds of his arms, resisting the pain and biting hard. The bitter and sour taste rushed into his throat with the blood, and the freshly coagulated blood was unbound by saliva and poured out again. After it started bleeding again, Lin Yan put his arm in front of the grimace, gritted his teeth and said, "I'm here, follow me!"

The ghost looked up at him suspiciously, Lin Yan whispered: "Hey, throw that stuff away."

"Let's go."

"A-Yan, stop this foolish boy!"

Lin Yan grabbed the ghost's hand and dragged him from the ground to the door, and used his feet to disperse the incense ashes. When the formation was broken, the copper coins pressed on the incense ashes bounced straight out with a few clinking noises. Lin Yan busied himself untying the red ropes. Who knew that the ropes were tied so well that there was no quick way to undo them?

Lin Yan turned back in a panic, and saw A-Yan walking towards him with a pale face, holding the talisman. He stumbled and fell to the ground, lifting his pointed face, and gently whispered, "Quickly go."

He was wasting too much time. Lin Yan untied the ropes with his teeth, and rushed out of the temple door with the ghost!

There was a great deal of mourning happening outside the temple. the mountain owls given sullen expressions, and the small courtyard was filled with black air. The jujube tree with its crooked trunk looked as fierce as a dead body with extended bony fingers. It seems that the lonely ghosts in the hundreds of miles around the area had been attracted. In the courtyard The holy spirit banners were pelted by strong winds. On the well sat a drenched female ghost, and "people" dressed as eunuchs in ragged clothes gathered together, their paper lanterns hung in the sky. There was a dark purple constriction on the neck of the person in the front. "I am wronged by my death. . ."

Lin Yan dragged the ghost behind him and ran towards where he parked his car. He was trembling as he pulled out the key, but no matter how hard he pressed it, the beep sound of unlocking the door could not be heard. The magnetic field in the mountain had completely changed, and the remote keys did not work. Lin Yan shaky hands stuffed the key into the keyhole, and he finally opened the door of the car and threw the ghost into the passenger seat. But there was no chance that he could have three lucky breaks happen.

The evil spirit regained consciousness from the pain of the spell. He clasped Lin Yan's throat with his nails, and slowly tightened, a pair of black holes in the messy hair glaring up. . .

"You don't know how to fucking drive. Just sit still for me!" Lin Yan yelled at him irritably, "Who cares if you strangle me to death!"

The hands on the neck didn't make any more moves.

Sure enough, the ghost was afraid of the wicked. Lin Yan pushed him harshly to the chair and put the seatbelt around his waist: "Take a gamble. It's fucking worthless to be killed by this braid army!"

He slammed down hard on the accelerator, twisted the key vigorously, and, with a bang, the car started.

"Sit still." Lin Yan clicked the corner of his mouth, holding the steering wheel, and the black Audi A4 galloped away like in the F1 Grand Prix in the night.

#dig a grave to dig out a ghost #dig a grave to dig out a ghost translation #chinese bl #chinese novel #english translation #yaoi novel

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theartoflovingthomashunt · 4 years

Text

A Chance Encounter

[Thomas Hunt x Alex Spencer Masterlists] [Red Carpet Diaries Universe]

Characters: Alex, Thomas Hunt Book: Red Carpet Diaries Word Count: approx 3,000 🙈 Prompt: party - @choicesoctoberchallenge2020 Notes: I know this is way longer than anything I’ve written in a long time, but I still hope you give it a chance and I hope you enjoy it. It is a Halloween inspired story.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

He pinched the bridge of his nose, his eyes closing at the pandemonium surrounding him. Colorful lights flashed while a cacophony of sounds filled the air. Drowning out the thumping bass of the music and the aimless blather of conversation was nearly impossible. This was the worst part of his job. The required self-promotion and appearances in order to stay relevant. Why should he need to pander to them? Shouldn’t the work speak for itself? Not a single soul at that party could hold his interest, let alone hope to match his intellect in order to have a meaningful conversation.

It wasn’t their fault, not entirely at least. They didn’t know better. They were a mere product of the society they lived in, or at least what semblance of such a concept passed today. His upbringing had afforded him with different experiences that had led to the high ground on which he now occupied. However, if he were to be completely honest with himself, he’d always felt like a man out of time, even then.

Thomas was jolted back to the tumultuous party as a guest crashed into him. He shifted the tumbler of scotch in his grasp away from him just in time to protect it from spilling. A low rumble of annoyance growled in his throat. He took a sip of the drink, letting it linger on his tongue, though it no longer gave him the same sense of satisfaction it once had. His gaze continuously fell on the timepiece on his wrist, watching the minutes tick by until he could leave. With one last swig, he finished the caramel-colored liquor and made his way toward the exit.

For the first time in far too long, he felt his heart skip a beat at the sight of her. It was a sensation, he never expected to feel again, and not one he could even explain; and yet, for a moment, when his eyes met hers from across the room, something in him changed. He was drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight, For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night.

He had always admired the works of Shakespeare but had never understood that sentiment until that moment. This chance encounter was somehow unlike anything he’d ever known before.

Her eyes sparkled even under the pulsating lights of the party, like stars in the night giving weary sailors hope and filling them with an unexplained wonder. Her smile was the sun, offering warmth and comfort to those lucky enough to find themselves in its path. His feet carried him nearer, unable to stop himself until he stood before her lost as he drank in her beauty.

She tucked a strand of her soft brown hair behind her ear, her cheeks warming at his close presence. “Hi, I’m Alex.”

He shook his head, pulling himself from the spell he found himself under. “I’m Thomas.”

“I must admit that I know who you are.” Her gaze shifted nervously to the floor. “I’m not sure how you found your way to me though. I just moved here. I’m no one important. Though, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand to him.

The pads of his fingers lingered on the pulse point of her wrist before lifting her hand. His lips ghosted against her soft, warm flesh. He felt each shift in her breathing and the slight change in temperature brought on by the heat flooding to her cheeks under his touch. His lips curled up in the corners, as he pressed a kiss on the back of her hand.

Why do I feel as if she might have the power to sway me as she pleases? He fought against himself at the thought. He had never anticipated such a feeling nor had he ever wanted to find himself in such a position.

His dark eyes shifted up, catching her coy downcast gaze; his thumb brushed over her knuckles once before finally releasing her hand. “The pleasure is entirely mine.”

Somewhere between the rhythm of her heart beating and the steady sound of her breathing, the clamor of noise from the party fell away. The tension in his brow released and soften. “Can I tempt you to a stroll in the gardens?”

Alex glanced around and found her friend engaged in dancing with another partygoer. It didn’t appear he would miss her. “I would like that.”

The gibbous moon shone high in the sky basking them under its soft light, her porcelain skin seemed to shimmer. The cool, refreshing air wrapped around them welcoming them into the night.

A shiver tingled over her skin as they walked wordlessly across the patio, moving past a few couples entangled with one another, unaware of their presence.

“Here.” Before she could protest his jacket was draped protectively over her shoulders. His hand hovered over her lower back, wanting nothing more than to touch her but not letting himself give in. “I insist.”

“Thank you.” Alex pulled it a little closer, savoring the scent of his cologne on the tweed fabric.

The gardens offered some respite from the party. Alex shared her story of moving to Los Angeles and the hopes she had for her time there. They talked about classic cinema that inspired both of them on this path. She spoke with grace and elegance. He admired her passion for the art of film rather than the allure of the spotlight. Although, he found it didn’t matter what they talked about or if they talked at all. The further they wandered, the closer their bodies seemed to drift and the quieter his mind was until all that was left was her.

***

“Ooo—” She recoiled for a moment.

“Is everything alright?”

Her hand slipped once more into his. “Your fingers are freezing.”

“Oh, that. My apologies” His free hand threaded nervously through his dark hair. He started to pull his grasp away. “I run cold.”

“We can share my warmth.” Alex guided his hand over her exposed collar bone, letting him warm his skin on her. Her breathing hitched at the sudden change in temperature and the rise and fall of her chest increasing under his intent gaze.

The gesture caught him by surprise. The heat of her skin felt like a flame against his palm, spreading a blaze throughout his core. He cradled her delicate face with his other hand, letting her fire warm and consume him, until he felt, for the briefest of moments, more like the man he once was.

***

Alex leaned over the siding of the small wooden pier that led into a large lake. The cool water settled around them, while moonlight kissed the surface leaving ripples of sparkling diamonds atop it. The serene scene drew a smile across her face, her joy reflecting in the image below caught her attention. She knew she had never been so happy in her life, but seeing it on her own face while they were together was not something she’d ever noticed before, but it was hard to deny its presence now.

Her gaze shifted beside her hoping to see that same joy in his reflection, but instead, she found more water. She spun quickly around, his arms were there to catch her. She breathed easier finding him beside her still. “I thought‚—never mind. Come look at how beautiful it is. There is nothing quite like a full moon to alight the dark waters.”

His fingers settled on her hips, drawing her closer to him. “I would not wish to ruin the beauty of the portrait below. It’s perfect just the way it is,” he admitted, his gaze tracing her features. “Though it owes its allure entirely to you.”

***

“Hi, you.” She threw her arms around him as soon as she opened her front door. His own greeting was quieted by her lips on his. Her bare feet shifted up on her tiptoes, as he pulled her closer, lifting her up into his arms. The slow, gentle kisses deepened until nothing separated them. She pulled away breathless, biting her lip. “Hi… again.”

The watercolor sunset that painted the sky not long before had faded into a deep blue, stars just beginning to twinkle above them.

His fingers glided across her cheek until he cradled her face in his hand. “You’re absolutely stunning.”

Alex took a step back, brushing back the strands of hair falling in her face from the messy bun atop her head. “We’re already together, you don’t have to flatter me. I’m wearing yoga pants and an old tee. This isn’t even in the same realm as stunning.”

“When you wear it it is,” Thomas stated as if it were a fact everyone was aware of.

Her face wrinkled under a spreading grin. She turned and walked back into her house. Stopping on the other side of the door, watching as Thomas lingered on the porch as if waiting for an invitation. “Seriously? You really are a gentleman, aren’t you?” She laughed softly to herself. “Please come in, dear sir. You have my permission to enter the premises of this young lady.”

***

His careful fingers caressed her skin as he laid beside her. “Back in my day, things were different. There wasn’t this need for more. Less was more and things were simpler. There weren’t so many distractions pulling focus and demanding our attention.”

Alex chuckled to herself, leaning up onto her elbows to meet him. “Back in my day,” she teased, slightly mocking his tone.

His brow furrowed in confusion.

“You’re not that much older than me, Thomas. We’re not all that different, are we?”

His eyes closed, and the confusion gave way to dismay.

“What’s wrong? What did I do?” She shifted up, noting how his body tensed beside her. “Talk to me.”

He sighed heavily as if emptying out every part of himself. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry.” He turned from her bed and swiftly redressed.

“What just happened?” She pulled the sheet around herself leaving the warmth of the bed to follow him. “What did I do?”

“It’s not you. I promise it’s not you. This was just a mistake. I shouldn’t have— I knew better—I can’t.” He continued on, without turning back to her. He knew if he faced her, he wouldn’t be strong enough to do what he had to do. “I’m sorry, Alex. You deserve better. You deserve someone who can give you what I’ll never be able to. Truly. I’m sorry.”

“Thomas! Thomas!!” She almost tripped on the sheet as she chased after him down the stairs, giving him time to move further away from her.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated once more, his hand on the doorknob. “Please forgive me.”

“Thomas, wait!” The door was more than half-closed when all the pieces finally came together, the puzzle that had been forming over the past few weeks was now complete. “I know what you are!”

The words caused him to stop in his tracks. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

Alex caught up, opening the door wider to meet him once more. The cool night air seeped through the house. “I know what you are.” She repeated softly, her fingers grazing his cool skin. “I think I’ve always known.”

“What do you think you know?” He questioned, his troubled gaze refusing to meet her eyes.

“You’re a vampire, aren’t you?”

He squeezed his eyes shut at the word. “Then you should know to stay away from me.”

She stepped forward, closing the gap between them.

Her warmth washed over him even in the cool air, intoxicating him. “Alex, stop. It’s too dangerous.”

“Why? You’ve given me no cause for concern. In fact, I’ve never felt safer than I am with you.”

“Alex—” He took a step back, putting distance between him and the humming of her heartbeat pumping in her chest, pulling him back in. He shook his head. That sound had once quieted his mind when they had first met but now it overwhelmed his senses. It beat as if it were a part of him now. “I’ve spent a long time honing my patience, fighting my instincts, and controlling my thirst. But with you, you make me forget myself. You make me feel like the man I once was, like I could be him again, like I could be human. But I’m not, and I’ll never be.”

“Thomas.”

He held up his hand quieting her.

“If I let myself forget, even for a moment. If I lose control. If anything happened to you— if I ever hurt you. I could never forgive myself.”

She took his hand, offering a gentle squeeze. “I trust you with all that I am.” She placed his hand over her heart, it’s drumming echoed in his ears like a beautiful symphony. “Now, trust me. I’ve seen you, the real you. I can’t begin to understand what it’s like for you, but I know you and I’m willing to take the risk. You’re worth it.”

“Alex, if something—”

His words were cut off as her finger pressed against his lips. “I see you, Thomas. I see all that you are and all that we can be. Come back to bed.”

***

He brushed a soft kiss on her forehead, then her nose, and each cheek, before settling on her red lips. “Are you sure?”

Her eyes darkened with desire at the sharp sensation of his fangs pulling out her lower lips. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Thomas left a string of hot kisses down her throat to the side of her neck where her pulse vibrated loudly in his ear. He swallowed hard, focusing on the flow of her precious blood hidden by such a fragile covering of skin.

She saw the hesitation in his eyes. “I trust you. You’ll be able to stop.”

His fingers entwined with hers, bringing them closer but also pinning her to the bed. “I love you, Alex.”

“I love you, too.” She gasped as his fangs sank into her neck, puncturing her flesh allowing him to feed. Her eyes closed, letting her body focus on the sensation. She felt both weak and empowered at the same time. Her head fell back into the pillow, her heart beating faster. His groans of satisfaction and delight drew her gaze to him.

Her body tensed and tightened in confusion. “Thomas? Why are you sparkling?”

His lips never left her skin, his attention to her neck only deepening, drawing out a whimpering moan that left her eyes fluttering closed once more.

***

Alex gasped for air as her eyes popped up. She blinked several times, letting her gaze adjust and giving her mind time to catch up.

Thomas’s fingers softly stroked her hair, as she rested her head in his lap. Her favorite blanket was pulled up over her.

She tried shifting but found it more difficult than she had anticipated. It wasn’t her neck causing her discomfort, it was something else. Her fingers slid over her swollen stomach. Her babies kicked at her touch, filling her with joy as her memories of earlier in the evening came back to her.

“I settled on staying in for Halloween because some self-proclaimed hermit of the hills didn’t want to attend a party.” Alex teased, her fingers dancing up his chest. “So I should choose the movie!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “But must it be that one?”

“Yes, it must!” She insisted.

His hands cradled her stomach, his focus shifting to the twins. “I apologize that you must suffer through this.”

Alex rolled her eyes, unamused.

Thomas cringed as the film played; his eyes continuously closing in an attempt to block out the external stimuli that left his skin crawling. “Alex, please. This is torture.”

She laughed, enjoying his suffering more than she should. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Twilight is a great film. A work of art, actually.”

“I know you’re kidding, but even still! How did vampires fall so far? Vampires may not be an area I particularly find inspiring. Nevertheless, this is an atrocity.”

“What would you suggest then?”

“Well at the moment, I think you and the twins need a bit of education to help stop the decay of your brain cells after this.” Thomas turned off Twilight and switched to Vincent Price's Dracula.

Alex placed a pillow in his lap, curling into him, her focus on the screen watching the history of the vampire genre. Somewhere into the documentary, shortly after the history of Vlad Dracul and Vlad Dracula’s reign of terror she drifted to sleep.

Her fingers pressed to her neck. It wasn’t like she hadn’t been having crazy pregnancy dreams, but this one had felt so real.

The credits of the film were paused on the screen, firmly reminding her of what was real and what wasn’t. She felt a kick in her abdomen, as her eyes settled on the screen. “Hmm. Vincent?” The words on her lips barely made a sound. “Do you like that?” The babies shifted again as if in agreement.

She shifted in his lap, looking up at him. “Hi.”

Thomas’s mouth pulled up at the corner. He brushed her hair away from her face. “Hello, Sleeping Beauty. Welcome back.”

Alex reached up, the pads of her fingers caressing his beard before her thumb pulled at his chin begging his mouth open. “Just checking.”

“Do I even want to know?”

“Well,” she shifted up, batting her eyelashes coyly. “I could tell you about my dream. Or you could just kiss me.”

A low laugh vibrated on his lips. “How could I deny my beautiful wife, a kiss?”

“You can’t.” Her lips met his, closing the gap between them.

That dream may have been more vivid than any other she had ever had, but nothing would ever come close to challenging the perfect dream that was her reality. He was more than she ever could have imagined needing and soon their family would be even more perfect. She had everything she could ever want right there in front of her.

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

A/N2: I did proof read it but at like 4am so if there are mistakes, I’m sorry. I will reread/edit in the morning.

Tags in a reblog to see if that helps with Tumblr tags.

#thomas hunt #thomas hunt x mc #thomas hunt rcd #thomas hunt hwu #red carpet diaries #hollywood u #thomas orson hunt #fan fiction #alex hunt #thomas x alex #baby hunt #vincent hunt #halex #vampire au #vampireThomas

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