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etherealising · 8 months

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chapter seven | they know i believed in us last week

masterlist | ↢ previous chapter | next chapter ↣

pairing: carmen berzatto x fem!reader | platonic!pete x fem!reader | male!oc x fem!reader |

summary: carmy struggles to deal with your absence in his life, while you finally learn to live without him.

wc: 7.3k

song rec: i'll still have me - cyn, aquilo

semi-edited/proof-read

“Carm hey, are you listening?” Natalie’s eyes flitted across Carmy’s face, his blank eyes staring directly past her. She took this moment as a chance to take in her younger brother’s ragged appearance, at first glance he looked like he normally did; exhausted. But taking the time to really study him, she knew Carmy was doing worse than he’d ever admit.

His usual textured and fluffy hair was limp against his head, the greasy quality of it proving he needed a wash. The discoloration under his eyes was the worst Nat had seen it, the deep blue-purple bruising a sign that he was getting even less sleep than he usually did. The skin of his lips was dehydrated and bitten to pieces, a tick he had as a child that gradually calmed down as he grew older. And the visible stubble on his chin was enough to know that the absence of your presence in his life was hitting him harder than anyone expected.

Her eyes caught on the chain that was haphazardly peeking out of his shirt, squinting at the newly added pendant hanging from it. Natalie didn’t have to be a genius to know whose initial hung around Carmen’s neck, the chain which was usually safely tucked into his shirt was now blatantly on show for everyone to see. Natalie had noticed it more recently since your and Carmy’s argument, though this was her first time seeing it this close. She would find him just standing in the restaurant, sometimes eyes staring into nothing as he worried the pendant between his fingers, oftentimes raising it to his lips before letting it go completely and wandering to do whatever task needed to be done.

Natalie’s concern was palpable but the discomfort in her abdomen was worse. “Have you tried talking to her?” The shaky breath she let out filtered between the two of them.

Carmen’s eyes finally snapped to hers taking in the uncomfortable expression on her face, “Sug?” He waited for Nat to focus on him. “You good?” The question hung in the air as Natalie tried to even out her breathing.

Using his sister's obvious discomfort to deflect from the conversation she was insistent on having wasn’t the nicest thing to do, but he’d rather put his sister’s well-being before being forced to think about how long it had been since he last spoke to you; he last saw you.

Carmy watched as Sug raised a closed hand to her mouth suppressing the urge to gag. “Yeah good, I’m good.” The forced smile on her lips did nothing to fool Carmy, but he wouldn’t force the issue.

“Can you uh, explain to me again how we’re doing, I spaced.” His fingers raised to run through his hair a small grimace painting his face at the grime he could feel left behind on his fingertips.

“Seven weeks out, Carm, and still so much to be done,” An exhausted sigh breathed through Natalie’s lips. The stress opening this restaurant caused felt extremely unnecessary considering her current status.

“No yeah I heard that,” Carmy nodded his head rapidly, Sug’s words slowly coming back to him. He squinted his eyes, hand scratching the grown-out stubble on his chin. “You uh said something about the DBA getting rejected?”

“About that.” Natalie’s voice trailed off one hand pressing into her abdomen to ease the ache, “The name’s taken.”

Nat watched as Carmy processed the words, her discomfort felt like it was increasing as the seconds passed by.

“Who the fuck could’ve taken the name?” The idea perplexed Carmy. There was no chance another business could have the same name, well there was, it was just slim as hell.

Nat shrugged just as confused as Carmy “It’s been trademarked for years, whoever filed has all legal rights to the name.”

“Fuck me!” The pitch of Carmy’s voice rose along with his irritation.

Natalie’s own mumbled expletive was drowned out by Carmy’s outburst, the nauseating morning sickness she was experiencing came in an extra hard bout today.

“Yo, Sug…Sug. You sure you’re okay?” Carmy’s concern now outweighed his confusion, Nat’s weird behavior this whole morning was beginning to worry him.

“I can do this Carmy right, tell me I can do this.” Natalie’s breathing began to increase as a slight panic flooded through her. Carmy watched her with wide eyes, no idea what she could even be talking about.

“Tell me I can do it, Carm!” The wave of nausea subsided with her yell, Carmy’s hands raised in the air to divert blame.

“Fuck okay! You can do it Sug.”

“I am…completely terrified. And I’m only telling you because..I don’t know. Just-just in case.” Natalie nodded to herself as a way to provide her nerves with courage.

Carmy just stared at Natalie still not following where she was leading this conversation to.

“I really want this to be loving and good and happy,” A smile rose to Nat’s face “I just..I don’t want anyone to know…well besides Baby and now you.”

Carmy’s eyes focused on Sug’s abdomen, the pieces of the puzzle slowly fitting together in his head. The name she spoke felt like it was echoing through his ears.

“Sure” He wasn’t sure how to react to the news, he had always assumed Natalie would be the first of the siblings to start a family. And as the years passed by he knew it was a desire he himself had.

“I really don’t want Richie to know. Because somehow, it feels more in my control when and who knows…” The sound of the wall falling caused Nat to raise her voice as she finished her sentence. “That I’m pregnant.” Her final words were spoken just loud enough to alert the crew to her news.

“I fuckin’ knew it.” The sound of Richie’s shout grated on Nat’s nerves, but the quiet congratulations helped to ease her ire a bit.

Carmy was happy for Sugar, but it felt like it was setback after setback for the restaurant and all the personal issues he was dealing with weren't helping his stress. He felt his shoulders sag a bit mind racing as to how the name could already be trademarked, or who would’ve trademarked it.

His eyes found Richie’s as the man cajoled about how he knew Natalie was pregnant this whole time. Had Richie told someone the name and they took it for themselves? Did Mikey somehow trademark it while on a bender? The thought made Carmy’s head hurt what the fuck even was the point of opening this restaurant if they couldn’t use the name. The name was the epitome of the restaurant.

If you were here Carmy knew you would've given him an analogy for how he was feeling, you would’ve told him he was like Atlas holding up the sky or whatever he did. He shook his head trying to rid himself of thoughts of you, it wasn’t helping him in the least.

As much as he’d rather not converse with Richie, he needed to get to the bottom of this trademark business.

“Yo, Cousin!” The words felt wrong escaping Carmy’s lips the two men avoided each other in the same way you avoided Carmen.

The agitation on Richie’s face was instant, Carmy knew he fucked up with you, but the cold shoulder he was getting from Richie felt unnecessary.

Nat watched as the two men locked eyes, not too keen on playing referee for these two again. She looked in Carmy’s direction as Richie began making his way over, trying to gauge what was going through her little brother's mind.

“Carmen,” Richie nodded in acknowledgment to Carmy. Richie would be lying if he said he wasn’t purposefully using Carmy’s government name to rile him up, he knew how much Carmy hated it when you did it, and since you weren’t here someone had to uphold the tradition.

Carmy felt his eye twitch Richie’s immaturity since the argument with you felt never-ending. “Did Mikey ever trademark the name?”

Richie frowned looking between him and Nat the assumption that he had any goddamn clue laughable “What the fuck did Mikey look like trademarking shit? Wasn’t I just slangin’ crack to keep the lights on?”

Carmy’s eyes shut as Nat let out a quiet gasp, watching as Richie raised his hands in defense. Maybe running a back alley drug ring wasn’t the best for business, but without it, they may not have been in this moment renovating the restaurant.

“Well someone fucking trademarked it, Richie.” The attitude Carmy was catching was wholly unwelcome.

“I don’t like your tone, Carmen,” Richie matched Carmy’s energy giving him what he was getting. “All I’m sayin’ is Mikey didn’t trademark it whoever did might…I dunno hypothetically deserve an apology in return for said documents.”

Carmy was at his wits end with the older man “Oh so you’re the fucking Riddler now.”

“Baby trademarked the name?” Nat’s voice traveled between the trio at the same time as Carmen’s snarky remark. Carmy’s head shot to her, confused as to how she concluded you had anything to do with the conversation at hand.

“Bingo!” Richie’s hands came together in a loud clap Sydney rolled her eyes at the obnoxious man before looking over the various work orders. “She did that shit years ago and gave it to Mikey as a present, he…left it for her when he passed.”

A quiet fell over their small group, each of them taking in the gesture. Richie had only become privy to the present when he went through the office to try and make sense of what the hell Mikey was doing to keep the business up and running. He had knocked a framed picture of your group off the desk cleaning up the mess only to find the folded trademark document in the back of the broken picture frame.

Your name was haphazardly scribbled into the back of it.

Carmen’s chest heaved as he let the news wash over him, it seemed since the two of you had your falling out the universe was continuously pushing him to interact with you. He raised his hand to his face, rubbing it up and down as he added another item to the long list of things going wrong with the restaurant.

In a way, learning that you were responsible for trademarking the name made Carmy’s chest feel warm. It felt like you wanted this for Mikey just as much as he did, the two of you both supporting Mikey in ways the other never knew. It also gave him an excuse to speak with you, not that he needed one. If he was a better man he would’ve already worked up the courage to reach out to you. He could feel a headache coming on the more he thought about trying to fix things with you.

Carmen was sure he’d figure things out soon, he wasn’t sure how much longer he could figure things out with you not by his side. Which he would admit was quite ironic considering all the times he had willingly pushed you away. But being pushed away by you had proven to him just how badly he was screwing things up with you, to hear you be so upset by his actions he basically forced you into confessing your love stung him to his core.

Carmy wasn’t exactly sure what love was supposed to feel like, but he was almost positive it wasn’t this. The ache in his chest from not being around you, looking for you in every crowd he was in. Soaking up any conversation your name was mentioned in. Maybe he did know what love was supposed to feel like, because for all the time he had been in love with you, he had never once felt so completely and utterly broken as he had been since not fighting for your love a year ago like he should have.

“That was Nat,” you looked up as Pete returned to the table, a smile growing on your face at how happy he looked to have been speaking with his wife. “Cat’s out of the bag! Our pregnancy is no longer top secret!”

Pete’s excitement was contagious, your smile growing wider at his pure joy. “Our pregnancy?” You chuckled never having heard anyone refer to it as if the pregnancy was shared.

You watched as Pete sipped the water in front of him, a signature goofy smile back on his face. “Of course! I mean yeah Nat is carrying the baby, but I’m just as pregnant as she is.” You gave Pete a confused look, a laugh bubbling out of you.

“You laugh now Baby, but I’m serious.” Pete paused as the waiter brought out the bread for your table, both of you quickly thanking them. “Nat’s my partner you know? And I’m so grateful for her providing me the opportunity to be a father. Allowing me to build with her, for us to come together and bring a child into this world, it’s a beautiful thing I love her ya know.”

The sheen in Pete’s eyes was enough to make you emotional you didn’t need to hear his explanation to know how much Pete loved Natalie, you could just see it in the way he looked at her, in the way his face would light up when anyone would mention her name or ask about her.

“I’m happy that Nat has someone like you to build a life with.” Both you and Pete shared misty-eyed smiles, chuckles leaving each of you at how emotional the small things made both of you.

“Looks like that dinner you were planning just turned into a full-blown baby shower!” The loud clap Pete’s hands made startled you. “Wow, it really will be a Baby shower!”

You watched as Pete laughed at his own pun, doing your best not to laugh along with him and encourage his bad jokes. The relationship you developed with Pete was a bit weird in the beginning, you weren’t the most open to the idea, and it’s not because you didn’t like Pete, it just felt like you were replacing Mikey.

It took a while before you could look at Pete and realize he wasn’t trying to replace Mikey’s role in your life, and that the drugs and paranoia had driven you to that conclusion. Pete was a great man, standing by Natalie’s side while she fought to keep you alive. Probably being more accepting than someone else may have been when he and Nat decided to help you. Pete and Natalie both put aside their own lives to help you get better, and get back on your feet, and while part of you wished Mikey was around to ground you as well, Pete’s love and kindness didn’t deserve to be taken for granted.

“That dinner was supposed to be a surprise for you too Peter,” you shot him a tiny glare before reaching for some bread. “I just wanted you both to have a nice night off together, no stress.” The reservation had already been made, but thinking about Pete’s words and the excitement when explaining most everyone knew about the pregnancy, maybe it would have been best for an intimate shower for the two soon-to-be parents.

Pete was definitely a family guy and Natalie came from a big family, maybe a shower would be for the best. Surround them with people who loved and supported them and just allow everyone to bask in the happiness the joyous news brought, you were sure everyone could use a break.

“Okay hypothetically say I put together a small shower for the two of you, is that even something Nat would want?” Sure you knew Nat but Pete was her husband and this was their moment, you didn’t want to ambush her with a party she never wanted.

You watched Pete bristle a little, a nervous smile raised to his lips, “I uh I’m not sure if Nat ever told you but she kinda had this…this whole dream about the two of you,” you frowned confused at what Pete was talking about.

“Well not like an unconscious sleeping dream, more like a-an idea?” Pete’s voice rose at the end of his sentence, not sure if the question in his tone was meant for you or him.

“Pete bud you lost me.” You gave him a small nod of encouragement awaiting his response.

“Um so…after your uh…loss,” a sad smile rose to Pete’s lips, you could see the apology in his eyes. “Nat she uh…she confided in me about how she always wanted to be the one to throw you a shower if you ever decided to have children. And if-when we had our own she’d want you to be in charge of hers…if you wanted to not like she would force you.” The nervous huff of laughter from Pete hung in the air for a minute.

The admission perplexed you, Nat had never brought this up to you directly and maybe it was because she felt like she couldn’t. You weren’t the most open when it came to the topic of your miscarriage always avoiding the conversation whenever Nat tried to breach it.

“Baby…you’re the closest thing Natalie has to a sister. I can promise she would be ecstatic no matter what decision you choose.”

You nodded, the motion happened unconsciously as you tried to take in everything Pete had laid on you. Of course, there were things Nat wouldn’t share with you, but while the two of you were like sisters you didn’t expect her to share every little detail with you. As you let Pete’s words digest you couldn’t help the warm feeling beginning to flood through your body, if you were being honest you weren’t sure if it was the best idea to be throwing anyone a baby shower, but you also knew Natalie deserved to be celebrated, not only for the life she and Pete were creating together, but also for all the work she was doing to ensure that The Bear had a fighting chance.

“Okay,” your head continued its up-and-down motion. “Yeah okay let’s do it but I’m going to need your help, Pete.” You watched the smile on his face increase tenfold, your own wide smile spreading your lips due to how contagious Pete’s joy was.

“Anything and I mean anything Baby, I am your guy.” Pete’s giddiness warmed you even more, you didn’t think you had ever been surrounded by anyone with such a positive attitude before. In the beginning, when Natalie and Pete first began dating, his electric personality was a bit much but you found yourself always trying to make Pete feel included, especially with how off-putting the rest of the Berzatto clan could be.

And when you were recovering it was almost like you had to re-acclimate yourself to Pete’s personality. Your recovery was hard, there were some days you weren’t even sure if you wanted to get better or if you wanted oxygen to continue filling your lungs. But Pete was so positive and always looking at life and your situation with a ‘glass half full’ mentality, that his constant belief in you helped to make the hard days easier.

A small sigh escaped your lips as you readied yourself for the question you were about to ask. “Pete, do you think you could give me Carmen’s number?” You tried not to roll your eyes as you saw Pete’s own light up, you were almost positive he would be telling Nat about this topic of conversation. “Before you get any ideas, I just need it to invite him to the shower.” You raised your hands in defense hoping Pete wouldn’t look into this any more than he already was.

“No can do B, the idea train has already left the station.” His fingers drummed on the table with excitement. “But I will do you one better,” you frowned as you watched Pete pick up his phone, fingers skating across the screen before he held it up to show you. A call to Carmen already going through as Pete sent you a thumbs-up.

You looked at the screen eyes wide, the shock temporarily paralyzed for a moment. The quiet sound of the ringing between the two of you brought you back. “Pete! Hang up the phone.” Your voice was terse as you spoke trying not to draw too much attention from other patrons.

Pete laughed, “He never answers my calls anyway.” Pete’s words irritated you, but you were glad to see the call go to voicemail before Pete pressed the end call button and set his phone down.

You let out a surprised laugh, Pete had definitely been too influenced by the Berzattos during his time with Natalie. The little stunt he just pulled was something you knew both Richie and Mikey would do if given the chance.

“Baby?” Your head raised eyes meeting Pete’s, “I know this may sound selfish, but I…I need you to figure out this thing between you and Carmen.” Your eyebrows furrowed the need to defend yourself hitting you full force, you opened your mouth to respond but stopped as Pete raised his hand, a signal to let him continue.

“I know Baby, I know. I’ll be honest with you, as much as I love Nat’s family I think you should’ve given up on Carmen a long time ago.” Your jaw fell slack, and Pete’s eyes widened a bit. “No, no just for your own wellbeing, your peace of mind.” You began nodding as Pete explained himself better. “I just, whatever is going on between you and Carmen, it’s affecting Nat. And she won’t tell you because you deserve to feel how you feel, but with the baby and the restaurant…she doesn’t need to play "Fix it Felix” with you and Carmen right now.”

You let out a small chuckle at Pete’s explanation, over the years he had begun expressing himself to you more. You being the only one on Natalie’s side who actually gave him the time of day and willfully listened to him, helped him to gain more confidence when around the rest of the Berzattos. You reached for your glass of water, taking a long sip before setting it down.

“Thank you, Pete, for being honest,” you sighed, finger playing with the condensation on your cup. “If I’m being honest, it's easy to forget that Nat’s in the middle of everything. She’s so good at pretending it doesn’t affect her.” A rueful smile rose to your lips, as great as a friend as Natalie had been to you through everything, you weren’t sure the same could be said for yourself. “You’re right, Carmen and I are adults, we should be able to figure this out ourselves. I’ll…I’ll call him, figure things out.” You sent Pete a small smile.

Recently it felt like Natalie and Pete nursed you back to health and then for some reason became your surrogate parents. You didn’t think there was anything wrong with leaning on them, the three of you did endure a traumatic experience together so it was understandable. But maybe you had become too comfortable and relied on them too much to ‘fix’ your life. You could understand where Pete was coming from and he had every right to put his wife’s well-being before the feelings of his friends.

You knew Natalie and Pete would be amazing parents and of course, Nat’s fears were valid. But you had seen firsthand just how loving, caring, and kind the couple was, and while that wasn’t all that went into raising a child it was like a part of you just knew that their child would be in great hands.

“Enough about my poor life choices Pete, have you guys thought of any names?” The timing of the question couldn’t have been more perfect, Pete perked up at the question, eyes glazing over with excitement. A waiter stopped by your table to deliver your entrees as Pete began animatedly explaining his and Nat’s process for picking names.

A part of you ached at how happy Pete was, if things were different, maybe in another life you would’ve been able to see that excitement on another man’s face. Maybe the two of you would’ve come up with your own system for picking out names.

You listened as lunch continued, no matter how many times the thought had crossed your mind, you would always be grateful that Natalie had found a partner to love her in the ways she deserved.

It was silent between you and Cortez as you made your second lap around the block, the church in the distance behind you. Your hands were preoccupied with a warm disposable cup of hot cocoa as Cortez gingerly sipped his choice of tea. This had become the routine for your meetings with your sponsor, the two of you would meet at the bodega a little ways away from the church that housed both AA and NA meetings. Then continue your meeting with a few circles around the block before ending at the church stairs when all was said and done.

The air was tense between the two of you, Cortez hadn’t taken kindly to your decision to skip out on the few check-ins that you had asked for. In the beginning, you were in constant contact with Cortez, feeling the match between the two of you out. As you progressed through recovery and got back into the routine of daily life the daily talks between the two of you began to dwindle as you settled into life as a recovering addict.

But after that initial meeting at The Beef, being in Carmen’s presence again, surrounding yourself with Richie and the life you once knew, the meetings with Cortez picked back up in frequency. And you were doing fine for some time, the man meeting with you when you needed it, always willing to speak with you whenever you asked and it was helpful, god was it helpful. But then you made it to step nine, step eight in the recovery program was its own monster that Cortez helped you through especially when it came to who didn’t need to be on your list.

You made the decision to text Cortez after admitting your faults to Richie. As great as it felt to finally be open with Richie and let him into your life, it also brought with it the urge to use again. Richie had been kind enough to take the bottle of champagne off your hands that night, but the desire to call Fak and ask if Theo had anything he could spare almost won out. But as you scrolled through your contacts the red icon hovering over the voicemail tab brought you back to your senses.

“So your friend Richie knows?” Your eyes shot to Cortez taking in his side profile before focusing back on their attention focused on the steaming paper cup of coffee gripped in their hands.

“Yeah, his daughter kind of spilled the beans.” You nodded playing with the frayed edges of your jeans.

“That’s a bit fucked up don’t cha think?” Cortez’s brows furrowed. “I mean how does his little girl know but he don’t that’s gotta hurt.”

You rolled your eyes, “Aren’t you supposed to like not be judgmental?” Cortez’s laugh felt like it was grating on your ears, as good a sponsor as he was, he had the personality of an annoying older brother you were happy not to have.

“It ain’t even judgment though, it’s an observation.” You didn’t have to be looking at him to know that annoying smirk was on his lips as he shrugged his shoulders.

You stopped as Cortez dropped his now empty cup in a trash bin on the street, “Didn’t know you received your inspector gadget certification.”

“That smart ass mouth is bouta be the reason you out here looking for a new sponsor,” you let out a cackle before taking a much-needed sip of your hot cocoa. “Sound like my daughter with that dumb shit.” If you didn’t know the man who was walking by your side, you would’ve thought he was actually upset, but you could tell by the uptick of his lips he didn’t take anything to heart.

The two of you rounded the corner coming up on the church. You watched as Cortez plopped his long limbs down on one of the steps, opting to sit on the railing. Cortez took out his pack of cigarettes bringing the box to his mouth and removing one before offering the box in your direction. You slipped one out a small laugh escaped you at the irony of everything, how you had once been so against the cancer sticks that those around you would make sure not to smoke around you. And then instead of indulging in a nicotine addiction, you turned to alcohol and prescription pills, the fact that you would smoke a cigarette here and there to appease your urges now felt a bit comical.

You leaned forward allowing Cortez to light your cigarette, “Man ain’t nothin’ like smoking on Big G’s doorstep.” Cortez’s voice filled the silence that had settled over the two of you, you took a drag of the cigarette, a small chuckle escaping you with the smoke.

“I used to hate these fucking things.” The disgust on your face was obvious even as the stick hung from your mouth.

“Why you take one every time I offer 'em’ then?” Cortez switched positions leaning his elbows on the step behind him as he stretched his long limbs out in front of them, offering a wave to the few people entering the church for whatever meeting was scheduled to take place.

You shrugged eyes falling to Cortez’s beat-up boots as you sucked the nicotine deep into your lungs, “They’re the same brand Mikey smoked.”

“Damn ma, that shits kinda sad.” The two of you locked eyes before small laughs left the both of you. You had been around Cortez for so long that you’d picked up on his need to turn most anything into a joke. And while in the beginning, it pissed you off, you realized that’s just who he was and that sometimes being able to laugh in serious moments or at your trauma was helpful.

“Nah seriously though better smokin’ these than messin’ with that shit that hooked you in the first place. Know what I mean?” You nodded, finishing off the cigarette in your hand before taking the second cigarette Cortez offered. You knew how these things went and had spent so much time with the man that you learned to read him. Cortez only ever smoked two cigarettes and offered you two if the conversation was gonna be a rough one.

“Where you at with them apologies?” You sighed letting the man light your cigarette one more time, allowing the fumes to warm your lungs.

You dropped from your seat on the railing, your backside had gone numb. You settled yourself to lean against the railing “I mean I told Richie the truth and there were a lot of apologies in that conversation. But I feel like he deserves a better apology.” You shrugged, your attention dropping to Cortez as he listened.

“Ima be honest wit chu, this might be the hardest part of recovery. Shit I know it was f’me admittin’ to my little girl her father was a fuckin’ junkie. But at the end of the day, you gotta remember this recovery shit is for you. If homeboy loves you like a sister like you say he does, all that should matter to him is that yo annoyin’ ass still here. A’ight, ma?” You listened, nodding along to his words. “All you can do is apologize for the shit you did, you can’t control whether people forgive you or not, and remember ain’t nobody gotta fuck with your apology if they don’t want to.”

You let Cortez’s words settle into you, to anyone else his words may not have seemed genuine but this is just who Cortez was. And you knew no matter how nonchalant he sounded he was speaking every word from his heart.

“You still fuckin with that lil dumbass boy?” The question caused you to choke on the last bit of cocoa in your cup.

“We had a falling out, he’s one of the people I have to apologize to though.” The cigarette between your fingers continued to burn. “There’s a lot I still haven’t told him…the substance abuse, the reasons behind my overdose.” An exhausted sigh pushed its way through your lips. It was like one thing after another when it came to you and Carmy.

“Listen I know we ain’t sposed to have like personal relationships and shit, but lemme know what homeboy looks like I’ll get my goons on em’ for you.” Your head fell back in laughter as Cortez raised his fist to under both of his eyes.

“No goons Cortez, please. Wait, have you ever actually put a hit on somebody before?” You obviously didn’t know Cortez as well as you would have if the two of you were friends. But it wasn’t hard to tell that he would get down if need be.

“Why someone say somethin’?” The two of you shared a laugh, the now more frequent people entering the church signifying that your time together was coming to an end.

“Aight, I gotta head in, get shit set up in there. But ima send you the info for Nar-Anon you give that shit to people who still choose to put up with yo ass. You comin' in?”

You shook your head sending him a small smile, “I came to the morning meetings today.”

You nodded in thanks as Cortez stood up, pushing yourself off the railing. You placed the cigarette between your lips leaving your hands open to do the handshake Cortez insisted you did after each meeting. When he first introduced it you were still getting used to the idea of being a recovering addict and thought he was fucking crazy. But you realized he used it as a way to break the serious desolate feeling that some of these meetings ended on, to help bring some light to what was such a dark reality.

At least that’s how he explained it to you, but you were sure he just liked doing the handshake his daughter helped him come up with.

“Ima see you when I see you ma stay straight.” You chuckled before turning on your heel to head to your parked car. Putting the bud of the cigarette out against the trash bin you passed. It was still early, enough time for you to knock out some baby shower shopping before it got too late.

Carmen stopped in his tracks, eyes finding your figure across the street. You were in front of the church that held the Al-Anon meetings he told you about. Maybe you would be attending the one he was here for, his eyes traveled to the man sitting on the steps you were talking to eyebrows furrowing as he realized the vapors leaving your mouth weren’t from your warm temperature, but instead the stick you had raised to your mouth.

“Baby?” The question left his lips in a quiet whisper, he knew it was you standing across the street but it had been a few weeks since your last interaction he was sure he had imagined you. But he would know you anywhere, by scent alone. He couldn’t help the shock at watching you smoke, something you had been so opposed to since the two of you were children. Even going so far as telling Carmy you couldn’t be friends when he smoked his first cigarette at 15, the stalemate barely lasted a day after you realized how dumb the idea was.

Carmy watched as the two of you stood up, his hopes to see you inside dwindling as he watched the two of you begin to part ways, an intricate handshake taking place before you turned to leave. He watched as your figure disappeared around the corner, a quiet ‘shit’ leaving his lips before he darted across the street trying to catch you before you were gone for good.

“Baby! Hey!” His shouts were useless, you were too far gone to have even heard him. “Fuck!” One hand raised to sit on the bill of his cap, the universe seemed like it was doing everything in its power to keep the two of you apart. Or maybe it was just the way things were meant to be.

Carmy turned to see the man you were with still standing in the same spot you left him, eyes narrowed as he took in Carmy’s figure. The man eyed Carmy for a moment longer, sending a head nod his way before turning and entering the church. Carmy was tempted to follow the man and ask about you, but whatever your relationship with the unknown man was, it was none of Carmy’s business.

He sighed eyes shooting up to the sky before taking a deep breath and making his way inside, not wanting to be late and disturb the Al-Anon meeting before it began. Carmy made his way to the room where the meeting usually took place, eyes landing on the same man from outside once more as he greeted members, the sign near the door he stood by signifying it was an NA meeting. Carmy stopped for a moment, eyes darting between the man and the sign he’d just read.

“You lost kid?” Carmy looked at the man brown furrowed as he shook his head, he sent a tight smile the man's way before walking two doors down for his own meeting. Carmen’s brain felt like it was racing a mile a minute. If you weren’t coming to the Al-Anon meeting, why were you here? And why were you talking with someone who appeared to be leading NA meetings?

The vibrating of his phone caught his attention, the device easily slipped out of his pocket. He felt the air leave his lungs as your name flashed across his screen, he realized just how indecent setting that Polaroid picture of you with his chain on might have been now that he was in public, but it’s not like he ever thought you’d call him.

How’d you even get his number?

“Carmen, hey, we’re about to start your coming?” His head shot up to one of the usual who attended these meetings and would talk to him on occasion.

“Yeah uh, just give me a minute.” Carmy gave a tight smile, eyes flashing back to his phone finger moving to swipe across the screen, the call abruptly ending before he even got the chance to hear your voice. Carmen was sure he had the worst luck in the world, a defeated sigh leaving him, he was almost positive there was no chance you were calling him back.

Quickly putting his phone on Do Not Disturb and in the safety of his jacket pocket, he entered the meeting, as much as he wanted to drop everything and fix things with you. He wasn’t even sure what you had called him for. Carmen also knew it was for the best to attend the meeting,

Carmen was sitting in his car allowing it to warm up as he waited. The skyline began to reflect the sunset, the time on the dashboard letting him know it was around dinner time. He fished his phone out of his pocket mindlessly checking the notifications he’d gotten while in the meeting.

Carmy’s brows furrowed at the flurry of messages he received from a group chat he wasn’t aware he was a part of. He frowned as he opened it, your contact is one of the many in the text chain. The only contact with a photo was yours, making you easily distinguishable, he realized the rest of the people in the chat were the restaurant crew. He scrolled through the messages eyes reading over your message with details about a baby shower, your address included.

Carmy exited out of his messages, unsure of how things were between the two of you. It had been three weeks since the argument and neither of you had tried contacting the other. But here he was with a message from you, and a missed call and he wasn’t sure how to take any of it.

He decided it was a good idea to call you back, and try and feel out the atmosphere between the two of you. His heart felt like it was stuttering in his chest as his finger hovered over his screen; you left him a voicemail. He needed to know what the message said, but a part of him was also worried he might not like what he heard, he had hurt you too many times to count, and if whatever you had to say to him broke him down more than he already was, well then he was sure he deserved it.

Carmen took one last deep breath before clicking on the voicemail and raising the phone to his ear, heart pounding in his chest as he heard the sweet whisper of your voice.

‘Hey Carmen, uh it’s me…Baby. Not sure why I introduced myself. I'm sure you know it’s me.” Carmy let out a watery chuckle at the sound of your voice, even if he hadn't saved your number the delicate timber of your voice would’ve been enough for him.

“Listen uh, I got your number for Pete. I hope you don’t mind, I know you have issues with girls actually having your number…Sorry, that was actually kind of rude. Anyway, I uh…Pete helped put things in perspective for me and I, I think we need to talk Carmen. I’m not sure when or if you even want that, but I think we both deserve a chance to explain our side of things. I um…I also have some things I think you should know. Just, if this is something you’re interested in, you have my number.” Carmen felt his heart rate slow down your words, nothing more than a piece offering.

“I just want to be clear though, um..if I don’t hear back from you, I’m going to take that as a sign. So yeah, call me back or something I guess.” The line finally went silent, your voice no longer caressing Carmy’s ears.

It felt like he was having heart palpitations but he knew it was just his nerves getting the best of him. He pulled the phone away from his ear, the time on his phone reading 5:30 p.m. Carmy quickly opened the group chat scrolling through to find your address and open it up in maps. You lived about 30 minutes from where he was, he was confident he could get there in 20 and spare the 10 minutes at a store near you.

Carmen made his decision as he set his phone down in the cup holder before beginning his journey. The ball was in his court, you had given him an olive branch and it was up to him whether he accepted it or not. He was nervous, maybe showing up at your house to cook you dinner wasn’t his most thought-out plan but he needed you desperately, needed to see you, be in your presence, and know that there was still a chance of something more between the two of you.

The hope Carmy felt when he saw you calling him earlier was now back tenfold: the pendant delicately resting against his chest felt warm. Carmen was adamant that he would admit his love for you tonight, unsure if he could go another day living with the fact that you were in love with him, but you still didn’t know just how much he had always loved you. You were so blissfully unaware that since he could remember, you had been the one and only option in his mind.

a/n: wowza, long time no see. i apologize that this is a bit of a filler chapter but it felt kinda necessary idk. anway please let me know if there are any problems with this chapter it's barely edited. enjoy : )

also also: both richard cabral as coco in mayans and manny montana as rio in good girls inspired cortez the sponsor, but head canon him as whoever you want…okay bye now 🤍

#carmen berzatto x reader #carmy berzatto x reader #carmy x reader #carmy the bear #carmen berzatto angst #carmen berzatto x you #the bear x reader #the bear fic #all i ever knew only you ₊‧°𐐪♡𐑂°‧₊

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nhlclover · 2 months

Text

bruised | arber xhekaj

word count: 0.88k

summary: arber gets bruised from a fight during a game, leaving you frantic for answers and reassurance.

warnings: mentions of blood, fighting, semi nsfw toward the end?

notes: repurposed and old + deleted fic so if it’s familiar that’s why :)

You paced around the kitchen, your phone tight in your grip. Yours and Arber's text messages open on the screen, your four consecutive texts going unanswered. The TV was now playing SportsCenter, the Habs game having ended about an hour ago.

As per usual, you spent your evening after work watching your boyfriend's hockey game. However, instead of watching a productive game including garnering an assist or a shot blocked, you watched his night come to an end earlier after he was skated off the ice following a fight at the end of the second period

Nothing much had provoked the fight, the previous period and a half being rather tame. However, after a couple of less-than-favourable games from the team as well as his time on ice being reduced, Arber’s frustrations had hit a boiling point.

Arber had laid a couple of hits but after being knocked down next to the boards, Arber charged after his attacker, cross-checking him from behind. The two of them exchanged a couple of jabs, with Arber’s opponent getting in a few more than he did resulting in a rare defeat, before they were separated by the officials. As he was skating off, the camera gave you a good look at his split brow and bruised face, blood leaking down his face and dripping onto his jersey.

You found that you stopped paying attention right at that moment, your focus solely on the wellbeing of your boyfriend. You’d seen him get in fights before but not once had you seen him get in a fight that resulted in such damage to his face. You sent a text a few minutes after watching the altercation, expecting him to reply a little later. When you didn’t get a reply, you sent another text, hoping the first one just got lost in other notifications. Normally, Arber would send you a text right after he gets out of a game, letting you know he’d be home shortly.

Almost an hour and a half after the game had ended, you heard the front door open. The sound of shoes shuffling against the hardwood in the hall echoes through the house, accompanied by the sound of his bag slumping to the floor. He finally comes around the corner, meeting you in the kitchen with a nervous expression on his face.

“Are you okay?” You ask, approaching him and examining the wound in his brow that has begun to cause his eye to swell. It’s been properly stitched up and cleaned by the medical staff.

He lets out a sigh of relief, hands settling on your waist. “I’m fine, y/n.” He says.

“Are you sure?” You ask him again.

“Yes, one hundred percent they-”

“Then what the fuck is wrong with you?!” You shout, slapping his chest.

“Ow, what the fuck?” He asks, dropping his hands from your waist and instead protecting himself.

You groan loudly, stepping away from him and pacing around the kitchen. “Why the fuck did you fight that guy?”

He sighs, pulling his beanie off and running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know…” He huffs. “I was pissed, I’m not doing jack shit when I’m on the ice. I didn’t know what else to do, I had to make an impact somehow.”

“Well, you can't just lose your temper like this every time you get upset!” You shout. “You know how stupid that was? You could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”

“Y/n, I wouldn’t have gotten that badly hurt they wouldn’t-”

“I don’t give a shit, Arber!” You interrupt, your voice getting increasingly louder and your breath more ragged. “On top of that, you don’t even text me to say you’re okay!”

“Okay!” He stops you, coming over and wrapping his arms around you, pulling you in tight. He shushes you, attempting to soothe your ragged breaths. “I’m sorry. I should’ve texted you when I got out. It’s just… you know how stressful it's been… not putting up points and not getting any ice time. It's not helping me especially when I’m trying to stay up with the Habs.”

“I know,” You say softly, nodding against his chest. You stand in his arms, your temper coming down.

“I’m sorry, again.” He says.

“I know, it’s okay. I shouldn’t have been that upset.” You reply.

“No you had every right, I shouldn’t do stupid shit like that.” He says. You chuckle softly, leaning back and eyeing his wounds once more. You wince at them, knowing they’ll be much worse in the morning.

“I hope I didn’t piss you off too much,” Arber says. You give him a look and Arber can read it. However, Arber plays dumb. “What’s that look on your face?”

“You know. Don’t make me spell it out for you.” You say, running a hand through his hair.

“No, I don’t. I think the fight knocked out a few brain cells.” Arber said, feigning confusion.

You rolled your eyes, going up on your tip toes to bring your lips to his ear. “You know I want you.” You say in a whisper.

A smirk pulls on his lip. Arber bends down, picking you up, and throwing you over his shoulder. You squeal, feet kicking, as he walks down the hall to your bedroom.

#arber xhekaj #arber xhekaj x reader #arber xhekaj imagine #nhl #nhl imagine #hockey #montreal canadiens #hockey imagine #habs

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bookyeom · 5 months

Note

Hallo Leslie!! I finally had a free brain moment to look through your prompt ideas, and if you’re still open to requests, how about # 61 + 90 from the second list?

Hope your week is off to a good start!

A/N: I'm so sorry these prompts took 800 years to get written, but here we are. This one may or may not be inspired by Wait (it 100% is inspired by Wait). Enjoy!!

Please Don't Tell Me Wait

Pairing: Dino x Reader Genre: idiots to lovers, friends to lovers Rating: PG (because of the kissing ig?) Word Count: 2.3k Request Prompt: "you can tell me anything." Warnings: kissing, Lee Chan as a general warning

YN: I’ll kill you, Boo Seungkwan. I will

Boo: why? 😇

YN: What could possibly be so important that you ‘suddenly’ need to go to the mall all the way across town immediately, bring Vernon, Soonyoung and Mingyu with you, and cancel on movie night?? When Chan is already almost here?

Boo: giving you and Channie some alone time 🙂

You gape down at your phone.

YN: you’re shameless. Evil and vile. Canceled.

Boo: I think you misspelled thank you?

Your next raging text is lost mid-type as your doorbell rings, and you straighten up in your seat. You have a quick internal debate with yourself about whether or not you should answer, but then you think about how sad Lee Chan would be if you didn’t open the door, and you find yourself moving without any more thought. Whipped, comes the unhelpful thought.

As soon as you open the door, you feel like you’ve been punched in the gut. Your breath catches just at the sight of him, wearing his favourite grey hoodie and a smile, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen anyone more breathtaking in your life. “Hi,” he says, and you want so badly to ignore the way everything around you feels a little bit brighter just at the sound of his voice. You are in so deep.

You let him in and he quickly makes himself at home. It isn’t the first time your friends have plotted to get the two of you alone, but it is the first time it’s been in such an intimate setting. Chan’s been over to your place so many times before, but always with one of the boys in tow. You hate how nervous you feel.

You’re nervous because you like him. When Seungkwan found out last month, pretty soon everyone within earshot knew, too. Somehow – and you thanked the stars for this – Chan didn’t seem to have a clue.

One thing about your friend Chan: he was pretty oblivious, for the most part. You knew so many people who would kill for a chance with him, but he didn’t seem to notice or even care. He flirted with you – that much was clear. You weren’t naive. But he’d never once seemed to mean anything more than friendly banter, because that’s just who he is, so here you were. Pining unrequitedly after one of your friends, with your other friends desperately trying to push the two of you together. It was frustrating at best.

You can make it through this night. You always have fun with Chan, and talking to him is easy enough when you aren't thinking too much. You have similar taste in movies and snacks, he’s funny, he's a good listener… the list is endless. You like being around him. You can do this.

You manage to act relatively normal as the two of you get settled for the movie, even as Chan makes a joke about the guys ditching, even as you almost physically jump back when he hands you the popcorn bowl to carry into the living room, and your fingers brush. You’re fine, up until the moment you’re sitting on your couch with snacks at the ready, a semi-breathable distance between the two of you, and he decides to speak up.

“Can I tell you something?”

“You can tell me anything.” You answer without hesitation, because it’s true.

“Well…” He pauses, and you meet his gaze with a raised eyebrow when he doesn’t continue. As soon as your eyes are on him and away from the TV, his lips turn upward and he says, “I think you look really pretty tonight.”

Your eyes widen, and you nearly drop the remote. You watch as the corner of his mouth lifts up even further into a smile, and you can tell he’s pleased with himself. He raises his eyebrows, waiting for a response, but you don’t have one. Your mind wants to ask it, wants desperately to just blurt out the question — is this a date? Are we on a fucking date right now? — but you refrain.

“Chan,” is what you say instead, with a roll of your eyes as you hold out the remote for him to take. You know the effect his words have had on you is obvious with the way you’re reacting, but you can only pray that he doesn’t comment on it. “Just pick a movie.”

You would almost think he meant his words if he’d ever actually tried to take his flirtatious remarks any deeper, but he never does. It’s been months of this. It’s not that he’s mean, you know he’s not — you just think he doesn’t have a clue that you might actually like him.

“I mean what I said.”

You’re startled from your thoughts when Chan speaks again, and you realize that he definitely hasn’t moved to take the remote from your outstretched hand. He hasn’t taken his eyes off of you, either.

You slowly lower the remote back down to your lap. “Have you been taking lessons from Mingyu again on how to flirt?”

You watch as he leans forward slightly, that stupid, soft, teasing smile on his mouth yet again, and he asks, “Why, are they finally starting to work on you?”

You blink, staring back at him as all thoughts swiftly leave you. Your breath catches as his eyes wander across your face, and your own gaze can’t help but find his mouth.

“Maybe,” is what comes out before you can stop it.

Chan seems surprised for a second too, before he rights himself again. “Well,” he says slowly, “like I said... I meant every single word.”

His fingers gently pry the remote from your hand, eyes never leaving yours. He moves closer and closer, judging your every reaction, watching for any hesitation. He finds none. You let him draw you in, your back falling against the armrest and then he’s above you, his hands braced on the couch on either side. He’s gazing down at you so intently that you think you forget how to breathe.

“How do I know that you mean it?” Your voice is quiet, uncertain. You know that you want this, that you want him, but you’re terrified that he doesn’t mean it in the same way as you.

“I can show you,” he returns, as serious as you’ve ever seen him, and you can’t stop your gaze from falling to his mouth. He takes that as a sign. And when he leans down, nose gently brushing against yours as he waits for permission, it’s you that closes the gap first.

You kiss him, soft and hesitant. He responds almost immediately, pushing back against your mouth, a hum coming from somewhere deep in his chest. Like he’s been waiting. The thought makes your toes curl. Your hands find his waist, pulling him down to you as far as he can go, and you can feel him laugh against your mouth before he’s kissing you again, over and over, until you can’t think or feel anything but him.

You’ve never been kissed like this.

He breaks the kiss first, his forehead falling to yours as he catches his breath. You’re both silent for a moment as you process, and you can feel your heart pounding against your ribcage.

“Chan,” you finally say, voice quiet, your grip on the back of his shirt tightening.

“Yeah?” He mirrors your hushed tone, pulling away so he can look at you. He sounds breathless, and it makes you feel even dizzier.

“I…” You trail off. You squeeze your eyes shut in a feeble attempt to lessen the effect of his gaze on you like this, but it’s futile. The look on his face, the one that you’d sworn to yourself all these months meant nothing, is permanently etched into the back of your eyelids now.

He doesn’t move at all as he waits, giving you time. The heat of him so close, his entire body pressed to yours, is so intimate, so overwhelming. You can feel him everywhere, can feel every breath he takes, and you wonder if he can feel your heart ready to burst out of your chest.

“Chan,” you finally speak again, voice barely a whisper. “If you don’t…”

His eyebrows furrow; you can tell he wants to speak, but he doesn’t.

“If you don’t mean this,” you try again, your eyes still squeezed shut. “If this isn’t serious for you, then I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”

It’s silent, and your heart slowly sinks into the couch beneath you.

Then he’s gently pushing himself off of and away from you. The feeling of disappointment quickly claws its way up into your throat, robbing the air from your lungs along the way. You sit up too, keeping as much distance between you as possible. Your eyes stay trained on your hands in your lap — you can’t look at him for even a second.

“Y/N.”

You feel your eyes begin to water in spite of yourself. Stop, stop, stop.

“Y/N,” he repeats, voice soft, “I need you to look at me.”

You take a deep breath, feeling your lower lip quiver. You steady yourself before meeting his eyes, straightening your shoulders.

“Do you really not know how much I like you?”

You weren’t expecting that. The question hangs in the air as you blink back at him. “You—“

“I’ve liked you for so long… since that night when you were the only one who laughed at my joke at Soonyoung’s party.”

Your mouth falls open as you think back to that night — you know the very one. The same night that you finally learned his name — the name of the cute new guy your friends had been bringing around. That was ages ago.

“Oh.”

A few more beats of silence pass by until he speaks again.

“How could you possibly think I’m not into you? I don’t think I’ve ever been more obvious about something in my life.” He laughs nervously, running a hand through his hair.

Your heart is beating triple time as you search for your words. “We’ve known each other for six months, and you never said anything.”

“Neither did you.” He raises his eyebrows in a challenge, daring you to disagree with him, but the smile on his lips gives him away.

“You have so many friends,” you say quietly after a moment, and you watch as Chan’s face softens. “I just assumed you treated them the same way you treat me.”

“I don’t,” he says softly, “but I can see why you might have thought that.”

“So many people flirt with you. All the time.” You don’t know why you’re continuing to state these things — you blame it on the fact that you absolutely cannot process that he just told you he likes you — but Chan just takes your words as they come.

“I barely notice… especially when you’re there.” He bites his lip, tilting his head as he looks at you. “And people flirt with you too, you know.”

You let out a laugh at that, looking down at your hands. “I know.”

“But you didn’t know that I was flirting with you?” Chan asks incredulously, throwing his head back with a groan. You can tell he’s joking, and you can’t help the smile that passes over your lips now, too.

“I did know,” you offer, and Chan sits up straight to look at you again. You continue before he can protest. “But I didn’t know if it was serious for you. And for me…” You stop yourself before you admit what you were about to, feeling your cheeks flush.

For me, it’s serious.

“For you?” He prompts you to go on, and you can tell he’s trying desperately to hold back a grin, because he knows exactly what you were going to say. You let out a whine.

“Stop.”

He laughs. Then your heart leaps into your throat once more, because he’s reaching across the distance between you, finding your hand and pulling it back into his lap. “I’ll say it loud and clear so there are no misunderstandings,” he begins, thumb tracing lazy lines on the back of your hand, “I like you… seriously.”

You know he’s teasing you again, but you can’t find it in you to care when you know he’s being honest. Your eyes fall to your entwined hands, mesmerized by his gentle movements against your skin, your heart near ready to jump out of your chest at the softness of it all.

“So…”

You look back up to find him bashful as he speaks, and it’s his turn to avoid your eyes as he chews on his lower lip. You suddenly realize what you think he’s waiting for, and you smile.

“I like you a lot too,” you say, and when his gaze snaps to yours, you know you’ve said what he needed to hear. He smiles then, cheeks flushed and happy, and you’re enthralled by how shy he’s being when he had just been kissing you into oblivion moments prior.

“Good.”

You beam at him, and he beams back, before he’s pulling you closer by your joined hands and into a hug. You curl up into his side, your head finding a place in the crook of his neck.

“Y/N?” You glance up, heart stuttering a bit at the sight of him so close as you wait for him to continue. “For the record, in case you were still worried – I absolutely do not spend time with anyone else trying to ignore the way their lips move when they talk. That’s Y/N privilege.”

“Not even Soonyoung?”

He’s kissing you almost before you get the teasing words out.

A/N: please please please reblog if you liked! it's what us writers rely on :)

TAGLIST: @dejavernon @minisugakoobies @starsstuddedsky @hopeinthebox @tae-bebe @eoieopda @savventeen @wqnwoos

Message me if you want to be added to the permanent taglist!

#if u don't want to be tagged anymore message me !#dino x reader #lee chan x reader #dino fluff #svt fluff #seventeen x reader #dino comfort #seventeen fluff #seventeen imagine #dino imagine #lcficrecs #my writing #lcfic

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venuslcver · 1 month

Text

FIRST TIMES ⋆

pairing: virgin!rafe x bestfriend!reader

synopsis: the notorious outer banks slut, rafe cameron, never seemed to have a first time. at least that's what the people of the town thought.

tw: feminine described character, profanity, alcohol consumption, losing of virginity, unprotected p in v, smut, miscommunication trope, semi-public sex, toxic love (no use of y/n)

any type of interaction including likes, comments, and reblogs is appreciated! but ultimately not necessary. let me know if im missing any warnings!

contrary to what most of the teenagers on the island believed, rafe didn't become the town slut out of nowhere. there had been theories of who he had lost his virginity to. maybe it was alice— his first-ever serious girlfriend from the 9th grade, or maybe it was mrs. sanderson, his 10th-grade student teacher who of which played favorites with him. she always seemed to have a keen eye on him.

sadly, for you, though it was never any of the above. besides a few whispers for here and there, not a single person would have guessed that it was you who had made rafe cameron lose his virginity.

i mean, everyone had to know that he didn't get his "expert" skills from nowhere. at least that was what every girl in outer banks called it. for years, you had to hear the people of outer banks talk about their "experience" or rather "run-in" with rafe. even a close friend or two of yours. it was enough to make a girl want to stab her own eyes out.

see, no one knew, not a single soul except— rafe and you. if it wasn't for you stopping rafe, he would have shared it with the whole of outer banks. just for rumors to spread like a wildfire.

most girls would have died right on the spot if rafe wanted more than sex and flirting with them. but you weren't one of the girls looking at him from a tiny perspective, i mean, you were his best friend after all.

you both were fifteen, drunk as fuck, while laying out on the open part of his boat. rafe had always seen you in a more sexual way than you ever saw him. not to say that you weren't attracted to him. he had always been known to make a few sexual jokes occasionally. and only a select handful of times did you see him ever gawk at you.

yet, on this day you had seen him look you up and down every chance he got. al though it seemed to be a little out of the ordinary, you shook it off, only holding it in the back of your mind.

so, when he intoxicatedly offered to rub sunscreen on you, like always, you didn't find it weird. starting off like normal, he began rubbing it in on your shoulders, then your back, but this time he slowly began moving his large hands towards the globes of your ass. you had been too intoxicated to speak, along with too turned on.

just as you thought that his horny-fueled actions would stop, he spoke, "i heard that for girls to get'a even tan, their tops gotta be off"

"is that even true?" you thought.

not giving it too much of a second thought, enjoying the attention that he was actively giving you, you shook your head in agreeance. taking that as permission, rafe gravitated his hands over your back, causing goose bumps to appear, before slowly pulling your string bikini top unloose, letting it fall to the sides of you, not being satisfied with the lack of view he was getting of your boobs, rafe pulled at your side, not before spoking yet again, "let me get'your front"

when you flipped around, you could tell by rafe's look on his face that he had only seen boobs in porn, never in real life. not wasting a moment with the opportunity, he yanked at your neck, pulling you into a heated kiss.

covering your boobs as you stood up, rafe guided you into the private bedroom of his new yacht. slowly pulling down your bathing suit bottoms, rafe began laying sloppy kisses down your neck, onto your chest.

wrapping your fingers around his dirty blonde locks, rafe let out a low moan. untying his swimming trunks, you pushed his waistband down, allowing his dick to come out.

pushing you hair out of your face, he spoke with sincerity, "are you sure?"

letting out a verbal "yes", rafe began positioning himself, gently forcing himself in. he began to calm you, "it's ok, baby, i'll be gentle"

slowly fastening his pace, rafe knew that he would come soon, although you seemed to be enjoying it, you weren't as distraught in pleasure as he was. it was a lie if it wasn't said that he was slightly nervous.

"does this feel good?", he asked as he slowly began to rub circles.

"a-a little lower", you said while guiding his hand. his movement seemed to make you fall apart with increasing speed. seeing you fall apart in front of him, caused rafe to become more confident with his actions.

see, rafe thought after what had happened, that you would want something more. but it seemed that you just wanted to keep your friend. taking your rejection to heart, rafe began to become increasingly reckless, starting to do coke. i mean you were the only girl that he was interested in after all. you were his first.

he didn't seem to understand that you never wanted to lose the friendship you guys had after what happened. quickly coming to terms with the fact you could still be his friend while being his girlfriend, you wanted to ask him for a second chance.

but sadly by the time that you had come to the realization, he had already become an unrecognizable person, one that you didn't even want to look at. though that never stopped him from eye fucking you from across the room at a party, all while being completely and utterly coked out

his change in personality never stopped you from reminiscing on how gentle he was, even when he had never done it before. though you never knew he often thinks of that day. hell, out of all people, he would stop doing dangerous shit if you asked.

#rafe x you #rafe smut #rafe blurb #rafe cameron #rafe imagine #rafe x reader #rafe obx #dark rafe cameron #rafe outer banks #sarah cameron #jj maybank #outer banks #obx #⋆ rafe cameron fic ⋆#virgin!rafe

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elliesgoodgirl · 6 months

Text

Tying you to me

(Ellie Williams/Reader)

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On a cold November morning you wake up tired and shivering, but the most enticing sight draws you back into bed ; your girlfriend soundly asleep.

Grateful to spend a few moments hidden away from the rest of the world with each other, you and Ellie bask in each others presence.

(I would lay down my life for this woman and she doesn’t get enough soft things written for her)

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The room was gray, early morning light just barely peeking through the curtains covering the frosted windows. You looked around, taking in the lowly lit room of your girlfriend.

The pile of dirty clothes shoved in the corner, the worn leather couch that seemed to have both of your body imprints perfectly worn into it. Countless posters sloppily hung on the walls, of bands and movies you’d never even seen or heard of, but Ellie swears they’re good. How she could even possibly know is beyond your comprehension.

It’s surprising you’re up this early, several hours before the town of Jackson would even be waking up. After a grueling patrol shift such as your last, it was typical for you to sleep into the late hours of the day. A chill shot through your body, goosebumps pebbling on the exposed skin of your legs.

Your sleep shorts riding up every so slightly, exposing the scars and bruises that had formed over the past few years from many patrol shifts.

A few beams of light come in from above the bed, catching your attention away from the small details of the garage turned apartment. Shining directly onto the face of Ellie, who slept peacefully next to you. One arm outstretched ever so slightly, reaching towards where your upper half one laid down. You could just barely see the ink lines of her tattoo licking up her forearm.

Her eyes closed, eyelashes resting peacefully on her freckled cheeks. Brows furrowed, mouth slightly agape. You could see a small patch of drool on her pillow, usually a sign that she was in deep slumber. The sunbeam catching in her auburn hair, highlighting the many shades of red and brown.

She had fallen asleep with her hair tied half up, normally you scolded her for it as it wasn’t good for her hair, but now you found it endearing. Clearly too exhausted from patrol to change, she slept in nothing but her boxers and the T-shirt from the day prior. A small laugh escapes your mouth as you continue to admire her.

She really was something. All freckles and blushed cheeks. You reach down to brush a strand of hair that was tickling its way into her mouth out of the way, exposing the scar that cut through her eyebrow. You let your hand linger for a moment, knuckles resting against her warm cheek. Ellie gives a content sigh. With how calm she looks now, you’d never be able to guess that she spent half the night kicking you in the side and taking all the blankets.

Another blast of cold air sends a shiver through you. You tear your eyes away from Ellie in an attempt to find where the breeze is coming from. The window near the door catches your eye as the curtains attached blow in the wind.

As carefully as you can, you get up from the bed, not wanting to wake Ellie up. The floor is cold on your bare feet as you tiptoe your way over, being careful to not trip over your backpacks and shoes that are lazily strewn across the room

Finally, you make it to the window and are able to shut it, quietly of course. You breathe a sigh of relief as you feel the draft cut off. The creak of the bed catches your attention,

“Why’d you shut the window?” Ellie’s tired voice interrupts the silence. It’s raspy, coated in sleep.

You turn, greeted to the sight of Ellie sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. It was evident that she had been sleeping on the same side for a while, her short hair sticking up wildly while the opposite sat semi neatly. Her lips turned slightly downward in a pout.

“I was cold.. it woke me up” you shrug slightly, running your hands over your arms.

Ellie chuckles slightly, green eyes meeting yours.

“Well then come back to bed, I’ll keep you warm” she smiles, laying back down and opening her arms up for you.

“Oh my hero!” You smile back at her, almost skipping back towards her bed.

You lay down, resting comfortably pressed into Ellie’s chest, her arms wrapped around you. She presses a kiss to your forehead as you settle in.

“Sleep good?” She asks while smoothing your hair away from your face. You shrug,

“It was a typical post patrol sleep, feel like I could use at least ten more hours”

Ellie snorts, “man do I feel that one”

“You looked pretty comfy though”, you say as you lightly trace the lines of her tattooed forearm that’s wrapped around you.

“Oh I was, before I was abandoned in my own bed!”, she’s easily the most dramatic girl you’ve ever met.

“-Even saw the drool you left on your pillow”

You hear Ellie scoff, loudly.

“I do not drool!” She throws her arms up defensively.

“Yes you do!”

“No I don’t!”

You both know you’re right, Ellie is just stubborn and thinks it’s funny to rile you up about the little things.

“For your information, I sleep like an angel”

Ellie can’t keep a straight face as she says this, she knows it a blatant lie. She giggles slightly, awaiting your response.

You can only roll your eyes. She does not sleep like an angel. She sleeps like a tornado with legs and makes you impossibly hot at night. But you’d have it no other way.

The way she mumbles in her sleep, never being able to decipher the nonsense that tumbles out her lips. The way she pulls you closer, even when in deep sleep. She was comfort in its truest form.

You look at her briefly, not having a response for her. Her features become more clear as the rising sun pushes its way past the window above the bed. She searches your face, clearly taking in your features.

“What’s on your mind?” You wonder out loud.

Ellie gives you a crooked smile as one of her hands finds your face. She gently brushes her fingers across your cheek, trailing over a healing cut from a previous patrol shift.

“Nothing..” she mumbles, eyes flicking down to your lips briefly.

“Tell me!” You lean back a little, putting some distance between the two of you.

“Really it’s nothing!”

“Ellie!!”

“….can’t we just go back to bed?”

She dodges the question, a slight blush creeping its way onto her cheeks and ears. You give her an annoyed look.

“Alright alright..” she starts, giving a sigh,

“I was just thinking about…” she trails off again, eyes looking back at your lips.

She purses hers together for a moment, the scar on her lip being highlighted as she does so. She’s thinking about something again, you can see the gears in her head turning.

“Fine, fine, don’t tell m-“

Ellie cuts you off. Pressing her lips to yours. It’s by no means the first time she’s kissed you, but it’s sweet. Tender and loving, like a first kiss between children. Her lips are chapped and slightly salty. Most likely from sweating during the night. And despite both of those things, you sigh into her. Your fingers find her nape and play with the slightly tangled pieces of hair that lay there.

Ellie helps you shift so you’re straddling on top of her as the kiss deepens. Both of you rocking in unison. Your hands committing each others bodies to memory. Ellie’s hands finds your hips and she squeezes. Eventually while moving away from her to get some air, your hands find her face.

You trace over the freckles on her face as you memorize her features for the millionth time. You play with her bottom lip for a moment before you speak.

“I guess we can go back to bed now”, a smile crosses your lips. Ellie returns the smile.

“I’d like that a lot”

She helps you lay back down, your head resting on top of her chest and her strong arms wrapped around you. You both lie there for a moment, Ellie using one of her hands to play with your hair and you rubbing small circles on her stomach with your thumb.

The sun fully rises on you two as you both drift back asleep, ready to not wake until late in the afternoon, and the town of Jackson is lively with the hustle and bustle of its residents.

#ellie the last of us #ellie tlou #ellie williams #ellie williams x reader #ellie x fem reader #ellie x reader #ellie x y/n #ellie x you #joel and ellie #the last of us #the last of us part 2 #tlou part 2 #tlou x reader #tlou fanfiction #tlou fic #ellie williams smut

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eroslove88 · 2 months

Text

Candy Gram

Warning: Yandere themes, kidnapping, coercion, gaslighting, and noncon (technically)

Pairing: Yan. Dazai x Semi-Yan. Reader

Note: In honor of Valentine's Day AND that I left an anonymous candy gift for my crush in our Chinese class (I think he like it but he thought that a guy sent it because of the note... my handwriting was bad and I was awkward) It's kind of bad, but I haven't written in a while.

It was strange you always thought, if they had the masterlist for every kid's schedule why did you have to find their 2nd period? None the less here you were, walking your friend to her 4th so you can follow him to his 2nd. It wasn't that hard honestly, the halls were crowded and he didn't see you- not like he even knew who you were, but you swore he was staring at you while talking to his friend. Caused to pretend to pick something off the floor, but anyways with 3 minutes left to spare before class started, Dazai entered his 2nd, "Personal Finance" you mumbled retreating to your stats class.

The whole day you were filled with this feeling of happiness- but also impending doom. It could all go wrong! You might write something creepy- OR AWKWARD. During your free period you marched to the booth and bought him chocolates, and you wrote something... awkward... "To Dazai- I've seen you around and I think you have really nice hair, and I apologize if this sounds creepy! Happy Valentine's Day!"

The last you expected was for him to come into your final class of the day to talk to his friends about the gram, "Shit..." you mumbled hearing his curious voice, "Possibly a guy" he guessed moving to the side to let you pass by him, but his eyes never left you, and you felt that. Neither him not his friends were in this class, what was he doing here? You leaned forward to talk to your friend as you heard their conversation, "Don't be an idiot." Chuuya responds snatching the paper, "The handwriting, it's bad, but unless the guy"bends that way" no dude would write you a compliment." The earth could have swallowed you whole in that moment.

On your way out of school your friend had called you, but your phone had died due to your charger being broken. You tried rushing out of campus, but you were in such a rush you ran into someone, "I'm so sorry!" you practically shouted as the lean man you just ran into dropped his container of cookies, "There's no need to worry about it hun, I know you didn't mean in." A blush sneaks onto your face as you make eye contact with him, "Uh, yeah, I'm sorry" you whisper bending down quickly to help pick up the cookies. "Such a kind lady" he says with a chuckle before grabbing your chin with his free hand, "Tell me," he leans in, "Do you think my hair looks nicer up close, or from afar, like what you're used to?" he whispers. You practically want to gulp before calming your nerves, "So... You-"

"Know? Yeah, like I wasn't going to notice you sneaking around campus just to see me." he tilts his head up before helping you up, "I'm sorry!" you say with panic in your voice, "I'm-I'm not normally like this" you hand him the container with broken cookies. He chuckles shoving it into his bag, "I like this. It makes me feel better about myself" he slowly closes the gap and grabs you by the waist before continuing to walk, and you get the hint and follow suit. "D-Dazai, where are we going?" he doesn't respond.

You regret it now, following him back to your dorm. Your wrist were bound by his neckties to the corners of the bed, he started unbuttoning his shirt, "You're quite lucky" he says staring at your nervous self, "Dazai, I'm having second thoughts-"

"You're lucky I return your feelings," his knees are at both sides of your body as he grips your face to look at his, "I'm going to make you feel so good, and remember you like me so I'm just doing you the favor of skipping that awkward stage." You squirmed a bit, and you bite your lip shaking your head slightly, "I love you but-" his lips quickly latch around yours, his kiss is sloppy; a lot of saliva and it's desperate. He pulls away for air "So, you'll let me do this?" he asks between gasps, his face is soft and almost sad.

"I can't..." you begin to trail off. "But I can." he kisses your cheeks before getting up and begins to unbuckle his belt, and you look away embarrassed. "Don't be scared baby, you can look" and you do, you take a peek; his body is covered in scars, healing bruises, new injuries, and, "wow-..." you say before getting flustered, "I didn't... didn't think it'd be that..." he chuckles, "big?" you nod tears threatening to leave your eyes as he lifts your legs up.

"Dazai! No-wait-" he rolls his eyes, "Don't you love me? Please, for me." Using the slick from your already wet cunt his begins to slowly push in, you don't even get to respond. You gasp at the piercing, but slow feeling of his cock entering your tight hole. Your head is thrown back with a cry, "No-no-no- please please, Osamu-" he groans his hands traveling to your hips for a firmer hold, "Just like that baby, beg" he moans leaving your pussy just to quickly enter again, you yell at the pain. He's practically pounding into you huffing loudly, and your sobbing, there's no pleasure in it. He's trying to reach his own orgasm. He leans forward his thrusts getting shallow as he bites your neck, sucking on it. You're squirming and crying at the feeling of his saliva and his veiny dick, and it's all so overwhelming. "O-Osamu!" you yell, his hard teeth Pierce your skin, his cock twitches and he whines against your skin. He cums in side, you sniffle a bit before he pulls out.

"See," he's breathing shallowly, "That-that wasn't so bad" he removes the condom before getting dressed again. "Osa-" you can't even finish your sentence before you're crying again. "Oh baby~" he coos. His fingers are tracing up your thighs, "Un-unti-" he shushes you, "Not yet..." he begins to kiss your body; starting from thighs, to stomach, clavicle, neck, and face. Dazai doesn't kiss your lips he just stares at your red trembling lips before chuckling and laying on your nude body. You begin to stutter something out until he grabs a random clean pair of his underwear from his drawer beside the bed and shoving it into your mouth, "Don't ruin this, it's much nicer when you're quiet." His hands hug your torso, but his entire body is practically pinning you down with his legs also hooking around your limbs, "Happy Valentine's Day, Hun."

#yandere #yandere x reader #tw kidnapping #tw yandere #tw noncon #yandere bungou stray dogs #yandere bungo stray dogs x reader #yandere bsd #yandere dazai #yandere osamu #yandere bsd dazai osamu x reader #bsd dazai osamu x reader #yandere dazai osamu x reader #tw stalking

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mypoisonedvine · 11 months

Note

Humbly requesting knotting with werewolf bill pleaseeeeee I’m thirsty 🥺

oh god oh jesus oh no oh god oh jesus this got out of hand quickly...

warnings: knotting and a few other a/b/o tropes but technically not a/b/o cause reader is 'normal', semi-werewolf bill (I don't get into the specifics it's porn), size kink and some pain, breeding kink, biting/marking kink

"I don't want to hurt you," he said, but his grip was getting tighter on your thighs; you knew he needed this. It's why you agreed in the first place— but the little fucker kept stalling.

Okay, actually, not a little fucker. That was exactly what was holding him back now: knowing he was anything but little.

"I would never forgive myself, really," he insisted, "if you— if it hurt you. If I—"

"Bill, it's okay," you promised. "I can take it."

You weren't actually totally sure of that; now that you'd seen his cock, and now that you'd read about werewolves and their... mating, you were a bit nervous that he really would ruin you. But you at least wanted to try— and you knew that whatever he needed, you could give. "But if you need me to stop—"

"I know," you sighed, "you'll be the first to know."

He sighed, looking down at you and tilting his head slightly. "You're too good to me," he breathed.

"Hey, just a favour between friends," you insisted, even though it was obviously more than that; he laughed a little, knowing this was beyond the typical bounds of a friendly offering. But you'd been the one to suggest it, when he explained to you how sick he could get if he didn't give in to his breeding instinct, and he had only checked that you really meant it about a thousand times before he agreeing to it.

His cock was already hard, of course; actually, it was throbbing, like it knew what was coming. He'd been struggling to control himself as soon as he smelled you— your cunt, your arousal, he swore he could hear your heartbeat. His body longed to fill you, breed you, claim you, and it was a little more than just his newfound werewolf qualities talking... but he wasn't quite acknowledging that consciously at the moment.

He laid his cock down over your stomach, pressing his base right up to where it would meet you if he was balls deep, and almost snarled at the sight of his tip surpassing your belly button. "S'how deep it's gonna be..." he whispered to you.

You swallowed thickly. "I can fit it. At least I'll try."

He shut his eyes, summoning a few more moments of patience, swearing to himself that he would be gentle with you even if it took more self-control than he felt he had at the moment.

"I-it's okay if you don't want to, with me," you added quickly, nervous with the way he seemed to keep hesitating. "It was just an idea..."

But he was so focused on admiring your body under him, your spread legs and the wet, waiting cunt between them— soft skin, a patient stare on your face; there was a sick little voice in his mind, shouting out from one of the deepest corners ruin, ruin, ruin. He needed you to be his. He knew how dangerous this was; but it nearly killed him last rut, not being able to fuck anything but his hand. He already felt the base of his cock pulsing, ready to swell and knot anything at this point. "I want you," he whispered. "Really fucking bad. Is that okay?"

You bit your lip. "Yeah, that's okay. I want you to do it, Bill— take me. I wanna help you."

He nodded a little, before he leaned down and kissed you. The kiss was gentle, shockingly so— that was the last of his human resolve, it felt like. It was the way he imagined he should've kissed you a long time ago, if he wasn't always too nervous to try. You kissed him back, reaching up to gently hold onto his arms. You felt... little. Smaller than usual. Maybe it was your shyness, or maybe it was just that he felt big in times like this.

He pressed his swollen head to your opening, and sighed as he plunged forward. Your nails dug into his skin, but he kept going; you whined against his lips, but he kept going, going going until he was flush against you and your eyes were rolled back in your head. "F-fuck, Bill— s'deep..."

"Fuck," he groaned, lifting you up, wrapping his arms around you, holding you close; he needed to feel you everywhere, as much as he could. "Is it hurting you?"

"No, fuck," you promised, holding onto him in return, "just move. I'm ready."

He tried to be slow, really, but it was hard not to just let his animal side take over. With all his patience, he managed to keep it not-quite-rushed but still not delicate either; you whined and hid your face in the crook of his neck, so he kissed the side of your head as he tried to remind himself not to hurt you. "It won't take me long," he assured, thinking that was a good thing in this case since you were probably struggling with it. "I— I haven't at all, since... since it happened. And I need it more than ever."

He saw your bare shoulder, and he shuddered with desire.

"You're so pretty," he breathed, "I want— I wanna bite you. Fuck, is that weird?"

"Do it," you pleaded, baring your neck for him; he was totally helpless to that, and he licked all over your skin before carefully sinking his teeth in. "Fuck! Bill, fuck, I like it— I like when you do that to me..."

He growled and did it again, on your shoulder; he wanted to mark you all over until you could never hide what he'd done to you. "Tell me it feels good," he demanded.

"It feels— oh god, Bill, it feels really fucking good... your cock is— fuck!" you moaned, and he could feel you shaking in his arms.

"I want you to come first," he whispered, "it might make it easier to take. I don't think I'll last much longer..."

He held your hips and tilted them just right, so your clit could grind against the spot above his cock— which was already just about ready to knot you, by the way, but he was holding it back somehow— and he hoped you wouldn't mind that he hadn't done much to tame the wild ginger hairs there.

He almost lost his cool when you started to rub yourself on him, rocking your hips just the way you needed, moaning louder in his ear. All he could've hoped for was that this would satisfy him, but clearly you loved it too, and that made him twice as desperate in an instant. "Fuck, it's coming— the knot," he warned with a gasp. "M'gonna breed you. Fuck. Gonna give you pups."

"Bill," you sobbed, but he couldn't stop talking as he fucked you faster and rougher than ever.

"Gonna be so fucking pretty— so fucking full," he groaned, "full of me. Gonna be mine now."

"Yeah," you panted.

"Gonna be so good for me, m'gonna breed you over and over—"

"Fuck!" you whimpered, and he could feel you pulsing, creaming around him; it was enough to make a growl echo in his chest.

"Mine," he insisted again, "my girl. Say it."

"Yours," you promised, "fuck, I want it— knot me, Bill, breed me—"

He already was, as soon as you said he was yours: the base of his cock filled and he heard your words break into a shaky sob as it pushed you to your absolute limits. He'd imagined he might pull the knot out of you before it got too big, to save you the pain, but now that he was here he had no intentions of keeping it anywhere but safe and warm inside you. "Good girl," he praised, "all fucking mine. Can you feel it? Feel me breeding you?"

You were speechless, just shivering and nodding; he could feel your tears, they were running down his chest as you pressed your face against him, and he should've felt guilty for how much he loved it.

Still, a bit of sanity was returning now that his knot was inside you, his come filling you— and not a drop of it would go to waste, with him keeping you plugged like this.

He held tighter onto you and laid you back on the beg again, kissing your tear-stained face.

"Tell me you're okay," he requested quietly, and you just nodded. "I'm sorry, I— not everything I said was— you won't get pregnant, there's a potion for it."

You smiled a little. "It's fine."

"It's fine, as in, it's fine that I said it, or... it's fine, you won't take the potion?"

Your wide, teary eyes looked up at him, and he figured he might have said too much, but he couldn't find the heart to take it back. "Would you... I mean, would you let me—?"

"Would I let you have my baby?" he chuckled. "It's your choice."

"That's... a pretty big favour for a friend," you mumbled, and he laughed before he nuzzled his face against yours.

"How about if I'm in love with you? What then?" he whispered. "And if you loved me to? Maybe we could..."

"Yeah," you breathed, "okay. Maybe."

He purred happily as he kissed one of your tears away. "Good," he said, "because I think when this knot goes down, we might have to start all over."

#30k sleepover #bill weasley x reader #bill weasley smut #request

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dimepdf · 2 years

Note

pls write a smut where you go to buy drugs off eddie in the woods like chrissy and end up fucking in the woods

DOWN LOW DEALER. + EDDIE MUNSON

masterlist. / taglist. / any request? synopsis. when you go into the woods to get drugs from Hawkins bad-boy Eddie Munson, you run into a minor snag. You don't have any cash, but Eddie, being the sweetheart that he is, puts an offer on the table that you just can't resist: you. author's note. i just want you to know that this was saved in my drafts as "omg omg omg what the FUOCK." so i just had to post this for my mental health.

[ ❥ ] pairing. eddie munson x reader

[ ❥ ] word count. 3.6k

[ ❥ ] genre & warnings. 18+, afab reader, pet names(princess, pretty girl, etc.), nerd!reader, semi-public sex, mentions of drugs, throat fucking, corruption kink, blowjobs, hand kink, praise kink, messy everything, hair-pulling, impact play, unprotected sex, table sex, choking, slight dumbifcation, soft!eddie, cum eating, masturbation, handjob, pwp

"Holy shit, Y/N." Eddie moaned, gripping the end of the table to keep his knees from buckling as you slipped just a few more inches of his cock down your throat, gagging on each inch.

"You don't know what you're doing to me, pretty girl." He was muttering as his fingers tangled in a knot of your hair.

Just moments ago, you were striding across the lunchroom with your best friend by your side, her fingers trembling with anxiety as you both approached Eddie's table.

His normal entourage of friends was giving you an odd look, having already stood there for merely seconds, and yet you had already felt out of place.

Eddie gave you both an odd look, and you felt your friend flinch, standing so close to you the moment he had made eye contact with her. You had to admit, from the sidelines, it was a painfully cringe-worthy thing to watch.

"We want to buy some, stuff...and someone told us that you were the person to see for it." You spoke slowly and leaned down to whisper.

The moment you had pulled away, your eyes clenched shut just for a second, wallowing in the embarrassment of your stumbling question.

Eddie was quick to piece together your request, his brow raised as he glanced over your appearance.

Never in his life had he thought that someone as prompt and put-together as you would even want to be seen standing as close to him as you were to him.

Eddie agreed but told you that he never did his "business" on school grounds for obvious legal reasons and gave you the time and place to meet him after school.

As you walked away back to your table of friends with a beaming smile, giving them a thumbs up.

He was more convinced that the entire thing would most likely be some type of undercover setup, not seeing you as the type to do anything during the weekends but studying currently not seeing you ever getting high.

"Operation best sleepover ever is a go!" Your friend celebrated.

It was a very out-of-character plot for your normally very strict group of friends, though you would be the one to convince everyone that you were seniors and still haven't been to a single high school party because you are too busy having movie marathons and staying up late to study for quizzes to do normal teenager things.

You wanted to do something fun to finish off your senior year, and if that meant buying drugs from Eddie Munson in the creepy woods, then you were willing to take that risk.

You were clutching onto the straps of your backpack as you descended down the dirt path alone. Your friend chickened out on the hard part.

The girl was convinced that Eddie Munson was some type of devil worshiper, along with everyone else that sat at his table, still having the creeps from what had unfolded earlier in the lunchroom.

As you continued your steps all the way until you came into view of the planned table, only the sound of nature and passing animals were heard from the woods.

Your nerves were heightened when you noticed the curly-haired man waiting for you at the picnic table, his chin resting in the palm of his hand, a bored expression written all over his face, his eyes shifting over at you the moment you walked into view.

The distance left was a bit awkward as you bowed your head and picked up your pace to sit down across from him.

"Okay, so what did you want?" There was a pause as Eddie's fingers drummed over the tin lunchbox perched in the middle of you, a beat of silence before you couldn't realize that you knew absolutely nothing about buying or doing drugs.

"Um, is there like one that makes you...laugh a lot, I guess?" The question came off with a child-like innocence as your lashes fluttered and your tone was so soft and nervous.

Eddie swore you were whispering to him. He tried to make sense of the situation, his eyes squinting at you and his lips pulled into a thin line, not quite able to figure out why, of all people, would you ever want to get into doing drugs.

You were just so adorable to him, Eddie comparing you to a big-eyed kitten the way you were trying to avoid looking at him yet failing to stare directly at the rings that shone on his fingers.

"Your eyes are really pretty." Eddie blurted, wanting to see how you would react to the sudden compliment.

Your eyes only flicked to meet him as he watched your chest rise and fall at a more dramatic pace. Eddie smirked at that.

"Okay, how about we start you off with something more tamed. How would you like that pretty princess?" He was shuffling through the contents of his lunchbox, only taking glances at your fidgeting state.

Your mind was spinning from the nicknames, let alone the sudden bold flirting. You were starting to feel a bit light-headed.

Presenting a pretty moderate-sized bag of weed, Eddie sizes it off as enough to share with at least three other people, plus you. Just as your hands reach for the bag, he pulls back.

"Ah, ah, same time exchange, pretty girl, can't have you ripping me off now can we?" You felt just a tinge of embarrassment, your mouth gaping as you nodded your head in agreement to the payment.

Shuffling through your backpack for your wallet, you slowly realized all you had was your card and not cash, cursing your parents for having you be so responsible.

It was then that Eddie suggested other payment options. His tone darkened as he leaned in closer to your face, shamelessly biting his lip and making a show of him staring at your mouth.

You let him reach his hand out to caress your face. The cool steel of his rings contrasted with your flushed face, his rough thumb dragging along the bottom of your lip as he winked.

That was the moment you found yourself on your knees in the dirt, Eddie's pants undone and his cock drawn out from the hole in his boxers.

Your hands gripping the jean material of his thighs as your eyes watered and your mascara threatened to streak down your cheeks whenever he thrust his entire length down your throat, your nose tickled by the dark brassy hairs of his pubes.

Your tongue was circling the underside of his tip. Eddie's cock was quite large, at least in comparison to all the other guys penis you'd seen (which were mostly just pictures shown in health books). You were surprised he could even fit it all in your mouth.

You pulled back just a little more, replacing the rest of what you hadn't put in your mouth with the grip of your hand.

You couldn't help but moan. Eddie felt the vibration against his cock, throwing his head back and thrusting against your mouth, forcing his cock further down your throat without much warming.

You gagged. This one was more serious than the others. Eddie snapped from his trance and pulled enough for his cock to spring from your lips, giving you time to breathe as he held a fist full of your hair.

His breathing was rough as he glanced down, watching you coughing.

"Shit, are you good?" Something about your puffy cheeks and watery eyes from choking makes him look down at you in pure neediness.

You nodded up at him, shifting your knees as they were starting to get numb from resting against the dirt for so long.

You didn't want to admit that it had been the most sexually exciting thing you've done since you would pause the TV screen of your favorite celebrity crush, placing your lips against the static just to fit in the fantasy of kissing them.

In middle school, you were a different breed of hormonal. Whatever he had done had woken something inside of you, something growing in heat in your lower stomach. Whether Eddie had meant to do it or not, all you knew was that you wanted him to do it again.

"Can you fuck my mouth?" Eddie's eyes widened as his mouth formed into a smirk that you were starting to get familiar with. He had never expected to awaken such a different side of you, a side that had not matched your innocent looks.

It was like Eddie had awoken the beast inside of you. God did he love it.

"It's all yours, pretty girl. Go ahead and take it, just like that princess." There was more than enough invitation for you to open your mouth, your pink tongue sticking out promptly. You were being obedient.

Eddie's devil-like smirk carved into his mouth as he tried not to paint white all over your face at the sight.

Sliding his shaft into your hot, wet mouth, he hissed suddenly, the slight feeling of your teeth grazing against his tip sending a shiver down his spine as he had to recollect his footing.

From the sloppiest of spit rolling down your chin and how you would try to control your gagging struggle a bit to get into the groove of breathing through your nose, you stayed well grounded, letting him guide his hips to thrust in and out of your mouth.

"Awe, fuck...just like that." Eddie was merciful at first, just seeking the feeling of having the most innocent looking girl on her knees, loving the sight of you in a filthy position. He was going to drink it all in.

But you thought otherwise.

Wanting him to handle you with rough intentions, you wanted to feel the cool metal of his fingered decorated fingers wrap around your neck, trailing all over your skin.

Your mind was clouded with so much pure lust that the last thing you needed from Eddie right now was for him to be gentle with you.

Surging your head forward as he pulled away, feeling his fingers fist in your hair, his pace picking up a string of swears blurting from his mouth.

His grasp around your hair was tight, holding you in place enough for him to snap his hips into your mouth every time he hit the back of your throat.

You couldn't help but let out a lewd moan, getting so aroused over the male using your mouth to his heart's content. Feeling your underwear damp at just the thought of what else he would do to you.

Your mouth is dripping with your own saliva, your lips and chin glistening with a messy shine of spit.

"H–holy shit." Eddie was struggling to keep his eyes open, loving the sight of his dick disappearing in your hollow cheeks. as if you could tell he was starting when you looked up at him, your eyes wet with the threat of tears.

Eddie shivered, beginning to piston into your poor sore mouth at a faster pace. The wet sounds coming from your mouth only encouraged him.

You pull away, falling into a coughing fit as you hurry to catch your breath, your face a mess covered in your saliva.

Eddie sighs, losing the grasp on your hair, his hand stroking his cock, his wrist twisting as his fingers wrapped in the sticky coat of spit you had left on his length, not even inches away from your face.

Your mouth started to water at the sight of him. "Maybe I should just cum on that pretty face of yours, cover you in my cum? You'd love that, huh princess?" Eddie grunted, his tongue sticking out just a tad as his mouth opened, peering down at you.

You felt your thoughts flatline, your lashes fluttering as your brain struggled to process the completely lewd things he had said.

Something had switched in your brain, almost as if Eddie had turned the knob, making you driven by your horny desires.

Your mouth opened to speak only to close as your gaze was drawn to the man shamelessly pleasuring himself just inches away from your adorable yet confused expression.

"Yes...please." Your doe eyes looked up at him with a new set of determination, "Atta girl." He chuckled, guiding his cock back into the familiar warmth of your mouth.

"I wonder if your friends know what you're doing right now. Did you tell them that you're getting your pretty little throat fucked in the woods?" You didn't know what your friends would think and honestly didn't care at the moment, knowing the group of strict, prompt girls would have a heart attack at the sight of you.

"Fucking Christ, you feel so good." Just the idea of sex throws them into a frenzy.

The whole idea of doing drugs during a sleepover is an idea that took you months of convincing, let alone the entire school day for your friend to gain the courage to walk up to Eddie during lunch.

But there was just something about the whole teacher's pet being a slut for the school's outcast cliche that just made your back arch.

You hum around his cock, your tongue teasing the tip, dragging along the underside, coaxing a moan out of Eddie, your hand making work of the inches you weren't able to have in your mouth.

The wet noise from the suction of your lips is extremely lewd as they blend in harmony with Eddie's deep grunting.

"Stand up," Eddie commanded.

His dick drops from your lips with a lewd pop, tapping the side of your cheek with the tips of his finger, and you eagerly follow suit, standing from your knees, your stance unsteady as his hands find the curves of your hips, guiding you next to the picnic table.

You could feel him grinding into your backside.

The height difference, having his cock grinding against your lower back as Eddie reached a hand around your neck, tilting your head back and placing a sloppy kiss on your mouth, the other snaking under your shirt and squeezing your breast through your bra.

The weight of him pushing up against you, making your hips collide at an uncomfortable angle with the edge of the table.

"We're in public, you know?" You muttered, suddenly remembering how exposed you felt scanning the field of trees around as Eddie pecked a wet trail of kisses down your neck that left you weak in the knees.

"You didn't seem to care about that when my dick was in your mouth." Checkmate, shutting you right up as you bit your lip and tilted your head to the side, exposing more of your neck on display to him. Pushing yourself against him as your back arched.

"You're such a fucking tease." Eddie hissed, his fingers snaking to the front of your jeans, making quick work of your zipper as you shimmed your jeans down to your knees.

His hand trailed up your back and guided you to bend over the table, your arms cushioning against the rough wooden surface. Your heartbeat picked up pace as you gasped, feeling Eddie smack the plush of your thigh.

"You know, you look really good like this." The feeling of his cold, rough fingers needing the plush skin of your ass sent a shiver down your spine.

Eddie spread your ass with his hands before smacking it with a flat palm.

You whimper at the slight sting, not wanting to admit that he had unlocked a whole list of new kinks for you. "You're too pretty for me. I feel like I'm gonna' break you." Eddie sighs, his cock twitching in his grasp.

"You don't have to be gentle. I won't break." You rasped out, feeling his eyes trailing all over your exposed body.

Your back arches, feeling Eddie take the words of encouragement and hook your pants to the side with his pointer finger, burying himself deep inside of you.

"You're gonna be the death of me, lady." He murmurs, his eyes squeezing shut, setting his hands flat against the table at your sides.

He's more gentle than he was with your mouth, his thrusts cautious, his arm hooking over your lower stomach, helping your wobbling legs to keep standing as he stuffs you completely full, with an exhale of relief passing from his lips as he bottoms out inside of your warm walls.

"S—shit," he sighs, leaning forward, his chest resting on your back. The feeling of the pant of his breath fanning against the back of your neck, while he was balls deep inside of you, was a sensation that you wanted to engrave in your brain forever.

His thrust starts slow, rolling his hips against yours, the intense feeling making your knees buck at the feeling of his cock rubbing against all the places that made you feel like you were floating.

"—ah, Eddie." You croaked out, his hand reaching to grip around your neck, resting the entirety of his weight on top of you, tilting your head up.

"How do you expect me not to cum when you whine my name like that?" He grunts into your ear as he picks up his pace, using his thighs to spread your legs apart to thrust deeper inside of you. His slim hips slap against your ass as it perfectly bounces against his pelvis.

Your moans are soft and breathy, your knees weakening as he aims for the gummy spot inside of you that causes your entire body to react.

"Yes, yes—right t-there." Your voice comes out as a whine, pushing your hips back into his thrusts.

Eddie grabs the plush of your thigh, guiding your leg up and resting it against the table to angle himself inside of you deeper, the force of his thrust making your hips smack against the table's edge, the pain only adding more to your intense build-up of pleasure.

Eddie watches you with his mouth agape, his lips swollen from biting down on them to keep from being too loud, wanting to hear every little noise that slipped from your lips.

"Let me hear you, baby." Eddie grunts. The lewd sound of skin slapping and your pathetic whimpers are floating through the air and deeper into the woods.

Your hips are already bruised from being slammed into the table repeatedly.

Eddie piston's himself in and out of you his shaft covered in a creamy layer making a mess of your throbbing entrance.

The sensation of his fingers digging into the skin of your neck, your mouth falling open, your moans turning into punched out grunts, the build-up of pleasure becomes unbearable for the both of you.

"You gotta let go, princess," Eddie whispered. You suddenly became aware of how hard you were chasing your own orgasm, your hands fisting against the table.

"I can't, I can't." It felt like you were about to explode. The molten hot bubble that rested inside you was only getting bigger, your head spinning as you grind against Eddie, working toward that unbearable heat that left your toes curling.

"Go on, pretty girl, just like that." His voice was breathless as his hands unwrapped from your neck and between your legs, his rough fingers rubbing circles against your sensitive clit, the gesture making your knees buck, resting your entire weight against the table.

"Come on, lady, you earned it; take it." Eddie grinds himself deeper inside of you, his chest resting on your back as you lay his entire weight on top of you.

His cock molds your walls, gripping your hips. The feeling of his fingernails digging into your skin only adds fuel to the fire inside of you.

The slow build up of your body finally gives in to the pleasure as your legs tremble, your back arching as you bite into the sleeve of your shirt, your orgasm unrolling hard as every part of your body trembles as Eddie fucks you through your orgasm.

"There you go, baby," he says, slowly pulling out of you. You weren't sure how, but Eddie managed to sit you down on the bench, his hand clasping firmly around your jaw as it was automatic how quickly your mouth expected the familiar length to have been down your throat already.

"Are you ready for your reward?" Eddie grunted, and you watched with your eyes halfway open as his ringed hand gripped the base of his cock and jerked desperately.

"Ugh, baby, I can't-please—" Eddie slumps his chest forward as his hips stutter, his body reacting as if he had fallen into a daze as his cum had painted your face within seconds.

At first, catching whatever had landed in your mouth. You flinched as some rolled down your face and into your eye.

"Shit, sorry, hold on." Eddie apologized, using his thumb to wipe it away from your eye, his thumb dipping into your mouth as your tongue wrapped around it, cleaning his fingers.

Time felt nonexistent as you sat there with a slight throb of soreness between your legs. Not too long ago, you had been laying on your stomach getting your guts rearranged.

It was a little hard for you to try to regain your composure. Not only did Eddie Munson just give you a facial, but he also fucked you outside in the woods for drugs.

The embarrassment was beginning to settle in as your eyes reopened and you became very aware of the warmth painting your cheeks and chin.

Eddie smirked down at you, seemingly content, and you were torn between being mortified and extremely turned on.

"Aren't you gonna thank me, princess? I just gave you a makeover free of charge."

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stagefoureddiediaz · 1 year

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Costume Meta 6x13

Was that real - did that episode actually happen or was it all a collective fever dream?!! I”m still sat here with my jaw on the floor trying to process all of the epic goodies we got in that episode, and the costumes were no exception!!!

I’ve spent far too long trying to figure out how to assemble my meta this week, but I’ve just gone with the flow and seen where it take me! Also this beast did not want to be wrangled and my ADHD decided side quests were far more fun and so getting this written has been a real struggle (I came out victorious though which is all that matters) and why its a bit later than normal (we’re not going to talk about my laptop deciding to crash and rebooting to a document that was missing half of what I had written - I couldn’t get it back so sad times!)!!

its under the cut - because as always - its a loooonnnnggggg post!!

We’re starting with the Wilson family (and Chimneys first costume!) because they actually sit separately from the rest of the characters from a costuming perspective this week!

There are a couple of things to note for the opening Wilson family scene which are kind of overarching things. Firstly the fact that Chim and Denny are both dressed in black and grey - a really clever choice when you consider their topic of conversation - fathers and things that have happened that cannot be undone - the grey acts as a form of fade out - kind of like a greyed out button on a computer screen - preventing you from clicking on it. Both Chimneys semi resolved arc (the decision to make his peace with his father and he reality of the situation) and Denny’s current arc echo each other up to this point in time - Chim’s father came back into his life and he made peace with it, Denny’s father is currently (and unknown to everyone) back in his life.

Both Chim and Denny are also wearing chack pattern - chims more hidden and Denny’s down the side - but Hen is also wearing a very loud and bright check pattern - she is the nly one in colour and the test card patterning of her jumper says so mcuh about both check theory and the fact that at this moment in time, she is not active in the plot - not in the conversation Denny and Chim have just had, and not in the Nathaniel of it all either. We know Denny is in danger later on so his check is also foreshadowing that, Hen is also in danger (emotional danger is just as vaild as physical danger) and Chimneys danger is more low key - its closer to his chest - his home being ‘invaded’.

However when Hen does come into play, we get a much more muted tones and we get these, whites, dusty pinks, lilacs and dusty purples, along with teal green trousers. Karen is in a black silk blouse with lilacs in a lilac colour on - this pairs her and Hen up in their respective styles and shows us they are on the same page. Lilacs are an interesting choice of floral and colour - it symbolises youth and innocence as well as love and purity. However Lilacs also mean old love and were often given to and worn by widows in the victorian era as a symbol of lost love and lost innocence! so the black paired with the prolifferation of lilacs (both colour and flowers) are telling that Hen and Karen are no longer ‘innocent’ (by which I mean they have gained knowledge) and they are also mourning the loss of the stable family life they thought they had created.

the choice to have Denny in army green continues a theme we’ve seen with him so far this season - the use of camouflage and army colour-ways to show him as sneaking around going undetected, and now the full on army green reads as an act of aggression - to the family life Hen and Karen have created, as well as to the agreement they had put into place with Nathaniel back in season 2.

I found the choice to have Karen in black with some yellow in her trousers and Hen in very bright emerald green (also with some yellow in her trousers) very interesting. Karens black is carrying on that theme of mourning, but its also a power colour - so its Karen still angry and grieving, but its also her pushing forward. the yellow is her communicating (on a low level) her anger and upset over what has happened.

Hen meanwhile is going full out into jealousy mode - we are seeing a Hen who is feeling threatened by Nathaniel and is jealous of the relationship her son has secretly been building with his bio father. THis is the culmination of all those little hints about the role Hen fills in Denny’s life - that she has been the one supporting and encouraging his sporting interests - thats why we saw Eddie and her throwing a baseball - so she could continue to share a sporting connection and interest wit her son. Hen feels threatened and jealous of Nathaniel’s stepping into that area she previously filled.

The wardrobe department just keep knocking it out of the park with the kids clothes this season. Denny’s mushroom shirt is amazing. Mushrooms are about duality - they represent both decay and deterioration, but also transformation and growth in the darkness. so Denny wearing this shirt here is perfect - he is going through puberty - a time of transformation and his acting out in his sneaking around etc is a symbol of that transformative time. His relationship with his mothers has deteriorated and decayed - they no longer feel like they can trust him, but his conversation with Toni brings him hope and the opportunity for all to grow through this dark time. its a really clever piece of costuming and I love it so much.

Karens dark teal green is interesting - there was actually quite a bit of teal at play in this episode. teal is a colour of clarity the darkness of it here suggests that clarity is coming but not fully in place yet - that Karen is more aware, but not yet fully accepting of the new reality she lives in.

Hens black and beige jumper is a wonderful choice as well - the beige representing neutrality and its being a soothing colour is important - accompanied by the black spots it has the affect of suggesting that the initial anger is passing and giving way to a more open time - one where calmness and the ability to see things more clearly come into play. the fact that this jumper has runs and frayed edges still maintains that idea that this has damaged Hen - that she is scared from this turn of events, even if she is more open to moving forward and accepting of Denny’s desire to have a relationship with his father.

Here we have a Denny in navy blue shirt and a yellow and green palm frond pattern - I thought originally they were bird of paradise flowers when I was watching live, but they are more obvious in the stills! palm fronds are an iinteresting and perfect choice - they are a symbol of peace and triumph - exactly what Denny is experiencing here - triumph in being allowed to see and build a relationship with his father and the resulting peace in his family dynamic that will come as a result.

I know I talk a lot about yellow being a colour of communication - and that still holds - but it is also a colour of anxiety and that very much matches up wit the look on Hens face. Her patchwork camouflage trousers hint at her uncertainty about the situation - she is trying to mask her nervousness and misgivings. These trousers are the same ones she was wearing at her leaving the 118 party - a time when she was also feeling nervous and had misgivings about becoming a doctor. Karen being in a navy jumpsuit with a variety of headdresses on is, again, an interesting choice - headdresses like those depicted are ceremonial (for the most part) and are a symbol of leadership, strength and bravery - perfect for Karen in this moment (and in general).

Just a quick aside before we move onto the ret of the mains! I don’t normally focus on the side and guest characters, but the guy whose wife got a vibrator lodged inside her is wearing the shirt Buck was wearing in his coma dream and that has me both cackling and wide eyed!

The scene in Bucks coma dream where he is wearing this shirt is one of mostly confusion and uncertainty for him - loosely speaking - its when he’s really trying to understand what exactly is going on in this world his mind has built for him - one where after that initial confusion we see him essentially embrace this new reality where he has what he thinks he wants - but what actually turns out to be something else - something that he doesn’t want/need. And here in this scene we have a guy going through the sexual version of the same thing - thinking that this different version of his sex life with his wife will be better - make things better and make her happy, when the reality is that if he’d had an actual conversation with her about it things would more than likely turned out differently. So major props to the wardrobe team for this little gem of a costume reuse!

Maddie rocking the layers here in Black, grey and red - very telling for this scene. layering is generally about protection - in an attempt to deflect something that is making you uncertain or causing anxiety. This is very much what is going on with Maddie here. the red top being the one closest to her skin - the bottom layer, shows that she is happy, in love and in a good place - the red of romance and passion, but it can also be a sign of danger and I think its is a combination of these two meanings here - the danger element coming from the fact that this new neighbour has got Maddie’s spidey senses tingling. The grey hoodie is a little bit of foreshadowing for her later silver top - the grey transforms into silver and becomes reflective (more on that in a moment). Then there is the black blazer - power and mystery. the mystery element is connected to who this woman is/ actually is while the power element is connected to Maddie having the power to control her own destiny in this moment - her returning the muffin tray is about her attempting to assert some authority over the situation. it is worth mentioning that aside from the Black blazer, they have Rhonda dressed in slightly darker versions of the the same colours when she gets caught - red high neck top with a darker grey jacket than Maddie’s hoodie!

Maddie in silver and being reflective is actually kind of a jarring outfit for her -and thats rather the point. Its not a colour we see her in and she wears greys infrequently as well - she tends towards a warmer and brighter palette with the accompanying blacks, so this is out of place for her - it highlights her discomfort and actually there is something in the reflecting of that discomfort towards Athena - the one person who knows exactly what Maddie means about not feeling safe or comfortable in ones own home. The metallic top is also reminiscent of plate armour and suggests Maddie is arming her self - getting ready to protect herself iff needed. Its a top that represents her trauma response bubbling beneath the surface ready to reassert itself if needed.

Buck in yet another grey jumper! honestly I’m beginning to wonder how many more grey jumpers they can find for him to wear!! This one is a much lighter grey than we saw him wear in season 5, and its also lighter than any we’ve seen him in so far in season 6. It follows on nicely from the one we saw him in in 6x12 when he was sleeping on Eddies couch and having meaningful conversations in the kitchen late at night! but it is also tv static grey - it has that fuzzy appearance, which in Buck terms means uncertainty and confusion. This is such an interesting choice for this scene and its vitally important for it as well.

This is Buck outright parenting Chris - completely on his own with no Eddie to be seen. The only other times we’ve seen this happen are during the shooting arc and in 4x08 when Chris runs to Buck after Eddie reveals to Chris he has a girlfriend. Before you all shout at me about the tsunami it doesn’t count because Eddie actively sets up that Buck and Chris time on screen, so his influence remains a part of the scene even if he isn’t present (It is also a trauma event and that means it sits separately). The shooting arc sits separately from this new scene and the 4x08 one by virtue of it being a trauma event - like the tsunami. We also know that Buck looking after Chris like this is a common thing from the canon text, however this is one of the few times we’ve seen it on screen and the first time we see it where Eddie is not even remotely present - making it a step up from the 4x08 scene where he is present via the tail end of a phone conversation.

The grey fuzzy jacket Buck wears in the 4x08 scene is darker and the fact the cookie scene has lighter grey is telling about the level of uncertainty Buck is feeling. this scene is one fraught with potential danger for Buck - his choices could anger or alienate Eddie and erode their relationship if he gets it wrong - he could get accused of stepping in where he doesn’t belong. It could also land a critical blow to his relationship with Chris - what he says could upset him or make Chris feel like Buck isn’t supportive etc, it is a fine line Buck has to tread and he does it masterfully here - giving him the confidence going forward. WE see the results of that in the cookie kitchen scene - Buck bantering with Chris and successfully parenting him - and not being good cop! So here we have costume highlighting the development of Buck and Christophers father son relationship!

The Poker Game!!!!

This gets its own little section because there is a lot going on! to start with I’m going to link to this meta about Bucks costume and this one about Eddies costume, because they still, for the most part, ring true. getting the full scene hasn’t really altered my opinions on their costumes per-say. I’ll add a bit more to them once you get to the stills of them!

We have Chief Miranda Williams in a black sequin and slightly sheer waterfall front top with gold jewellery, and Captain Jeshan Mehta in all black with this dark plum striped tie. A very deliberate choice to have the both of them in full black (except the tie). All of the characters wear black in this scene (Julie only has black shoes so kind of doesn’t count and I’ll explain why when we get to her) Both Buck and Eddie are wearing black shirts/turtlenecks and they are the ones with the power in the game (thanks to Bucks new found math skills) while Chief W and Captain M both have seniority in the real world and therefore power of a different kind. I’d even argue that Chief W has the ultimate power because she wises up and allows the boys to have their fun and thus the power remains with her regardless! the use of a waterfall front top is just another subtle reference to the water theme. the purple tie is also a deliberate choice - purple is the combination of the two jackets Buck and Eddie are wearing - red and blue! Purple is a colour of mystery (much like the black they’re all wearing is) but it’s also a colour of enlightenment and understanding our inner most thoughts and feelings. It being worn by Mehta connects this concept to the shooting and Buck and Eddie finally coming to terms with the realities of it and what it means going forward - them acknowledging their feelings etc and what it means for them, both individually and together.

Julie Rosen in a dark teal asymmetric dress with a high front slit and silver jewellery. Ok so things to focus on with this costume are the asymmetry and the colour teal. Asymmetry represents unbalance (for obvious reasons) and there are a couple of ways to interpret that in this scene - obviously things are unbalanced because Buck has an advantage with his math skills. there is also the fact that Julie is in on the hustle (her comment about Buck being bad at math is deliberate and pointed!) which pits the 3 members of the 118 against Chief Williams and Captain Mehta so its 3v2.

Then there is the teal - a colour of clarity, objectivity, support, earnestness and of being true to oneself. the other thing about teal is that it is a combination of blue and green - a combination of Buck and Eddie’s colours! As a side character and one who is in on the hustle, her costume is supposed to give us more information about our main characters and her dress is really doing that!

So here we have a scene centred on them where we have a connected character wearing a colour that is a combination of their individual colours and one which means clarity etc, the return of Captain Mehta whose name literally means crystal clear and Chief Williams - whose first name is Miranda - which means to be wondered at - can they make it any louder that Buddie is happening if they tried???

Well yes actually they can - because I seem to be doing nearly all of the non main characters tonight, lets talk about the croupier as well! Firstly we need to note her location at the table in relation to Buck and Eddie - she sits opposite them and directly in between them. She is wearing a black shirt with a rusty orangey brown rope pattern woven across it.

I know its not red, but this is yet another example of the show making use of what it can to keep the red string of fate metaphor active. Here we have the rope/string twisted and looped, suggesting things are being tied together and because of her location and the implication is that this poker game is ting Buck and Eddie even more closely together (it really is a date even if neither of them actually realise it!!)

We’ve had so many game, cards and fate metaphors thrown at us across the series, but especially this season, now we’re getting to the business end of things. We have all of the metaphors at play in this one scene - the universe screaming at you (as represented by Mehtas presence), the idea of playing a game to win - when you can’t lose, making the most of the hand you’ve been dealt, the gaining of knowledge and it all being tied up together by the red string of fate - represented by the croupier - who is, like I said, sat in front of and between Buck and Eddie - in front of being the operative point (the future)!

Do you want me to go on with all the subtext in this scene?!!

Then we get to Buck and Eddie - Buck sticking to type and rolling up his long sleeves - taking off his jacket and dressing himself down (a nice touch to add to the mini dressing down he gets from Chief Williams!) but him removing the red jacket is symbolic of him stepping back into himself and his normal role - cracking dumb jokes, being a golden retriever and also reasserts his uncertainty about his future - his desire to become a captain - the theme that has been bubbling along all season.

I will make a more full meta post specifically about Buck and Eddies watches, but for now - we get a better still to scream over! The watch that had been more or less hidden under Bucks sleeves for the duration of the poker game, is now revealed to us once Buck has won his steaks. black leather strap and a white face. black and white - things are black and white - time is black and white - its telling us that Buck is no longer in the dark (all his watches have been fully black up to now) and also that there are no grey areas!

Also they just look epically good so why wouldn’t I add in extra pictures of them for us all to appreciate!!

Everything I said about the choice to have Eddie in a turtleneck holds true - thanks to Joaquin Sedillio telling us that they were inspired by George Clooneys look in oceans 11 - a look that was inspired by golden age Hollywood.

I do want to mention the use of texture in the poker scene and this connects into Bucks burgundy velvet jacket. the scene uses texture very deliberately, only Buck and Chief Williams are wearing anything textured - her texture is rough, while Bucks is soft and smooth (as long as you brush it the right way!) they also contrast each other in terms of look - velvet is a very flat texture - its matt and absorbs light, unlike the sequins which bounce light around and sparkle, drawing the eye and reflecting light. it is the absorbing/ reflection aspect that is the mist interesting because it lays into the idea of showy versus understated - and that is actually giving us hints of Bucks growth - before he was all about being showy - bright and bold and going through the whole fake it till you make it thing and seemingly lacking substance. Now though we see a Buck who is more considered - his brush with death has made him less flashy and more internalised. (I also love that this absorbing concept plays on the fact that he ‘absorbed’ a lightning bolt and lived to tell the tale!!). the other thing about the velvet being absorbing is that it places the focus onto Buck - this scene is all about him and he is absorbing the attention (and revealing in it!)

I’ve put the photo above where I have because of the Athena and Buck connection. Athena wearing a reverse of Bucks poker suit - burgundy top black jacket. The Burgundy has the same meaning that we get with Bucks jacket - the deep love and passion and romance - it is telling us that Bathena are very happy and very in love - that its a deep love. The black leather jacket contrasts with Buck as well - it has a more reflective surface - this scene isn’t about Athena, its about Madney.

So we have a reverse parallel going on between Buck and Athena - something we’ve seen at play many times throughout the seasons combined with Bobby wearing a very Eddie shade of green - that khaki shirt is straight out of the Eddie Diaz playbook and isn’t a shade we see Bobby in that often - he’s often dressed in similarly muted shades to Eddie, but they are never that much of an army colour like this one is. In an episode that shows us Bobby and Athena being in love and happy and finding new things out about each other without any children being a part of the narrative. the show is being pretty on the nose about asking us to draw the parallel - especially when we’ve seen Christopher seeking his own independence.

The blue and green of it all

Honestly the amount of blue and green paralleling going on in this episode was insane! I spent a long time uhming and ahhing about how to present this - to put all the green together followed by the blue, or to keep the coupes together! I’m going to keep this fairly brief as this post is already reaching epic proportions (I write in a very scattered manner so thats how its already super long!!)

Green

First thing to note is that the greens get darker as the episode goes on - we start with Eddie in his khaki olive green, only this one is a much lighter shade and tonally has a lot more yellow going on which actually helps connect him to the first dining table scene and his yellow shirt. Its also important to note that he has his blue face watch on - which I’ve started calling his Christopher watch

This henley is the same one we see him wearing when he is at the Grant Nash house talking to Athena about his Abeula and her being taken advantage of - such a choice by the wardrobe team - foreshadowing the poker game hustle as well as playing on the theme of being taken advantage of and of cards (tarot cards!) they really are going to town with very deliberate repeat costumes since 5b!

We should remember that Hen is also sporting green in this episode - a very bright emerald green as well as Denny in army green and Karen in teal green at various points - they all darken within their own separate arc as well as fitting into the wider arc of the episode (see the Wilson family section at the beginning if you want a reminder).

Chimney wearing army green is showing us that he is ready to fight for his family - for Maddie - so that she can feel safe in her home.

And Bobby rounds out the green in a bottle green tee and jacket combo which is verdant and shows that his relationship with Athena is in full bloom.

This use of green getting increasingly darker is something we’ve been seeing at play throughout the season - we’ve had it with Buck, particularly in relation to the sperm donor storyline, but also in connection with Hen as well as its abundance in the coma dream. Like I’ve said a million times green is generally symbolic of growth and what we’re getting with its use in this episode and more widely this season is a deliberate choice to make that growth even more explicit - whatever story arc its connected to - Buck adn the sperm Donor, Hen and her attempts to connect with Denny so she can be a good parent to him and be supportive, or Bobby and his relationship with Athena and how he is getting a better understanding of her and how that is growing his love for her even more.

Blue

The blue doesn’t follow the same linear trajectory as the green - the colour starts dark, lightens up and then heads dark again in the most general sense, but it also brightens as the episode progresses, .

Athena is in both light blue and dark blue here

while in the same scene Bobby is also in dark blue - they are matching and complimenting each other. Dressing them both in blue at the same time is an indicator of shared trust and loyalty.

Chimney has on a blue jumper here,

which he is wearing over this blue check shirt that we see him in later on, so again dark heading slightly lighter. Check theory was working over time with Chimney in this episode - the only time we see him without check is when he’s in green. That is interesting to me - its making me think that the check is telling us that Chimneys home life is stable and happy, but that his work life might be less so - the blue and the fact that we’ve seen him in check in connection with various members of the firefam in the last couple of episodes - Buck post coma, Hen in this episode, and now Bobby when He and Athena come over for dinner.

Bobby is wearing this dusty blue polo after Rhonda has been caught.

I should point out here that Maddie is wearing a dark khaki green tee underneath her bright blue shirt which is a clever hint at the fact that this playdate she has set up is a trap - Maddie is waging war - fighting for her home and the ability to live in it without fear. The bright cobalt blue indicates ingenuity and enlightenment - playing into the trap that has been set for Rhonda. It is also a happy shade of blue - bright and cheerful it ties into the idea of comfort and contentment and indicates Maddie being able to return to feeling happy and secure in her home.

And finally we have Athena in this cobalt blue running tee and gilet - its a brighter blue than the cobalt of Maddie’s shirt, almost royal blue - it still shares the meaning though - enlightenment and happiness. Its telling us that Athena is finding joy in discovering both her enjoyment of running and her enjoyment of haring an activity with her husband. The otehr thing to note is a contniation of Buck and Athena being paralleled - here we have her in a blue gilet when she flirts and insitgates shower sexy times shortly after we’ve seen Buck attend the sex gone wrong call - wearing a gilet - with him then checking in on his previous relationships and hook ups to see if they were satisfied sexually with him - the loudness is getting louder!

Blue is a colour that has been slowly increasing in frequency for Buck and I have a theory about it - bear with me here because we need to look at when he wears the colour - I’m not going to include them all or I’d be her all day - the ones i’ve excluded are either denim shirts/jackets or where blue is one of the colours rather than the only colour of a top!!

Season 1 - Buck and Abby go on a date - the only time we see Buck wear blue in season 1 and its his blue suit (with a white shirt) Season 2 - Buck wears blue 7 times in season 2 but the two key moments we need to look at come early on in the season 2x01 - the blue henley he’s wearing when he finds Maddie in his apartment - its the first non uniform outfit we see him post Abby leaving and comes after Eddie has been introduced (coincidentally this is the same henley we know we’re going to see Eddie wearing later in the season!). the second one comes in 2x04, when Buck talks to Maddie about Eddie struggling with paperwork to get Chris the help and support he needs (its the boy crush conversation!) Season 3 - Buck also wears blue 7 times in season 3. The 3 we need to focus on are; 3x04 Bucky talks to Chase Mackey and sues the city, 3x06 Bucks return to the 118 post lawsuit and 3x16 - Buck goes to a bar and meets Red. Season 4 - the number of blue shirts goes up dramatically to 10 (especially as its a short season) and we’re interested in 6 of them. 4x03 - games night at he Diaz house when Eddie is dismantling technology and Buck has to do some parenting. 4x05 we have 2 - Peru Buck and the blue jacket he wears when Maddie gives him the postcards he sent her over the years. 4x07 Buck tries dating Veronica. 4x12 Buck, Eddie and Taylor discuss the treasure hunt at Bucks loft (petty Eddie drinking beer scene). 4x14 Buck sleeps on Eddies couch and parents Chris after the shooting. Season 5 Buck wears blue 9 times in season 5 and we’re looking at 5 of them, 5x09 Buck washing up in the loft while Taylor is being distant (pink marigolds scene). 5x11 Buck and Taylor have dinner at the Diaz house - Buck and Eddie argue. 5x13 Maddie’s return from Boston and also Buck breaks down Eddies door and was in the room! 5x18 the blue suit he wears to HenRen’s vow renewal. Season 6, we’re just over half way through and are already up to 19 blue buck outfits!! the key ones are 6x01 - the lasagne kitchen scene. 6x02 post convention locker room talk with Hen, 6x04 Madney apartment Buck tells Maddie about the year of yes, a second one is the navy top he wears when getting drunk with Hen and then the blue striped shirt when he tells C&K he’ll be their donor. 6x07 there are 3 blue shirts when he fails to donate sperm, 6x09 when he tells the firefam that his sperm has helped C&K get pregnant. 6x11 when he comes home from the hospital post lightning strike. 6x12 while he’s trying to recover at his loft and then a second one when he has is appointment with Dr Salazar. 6x13 the superpowers scene.

Eddie also wears Blue at some key moments

Season 3 - 3x03 post tsunami ‘theres no one in the world I trust more with my son than you’ scene. 3x4 - chris wakes from a nightmare. 3x09 therapy with frank. 3x12 Chris has his skateboarding accident and Eddie shouts at Ana. Season 4 - 4x08 Eddie introduces Ana to Chris as his girlfriend. 4x14 - the will reveal. Season 5 - 5x10 Chris has a nightmare. 5x14 dream Eddie in the kitchen serving Chris breakfast. 5x17 talks to Buck about his family - while in Christophers bedroom. 5x18 the suit he wears to HenRen’s vow renewal. Season 6 - 6x08 dressing Chris for his school dance. 6x09, sleeping on the sofa. 6x13 poker night.

Why have I written all of this out you ask - well because I want to show you how all of these scenes (and the ones I’ve not included in the list also fit the theme) are water finding its level related. They are all very key moments when either Buck or Eddie are finding a new level or at turning points - not only in their relationship with each other, but also with Christopher.

All of Eddies wearing of blue connects to Christopher, until the one from this episode - the first time we see Eddie wearing blue while doing something not related to Christopher. I included the dream sequence Eddie in the list because he literally starts coughing up water.

As for Buck - again most of the scenes (even the ones with Maddie) are connected to Eddie and Chris in some way, even if indirectly (lawsuit I’m looking at you) There are a few exceptions - such as Maddies return from Boston, the vow renewal suit, Buck washing up or the sperm donor ones and obviously the one from season 1! I included the Abby date one because Buck chokes on water in that scene and the Taylor washing up scene - Buck literally has his hands in water. The vow renewal is Buck breaking freed of his bad relationship. As for the sperm donor arc, while not directly connected to Eddie or Chris, the parenting connection is a key one - after all much of Bucks journey to finding his level is connected to the idea of parenthood and dad not donor v donor not dad.

As for the lighter blue specifically - which is a post Taylor exclusive colour for Buck and ties into the theme of deepening ones understanding of self and the growth that comes from that - the idea of choosing to be happy. Buck choosing to break free of his depressing relationship was him choosing himself, choosing to be happy. The post Lev dying conversation Buck has with hen in the locker room is about Bucks search for happiness - about him wanting to be happy for himself. The phone call where he reveals that C&K are pregnant - that is him being happy for his friends, but also him feeling the glow of happiness from being able to help them achieve that pregnancy. The blue top we had him wearing in MacArthur park in last weeks episode is showing him choosing to move on from his brush with death - accepting it for what it is and choosing to be happy (whether that s just happy to be alive - something he was clearly grappling with, or a more generalised happiness remains to be seen) that is why we see him looking contemplative - he is choosing to put that life changing event away and accept it for what it is and the chance it has given him to be happy going forward. This theming holds true for other characters too - Athena in light blue is about her happiness - getting her parents sorted in the aftermath of her fathers stroke is making her happy.

So this new light blue top we have Buck wearing (which is the most reminiscent of the one Lev is wearing) is very much about him being happy - we see the joy he feels at being good at something, the happiness he gets from being with his Diaz boys and sharing in happy banter with them and basking in the glow of being part of a family.

Christopher

I’ve saved Christopher for last this week because he also plays into the Blue and green theming - in fact he straddles across the two colours and that makes him interesting.

Firstly we have this seafoam green tee with a pineapple on the pocket. Not only do we have a pineapple though - no we have a pineapple with a sunset scene in the fruit section. Yes you read that right - it is an actual sunset!!! So here we have a physical embodiment of the sunset theme that has been in play since season 4 - a theme that Christopher has always been connected to indirectly - construction on sunset or Bucks heart drawing with sunset colouring and misunderstanding the assignment - both times when Buck has been babysitting and both in some way connected to Christophers homework - Ana teaching Eddie Math in connection to the first one - making the whole Ana being construction on the way to Buck metaphor even more obvious, especially now in light of this new homework scene with a sunset incorporated in it!

The pineapple itself is also interesting - there are a couple of meaning we can attach to its use here. Historically, pineapples were status symbols - they were a show of wealth due to the difficulty in growing them. those who could afford them would display them prominently at dinner parties and the like to show their wealth. Here Christopher is the wealth - he is the thing both Buck and Eddie place most highly. and the scene we see this top in proves that - Christopher being an active part of their conversation about Bucks newfound superpowers - his opinions and comments are a valuable pat of the conversation to both Eddie and Buck. Christophers inclusion, comfort and confidence in this dynamic is being highlighted here - showing the difference to how he was treated in the dynamic between Eddie Chris and Ana.

The modern pineapple meaning is as an emoji - where it is an indicator of relationship status - meaning ‘its complicated’ Need I say more!!!!

Then we have the blue tee from the kitchen cookie scene. A tee with little surfing skeletons on! I’ve said it many times before and I’ll say it again. This show is just so so good at using the kids costumes to tell us things. first up the blue - Bucks colour and its important that Chris is wearing it in this scene where he is alone with Buck. I talked about the buck in grey in both the two scenes where he is parenting with out Eddie, well the same rings true for Chris here - he is in blue for both of the scenes (a pale blue long sleeve tee with the dinosaur wearing sunglasses which show space ships in their reflection). then there is the fact that we have surfboards reappearing on Christophers clothing - the surfing thing has always been connected to Buck in some way - both overtly and covertly. Chris was wearing a shirt with surfers on at Bucks recertification party and the last time he wore something surf related (for definite) was in 4x13 - when Carla returned to the Diaz’s and told Eddie to make sure he was following his heart and not Christophers. The other thing to note is that both of those incidents proceeded a major event - the Tsunami and the shooting. this one has skeletons on and thats making me both nervous and excited. We’ve been saying all season that Chris is due some sort of trauma or incident and I’m now very much expecting it to happen in the next two episodes and for it to be something that pushes Buddie even closer together. those Skeletons are (to me at least) suggesting that the current set up of Bucks relationship with Christopher is about to change - that it will become the old version - a dead version and that post event they will have a new and different form of relationship (as in the father-son thing will become more concrete in the same way that Buck and Bobbys has this season) because all of the surfing theming has been used at moments that have really pushed Buck and Christophers dynamic forward and increased the parent-child bond!

The thing with these to colours is that this season especially, we’ve seen Chris wearing shirts that contain both colours a couple of times - both in and out of dream sequences and both connected to parenting.

We have Chris breaking his punishment and Eddie being an amazing dad. This one is especially close in terms of colours to the two shades from this episode and now I have more context for it, the smashing and merging of the two colours would appear to be foreshadowing the merging of Buck and Eddie as coparents.

And coma Chris - who Buck has to chose to ignore/ leave behind. leaving him feeling guilty, but actually showing that he is a good parent to Chris because he recognises that he can only get back to the real one if he abandons this Chris (a chris who is a representation of Bucks own childhood abandonment issues - and therefore it is showing us Buck breaking the cycle)

In summation - the use of costume and colour was so much more out there in terms of helping with the storytelling and ensuring the Buck and Eddie as a couple message was made loud and clear - more than we’ve ever seen before - its been slowly ramping up and now they’ve taken the breaks off!!

Thank you as always for reading - it really does mean the world to me that you're interested in the costuming of our wee woo show!! I’ll shut up now and let you have your lives back. If you’ve made it through the whole thing then you are my MVP and you get this trophy! 🏆 I’m off to rock in the corner now I’ve finished this epic.

I would tag below but it won’t let me (maybe i wrote too many words 😂 so I’ll be reblogging with the tag list!

Until the next episode! 💜💜💜

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1d--louhaz · 1 year

Text

After Show Surprise (HarryxReaderxFlorence)

AN: This is my first time writing something like this and it sat in my drafts forever so lmk what you think. As always idk how to finish a story so I may continue it, there’s not much harryxreaderxflo content on here but I liked writing abt it so if you have thoughts or ideas reply or ask!

WC 1.8K

Tonight is Harry's last night at MSG, you are beyond proud of him and ready for the few days he has off before moving to his next residency. You have seen this show enough times that you know when he is almost finished with his set, so you slip away from your seat to set up a surprise for Harry in his dressing room. After a show, he has so much adrenaline pumping through his veins and he can't wait to get back to the hotel to rip your clothes off, so as a surprise for his last night you thought you'd let him have a sneak preview. Usually after the show he comes back to his dressing room and has some alone time as he comes down from the high of being on stage.

You quickly make your way to the room; having been there for 2 weeks you finally have a good understanding of all the hallways backstage. When you get to Harry's room you find your bag and begin changing clothes. You can hear Harry start his final goodbyes, so you know you have about 5 minutes until he gets off the stage and makes his way to you. You switch out your usual concert fit of ripped jeans and a cropped tee, for a sexy black body suit. It's a combination of lace and satin, with the lace detail in just the right spots so you can show off all your assets. You pair the bodysuit with a satin robe and get comfortable on the couch while you wait for Harry to get back. You sit back right in the middle of the comfy, oversized leather couch, cross your legs, and drape the robe off your shoulders so everything is on display.

You're looking down adjusting your top when you hear the doorknob click open. You look up, smiling ready to greet Harry but there's much more shock than enthusiasm in his eyes. Before you can register the message his face is sending you, you catch a flash of blonde hair move behind his shoulder and hear a melodic singsong "Surprise, Y/N!" You would recognize that voice anywhere. Florence, now standing beside Harry as he quickly shut the door, got a full view of your surprise.

"Erm, Y/N, Flossie was able to make it to the second half of the show and we were gonna surprise you." Harry laughed, walking toward you. "But I see now I should have given you a heads up because you had other plans for tonight." You laugh along at Harry's comment trying to cover up how mortified you are in this moment, instinctively you pull your robe closed over your chest. "Obviously I am a little underdressed," you state trying to make a joke to feel less awkward. You stand up to kiss Harry and try to act normal when you turn to Florence. "This is a wonderful surprise! I am so glad to see you, just wasn't expecting it," you hug her too.

"This is embarrassing," you blush, looking down. "Give me a second and I'll get dressed." Florence takes your chin and tilts your head up, "there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, you're stunning. Have to say, also not what I was expecting, but I can't complain." She smiles and nudges Harry, "Is this the kinda treatment you're getting every night, H? I'm kinda jealous."

"I know, I'm a lucky guy," he responds, smiling at you and taking your hand. They're being so complimentary you almost forget how exposed you are right now. "You guys are too much, but still, let me put some real clothes on. Come and sit," you lead them to the couch you had been sitting on, and as you turn to find your bag of clothes Florence grabs your arm. "Don't worry, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I mean, you've seen more of the two of us on set anyway. Plus, I won’t be long, I don't want to spoil whatever you had planned for the evening."

Still semi-reluctant, you settle on the couch next to her and catch up for a few. You and Harry had been on tour for ages, and it had been so long since had time to talk. The three of you sat on the couch together laughing and catching up. Harry opened a bottle of wine, a few rounds later, hours that felt like only minutes had passed. You felt like it was getting colder, you looked down and realized your robe was slipping off. You were suddenly aware again that you were in fact basically naked and quickly fumbled with the robe. Florence stopped you, "you don't need to do that," and she reached up and brushed the hair out of your face.

You felt all of your blood rush to your face, as the thought of Florence flirting with you finally registered. You glanced up at Harry, but he was, as usual, hard to read. The two of you had been with a third in the past but never anyone you actually knew. And as far as you know, Florence didn't know about that, so she was coming to this conclusion all on her own. Harry wouldn't have ambushed you with this so he couldn't have set it up but thinking back three glasses of wine deep you were probably putting the energy out there all on your own.

Feeling all the tension, Florence spoke first, "Sorry if that was too forward, but I've been thinking it all night." Although you had never really talked to Harry about inviting Florence into anything with the two of you, you had considered it. It was hard not to, spending all that time on set with them watching them together and their chemistry and imagining yourself in the scene with them.

"Don't worry about it," you reply to her. "It's crossed my mind too." Suddenly you notice every detail of her face, and how her chest rises and falls with every breath. You look up to Harry again to get a sign of what the next step should be and the look on his face seems to say it all. You can tell he's studying the energy between you and Flo the look in his eye says he likes what he sees.

You turn back to Florence, but before you even say anything, she is slipping your robe the rest of the way off your shoulders, exposing your skin to the cool air, your nipples poking through the lace. She cups your face in her hands and pulls you in, embracing your lips with hers. They're much softer than you expected, kissing her is gentle and warm. You intertwine your fingers in her golden curls, deepening the kiss, your tongue find hers, her hand finding your breast. She takes your nipple between her finger and thumb and rolls it meticulously, bringing a soft moan from your lips.

You feel Harry's hand on your waist from behind. He places rough, wet kisses to your neck, as his hands explore your body too. They know their way around you too well, and he finds exactly what he's looking for. He finds your core between your legs and begins to massage you.

Placed between them, there is such juxtaposition to the way they each kiss you; yet, there's so much passion coming from both sides. You begin to pull Florence's jacket off her shoulders, and she quickly helps you with the process. Your lips break apart just long enough for you to pull her dress over her head. "Perfect, now we're even." You smile. She is wearing a white bralette, just as see through as your top, nipples perfectly poking through.

Harry is still using his expertise of your body against you; you can barely think straight. Before you combust, you lift your hips off the couch, forcing Harry's pursuit to pause, and push Florence onto her back. You begin kissing down her body. Starting with slow, soft kisses on her neck. Then you move down her chest, placing gentle nips and kisses. You massage one of her breasts in one hand while slipping the other out of her bralette. She hums her content as you kiss your way to her core. You leave gentle licks and kisses across her stomach and thighs until you find your target. She wiggles under you in response to your first contact, as you begin licking and sucking her clit, you can’t help but moan in unison with her.

“This is a great view and all, but don’t forget about me!” Harry traces his fingers down your back and kisses your shoulder. You pause your pursuit of Flo, to which she groans in frustration, to turn back and kiss Harry. “Don’t worry, you’ll get your turn next,” you reassure him. But as you turn back towards Florence, he grabs your hips and pulls you against him. “No, I want to give you yours!” he demands as his hand finds its way back between your legs.

You bite your lip, trying to stifle your moans, because of course Harry knows your weakness. But he knows you all too well, before you can contradict him, he’s got you up on your knees and he’s slipping out of his jeans. You lock eyes with Flo before she even says anything, her desire is all over her face -and yours. “Oh, I didn’t forget about you,” you whisper to her. Your tongue leaves a long soft trace up to her core. Just as you begin your pursuit again, you feel Harry slam into you from behind. Your gasp is softened by Florence.

The impact of Harry’s shaft radiates throughout you. It takes all your strength not to succumb to his throbbing member, as you still massage and caress Florence’s whole body. As you begin to grow higher your moans deepen and ripple across her core pushing her over the edge. The chorus of moans is what you needed to meet her there, letting out a final moan as your orgasm pulses through you. You felt Harry pull out as you fell forward resting your head on Florence’s stomach.

“Oh my god” she panted, running her hands through your hair. “I know” you looked up at her, still shocked that she was even here. Harry sat down next to you and took a sip of his drink, “so, Flo, how long are you in town?”

#harry fic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles #harryxreader #florence x harry x reader #harry styles smut #florence pugh #dont worry darling #harry styles x florence pugh x reader #florence x reader #harry

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cerseimikaelson · 1 month

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HIII CERSEI GUESS WHOS BACK (YOUR FELLOW WOTG FAN) WITH MY THOUGHTS ON COTG:

It is such a funny book, my fav jokes being the 'shrek, fiona, donkey' joke and an underrated classic in my mind, the scene where percy is like "There was screaming, crying and running in circles, and that was ✨just me✨" when talking about blanche's story (its so brutally honest and funny in a vulnerable way, which I will expand later on with the vulnerable part of it). It had so many iconic moments

It was a very low stakes, slow plot. You can tell Rick wrote it for the experience of reading our fav characters again (adding on to the fact that rick was made to write it by disney as additional marketing for the show, you can tell the plot wasnt thought of much), and ive seen people get mad over it, id love to know what you think!

This is a bit of a touchy topic. I've seen the people on the internet calling percabeth abusive with the constant name calling and the physical ??violence?? ( i obviously dont agree, but thats another topic), but something I've observed that everything that anti percabeths pointed out was toned down in the book?? Another post confirms that the majority of seaweed brains in the book was from percys pov and not annabeth actually saying it (like when hes looking at her expression and saying things like 'she looked like she was trying to say,....') and also when it comes to physical 'violence' (it feels so wrong to say bc i cant find another word lolol), the only things i found while rereading were 'lightly pinched my arm' and 'nudged me with her toe' which is wayyyy more toned down than ricks usual 'swatting my arm' or 'punching me' or 'judoflipped me'

One thing I admire so much about this book is the way he's written the characters vulnerability. percys way more open when he talks about crying whereas in the books its brushed over a lot, which is something the lovely @demigods-posts pointed out. annabeth tearing up when sally compliments her on something small like a cupcake, grover scared of percy and annabeth leaving him, and ofc percy. i saw someone interpret the river god scene as a ptsd induced panic attack, and i admire how rick has written it with so much angst, but still kept it light for the tone of the books.

another thing i love is how the characters dont revolve around percy as a main character (which is probably something rick learned while writing the tv show). annabeth has hobbies of her own, she's in her dream school, she is a busy woman and good for her. grover regularly goes to camp, and has his own conflicts with his gf and stuff. sally and paul are on their own arc with the baby on the way.

the fluff needs a special mention. every moment is so cute and sweet, there are way too many instances, especially with grover and percy which there was a severe lack of in hoo. them turning to seven year olds, percy and annabeths daily night iris message routine, the domesticity of the jacksons family

As usual, I'd love to hear your thoughts and opinions too, im so happy i get to talk about it with you :))

Heyyy friend, how are you? Thanks for the ask!

Since you mentioned her, I LOVED Blanche. Iris is one of my favourite goddesses, so it was great seeing her. And I loved watching a god actually be ignored by their teenage child for once instead of the other way around. Blanche being a propel rebel with the monochrome was golden. (also, pink hummingbirds? lol)

It is obvious there wasn't much in terms of an actual plot with real structure, but it was fun and light-hearted and it does set the foundation for something in the future. Not all quests need to be high stakes, all-hands-on-deck, the world is coming undone. I liked watching the trio have semi normal lives (meeting up for smoothies after school) instead of constantly being on hero mode.

I genuinely had no clue people were upset about Percabeth's interaction in this. But seriously, violence? Did those people forget Annabeth judo-flipped Percy in New Rome, or was it okay then because it was a grand romantic gesture? How is punching someone in the arm to tell them they are being an idiot (provided you don't turn them black and blue of course) abuse? Percy and Annabeth are in a relationship, obviously they are going to be tactile with each other. Not to mention, people often nudge each other in real life and nobody shouts abuse then. I am rambling now but honestly this is the first I've heard of this and I have opinions.

I know Rick wrote the PG version, but can we talk about Zeus literally objectifying Ganymede at brunch and nobody but Hera (and Percy silently) batting an eye? Honestly, I am not a hardcore Zeus hater (although he is an a**hole) but the way Rick writes him he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. I officially volunteer to be Hera's divorce attorney.

I really liked the idea of Annabeth having a secret fan club and having dinner with Sally, Percy and Paul every night. That was excellent.

I am already brainstorming theories about what the third book is going to be. Does it matter that WOTG isn't even out yet? Absolutely not. I kind of want it to be about Athena because her interactions with Percy are always 10/10, but that probably won't happen.

Feel free to send me asks about your favourite gods and goddesses, any headcanons you may have or anything you wish to discuss about PJO. You can also find me on ao3!

#cerseimikaelson #percy jackson #percy jackson series #pjo fandom #the chalice of the gods #ask #greek mythology

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horanghaejamjam · 7 months

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Candlelight Dances - {XMH}

↪ Summary: It was a relationship that was destined to fail. He couldn’t betray his family and you were set to marry his brother. Despite this, fate had odd ways of working and you found yourself willing to do anything to be with Minghao, even if only for a night.

↪ Pairings: Vampire Prince Minghao x Reader

↪ Rating: M 18+

↪ Genre: Vampire Au / Forbidden Lovers / Smut / Fluff / Slight Angst

↪ Word Count: 18.1k

↪ Warnings/Contents: While the reader uses gender neutral terms, it is implied that they wear dresses and appear feminine. Vampire themes including biting, and blood drinking, Forbidden relationship, Mentions of arranged/forced marriage. Smut (minors dni), Unprotected sex, Switch!Hao and Switch!Reader (Mainly dom Hao), Semi public sex, Teasing with a paintbrush, Slight Primal/Prey aspects, Pet Names (Dove, Angel, Darling), Use of clothing as restraint, Nipple play, Oral (male receiving)

↪ Side Notes: If you saw this story before it is a repost! Tumblr ran into an issue with the other one and half of it basically disappeared so I had to repost it. Sorry for the spam y'all istg tumblr hates me.

This is a spinoff of my story Vampire Kisses with slight changes. While this can be read as a standalone there are some references to the other story. Also huge shoutout to the wonderful @xiubaek-13 for once again agreeing to beta read for me. I appreciate your input so much my dear.

This is also officially the longest story I've ever written. Words cannot describe my love for Minghao

↪ Click here to see my other Seventeen stories

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↪ Click here to join my fic taglist

When you were younger, you never believed in the thought of love at first sight. You heard stories from friends and family, but you never believed that it could truly happen. Afterall, love was a very strong emotion, and you felt there was no way anyone could feel that without truly knowing who someone was. That value stuck with you into adulthood, and even more so when you found out about your arranged marriage. You were set to be wed to the first heir of a very influential vampire politician, a requirement by law to keep things balanced between humans and vampires. You had agreed, knowing your family would benefit from the union greatly, but it didn’t mean you were actually happy about it. You were doing this strictly for business, agreeing to marry a man you had never even seen before. How were you supposed to feel anything towards someone you knew nothing about? Little did you know that you would start questioning yourself the moment you moved into the Wen family manor. Before you knew it, you were falling head over heels, not for your fiancé, but for his younger brother.

The moment you first met Minghao was vividly engraved in your mind, replaying like a movie scene on rewind. You had just begun to settle in and get used to the family when he and his brother, Junhui, had returned from a business matter. Minghao was, without a doubt, the most gorgeous being you had ever laid eyes on. From his long black hair that was tied back to show his sharp yet dark eyes, to his tall and slender figure dressed elegantly in a floor length coat. Even with the majority of his body hidden, you could already tell the rest of him was just as delicate and precise as his facial features. It gave him a mysterious aura which, combined with the confidence that radiated off his being, would normally intimidate you. In this case, however, it made him all the more alluring and you swore you felt your heart stop when he smiled kindly in your direction. You knew you were supposed to pay attention to Jun at that moment, but you couldn’t help your eyes from wandering back over to Minghao.

From that moment forward, you found yourself seeking out the younger vampire's company whenever you could. At first it was just brief conversations in the hallway, then it was going for walks around the manor, until finally you found yourself sneaking out before the sun even went down to see him in his study. You learned a lot about him in that short amount of time, and by now you knew his schedule like the back of your hand. As the second son of the Wen family, he didn’t have as many obligations as his brother did. Most of his endeavors required assisting his family in diplomatic matters with a few side tasks here and there. When those were done, he preferred to spend his time working alone in his private study. He was usually up long before the rest of his family, already staining his clothes with paint before the sun even began to set. When you questioned him about it he simply said the daylight wasn’t a concern for him and he preferred the silence that daylight offered. He was always a man of few words so he didn’t really explain much more than that despite your curiosity. You decided not to question his strange schedule too much since it allowed you to spend more time with him without his family stealing your attention.

You learned very quickly that Minghao had quite the eye for art and fashion, and he was extremely talented with a paintbrush. There were many nights where you found yourself curled up on the armchair he kept in the corner, watching quietly while he worked on his latest masterpiece. Occasionally he would glance back at you or ask your opinion of his work, but most of the time the two of you remained in comfortable silence until he decided to call it a night. Other nights you two would sit together and share a drink, simply talking about whatever came to mind at that moment. Minghao definitely enjoyed your presence, and you found yourself seeking his the longer you stayed with him.

If anyone asked, you would lie and say that Minghao was helping you with your anxiety about the upcoming wedding. Not exactly a lie, but not quite the truth either. While his presence did relieve your worries, you also found that your heart beat for him in a way it never would for Jun. You wanted to be close to him, to talk with him, hear his voice, touch him, and be with him any chance you could. You couldn’t ignore the way his touch lingered on your skin, or the way his voice soothed you like a soft lullaby you would never tire of hearing. The way you could stare at him for hours, saying nothing but feeling that his presence said enough. There was still so much to learn about him, and yet you felt like you had known him for years. Your own personal mystery that you could unravel at your own pace if only you had the freedom to do so. Every time you were together, it was your own little paradise, and one you dreaded leaving every time the sun threatened to peek through his curtains. It was wrong, and you knew it, but sooner or later you would need to face the obvious truth: you were madly in love with Minghao.

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“I had a feeling that I would find you here,” your head shot up from its spot between your knees to see the man that was currently occupying your thoughts. Minghao stood a few feet away from you, his familiar black coat flowing slightly in the breeze. He was standing under one of the many trees that lined the manors garden, the leaves shielding him from the few sun rays that started to peek over the horizon. You had been sitting tucked away behind the fountain, back pressed against the cool marble as you waited for the sun to rise, assuming that no one would follow you out. It seems you underestimated the youngest vampire though, since he was now staring down at you from his spot leaning against the tree, expression blank and his arms crossed over his chest.

“What are you doing out here?” you asked as you scrambled to sit up, “the sun…”

“The sun is about to rise I know,” Minghao cut you off, “don’t worry I don’t plan on being out here long.” He picked himself up and walked over to where you were sitting, running a gloved hand through the water rushing out of the fountain before taking a seat beside you. “You startled everyone by running out earlier you know, I was going to wait for you to come back but after a while I got worried.”

“I’m sorry for running out like that, I didn't mean to scare you,” you muttered, “I guess I just got overwhelmed with all the sudden wedding planning.” The planning you were referring to being dress fitting and decorating that had been forced onto you when Jun got too busy. Minghao had volunteered to help you out given how much you two had bonded over design. It had seemed like a good idea at first, but you quickly became frustrated with the constant back and forth. That, combined with your mixed feelings for Minghao and the fact that he was helping prepare you to marry his brother created too much tension and before you knew it, you were rushing out the door and finding refuge in the garden.

“That’s probably my fault,” Minghao sighed, resting a hand on your shoulder, “I was the one who got a bit too invested.” The leather of his glove felt much too thick against you, almost like a cruel reminder of the distance between you. You knew it was your own fault for falling in love with him when you were engaged to his brother, but if anything that made it harder on you. You were falling victim to your own feelings and there was nothing you can do about it.

“It’s not your fault,” you groaned, “it’s mine.” Minghao didn’t respond but the tightening grip on your shoulder let you know that he was listening. “This whole wedding has been really hard for me and I guess my emotions just got the best of me and I got overwhelmed,” you explained. Minghao hummed softly before pulling his hand away and sitting a bit straighter, the light splash from the fountain becoming a bit much for him to handle as you watched him wipe the back of his neck. You felt the soft mist as well, but if anything it was a welcome sensation that helped to calm your nerves.

“Still I’m sure my pestering didn’t help so for that I apologize. I know this can’t be easy on you and it’s a lot to get used to, I just wanted to try and make it a bit easier.” You quickly shook your head at his apology.

“Hao stop, nothing anyone does will make this easy on me.” You flinched as your words came out harsher than you intended, but if Minghao noticed he didn’t comment on it.

“Why is that do you think?” he asked, causing you to sigh. You couldn’t tell if he genuinely had no idea how you felt or if he did and just didn’t want to admit it.

“It’s complicated,” you muttered, “even if I wanted to tell you I probably couldn’t.” This time your words seemed to affect Minghao as you watched him frown slightly. He turned his head away and opened his mouth as if to say something but you cut him off.

“It’s getting pretty bright out you know, aren’t you worried about the sun?” You looked up at the sky to see it was much lighter than before. Minghao mirrored your actions with a hand shielding his eyes, only to shrug slightly.

“It’s not too bright out yet, I’ll be fine. I’m not as sensitive to the sun as my brother, remember?” he reminded.

“I thought you just meant you preferred the brightness,” you confessed, “you never really explained that.”

“What fun is it if I tell you everything right away?” Minghao teased, only to stiffen up a bit when you frowned at him, “But if you really want to know I am a halfblood vampire. Unlike my brother who was born a vampire, I was born a human and turned into a vampire when I got older. My body is still semi human because of this so I am not as sensitive to things like the sun. It will still hurt but nothing I can’t manage.” You were a bit caught off guard by his sudden honesty, but figured it was better to take advantage of it rather than question him.

“I didn’t realize halfbloods were a thing, I thought you all were the same,” you confessed, “so does that technically make you, you know?”

“Adopted?” Minghao asked with a slight giggle, “You don’t have to be shy, I won't bite, but yes I am. My birth parents were humans who worked at the manor, and my current family took me in after they passed away.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” you sympathized.

“Don’t be. That was many years ago and I barely remember them, these guys have always felt more like my family and I would do anything for them.”

“I guess in that way we are the same,” you mused, “I mean I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my family.” Minghao sighed beside you, running a hand through his hair.

“I know this situation isn’t the most ideal for you, but I encourage you to at least open up a bit. You are already part of the family to us, you just need to see that.” Minghao’s words echoed through your mind almost teasingly, a painful reminder of the situation you dragged yourself into. Family, that is all Minghao would ever see you as, his family. The woman who would soon marry his brother and be his sister, when you couldn’t help but wish he was the one you were marrying. You wanted nothing more than to confess that to him, have it where the wedding dress he was designing was for him and not for Jun, but you knew that couldn’t happen. You had made an agreement and you knew the political importance of your wedding. Jun was the heir of the Wen family and was required to marry a born human to keep a power balance between humans and vampires. You probably weren’t the first choice, but you were a young woman with no current political ties so to the Wens you were the perfect candidate. Minghao may still have the status of being related to the Wen family, but in terms of power he was still the bottom of the totem pole. It was something he seemed to enjoy since he had more freedom, but you couldn't help but wonder what would be different if you were allowed to choose which brother you would marry.

“Can I ask you something?” hearing Minghao hum in reply you moved to face him properly, “You’re the second in command when Jun takes over right? So does that mean you’ll be in an arranged marriage as well?” His eyes widened slightly as your question caught him off guard, but that expression quickly changed into a smirk.

“Why would you want to know something like that?” he teased, giggling slightly as you stuttered to try to come up with an explanation, “I’m just teasing Y/N relax. The marriage rule only applies to the head of the family. Honestly the rule doesn’t make much sense to me personally but it’s just how things run around here.”

“So it doesn’t apply to you then?” you clarify.

“No it doesn’t, I have no plans of taking over the family so I can marry whoever I want.” He locks eyes with you when he says that and you could have sworn you felt his demeanor change before he was clearing his throat and standing up. “I’d love to stay and talk more but I would prefer not to stay in the heat,” he explained. Most of his body was covered in his usual black attire, but you could see his cheeks and neck turning more red than normal. You quickly realized that the sun had fully emerged while you were talking and was probably taking its toll on the young vampire.

“Sorry I shouldn’t have kept you outside so long,” you quickly apologized.

“Don’t be, it was my decision to come after you,” Minghao assured, reaching out to pat your head softly, “I just don’t like the heat, and besides I do have a few things to finish before bed so I should really get back to work. I will see you later tonight Y/N,” and with that he was walking back to the manor, leaving you standing alone in the garden. You half debated running after him but decided against it, sitting back against the fountain and taking advantage of the daylight to be alone with your thoughts.

You stayed out in the garden for what you assumed was a few more hours before eventually retiring back to your room. Closing and locking the door behind you, you quickly washed yourself off and got changed into more comfortable clothes before crawling into bed. You were actively trying to adjust to the nocturnal life living with vampires, and to do so you were taking more naps during the day. At first the sunlight had made it impossible to fall asleep, but eventually you got used to it with the help of blackout curtains that you often kept closed. With the comfortable darkness surrounding you, it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep, the conversation with Minghao still running through your mind.

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You woke up a few hours later to a soft knocking at your door. Groaning softly, you sat up and rubbed at your eyes before carefully slipping out of bed and walking over to the door. To say you were shocked to see Minghao standing at the door was an understatement. His coat had been discarded, exposing a white button up that he had partly undone and the sleeves rolled up to expose his arms. His hair was tied back as usual and his hands were covered in various colors of paint, letting you know that he’d probably been working this whole time. You couldn’t deny how attractive he looked like this, managing to look elegant even when he was supposed to be a mess. Meanwhile you literally had just rolled out of bed and probably looked like that, making you want to shy away from the young vampire's gaze.

“Sorry did I wake you?” he asked, taking in your appearance.

“Not at all,” you lied with a soft yawn, “I’m honestly surprised that you’re not asleep at this time though.”

“I got carried away with my work,” he admitted with a shy smile. You mirrored said smile as you saw him rub at the back of his neck, some of the still drying paint on his skin rubbing off onto his collar. This was a side of Minghao you didn’t get to see very often and it was honestly adorable.

“I can see that,” you teased, making him giggle, “and I’m guessing that you’re not here to take a break?”

“You know me too well, I just wanted to show you something real quick if you are not too busy?” Minghao offered. Truth be told you were still exhausted from being suddenly woken up, but you weren’t about to turn him down, not when your time together had been cut short recently.

“Not at all, just give me a second to get changed,” you said, already starting to close the door to your room when he stops you.

“Don’t worry we won’t take too long so you can go back to sleep right after,” he assured, taking another moment to glance over you, “besides, the outfit really suits you.” You couldn’t tell if he was joking or not, but you still felt your cheeks heat up at the comment. Minghao noticed and laughed again, making you playfully slap at him.

“Stop teasing me!” you whined.

“I’m not, I swear!” he mused with another laugh.

“Like hell you’re not!” you exclaimed with another hit at him. Minghao stepped back this time and grabbed your wrist before you could touch him.

“Alright alright I’m sorry, but seriously are you coming with me or no?” He was still holding onto your wrist, gently tugging you away from the door and out into the hall before you even agreed. You gave in almost immediately, letting him tug you out fully before closing the door behind you.

“Yes I’m coming, lead the way.” You agreed. Minghao hummed softly and dragged you down the hall and into the library before finally letting go of your wrist. You briefly mourned the loss of his touch but continued to follow him through the many bookshelves until you made it to a familiar door hidden in the corner of the room. The wooden frame was darker than the others and carved with an intricate design of leaves and vines meeting a blooming flower at the very top. The design was carved by Minghao himself, as was his name that was carved and painted perfectly in the middle of the door. Behind the door was Minghaos personal study/studio and the one place in the house he spent a majority of his time in.

The interior was just as beautiful as the exterior, with the same high walls and pristine wooden floors as the rest of the library, save for the fur rug that lay in the middle of the floor. The room was often dark as Minghao preferred working in natural light provided by the glass doors that led out to a mini covered area of the garden. During the night the doors were often open to let the breeze and moonlight in, but right now they were closed and covered by dark red curtains to keep the light out. The only other light was provided by a mini lamp that rested on his desk in the middle of the room. The only other furniture aside from his desk and chair was the leather armchair that was tucked into the corner right behind it. Normally that chair was covered in various art supplies or clothing articles he was working on, but since you started spending more time with him that space was now left open for you. His art supplies had a new home in an organized pile by the double doors or on his desk, save for the canvas he had currently displayed in the middle of the room. You walked into the room before Minghao and made your way over to the canvas, which is what you assumed Minghao wanted to show you.

The painting was clearly in the early stages, mostly just a blend of color and shapes at the moment. However, you could clearly make out the outline of what you assumed would be a couple. The male figure was just a pencil outline at the moment but the female was more defined. You could make out the black paint strokes as part of a dress and even if it wasn’t anywhere near completion yet you could easily tell the detail going into it.

“I know it isn’t much right now,” Minghao’s voice snapped your attention away from the painting. He had walked over to his desk, leaning against the wood as he looked over your shoulder at his work. “This isn’t my normal style but I’ve been really inspired recently and figured I would try my hand at something new,” he explained.

“It looks great so far, especially for a new style,” you complimented, “though I’m curious what inspired you to make something like this?” Minghao chuckled softly and you looked over just in time to see him shake his head.

“That’s a secret for me to know and you to find out later, I’ll tell you when I’m finished but right now I just wanted your input on it.” He explained. You wanted to groan at him still being secretive but you knew there was no point in arguing with him.

“You really are a mystery, you know that?” you mused, making him laugh again.

“You wouldn’t be the only one to say that,” he commented.

“Seriously though, do you ever get tired of being so secretive?" you asked.

“Not really, it’s just who I am,” he replied, “I’m so used to keeping things to myself, when you see and experience the things I have, it becomes hard to trust other people. You are kind of the odd one out of that equation, that’s why I wanted to show you this first.” You nodded, still not getting the idea of why he wanted to show you this, but realizing it must be important to him.

“You don’t have to show me anything though,” you mumbled, following his movement with your eyes as he moved over to the opposite side of his desk, looking through one of the drawers.

“I want to,” he whispered to himself. He grabbed a pencil and made his way back to the canvas in the center of the room, starting to sketch a few lines into it. His back was covering the piece and you weren’t able to see it, causing you to move closer so you could peek around his frame. You watched for a moment as he tried sketching a few more details on the female's face before giving up and quickly erasing them, careful not to touch the paint. “I have a vision in my head but haven’t been able to properly portray it on paper,” he explained. “This piece is a present for someone so I want it to be perfect.”

“A present?” you echoed, “for who?”

“Someone very important to me, I can’t reveal who they are at this time but just know this needs to be perfect.”

“I see,” you muttered quietly, crossing your arms over your chest, “so that’s why you’ve been so secretive lately.”

“Yes and no,” Minghao muttered, not taking his eyes off of his sketch, “normally I don’t let people see my personal work but you are a bit of an exception, I figured you could help me.”

“Why me though?”

“You ask a lot of questions, you know that?” he responded to your question with one of his own, “because you’re the one person I can trust. This kind of stuff makes me really nervous, you know.”

“Nervous?” you question, poking lightly at his shoulder, “that’s pretty honest for someone who's so mysterious,” you teased. He didn’t look at you but you could hear him try to suppress a soft giggle.

“I’m not trying to be mysterious,” he confessed, “I just haven’t had the time to properly adjust and be myself with the new environment.”

“Well, you’re still young,” you recalled, “especially for a vampire if I remember correctly."

“Exactly, the transition isn’t exactly the easiest process to go through,” he lamented, “I know it was in my best interest but that doesn’t make losing your humanity any easier.” You were silent for a moment, this is the most open he’s ever been with you since you first moved here, and you weren’t even sure if he realized that. Still you wanted to take advantage of this honest side of Minghao, desperate to finally learn more about him.

“Well there’s nothing wrong with being a bit reclusive. It’s a really powerful trait you know.” you smiled, watching him try to sketch out another piece of the canvas.

“I think I just want people to understand that there’s more to me than they think.” Minghao said, gripping his pencil tightly.

“Like what?” you urged, he opened his mouth to say something before quickly closing it. You sighed at the realization you weren’t going to get a genuine answer to that question, “nevermind don’t worry about it.”

“Sorry,” he apologized, “that’s something I need to keep to myself for now. You’ll know when the time is right.”

“If you say so,” you sighed, brushing a strand of your hair behind your ear.

“Anyways,” Minghao quickly changed the subject, returning your attention to his work, “you never did tell me what you think of the current piece.” You nudged him out of the way slightly to get a better look. Your eyes trailed across the figures on the canvas, feeling an odd sense of familiarity between them but not knowing why.

“It looks great so far, I can’t tell what you’re going for yet because it’s not drawn out but I like the detail I see.” you praised.

“Like I said it is still a work in progress,” he reminded, “but I think I’m starting to notice my vision so thank you.”

“Really, I only said one thing?” you challenged.

“You helped more than you know,” he said, returning to his space in front of the canvas. His hand brushed over your arm as he nudged you to the side, and you could have sworn that you felt it linger there a bit longer than normal. His feather light touch sent tingles down your spine and made you want to reach out to him, but his voice snapped you out of your thoughts. “I really should get back to work and I’m sure you want to go back to bed.” You couldn’t help but let your disappointment show, sighing softly as you nodded and pushed away from him.

“You’re right I should go, sorry for bothering you for so long.” you muttered, staring at the ground as you began walking to the door. You had just put your hand on the doorknob when Minghao called out to you.

“Hey Y/N?”

“Yeah?” you turned around, a bit too eagerly for your liking to see Minghao staring back at you. His bottom lip was trapped between his teeth and he looked almost nervous, refusing to meet your gaze.

“I- you know what nevermind it’s not important, have a good rest.” Just as quickly as he called out for you he was turned back to his work, sketching at the page with a newfound determination. You slumped down a bit, but decided to leave him be, quietly slipping out of the office and leaning against the door once it closed.

“Minghao, why do you have to be so complicated?”

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Unfortunately it seemed you wouldn’t get an answer to your question, as Minghao basically began to avoid you after that day. You weren’t invited to his office anymore, and any time you tried to speak to him he dashed away faster than you could blink. It didn’t help that the Wen family started to insist you be more involved with wedding planning, so the minimal free time you had was now spent working with Jun. You tried to be nice to him, knowing that it wasn’t his fault you were in this mess, but you couldn’t help but get frustrated. You had been so close to finally getting Minghao to open up to you, his words replaying in your mind tirelessly, only to have it ripped away from you painfully. Now you may never get another chance because you were stuck listening to his older brother whine about some decoration for the tables you couldn’t care less about.

“Hey Y/N, are you listening?” you snapped out of your mini sulking session to see Jun staring down at you. His eyes were soft but the frown he wore told you he was worried. If there was one obvious difference you noticed between the vampire brothers, it was that Jun was a thousand times more expressive.

“I wasn’t sorry, what did you say?” you admitted, feeling bad that you ignored him. Instead of answering you though, Jun turned to face his mother instead.

“Would you excuse us for a moment, I think Y/N needs a second to clear their head.” You didn’t hear Mrs. Wens reply but assumed she agreed as Jun quickly took your hand and escorted you out of the dining room.

“I’m sorry,” you apologized as he dragged you out.

“Don’t be, I figured we could both use a break,” he assured, “come on a walk with me, there’s something I want to talk to you about.” You could feel your blood run cold when he said that, immediately assuming the worst. That he knew about you and Minghao and you were about to get in trouble, or that he would call off everything and your family would be stuck with nothing again. “Relax, it's nothing bad, I can hear your heartbeat all the way over here,” Jun teased, smiling back at you to get you to relax a little bit. It worked, if only partially and you took a deep breath as he led you down the hall and into an area of the manor you had never been before.

“Wait where are we going?” you asked, to which he only shook his head.

“Patience little one, you’ll see in a second.” The two of you continued walking for a moment before stopping at a large set of double doors. Opening them revealed a large, mainly empty ballroom. The floors seemed newly polished and the only furniture visible was the grand piano that rested elegantly in the corner. The rest of the room was open, clearly giving the space for people to dance and mingle. The room was lined with multiple floor length windows, the curtains currently pulled back to allow moonlight to flood through. The only other light source you could point out were the candle holders that also lined the walls, though they were currently empty which left the moon to light up the room.

“Wow, I didn’t know this room existed,” you mused, stepping into the middle and twirling around so you could take in everything.

“We usually keep this room closed off unless we need it for parties,” Jun explained as he closed the doors behind him, “however Hao and I used to come in here a lot when we were younger.” He took your curious glance as a sign to continue, walking over to where the piano was, “We both grew up in this house so as kids we loved playing in here. Then once we got older and he joined the family we would just use this space to talk or think. I even tried teaching him to play the piano once but he wasn’t a big fan.” A few skillful presses of the keys sent a beautiful melody echoing through the room, answering your unspoken question of if Jun could really play the piano. It was at this moment you realized you had never really taken interest in the heir to the Wen family, so focused on trying to keep Minghao’s attention.

“I didn’t know you could play the piano,” you commented, making him chuckle slightly.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me, though I just figured you weren’t interested since you spend all your time with my brother.” Your eyes widened at his comment, quickly stuttering to try and think of an explanation, only for Jun to silence you with a wave of his hand, “relax darling I’m just messing with you. I’ve known there was something between the two of you since the first week you got here, you’re not exactly the best at sneaking around here you know. ”

“Wait, you’re not mad?” you asked in shock, making him shrug.

“Why would I be?”

“Because I’m engaged to you?” you reminded, as if there was any possibility that he had forgotten that fact.

“True but I’m not dumb you know, I know that this marriage is only for political reasons. Now if we were marrying out of love I would have been mad but you can’t force someone to love you if they never did to begin with.”

“Well when you put it that way it just makes me feel bad.” you whined.

“You can’t control your feelings Y/N, if you love Minghao just tell me,” Jun pushed, “the truth is going to come out sooner or later anyways.” You wanted to deny it for the sake of keeping things civil but you knew there was no point, Jun had already seen through you.

“Fine you caught me, I love him,” you confessed, “so what? It doesn’t change anything does it?” You could see Juns expression fall and he sighed as he took a seat on the bench in front of the piano, still facing you but with his hands propping up his head.

“Part of me wants to say that it does but honestly I don’t know,” he confessed, “this tradition has been around ever since my family came into power. As the heir to the family I have to marry a human in order to keep things balanced and vampires are like swans, we mate for life. I don’t want to force you into a loveless marriage but I am also obligated to go through with this for the sake of my family.” He noticed the way your expression fell with each word, having to bite his tongue from saying something that may upset you more. “I’m sorry if there was a way for me to end this and let you be with him I would do it.”

“It’s not your fault,” you assured him, “if anything it’s mine for getting too close to him in the first place. Besides, even if you could put a stop to the marriage it wouldn’t change much.”

“What makes you think that?” he asked. You paused for a moment and debated answering, since they were brothers after all and you didn’t want to risk him telling Minghao how you felt. However, your thoughts have been consuming you recently and this may be the only time you would have someone to talk to about it.

“I don’t think he feels the same way,” you confessed, “something changed recently and now he won’t even look at me, it’s like we’re complete strangers and I don’t understand why.” Jun remained silent, raising an eyebrow for you to continue, which you hesitantly did, “I thought we were getting closer. There was one night where he finally started to open up to me, talking about how hard things were and this painting he was working on. However when he went to ask me something he just kind of shut down and asked me to leave, and I haven’t heard from him since.” Jun didn’t say anything for a moment, taking the time to truly process your words. You watched his lips slowly curve up into a smile before he started laughing.

“You really are a bit naive, you know that?” he teased, cutting you off before you could ask what that was supposed to mean, “Y/N you know as well as I do that Hao is a bit of a mystery. His heart is in the right place but he doesn’t always know how to express that properly so he gets shy. You just have to be patient and slowly break down his walls, because trust me he’s the sweetest guy I know once you get through to him.”

“Well of course you’d say that, you’re his brother.” you said with a soft laugh.

“Yes but before I was his brother I was his best friend and I’ve been in the same situation you are in currently. I want to say we were 16 or 17 when I finally got him to open up to me. Not to dissuade you though because I’m pretty sure you managed to make more progress than I have in only a few weeks.”

“You really think that?” you asked, wanting to believe him but also still being unsure of yourself.

“I know it,” Jun assured, standing up and making his way over to you, “look Y/N I don’t want to get your hopes up about anything because neither of us can go against our family. That being said, I think you owe it to both yourself and Hao to be honest with him about how you feel.”

“I want to, I really do, but what good will it do if we can’t be together?” you confessed. Jun smiled sadly at you and reached out to squeeze your shoulder.

“Like I said, no promises, but there may be a few strings we can pull so everything works out,” he whispered, almost as if he was telling you a forbidden secret. In all honesty, he probably was as he was basically confessing to willingly trying to go behind his parents backs. It wasn’t something you had time to question however, as Jun squeezed your shoulder one last time before walking past you to the doors. “I have to get back before mom gets too suspicious, but you’re welcome to stay here and think about what I said. I’ll tell her that you were tired and went to bed early.”

“Thank you Jun.” you called out, looking back at him over your shoulder.

“Don’t thank me just yet,” he warned, “also do me a favor and make sure the room is still clean when you leave, my family will have my head if we let it get messed up.” With that he left you alone, letting the door click softly behind him. You let your gaze fall onto the piano bench for a moment, where he had been sitting, before turning your attention to one of the large windows. It looked almost like a door and you could see a small balcony behind it, much like the one in Minghao’s study. The thoughts of Minghao and what Jun said flooded your thoughts as you moved towards the window on autopilot. Your fingers traced gently over the frame before finding the latch and undoing it to let the glass pane swing open. The soft breeze tickled your face as you pushed the door open enough to slip past and make your way out onto the balcony. Despite the soft breeze, the night air was warm, a contrast to the cool marble railing that you leaned against. Unlike the study, this view reached out to the front of the manor, allowing you to view the main courtyard and the road that lay just beyond the large gates. In the distance you could see the lights from the city, the place you used to call home before your arrangement with the Wen family. Bittersweet memories they were, as when you first moved in you found yourself longing to go back home to your friends and family. You hadn’t spoken to any of them in months, and likely wouldn’t until your wedding day, so you hoped they were alright. At the same time though, you had slowly grown used to living in the manor, so now it was the city that felt foreign to you. Even when you did go out, it was usually at night and accompanied by one of the staff or family friends. One wouldn’t think a city run by vampires would be much different than that of humans but they would be mistaken. Most of the shops were the same with a few minor adjustments, but the atmosphere felt significantly different. You didn’t know how to describe it, but the world of vampires felt more polished in a sense. At first you were worried you would never get used to it, but now you didn’t want to leave it.

“It’s quite the view isn’t it?” whipping your head around, you were shocked to see Minghao standing behind you. His body leaned against the wall with his hands tucked into the pockets of his coat. His hair was down for once, allowing you to really see how long it was. His bangs were pushed out of his face but a few strands rested in front of his eyes, the rest tickling his neck as the wind pushed it back, though if you had to guess it was almost to his shoulders. You couldn’t help but mentally curse this man for looking more beautiful every time you saw him.

“Hao,” you muttered as you finally got control of yourself, “what are you doing here?”

“Ran into Jun in the hallway, he told me I could find you here.” he explained.

“Were you looking for me?” you asked, albeit a bit too eagerly.

“Actually I was,” he confessed, “I feel like I owe you an apology, I know I’ve been acting pretty strange recently and I didn’t want you thinking it was your fault.” Those words came as both a relief and a surprise to you. At the same time though, you couldn’t help but worry that he was only doing this because Jun ratted you out.

“Jun didn’t set you up to this, did he?” you asked, making him huff a bit.

“Darling he didn’t tell me anything I didn’t already know, so no I came after you myself.” You couldn’t help but blush at the nickname, something Minghao clearly noticed. You were about to ask what exactly Jun told him when he turned to look back inside the ballroom, “Come inside with me for a minute, I want to show you something.” To say you were confused would be an understatement, especially since the way he was acting was pretty out of character for him. Still you didn’t say anything as you followed him back inside, making sure to close and lock the door behind you. Minghao motioned for you to stand in the middle of the room as he grabbed a small box from his coat pocket, which you quickly realized was a box of matches. “This used to be my favorite room in the whole house,” he explained, lighting one of the candles before putting the match out and trailing the wall to light the rest, moving quickly but cautiously. “As the decades go by the house has become more and more modern to fit the changing times. This is the only room that has remained perfectly untouched since its construction,” he explained, “I don’t mind the modern touch of course, but there is something so elegant and romantic about a candlelit ballroom don’t you think?”

“It is rather beautiful, I can only imagine how extravagant the events hosted here are.” you commented, taking your eyes off of Minghao to glance across the room once again.

“There are not many as we save it for the most important milestones but they definitely are something,” Minghao agreed, setting the last candle back into its holder. The room was now lit with a soft glow, the shadows dancing as the flames flickered softly. “I’ve been around for a few but one in particular will always be my fondest memory.” he continued.

“Oh, what would that be?” you asked.

“For my parents the day I was turned and initiated into the family was a big deal,” he explained, undoing his coat and walking over to the piano, “they threw a large ball for me in this room to celebrate, almost like a coming of age ceremony I guess. It wasn’t the easiest transition for me so that celebration meant a lot to me and I will never forget the first dance I had on this ballroom floor.” He paused for a minute to lay his coat down on the bench, revealing a maroon red sweater he had tucked into his usual black pants. You had never seen Minghao in any color other than black and white, and the contrast of the red against the rest of him was striking. “The first dance was with my mother,” he continued as he brushed his hands across the piano keys, “all eyes were on us as a special song played, I still remember the melody like it was yesterday.” Minghao lightly pressed on a few of the keys, the melody sounding quite familiar to the one Jun played earlier, only this time it kept playing when he pulled his hand away. The song continued as if someone was playing the piano, a distinct melody that made Minghao smile as he walked away. You weren’t sure whether to be in awe of the song or shocked by the seemingly magic piano. “What, never seen a self playing piano before?” Minghao teased when he noticed your expression.

“Evidently not,” you exclaimed, “how on Earth is it even doing that?”

“Simple mind trick,” Minghao explained as if it was nothing, “all I have to do is focus on the song and it’ll do what I want.”

“So what, you’ve been able to move things with your mind this whole time?” you questioned, wondering why you never knew of this ability until now.

“Yes and no, I wouldn’t even begin to know how to explain it but that’s beside the point,” he brushed it off again as he walked back over to you, “do you know how to dance?” The question took you by surprise, looking at him as if he just asked you what the meaning of life was.

“Come again?”

“It’s a yes or no question dear, do you know how to dance?” Minghao repeated, smiling a bit as you nodded your head.

“A little bit but I haven’t danced with anyone for years.” you confessed.

“Don’t worry little dove, I will lead the way,” he said with a smirk, extending his hand to you with a soft bow, “may I have this dance?” You were really starting to question if this is the same Minghao you had spoken to a few days prior. His whole demeanor was different and there was an air of confidence to him that you had never seen before. It was like a switch was flipped inside of him and now he was finally opening up and showing you his true self, which you had to assume was Juns doing. Still, you didn’t want to throw away this chance with him so you quickly took his hand and allowed him to guide you into a steady waltz.

It was a bit rough for you at first, not remembering the moves and getting stiff every time you misstepped which only made Minghao laugh. “Just relax, feel the moment.” he repeated each time until he finally felt you do so. You closed your eyes and focused on the song playing as Minghao guided your movements, until you were both in perfect sync with each other. Minghao hummed softly to the melody as he pulled you closer, wrapping his arm around your waist and pressing your body into his chest as your dance turned into simple swaying. Almost out of instinct, you leaned further into him and rested your head on his shoulder, taking in the sweet scent of roses and a hint of red wine that radiated off of him. Even through the sweater you could feel him, the way his body was cooler but seemed to take in the warmth from your touch. How his own heart wasn’t beating but you could feel your own pulse through his touch, as if he was molding to you. Minghao didn’t push you away, instead he welcomed the almost embrace as you two swayed together, taking in your own scent and closing his eyes. By this point the music had stopped but neither of you seemed to care. This is the closest he had ever been to you, and sadly it was the closest he would probably ever be.

“I’ve never been this close with anyone outside of my family.” he confessed after a moment, his voice nearly a whisper. Your eyes opened at his words, but you didn’t dare to pull away from him.

“So why me then?” you asked, almost afraid of hearing the answer.

“You’re special,” he confessed, “you make me discover parts of myself and feel things that I didn’t know existed. I didn’t know how to handle it, I couldn’t even bring myself to tell you because I was so scared and confused. That’s why I shut you out, because I had hoped if I did that these feelings would go away and things would go back to normal.”

“But they didn’t.” you said, not having to ask since this moment was proof enough.

“No they didn’t,” he agreed, “and then Jun came into my room and told me what you said, and how you felt and I knew I had to say something, I couldn’t have you getting the wrong idea.” He pulled away from you just enough so that he could look down at you, his eyes carrying every unspoken emotion he was feeling. You were positive that you looked no different, wondering if you were dreaming. Not even a day ago you would have been positive that Minghao hated you, and yet now he was here holding you and looking at you like you were his whole world. It almost felt like too much for you to handle. “Y/N?” he said, getting your attention, “that day in my study, what I wanted to tell you was-’

“You don’t have to say it Minghao, I already know.” you cut him off. He opened his mouth to protest but you cut him off again this time by grabbing his collar and pulling him down so your lips connected. He let out a surprised yelp at the action nearly backing away until he processed what was happening. You reached up to run your hand through his hair just as he relaxed and began to kiss you back, his arm tightening around your waist as the other reached up to cup your cheek. His touch was cold, but you ignored that in favor of focusing on how soft his skin was. His hair glided easily through your fingers and you heard him giggle as you played with the ends, tickling him slightly. His kisses were just as soft, but you could still feel the passion behind them, especially as his fangs poked out to graze at your lower lip. The sensation made you gasp and that was when Minghao finally pulled away, allowing you a moment to catch your breath. He had a shy smile on his face and you were positive he would be blushing if he could, while you felt like you could melt on the spot from how hot your face was.

“That was definitely unexpected.” he said with a shy giggle.

“Did you not like it?” you asked, almost afraid that you went too far.

“No no, I loved it,” he promised, stroking your cheek with his thumb, “I just never expected you to react that way.” You leaned into his touch and closed your eyes, wanting to savor the moment for as long as possible.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since I first met you,” you confessed, “I love you Minghao, I would want nothing more than to spend every day like this with you.” You had expected him to reciprocate your feelings since you had assumed that’s where this night was leading, but instead you were met with silence. Minghao didn’t say anything which made you open your eyes again. His expression had fallen and he looked almost defeated.

“I had a feeling you would say that.” he whispered, slowly letting go and backing away from you. You tried to reach back out for him but he avoided your touch.

“Hao, what’s wrong?” you asked, your heart pounding as you mentally begged him to come back, not to pull away from you again. You finally had him, you didn’t want to let go of him now, you wouldn’t be able to handle it.

“I’m so sorry Y/N,” he apologized, turning his gaze to the floor so he wouldn’t have to face you, “this may have been a mistake.”

“What do you mean by mistake?” you practically shouted, unable to hide the pain in your voice, “what the hell were these last few hours then, everything you just said? You can’t honestly tell me that you didn’t feel anything this whole time!”

“What? Of course I felt something I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t,” he tried to defend, his voice raising a pitch despite his calm composure. “Look I’m sorry but I can’t let this go any further, if my parents found out about this then…”

“That’s what this is about?” you cut him off, “you can’t be honest with your feelings because of some stupid tradition with your parents? Who cares what they think, Minghao? It’s just a stupid wedding. I'm sure they can find someone else if they really needed to.”

“I care, Y/N!” he exclaimed, “to you this may not seem like a big deal but to me it is. I owe my life to my family because if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t even be here talking to you right now. You think it’s easy for me to sit here and be a bystander watching you give yourself to my brother when I would give anything to be in his place? I love you I really do, but I can’t betray my family like this, not after everything they’ve done for me.” By the time he finished talking he was stiff, shoulders bouncing as if he was out of breath and his eyes had an unfamiliar red tint to them. You took a few steps back, having never seen him this worked up before. Normally you would have been over the moon to hear Minghao say he loved you, but now it felt like a knife stabbing into your heart. By this point you were crying, tears streaming freely down your cheeks that you didn’t bother to hide. The sight pained Minghao, and he wanted nothing more than to reach out and brush them away, but he knew he shouldn’t.

“You know,” you finally spoke after a moment, “if you really loved me you would put your pride aside and actually fight for me instead of shutting me out like everyone else.” It was cruel to say that and you knew it, but you were hurting and you wanted him to feel the same pain you were, if not more. Minghaos jaw tightened at your words, refusing to look at you as he regained his composure.

“And here I thought you would be different.” he muttered to himself, but you were able to hear him clearly. His words didn’t have time to process before the room went cold and dark. As quickly as he had appeared, Minghao was gone, the sudden gust of wind and slamming of the door the only indication that he had even been there. You looked up at the candles, watching the smoke rise up from them before falling to your knees and sobbing. You felt suddenly trapped in the large room, suffocated by the darkness as you hugged yourself and continued to cry, not caring if anyone heard you. You wanted to scream and beg for Minghao to come back but you couldn’t, he was gone and now you were positive that he wasn’t coming back.

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Sure enough, you didn’t see Minghao for nearly a month after that night. You knew he was there, as you overheard the staff speak about him and could hear him working in his study any time you passed by. A few times you had knocked on the door, apologizing through the wood and begging for him to let you in, but he never answered. It was evident he was avoiding you, and while you wanted to be mad at him, you couldn’t lie and say you didn’t miss him.

You weren’t sure if he told Jun what happened, but it was clear the older at least knew something was up judging by the sad smile he gave you whenever he saw you looking around. He never spoke to you directly though, only ever giving you gentle pats on the head or shoulder whenever he walked by you. You were half tempted to ask him if he knew something, but with the wedding only moments away it was impossible to get the oldest son alone. You were starting to feel like you were back to how things were when you first moved in. You were confused, frustrated, and, worst of all, alone. You also started distancing yourself as much as possible, locking yourself in your room whenever you weren’t needed for wedding planning. Mrs. Wen had noticed your behavior and tried asking you once at dinner if everything was alright, but all you could do was tell her you had a lot on your mind and left it at that.

Tonight was one of the nights you were staying locked in your room, curled up on your bed staring out the window when you heard a knock at your door. At first you ignored it, assuming it was one of the staff, until the knocking got more frequent. Groaning, you forced yourself to get off the bed and make your way to the door, opening it to reveal a very frantic Jun.

“About time you opened the door.” he whined, pushing past you and into your room.

“Well hello to you too,” you uttered sarcastically, closing the door again, “I thought you guys needed to be invited in to enter a place?”

“First off, that is an awful stereotype of us, and second of all it’s my house I can enter any room I want,” he pointed out.

“Fair enough I guess, but why are you here?” you asked, crossing your arms.

“You know if I didn’t know better I’d think you hated me,” he whined before straightening up again, “but last time I checked you also wanted my help with Minghao correct?” That got your attention and you immediately perked up.

“Are you saying you actually can help me?” you asked, suddenly hopeful.

“I’m not 100% sure but there’s a chance it will work,” Jun explained, “do you remember when I told you that vampires mate for life?”

“Yeah, why?” you asked, confused as to what he was getting at.

“Well there’s a process for that,” he explained, “I probably should have told you this earlier because it would be part of our wedding, but we claim our mates with a bite that seals our bond. Normally we do this during a certain point called a blood moon because the energy is higher.”

“First off that sounds like something wolves would do, not you guys,” you point out, “secondly yeah knowing that earlier would have been nice.”

“I’m going to ignore the wolf comment for now but yeah I’m sorry for not telling you,” he brushed you off, “but long story short if the mating ceremony is done outside of a blood moon usually that means the bond between us fails. However, if the feelings between a vampire and their mate is strong enough then it can work, and we would never break a mated couple apart.” It was finally starting to click with you what he was saying, a look of realization brushing over your features.

“So what you are saying is that if I end up mating with Minghao, we can call off the wedding?” you questioned, “No offense to you of course.”

“None taken.” Jun assured, “But yes if your bond is strong enough my family will have no choice but to accept it. However, if it doesn’t work then there’s nothing else we can do and it’ll be over.”

“What are the chances of it working?” you asked.

“I’m not sure, I’ve never witnessed it myself, only heard of it.” he confessed. You knew it was a huge risk, but the more you thought about it the more it was a risk you were willing to take. If it meant you had a shot with Minghao, you would have been crazy not to try.

“It’s worth a shot.” you stated, already making your way to the door to go find Minghao.

“Hold up,” Jun stopped you, “you can’t just make him bite you, it doesn't work that way, the emotional bond has to be there as well.” That made you pause for a moment, given the fight you guys had, you didn’t even know if Minghao wanted to be around you anymore.

“Emotional bond, got it,” you repeated with a deep breath, “well, wish me luck I guess.”

“Don’t overthink it Y/N, you got this!” Jun called out after you, but by that point you were already out of the room. You needed to do this now, while you were still determined and not psyching yourself out.

The library seemed much colder than you remembered it to be, though perhaps that was your imagination. The welcoming atmosphere that usually invited you was replaced with a distant sense of dread. It hit you like a splash of ice water and made you freeze for a moment, almost debating turning around and returning to the comfort of your room for the night. However, you were determined to finish what you started, so you took a deep breath before continuing on your path. Almost on autopilot you navigated through various bookshelves and desks until you reached the familiar wooden door. You didn’t bother knocking, inviting yourself in and gently closing the door behind you.

Minghao wasn’t at his desk like he normally was, instead you found him leaning against the wall as he looked out through the floor length window into the garden. His body was turned towards you, but his gaze remained focused on the view before him, giving you the perfect view of the man you loved. His shirt was still tucked in, though the first few buttons were undone and his sleeves were rolled up past his elbow, his cloak having been tossed carelessly onto his chair. One hand was tucked in his pocket while the other was mindlessly twirling a wine glass. His rings shone in the light and casted a reflection on the glass, only covered by the sloshing of the remaining red liquid inside. His expression was as sharp and stoic as ever, but you knew him well enough to know he was hiding something. There was a distance in his eyes, gazing at nothing as he was lost in his own thoughts. His bangs fell into his eyes and cast a shadow over his face, something he normally hated but right now didn’t seem to bother with. He looked just as beautiful as he always did, but you could tell he was hurting and that made your own heart hurt in return.

Minghao knew you were there, he could sense your presence before you even walked into his study. The familiar aura you carried that had once been warm and inviting, but was now a dull blade stabbing at him every time he even thought of getting close to you. You could feel it too, the distance that had torn you apart over the last few weeks, the pain of wanting him to hold you and promise he’ll never leave but knowing he couldn't. You knew that he saw you, his eyes flicking over to you if only for a moment before returning back to the window. He didn’t move or make any effort to acknowledge you, merely pretending like you weren’t there. It hurt to be ignored by him this way, though you figured that you deserved it. Honestly you didn’t know what reaction you had been expecting after what happened, but you weren’t prepared for it to hurt this much. Perhaps coming here was a bad idea after all, that’s what you told yourself with a defeated sigh. You were about to turn and leave when you heard the male clear his throat. Looking back, you watched as Minghao straightened up and finished the rest of his wine before finally speaking.

“What are you doing here?” his voice was cold and emotionless, and you hated the way you flinched at it.

“Hao I-” you froze, not sure what exactly you were supposed to say. He didn’t respond, merely keeping his gaze on you as he moved back to his desk, setting the empty glass to the side as he sat down, resting his chin on his hand. You took a moment to look around the room, realizing how much of a mess it was. His art supplies were carelessly scattered all over the place, and you noticed the painting he was working on had disappeared. Even his desk was a mess of random notes and sketches. You tried to glance at them but he noticed and quickly swiped them out of your view. “What happened to your painting?” you asked, glancing back at the mess where it had once been.

“I lost my muse.” he replied flatly, “You didn’t answer my question.” You hated how cold he was being, but you supposed you deserved it.

“I needed to see you.” you confessed.

“Want to yell at me more? Toss my emotions aside?” he scoffed, though you could hear the pain lingering in his voice.

“No, I came to say I’m sorry, I never should have yelled at you like that. I let my emotions take control and I know that I can’t take back what I said but I need you to know that I didn’t mean it, and I’m sorry.” Your apology took him by surprise, a startled noise getting caught in his throat as he sat up.

“I see,” he muttered softly, “I appreciate the apology, and I am sorry too, what happened that night was my fault. I shouldn’t have let things drag on.” You sighed softly and made your way over to him, kneeling down on the other side of his desk and reaching for his hand. He stiffened up a bit, but didn’t stop you which you took as a positive sign.

“I did mean one thing though, I love you Minghao and I’m not giving up on you.” you said, making him sigh.

“I love you too Angel, I really do, but I told you we can’t let this go further.”

“I know that once the wedding happens it’ll be over, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have right now,” you argued, “one night Minghao, that’s all I’m asking for.” He raised an eyebrow at you, urging you to continue, “I want a redo of the night we spent in the ballroom. I want you to dance with me for real and not pull away from me. After that I will leave you alone but please the least you can do is give me that.” Minghao took a moment to ponder what you were asking, absentmindedly rubbing the back of your hand with his thumb.

“This is dangerous, you do know that right?” he asked after a moment, shaking his head when you nodded, “We could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

“I’ve thought a lot about this, I just can’t let you slip away from me anymore.” you said, determined to make him listen.

“You’re after something aren’t you?” he realized, you didn’t want to give away your intentions but you couldn't help but smirk a bit which was the only response he needed. Another moment of silence passed and for a moment you were worried that he would reject you, but finally you saw him nod his head.

“Fine, this is the least I can do I suppose,” he agreed, “meet me in the ballroom tomorrow at sundown, if you’re not there by the time the sun sets fully I’ll leave.” You couldn’t help but smile at his agreement, squeezing his hand softly before standing up.

“Thank you, I’ll be there I promise!”

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The ballroom felt even bigger than before, but maybe that was due to your nerves. This was your last chance to get Minghao, and if you failed then you would lose him, probably for good. The thought alone was enough to hurt you and it hadn’t even happened yet. Your shoes clicked softly on the polished floor as you stepped inside, glancing around the room. Minghao had definitely been here already, the candles lit, some of the curtains pulled back to cast shadows on the floor from the still setting sun. The piano was even playing already, a new melody that you never heard before. It was beautiful for sure, but also more melancholic than the one that had played when you first danced with Minghao. Speaking of, the vampire in question was nowhere to be seen. Spinning around the room once, then twice, you trailed your eyes over every corner in hopes to see him, but there was nothing. Minghao was nowhere to be seen, and you couldn’t help but deflate a bit at the thought that he left already, despite the fact the sun was still out.

“I was wondering when you would show up,” startled, you twirled around to see him only a few feet behind you, appearing practically out of thin air. He was dressed in all black, even having the shade brushed lightly on his eyes to make them pop. The only color being the jewels that decorated his ears and fingers, twinkling against the candlelight. You were used to seeing Minghao in all black, but something about the way he looked now made him even more beautiful.

“Where did you come from?” you asked, “I swore no one was here when I walked in.”

“Hiding in the shadows is pretty easy, just needed to make sure this wasn’t a trick.”

“Why would I trick you?”

“I know you’ve been talking with my brother,” he replied, “who knows what you two have been up to.” Before you could argue that there was nothing, he was speaking up again, “It doesn’t matter though, you are here now so, shall we?” He offered his hand to you, much like he did the last time and you quickly took it, falling into step with him as you began swaying to the rhythm. It didn’t take long for the dance to pick up, and the two of you were soon gliding across the floor, matching each other's movements perfectly and falling in sync with ease. Minghao seemed a bit stiff at first, being so close to you, but he soon relaxed as the melody from the piano became softer, almost hypnotic. You closed your eyes for a moment and just allowed yourself to feel the music, letting it guide you and him in turn.

The sun gradually set as you two danced, until moonlight replaced it shining through the window, making the flicker of the candles more dramatic. The room felt more romantic without the extra light, more intimate as you willed yourself to get closer to Minghao, wanting to feel him and engrave this moment into your memory. It nearly worked, and for a moment you were at peace, until he spoke up again.

“So, do you want to tell me what this is really about?”

“What do you mean?” you asked, glancing up to meet his gaze, though your eyes quickly fell back to your feet. His expression was soft, and yet his eyes were burning through you like he knew something you didn’t. Judging by his attitude, you wouldn’t be surprised if that were the case.

“I wasn’t born yesterday Y/N, I know you didn’t drag me here just because you wanted a dance,” he pointed out, “you’re up to something and I want to know what it is.”

“I’m not up to anything, I just want to be with you,” you confessed, “I just want to love you and have you love me in return.”

“You know that I love you, I’ve loved you since the first night we spent together in my study.”

“Then why won’t you show it? I know you’re worried about your family and all of that but does their approval really matter that much. Clearly Jun is okay with us being together and I’m sure your parents would come around to it,” you were basically pleading with him at this point. You didn’t care what the consequences were any more, you just wanted to be near him, hold him, love him the way you knew he deserved. You knew he was holding back and hurting himself in the process and you hated seeing him like this, you just needed him to open up.

“My love, believe me I would do whatever it takes to be with you,” he promised, leaning down to rest his head against yours.

“Then do it,” you urged, “you and I both know there’s a way.” Minghao was confused for a moment, until it finally dawned on him what you were implying.

“Love, you can’t seriously be asking me to-”

“Mate with me,” you cut him off with your answer, “I know the chances of it working are low but if it does then your family would have no choice but to accept us!”

“You do know what you’re asking for right?” Minghao questioned, “this is not a simple process and it could put you under a lot of stress. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Who said you would hurt me? I’ve done my research Hao, I know what I am getting myself into.”

“There are so many ways that this could go wrong,” he argued.

“I know but think about what it would mean if it goes right,” you rebutted, “you do want to be with me, don’t you?”

“Of course I do but I don’t want you to potentially ruin everything for yourself, if it works that means you will be bonded to me forever,” Minghao reminded. As much as he would love for it to work, he knew the risks better than you did and he didn’t want you making a choice that you would regret.

“Hao please,” you pleaded, lifting your arms to cup his face, “what will it take to convince you?” You could see the gears turning in his mind as he melted into your touch, his own hands coming up to rest on top of yours.

“Are you sure this is what you really want?” he asked, almost in a whisper.

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

“Very well,” Minghao agreed, “I’ll make you a deal. I will give you a taste tonight of how that feels and give you time to think about it. If you decide this is what you still want, then we can give it a shot, but know that I can’t promise you it will work.” It wasn’t the exact outcome you were hoping for, but you supposed it was better than having him turn you down completely. “So little dove,” he continued, grabbing one of your wrists and turning his head to press a kiss on your pulse point, “do we have a deal?” You nodded at first, only to sigh when he gave you a stern look stating that he needed a verbal answer.

“If it means you’ll give me a chance then yes, we have a deal.”

“Very well,” Minghao pulled away from you slightly, still holding onto your wrist as he gave it a once over. “You haven’t been bitten by a vampire before, right?” he asked, unable to hide his smirk when you agreed, “the wrist is an easier spot for your first time. I’m only going to do it long enough so you can get a good feeling for it though. It may hurt at first, but after a few seconds it should start to feel almost warm but not in a bad way.” He looked up at you to make sure you understood, stroking your skin with his thumb as you took a second to calm your nerves. Though you weren’t sure if you were nervous because of the new experience or because Minghao was the one doing it.

“I’m ready,” you assured, giving him a confident smile.

“Good, if it hurts or you feel dizzy at all I want you to pull at my hair and I’ll stop,” with that he pulled your wrist towards his mouth. You got a few seconds to prepare as he pressed a light kiss against your pulse point, letting his fangs brush over it before carefully biting down. You gasped at the sensation, tensing up as it felt like you were being stabbed with needles. Minghaos grip on your wrist tightened as you squirmed, keeping you still and looking up at you to make sure you were okay. The pain lasted for a few more seconds before turning into a dull throbbing, and then finally you felt the warm sensation he was talking about. It started at your wrist before flooding through the rest of your body, making you tingle and relax against his touch. You never expected the sensation to be this pleasurable, almost feeling like you were too hot and yet it was a sensation you never wanted to end. Minghao couldn’t help but moan softly at the taste, an action you mimicked as his pleasure only seemed to heighten your experience.

The second you felt your legs go weak was the moment he let you go, brushing his tongue over the newly formed bite mark and wiping his lips with his free hand. He was quick to catch you as you felt yourself lower to the ground, bringing him down with you as he looked at you in concern.

“Are you alright?”

“That was amazing,” you breathed out, “honestly I didn’t want you to stop, that felt way better than I thought it would.” Minghao giggled softly at your confession.

“I didn’t want it to end either, but if I didn’t stop then I’m not sure I would have been able to, your taste is so addicting.” You looked over at him, noticing how his pupils were blown and his lips were parted, fangs still poking out as if he was desperate for more. You weren’t sure if it was because you were coming down from your mini high still, or if it was how attractive he looked, but you couldn’t stop yourself from jumping forward and crashing your lips onto his. The contact clearly caught him off guard and sent both of you crashing to the ground, Minghao on his back with you on top of him. He let out a surprised yelp and for a second you were worried you had hurt him, about to pull away and apologize when he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you closer to him to deepen the kiss.

You could still taste the remains of your blood on his lips, but the rest of Minghao was so intoxicating that you couldn’t bring yourself to care. You bit on his bottom lip and swiped your tongue across his fangs and the inside of his mouth, careful not to cut yourself. He tried returning the passion in your kiss but you quickly overpowered him and he was left a moaning mess on the floor, desperately gripping onto you as you kissed him like your life depended on it. You adjusted yourself so you were straddling him, grinding your hips down against his when you felt the bulge forming in his trousers. The friction had Minghao whimpering against you, breaking the kiss and throwing his head back as you repeated the action. As you sat up to catch your breath you finally realized the position you found yourself in. The normally calm and composed Minghao was now a shuddering mess beneath you, his hair messy and makeup smeared, his shirt also coming untucked at the front which gave you a peek at his abdomen. All of this coming from a simple bite, and it made you want to ruin the man beneath you. Claim him as yours and see how far you could unravel him until he came undone. You were never one to claim a dominant role in your past relationships, but something about the man beneath you brought out a new found confidence.

“I want you so badly,” you whispered, grabbing his hair and lightly pulling his head back so you could kiss and suck at his neck.

“Then take me,” he pleaded, “Darling I am all yours.” His words were rewarded when you bit down on his neck softly before returning to kiss him again, giving his hair one last tug before letting go and moving your hands beneath you to begin undoing his shirt. You could feel his hands tugging at your own shirt, debating pulling it off before giving up and sliding his hands under the fabric instead. His touch was cold in contrast to your heated skin, sending shivers down your body and making you gasp into his mouth. His fingers expertly traced your skin, gently scratching down your lower back before reaching further up to pinch and tug at your nipples. The sensations had you arching your back, making you grind your hips further into his and making him groan.

“You are so beautiful, you know that?” you asked, pulling away from the kiss to finish undoing his shirt. This was the first time you were ever seeing Minghaos body and he was even more attractive than you had imagined. You knew that he was on the slimmer side, but his body was still toned enough that you could see the outline of his muscles. His skin was soft and unblemished, feeling almost unreal under your touch as you trailed your hands up his body, taking your time to feel him and memorize every curve. Minghao sighed softly at the touch, leaning his head back against the ground and letting his eyes close so he could enjoy the feeling.

“You’re one to talk,” he responded after a moment, giving your nipples another tug which made you squirm above him, “sensitive too I take it.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, I’m the one in charge here,” you reminded, sliding down his legs a bit so that you could undo his belt and trousers. Minghao lifted his hips enough to help you slide them down along with his boxers, opting not to take them off all the way since you were desperate to feel him. Minghaos length matched well with the rest of his body, on the longer side but more slender. It seemed you had already gotten him pretty worked up as he was already leaking precum and his tip was red. Minghao gasped and shuddered as you took the base in your hand, giving him a few experimental strokes to get a good feel of him.

“Even this is pretty,” you teased, swiping your thumb across his slit causing him to tense up, “I would love to get a taste of you.”

“As much as I would love that Darling we might want to hurry things up, we are still in the ballroom and I would rather not have anyone walk in on us,” Minghao reminded. You spared a cautionary glance towards the doors, taking a moment to listen for any footsteps. Based on what Jun and Hao had told you, the chances of anyone walking in were slim, but that didn’t mean they were zero. After a moment you decided it was safer not to risk taking too long and sighed.

“Next time then,” you hummed, climbing off of Minghao for a second so you could remove your bottoms then climbing back on top of him. His hands found their way to your hips as you positioned yourself over him, spitting on your hand and using that to coat his length before slowly easing him inside of you. The stretch wasn’t too bad, but it was still enough for you to feel it, causing you to moan as you stilled with him inside of you. Minghao cursed at the feeling and threw his head back, pulling his bottom lip between his teeth in an attempt to be quiet.

“Oh god you feel so good,” he moaned out, tightening his grip on your hips as you gave yourself a second to adjust. It took all of his willpower not to thrust up into you, but he refrained and allowed you to go at your own pace to make sure he was comfortable. It only took a moment for you to get used to him, grinding your hips down on him before starting to lift yourself up and bouncing on him. You went at a teasingly slow pace, almost frustratingly so, but it was worth it to see Minghao tense up in an attempt to not take control and pound into you the way you were sure he wanted to do. “Angel,” he huffed out, “as much as I love this time with you I am dying here, please go faster.”

“Aren’t you already dead?” you teased, but you obliged and sped up your pace anyway, causing the both of you to moan out. Your hands landed on his chest for support and his began roaming your body, making sure to feel every inch of your skin. Eventually he settled for gripping onto your thighs, squeezing at them as you continued to bounce on him. Unfortunately, it was hard for you to keep up the pace as you quickly began to grow tired, movements faltering a bit as you struggled trying to keep going. Minghao quickly noticed and chuckled softly to himself, taking advantage of your exhaustion to grab you and flip you both over so now he was the one on top.

“Alright little dove, now it’s my turn,” he purred, grabbing your hands and pinning them beside your head as he began thrusting into you at an almost inhuman pace. The speed and force had you crying out in pleasure, tightening your grip on his hands and closing your eyes as you lost yourself to the feeling. Minghao pressed his lips to yours again to help keep you quiet, swallowing your moans as he continued the same pace. It wasn’t long before you felt that familiar knot forming in your stomach.

“Hao, I’m close,” you moaned out, pulling away from the kiss.

“Don’t worry Angel, I got you just let go,” he whispered, burying his head in your shoulder as his own moans got louder, signaling that he wasn’t far behind you. With a few more thrusts he was pulling out and releasing over your stomach, biting down on your shoulder to quiet himself. The sensation of his fangs buried into your skin again was enough to send you over the edge, vision going white as your release took over you.

The last thing you remembered was Minghao calling your name and feeling his fingers graze your cheek before you passed out.

ღ ღ ღ ღ ღ

To say you were confused when you woke up in an unfamiliar bed was an understatement. This bed was bigger and much softer, with you tucked in under a black, silk comforter as opposed to the velvet one in your room. You felt dizzy and the side of your neck was throbbing, brushing your fingers over the area, you winced when they touched an evident mark. The same place Minghao had bitten you right before you passed out. Speaking of Minghao, the male in question was nowhere to be seen, the only sign of him being the scent of him that lingered in what you had to guess was his room. Your suspicions were confirmed when you rolled over and saw a note resting on the pillow. You could recognize his handwriting anywhere as you read the note apologizing for going too far and having to leave you alone. It said he needed to attend to a few things but for you to rest and relax and he would be back soon. You couldn’t deny that you were a bit disappointed waking up without him, but at least he didn’t abandon you.

You slowly sat up and pulled the comforter off of you, revealing that you were also wearing one of Haos dress shirts, the fabric doing very little to cover your figure but at least it was something after your own clothes had been ruined in the ballroom. Also it smelled like him which served as a great comfort to you. You couldn’t help but notice how he seemed to overwhelm your senses, and yet you wouldn’t dare pull yourself away from it, almost as if you were drawn to anything that reminded you of him. You shook that thought away though instead deciding to glance around the unfamiliar room. You had only ever seen his study and not his actual room, so you couldn’t help but be curious. Besides, you assumed Minghao was still busy and wouldn’t be back for a while so there would be no harm in looking around as long as you were careful, right?

You carefully slipped out of bed, taking a moment to stretch before making your way to the other side of the room. Most of the lights were off, but the lamp on his bedside was on which provided enough light for you to see clearly. Minghaos room had the same dated touch as the rest of the house, but it was also distinctly his. It had the same off white walls that you recognized from the rest of the rooms, but with more notes of gray and black in the furniture. The floor was hardwood, but there was a large gray rug in the middle that you swore was the softest thing you ever felt. The walls were decorated with various paintings, some of which you recognized as his own while others were likely collected from his trips. There were also various artifacts and statues on the shelves that seemed fragile so you were careful to stay away from those. The windows in the room were smaller, mostly covered though one was open to let a soft breeze into the room. The room was fairly simple, but it also had an elegance to it that had Minghaos name written all over it. The one thing that really caught your attention though, was the black easel that was tucked into the far back corner, facing away from you so you couldn't see what was on the canvas. Unlike his studio, the supplies in his room were neatly organized on little black shelves, all surrounding that one corner. You had seen his work a million times before, but something about this one in particular was calling out to you.

Cautiously, you walked over to the corner, careful not to knock anything over as you carefully turned the canvas around. A familiar outline came into view and you realized why you had been so drawn to the painting, it was the same one that Minghao had shown you back before your fight. You had assumed he had gotten rid of it, but now it was standing right in front of you, and much more detailed than you had remembered. In fact, it looked like he was nearly finished with it. You could clearly make out the details on the two figures, and it dawned on you why your opinion on it mattered so much to Minghao.

“That’s…us,” you muttered, ghosting your fingers lightly over the painting to trace the noticeable figures. He had painted the two of you dancing together, catching small details like your eyes, your hair, the way you smiled at him, everything. You also very quickly recognized the outfit as the dress he had designed and was planning to make you for your wedding. You couldn’t help but get emotional looking at it, wondering how long this had taken for him to do and how long he had been planning it.

“Going through my stuff I see,” you whipped around to see a smug Minghao standing against the door, hands tucked in his pockets as he watched you. You didn’t even know he was back, let alone hear the door open.

“Hey, when did you get back?” you questioned in an attempt to change the subject. It wasn’t like you were doing anything wrong but you still felt awkward getting caught. Not to mention the look he had was enough to make you feel small under his gaze.

“Just now, I got called into a family meeting. I’m surprised you’re awake. I've only been gone an hour or so,” he said.

“I see,” you replied, “how did that go?”

“That’s not important right now,” he brushed you off, “want to explain what you’re doing?”

“You didn’t get rid of the painting,” you stated as if that wasn’t obvious, the response causing Minghao to laugh.

“Of course I didn't, I just needed a more private space to work on it, you know you weren’t supposed to see it yet.”

“But I already have seen it.”

“Were you able to tell it was us back then?” he asked, shaking his head at your moment of realization, “honestly when I started working on it I had planned to confess to you with it but things got a bit complicated so I locked it away in here, and yet here we are.”

“You’re the one that brought me to your room,” you reminded.

“Well what was I supposed to do hm? Leave you passed out and half naked on the ballroom floor?” Minghao teased. You couldn’t help but blush at the memory of what happened only a few hours prior, something Minghao noticed even in the dim lighting.

“You could have taken me to my room if you didn’t want me to get curious,” you teased back.

“I could have but I like having you here, I think I may just keep you here from now on.” He was clearly amused by the situation and as much as you loved the idea of staying with him, there was also a defiant part of you that wanted to push his buttons and mess with him.

“What if I don’t want to stay here?” you questioned, moving over to the door and attempting to push past him. You didn’t even make it a step further before his arm was around your waist, pulling you against his chest.

“You weren’t saying that earlier,” he whispered, “and I’m afraid that’s no longer an option.”

“Well I change my mind,” you muse, clearly not serious as you pull away from him. Minghao lets you go, but you hear him groan as you do.

“This is a dangerous game you are playing, you know that right?” he huffed, tone lowering as he spoke, “if you walk out that door there will be trouble.”

“For me or for you?” you taunt, already opening the door. You weren’t sure what you were expecting but there was a new thrill emerging from the idea of running from him. Would he chase after you? Given the way he was acting it was almost a guarantee and that thought had your mind racing. Also, in a weird way this felt like revenge for all the times he ran from you.

“Darling I’m giving you five seconds, don’t make me chase after you.” Minghaos voice was stern, but you could hear the amusement laced behind it. He was challenging you, he wanted you to run away because he wanted the thrill of chasing after you. Who were you to deny him? Minghao started counting down and you wasted no time in running out the door and down the hall. You paused for a moment, looking around the hall and wondering where you could go where Minghao wouldn’t catch you. The garden would have been your default but you assumed that was too obvious, but you didn’t know a large majority of the house so you weren’t sure where else you could go. Not that you had much time though, as you looked over your shoulder to see Minghao already making his way towards you. He wasn’t running, but his stride was long and you knew he would easily catch up to you if you waited too long. “If I were you my little dove, I would start running,” he called out, causing you to turn and immediately rush down the stairs.

You could briefly hear Minghao yell something after you, but his voice quickly vanished as you put enough distance between yourself and him. Knowing the young vampire though, he probably wasn’t too far behind you and had a few tricks up his sleeve to mess with you. Eventually you decided the library would be your best bet, yeah it was obvious but had enough space for you to hide and potentially run away from Minghao. With that in mind, you crept your way over to the familiar door and snuck inside, careful not to make too much noise. Moving a bit slower to make sure you didn’t run into anything, you tucked yourself into a corner behind one of the bookshelves. You kneeled down and positioned yourself so that you could peek around the shelf. Not that it mattered much as you couldn’t see anything due to the darkness. You couldn’t deny the thrill you got from waiting, wondering how long it would take for him to catch you already knowing he would.

It only took a few moments before the door was opening, light pouring in and showing his shadow before the door was closing again. You covered your mouth and pressed your back into the wall as you heard his footsteps echo through the room. You could hear him hum and giggle softly as he made his way around the shelves, clearly undeterred by the darkness.

“Quite a predictable hiding spot don’t you think?” he called out, voice echoing as he looped around one of the bookshelves, “I’m starting to think you don’t even want to win.” You couldn’t help but huff at that, the sound catching Minghaos attention as he made his way to the corner. You could barely make out his outline as he stalked towards you, giving you enough time to react and slide around to the other side of the shelf. Keeping your movements as silent as possible, you darted past him, heading to the area of the room he had just vacated, hoping to throw him off your trail. Minghao seemed to notice this as you heard him laugh. “Where are you hiding my little dove, I know you’re in here,” he called out, the playfulness in his voice evident.

You pressed yourself against the wall, suppressing a giggle, feeling the adrenaline rushing through your veins. You knew Minghao was a master at this game, but you were determined to outsmart him. Your heart was pounding in your ears as you tried to stay as quiet as possible. The sound of footsteps stopped, a moment of silence followed before his voice rang out again, “Well played Darling, but it's no use, I will find you soon enough. We are linked, you can’t hide.”

You giggled quietly, tiptoeing your way to the door in hopes that you could sneak out past him. It seemed that Minghao was two steps ahead of you though, as the second you went to open the door you found yourself pinned against it. You gasped as your wrists were pinned to the door beside your head, Minghao pressing himself against you so you couldn’t escape.

“Found you,” Minghao purred, flipping you around so you were facing him.

“You did indeed, now what?” you hummed, squirming against him.

“Now,” Minghao breathed, leaning in so your lips were brushing, “I claim what's rightfully mine.” As he connected your lips he pulled you both away from the door, savoring your taste for a second before pulling away and throwing you over his shoulder with what you assumed was inhuman strength. You let out a noise that was a mix between a squeal and a laugh as you were carried back up the stairs and into his room, Minghao kicking the door closed before carefully dropping you onto his bed. “Since we’re alone I can finally take my time with you,” he mused, carefully undoing his shirt and sliding it off his body as he walked around to the other side of the bed. “Stay put,” he ordered when he saw you reach out for him, staying out of your reach as he went through his various drawers looking for something. Before you could ask him what he was doing he had returned with what he needed, crawling onto the bed and setting whatever it was off to the side before pinning you to the bed and kissing you again. His hands made quick work of the shirt you were wearing, practically ripping it off to expose your body to him.

“Beautiful,” he praised, pulling away to admire you before reaching behind him, “do you trust me?”

“Of course,” you whispered back, making him smile and show you the object that was in his hand, a long silk tie that you assumed he got from his closet.

“Good, now be good for me and put your hands over your head,” he ordered, to which you eagerly obeyed. It was a bit of a struggle with the shirt still in the way, but that only seemed to amuse Minghao as he helped you put your arms up, your hands still caught in the sleeves. If anything, this only worked in his favor as he wrapped the fabric around your wrists in a makeshift restraint, finishing his work off with the tie to make sure that you couldn’t easily escape your binds. “Comfortable?” he asked, to which you eagerly nodded, “perfect, now why don’t you do me a favor and close your eyes.” Once again you agreed, squirming with anticipation as you wondered what he had planned.

The realization came a few seconds later as you felt something soft brush along your inner thigh, causing you to gasp. You heard Minghao hum in delight as the sensation brushed along your thigh once again before moving to your hip and up your body, purposefully missing the spots he knew you would be sensitive. Once the bristles tickled your stomach, you recognized the sensation as being one of his paintbrushes. The tip barely grazed your skin as he brushed random patterns all over your body, going down to your thigh before moving back up and lightly brushing around your nipple, causing you to whine and open your eyes.

“Hao,” you whined out, “stop teasing me please.” He ignored you though as he moved the brush up your stomach, swirling it around your nipple. You hated how sensitive you were, reacting to the lightest touch by arching your back and silently pleading him for more.

“I have no idea what you are talking about Darling,” Minghao murmured, “I’m just working on my latest masterpiece.” You whined again as he continued trailing the paintbrush across your body, paying close attention to your nipples but refusing to touch you. You were growing increasingly frustrated at the teasing, rubbing your thighs together and pulling at your hands. You almost succeeded in pulling them out of the shirt when his free hand reached up to grab your wrists. “Nice try Angel, you’re not getting away from me that easy,” he hummed. You exhaled sharply as he set the paintbrush to the side gripping your thigh as he trailed his kisses down your chest, stopping to swirl his tongue over your nipple. You gasped softly and arched your back, giving Minghao better access to your chest. He continued with his actions, flicking your nipple with his tongue before wrapping his lips around it and sucking, making you moan softly.

“So sensitive,” he muttered, grazing the skin lightly with one of his fangs before letting it go and switching to give the other side the same treatment. His one hand stayed pressed against your wrists, keeping them in place as you tried pulling away.

“Minghao please,” you begged, “I need you so badly, please do something!”

“Well since you asked so nicely,” he replied, making quick work of his pants and boxers, kicking them to the side and positioning himself at your entrance. Mimicking your actions from before, he spit on his hand to lubricate himself before slowly pushing into you. You threw your head back against the covers and moaned at the familiar stretch, Minghao groaning softly as he bottomed out. He started out with slow thrusts, just feeling you and letting you get used to him before gradually speeding up until he was thrusting into you with the same inhuman speed as before. You already knew you weren’t going to last very long, already feeling your stomach tighten as you closed your eyes and pulled at your makeshift binds, desperate for something to hold on to.

Minghao noticed this and within seconds your hands were free, allowing you to wrap your arms around his neck and pull him against you. Your nails dug painfully into his shoulders but that only seemed to encourage him as his movement continued and his head fell to your shoulder.

“You are so perfect,” he moaned out, making you shiver as his breath tickled your skin, “I love you so much, I don’t think I could ever be without you.” His words made your heart swell, but you were too gone to acknowledge them at the moment, more focused on your rapidly approaching release.

“Hao,” you whined out, “please, I want you to bite me again.” Your words caused his movements to falter a bit, Minghao raising his head to look at you.

“Darling, are you sure?”

“Please, I’m so close please bite me again!” your wish was granted as he buried his fangs into the already formed bite mark while picking up his pace again. The combined pain and pleasure had you cumming with a silent scream, holding onto him like his life depended on it. Minghao slowed down his pace a bit to help you ride through your orgasm, licking at your neck until you settled down. You took a second to catch your breath before sitting up, having to pause for a moment as your head was spinning. Minghao tried to push you to lay back down but you stopped him, “You didn’t finish.”

“Don’t worry about me Angel, I’m more worried about you,” he assured, but you shook your head and pushed him so he was leaning back on his arms.

“Let me help you, I did say I wanted to taste you.” You leaned down and wrapped your fingers around his length, placing a few experimental kisses on the tip. Minghao tried to protest, telling you that it was fine but his words were cut off when you took him into your mouth. His body tensed and he inhaled sharply as you took as much of him in as possible, careful not to gag as you hollowed out your cheeks and began bobbing your head. You could taste yourself on him, but that quickly faded until all your senses could process was Minghao. The way he tasted, the way he smelled, the way his voice sounded as he moaned out praises and encouragement, the way his body tensed whenever you paused to swipe your tongue over his slit. It was intoxicating and you swore you could stay like this forever. Forever didn’t last very long though, as Minghao grabbed your hair to stop your movements, bucking his hips lightly as he released into your mouth. You couldn’t help but moan at the taste, swallowing as much as you could and licking the rest off of him. Minghao shivered at the overstimulation and quickly pulled you off of him, giving you a quick kiss as a thank you.

“You really are something,” he commented, moving to get into bed and pulling you under the covers with him. You immediately snuggled into his chest, wrapping your arm around his waist as he moved to play with your hair. “You are okay though right?” he asked after a moment, “I’m worried I may have gone overboard.” You hum softly and snuggle further into him, wanting to be as close to him as possible. His presence was comforting, and you could feel your heart beating through him, almost as if it was his own. Minghao felt it as well, feeling like you were an extension of his being. Someone he never wanted to let go of, and at least for now he didn’t have to. He knew what this meant, but it wasn’t something he could bring himself to think about right now, wanting to savor the moment instead.

“Hey Hao?” you ask after a moment, “what about that promise you made earlier?”

“Don’t worry about that right now, we’ll talk about it when you’re rested,” he replied.

“Promise?”

“I promise.” You yawned softly, allowing your eyes to close as you realized how tired you had become. You didn’t want to fall asleep, worried he would be gone by the time you woke up. However, your fight to stay awake was in vain and you quickly gave in, hugging Minghao tightly and pressing one last kiss to his cheek.

“I love you Minghao,” you whispered, “I never want to be apart from you again.”

“I love you too darling,” he responded, “and don’t worry, you won’t.” You two would deal with the aftermath of your actions when you woke up. For now you just wanted to enjoy each other's presence for as long as possible.

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