#And then had to get up at like noon to drive home for my brother’s birthday

[imaginaryf1shots]

Forced | Charles Leclerc ver.

WC: 16.2K (It started as a 5K word and then I said okay 10K and things went from there)

Charles x reader

Summery: Being threatened and forced into a marriage wasn’t on your mind when you got invited to dinner by your parents.

Warnings: Cursing, forced marriage, bad parents, alcoholic parent, bad childhood, brief suicidal thoughts, half edited. tell me if I missed anything.

A.N: If you’ve read this before, no you haven’t I tried to save it to my drafts while I was at my part time job, and it showed network familiar fast-forward 2 hours and I don’t find it in my drafts, but I see it posted, It wasn’t all uploaded yet.

A/N2: If there has been a one shot I was nervous about positing, it’s this one. So many ups and downs, at one moment I thought about scrapping it but this idea has been in my mind for so long. I feel like I could’ve added so much and I have to remind myself this is a one shot and not a multiple parts series. CARLOS ver. IS COMING, not this week but I’ll start it once I have an outline.(send me ideas if you have any)

Masterlist

In the heart of Monaco, where all the rich, glitz and glamorous people live, the sun dips below the horizon casting a golden hue over the famous skyline of Monaco. The city is intertwined with the rich sport of Formula One. Many of the world's richest people live there, and so does your family. The famous Italian Morelli family, the rich of the rich. Generational wealth, very old money.

The family has been close with the Ferrari family for decades, and so Morelli has invested in the company very early on and has been receiving the benefits for years now. All of the children of the Morelli are born loving everything about cars and racing cars. However the new generation, not so much, they're straying from the driving and going into different ventures, trying different things. Yourself included, maybe when you were young but as you got older you never found yourself interested in cars or any of Ferraris teams in any motorsport, the last time you were at a race was when you were 10 and your parents had to force you to go, after that your older brothers stopped going so you said why can't I stay like them and that was that.

You defied your parents when you went to your choice of university, if it wasn't for you grandfather they would've cut you off, and so you went to art school and graduated with honours, but your parents still weren't there. Your grandfather passed away a few months later making your dad the head of the family.

Since then you've stayed in Italy after going and finishing university there, just the thought about going back to Monaco was out of the question, you have only stayed there during breaks from boarding school in Switzerland, both never feeling like home to you.

However here you are on a plane to Monaco for a mandatory family gathering, apparently something big is happening. the Youngest daughter to the family, the polite and elegant girl of the family, the least disappointment to your parents.

Your father had a driver waiting for you at the airport, not bothering to come himself even though it's been a couple of years since you saw him. Nothing has changed.

Getting ‘home’ yet again no one greeted you at the door but the maid who took your bag to your bedroom, you sighed and walked into the house looking for any sign of your family. You didn’t have to look for long, you found your mother on the balcony nursing a glass of some alcoholic drink, it was just a little after noon, a sight that you’re used to since you were young, your mum always being borderline alcoholic. Your guess is that she turned to the drinks to cope with living with your father, whom she chose to stay with for the glitz and the glamour of being a Morelli.

”Mother.” You greeted her, her head snapped to look at you, some of the liquid spilling as she placed her drink down and stood up, coming up to you with very wide arms pulling you in for a hug, your arms lay limp by your side for a moment before you returned the hug with one arm.

”Oh my baby, I didn’t know when you’d be in.” She said and pulled back to look at you.

”I sent you the details.” You mutter and she waves her hand waving you off.

”Come, come sit down, want a drink?” she asked, walking over to the drinks set on the side, you grimace and shake your head.

”No thanks, it’s a bit early for me.” You sit down across from her and look at the view, the view from the penthouse overlooking the pier, as much as you don't like Monaco the views there are breathtaking. “Where’s father?”

”He’s in a meeting.” She mutters and sips from her drink.

”It’s the weekend.” You reply but she just shrugs, unless he changed, your father never had work on the weekends, he hated them, he hated working anyways so for him to do so is something out of character.

”Your brothers just went out, sadly they didn’t come with any of their children.” Your mum pouted and you rolled your eyes, your mum is so out of touch with everything regarding her family, or anything in general, she acts so oblivious to the dynamic of the family, how all of her children live in other countries have their businesses and don’t want to be associated with the family name, the name she fought so hard to have.

”Okay, well, I’m going to my room to change.” You say and walk off leaving your mum on the balcony, texting your brothers in the group chat that you arrived, you laid down on your bed and scrolled through social media to pass time, you didn’t want to be here at all.

Once your brothers came, they made it to your room, the eldest taking the spot beside you on the bed and the second taking the sofa. It’s been a couple months since you saw them, but they’ve been texting you every now and then. The eldest, Matteo, is 8 years older than you, the second, Marco, is 6 years older, and you’re all at the age now where this difference isn’t that big.

You’ve all lounged around, your laughter ringing in the otherwise silent house. When the sun sat down you were called by the maids for the anticipated dinner. Hopefully everything will go smoothly and you'll be out of Monaco by tomorrow night. When you got to the dining room your father still wasn’t present, but you each took your place at the dinner table, with your mum at the head of the table across from your father’s empty seat and your brother’s each taking a side to your father and you between the oldest and your mum. It didn’t take long before your father arrived, he didn’t bother with pleasantries or hellos, he just took his place at the head of the table and food was served. You all ate in silence only the sound of the silverware hitting the plates is heard, something your mum tried not to grimace at each time.

“So… why are we here?” Matteo asked when the silence stretched for a bit too long for his liking, and he as did everyone minus your father wanted to escape this dinner.

”I have something that I wanted to talk to y/n about and I thought it’s best if you’re all present, as it’ll affect everyone.” Your father said, placing his knife and fork down, he took a sip from his wine glass and ran his eyes over the three of you like a predator, no ounce of love in him, you held your breath in curiosity and dread as the air hummed with anticipation, whatever is about to come can't be good. “As you know, our family has ties with the world of cars and motorsports, and Formula 1 has been a cornerstone of our family’s legacy for decades.”

”Not this again.” Marco mutters and your father gives him a warning look that has Marco clenching his jaw but saying nothing.

”In recent years, and since you three refused to have any hand in the family business or racing of any kind, our influence has waned, our presence diminished.” Your father continued, his voice carrying over the silence with determination, he speaks like you're in mediaeval times Matteo rolls his eyes. Dread fell onto you, you had no idea where this is going since it has to do with you. “I believe it’s time for us to take action.” His gaze sweeping across the room. “To reclaim our rightful place among the elite of Formula 1.” His eyes fall onto you and you forget to breathe, Matteo looking from you to your father. “I just came from a meeting with a Ferrari representative and we’ve come to a conclusion, y/n, we’ve arranged for you to marry Charles Leclerc.” Your fork clatters ringing in the air, your siblings and you are in shock. “This union will restore our family’s honour and secure our place at the top of motorsports history once more.”

As the implication of the head of the Morelli family proposal, no not proposal, fact, words, order, yes his order sank in, a palpable tension hung in the air, uncertainty and apprehension heavy.

And then your brothers were shouting, waving their hands, rage filled them. As for you? You felt betrayal, this is a death sentence to all your aspirations and dreams. Your eyes filled with tears, your throat closing in on you, your eyes fell to your plate and hadn’t moved. You have no idea who Charles even is, you have no idea who any of the Formula 1 drivers are at the moment, you haven't been in that sphere in so long.

”Come one, y/n, we’re leaving.” Matteo says and pulls you up, you stand up emotionlessly, your father still silent as he watched, you followed Matteo when your father spoke just as you were about to leave the room.

”If you don’t agree, then you can all kiss your futures goodbye.” Your father said and he dapped at his mouth with the napkin before he placed it on the table, that stopped you in your tracks along with Matteo and Marco stopped his shouting. closing your eyes, you let go of Matteo’s hand, of course it wouldn’t be that easy, your father wouldn’t just tell you and let you refuse, he had another thing up his sleeve.

”What are you talking about?” Marco asked his glare speaking for itself.

”I mean that, if your sister refuses or if any of you say anything or try to stop this marriage, you Marco will find that your company is suddenly without business and thus you’ll go bankrupt and you have two girls at home and a wife to take care of, and you Matteo, your stocks will plummet and you won’t be able to find a job as long as I live, all your inheritance gone and no trust fund to rely on anymore.” Cruel, he’s so cruel, how can he be your flesh and blood, how can you be related to this man? He’d basically kick you all to the street and his grandchildren as well, he has no heart that’s for certain.

”You can’t do that.” Matteo said but his voice was weaker, he knows his father is capable of doing this and much worse.

”Oh but I can.” Your father said with a smirk, his eyes settling on you once again. “So what will you do, y/n, would you let your brothers go bankrupt leaving them and their families with no money or future? Could you have this on your conscience?”

”This wouldn’t be on hers, it’s you, you’re doing this, don’t act like an innocent by standard when you orchestrated this, this scheme.”

”You know what? go at it, do the best you can, we’re not letting y/n marry someone she doesn’t even know, who the heck is Charles Leclerc anyways, I swear to god father if you make her do this I’ll-“

”I’ll do it.” You said and all eyes snapped to you, a tear left your eye before you whipped it away not letting another one leave your eyes.

”Wh-what?” Marco asked confused by your words.

”I’ll do it, but you have to write everything down, make a contract, that if I go through with it, you’ll leave them alone, the inheritance, the trust fund, everything.”

“No, no, y/n, what are you doing?” Matteo asked shaking his head, he doesn’t like this, he doesn’t want you to do this, his baby sister.

”I’m doing the only thing I can to keep you and your family safe.” You say to his, your eyes leaving your father’s to look at him. ”You just had a baby girl, and Marco, you’re about to have a boy, I can’t let this affect you.” You say to your brothers, Marco falls in his chair in disbelief. “Do we have a deal?”

”We sure do.” Your father says with a wicked grin on his face.

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Earlier that day in Monaco, Charles was on his way to what he assumed was a friendly meeting with some of Ferrari’s officials. His mind was somewhere else, he was thinking about the upcoming race, race strategies, how to secure a spot on the podium, he’s reached a point where he just wants to stand on the podium not win, just be in the top 3. He’s been struggling with the team the whole season and his personal life took a turn since the middle of the last season, it seemed to him that everything is taking a horrible turn. Little did Charles know that what’s about to come is so much worse.

As Charles enters the office, he’s met with a Ferrari executive whose name eluded him at the moment and a man he never met before, but a sense of unease crept over the monegasque man as he took in the seriousness of the situation.

”Charles,” Greeted, the man he didn't know, Charles shook his hand ever the polite man. “I’m Antonio Morelli.”

Charles recognized the name instantly, he knew the history of Ferrari and their ties with the establishment of Ferrari. “Mr. Morelli, it’s lovely to meet you.”

After they finished the introduction and sat down, Antonio sitting across from Charles started speaking. “Charles, this meeting has been set up because we need to talk.”

Confusion flickered across Charles’s features, his brow furrowing in apprehension, he had no idea what Antonio Morelli could ever want with him.

“Of course, about what?”

”It’s about your future and the future of Ferrari.” His heart sank at Antonio's words, this conversation is about to change the trajectory of his life. “As you’re well aware, your recent… actions shall we say, have caused considerable damage to your reputation and more importantly the reputation of Ferrari and the team’s standing in Formula 1.” A wave of irritation surged through Charles at the implication of Antonio’s words, but he had to bite back his tongue and stop the retort that threatened to spill from his lips. He knows this is not the time to argue, and it would only serve to worsen the situation further. “In light of these circumstances, and to save your reputation and your career.” Antonio held eye contact with the driver, his tone cold and unwavering. “I’m afraid I have no choice but to present you with an ultimatum, and you can choose whichever you like, it’s up to you.” Charles’s heart skipped a beat as he braced himself for the oncoming crash, he knew that whatever was in store for him wasn’t good. “You’ll marry y/n Morelli.” He stated as if he wasn’t just offering his daughter up to a man he didn’t know, yes he knows who he is but this is his first time meeting Charles. “Or you will find yourself without a seat in Ferrari and with no future in Formula 1.”

Silence filled the room as it seemed to spin for Charles, his mind is struggling to grasp what was just told to him, it felt like a punch to the gut, knocking the wind out of him leaving him without air and leaving him reeling with disbelief.

”I uh- but I…” Charles stammered struggling to come up with something to say as his voice is barely a whisper.

”There are no buts, Charles.” Antonio heard him loud and clear, his voice cutting through the turmoil going through Charles and reaching him. “This is your only option to keep your seat, your only chance to salvage and save your seat and career in Formula 1.”

Charles thought about all he went through to reach where he is now, racing in Formula 1 was his lifelong dream and he achieved it, but he hasn’t won a championship yet, he still has so much to achieve, so much to do.

“This isn't just about you Charles, this is about Ferrari as well, its about the fans and how they view you as il predestinato.” The executive said and Charles felt a surge of resentment rise within him, his fists clenching at his sides. How dare they blame him for all their problems? How dare they use him as a scapegoat for their own failings? He knows it's not just about him, it's to distract the fans from the failed car, the tractor he and Carlos are made to drive every week.

But as he met the unwavering gaze of Antonio and the executive, Charles realised that there was no escaping the reality of this ‘predicament’. He was trapped, caught in a web of deceit and manipulation and it looked like there was no escape for him.

With a heavy sigh and his head bowed, and broken spirit he nods his head in acceptance, knowing that he had no choice but to accept. No matter how much it went against everything he believed in, he had to agree, his sense of pride taking a hit. And as he left the room, his footsteps heavy with the weight of his newfound burden, Charles could only wonder what awaited him on the other side of the impossible choice that lay before him.

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Matteo and Marco both took your bag and booked you a hotel room. You had set your mind to the marriage and weren't backing down as long as your father was threatening your brothers, the only family, you count, that you have left.

It took a lot for you to make them stay back when your father called you to tell you to come home to sign the contract and to tell you what the next steps will be like. You get there and the maid greets you as usual, taking your coat, before you make your way to the office. There's a meeting table with 6 chairs placed to the side in the office, used when your father has business meetings at home, so not so often.

You place your bag on the table and sit down, your father soon walks in with a man following him. It turns out to be the lawyer, they sit across from you.

“As we've talked there's two contracts, one for the marriage, you'll share with Charles and the other for your conditions. You can start with that one.” The lawyer stated and you start reading, it takes a while as you focus on every word not wanting to miss a thing. You do find yourself getting emotional as you read, this is all becoming so real, it's actually happening. It takes a lot for you not to show the tornado of emotions swirling inside of you.

“Where do I sign?” You ask meekly and the lawyer points you to where you have to. You sign all the lines and hand him the contract.

“Okay the next one.”

“I need to go to the bathroom.” You mutter and stand up.

“Let's take a break.” Your father excuses you and you head out to the bathroom furthest from the office to hide in there as you're trying to fight the tears. You're literally signing your life away, tying yourself to a man you've never met before. Closing the bathroom door behind you, you splash some cold water onto your face to calm your racing heart. But seeing how weak you look, makes you want to cry more. A few tears manage to slip down your cheeks but you pat them away, trying not to ruin your makeup. Don’t let him see how much this is affecting you, you can’t.

Charles makes it to the address sent to him, he's led to a penthouse so big and fancy it surprised him even though he's been in many expensive houses. You can tell this is owned by a billionaire, everything is a step above all the other places he's been in, yet it looked cold, unloved and un-lived in. Charles couldn’t shake the feeling of unease that gnawed at him, he had greed to this, this arranged marriage out of desperation to keep his career, to keep his name out of the public’s mouths, however the idea of entering a marriage with a complete stranger left him feeling uneasy. When he makes it to the office, he sees Antonio and the lawyer sitting down, the chairs across from them empty, but there’s a purse on the table. Antonio and the lawyer greet him and point him to the seat across from the lawyer, and just as he sits down, the door he closed behind him is opened, and his future wife walks in. Charles looked up the Morelli family but there weren't pictures of the adult children anywhere, when they were young there’s plenty, some at F1 races even, but after a certain point, he found absolutely nothing. What he found is the parents of the family pictured at parties and lavish ad luxuries events and trips.

Charles looked starstruck when he saw you walk in, he doesn’t know what he expected but you look absolutely nothing like your father, you look elegant, soft and so innocent. He reminds himself that you’ve also agreed to this, that you’re the daughter of the man that’s forcing him, how different can you be from your parents?

You saw him in pictures, you’ve read about him, everything you could get under your hand you’ve read. From his beginning in karting to F1, to the scandals he’s been getting into for the last year or so, how much it had affected him and his sponsors. On track he’s still doing good, the best he can in the car he’s given at least, but off track he’s living the life of a fuckboy, all that after he came out of a long time relationship. To you however he’s just the man that agreed to this marriage, to further his career to get to your family’s money, be connected to Formula 1 forever even, you don’t know but you don’t like him and dread the thought of being tied to him just like your mum is to your dad.

With heavy steps you make your way to your seat next to Charles and sit down, you refuse to look at Charles, but he kept glancing at you taking you in, your father had a smirk on his face that just irritated you to no end.

”Okay, let’s go over the key points in the contract together before you both can take it and sign.” The lawyer said. “Charles and y/n, you are both not to be seen in any romantic or intimate position with anyone but each other.” This was mainly for Charles. “The public needs to think that you’re both single for now.” Easy enough you think to yourself. “In a month's time, you’ll start being spotted with each other, but confirm nothing after about 2 months, y/n you’ll be seen at a race.” You already hated this so much. “From there you have to sell that you’re actually in love, we’ll then release a statement saying that you’re in a relationship and things look to be going good. Now, in 9 months you have to get married.”

”That’s not going to be believable, getting married in under a year of knowing each other.” Charles stated wanting to scoff at the stupid plan they had set up, you take the contract and flip through it reading all the conditions the things you have to do.

”And that’s why you’ll say that you’ve known each other for a long time, and you’ve just started dating recently.” Antonio said and gave a challenging look, that shut him up straight away.

“Why do I have to move back to Monaco?” You ask frowning, you hate this country, it may be small but you hate it, you’ve just gotten out of it permanently not even five years ago.

”Because this is where Charles lives-“ You cut your dad off.

”But he can move to Italy, it’s not that far.” Your dad wasn’t happy about you cutting him off but you didn't care, your life is in Italy not in Monaco. “And he races most of the year so he’s not in Monaco most of the time.”

”y/n, Monaco is the home of Formula 1, it wouldn’t make sense to move to Italy, keep your house there if you want and go there from time to time, but you will live in Monaco.” You huff but say nothing else, wanting this hell to end already. You’re both given pens to sign the contracts and before the ink even has time to dry you leave the room, leaving the three men watching after you.

Charles asks himself what he had gotten himself into, to him you sounded like a brat throwing a tantrum, because she couldn’t get the smallest thing she wanted, and now he’s stuck with you. Now your fates are sealed, intertwined. And you’re both losing hope.

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In the next month you don’t see Charles, he was off racing, and you were back in Italy, you’ll postpone your move as much as you can, your life is all in Italy, it’s where you’re living, working, that’s where your friends are.

Both you and Charles were sent booklets with all the information that you may be asked about for the other and you had to memorise it. You took the booklet and never bothered to open it, you weren’t about to make this easy, just because you signed doesn’t mean it’s all smooth sailing from here. Charles however read everything, he wanted to know who you are, he hadn’t gotten the luxury of finding a wiki page or an article about you.

The media and everyone around Charles notice a difference in him, he doesn't go out or sleep around anymore, but he’s also quieter and more reserved than before. Whenever he was asked about his mode or why he’s changed, he’d just deflect the question, change the subject or simply just shrug. Charles did find himself thinking about his future all the time, regret and second thoughts clouded his mind, but it was all too late now.

It was between races when you flew back to Monaco to meet Charles for your first ‘date’. In your time in Monaco you’ve booked a hotel room to stay in, not wanting to see your parents if not needed. You met Charles at the location sent to you by your father, you still don’t have Charles’ number.

It was a small and cosy cafe, where you’re both to sit and eat for an hour or so, there will be a paid photographer (paparazzi) waiting to snap pictures of you both. You arrived first and took a table near the window, but had your back to it, not wanting your face out there straight away. You tapped your fingers on the table as you waited for the Formula 1 driver to arrive. This ‘date’ to many would be a dream, but to you it had kept you up at night, dark circles under your eyes were covered by layers of concealer.

”Uh, hi.” Charles says and takes the seat in front of you, you give him a small fake smile in return.

”Hi.” You greet him back, and then there’s a long stretch of silence, that is so awkward you wanted to kill yourself, what do you say to your future husband that you’re forced to marry on your first ‘date’? Thankfully a waitress comes by and places two menus in front of you, and so you take your time flipping through, Charles has been here many times before, he knows what he’ll order so he takes the time to shamelessly look at you. He does admit that if it weren’t for the whole marriage thing, if he saw you somewhere he’d ask you out, too bad you’re a Morelli that he’s forced to marry. “Do you know what you’ll order?”

”Yeah, do you?”

”Yes.” You both order what you want before falling into silence. Charles clears his throat, searching for something, anything to break the awkward silence.

”So… how was your day?” He asked eventually, cringing slightly at his own words, you blink at him not expecting him to talk to you at all, you hesitate for a moment before you find your voice to respond.

”Fine, thank you.” Your tone is a little guarded, on edge, not trusting Charles, but you decide to play along and return the question. “How was your day?”

”It’s way okay.” And that was the end of it before your food arrived, you eat in silence both glancing at the other from time to time. This is suffocating, it just dawned on you that this will be your life from now on.

”This is awkward, maybe we can, I don't know, try to talk maybe?” You were uncertain and admittedly very awkward, but you have to get over the silence, you hate silence like this, you’re very talkative by nature, the only time you’re silent is when you’re uncomfortable.

”Okay, we have to act like we like each other anyways.” Charles muttered and took a sip from his water. “Did you come from Italy?”

”Yeah, early this morning, you were in Spain right?” You think you’ve seen that they were racing in Spain somewhere online.

”Yes, a couple days ago.” You nod to his words and fall silent again. “Nice weather today.”

You couldn’t help yourself but laugh, nothing is truly funny, but look at you talking about the weather and nonsense, trivial things, the irony of the situation is so funny. Charles smiles as he sees you laughing, he didn’t expect it but it’s his first time seeing you do more than a fake smile, you’re usually stoic, no emotions at all.

“I’m so sorry, it’s just this whole thing is just so…”

”Weird.”

”Yes.”

”Believe me I know.”

This breaks the ice a little, you still talk about trivial things, nothing personal at all, you talk about Italy he tells you about Spain, what countries you both think is better than the other, trivial, not important talk. But talk you did. As an hour came to close, you both paid for your part of the late lunch, Charles didn’t put up a fight when you said you’ll pay half of the food, he felt like you’re not at the point where he can offer to pay.

Walking outside you look up at him and give him one of those small smiles, that to him looked practiced and not genuine.

“I guess, I’ll see you at our next scheduled, uh ‘date’.” You say doing air quotes at the date part.

“Yeah, sure.” You turn to leave before Charles stops you. “Wait, let me get your number, so we don’t have to go through people to schedule something.”

“Great idea.” You mutter and take out your phone and you both exchange numbers. “Okay, bye.”

“Bye.”

With that you both went on your own ways, you went to walk around and get to your hotel, the weather is nice after all, and Charles went with him in his car.

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You and Charles went on a few more ‘dates’ each one with more pictures online, no one has figured out who you were yet, something you were forever thankful for.

F1Gossip

Liked by username5, username320, and 302,582

hear me out! I think charles is over his hoe era, in the last month he’s been seen with the same girl in Monaco, Austria and Hungary. I repeat it’s the same girl.

No one knows who she is but or what she does but could this be Charles new girlfriend?

More comments

username234 honestly good for him

username20 FINALLY!! I was over him with a different girl each week 💃

username083 I wonder who she is

username72 not good enough for charles that’s for sure 🤢

username294 i bet it’s just another girl who he flies around w/ him so he wouldnt have to go out and look for one

username498 come one guys we don’t even know who she is

username903 it’s giving me gold digger vibes

username465 Charles be careful

username983 seriously these comments are not it 🙄

username438 shut up no one asked you

username983 and I don’t remember charles asking for your opinion

username438 stop asking like you know him when you dont

username983 says yyou

username474 I don’t like this 😒

username832 me neither

username094 this is whey drivers dont post their relationships because you people dont even know who the poor girl is and you’re already attacking her

username873 Olivia was better

username384 girl they ended over a year ago get over it

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You’ve seen the photos and you’re impressed with how much you and Charles managed to sell it, one thing you didn't like is the comments, you’re dreading the moment they find out who you were. You and Charles would usually meet up somewhere for half an hour, once you got the okay that the pictures were good you’d both go your separate ways. Now he has his summer break which he’s spending in Monaco, so once more you fly to Monaco to start the next part of the ‘plan’. The soft launch.

Your socials are all private, but soon you’ll have to make them public, another thing you have to change. You made it to Charles yacht in Monaco, he was already there waiting for you.

”Hi.” You greet the Monegasque, with a wave of your hand and a small smile, Charles returns your greeting and helps you get on the yacht. You settle down as Charles gets the yacht out in the water for a good spot. You brought your sketchbook with you, you’ve had a few ideas about some paintings for a gallery you wanted to be part of and inspiration just hit you that morning, so as Charles sailed for a bit you sat at the table and brought up your supplies. You’re the kind of artist that likes to sketch things out before putting them to the canvas.

”What are you drawing?” Charles asks you when he comes in.

”Just a sketch for a painting I want to do.” You say and look up at him to see him handing you a drink. “Thank you.”

”I never saw any of your work before.” Charles stated and you smile taking out your phone, you always love showing off your work. Not many people in your life were interested in art besides those you met in uni so when you find someone you just want to show them.

”I’ll show you.” Charles sits next to you and looks at the phone, and suddenly he’s seeing a side to you that he’s never seen before, your face is bright and the smile on your face is true, this is your passion. you’re explaining to him what each piece is about and what they mean, the colours, the composition, what inspired it. In the next 30 minutes he’s heard more from you than he’s heard in the last month. Charles is smiling at you when you realise you’ve been ranting for a while. “What?”

”I just never seen this side of you before.” He shrugs and you sigh leaning back in your seat, angled slightly to his side.

”We don’t know each other, I only know what I’ve seen online.” You tell him, your smile is long gone, and you find yourself needing to talk to him about the arrangement, you both have never talked about it before.

”You haven’t read the booklet?” He asked confused, he’s read his over and over again.

”Just the first page, it’s all stuff you can find online anyways, besides I bet you mine is just filled with things my parents think they know about me, but aren’t true.” Charles is confused by your words, he’s been under the impression that you wanted this marriage to happen, that this was a part of your plan. It seems to him now that your relationship with your parents is a bit rocky.

“I feel like there's a lot of things we should talk about.” Charles said as he got the feeling that maybe you aren't as welling as he originally thought.

“True, I actually hoped to talk to you.” You said and were Facing Charles fully, he also turned to face you, your knees touching lightly. “Look, I know you that we don't know each other, and that there's things that we both want to do that this marriage wouldn't allow us to do, so I have a proposal.”

“Okay, go ahead.”

“I wouldn't mind you being with other girls, we'll be married in a few months and i know I'm not your type, so do whatever you want just keep to discreet.” Charles was dumbfounded by your words, he cant believe that this is what you think of him. He's also a bit irritated. But what can he say, his attractivities haven't been the most private as of late. “But, I'm Keeping my house in Italy and I'll go Monaco if I have to and nothing else.”

“Sounds fair.” Charles said and you put out your hand for a handshake, which he returned. “There's no reason for us not to be friends.”

“True, I mean we're stuck together for life now.” You say and shrug. “We should take some pictures for Instagram.”

You both go out and begin the small photoshoot you had to do. Posing and taking pictures to choose one for Charles to post on his stories.

By the time the Yacht docked the sun was nearly down, Charles got off first and helped get off.

“When are you leaving?” Charles asked as you both walked to the parking lot, you rented a car this time around.

“As soon as I find a plane, I usually don't book my return flight until I'm sure we have everything we need.” You explain and he nods. “Why?”

“Well, you see…” Charles rubbed the back of his head nervously, he didn't want to bring it up but he's been putting it off for so long. “My mum wants to meet you.”

“What? Why?” you're confused why his mum would want to meet you, unless. “She thinks this is real?”

“I couldn't tell her, it would break her heart, she would feel guilty and upset and I can't do that to her believe me I tried but everytime I couldn't.” Charles went on a mini rant, now this a side to him you never saw. You can tell how much he cares and lives his mum, you couldn't say you understand his feeling but just from hearing him you can sort of empathise with him.

“Okay, I'll do it.” You say and he stops from talking and looks at you, with wide eyes.

“Really?”

“Yeah, it means alot to you, I’ll play my part.” You shrug, not thinking much about your choice. “Practice anyway, we haven’t acted as a couple in front of anyone really.”

“Thank you.”

”No worries.”

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

The next day, you got dressed and headed to Charles’s house where his family was gathering for an early dinner and a night together, enjoying the time where the three Leclerc boys had nothing to do. When you arrived, you could hear the laughter from inside, making you pause as the nerves came at full force, your hands started to shake and you had to pause before ringing the bell a few times. Taking a deep breath you pressed the bell, and waited. The door opened and you saw Charles, he must’ve been laughing before he opened the door because he had a big smile on that showed his dimples, and they didn’t dim when he saw you. You gave him a nervous smile.

”Hey, come in.” He greeted you and walked in seeing some of his family, this must be the reason behind the smile and the friendliness. Yes Charles has never been rude to you but you wouldn't call him friendly or loving or caring. Neither have you to be honest, so you wouldn’t blame him. You give Charles a quick hug and press your cheek to his in greeting. You put on your diplomatic smile that you had perfected when you were in boarding school, and look at the Leclercs, thankfully it wasn’t the whole family, just the boys and their mother. “Maman, this is y/n, the one I told you about.”

”Ah, y/n it's lovely to meet you.” Pascal comes up and pulls up in for a hug, that you clearly weren’t expecting, your eyes went wide for a bit before you returned the hug. Her smile and hug came in as a relief amidst the lies and the unknown tension between her and Charles.

”It’s lovely to meet you as well, Mrs. Leclerc.” You say in perfect french, and pull back to see her grinning face, all your words and smiles felt hollow, meaningless , you know the truth behind all this and it isn’t easy to lie to someone who’s so affected by it.

”Oh please call me Pascal, Charles didn’t tell me you speak French.” Pascal says and pulls you behind her to the living room where the other other Leclerc boys are.(after this point everything is French between the French speakers)

”Must’ve wanted to surprise you.” You say smoothly and smile as you shake hands with Arthur before you do the same to Lorenzo, who seemed reluctant, but you think nothing of it. His brother did sleep around with lots of women recently, and you’re the first one they’ve met in a while as well.

”I wonder what else he didn’t tell me.” Pascal gives Charles a look and he shrugs with a smile, he didn’t know you could speak French, it wasn’t in the booklet, it said you speak Italian, English and German.

“Maman, I just wanted you to find out from her.” Charles says and sits down next to you on the sofa.

”y/n, you’ve come at a good time, I was finishing the food.” Pascal said and went to go to the kitchen before you stopped her.

”Do you need help?” You ask standing to follow her but she refuses your help and tells Arthur to come help her instead. With a groan the youngest follows his mother to the kitchen and you’re left with the oldest two.

”So what exactly do you do, y/n?” Enzo asks, the way he said your name left a bad feeling in you, you looked at Charles and he gave you a nod in reassurance, but it did nothing to ease you at all. You’re in the lion’s den right now.

”I’m an artist.” You say with a polite smile.

”So you don’t work.” He said simply and your smile falls.

”Enzo.”

”What? I’m just getting to know your wife.” Enzo said and you freeze. His tone is sarcastic, your heart sank and your facade dropping. “Oops not yet I guess.”

“Come on, let’s eat.” You’ve only just met Arthur but you've never been grateful for anyone in your life. Enzo leaves the room first and you turn to look at Charles with fire in your eyes.

”You told him.” You hiss glaring at the Ferrari driver.

”Yes, I had to tell someone, and he won’t tell anyone.” Charles defends himself and you roll your eyes. “Your whole family knows.”

”Yes, but you know that, why didn't you tell me?” You huff, not liking how he didn't tell you.

”I just didn’t have the chance.”

”How convenient.” You walk away from Charles and to the dining room, where they were all sitting down, the polite fake smile was back on your face. You sat down in a chair and Charles sat next to you. You were back to playing boyfriend and girlfriend, but you couldn’t shake the feeling of Enzo’s eyes on you. Another thing you’ve noticed is how loving the family is, even Enzo’s anger is justified and comes out from a place of love. Your brothers love you but you weren't raised with love around you and it shows in how people act and interact with each other. You did get to know the family a lot that day, with good food, good wine, and amazing company. But at the end of the night when Pascal made Charles drive you home/hotel since he didn’t drink and you did, you sat in silence as the guilt ate at you slowly, you were looking out the window from Charles’s Ferrari watching the scenery lost in thought.

”I didn’t know you spoke French.” Charles said breaking the silence and bringing you out of your thoughts, you turn to look at him.

”Yeah, I’ve been speaking it since I was young.”

”It’s not in the booklet.” You laugh at his words and little pout he had on his face, looks like someone took reading the booklet to heart.

”Told you it’s not all true, I refused to speak French to my parents after the age of 9.” You told him and he gave you a questioning look filled with curiously, your family dynamic alway puzzling him and leaving him utterly confused. “They always wanted me to do this or that, and at home we always spoke Italian and then suddenly they wanted us to speak French, I learnt it but never spoke it in front of them, I speak six languages fluently, and know the basics of a few more.”

”SIX!” Charles is impressed, he speaks three and that was hard for him, imagine six.

”Yeah.” You chuckle at his surprise and bring out your hands to count them down. “Italian, because I’m Italian, French because Monaco, duh, German because of my school in Switzerland, English is a language everyone just learns, Spanish because I went to a trip to Spain in 8th grade and loved the language and then Dutch cause why not, and it has some similarities to German when it comes to vocabulary.”

“Wow, I’m impressed, and surprised more impressed though.” Charles says and you smile a genuine smile.

”I’m glad to impress, and if you ever need a translator you know who to find.”

Charles came to a stop in front of the hotel, he never asked why you never stay with your family when you’re here but he could only guess. “You know, you don't have to stay at a hotel, every time you're here.”

“I wouldn’t want to impose.” You say unbuckling your seatbelt.

”You wouldn’t.”

”I don’t know, maybe you’d have some company, I’m okay here seriously.” Charles sighed and here it is again your thoughts of him.

”I haven’t been with anyone since I’ve signed the contract.”

”Why.”

”Because no matter what, I’m not a cheater.”

”But we’re not in a relationship.” silence

”Have you been with anyone?”

”No, that’s not what i meant, I just mean that you can live your life how you want it.”

”Well, I don’t want to be a cheater we’re getting married in a few months.”

”Well, I’m not with anyone and haven’t been in almost a year.”

”Okay.”

”Okay, see you later Charles.”

”See you.”

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

Charles_leclerc

Liked by Landonorris, Maxverstappen1, your username and 3,380,394 others

No place like Monaco ❤️

More Comments

username93 we saw the last slide charles

username24 Charles in his soft launch era 🔥

username37 does this mean the end to his hoe era for real

username76 I’m going to miss fuckboy Charles

username37 You’ll be missed charles 💔

username83 you all think its the same girl from the paparazzi pictures 🤔

username69 I think so, same hair and everything

Landonorris 👀

Carlossainz55 when did this happen?

username28 lol not even his friends knew

username86 I bet @/pierregasly knows what up

Pierregasly not this time

username08 can’t believe there’s a day where Pierre is as clueless as we are

username90 I bet she’ll be gone in a week or two

username87 Uh who is this?

username48 Charles be careful there’s a gold digger trying to leach of you 🤮🐍

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

Charles posted a few more times, without bringing your face in continuing the soft launch part of the ‘plan’. you’ve met his mother another time, and like the first time, seeing her so happy for Charles and being in love with you left you with guilt that kept you up at night. Alas it was time for you to make your appearance at a race, your dad had talk to you on the phone and told you to hurry up, he also tried to arrange for a ‘family dinner’ that you’ve refused over and over again. With that being said you texted Charles and you both agree for you to go to the race in the Netherlands. You’ve arrived separately from Charles in, coming from Italy. Charles’s room was a suite at the hotel, with a big sofa and a king sized bed. Charles arrived a day before you and was already out for media duties for quite some time, you had a work obligation that you couldn’t get out of and you haven’t really tried.

By the time you arrived and were out of the airport and at the hotel it was already getting dark out, you got into Charles’s room with the key he left for you at the reception. The room was clean, you've noticed with his suitcase open on the side, the first thing you did was shower and get into some lounge clothes, it was an oversized set that you wore around the house when you had guests over usually, not the usual boxer shorts and bralette you enjoyed.

Your phone has been going for a good 15 minutes now, making you sigh and go to the balcony to get fresh air with your phone in hand as you willed yourself to pick up. It was night time, and you had only turned the side lamp on in the room, making very faint light come out to the outside. after staring at the screen for what felt like eternity and with a shaky breath, you finally muster the courage to pick up his latest call. Your heart was pounding in your chest.

”y/n, finally, I’ve been calling you for days now.” Your father’s voice rang through the line, it was laced with irritation and anger, all directed towards her, as always leaving her shaky and scared.

”Sorry, father, I’ve been busy.” Your voice is barely over a whisper, a strained silence hung in the air for a moment, your hold on the phone tightened.

”Look, I’ve been patient enough with both you and Charles, but if you keep ignoring me and not doing as I asked, then your brothers will bare the consequences of your action, or none there of.” His tone was serious and unyielding, making you feel like a child once more.

“We will, I promise, tomorrow I’m going to the paddock.” You tell him straight after, and you hate how you want to please him just to get him off your back, the fear in you not lessening with age, he still has a hold over you.

“Good, that’s good.” He hummed and you hear your mother talking next to him for a moment before he’s speaking again. “Your mother is asking when you’ll be over for dinner with Charles.”

”I don’t know, we’re both super busy and-“

”And nothing, you come here as soon as you can, I’ll have none of this busy nonsense.” Your father interrupts his tone firm. “It’s time for the excuses to stop, I’ve been letting you handle how you get it out to the public on your own, but what I say goes.”

”I’ll talk to Charles, we’ll-we’ll figure something out.” You mutter and tears gather in your eyes, you try to fight them but like always when it came to your father they just fall freely. No matter what, you have no choice but to complain with his wishes/demands. For some reason after meeting his family, the thought of Charles seeing yours is leaving you with a sense of dread and despair. soft sobs leave your mouth in waves, you look out at the view, you’re high, the street looks far away, and you wonder, just for a second, if you jump would you die instantly or would you be in pain, is that kind of pain better or worse that the one you’re in. shaking your head away from those thoughts, you turn to go inside.

Unbeknownst to you Charles has made it to the hotel room, just to catch the last of the conversation, and he’s heard you cry. He stood in the bedroom just watching you crumple under the weight of your emotions, a few times he had to stop himself form going to you and pulling you in for a hug.

When he sees you turning to come back inside he makes his way to the door of the room and acts like he just came in.

”Hey.” Charles greets you softly, he couldn’t act happy when he just saw you falling apart.

”Hey.” You put on a brave smile but he could see your wet cheeks and red eyes, your nose red as well. “How was today?”

”It was okay, tiring, but good.” Charles says and his eyes don’t leave your figure as he watched you escaping to the sofa where you practically had your back to him.

”That’s good, I’m tired as well, I think I’ll go to bed now.” You say and pull on the extra covers you found in the closet.

”Now? did you eat?”

“No, but I’m tired and not hungry.”

”Oh, okay, sleep well then.”

”Thanks, you too.”

Charles walks into the bedroom and closes the door lightly, you’re not sleeping and you won't find sleep for a while, your mind is swirling with emotions and thoughts that are hunting you down. You don’t cry but a few tears slip as you try not to think about what tomorrow will hold or all the things you have to do.

The next day, you wake up bright and early, before Charles’s alarm goes off, you don't need to shower since you did the night before, but you slip into the bathroom, and start on your makeup, and get dressed. You know that every single thing about you will be all over social media and criticised and analysed by thousands if not millions of people Charles has over 10 million followers on Instagram after all. When Charles was up, you were just finishing up your hair, the door was open. You heard movement from behind you and looked up through the mirror to see a shirtless half asleep Charles, his sweatpants low on his hips, your hands stopped mid air with your curling iron. You’re just a woman, you couldn’t help but let your eyes wonder, starting with his messy and tousled hair moving to his chest and arms and his abs.

“Morning.” His morning voice made you blink and look away, you had to swallow before you were able to regain your composure and your voice.

“Morning, I’m almost done.” You say and focus on not looking at him and just looking at what you were doing.

”That’s okay.” Charles says and goes to the second sink in the bathroom next to you and starts brushing his teeth, you both were doing your business in silence but your eyes wonder to him every few seconds, his eyes was half closed and he was half asleep still, so for you it was a blessing, being able to look at him as much as you wanted, so you admired him without him seeing.

You’re finished before him and leave the bathroom, it didn’t take long for him to be ready, dressed in his Ferrari team kit and a pair of skinny jeans, you bite your tongue not to comment on it, you’re not close for you to say anything about his choice of clothes.

On the ride to the track, you felt a sense of anticipation and excitement, your eyes looking outside the window taking in the city, after today your life as you know it will change. Every single thing you do will be under the microscope, you felt like a teen again but this time it’s not going to be just your parents watching, it’s going to be thousands of people, all with their opinions that they’re not afraid of saying, online at least.

”It’s going to be okay.” Charles said and you turned to look at him only to find him already looking at you. “You don’t have to be nervous, after we go inside, you can stay in my room if you want.”

”No it’s okay, I can do it.” You tell him with a grateful smile, as far as arranged marriages go, Charles isn’t the worst option, if you met in other circumstances you wouldn’t have gone for him simply for his career choice in F1 but you’re glad it’s not someone worse.

When you make it there and park, Charles gets out first and walks to your side opening the door, all with a smile on his face, he helps you out of the Ferrari and you get out and take your first look around, there’s fans everywhere all screaming and shouting his name. Some of his team are already waiting for him, and when he goes to sign caps and merch, one of the females introduces herself and stands with you. you ask her about her job and make small talk, while you’re waiting. She also gives you your pass that Charles requested and you put it around your neck.

“He’s signing a lot of things.” You observe your ‘boyfriend’ as he’s going from one person to the other.

“Yeah, he’s known for singing anything.” You hum and watch how nice Charles is with everyone. “We usually have to pull him away.”

They did pull him away and inside the paddock you guys went. Charles let you walk a bit behind him, knowing that photos of him will be taken and you’re nervous enough, he didn’t want to make it worse for you. it’s been so long since you’ve been at a race it feels like a life time ago, you forgot the sheer magnitude of the event, the air was alive with the hustle and bustle of people around you, creating an atmosphere that’s charged with excitement, and anticipation. After a long walk you make it to Ferrari’s motorhome, Charles introduces you to a few people who you can stick with when he’s on duty. His hand was on the small of your back when he was leading you through the crowds, but other than that you both weren’t showing any signs of affection at all. That didn’t change the fact that once he was in his race suit and it was hanging but his waist you were looking, it was today that you’ve realised how fit he is, he doesn’t just have a good face but a fit body as well.

Watching FP1 brought back all your memories of when you enjoyed racing, I mean how could you not, you’re a Morelli it’s in your blood. Maybe if your relationship was different with your parents who knows where you’d be today. In effort to distance yourself from your parents you’ve strayed from a lot of things that you enjoyed that they loved or wanted you to do.

Between the practice sessions Charles took you with him to get lunch at the cafeteria, he had to stick to his diet and you choose whatever you wanted. sitting down you’re soon joined by Carlos Sainz, you haven’t met him yet, but you saw him when you were looking up Charles online and his face is everywhere along with all the other drivers.

”Hey mate, you haven’t introduced us.” Carlos said and sat down across from the two of you, Charles was telling you about what to expect during the rest of the day and the next two days before he was cut off by his teammate.

”Carlos meet y/n, y/n meet Carlos.” Charles introduced you and you gave the Spanish driver a smile and offered to shake his hand.

”Hey Carlos.”

“Hello, I didn’t know Charles was bringing anyone with him today.” Carlos said before he started eating.

“Yes, I had work and we weren’t sure if I could make it or not.” Half a lie, you knew you’d be here for a while but you did have work.

“Ah, so what do you do?” Carlos asked and he was expecting to hear a model.

”An artist.” Carlos was surprised and proceeded to ask you about what kind of art, where you studied and about living in Italy. The three if you walked back to the brahe together that’s when Charles informed his teammate that you speak Spanish.

”You know y/n speaks Spanish, she says fluently but I’m not good enough to verify that.” Charles said and you gave him a look that had him laughing.

”You don’t believe me?” You ask him and he shrugs innocently.

"No need to worry, I can verify it for you." Carlos fake comforted his teammate and turned to you. "So where did you learn Spanish?"

"I took online classes when I was in 8th grade." You told him and he was impressed, you laughed at his surprised look, you are fluent and your accent is good. "I went to Spain once and just loved the language."

"Mate, she's fluent." Carlos turned to look at Charles who laughed at the two of you, Carlos then turned and continued talking to you. Charles was needed for something and so he left the two of you talking, Carlos was asking you about where you went in Spain and if you want to go again, he recommended a few places and then he learnt you spoke six languages, and so you were made to talk to him in all of them and his face was priceless, had you laughing. He may not have understood everything but he

knows enough to know you're fluent.

"Charles, where did you find this one?" Carlos joked with Charles when he came back, and that had your smile faltering and for Charles to freeze a bit, if Carlos noticed he said nothing.

“It’s a secret.”

“Fine, have your secrets.”

The rest of the day went by nicely and seamlessly, the Ferrari boys did good, no one was beating Max but they've done good. You haven't checked your phone all day, when you made it back to the hotel, Charles went to shower and you laid on the sofa to scroll through. Your Instagram account has gained over 10K followers, you had pictures of your work more than ones of you, but the secret is out, now everyone knows you. You didn't dare check Twitter; the app always scares you.

You heard the shower turn off, when you got a call from your father you contemplated not answering but knowing this would make it much worse you just picked up.

“Hello.” you say on the phone and close your eyes tight, your head on the pillow.

“What do you think you're doing?” Was the first thing you heard, he was angry very angry at what you have no idea.

“Wh-”

“Shut up I'm not done talking, do you know what you've done, why are there more pictures of you and Carlos than with you and Charles. Do you want to ruin the family reputation, do you not take this seriously?”

“What are you talking about?” Today was good. You had fun today and you've done everything he asked you to do, yes reluctantly and you push it off but you do it nonetheless, you sit up as you get agitated. “I've done EVERYTHING you asked me to do, I was just talking to Carlos, there's nothing to it.”

“Don't you fucking talk back to me young lady, haven't done anything good your whole life, you never listen, tomorrow I better see you and Charles selling this or you'll feel the consequences to your actions.” He hangs up and you throw your phone away, cursing under your breath your body shakes with sobs, your head in your hands. Nothing is ever enough for your father, you're never enough.

Charles sighs and this time he doesn't think about it he sits down beside you and pulls you in for a hug, you let him, your face hiding in his neck. Charles shushes you and holds you, you're clutching his shirt in your fist. Charles has a good heart he

doesn't like seeing people crying and he's come to see you as a friend now, a new friend that he's getting to know. It makes him angry that a father would make their daughter cry this much and wouldn't care, he feels blessed for having his parents and makes him feel bad for you. Your childhood must've not been easy. He whispers words of comfort in French and lets you let it all out, your body is shaking for a while

before you slowly stop, when Charles looks down he sees you sleeping. He moves you slowly not wanting to wake you up and carries you bridal style, and he manages to get you to bed before you begin to stir.

"What?" you say confused.

"Hey, just sleep." Charles says and pushes your hair out of your face, you look around and realise you're in his bed.

“No, this is your bed.” You tell him and try to get up but he stops you.

“Just sleep, it can't be that comfortable on the sofa.” He says and you lay back down.

“But you have work tomorrow.” You mutter and rub your eye, it's a bit sensitive from all the crying you've been doing.

“It's fine, a night on the sofa wouldn't hurt me.” Charles says with a smile but you're stubborn, you’re not about to let a man that drives fast cars for a living sleep on the sofa and wake up with back pains.

“Well the bed is big, we can share.” You say and Charles looks at you, he takes you in, you're half asleep, your eyes puffy and bloodshot with tones of worries and things to think about but here you are wanting to make sure he's okay and comfortable.

“Okay, yeah.” Before Charles could make it to his side of the bed you're already asleep, he lays there and wonders how many times you've cried yourself to sleep, how many sleepless nights you've had, how many times you went though restless days by yourself. He knows you have two brothers, he knows they're kind to you that they're not like your parents, but they're not in your life, it seemed to him that they moved out once they were old enough and forgot about you a little, both with their own lives now.

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

The next morning Charles asks you what your father wanted and you didn't really want to tell him at first but he managed to get it out of you.

"Just tell me from now on, we're both in this not just you." Charles tells you as he drives to the circuit.

“But this is your life, and this is your career and I just don't want to be a burden or for you to have to think that you have to be stuck with me all day or something.” You tell him, angling yourself to face him.

“y/n, we're a team, okay, for this to work we have to be always on the same page and I consider you my friend now, so just let me help you where I can and you help me where you can okay?” You smile at his words, a team, you have someone on your team.

“Okay.”

When you make it to the circuit, it's a repeat of the day before, you stand to the side while Charles does his thing and he walks in front of you, but half way through he stops and holds his hand out for you with a smile, you blink a couple of times before you take his hand. When you get to the garage Charles is whisked away for debrief and you're left there, you were looking at his car admiring the Ferrari, when a mechanic sees you and walks over.

"It's beautiful isn't it?" He asks and you look up at him with a smile.

“Yeah, it's been years since I was this close to a Formula 1 car.” You tell him, there's rumours around that you're a Morelli and everyone in Ferrari knows of your family, so it takes him by no surprise that you've been close to one before. “It's so different from the ones in the early 2000s.”

“Much different, we have done a lot of changes, look…” And he begins showing you what has changed, why cars nowadays are faster and stronger, the aerodynamics and mechanical differences, some things go over your head, but you know the basics of a formula 1 car.

When Charles finishes up, he sees you talking with the mechanic. He's leaning over the halo as he's showing you something, Charles smiles and walks over.

“Do you want to get in?” Charles asks and you turn to look at him startled, and excited, giddy even.

“Can I?” You ask with a grin and he nods, one of the PR crew takes out his phone to video this while another takes pictures, you're a Morelli and you're getting into the car and Charles is now back in a committed relationship so he's back in his good boy era, all things that made them want to document this happening.

“Place your foot here.” Charles says and points to a spot, you do as he says and he holds on to your waist as you wobble a little before you push yourself up and over the halo, he removes the steering wheel before you sit down and watches you as you get comfortable in his car. His smile is big on his face as you get excited.

“This is amazing.” You say and Charles puts back the steering wheel. You put your hands on the wheel. “So many buttons.”

“Can you reach the paddle?” Charles asked amused, he can tell that the seat is a bit big for you, you wiggle your leg and shake your head no.

“You should be thankful I'm shorter or I would've taken your seat.” You tease him and a few people laugh.

“You like the view from the car?” Charles asks and you nod looking up at him, he's leaning over the halo to look at you.

“Yeah, last time I was inside one I was like 6 or 7.” You tell him and he hums to himself, always finding something new about you, you were right about the fact that the booklet had many wrong things, it missed a lot as well.

At one point in the day Fred came over to say hello to you, he like everyone found out who you were.

“Ms. Morelli, it's nice to meet you.” You shake his hand and smile at the team principal.

“Please call me y/n, it's nice to meet you too.”

“It's been a while since we saw one of the Morelli's in the paddock.” Fred said and you felt Charles move a bit beside you. “haven't seen your father as well.”

“Yeah, well me and my siblings went to school and then uni and just were so busy.” You say and don't mention your father, he has a lot of influence in Ferrari. Charles has a hand on your back in comfort, it seems that after yesterday he's taken the role of comforting you, there's something that has definitely changed in your relationship, you've grown closer and you feel comfortable around each other.

“Yes of course, who knew it'll be Charles that'll bring you back.” He commented and you looked at Charles and smiled, he returned the smile with one of his own. You both knew the truth behind everything and it was killing you both to have to be lying to everyone like that, but why is it getting easier, why is it that since you've grown closer and find more about the other that it's not necessarily all lies.

The rest of the weekend went along great, you met a lot of people and as expected your name and your family's relation to Ferrari was everywhere. Those calling you a gold-digger have now turned to calling you attention seeker. You did post pictures of you to Instagram and the Ferrari team posted the video of you getting in the car, and somehow they found pictures of you in an F1 car from the 2000s, you've never seen that picture before but here it was. Charles texted you saying how you've been in a Ferrari way earlier than him, making you laugh imagining him pouting a little at the thought. After that weekend you've been texting more, talking more and just discovering everything about the other.

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

A day before Charles has to fly to Monza you've both in Monaco for the 'family dinner' you've been dreading so much. You've made it to Charles's house to meet there before you head 'home'. Charles was in his bedroom finishing getting ready and you were on the sofa scrolling through your social media and texting your brothers to see when they'll be there.

“Is this okay?” Charles asks, coming out of his bedroom you look up from your phone and see him in a tan dress shirt, a blazer with a pair of dark pants, not skinny, he has one of his watches on and no other accessories. He. Looked. HOT.

“Yeah, just lose the jacket.” You say and stand up, he takes his jacket off and places it to the side. He holds his arms out for your opinion and you smile. Oh if you were a normal couple going to see your normal family, this would've been perfect. Instead you're going to see the man that's been threatening you both. You left your small carry-on at Charles' house, planning to head back to his, so you could fly out to Italy together.

Charles drove the small distance to your family house and parked in the space that's meant for you. You got a text from your brothers Telling you they're already there.

“Are you ready?” You ask Charles in the elevator.

“Yes, are you?” He doesn't want to see your father ever again, but this is much worse for you, you're related to that man.

“As I'll ever be.” You hesitate for a second before you say. “I’m sorry for what’s about to happen.”

“you don't have to.”

“I feel like I should though.” You both don't say more on the topic, as always a maid opens the door for you, and you both step inside, you're led to the formal living room, where the guests are always hosted, can't show everyone we're normal and have normal looking living rooms, oh no what will they say about us. The looks are where formal ends, because once you walk in you smile seeing how Matteo is sat with

his legs spread, and Marco is slouched in his seat, they're both being extra with it and you and your parents know it but it doesn't mean it's not funny.

"Oh y/n, dear I haven't seen you in so long." Your mum says and walks up to you kissing both your cheeks before she moves on quickly to Charles. “You must be Charles, it's good to finally meet you.”

“It's uh, it's good to meet you too.” Charles doesn't know what he expected but it wasn't this, his eyes moved from your mother to your brothers who had their sights on him, making him a bit nervous. They're protective of you, but so is he and they might not like him for marrying you, but he doesn't like them for not taking good care of you. He shakes all their hands and you exchange hugs, you don't bother saying or doing anything with your father other than a quick hello, before you both sit on a sofa together.

It's been four months since the start of this whole thing, and here you are all gathered together, the people affected, threatened, forced and orchestrated by this marriage.

"I heard you haven't won any races this season." Marco said and your eyes snapped to him, his tone is hostel, not friendly at all.

“No, RedBull has been dominating for a while." Charles says, shaking the dig thrown at him.

“He's been on podiums though.” You find yourself sticking up for Charles, he gives you a grateful look, which you return with a smile.

“So he hasn't been winning.”

“No one has been but Verstappen.” You roll your eyes at the childish behaviour your older brothers gained suddenly.

“And you grew up in Monaco?” Matteo then asks him.

“Where are you going with this?” You ask him confused by all the questions.

“What? I'm just getting to know my brother in law.” Matteo tried to act all harmless and innocent but you know your brothers well enough to know there's more to it than that.

“No you're not, please cut it out, it's not like we're all here because we want to anyways.” Your mum gasps, you give her a look, why is she acting like this is normal? You're all been forced to be here and as innocent as she likes to act, she's always in on what your father is up to. She knows everything.

“Let's move to the dining room, why don't we?” your father says and stands up, he thrived on chaos so he's happy how things are right now, split and concur is his favourite method. Charles takes your hand in his, making you pause and look at him he mouths 'it's okay,' and you nod and try to return the smile but you’re not confident and it shows.

Your mum made your brothers sit next to each other so you and Charles sat next to each other, he's closest to your mother and you're next to your father. Food was already laid out for all of you, the start of the meal was silent.

“You know y/n, I'm so happy you're finally in a relationship.” Your mother suddenly says and you stop the fork from reaching your mouth to look at her like she's crazy.

“What are you talking about?” Did she mean you and Charles or something else?

“I'm talking about you and Charles, you silly girl.” You scoff and place your fork on the table.

“You do know that we're forced right? You were here when your husband told me.” Your father sighs not liking where this is going, he's okay with you and your brothers doing whatever to each other but for a twisted reason that is not love he hates when you speak back to your mother.

“Yes mother, and besides, Charles isn't really a golden boy to be proud of having as a son-in-law.” Marco takes the chance to bring Charles in again, he's showing him that he doesn't approve of him.

“You know if you didn't like it, why didn't you stop this?” Charles asks Marco, he's tired of being blamed and the one taking the hits when the person responsible for all of this is sitting two seats down from him.

“Because he threatened to cut us off and stop us from working.” Marco was getting agitated and angry.

“Marco shut up!” You exasperated.

“And what? You let your sister take the fall for you, so you could live happily.” Charles shot back, anger for you cursing through his veins.

“Everyone calm down.” Your mum tried to reason but everyone ignored her.

“Oh so you think you care more about her than we do, now?” Matteo sneers and you groan, this testosterone fight is only going to lead to chaos.

“I wasn't the one who left her alone.”

“Okay, you all shut up right now!” your father shouted and everyone fell silent again. “This is unacceptable, Charles and y/n will be married, and you're all going to be happy about it and that's the last I'll hear of it.”

“So now you're telling us how to feel?” The words leave your mouth before you realise, Charles takes your hand in his, and you slowly look from the plate you had in front of you and up to your father, there’s not going back now. “You've dictated our lives, and even now we're all adults you're making us do what you want, we've done

everything you've asked, but you've never been happy, we were never good enough for you.”

“Don't talk back to me.”

“No, it's not fair, you sold me to someone you don't know, I'm your daughter.” You say and turn to look at your mother. “And you keep acting like you love us, when you know everything and just do nothing, you've never stood up to us.” She takes a sip from her wine glass. “Yes, that's all you do, drink.” You stand up and throw your napkin on the plate. “Let's go Charles.”

Charles stands up and follows you out, as your father shouts after you. “You stop right there you stupid girl.”

“I'll get married, okay, I'll do it, I'll do everything in the contract, anything other than that is none of your business.” You say not turning to look at him as you spoke those words and leave your hand clutching Charles's tightly.

Charles doesn't let go of your hand, and it gives you comfort, you have someone on your side at all times now, looking at Charles you're happy it's him you'll marry and not someone else.

“Thank you.” Your voice is just over a whisper, the dinner took too much out of you.

“Why? I don't think I've made it better.”

“No, you made it all so much better.” Charles sends you a questioning look, tightening your hold on his hand. “You were by my side.”

“I'll always be on your side.” Charles says and your heart skips a beat, there, he's done it, Charles Leclerc has done it, he has your heart, it belongs to him now and there's nothing you or anyone could do to change this. Charles doesn't let go of your hand when you arrive, he just holds your hand when you're walking off to his house, not in the elevator, not until you walk in. “Come on, I think we need to talk.”

You sit on the sofa with your legs under you and Charles also sits down facing you.

“I think we should've had this conversation a long time ago.” Charles starts, your heart beats faster in your chest as your eyes meet and you both don't look away. “Why did you agree to this marriage?”

“Because my father said if I don't he’ll cut us all off, he'll make sure none of us ever find work again, and my brothers, they have families and children, I couldn't let him do that to them.” you tell him and push your hair back. “I was happy the last couple of years in Italy and then he just dropped the bomb on me, and… here we are.”

“Here we are.”

“Why did you agree to it?” You've had your theories at the start of this relationship, but as you've gotten to know Charles you realised how wrong you are.

“I know you've read all the articles about me, it's a long story but I've been with my girlfriend for almost five years when I found out she was cheating on me.- Charles said his voice soft, making you take his hand in yours and give him a squeeze. “I spiraled after that, other than racing which isn't going great, I was always drinking and sleeping around, it affected me her cheating more than I thought it'd ever way, it just shocked me and left me not knowing what to do, my reputation was going down and the sponsors were getting anxiety so your father told me if I don't agree to this I'd kiss my dream goodbye, no future in Formula 1, and I couldn't, it's been my dream and I promised my father I'd do everything I could to be world champion and..."

“You haven't made it yet.”

“No, not yet.” You smile before you laugh, Charles looks at you like you're crazy and you shake your head. “Sorry, it's just so messed up, this whole thing is just so messed up.”

”It is.” Charles chuckles and you sigh, this is all a bit too much. “But I’m glad it’s you.”

An involuntary smile makes its way to your face, you just melted, heart skipping a beat and butterflies in your stomach. the whole shebang.

“I’m happy it’s you too, Charlie.” Hearing you call him Charlie makes him smile, your gaze not straying from the other, basking in the moment, a moment you could ignore everything and everyone, a moment that’s just between you too. Maybe this whole arranged marriage thing will be okay in the end.

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

Next day you both fly out in Charles’s private jet with his family and team, Lorenzo is still standoffish, but now that you know that he’s in on everything you don’t blame him. He’s not rude to you at all, but he’s cold, something that you attributed to how he was raised. Even though he knows his brother is forced into it, he hasn’t been rude after the first time you met, when he just found out the truth.

The plane landed in Milan where you live, but you went with the family to Monza for the race, promising to take Charles to your studio after the weekend.

The first two days, media and FP1-2, go like how all the other races go, this time you’ve met more drivers, you met Pierre and Kika are one of the ones you met and was found talking to. You and the model exchanged details and followed each other on Instagram, you all went out to have dinner after media day, and you and Kika sat together talking all the time, with Charles and Pierre sat on each side of you not understanding how two people who just met could have this much to talk about and how you talk about everything.

pierregasly posted to their story

caption[ I think i lose my girlfriend @/charles_leclerc]

Charles_leclerc reposted to his story

Caption [looks like it mate]

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

Lorenzo was watching the both of you with hawk eyes, he felt like things have changed between the two of you or you’ve become better actors, because why does Charles have his hand on the back of your chair, why is your hands laced together a lot, why are you leaning into him, are do you have inside jokes and share those knowing looks. You’re having deep conversation, a closeness and ease that hasn’t been there before. So he takes the moment you went to Charles’s driver’s room to leave your bag there and took his brother to the side.

”What’s going on with you and y/n?” Enzo asked Charles, his brows furrowing.

”What are you talking about?” Charles asked, his breath caught in his throat, his heart pounding, he’s been denying his growing feelings for you, but it seemed like his brother picked up on it. “We’re just trying to make the best of a… difficult situation.”

Lorenzo wasn’t convinced he knew Charles, he knows there’s more to it.

“Don’t lie to me and don’t lie to yourself, Charles.” Lorenzo said his tone leaving no space for argument. “I can see the way you look at her, the way you care about her, you like her, and I think she likes you too.”

For a moment Charles was silent, his mind racing with emotions and he’s thinking about the time you’ve come to share together and how he’s been enjoying it. he had spent so long denying his feelings for you, burying them down, he tried to tell himself that no he doesn’t find you the prettiest most beautiful woman he has ever met, he hates when you go on rants about the things you love, he hates that you’ve picked up on so many habits he has and have come to understand him, he hates how you’re passionate and warm and kind and soft and elegant, he hates it, he just hates it. But here he is standing in front of his brother, the walls that have been down for a while are just made apparent to him, he just realised them. He nods, and a smile slowly appears on his face.

”Yeah, I do, I do like her.” Charles says his eyes are not meeting his brother’s as he’s lost in thought, his brows move slightly together and then he’s shaking his head no. “No, actually I love her.”

Lorenzo’s expression softened at his brother’s admission, a sense of understanding coming over him. “Then just embrace it, and let her know.”

”I just wish we met under different circumstances.” Charles confessed, his voice tinged with regret. “But either way, I’m just glad that fate brought y/n into my life.”

And as they stood there in the hustle and bustle of the garage, Charles knew that he’s ready, he’s ready to tell you what he feels and maybe start dating for real this time, have a samples of normality in your relationship before you get married.

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

After Sunday, Charles’s family flies back to Monaco and the Ferrari driver comes with you to Milan.

“Promise me you won’t judge.” You say to Charles after you turn to look at him, your studio’s key is already in the door waiting for you to twist it.

”I promise, mon amour.” Charles says and your face lights up at his pet name, you couch and turn to face the door.

”Didn’t have to say that.” You mutter and feel your cheeks turn pink, you open the door and lead Charles in, the big windows let in so much light but you go and turn on the light as well. The studios was spacious with high ceiling, paintings where leaning on the wall, a couple were covered, there was pain stains on the ground on the walls, there was a small kitchen to the side and a bathroom, there’s a pull out sofa against one wall with a few chairs littering the place and table with wheels, a table with no wheels, drawers of supplies and easels. This place truly looked like an artist's dream, it was messy but organised, it was all you.

”Wow.” Charles says and walks to the wall that had paintings on it, you follow him, keeping your eyes on him as you take in every little reaction he has. “You’re so talented y/n.”

”Thank you.” You reply softly. “You can flip through the paintings if you want, I'll make us tea.”

Charles has seen a lot of your work on your instagram and you’ve shown him a lot but seeing them in real life he realised they weren’t given justice with the photos, there’s so much detail in the work you’ve done, each brush stroke pressed with intention. Charles moved to the two covered ones, they were on the big size, his curiosity got the best of him and he pulled the fabric down.

”Wait Charles-“ It was too late, he saw them, his mouth hanging open as he stared at… himself.

“That’s-that’s me.” You sigh feeling embarrassed, your face turning red.

”Yeah.” You mumble and cough.

”Fucking hell, mon amour.” Charles turns to look at you and you’re looking away refusing to look in his direction, his eyes soften at your embarrassment. Charles walks up to you and you’re refusing to look at him, so gently cups your cheeks and your eyes meet his, getting lost in the shades of blue and green in his eyes. the shades you know from memory, the colours you painted and brought to life on your canvas. Charle’s breath gets caught in his throat, the words he was planning to say slipping from his mind, so he just presses his lips to yours, you gasp a little before following his lead, your hands clutching his shirt. It’s a moment of vulnerability, the product of simmering feelings that bubbled to reach the surface. your kiss deepened, becoming more urgent and desperate with each passing moment, as you’re trying to pour all your pent-up feeling, emotions and desires into this single electrifying moment. You move closer, your bodies pressed together, holding to each other’s curves, the intensity bordering on desperation.

When you broke apart, gasping for breath Charles’s hands are still cupping your face, his eyes ablaze with fire that threatened to consume you both.

”I love you, y/n.” He whispered, his voice raw with emotion, your heart swelled with joy at his words, and tears pricked at the corners of your eyes as you reaches up to caress his cheek.

“And I love you Charles, with everything that I am.”

With a shared understanding and longing and love you sealed the moment with another searing kiss, letting together us a oissionate embrace that seemed to stretch on forever. In that moment, amidst the quietness of the studio, you were no longer bound by a contract, but by the pure and unadulterated love for each other. In each other’s arms you’ve found the only solace and sanctuary you’ve ever needed or wanted.

➳➳➳➳➳┄┄※┄┄➳➳➳➳➳

It’s not to say that everything turned out to be what you wanted, in a couple months and while Charles was on his winter break your wedding was set. There was no talking your father out of it, but you weren’t dreading the moment anymore. You know that fate was going to bring you together in the end, one way or the other. Yes you’d still be dating, but in the end you’d get engaged and then married. Speaking of engaged, Charles did propose to you, it was a private event, only the two of you on his yacht away from prying eyes, with soft music playing in the background. The monegasque got down on one knee and asked you to marry him. Ignoring the fact that you’re bound by a contact you agreed instantly, tears in your eyes and a smile on your face.

But here you are now standing across from Charles, your eyes locked in a silent exchange if understanding, the weight of their circumstances hung heavy in the air. The officiant, cleared his throat and said his words singling to you to start your vows.

Charles took a deep breath, his gaze unwavering as he spoke his voice steady yet laced with emotions.

”y/n, I know that our beginning is not the one we would’ve liked for each other, but I’m glad that it did. But I know that fate has intertwined our future together, one way or the other I would’ve made my way to you. In you, I have found a companion, a confidante and a source of strength. I vow to stand by your side through everything that may come our way, to support you, to cherish you and to love you with all that I am, for as long as we live.”

Your heart swelled with emotion as you listened to Charles’ words, your eyes shining with unshed tears. You took a moment to compose yourself before speaking your voice soft but unwavering.

“Charles, Charlie.” You begin and your voice starts to tremble with emotion the more you speak. “When we first met I never imagined that our paths would be so intertwined, that I’d reach a point where I can’t imagine living without you. In you I have found a partner in crime, in life. You’ve showed me so much love that I never experienced before and for that I’ll be always grateful, I vow to stand by your side to be on your team, to lift you up when you falter, to love you unconditionally and with every fibre of my being.”

In that moment, those who doubted you, those that thought they won, those that wished your relationship would end, all knew that as you shared your first kiss as husband and wife, that you’re a team, a family, and that nothing can bring you down. You made each other stronger, you made each other happy, and you had your whole futures in front of you to heal all the wounds you had in the past, you’ll both grow and heal and live together.

Your journey is far from over, there’s so much that you’ll face. But you’ll face it together in each other’s arms, where you felt the purest kind of happiness.

#f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 x reader #f1 scenario #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagine #charles x reader #charles leclerc one shot #charles leclerc #charles xreader #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 x reader #formula one imagine #formula 1 fanfic #charles leclerc fic #cl16 #cl16 x reader #cl16 imagine #cl16 x you #cl16 one shot

[sturnioloskyline]

flu season

pairing: matt sturniolo x fem!reader

warnings: illness, crying, language, sickening fluff(get it?)

summary: you get the flu and don’t tell matt, so he gets worried takes things into his own hands

being sick sucks. no one knew that bettter than y/n, who was currently buried under blankets on her couch in her apartment in la. this morning she woke up sweating with a pounding headache and an inability to breathe through the congestion in her nose.

she called in sick to work and stayed in bed until noon before mustering up enough strength to get up and make a cup of ramen noodles. she then settled to watch a movie on the couch, where she ended up falling asleep.

not far away, matt nervously chewed on the skin in his cheek as he stared at his phone. he had sent 5 texts to his girlfriend today, none of them having received a response.

matt knew this meant something was wrong, because usually y/n would text him a sweet “good morning” the second she started her day. they weren’t fighting, at least that matt knew of, so of course matt was sent into a anxious spiral over the lack of responses from his girlfriend.

finally, matt ripped his eyes away from the screen, walking over to the kitchen where his two brothers were standing, giggling to each other. matt ignored them and grabbed his car keys from the counter, immediately catching the other triplets’ attention.

“matt, where are you going?” chris whined.

“y/n’s.” matt quickly replied, stuffing the keys into his pocket and heading for the garage. chris and nick immediately looked to each other in worry at the expression on their brother’s face.

“is everything okay?” nick asked matt cautiously.

“i don’t know, she isn’t responding to any of my texts,” matt rambled, putting on his shoes. “i’m just gonna go make sure she’s okay.”

matt rushed out the door before his brothers could say anything else. he got in his car and began driving over to y/n’s place. he chewed on his lip nervously as he drove, his anxiety only growing the longer he didn’t hear from y/n.

after what seemed like hours, matt parked outside y/n’s apartment building and made his way home to her front door. he rang the doorbell immediately and stepped back to wait for her.

inside the apartment, y/n jolted awake at the sound of her doorbell ringing. her head was throbbing in pain, her throat was scratchy, and the air in her living room felt ten times colder than it was when she fell asleep. she got up from her nest on the couch and shivered, grabbing one of the blankets and wrapping it around herself.

the doorbell rang again, creating a sense of urgency as y/n tried to compose herself somewhat for whoever could be ringing her doorbell and disrupting her afternoon. she struggled to the door, messing with the lock weakly before finally swinging the door open.

“y/n,” matt sighed in relief immediately as y/n opened the door.

“matt?” y/n croaked out in shock. heat rose to her cheeks. she hadn’t invited matt over, and was unprepared for him to see her. matt and y/n had only been dating for a while, and she had never been sick around her ever. “what are you doing here?”

“i needed to see if you were okay. are you okay?” matt asked, his face scrunching slightly with worry once again as his eyes scanned over y/n’s pale face.

y/n didn’t know if it was the shock of her boyfriend showing up to her apartment, the embarrassment she felt from her sickly look, or how miserably sick she felt, but suddenly her eyes watered and her lip trembled as she shook her head at matt.

“oh, baby,” matt whispered, stepping into the apartment and wrapping his arms around y/n.

she immediately melted into his arms, a weight on her shoulders lifted as matt locked the door behind him and held y/n in his arms in silence. tears streamed down her cheeks as she sniffled into his jacket. matt leaned down and kissed the top of her head.

“wanna sit down?” matt asked as y/n’s cries softened. y/n simply nodded, letting matt lead her back to the couch. when the sat down, matt wrapped one arm around y/n frame, letting her lean into him. “what’s wrong?”

“i caught the flu.” y/n sniffed, rubbing her sore eyes. “i feel like shit.”

“i’m sorry baby,” matt whispered into y/n’s hair, letting his fingertips graze up and down her arm.

“i’m sorry you have to deal with this,” y/n mumbled, suddenly shy of matt seeing her with her messy hair and in t-shirt and sweats.

“you have nothing to be sorry about,” matt scoffed, bringing his hand to her cheek and tilting her head up to place a soft peck on her lips. as if sensing her insecurity, matt giggled “you look so pretty right now.”

y/n blushed and leaned impossibly further into matt’s arms. “can you stay here with me?”

“of course,” matt spoke softly, pulling y/n closer to his chest. a few minutes later, y/n’s breathing slowed, and matt looked down at her head buried in his chest.

“babe?” matt whispered. y/n didn’t respond. matt smiled at his girlfriend’s sleeping figure before reaching over to grab one of the blankets from the couch and draping it over both of their bodies. matt leaned his face down to kiss the top of y/n’s head, before letting his own eyes flutter shut.

…

author’s note: pls don’t bully me this is my first try! i literally have never written on tumblr before and i haven’t written in like 2 years anyways, so. but if u have any advice or want a part 2 pls let me know!!!!!! OK BYE

#sturniolo x reader #matthew sturniolo #matt sturniolo #matt sturniolo x reader #sturniolo imagine #sturniolo fanfic #nicolas sturniolo #christopher sturniolo #nick sturniolo #chris sturniolo #sturniolo triplets #x reader #matt sturniolo fluff #fluff

[mind-empty-just-fictional-people]

Poems

main masterlist | supernatural masterlist

summary: dean searches your room when you’re missing, and the love letters he finds break his heart

pairing: dean winchester x female reader

rating: R for language

word count: 1.9k (1.5k excluding poems) 

warnings: reader goes/is missing, language, 

author’s note: please don’t make fun of my “poetry”, i know it’s not good that’s why i don't write poems lol

“Hey Dean, I’m working a case near Wichita so I’ll probably be back home by the end of the week. See you soon, bye.”

“That’s the last I heard from her,” Dean told his brother after playing him the message you left. “It’s been over a week, I’m gettin’ worried here!”

“Do you know what kinda case she was working?” Sam asked, Dean shook his head. “Okay, well I’m sure she’s fine, Dean. Let’s call the hospitals around where she is and ask if she’s there.”

“You do that, I’m gonna head to Wichita,” Dean replied.

“I think we should call the hospitals first, Dean. She said she was near Wichita, she could be anywhere from here to there!”

Dean sighed but agreed with Sam’s plan.

**

The boys had no luck with any of the hospitals so they decided to head over to Wichita and look for you. They searched for a few days before heading back to the bunker, hoping you might be there waiting for them. You weren’t, of course, and that only made their worry grow.

You’d been missing for nearly two weeks!  

Dean thought there might be some kind of clue in your room and decided that searching it was next on his to-do list. Though he knew he was grasping at straws, he did it anyway.

Opening the door to your room, he smiled at the poster near your bed. It was the one he’d gotten you for Christmas last year. It was a kind of gag gift—it was his favorite band. (His real gift had been much more thoughtful.)

He began his search at your desk, digging through the mess of papers splayed out on the wood surface. His brows furrowed when he found one paper in particular. It looked like… a love poem?

The way your hair looks in the morning

The way your laugh adds life to moments boring

The way your breath hits my neck when you’re standing just behind me

Reaching over to grab something off the table

A lore book, of all things to be

And the way your eyes light up when you look into mine

I swear I almost see a hint of love

Behind those piercing starlights

Your lips on mine is what I need

Did you hear me? 

I said kiss me, you fool!

We’ve not got much time

In this line of life 

And I need you at my side.

Dean didn’t know if the poem would be considered “good” in the public eye, but he knew it made his heart clench. You were in love? But… with whom?

To him, the words were beautiful, and the thought that you wrote them about someone else broke his fucking heart. He knew there were no clues to your whereabouts in the next poem, but of course, he read it anyway.

I think of you when I drive and spot a classic car

I think of you when I eat a cheeseburger 

And I’ll turn it upside down when I’m missing you

I think of you when I hear a Zepplin song

And I turn the music up when I’m not with you

I think of you when I see anyone wear flannel

Or a leather jacket that’s clearly a size or two too big

And I love to think of you

It just makes sense to me

I love to picture you beside me

At night when I can’t sleep

Or when I get scared of what I’m facing

I think of what you would do

Day or night

Night, day, or noon 

I always think of you

Whoever this mystery person was, they were fucking lucky. Dean had never felt so jealous in his entire life. He always thought you two had a “will they won’t they” side to your relationship but at that moment he realized it was completely one-sided. The fun, flirty side to all your late-night conversations had just been friendly. Two friends playfully talking as if they both wanted to be more.

Of course Dean wanted to be more. Of course he knew he wanted to be with you. But now? Now he knew he’d either missed his chance or he simply never had one.

You were in love with someone that wasn’t him. And the love you’d been writing about wasn’t the kind someone gets over. It’s the kind that sticks—for life. The kind that people write songs about, the kind that people fight wars over, and the kind that makes people go crazy in the best way. 

He knew he’d found that love when he first fell for you, but it turned out you had found that love in someone else.

“Anything?” Sam asked, walking into your room.

“Uhm,” Dean cleared his throat, hoping his eyes didn’t look as cloudy as they felt. “No, nothing important. Just some love letters or something.” 

Sam furrowed his brows and picked up one of the poems off the desk, one that Dean had not read yet. As the taller Winchester read what you wrote his eyes grew wide, practically popping out of his head as his mouth fell open.

“Oh my fucking god!” Sam exclaimed. “Y/n’s in love with you?” He looked at his older brother in shock.

“Me? No, these poems are about whoever she’s been seeing recently, they aren’t about me. We’re just friends.”

“You haven’t read this one yet, have you?” Sam asked with a small smile before handing it over.

You asked me today; “what’s your favorite color?”

And I just shrugged; “I don’t know, blue?”

Cause how could I have said the truth?

The color I love most in the world

The color that brings me nothing but joy

In this sad, awful little life

Is the green and hazel of your eyes

The emerald diamonds that shine

When you look into the sun

The soft hazel that looks over at me

When we’re reading in the library

How can I tell you all of this 

When the question is so simple and plain

How do I go into such specific detail

About the color I’m in love with

Without freaking you out

Or scaring you away

Or making you laugh at me

Because I know your favorite color 

And I know it’s not the color of my eyes

“You…You think this is really about me?” Dean asked his little brother, hoping Sam was right.

“Dean in all my life I have never seen anyone but you eat a burger bun-side-down,” Sam chuckled a little having read one of the poems Dean had read earlier.

“Oh my god.” Dean furrowed his brows, looking back down at the paper in his hands. “We’ve gotta find her, Sammy, I gotta tell her!”

“Tell her that you went through her stuff while she was gone? Don’t think that’s the best idea.”

“No! Tell her I’m in love with her! Tell her that the color of her eyes is my favorite fucking color too! And every time her favorite band comes on the radio I turn it up, and every time I see a woman wearing her type of clothes I think about her. Tell her that all I do every waking moment of every day is wish I was with her, wish I was holding her in my arms so I could never let go.”

“I think you just told her.” Sam smiled, nodding to where you now stood at your door. Dean turned around quickly. Tears of joy stung your eyes as you looked at him and smiled.

“You love me?” you asked.

“More than anything,” Dean admitted as he hurried to you. He wrapped you in a tight hug, kissing your temple quickly before he tucked your head under his chin. “I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“I’m sorry I didn’t call, it’s a long story,” you mumbled. “When vampires ban together with twisted humans, they’re a lot harder to kill.”

“We were really worried about you,” Dean admitted. “Like…fucking terrified.”

“Is that why you decided to dig through my personal shit?” you asked. You were one hundred percent kidding, but Dean was still nervous.

“Yeah…sorry,” Sam cringe-clenched his teeth, “it was my fault.”

You and Dean pulled back from the hug, but you took his hand in yours as you narrowed your gaze at the younger hunter.

“I know your tell, Sammy,” you said. “But it’s sweet that you’re trying to cover for Dean.” 

“Yep, all Dean’s fault,” Sam admitted before heading for the door, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder on his way out. “Good luck.”

“Look, I didn’t mean to invade your privacy, I swear,” Dean told you quickly. “I was looking for something that might tell me where the hell you were.”

“How many did you read?” you asked.

“Three,” Dean sighed, still thinking you were pissed at him.

“So…you know, then? That I’m hopelessly in love with you? And you think I’d be mad at you for looking through my stuff?”

“I mean, I know you value your privacy.”

“Dean,” you started, putting a hand on his cheek and turning his face to look down at you, “would you please just fuckin’ kiss me already?”

He seemed almost surprised by your question but he quickly smiled as he bent down and kissed you. His one hand stayed clasped in yours while his other went to your waist and then trailed to your lower back. The hand you had on his cheek went to the upper back of his neck so you could tangle your fingers in his hair. The smiles on both of your faces only grew before you both pulled away.

“Wow, I’ve wanted to do that for so long,” Dean mumbled before he let out a short, breathy laugh.

“Me too,” you replied. 

**

You’d been back home for a few days now and you had explained the whole missing situation to the brothers. You told them how the simple vampire hunt turned sour quickly when you realized the small-town’s sheriff was in on it and helped the vamps with making humans just disappear. They’d made you as a hunter instantly and held you hostage for a few days before you killed your way out. 

Dean never left your side so when he saw a new poem on your desk his brows furrowed. Curiosity got the better of him as he sat down to read it.

My god aren't I lucky

Now that you're holding me at night

And that first time we kissed in the doorway

I could’ve sworn I was kissing pure sunshine 

When your lips hit mine it was better

Then I could’ve ever imagined

And the love poems I've written became

Manifested words of affirmation

The butterflies in my stomach fluttered

And the blood rushed to my head

Think I could stay like this forever

Won't overthink it, I’ll just go and kiss you instead

“Well, well, well.” You came up behind him, and put your hands on his shoulders before you trailed them down and clasped them together over his chest, leaning your chin on his shoulder and kissing his cheek. “Look who’s digging through my shit again.” You smiled against his skin. He turned his head and placed a deep kiss on your lips.

“I’m not even sorry this time, because I think this might be the best thing I’ve ever read.”

“I love you,” you said and kissed him again.

“I love you so fuckin’ much,” he mumbled back.

#dean winchester x reader #spn #dean x reader #dean winchester fluff #dean x you #dean winchester angst #dean winchester fic #dean winchester #dean winchester fanfiction #dean winchester comfort #dean winchester x you #that’s 5+ months of nothing in my head by supernatural!! #supernatural fluff #supernatural fic #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #supernatural fanfic #spn fic #spn fluff #spn fanfic #by mind empty just fictional people #by jean

[delusionalmultifandomwriter]

Batfam Napping HC

requested?: No

HC: How does the Batfamily nap?

I had a very good nap today and it sorta inspired me so here we go!

Bruce takes "im just gonna rest my eyes for a second" naps. He sometimes dozes off in the office chair in front of the Batcomputer with his head tilted back. He totally snores. He will also sometimes fall asleep in WE meetings (this one is canon).

Dick can sleep anywhere and everywhere. Couch, bed, car, sitting in a chair, standing or hanging upside down. When he was younger he used to sometimes nap during the galas Bruce took him to. He would just stretch out over two, as he grew three chairs he moved together and sleep until they would go home.

Jason naps curled up because it reliefs his backpain. It is not as bad as it used to be when he first got free from the Joker, it got better when he started healing, but being Red Hood is exhausting and some days are just bad days. The napping mostly happens on accident, he just wants some pain relief for a few moments and suddenly he is out like a light.

Tim is chronically tired, we all know that. Sometimes he falls asleep at his desk either in the cave or at WE. Dick normally wakes him up or carries him to bed. Sometimes, when Dick spots Tim getting tired he gives him some headpats, some nice words and finally gets him to lay down with him. Dick and Tim like to cuddle, both of them are touch-starved as hell and they fight it off together. They can occassionally be spotted in either Dick's or Tim's room, Tim laying down on his older brother with his head tucked under Dick's chin. Their naps sometimes extend over multiple hours.

Damian sometimes naps in the barn with Batcow. He leans against her warm body and sometimes Alfred the Cat sleeps on his lap or Titus and Ace lay down with him. Damian gets very calm in the presence of animals and because the barn is a little away from the Manor, noone really ever caught him sleeping there. Only Alfred caught him once, he took a picture of it and keeps the moment treasured.

Babs has a couch in the Belfry right under the clock face where the sun shines through the stained glass lightly. She isn't bothered by light so she likes to nap while the sun warms her body. She thinks that warm sunlight is the ultimate weapon against deep aching cold in her bones. It is her treasured place.

Steph is a sucker for car naps. She sleeps best when she sits in the passenger seat of a car with someone trusted driving. When she still was Robin she used to fall asleep in the Batmobile after patrol sometimes. Batman never admitted it but it made him quiet emotional that Steph trusted him enough to sleep near him.

Cass, in general, only sleeps in her room with the door locked and the curtains closed. She naps the same way she sleeps, she needs the safety of her room. She sleeps on her back with her hands over the blanket or without a blanket at all. It's a habit from her assassin training that she can't quiet get rid off. She also puts a timer on 20 minutes because that is appareantly the optimal length for a nap. She sleeps through the alarm at least half of the time.

Duke is basically the only one that is not afraid to sleep in front of the rest off the family. One of the perks of joining the family late, is that they figured themselves out more or less so nothing bad happened between them (yet). Duke sometimes naps when he overused his powers and needs a quick energy refill. He mostly naps sitting up on a couch with his arms crossed on the backrest and his head resting on his arms. The rest of the family is always surprised if they find him sleeping just in front of everyone.

#batman #batfam #jason todd #my writing #red hood #batfamily #damian wayne #dc robin #stephanie brown #batgirl #spoiler dc #nightwing #dick grayson #red robin #tim drake #bruce wayne #barbara gordon #cassandra cain #orphan dc #headcanons #headcanon #batfamily headcanon #batfamily headcanons #batfamily hc #napping #sleep

[idontlikeem]

i'd like to talk about grieving, a little bit. as in the past, discussions of death and cancer below the cut, don't read if this will hurt you, etc....i'm having a bad day and i just need to stream of consciousness for a little bit. sorry.

so my mom died. if you've read my personal posts before or whatever, you probably figured that out. it happened on thursday february 15th around noon. luckily we had a bit of notice that it was coming, so i was able to drive down the saturday prior and spend time with her—three full days where she was pretty much still herself, and part of a fourth.

it's been a really hard month. like, obviously. but i think a part of me still wasn't quite ready for it. i don't know how.

my mom was first diagnosed with breast cancer in fall 2011. she had a mastectomy and went through chemo, and that was hard and scary, but it was i think technically considered stage one—a tumor that was definitely growing fast, but it hadn't spread out of the area, like not to her lymph nodes or anything, and with the treatment she went almost ten years totally symptom-free. right at the start of the pandemic, the cancer came back, but this time it was already stage four, and it was in her abdomen and uterus and intestines.

there was a time when we weren't sure she'd live more than a year. endometrial and other reproductive cancers aren't 'sexy' like breast cancer is, they're not widely studied and there aren't a lot of treatment options. when she had breast cancer i hated 'save the boobies' campaigns (and please never donate to susan komen), but now that my family has lived with another type of cancer that doesn't have tits as a draw, i hate them even more.

my mom made it four years, pretty much, since the first diagnosis. she did chemo, and radiation, and went on medication trials, and put her body through hell to try and fight it. she lived longer than i think any of us thought she would.

the problem with that is how long i've been existing in a state of grief.

i've had years to prepare for this. i've thought about it literally thousands of times—how i'd feel, how i'd tell people, what i'd do after. i pictured it, because i was trying to plan. i was trying to get myself ready.

turns out pre-grieving isn't real. turns out you can't get this pain out of the way by experiencing it in advance. much to my chagrin. i'm not sure there was a way to avoid it, though. so here i am, with four years of grief behind me, and not one second of it has made what's going on now any easier.

some days i forget. every time i'm on twitter or instagram, there are posts i want to send her, and then i don't know what to do with myself. for all that my relationship with her had its hard times, she was my mom, she was my best friend. i love her more than anything and i don't know what to do with myself now that she's gone.

i've been sort of just surviving for the last four weeks. my apartment is a mess, i'm barely leaving, i haven't been good at responding to people. so today i thought i'd at least clean up a little. i'd gone to target a day or two before i drove down to my parents', and i figured i would start with those bags, because they were just sitting there.

i'd forgotten that i bought valentine's day cards for my whole family that i wanted to send. one for each of my brothers, one for my dad, one for my mom. i never sent them, obviously, i didn't even bring them with me. i burst into tears when i pulled them out of the bag, and i've been crying pretty much all day since then. i'm never going to pick out a card for my mom ever again.

i also have a notes app file sitting on my phone. she wrote each of us letters, and my dad sent them out to us, but i haven't been able to open mine yet. it's the last new thing she'll ever say to me. how could i possibly be ready for that? how do i know when the right time to read that will be?

one thing my mom wanted was to die at home. she didn't want it to be in a hospital, and i get it. she spent a month in the hospital after christmas, and god knows how much time cumulatively over the last four years. the fact that she was able to push to get home is something i don't understand, because she was so sick—but she did it somehow. she was able to die in her bed.

and i was with her. like. i wasn't just at home, i was with her.

something they don't tell you about having someone die is you have to start arranging stuff before it actually happens. when we woke up on the 15th, we knew it was only a matter of time—her eyes weren't all the way open and her breath was labored, and she couldn't talk, although at first she still tried to say stuff. we sat there with her and kept her company and talked to her. hospice came by around 11 or 11:30, i don't even remember, and said that based on whatever measurements or readings they take (pupils? breathing? i don't know), it would be between 4-8 hours, and he recommended that my dad call the funeral home. because you have to do that first.

so my youngest brother was driving down from where he lives, my middle brother was in his room, my dad was in his room on the phone, and i stayed with her, because....well, of course, right? and i was just kind of talking, and crying, but trying not to...i don't know, beg her to stay? ask for more time? the nurse said she could still hear, they're pretty sure that hearing and understanding what's being said is the last thing to go, and i didn't want her to feel bad or guilty, or to hurt herself in an effort to stay longer even though there's nothing more that i've ever wanted in my life.

so i told her, you know, we'll be okay. it's going to be unbearably sad, and it's going to suck, but all the stuff we did as a family with her—we'll still do it. and we'll be okay. and there's nothing more important to us than her not hurting anymore, not being miserable and stuck and just...not herself. all that matters to us right now is her, and she didn't have to worry about us, because we'd be okay.

and she took in a breath. there was a pause. she took in another one. and she stopped. that was it.

i didn't even realize at first, not right the second it happened. the hospice booklet had talked about a 'death rattle', about how it happens almost all the time, but that it's more distressing for the people with the person dying than them, that they're not in pain. how the fuck would they know that, i'm not sure i believe it, but...it's what i was expecting. that didn't happen, though. she just stopped breathing.

the amount of guilt i felt for my dad being out of the room...i don't know if that will ever leave me. he said it was ok, because he was having to deal with stuff, and he'd spent a lot of time with her and it was fine, but jesus. how do i not feel like i stole that from him?

i've felt like a shell ever since. i'm back where i live, and i'm getting up and going to work and taking care of my dog and trying to stay connected to life, but...i don't know.

how is it that she's gone? how is this possible? how am i supposed to go the rest of my life without her?

i had four years to get ready for this, and i wasn't. i don't think there's any way i really could have been, but still. it doesn't seem fair that it was so hard for so long, and for NOTHING. nothing is easier now.

i'm sick of feeling sad, and hurt. i feel like i should be over it or something? i don't know, maybe just less actively affected? it's been a month. people's parents die all the time, right?

what am i supposed to do?

#personal

[joelswritingmistress]

Oh Captain, My Captain: Chapter 9

What a night. That was your first thought when you woke up the next morning to the sound of seagulls chirping outside. A stream of sunlight highlighted every little corner of the room that you hadn't really gotten a glimpse of the night before.

You didn't have a care in the world. In fact, you felt light as a feather. Beside you, Joel still slept in his boyish contentment. Messy hair. Deep breaths entering and exiting his nose. Arms folded, hugging across his bare chest. The artist in you wanted to paint him in such a picture perfect state.

A lone anxious thought rose in your chest and it made you reach for your phone. Had anyone been looking for you, or did your brother come through?

A wave of relief washed over you when you saw there were no missed messages or calls. None. Zero. You were in the clear. Free.

The clock read ten minutes after seven o'clock and for a short time you just laid there in the blissful ocean of sheets and blankets. Joel's room was surprisingly neat for a bachelor, with a flatscreen above a pale white bureau and a few other wooden pieces of furniture. A cylindrical wicker basket sat in the corner filled nearly to the top with laundry beside a set of pullout doors you assumed housed a closet.

When Joel finally stirred, he hummed a little wake-up groan to himself as he rubbed beneath one eye before opening them.

You turned, smiling smally to yourself at his pillow-tossed hair and morning squint as the sun invaded his slumber. You felt at ease when the corner of his mouth perked up in a smile and his hand fell to your bare hip beneath the covers.

"Hey," he said quietly, his voice coming out a bit gravelly before he cleared his throat.

"Hey," you echoed, turning your body to face him more directly.

"How'd you sleep?"

"Fine." You sighed when his hand rose high up your torso and back down. "Did you sleep well?"

He nodded against the pillow. "You don't have anywhere to be right?"

You shook your head. "Nope. Do you?"

"Not until later." Joel grinned a little wider. "Someone's gotta drive the boat. Maybe you can come be a stowaway again on a ride or two."

"If you don't mind the company."

Joel chuckled quietly and pulled your body closer to his. Your lips met as you edged closer and all at once you were lost in each other again. Joel held you close, pinning you on top of him as you leaned down and initiated a heated, urgent kiss that intensified the moment. The rest happened naturally.

The entire morning went something like that. Joel whipped up some bacon and eggs with toast and some fruit. You stared out through the hanging branches toward the ocean as you sat side by side eating breakfast at the kitchen island.

Moments after slipping a strawberry into his mouth, Joel was picking up you and seating you down on the countertop with his face in your breasts leaving kisses up your neck and making you want him again.

There was a fleeting moment where you worried someone might see your intimate encounter from one of the many open windows; but once Joel got your next love making session underway you forgot all about it.

Fuck, it was all so overwhelming in the best of ways. You couldn't keep your hands off each other. All it took was one of you to look at each other the right way and the throes of new love took over.

It was close to noon when your bodies had finally had enough. Joel laid on the couch, tastefully exhausted, with you on his chest partially beneath a blanket that had been hanging on the back of the couch.

He placed his first two fingers beneath your chin and it forced your eyes on his. You placed a gentle peck on his lips.

"You know I'm normally a grumpy old man?" He said, half-kidding.

You shook your head with a grin. "I don't believe it."

"This is the first time in awhile I haven't thought about going down to that little dive bar to grumble about my day, or just get buzzed to come home alone and fall asleep."

You kissed his lips again. "I enjoy being with you, Joel."

He let his fingers run up and down your back. "I'm starting to wish you could stay for longer than just this week."

"Me too." You felt somber agreeing with him and rested your head flat against his chest. When his lips touched the top of your head your eyes closed.

"I have to get to work," Joel said in a voice just above a whisper. "You can stay.. or if you need to go home I can drop you off."

You wanted to stay, but you didn't have clothes.. and you knew you had to check in with your family sooner or later.

"Well I don't have any clean clothes," you told him with a laugh. "And I think my parents might send out a search party if I don't show my face. But, uh.."

Joel finished your thought. "Well, if you can sneak away again and feel like coming back with some clean clothes, I get out of work at six. I wouldn't mind some company."

You could sense a seriousness in his eyes and voice, alike. You felt it, too.

"I'd like the company, too."

Joel toyed with your hair and closed his eyes. "I don't want to get up." He let out a light laugh and you smiled.

"Have any sick days?" You joked, scrunching your nose as you looked up at him.

He chuckled. "I think they'd all see right through that lie. Plus.. the tourists await." Joel guided your face back to his and you shared a series of closed mouth kisses.

"Come on," he said with reluctance. "Let's get you home."

#pedro pascal #joel miller #joel miller x y/n #joel miller x you #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller x reader #pedro pascal x y/n #joel miller x oc #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x f!reader #dbf! joel miller #joel miller the last of us #joel miller tlou #pedro x you #pedrohub #pedro pascal smut #joel miller smut #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal fanfiction #javier pena #javier pena fic #javier pena narcos #narcos #tlou #tlou x reader

[hockeylovee12]

SOMETHING MINE-Luke Hughes

Part Two

The summer had come to an end and you and Luke were still dating and keeping it a secret. Over the summer you two talked every day since after your classes had ended you had to go back home to Virginia and Luke went back to Michigan.

It was hard being apart but it would raise too much suspicion if you went to Michigan or he went to Virginia and neither of you were ready to go public just yet.

Luke did come back in September right around the time school started back up for you. The season started in the beginning of October and Luke was getting really busy same with you with school and work but you two still made time to see each other and you would text when he was away.

———————————————————————

Tonight Luke had a game and it was a bad one. The Devils lost 3-5 against the Toronto Maple Leafs and Luke got you a ticket so you could watch him in person.

Tonight was only the seventh game of the season and Luke had played a few minutes in each game but he still hasn’t gotten a point he had a few good moves in his last one but he was still searching for his second point after getting his first in a playoff game last season.

He didn’t get it but what was worse is when he had a bad turnover in the second period that resulted in a goal against the Devils and the crowd started chanting “Nepo Baby”.

You could tell by the look on Lukes face he had heard it and what made it even worse was after the game his Coach told him he had to do media and they asked him what his thoughts were on the chants.

Luke gave a pretty solid answer “ya it sucks I know that’s not why I’m here but I can’t control what other people think or say”

After the game was over all you wanted to do was hug Luke and that’s all he wanted too but he wasn’t ready to go public and neither were you. So you both drove home separately.

———————————————————————

Luke arrived back at his apartment with his brother Jack.

“Are you ok?” Jack asks

“Ya I’m fine it’s just stupid chants” Luke says

“Ya exactly don’t let it get to your head” Jack says

“I won’t” Luke told him

“Alright Moose you wanna watch some tv?” Jack asks

“Nah I’m actually gonna go out for a bit” Luke says

“Where you gonna go? I’ll come with you” Jack says standing up

“No it’s ok Jack I really just wanna be alone for a little bit” Luke lies knowing he was going over to see you.

Jack gives his little brother a slight smile

“Be careful ok and text me when your on your way home and no drinking we do have practice tomorrow at noon” Jack says showing his protective brother side that annoys Luke.

“I will and I’m not drinking see you later” Luke says before grabbing his car keys and leaving the apartment.

He heads down to the garage and starts driving to you.

———————————————————————

Your roommates were out partying tonight so you and Luke had the apartment to yourselves at least for a few hours.

Luke knocked on your door and you opened it. He immediately wraps his arms around you and holds you close.

The two of you walk to your bedroom and lay down with Lukes head on your stomach as you run your hands through his curls.

“You did well tonight” you try to reassure him

“No I sucked” he claims

“So you had a bad game it’s ok” you tell him

“Those stupid chants” Luke murmured

“Are you ok?" You ask and Luke looks up at you

“Ok stupid question rephrase do you wanna talk about it?" You ask

“You know my family is the reason I am who I am and when when people use that against me it hurts it gets to me more then anything because I'm a Hughes but I'm Luke too I got here because of me not my last name and it feels like it will never be that I could score 100 points and I would still be a nepo baby or whatever and it's so damn stupid! Quinn and Jack don't get called these stupid things because what they're older it's ridiculous and I'm sick of it." Luke rants

“I'm so sorry Luke" You say

Luke just sighs and shakes his head

The two of you stay silent cuddling for a while longer until the two of you fall asleep.

———————————————————————

A loud beeping sound wakes the two of you up and Luke finds his phone

"Shit!" He shouts

You quickly scramble out of bed and turn on the lights

"What's wrong?" You ask

"It's 5 am" Luke says

Your eyes widen realizing your roommates might be home by now.

You look over at Luke who's scrambling to put his shoes on and gather his keys and phone.

"I have to go Jacks gonna kill me literally" Luke says

"Ya ya of course I'll walk you out" You say as you open your bedroom door

The two of you walk towards your front door and before you have a chance to open it it swings open and you see your three clearly drunk roommates walking in.

"Hey! Y/N/N ooo who's this?" Julia asks

"No no one are you guys ok?" You ask

"Fine fine just want bed and brownies do we have brownies can we make brownies?" your roommate Neya asks

"No no guys just sit down I'll get you some water in a second" you say guiding the three to the couch.

You turn your attention back to Luke who seems to have zoned out

"Luke?" You say

He shakes his head

"Ya sorry I gotta go" Luke says opening the door you follow him outside and walk him to his car before kissing him goodnight or technically good morning and head back upstairs to your apartment to tend to your drunk roommates.

———————————————————————

Luke drove home very quickly probably going a little too much over the speed limit the whole time and made it home at 5:15. He parks his car and walks up to his apartment.

He tries as quietly as possible to open the door and plans to practically sprint to his room but the bright lights already on ruin his plans.

“Dude! It’s 5 in the morning what the hell!” Jack shouts

“Ok I know I know but I’m ok everything is ok so ya” Luke says knowing it’s a stupid response but at the same time he is 20 and doesn’t feel the need to explain himself to anyone.

“Luke I was so close to calling the cops I thought something had happened where were you and why didn’t you answer my calls I called you like 10 times!”

“I-I fell asleep ok can we just leave it” Luke says making a move towards his bedroom

“Where the hell did you fall asleep?” Jack asks

Luke sighs

“Were you at a girls house?” Jack asks changing his tone from angry to curious in a single sentence

Luke doesn’t answer and shakes his head continuing to walk to his room while Jack stands there with a smile on his face realizing his baby brother just might have a girlfriend.

He changes into a pair of sweats and a t shirt before getting into bed and grabbing his phone.

He sends you text saying we might have a slight problem

Y/N-Oh god what

Luke-Jack thinks I was at a girls house

Y/N-What did you tell him

Luke-Nothing I walked away

Y/N-Dude that’s a total give away

Luke-Alright dude what are we gonna do

Y/N-Well just tell him to keep his mouth shut

Luke-Ya another problem Jack’s a total gossip by noon tomorrow I won’t be surprised if half of New Jersey knows

Y/N-Damn

Luke-Ya

Luke shuts his phone off and curls up in his blankets

Maybe he can tell Jack to keep his mouth shut.

———————————————————————

Jack in fact did not keep his mouth shut and blabbed about Lukes ‘secret girlfriend’ to the whole team. The guys chirped him for it and a lot of them were curious as to who she was but Luke refused to tell anyone anything. Jack threatened to tell Quinn. Even though he was the first person he told but Luke didn’t know that. Then Jack said he would tell their parents and Luke still refused trying to hold on to as much privacy as he could. Eventually Jack gave up and respected Lukes decision for the time being at least.

A/N hope you enjoyed feel free to send in requests or comments or just to talk I’d love to talk with you guys! I may make another part let me know what you guys would like to see!

All images are from Pinterest

#luke hughes #hughes brothers #jack hughes #feel free to interact #nj devils #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes imagine #part two #follow up

[les-pompiers118]

Last call for sin

900 words | rated Teen | Buck angst

A 1x01 coda ficlet for @911hiatus's week one prompt, "hunger." Title from All These Things That I've Done by The Killers, which is a perfect song for pilot Buck (in my humble opinion).

He managed the drive home okay—hands tight around the steering wheel, radio on too loud to keep his thoughts at bay, but he made it. He just put his mind on autopilot and drove. But now that he’s safely on his own front porch, fiddling with the keys in his jacket pocket, Buck feels like he can’t breathe. As if there’s a snake wrapped around his ribcage, squeezing.

He inhales sharply through his nose, then exhales more slowly from his mouth, talking himself through it like he’s his own patient. In… and out. There you go. You’re okay. On the far end of the porch, someone left an empty beer can in the potted geranium that’s languishing between two folding chairs. Buck keeps his eyes fixed on it, both to ground himself while he breathes and to have something—anything—to think about besides what happened yesterday.

He almost lost everything.

In… Out… In… Out…

The front door opens, startling Buck into taking a step back.

“Hey, I thought I heard you pull in,” Kyle says through the screen door. He’s wearing flannel pajama bottoms printed with puffy, cartoon Christmas trees and no shirt. “You okay, man?”

“Yeah, fine. Just didn’t get much sleep.” Buck walks over to the geranium, plucks out the beer can, and hands it to Kyle. “You guys, uh, have someone over last night?”

“Not me. Stayed up late watching a couple movies. I don’t have to work until noon.”

Buck follows Kyle inside, careful not to let the screen door slam. “Sorry if I woke you up.”

“You didn’t. Fucking car alarm next door again. I’m gonna let the air out of their tires next time, I swear to fucking God.”

“I did not hear you say that,” Buck grins, then gestures at Kyle’s pajamas. “Look at a calendar, dude. It’s January.”

“Yeah, so? My mom gave me these. They’re comfortable. Yo, I was about to make some eggs. You want some?”

“Nah, I’m good, thanks. Not hungry yet.”

Kyle gives him a thumbs-up and returns to the kitchen, and Buck goes upstairs to his room. The house is quiet at this time of day, at least on weekdays. Weekends are a different matter. Buck usually comes home to find a few friends-of-friends still hanging around for breakfast. Buck doesn’t care, as long as the mess gets cleaned up and no one has crashed in his bed.

God, he’s so damn tired. It’s not that they had a lot of calls last night; he just couldn’t seem to get his brain to switch off. Four straight hours in his bunk without the bell going off, and he wasted them listening to Chimney snore. Buck drops his gym bag on the floor and kicks off his shoes without looking to see where they land. Clothes are peeled off, replaced with sweats. Curtains get pulled closed. Autopilot. On the way to the bed, he catches his reflection in the mirror hanging over the dresser.

And then he can’t breathe again.

This is not a family.

The next time you screw up, it’ll be your last.

You’re done, kid.

In the dim light, Buck sees all the previous versions of himself staring back at him from the mirror, all with the same birthmark and blue eyes, the same nose that’s just a little too long. Twenty-six goddamn years’ worth of them—and it seems he’s no closer to figuring out how not to screw up his own life.

“I fucked up,” Buck whispers. “I fucked up again, Maddie.”

His reflection pleads with him in the mirror, begging for sympathy, but the voice in his head is brisk, sensible. Maddie’s voice.

Okay? What are you going to do about it, Evan?

He hasn’t seen her in years. It’s painful to think of her, still patching up idiots like him in the ER and then going home to her dickhead husband. At least she has one less thing to worry about with her little brother out of her hair. Buck hopes she’s okay. Maybe even happy.

It’s hard to imagine her happy.

It’s been five years since he left Hershey, hungry for something he couldn’t even name. So hungry it hurt. But now he understands what he was seeking as he was crisscrossing the country in her old Jeep: Purpose. Something he could hold up with pride. And people who gave a shit about him. He knows this because yesterday he almost threw all those things away for a couple of meaningless fucks. Jesus.

So. What is he going to do about it? The first step is obvious. Buck sits down on the edge of his bed and begins deleting every dating app off his phone. He’s done. He has to be done.

He makes the mistake of opening the last app. Four messages. Buck scans the profile pictures, his breathing picking up. God, it was an actual nightmare of a shift. That little girl dragged out of her house, bullets—actual fucking bullets—pinging off the fire engine. In two days, Buck’s going to be right back there, facing all kinds of awful shit again, having people’s lives in his hands. And then there’ll be the consequences of his screw-up to face. Bobby’s probably gonna have him scrubbing floors for a month.

Buck lets his thumb hover unsteadily over GirlOnFire94’s picture. The name feels like fate. He clicks.

One last time. He needs this.

His hands don’t stop shaking for a long time.

#911 #911hiatus2023 #evan buckley #911 fic #my writing

[maranull]

Hi!! Headcanons for what the ladies (and Blaidd) would do for a date mayhaps?

Hello! My hand slipped so here's a wall of text! Hopefully it's close to what you had in mind. Also thank you for the ask! <3

~

Ranni: Picks you up late in the evening. She tries to be nonchalant but she also did say, "Yes, sir!" to your mother so she's going through it. You get drive-through and park at the top of the nearest hill. You sit on the hood and spent hours just chilling and talking under the moon and stars with the faded city lights below. She gets all bothered and flustered at almost any compliment or tease you throw at her. A cheesy eyes-like-stars type compliment has her swooning for a good five minutes. There's a light breeze that is pleasant at first, but starts to turn chilly after a while. She gives you her jacket (that she only wears for fashion) the moment she notices you're cold. She also steals all your fries. No, she didn't want any. You return in the middle of the night. If you kiss her goodnight, you'll spot her jump in the air in triumph the moment she thinks no one's watching.

~

Melina: Comes by your house around noon. You grab a bus and head into the city. You share earbuds during the trip and she keeps her hand around yours. You get out close, but not too close, to the library and stop by a cafe on the way. She gets warm tea. You spent some time there, with Melina getting all giddy every time she sees couples or families walking by. You walk to the library after a while. There, you first head to your favourite section, then to hers (history). You play a game where you pick a book with your eyes closed, pick a random chapter number and read it to each other (quietly). You then have to guess what's the book about without looking at the synopsis. You both leave with (at minimum) two books on your hands and schedule your next date to be a reading one. But at a cafe cause people-watching is fun.

~

Malenia: Actually invites you over her house. She can't leave because she's carrying for her brother. But they have a whole ass pool so she invites you for a swim. Her brother keeps smiling and winking every time he thinks you're not watching. He soon retreats to his room, while wiggling his eyebrows. Malenia has a dance studio at the basement and she spends an hour or two teaching you some steps. A sneaky little bro changes the song to waltz a couple of times. Instead of a shower you jump in the pool at which point you discover that Malenia doesn't believe in undergarments. But she's really chill about it and soon you stop paying attention to her lack of swimsuit and you just talk at the edge of the pool until your fingers start to wrinkle. After a quick towel dry, you take a walk in her garden and pick fruits from the trees to eat. Which you do sitting by the pool, talking and watching the sunset.

~

Marika: Picks you up with a sport motorcycle early in the evening. She's in full leather. Wears no helmet but bought one for you on the way and refuses to move if you don't put it on. You go to an early screening of a generic action movie and she also pulls the yawn and stretch move. She's really into the stunts and excitedly explain how they did such and such both during the movie and at the walk back to the bike. You drive to a rock bar and sit at the front bar. She's a whisky on the rocks kinda gal but only drinks a single glass tonight despite almost getting into a drinking challenge with a random dude. She might start explaining the differences between single and blended malt and all other kinds of details about whisky, if asked. And she does it with such genuine enthusiasm that you find it hard to get bored. At the drive home, she takes the highway and floors it. She goes so fast that you start thinking you'll crash but she has perfect control over the bike and slows down when she feels you tensing on her back. She does a donut as she waves goodbye.

~

Blaidd: He's the type that suggests a hike for a date. You leave at dawn and he insists to carry your bag for the first two hours. Until he realizes that carrying two bags and talking on the trail is really not a easy thing to do. Stops every now and then to show you how these tree scratches are from a deer, or how this round, cleared hole was made by wild hogs. If you pass a stream, he'll suggest to try and find the source, because "water from the stream source tastes better". He actually has cleared an area for a picknick upstream and wanted it to be a surprise. He also has brought all the ingredients needed for a full meal and cooks for you on the spot. He undercooks the meat but everything else is perfect. You spent a couple hours on the clearing, some talking, some just listening to the life around you. Eventually you return to the car and you drive to a hill to watch the sunset. You are home by 21:30, on the dot.

#elden ring #ranni the witch #melina #malenia blade of miquella #queen marika the eternal #marika the eternal #blaidd the half wolf #asks #x reader #headcanons #these are like for 1st or 2nd date kinda situations

[undercoverwizardfanfiction]

Title: Glass Shell

Verse: ROTTMNT

Summary: Afterall, aren’t we all in various stages of falling apart?

Characters: Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael

Pairings:

Warnings: PTSD, meltdown, nightmares, past trauma

@hoshisoul and @soldierofsirens thank you both :)

Being a record-breaking insomniac, Leo is always finicky if he wakes up before he’s ready. Normally the process includes twelve alarms, turning off the heated blanket he had started using for the top half of his body and the slightly warmer second heated blanket he used for the bottom half and letting nature do its work (if he’s lucky, he’d be up by noon). What he doesn’t like is having an empty bag dropped entirely on his face. For a moment all he can do was shoot up in a sitting position and swipe at his face furiously till he’s able to catch it and pull it off. He pushes up his eye mask and rubs at his face as he reads the bag.

“Naturally sourced fair trade premium coffee beans?” He looks up to his assailant. “Raph, I keep telling you coffee is a gateway drug and our grocery bills can’t afford another caffeine addict—”

“That's not—no, I don’t have the physical strength to fight Donnie for coffee every morning,” Raph says with a shake of his head, as though the very thought of it was enough to give him nightmares. “No, I wanted to talk to you, ’cause I think something might be happening and I’m not sure. I’ve been wrong in the past; I’ve made things worse in the past—” Raph starts tapping his forefingers as his talking speeds up. “And—and I don't want to overstep, but I can't stop thinking about it and—and I thought I’d come to you since you’re better about this—”

“Buddy, buddy, you’re at a 10 right now, I need you to be at a 3,” Leo pulls his water jug off his bedside and takes a sip. “Maybe a 2. “

Raph's face twists up in frustration, but he closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths and opens his eyes again. He starts pacing across the small space between Leo’s bed and the door, gesturing with his hands.

“OK, so we got groceries two days ago. I remember because you always buy an extra three boxes of cookies. One for dipping into sour cream while you shop, one for Pops so he doesn’t eat your cookies, and one for the drive home, ’cause, and I quote: ‘I just did my chore for the week and I deserve this.’” Raph pauses and looks at him. “You know, how you’re still alive is beyond me.”

“Pizza Supreme in the Sky wouldn’t gift me to the world and take me away so easy.'' Leo grins. Now that he’s waking up more, he stretches out his arms and legs in almost a catlike manner and yawns. “OK, OK, so we went grocery shopping. So what?”

“So, every week Donnie gets four large bags of overpriced coffee from that vegan store on the other side of town because the one we used to go to banned you both.”

“We’ve been over this. If they didn’t want us to ride a robot bear through their vegan honey aisle they should have put up a sign—”

“—SO I went to throw it in the recycling bin. And I saw there were already, like, four bags in there. That doesn’t seem healthy.”

Ah, worried big brother Raph is a classic. Leo can’t help but smile and reach out, wrapping his smaller hand around Raphs larger finger, which instinctively wraps around his.

“OK, OK, big guy, come here. Come listen to Wisonardo.” He manages to scoot over to let Raph sit down next to him before he gets up on his knees and starts kneading his shoulder. But upon realizing his fingers didn’t have the strength to make a difference, he switches to his elbows. “I know you love to worry. It’s your favorite thing to do other than collecting Teddy Bear Town coupons and anxiety. And the fact you haven't been hovering over him is great and I’m proud of you… I mean yeah, that much coffee would kill a T-Rex. But Donnie—'' Four bags was a lot of coffee, was he not sleeping at all? “That is a lot for him, but we’ve all been going through a lot with the Invasion, and I think this is just how he’s coping. I think.”

He was trying not to think about how he noticed the coffee pot had gone missing from the kitchen. Which meant either Donnie had broken the three he kept in his lab, or he had all four going off at once to ensure he didn't go a second without coffee. Out of the two options he wasn’t sure what was worse.

“So right now, we just need to give him his space. If something was really wrong my twin senses would have gone off—”

The sound of shattering glass fills the lair, and in a fit of panic, he vaults over Raph’s head. ”Nope, never mind, bad things are happening!” he says as he bursts out of his room. Leo turns so fast his feet slip under him, but he manages to right himself and run towards Don's lab.

“Donnie?” he calls out. Please let it just be an accident. Donnie’s hands were probably just slippery or he saw a spider or Webster changed the spelling of “theater” again. But as he turns around the corner, he sees pieces of a broken beaker on the floor outside his room, and a moment later a large monitor joins it, shattering and scattering across the floor.

“Donnie?” he calls out again. He runs and throws the curtains back.

Oh no.

The first thing he sees is Donnie, his tech shell to him. Before he can feel relief that he’s not hurt, he sees Donnie’s room, which, ever since they moved in, contained carefully stacked boxes all around the room's edge with the only real furniture being a desk. Now the boxes have fallen around the room with electronics and harddrives spilling out over the floor. Donnie has already grabbed a computer tower and has started raising it up over his head.

Despite years of knowing better, Leo lunges forward and wraps his arms around Donnie’s torso, trapping his arms and yanking back hard. The sudden movement causes Donnie to lose his grip on the tower and drop it back to the ground.

”Donnie, stop! You’ll hurt yourself!”

“Let me go!” Donnie shouts, thrashing around. Had it been any other turtle, Leo would have found it impossible to restrain him (Raph was Raph and Mikey was a hellion who once Kool Aid Man'd through a wall to avoid getting a tetanus shot), but he manages to lock Donnie in place by gripping his opposite wrist in a wrestling move Raph taught him.

Raph is by his side a moment later with wide, panicked eyes, looking from the ransacked lab to their brother.

“What happened! What's going on?!”

“I got him, I got him!” says Leo, even though it probably doesn’t look like that. Right now Leo’s highest priority is getting Donnie out of that room, but Raph is already hovering too close. “I said I got him. Make sure nothing is broken in here, OK? Please?” he begs.

Leo doesn’t bother to wait for an answer as he drags Donnie out of the room as best he can with Donnie’s thrashing. Before he can think of where to go, his foot catches a broken piece of monitor and the two hit the ground. Leo’s other arm instinctively covers Don’s head to keep it from hitting the concrete. Before Donnie can take advantage of his fall, he continues clinging to him as tight as he can, whispering through gritted teeth, “It’s OK, it’s OK,” as his eyes burn with tears. He presses his face into the back of Don’s neck. “It’s OK.”

After what feels like an eternity, but in reality is only a few moments, Donnie seems to understand Leo isn’t releasing him anytime soon. Slowly, his thrashing becomes weaker and the fist he had been using to pry Leo’s arm off him falls limp. There’s a small tremble that makes Leo think he’s mustering up strength to go another round before he begins to weep softly.

Leo lets out a sigh of relief. He loosens his grip for a moment to test if Donnie will take advantage and try to pull away. He lacks either the energy or the will to try anything. So Leo reaches up and grabs at the ground and heaves the two of them up into a sitting position, careful not to jostle him too much.

He checks to make sure they’re not caught on any of the wreckage before he reaffirms his other arm around him, holding him just as tight as before, but trying to comfort rather than restrain. He presses their temples together gently as he uses his thumb to stroke the back of his head.

“I gotcha buddy, just breathe,” he says softly. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Raph exit Don’s bedroom with a less-than-promising look on his face. Leo guides Don’s head so he can rest his chin on his scalp and looks at Raph. “How bad is it?”

“The surface was pretty badly cracked, but it might still work? I’m not exactly an expert,” he says, looking at Don.

Leo knows all he wants to do is check on him and find out what happened, but Leo shakes his head with a sympathetic expression on his face. Donnie doesn’t need to be bombarded with questions and he hopes that Raph will understand. Their older brother holds his gaze a moment later and, after a soft sigh, he nods.

“I’m….going to start cleaning up. Let me know if you need me…” he says, looking at them a moment longer and then walking away.

Leo is going to have to find some way to thank him later. He knows how hard it is for Raph to walk away, which is just another reason Leo knows Raph’s real strength has nothing to do with his physical form.

“I’m really proud of him,” he whispers to Donnie.

For the next several minutes, Leo simply holds his brother and rocks him. He does what he can to support him emotionally and physically as he weeps softly. But eventually, he feels Donatello stop trembling. Leo loosens his grip for a moment to test his reaction. But either Don has no reason to get free or he’s too exhausted to do so—he doesn’t know which, and isn’t sure if one would be worse than the other.

“Hey, Raph,” he calls softly. Raph ducks out of Don’s room a moment later. “Did you see if Donnie has his new bed set up yet?” When Raph shakes his head sadly, Leo lets out a small sigh.

“Oh, bud.” He holds Don a inch tighter to him. “I get it, I do,” he whispers, He looks back to Raph. “Can you help us real fast? Let's get him to my room so he can get some sleep.”

Raph’s eyes lit up, grateful to be of some help. He nods and kneels down. He holds his hand up, then hesitates. “It-It’s ok? I don’t want to mess up again—”

“Raph, it's OK. Please.” Leo gives him what he hopes is a reassuring smile, undermined by the fact that his lips can’t stop trembling.

But it has the intended effect. Raph nods. “Ok, let's go.”

Between the two of them they are able to lift Donnie to his feet. Raph has a careful grip on his shoulders that tells Leo he’s considering just picking him up, but Leo catches his eyes and shakes his head. Raph thankfully respects his wishes, but stays close as Leo pulls Don’s arm over his neck. Again, he tests to see if Donnie would rather walk on his own, but the softshell leans against him with his free hand wiping at his eyes. He’s grateful for Raph staying close as he helps Don to his bedroom, even more so when he pulls the covers back.

“Thanks, man,” he whispers over his shoulder as he guides Donnie closer. He’s unsure how to help him get into bed without manhandling him, but Donnie simply flops over on the bed and curls up in a little ball. Leo does a look-over for injury and spots a large bruise forming on his left bicep, but after a quick panic, reminds himself it would be impossible for Donnie to give himself that sort of bruise. But as Raph pulls the covers over him, he notices Don’s hands hanging over the side and that his fingers and gloves are covered in a brown liquid.

“I’m going to take these off for you, OK?” he says. He takes the gloves by the bottoms and peels them off as gently as he can, watching Don’s sleeping face in case he has any protest as Leo reaches into his bedside table and pulls out a container of unscented hand wipes. He looks over his shoulder to Raph as he bundles a bunch of wipes into his hands. “He can’t stand to have things sticking to his hands. It stresses him out,” he explains. Leo’s not sure he’s done a satisfactory job, so he sets the wipes by the bedside.

“In case you need them, bud.”

He considers going and getting one of the duffel bags Mikey has in his room, but decides against it, as Donnie is already asleep. The only consolation is that the tears streaming down his face have finally stopped, and Leo can only assume he’s sleeping well. He bunches his hoodie sleeve into his fist and carefully wipes off Don’s face and stands up hesitating a moment longer to turn the dial on Don’s headphones to noise canceling mode as gently as he can without waking him.

He turns to Raph and gestures nothing we can do now; let him rest.

“Y—yeah, OK.” Raph looks back at Donnie but Leo takes him by the arm and helps him out. Leo looks back to make sure Donnie is actually asleep before he squeezes his arm gently.

“Hey, you did so well, Big Guy. I’m proud of you.”

“Did I? He was so out of it and—and I didn’t do anything. You did more than I did—”

“You didn’t overcrowd him, you didn’t barrage him with a thousand questions. You listened, I—I—” Now that they’re out of his bedroom, he lets his voice crack as he drops Raphs arm. He presses the palms of his hands to his now-burning eyes. “I—I’ve never had to restrain him like that before. I was so scared he was going to hurt himself and I—I—” His voice cracks again and this time Leo feels Raph put a hand on his shell and guide him into a tight protective hug. Despite himself, he gratefully leans against his brother and hugs him back just as tightly. He allows himself a few moments of comfort before he pulls away and wipes at his eyes again.

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” he says, fluttering his hands, and he takes several deep breaths. He can feel Raph giving him the same look he had given Donnie.

“You look beat, man. Do you want to crash in my room for a bit?”

“No, not right now. Donnie’s stressed ’cause he has too much work to do. He’s had to rebuild our home three times now; the least we can do is pick up his bedroom.”

“Yeah, yeah, that sounds like a plan. Should we call Dad? He’d want to know.”

“He would, but he’s at Mikeys’ appointment and I don't want to worry him. We’ll let him know when they get back.” He looks at Raph. Even though the snapping turtle was no longer the leader, he still sought his opinion on certain situations. After a moment of eye contact, Raph nods.

“Alright, sounds good. I’ll grab another dustpan and then we’ll get to work.”

Leo takes a moment and looks back to the room where his brother is currently sleeping off the worst meltdown he has ever seen. The fluttering returns to his hands as he shakes out his hands and takes another deep breath before heading to Donnie’s wrecked room.

(#)(#)\/(#)(#)

Cleaning had never been Leo’s strong suit; helping, even less so. But with Raph’s guidance, the two are able to clean up the disassembled room that had been assigned to Donnie. Now that things are being cleaned up, he can see the shattered remains of two coffee pots and a broken mug with dried coffee under one of the fallen stacks. Leo doesn’t point it out to Raph. He doesn’t want to brainstorm over what happened here; his anxiety would only think of the worst-case scenario and do no one any good. But he takes note of it as he cleans up. Even with the help, it takes a few hours to get anything back into respectable order. Nowhere near as organized as Donnie had been (there were no sub-subcategories or codes), but hopefully done well enough so that Donnie wouldn’t be stressed out.

“Ugh, I can’t believe Splinter expects us to do this more than once a year,” Leo grumbles as he stands up straight, shaking the dust from their labor off his hands.

Raph looks at him with a big smirk that Leo hadn’t realized he missed. “If you cleaned more than once a year it wouldn’t be hard to clean.”

“UGH. NO. I REFUSE! That’s for ugly people!” he says with an overly dramatic scoff that does the intended job of making Raph laugh. His older brother reaches over and takes his shoulders from behind, digging his thumbs into his shoulders.

“Alright, your highness, let's get out of here before you break into hives.”

“Ow, ow! Spiky fingers, spiky fingers!!!” He squirms to free himself, but Raph guides him out of the room. Leo twists free and sticks his tongue out at him at a safe distance, which does nothing other than make Raph laugh harder. “OK, you brute, for a job well done, I think we deserve ice cream,” he says. Without waiting, he skips back over to the kitchen. He’s already imagining what kind of cottage cheese he’s going to add to his ice cream as he pulls the freezer door open. The cold breeze barely reached his finger tips before he freezes up.

Endless darkness.

His body ached from hours and hours of battle and now rested against a large rock. It was the closest he had come to rest in close to twelve hours. Through bleary eyes, he saw a large form, forged from metal he couldn't even imagine. It caused the very ground beneath him to tremble with each step. Its laughs were as dark as the void around him.

“My wrath shall be reserved for you and you alone.”

Leo jumps back and slams the freezer door shut. He throws himself back as far back as he can until his shell hits the kitchen table, causing it to slide back several inches. He looks at the fridge as though he expected the cold to break free and drag him in with it.

The cold always made it worse.

The cold always consumed him.

The sound of Raph’s footsteps reaches him and he barely has time to stand back up and calm his exterior before he enters.

“What’s up? What kind of ice cream are we eating?”

“Um, ACTUALLY, how about we eat some real food? I forgot I have a cavity so I have to chillax on the ice cream,” he says, hoping Raph doesn’t remember he considers cavities to be achievements, but after giving him a quizzical expression, Raph looks back out into the Lair. Confused, Leo goes to join him, but realizes what, or who, Raph is looking for.

“Looks like Splinter and Mikey decided to go shopping after their appointment.” Leo leans in the doorway by him.

“If they went to Sparkling Sterling Sporks, then we might not see them again for a week,” Raph says with a smirk, but Leo watches Raph’s gaze go back to his subway car. For a moment he’s scared that Raph will just go over, but his older brother takes a deep breath. “OK, Lee, I’ll follow your lead on this. What should we do next?”

Leo isn’t sure how many more times he can tell Raph he’s proud of him before it loses meaning. Instead, he gives him a supportive squeeze on the arm.

“I’ll check on him if he’s still asleep. I don't want to wake him. Mikey made a giant pot of french onion soup; can you heat some up? It's one of Don's favorites and maybe it’ll help him feel better.”

“No coffee?”

“God no, but if you could rush order some coffee beans and a new coffee maker for tomorrow, that’d be great. If he finds out he’s all out he’s going to murder us all without mercy.”

Raph breaks out into another smile but it falls into a moment of Oh shit, he’s right as he turns and books it back to the kitchen with his phone up, typing furiously. Leo can’t help the chuckle that escapes him. Laughing again feels really good; it feels like he hasn't laughed since the Invasion, unless it was for show. He makes his way back towards the subway car. After a moment to steel himself, he presses his palm to his bedroom door. He had only intended to peek, but after a glimpse his eyes widen and he throws the door open.

The bed is empty.

“Donnie?!” he calls, looking around. There isn’t really a space to hide in his room but he has to make sure Donnie isn’t sitting in a corner out of sight. “Dee? Alone time is fine but knowing you’re OK is even cooler??” He hurries out into the main living space and does a quick 360 to make sure Donnie isn’t hanging out in the arcade or wandering around with a broken coffee pot for his first victim.

There is none.

There is nothing.

Leo turns to run to the kitchen before skidding to a stop and he flutters his hands angrily by his head. “Calm down, calm down, it’s OK, it’s OK. Panicking isn’t going to help anyone. Donnie is capable and fine,” he reminds himself. He blows out air between his lips and, with one final angry flap, stills his hands. He manages to calm his exterior and goes to the kitchen, hoping Donnie wandered in in the ten seconds he was gone. He feels his heart drop when he only sees Raph at the stove, who gives him a confused look.

“Leo? Donnie ok?”

“Um, yeah, yeah.” His hands tremble again as he does one more look around the room. “I mean, yeah, I think he is. He’s not here. And—and he’s not in the Lair.”

“Wh—what do you mean?” A surge of panic fills Raph's eyes that Leo has been expecting since they first heard the glass break. “He’s not here? Did he run away—”

“No, no, I don't think that.” Leo has to bring his hands up again and stims a little. He has to calm down, separate the panic from the truth. “No. Donnie doesn’t run away, he sulks and pouts. He only runs away dramatically after we’ve binge-watched the first twenty-three seasons of Lou Jitsu in Lou Jitsu and his Shakes-Pearean Wedding to MilkShakespeare.” Deep breath, deep breath. “We were cleaning for a while,”—he has to be logical—“He might have just needed some air and walked out without telling us.” Leo pulls out his phone and, not for the first time, he prays that Donnie secretly installed his turtle tracker on his phone. But as he struggles to pull up any apps through burning eyes, all he can see is Donnie's wrecked bedroom, one that was done after a terrible night at the Yokai Mart which felt like a lifetime ago and now, in a Lair that didn't feel like home, the feeling of Donnie thrashing against him before breaking down and weeping in his arms.

He pauses.

He realizes.

Leo takes a deep breath and puts his phone (one more wrong password from being locked out) back in his belt. He closes his eyes and makes eye contact with Raph, who's looking at him like he’s lost his mind.

“I think I know where he’s at,” he starts carefully, with less confidence than he’s trying to exude. “I—I’m going to go check real fast, but it might take me a bit to get there.”

“You—” Raph pauses, “You don't want me to come with you, do you?”

“No, bud—” it's hard for Leo to watch Raph’s eyes fall to the ground, filled with frustrated tears. “Hey, hey.” Leo steps forward and, in the same way he did with Donnie, puts a hand on the back of Raph’s head and puts their temples together. “You’re a turtle of action. You do an amazing job keeping us safe. And I know it doesn’t seem like it now. But this? This is helping a ton. I wouldn’t have been able to help Donnie like I did without you. But I need you to stay here in case Donnie comes back.”

After a breath, Raph looks at him again and, though a tear runs down his face. He gives a shaky smile and a nod that Leo makes sure to return.

“That’s my man. Keep the soup warm, and if Dad gets back before us, just tell him the truth, but don't say anything before they get back. He and Mikey are having fun and if anyone deserves that, it's them.” He releases Raph. He hurries to Mikey’s room long enough to grab a duffel bag with a piece of purple duct tape wrapped around the handle (alongside a few others with different color markings), returns to the kitchen, and stuffs a few more items from around the kitchen into his bag. Leo makes sure to give Raph one more encouraging smile. As he walks out of the lair, he looks over his shoulder to make sure he’s far enough away before he secures the duffel bag to his shell and breaks into a dead run.

(#)(#)\/(#)(#)

It's not until Leo’s almost to the lair that the terrain gets treacherous. Splinter and Draxum never talked about how the Battle with Shredder went down, but it wrecked everything underground for almost a two-mile radius. And in the times they returned to their former home to collect any resources that had survived, Mikey would always cling to someone's arm with a death grip until they left again. The youngest of them had been the only one brave enough to manifest how it had felt to come back to their ruined home.

Because of the momentum from running, Leo’s able to easily vault over several broken slabs of concrete, jump over wide gaps in the ground that revealed sewer tunnels underneath, and walk through the makeshift tunnel they had dug out to make treks to their old home easier. It takes him a minute to shimmy though until he finds himself doubling over, gasping for air in the wrecked remains of their childhood home.

Like every time he's visited, he freezes for a moment with his breath caught in his chest. He reaches a trembling hand up and feels his mask tails. He can still remember the jerk from when Shredder nearly cut his head off. The panic as he watched their home cave in around them, feeling powerless. Helpless.

He remembers how close they came to becoming memories.

He remembers how close they came to becoming memories since then.

He shakes out his trembling hands and moves through the lair. At this point in time, because of the open water pipes and gathering moisture, algae and grass have begun to replace their presence here (which, in a way, was a blessing if anyone ever came down to fix the pipes). But the only remaining color comes from the still hanging torn purple curtain that Donnie had refused to take with him. He hovers at the entrance for a moment; he knows better than anyone how overbearing he can be and he will never quite forgive himself for how he reacted during the Yokai Mart incident. But he knows better now, he hopes. He raises his hand and knocks gently on the frame of the opening.

“Dee? It's me. Is it OK if I come in and hang out for a bit?” he asks, fully knowing there’s a good chance Donnie isn’t there and, even if he is, he isn’t sure what to expect as a response. But Leo watches the curtain twitch for a moment, as though someone is trying to pull it open without having the energy to do so. Leo grips the straps of his duffel bag tighter before ducking in.

Most of Don’s room had caved in during the attack, leaving the only viable sitting spot directly by the entrance where Leo sees him, curled up with his face in his knees. If he hadn’t seen Donnie try to pull the curtain open he would’ve thought he had simply fallen asleep again. He does a quick look-over to check for injury, but other than the large bruise on his bicep that has now fully formed against his sea-green skin, he's grateful to find nothing new. He looks around for a place to sit before deciding to sit by his side, giving him enough space that he hopes will help him feel comfortable. Now that he knows where Donnie is, he could relax and let out a deep breath, sinking down to give his now aching body a break.

For a moment he's satisfied with just sitting there, catching his breath. But out of the corner of his eye he watches Donnie for any sudden movements or signs that he wants Leo to leave. But he waits a bit before he speaks, until he knows it won't be hindered by his gasping breath.

“How did you know I’d be here?” Donnie’s voice is so quiet, he isn’t sure he hears him at first.

“I could say I’m a great detective. But I know you’d want to be somewhere no one would look for you…” He looks around the room, catching sight of a pile of rubble that had been moved recently, as though someone had moved things around to lay down. “How often do you come here now?” He sees Donnie flinch out of the corner of his eye and he knows he’s hit on a truth.

“A little? At first, just after the Invasion ’cause I needed to be somewhere to breathe, then a few days a week, then every night when everyone went to bed. I needed to be somewhere I could scream and shout without anyone coming running. I just.” He blinks hard. “I just wanted to go home.”

Leo has to look away to keep his eyes from welling up again, trying not to think about how many nights Donnie spent in this wreckage, not just for his mental health. But looking around, he’s reminded how unstable the wreckage is. If Donnie had hit his head, or fallen, how long would it have been before anyone had noticed? Or would they have just woken up one day and thought Donnie had run away? A thousand new nightmares vie for his attention, but he manages to take a deep breath and blink back tears of panic by reaching for the duffel bag.

“I brought it along in case it might help.”

“Unless there's a new coffee maker and ten-gallon thermos, I doubt it.”

“No, but there is water.” Leo can't help but smirk. “Before you murder me and feed me to your robotic worms, I know you haven't had any liquid that hasn’t been boiled to death by a coffee maker in a few days. I’ll make you some coffee tomorrow, but for right now, if you could stomach a bottle of water, I'd really appreciate it.”

Tired bloodshot eyes peer at him from over Donnie’s arms and he flinches in a way that Leo can tell means he’s trying to glare but doesn’t have the energy for it. He starts to unfurl himself. Leo checks again for any bruising he might have missed and is grateful not to see anything new. Without saying anything else, Leo holds out the bottle of water to him. Donnie, while still failing to glare at him properly, breaks the seal and takes a small sip at first, but it must trigger something in him, since he downs it in a matter of seconds. He wipes his mouth on the back of his hand,

“Thanks,” Donnie says weakly, handing the empty bottle back.

“No problem, bud. Do you need anything else? I have modified Tylenol, Germ-X, hand wipes—”

“I think I'm OK for now. Well, as OK as I can be.” Donnie turns to face forward again, this time resting his head on his arms instead of hiding his face, which Leo takes as a good sign. “How bad was it?” he asks.

“Um.” Leo pauses, unsure of how to answer in a way that wouldn't hurt him. “Made one hell of a mess, but we picked up the pieces. You scared the shell off Raph.”

“Crap, Raph was there.” Donnie presses his face into his hands. “I must have stressed him out so bad.”

“A little, but he stayed calm, gave you your space, and didn’t ask a lot of questions. You would have been really proud of him.”

“Really?” Donnie looks to him again and Leo can see the tension leave his shoulders. He almost smiles before it fades again. “Can, can you tell me what happened?”

Leo blinks, “You don't remember?”

“Not really. I remember being in my room, I had a huge headache trying to organize those stupid boxes, I had a cup of coffee in my hands. I tried to take down a box from one of the taller stacks but I lost my balance and—and it fell and knocked me over. Hit me in the head, covering me in coffee. I just, I guess I lost it.” Donnie presses his face back into his knees. “I’ve never had a meltdown so bad I couldn’t remember it afterwards. I—I think,”—his voice cracks—“I think I'm falling apart.”

Leo instinctively reaches his arm up to pull him into his side and has to stop himself, reminding himself that Donnie doesn't like physical contact, but Donnie tilts and curls up into his side with all his weight, almost sending Leo falling on his side. And, after just a moment of shock, he wraps his arms around him and holds him tightly. It's in these moments Leo knows his failings, lacking the right words to say to make the pain go away. But as he rests his chin on Don's scalp and looks around the room, a soft chuckle escapes him.

“Hey,” he says softly to catch Don’s attention. “R—remember when we were little? And this used to be the quiet room? I was so jealous ’cause even though Dad said it was for everyone, it was obviously made with you in mind and I didn’t understand why we needed it. And I haaaaated the idea of being quiet.”

“You also said you hated me.”

For a moment he’s not sure he heard him right and looks down to him. “I—are you sure? I said that?”

“Yeah, but you were just a kid. I think I had been going through your comics and it set you off. If it helps, if it had been the other way around and I caught you going through my stuff, I would have said worse. Or rather, written an extremely hurtful grammatically solid letter and had someone else read it to you. I wasn’t exactly communicating verbally at the time.”

“Right,” Leo says, not that it made him feel any better. But Donnie must have sensed that, since he shifts around without pulling free to dig around in his belt.

“You felt so bad afterwards you made me these.” In his hand rest two small faded green figurines with worn edges, one with torn purple fabric and the other with blue. Leo smiles softly.

“I remember that part.” With his free hand he nudges the purple one enough to make the arm swing, having lost the grip in its socket a long time ago. “Didn’t you make one for Mikey and Raph?”

“I did, but they were lost when...”—Donnie gestures to the lair—“I started carrying these with me when I felt anxious. It helped me calm down; at least, it used to. Then we lost our home again ’cause some chewed up gum looking aliens from a direct to video The Blob lookalike decided to invade our world.” Donnie jerks his hands in a moment of frustration, an angry tear peeking at the corner of his eyes. “I can’t keep doing this, Leo, I can't keep watching our homes, our lives, get upturned over and over again and be expected to go on with life. I’m not strong enough—”

“Hey.'' For the first time Leo leans away and takes Donnie by both of his shoulders. He doesn’t force eye contact, but this is as close as he gets to trying to get Donnie's full attention. “Struggling doesn’t make you or anyone weak. You think there’s medals out there for who can suffer the most, outside of reality TV? No! Dad always says that strength comes from helping and supporting each other. Are there people out there who see us cracking and think they see—see gold?! Maybe, but they don’t know us. They don’t see our family or the people who help hold us together.” Leo stops talking for a moment, and he takes a deep breath, far braver than he was before.

“I—I haven’t.” The trembling now has taken his voice, and it's noticeable enough for Donnie to look up at him. “I—I’m scared to sleep at night. I’m scared to the point where I’d rather stay up on nothing but pure spite and funny videos, because whenever I close my eyes, I see him. I see him, I feel his fists cracking.” Leo releases Don’s shoulders and holds his chest. He can still feel the outline of healing cracks that had once been barely held together with whatever yokai medicine Draxum made. “I feel the cold, Donnie. It was so cold there. And now, and now whenever I get caught in a cold breeze or open the freezer I just… choke,” he says, his voice breaking with a small sob.

Without hesitation, the arms of his most touch averse brother wrap around him. All the strength he had been trying to hold up for Donnie fails as he presses his face into Don’s shoulders. No tears but the trembling of terror as he clings to his brother.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Donnie asks. “We’re your family. We would have supported you—”

“Because I saw Mikey and Raph going to therapy, I saw Casey adjusting to being a normal kid, and I saw you working hard. I thought, I hoped, I was the only one struggling, and if I ignored it, it would go away. It did when Mikey couldn’t sleep alone in his room and slept in mine for a few weeks. But it came back, and I know now that it's not going away on its own.” Another pause.

“We talked about this a while back; we made a deal that if one of us considered going to therapy, so would the other. I want to change that.”

Donnie shakes his head tiredly. “Leo—”

“I know you don’t want to go, and I’m not going to force you. But if you start going, so will I. And I’ll go with you to every one of your appointments, and you can go to all of mine if you want. Just so you know there’s someone waiting outside that room ready to support you. It doesn’t even have to be me! It can be Raph, or Dad or anyone you want. I’ll hire Jupiter Jim to go with you if that helps! And—and if you still feel like you need to come here to scream and vent, please tell me. I won't stop you. I'll come and we can scream together,” he says, hugging Donnie an inch tighter to him.

He’s not sure what to expect for a response. Then, Donnie lets out a weak, tearful “What if they tell me I was born wrong? What if they tell me I’m so damaged that they can’t do anything about it?”

“Well, first of all you have three—” Leo pauses. “Four brothers, three sisters and a former action star dad who will wipe the floor with any ableist piece of trash who says that. And if it's not the perfect fit, we’ll find someone who is. It doesn't even have to be forever; we can just go until we eat all the free candy they keep in the lobby.”

“There’s free candy?” Donnie says with a weak laugh.

“There’s always free candy. I actually got banned from going with Mikey to his appointments because of that. Then Splinter started going and he almost got banned ’cause he started fighting some eighty-year-old lady for the last red jolly rancher, and they had to call animal control an—” He stops when he hears a weak chuckle come from Donnie. And for the first time, Leo’s face lights up. “Hey, don't laugh! It was a fiasco! They had to call the fire department! Draxum had to come bail him out of jail. Jail, Donald!” he says with loud emphasis, gesturing dramatically with his free hand while the other’s still holding Donnie around the shoulders. “And worse! WORSE THAN THAT!!” he says even louder, to be heard over Donnie’s laughter he can’t smother with his hands. “He had the audacity, the AUDACITY, to wait till it was midnight to come to bail Splinter in his bathrobe, slippers and Starbucks. STARBUCKS, DONNIE!!! Like is there a bigger slap to the face than arriving late with Starbucks, Donatello!? I think not—”

“Stop stop—” Donnie wipes his streaming eyes with his hands. “Stop, I hate it when you make me laugh—”

“Only because it's one of the few times you admit I’m hilarious.” Leo grins before he finally lets himself laugh. He laughs harder than he has in a long time, leaving tears of laughter streaming down his face. And, as much as he doesn’t want to admit it, it’s nice to laugh in a place that had once held all their best memories.

Finally, what feels like too soon, their laughter fades into chuckles then ends altogether. And for a moment the pain and trauma feels far away.

“I’ll go,” Don finally says. “If you go.”

Leo smiles and reaches out, taking his brother’s hand into his. “Thank you for being the brave twin,” he says.

“Please,'' Donnie says with an eye roll, but he can’t stop smiling. He looks around Leo to the duffel bag. “So why do you have a duffel bag full of things I like?”

“It was something Mikey’s therapist thought of. It's called a Mental Health First Aid Kit. In case of, well.” He gestures. “Things like this. I helped him put one together for all of us. There’s even one for Splinter, April, Draxum, Casey and… Casey.” Leo blinks. “Yeah, that's going to be confusing. I even brought your weighted blanket if you needed it.”

“No, I don't want to fall asleep out here. I’ve done that too many times.” Donnie sighs as he closes his eyes, leaning again on his brother. As Leo resumes putting his arm around him, his phone lets out a chirp and he pulls it out. He lets out a sigh as he turns the screen so Donnie can see it.

“Dad’s home and wanted to check in with us. He says there’s no pressure but Raph can come pick us up with the Turtle Tank. He also said April can pick us up but giving, um, Future Casey’s driving and…” he let it drift off with an almost nauseous look on his face

“Yeah no, I’m not getting in the same car as him again. Never before had I been so grateful for a cop to try and pull us over.” Donnie lets out a shiver and Leo has to remember to ask for that story later (the only thing he knew was that Donnie and Future Casey had to push the car home in twelve different pieces that had somehow become infused in jello).

“Cool, and if you're ready, I can help you set up your new bed and you can sleep in your room tonight.”

“I,” Don pauses. “I’m not ready for that yet, but you can if you want. Maybe I can crash in your room for a bit till I am ready. And maybe it'll help you get a good night’s sleep as well.”

Leo’s mouth trembles for a moment as he smiles softly. “My hero.” he says.

It would be great to get rid of those heated blankets. Don scoots back and leans again into Leo’s side, pausing for a moment before digging into the duffel bag on Leo’s other side and fishing out the weighted blanket (he must have changed his mind). He gives Leo’s shoulder a small tug, an indication for him to lean forward to wrap one corner around his shoulders before wrapping himself in the other and sinking into his side again. Within moments, Donnie is back asleep and Leo leaves, enjoying the soothing weight of the blanket on his shoulders and his brother by his side. For the last time that day, he blinks back the fear that has been threatening to consume and breathes out with the realization that everything will be OK before drifting off as well.

(#)(#)\/(#)(#)

It's not till he hears the sound of footsteps that Leo realizes he’s fallen asleep. Jerking into a more upright position, he instinctively tightens his grip on Don, who is still waking up, and reaches for one of his katanas. But after a moment he recognizes the footsteps.

“Leo? Donnie?” calls out Raph,

“Over here!” he calls. Leo starts rubbing Don's arm with his opposite hand. “Wake up, bud, our ride’s here.”

“So that's why I smell Raph’s ‘driving after five PM’ stink?” Donnie asks groggily, wiping at his eyes and making Leo chuckle softly. The curtain flaps a moment later as Raph steps through. Leo has a split second to notice the anxiety in Raph's eyes fade as they fell on the two and he moved over, crouching down in front of them. He brings his hands up for a moment as though ready to pull them both into a hug right then and there but he takes a deep breath.

“Are you two alright?” Raph asks, eyes once again looking over them for signs of injury or distress.

“We’re as good as it gets. Near perfection but a different shade of green,” Donnie says with a half tired shrug.

“Th—that's great! That's good. Great—” with each positive affirmation Leo can see Raph mentally willing back the energy till it’s barely contained with his relieved eyes. But before Leo can say anything, Donnie reaches up and takes Raph’s bicep. Though he’s not nearly strong enough to move Raph, he gives a slight tug which gives Raph the direction, albeit confused look on his face, to scoot closer. Close enough to lean forward and give him a small one armed hug around the neck as he rests his forehead on Raph’s shoulder.

“I know Leo already told you, and you know I hate saying he was right, but you did a really good job today. I know it's hard for you to let someone else take charge when it comes to us. You’re an amazing older brother, and I’m just as lucky to have you in my life as I am to have Dad, Mikey and Leo. Never forget that.”

Raph looks over to Leo for a moment as though for verification. Leo gives him a small nod, which is all that is needed for Raph’s eyes to swell up with big Raph tears as he trembles. His arms go up to hug Donnie, trembling in a way that told Leo he was hugging with only a fraction of the strength he wanted to.

“I’m always here for you, Don.” Leo lets out a soft smile as he reaches forward and gives Raph a gentle rub on the shoulder as the two hold each other for a few moments. But as Donnie goes to pull away, Raph respects his wishes and does so as well, using his wrist to wipe at his eyes. But Donnie keeps a grip on his wrist for a moment, drawing Raph’s attention back to him.

“I—It won't be tonight, but I think there’s a lot we have to talk about, with Dad.” Donnie looks over to Leo. After a moment of hesitation, the red slider nods as well, giving him permission. “Leo does too.”

Leo gives a weak smirk. “Yeah, turns out memes aren’t a great coping mechanism.”

“No.” Raph wipes the last of his tears on his arm. “No, but we are good at being there for eachother as a family. And if you’re up for it, I can get you two home.”

“Sounds like a plan. Meet you at the tank,” Leo says. Raph gives them both one last look-over before ducking out of the room. Leo starts to pack up the duffel bag as Don rubs at his eyes. But as he goes to stand, his leg trembles before he falls back down. Donnie reaches over and catches him by the shell, but not fast enough to spare his elbow from the hard pavement.

“Ow jeez—”

“Are you alright?” Donnie asks, giving him the same overprotective look-over that Raph had given them.

“Um, yeah, I think so. I sorta ran all the way here and I think my perfect body is punishing me for it,” he says with a nervous laugh. Donnie’s eyes widen for a moment and Leo regrets saying anything till Donnie closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and smiles.

“I’ll help you, dum dum,” he says, standing up and holding his hand out.

Leo smiles and takes it. The two of them are able to pull each other eac hother up to their feet, but as Leo’s legs tremble again, Donnie ducks underneath his arm.

“It’s OK, I got you,'' Donnie says. Leo wants to protest, but he can already feel his sore leg’s relief. So instead of pulling free, he puts Donnie’s arm over his neck as well and the two make their way out of the ruined remains of their former home.

They were not made of gold.

They were made of love.

#rottmnt #rottmnt fanfiction #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #donnie #leo #undercoverwizardninjaturtle #raph #tmnt #trauma #dont even think about it shippers #Raph is in this?! how can it be! #shut up dennis!

[gatheringfiki]

The following ficlet was written by @i-am-still-bb​ based on this photoset.

Fili/Kili, Gen

You might also be able to read this story on AO3.

If you’ve enjoyed this story, please leave a comment either in replies or on AO3. :)

Sick Days & Ice Queens

—

Kili patted another fistful of snow into a snowball. He rolled it over in his hands making sure that it was solid and that it fit nicely into his hand. He set the completed snowball onto the pile and promptly scooped up another handful of snow. He was so focused on his task that he failed to notice that the school down the street had let out. This was always accompanied by yelling and laughter, and on today, the final day before Christmas break, it was no different. 

When his mother had taken his temperature that morning and told him that he was going to be staying home—school rules—he had pouted and hurled himself into his bed. The final day of school before the break never consisted of much work. It was usually just a Christmas party and some “housekeeping” as his teacher called it.

But Kili had a fever of 100.3. So he had to miss all the fun. He didn’t even feel sick. His mother had not listened to his protestations; he had already received his first dose of cold medicine.

Fili had pushed open the door to their bedroom before leaving for school. He was already dressed in his coat and hat and his gloves dangled from the cuffs of his coat. “I’ll bring you some cookies?” he offered.

“It won’t be the same,” Kili huffed, face buried in his pillow. 

“I know,” Fili agreed.

Kili rolled over to look at the bottom of the top bunk. Glow in the dark stars  were dull against the wooden boards. Some paper snowflakes hung near the foot of the bed. He sighed. “Why aren’t you sick?”

Fili shrugged. “I don’t eat food off the floor,” he teased.

“That was one time!” Kili protested loudly. 

Their conversation was interrupted by their mother calling for Fili, saying that he was going to be late.

“I’ll see you after school?” Fili offered before turning the corner.

“Yeah… I guess…” 

Kili spent the morning mopping around the house and driving his mother crazy with questions and being a general nuisance. There was nothing on the television worth watching after 9am unless he wanted to watch toddler shows, soap operas, or the news. His GameBoy batteries were dead and he couldn’t find new ones. And he did not want to read a book, thank you very much. When noon rolled around Dis fed him a lunch of vegetable soup with alphabet noodles and grilled cheese. And then she took his temperature again. 

99.8

And with that she declared him better and shooed him out the door before his coat was even fully zipped.

Kili stayed outside and that was where Fili found him a couple hours later when the knees of Kili’s snowsuit were soaked through and his cheeks were red from warmth and exertion rather than cold. He had constructed a wall of snow using an old ice cream tub and had dragged the plastic play furniture from the shed into his snow fort. 

Fili stopped next to the snow wall. “What’re you doing?”

Kili’s head snapped up. “You’re home!” he exclaimed. “You can help defeat the ice queen!”

Fili dropped his backpack on the snow. “How do we do that?”

“Well we have to be older,” Kili said matter-of-factly. “Like old enough that you have a beard. And then we have to go to the faeries to get their help.”

“Faeries?”

Kili nodded vehemently. “They’re the only ones that know how to defeat the ice queen,” he said, then added as inspiration struck, “Maybe they have a magic potion! Or a sword! Or—”

“A magic spell!” Fili interrupted, already getting sucked into his brother’s imaginative play.

“Yes!” Kili nodded.

“I’m going to get my boots and then I’ll be back,” Fili said. “My toes are already wet.” He lifted a wet sneaker as proof. 

“Can you bring Oscar when you come back out?” Kili shouted at Fili’s back before he disappeared inside.

“Yes,” Fili shouted back. 

Fili returned a few minutes later with different shoes and his own snow gear and a wooden reindeer clutched in one fist. He set Oscar down on the table. 

“So how do we find the faeries?”

Kili spelled out his plan and the two of them traveled through “Mirkwood” to the “Long Lake” their imaginations turning the bushes that were icy and had a few leaves still clinging to their mostly bare branches and the koi pond in their neighbors yard turning into a dense and magical forest that bewitched its visitors and a lake that was visited by a dragon. The air was cold and tasted of snow, but the two boys stayed out until the street lights were coming on. 

“Fili! Kili! Dinner time!” Their mother called them away from their play and everything drifted back to reality. Oscar was a wooden toy, not a warm companion that made sure they didn’t fall into the lake or the river. The plastic play furniture was no longer a wooden table laden with rich foods to tempt them away from their quest. But the invisible Ice Queen was still out there, undefeated, as the dense covering of snow was proof.

The boys rushed inside knowing that tomorrow they could build a different world with their imaginations.

#submission #Gathering 12 Days 2023 #Fili/Kili #FiKi #Durincest #the Hobbit

[milawritesstuff]

Does He Know: Part 12 (Gavi/Pedri Love Triangle)

Read the other parts HERE!

•••

Sara’s POV

I felt my heart break in small pieces as the door shut in front of my eyes. Unable to move my legs for a few seconds because I swore my body was about to shatter there, in the hallway. Seconds later I found myself running out towards my car when suddenly a stranger's body hit mine.

-Disculpa.- I looked up and was met with similar brown eyes to Pedri's, a smile on his face.

-Fer.- I managed to say before he cut me off holding my body up by my arms. -Sara, what's wrong? Are you okay?- Fernando, Pedri's brother, asked with a worried look look on his face. My eyes filled with tears. -I'm fine.- I lied.

-Did you come see my brother? We are preparing dinner for my mom. She's going back home tonight. I'm sure he would love to see you.-

I shook my head. -I have to go home.-

I ran to my car and pulled out without looking if another car was coming. The tears now rolling down my face making it difficult to drive but I didn't care.

I parked near my house for a few minutes while I tried to compose myself. I didn't want my parents to see me like this and begin to ask questions. They knew everything had ended with Pablo but they didn't know much else. And I didn't know how to explain it to them. How could I explain that I hated Pedri because of the power he held with me. That I wished with all of my being that I had fallen for Pablo and not him, because Pablo made it easy. Pedri didn't.

-Hola, mi niña.- said my mom as I stepped into the house. Her and my brother, David, were sitting on the couch watching television. I sat down next to my mom and placed my head on her shoulder. She began to caress my hair with her hand.

-Where's papá?- I asked, having noticed his car wasn't home and it was already late out.

-He's picking up some stuff for tomorrow's dinner. He should be home soon.- My mom said.

-The whole team is coming over!- Said David excitedly as he turned his attention from the television to my mom and I.

-What team?- I asked as my mom giggled. -Sara, what do you mean? The team is having dinner tomorrow with us, Val and her parents should be coming as well. Did you forget?-

I closed my eyes and tried to hide my annoyance. With everything going on I had forgotten about the team dinner my dad had planned weeks ago. This usually happened once a year either at ours or Val's house, our dads taking turns to host the team. As kids it was usually not a big event, we would have dinner with the adults and retreat to our rooms but things were different now. David was excited because he could have all of his idols at home, I was dreading the night knowing both Gavi and Pedri would be here.

-Will you be fine with Pablo being here?- asked my mom. I nodded. -We're fine. Don't worry mom.-

The next day I woke up a little past noon. Slow music filling up the hallway outside of my room. My mom was preparing things around the house. I laid on my bed for a few minutes before getting out of bed and going to the restroom to freshen up. I spent the rest of the day reading and trying to figure out what to wear for the dinner. Everyone was going to be casual but I knew I couldn't just wear jeans and a shirt or my dad would kill me. Over video call Val and I ended up choosing a casual dress for me to wear. I put on a little makeup and curled my hair. While I was putting on my shoes I heard the doorbell begin to ring as the first guests arrived.

When I walked down the stairs my eyes met with Gavi's who was just coming in through the front door. He was greeting my mom. He looked over at me and smiled. I walked down slowly not sure of what my next step would be but he walked over to me and smiled. -Buenas noches, Sara.- I smiled. -Buenas noches, Pablo.- He leaned in and kissed me on either cheek and with a smile walked away. Val arrived shortly after and we sat in the living room while some of the other players arrived.

My eyes kept on scanning the room to make sure I hadn't missed Pedri. He still wasn't there and I wondered if he had chosen not to come just to avoid me. Val quickly noticed and began to give me advice about not caring. -Just ignore him.- Said Val. -That's easy for you to say, you're not the one who went to his house just to get kissed and then have the door slammed on her face.- As I finished my sentence I heard the doorbell ring one more time, David rushing to open it and Pedri walking in.

-Hola enano.- Said Pedri to David who was quick to give him a high five. My dad had taken David to training a few times and Pedri had become one of his favorites. Pedri looked over towards the living room where Val and I were sitting, when our eyes met he looked down to the floor and turned his attention to my mom. She greeted him and pulled him towards the dinning room where everyone was getting ready to sit.

-Valeria, Sara, vamos.- yelled my mom for us to follow them.

Val and I sat next to each other close to our parents while the rest sat in smaller groups. David chose to sit in the table where Pedri and Gavi were sitting along with Ferran and Ansu. They all joked with him. I smiled seeing my little brother laugh as the others entertained him. Pedri looked over and our eyes met again. He offered a shy smile to which I smiled back and turned my attention back to the table where my dad and Xavi were talking.

After dinner everyone sat around and talked. Val got a call from her boyfriend and went up to my room to be able to talk in private while I went out to the back garden and sat on one of the stone benches. The night sky had fallen over Barcelona and it was quiet, the chirping of crickets being the only thing around. Suddenly I heard footsteps followed by a shy -Hola.- I turned around and found Pedri standing there.

-Hola.- I responded as he took a step and sat down next to me. I didn't turn over to him or say anything, he didn't either. I felt as the warmth of his arm radiated towards mine, sitting side by side.

-You have a beautiful house.- He said.

-My parents have worked hard for it.-

-Tu madre es muy maja.- He said which caused me to smile. -She is.-

Silence overtook us. I hoped he would speak up soon, embarrassed that he could hear my accelerated heartbeat, an effect he had on me every time he was near.

-Lo siento.- I'm sorry. He finally mumbled. I turned over to look at him, the moon light shinning down on his beautiful brown eyes which showed sadness. -For what?-

-You're not nobody.-He said referencing to what he had told his mother as he closed the door on my face the day before.

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head to look forward again. -I guess I deserved it. I yelled at you while you were laying in a hospital bed and stormed off.-

He didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then I felt his fingers begin to trace over my own on the hand that was resting on the bench. -If we're being honest, that hurt me more than the blow I took against the goal post.- He let out a small chuckle.

-And also, if we're being honest...- He took a deep breathe before continuing his sentence. -I don't know what I'm doing.-

-I don't want to hurt you anymore.- I said catching myself off guard. Deep down I knew every time that Pedri had lashed out on me it had been my fault. When he told me to get out of his car, it was because I had blamed him, telling him I just needed to fuck him and then he could stay away from me like if I wasn't by my own free will trying to be with him too.

-I think I like you, Sara. More than I should.- He whispered almost as if he was scared I would hear his confession.

-But maybe we should wait. Until I can't hurt you anymore.- I said.-You said you wanted to start this off right, at the hospital.- I went on.

He turned his gaze from the trees in front of us to me. Waiting and hoping to hear what he wanted to hear from my lips, knowing something else was coming. Deciding to lessen the blow himself.

-I think I need some time, Sara.-

I turned over to look at him. His eyes immediately captivating me as he looked down at my lips and licked his own. -For?- I asked.

-To understand what you've done to me.-

Pedri's POV

-To understand what you've done to me.- I said as I felt my chest compress.

The truth was that I wasn't looking for someone like Sara. I was perfectly fine playing futbol and living my dream. I didn't want someone like Sara in my life, but that's the tricky part about love. When you fall in love you don't chose it, it just happens. And instead of just accepting it, I was doing everything wrong. I was pushing Sara away with every action because I was afraid to accept it.

-I don't know what you've done to me either, Pedri.- She finally spoke up. I turned over to look at her and smiled.

-I'm sorry.- I whispered as I leaned closer to her. I lifted my hand up to hold her chin and tilt her face up to look at me. She smiled and I felt a warm feeling in my stomach. I licked my lips as I looked at her, wanting nothing more than to feel her lips touch mine again. Her body against mine.

-Can I kiss you?- I asked as I looked into her eyes.

She smiled. -This is the first time you've asked for permission.-

I shrugged my shoulders. -I said I wanted to start this off right, didn't I?- she smiled and nodded her head. As I leaned in and felt her lips closer to mine a voice interrupted us.

-Sara. Pedro.- I pulled away and turned around to a shadow near us, her mother.

-Señora Torres.- I said as she took a step closer to us.

-Pedro, they're looking for you.-

I stood up and looked back at Sara with a smile. -Disculpa, Sara. Have a good night.- She sat there looking up at me with a shy smile. -Buenas Noches, Pedri.-

Sara's POV

As Pedri walked back into the house my mom took a few steps closer and sat down next to me on the bench. Neither of us saying a word

-The way he looks at you, Sara.- She began as I nervously put a strand of my hair behind my hear and kept my eyes locked at the trees in front of us.

-That's why you and Pablo broke up, isn't it?- she asked.

-Mom, it's...- She interrupted me.

-I don't blame you. And I'm not asking for an explanation Sara. But the way he looks at you, like you're magic. Like you're the answer to everything.-

I smiled and looked over at my mom. She grabbed my hand. -That's worth whatever is going on, mi niña.-

-He just told me he needs time.- I looked down at the floor as I took a deep breathe . For the first time since Pedri had said those words finally letting it hit me.

-You know, when I was your age there was one person who looked at me like that.- She went on. I smiled and rested my head on her shoulder. -Papá?-

My mom remained silent for a few minutes before responding. -No, not papá. Carlos.-

-What happened with Carlos?-

-Carlos was someone who looked at me the way Pedri looks at you, but I didn't realize it until it was too late.-

-But, papá.- I interrupted her.

-Sara, I love your dad. But to this day, I wonder what happened to Carlos. What would have been.-

-Do you wish you would have stayed with him?-

-I wouldn't have you or David, so no. But there's always that doubt. You don't want to have that in your life, Sara.-

-Why did you let him go?-

-I didn't give him time, Sara. The timing was wrong. I wanted so deeply to save him, to make us be what he wanted at that moment that I pushed him away. Let him go Sara, let him see what he wants. Because trust me, it's you, Sara.-

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#pedri gonzalez #pedri #pedri imagine #pedri x reader #pedro gonzalez #pedri blurb #pedri is so damn hot #pedri requests #pedri fluff #pablo gavi #pedri x you #pedri x y/n #MWSxDoesHeKnow

[leiawritesstories]

I need more content of Rowan as a dilf🥵

Him and Aelin taking their kids to birthday parties

your wish is my command ;) sorry it took so long ahhhh got caught up with college and other fun stuff

word count: 2,174

warnings: minor language, Rowan being a DILF

enjoy!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“Dad?” 

“Yeah?” Rowan glanced over his shoulder to find Lana behind him, her bright green eyes wide and pleading, the face she knew full well he could never refuse. “What is it, Lana?” 

“Can I go to Mari’s party?” 

He was completely blanking on the name. "Mari?"

Lana sighed, the expression of disappointment so much like her mother that it momentarily short-circuited his brain. "My friend Mari," she amended, her tone far too serious for a nine-year-old. "She's in my school class and my ballet class."

"Ah yes, Mari." Rowan remembered the girl now, a close friend of his daughter. Her mother was one of the few who didn't ogle at him when he came to pick up his kids. "When's her party, kiddo?"

"I told you already," Lana sighed dramatically. "It's Saturday at noon at her house and she said to bring a swimsuit 'cause we're gonna run through the sprinklers."

"I see." Rowan pretended like he had to think it over. "Of course you can go, honey. Do we need to get a present for her?"

"Yay!" Lana cheered. "Yeah, I wanna get her a present."

"What do you want to get her?"

"A dino stuffy!"

"I--" Rowan blinked. "A what?"

His daughter fixed him with an exact copy of Aelin's "really, buzzard?" face. "A dinosaur stuffed animal," she expounded, her voice so dry it sounded almost like his own for a moment. Guess he knew where she got her sarcasm from.

"Ah, okay." He winked at her. "Should we go shopping today?"

She beamed. "Yeah!"

He chuckled. "All right, we can go when Mom gets home. Okay?"

Lana frowned. "But I wanna go now!"

Rowan delivered his very best Dad Look. "Honey, don't you have a worksheet or two to finish?"

"Maybe..."

"Well, you can get those done before we go, and then you won't need to worry about them later." He stuck out his hand. "Sound fair?"

"All right," Lana agreed reluctantly. "I guess I can do my homework first."

"You guess," Rowan teased, lifting her into his arms. "Since when did you get so blasé, kiddo?"

She squirmed, giggling. "I'm the biggest sister, Dad! I gotta be 'spon-ible!"

"Responsible means you have to do your homework before we go shopping, honey," he chuckled, settling her on his shoulders and taking her out to the dining room. "Yeah?"

"Okay," she agreed, clambering off his shoulders and plopping her homework folder onto the table. "I only have spelling and math today."

"Oh really?" He settled down in the chair next to her. "Did you do everything else already?"

"Uh-huh." She nodded. "An' Miss Remington didn't give us homework for all the subjects."

"I see." Rowan ruffled Lana's hair affectionately, earning himself a grumble of protest. "You just call if you need help, okay? I'm gonna make sure your brother and sister are doing their homework too." Lana nodded, and he went off to find his son and younger daughter in the playroom, Bran noisily driving his beloved toy garbage truck around the room and Emmy building a tower out of blocks.

"Dada!" Bran exclaimed when he saw his father in the doorway. "Look dada! I can make garbage truck go vroom!" He illustrated by pushing the toy halfway across the room, giggling as it flopped onto its side.

"Very nice," Rowan grinned. "Does this mean you did your work, B?"

Bran went over to grab his garbage truck, not quite meeting his father's eyes. "Yeahhhhhhh."

"No you not!" Emmy squealed, smacking her block tower and laughing and clapping her hands as the blocks crashed to the floor.

"Emmy, no!" Bran cried, stomping his foot. "You said you not tell!"

"Okay, son," Rowan interrupted before either of his small children could start throwing things, "what do you still have to do?"

"Reading," Bran mumbled, hiding his face in his dad's shirt. He was in second grade, almost eight years old, and he had to read aloud every day for part of his homework. And he wasn't exactly a fan of that.

"Anything else, bud?"

"Uh-uh." Bran shook his tousled head. "Did addition already."

"Good job." Rowan bumped his fist into his son's much smaller one. "How about you pick out a book, hmm? Let's see if we can get the reading done before Mom gets home."

Bran screwed his face into a scowl. "I don't wanna read!"

Rowan sighed. The daily struggle. "Not even Officer Buckle?"

Silence.

Followed by a pair of big turquoise eyes peering up at him. "Really?"

"Yep." Rowan grinned. "Do you want to read Officer Buckle to me, buddy?"

"Yeah," Bran whispered. He loved that book, he did.

"Okay." He patted his son's back. "Go ahead and get it out, then." Bran ran off immediately, and Rowan turned to his youngest, Emmy, who was in kindergarten. "How about you, baby?"

"I not a baby!" Emmy protested.

"Okay okay, big girl."

"All done!" Emmy beamed. "No homework today, Dada!"

"Uh huh," Rowan drawled. "Should I look at your checklist?"

"Yeah!" Emmy ran off to grab it, returning a moment later with the purple sheet of paper. "See? No homework today!" She displayed the chart proudly, showing off how all the boxes for the day were already checked off.

"Good job, sweetie!" Rowan gave his youngest a high five. "How about you help me start dinner?"

Her eyes widened. "Can I spin salad?"

"Sure," he chuckled, hoisting her into the air as she shrieked with laughter. "I'll let you spin the salad."

"Yay!"

With one eye on Emmy, who stood on the stepstool and enthusiastically pushed the salad spinner, and one on Bran, who sat on the floor reading aloud, Rowan managed to start dinner prep, only taking a couple of breaks to help Lana finish her worksheets. He was helping Emmy put the salad into a big bowl while chuckling along with Bran at the funny story (which he'd heard a thousand times) when the garage door swung open and a pair of heels clicked against the wooden flooring.

"MAMA!" Emmy screeched, abandoning the salad to sprint over and clutch Aelin's legs, talking a mile a minute about her day.

"Hi, lovey," Aelin laughed, stepping out of her heels and scooping her youngest daughter up into her arms. "I missed you, baby."

"Not a baby!" Emmy pouted.

"Right right, you're a big girl now," Aelin amended, smacking a kiss onto her little one's cheek. "And I heard you don't have homework today."

"Yeah!" Emmy beamed. "Lana an' Bran both almost done!"

"Imagine that," Aelin chuckled, winking slyly at her husband. Both of them knew full well how rare it was that all three kids had their homework done or nearly done by the time she got home from work.

"Well, Lana at least has a reason," Rowan hummed, kissing Aelin quickly.

"Oh?"

"Dad and I are gonna go shopping!" Lana declared. "I gotta get Mari a birthday present."

"Right, her party's on Saturday, isn't it?"

"Uh huh! Dad didn't remember that," Lana said with the same amount of sarcasm as she'd explained the dinosaur stuffed animal.

"Dad has lots to remember, I'm sure he just needed a reminder." Aelin smirked at Rowan. How dare you forget her best friend's birthday? her eyes teased.

Rowan sighed loudly. "So little faith in me, I'm wounded."

"Love you too, buzzard," she grinned, letting Emmy return to helping her father and heading off to change out of her work clothes.

After dinner, Rowan kept to his promise to take Lana shopping, and they returned a little over an hour later bearing a large, blue plush dino stuffy and a birthday card. Lana practically talked her parents' ears off about how much Mari loved dinosaurs and how she'd love the present as she signed the card and wrote "MARI" on the envelope in big letters.

"Good night, Lana," Rowan laughed as he tucked her into bed, kissing her forehead. "The faster you go to sleep, the faster it'll be Saturday."

~

When Saturday rolled around, Lana was up bright and early, though she stayed in her room reading until it was closer to eight-thirty. Then she snuck into Aelin and Rowan's bedroom, stepping across the carpeted floor as quietly as possible.

They both heard her anyway, though Aelin pretended she hadn't.

"Mama," Lana whispered, touching Aelin's shoulder. "Morning, Mama."

"Hmm, good morning, lovey," Aelin mumbled, still not quite fully awake. "What's up?"

"It's Saturday!" the girl beamed, dancing excitedly on the balls of her feet.

"Uh-huh, and it's still early, honey." Aelin squeezed her daughter's hand. "There's lots of time before you have to get ready to go over to Mari's house, okay?"

"I know," Lana whispered. "I just--"

"I WANNA HAVE SATURDAY PANCAKES!" Bran yelled, completely shattering the relatively quiet morning.

Rowan muffled his deep laugh in the back of Aelin's neck, his whole body shaking with mirth. "Someone's awake," he murmured to his wife, reveling in her little snorts of laughter.

"Thank you, Brannon," Aelin replied to her son, raising her head enough to give him a very dry look.

He had the grace to look a little abashed. "Was that too loud, Mama?"

"What have we learned about quiet voices, bud?"

"Use 'em when people aren't out of bed," he mumbled.

"Good." She rolled over, sharing a laugh-laden glance with her husband. "All right, buzzard, who's getting up to make pancakes?"

~

Rowan made pancakes.

And when breakfast was cleaned up and Aelin was helping the kids get dressed and ready, convincing Lana that she didn't need to change her outfit three more times, Rowan allowed himself to be convinced to braid his daughters' hair.

Gods, if anyone got wind of this, he'd never live it down.

"Who's taking Lana to Mari's?" he asked as he put on decent clothes, finally able to snatch a moment for himself once all of his kids were ready for the day.

"You can," Aelin answered, glancing at the clock. "I've got to be on a call in half an hour." She rolled her eyes, leaning into his warmth. "Wish I could pass it along, but tax season waits for nobody, you know?"

He kissed her temple. "Yeah, and you're right there to talk sense into your worried clients, Fireheart."

"Damn right." Rising onto her tiptoes, she pressed her lips into his, the kiss sweet and tender. "Don't let the moms proposition you!" she teased as he headed downstairs to make sure Lana had everything ready.

His groan echoed through the whole house.

~

Rowan mentally braced himself when he pulled up to Mari's house, preparing to do the polite thing and stop to say hi like all the other parents--mostly moms--did when they dropped off their kids. So he walked Lana up to the house and barely had time to say "bye" before she was running off with her friends, giggling and chattering with the glee of youth.

"Mari's gonna love the dinosaur," a woman's voice to his left said lightly.

He turned to find a woman who looked almost exactly like her daughter giving him a crooked grin. "Oh--yeah, that was all Lana's idea, I just took her to the store," he admitted. "Rowan Whitethorn."

"Asterin Blackbeak," the woman replied, shaking his hand kindly. "Brave of you to drop your daughter off."

Rowan huffed. "I'll say. Not to be offensive, but the moms scare me."

Asterin smirked. "Believe me, I'm happily married, but I too am guilty of having slightly inappropriate thoughts about that tattoo of yours."

"Gods," Rowan groaned. "Please tell me my wife wouldn't want to hear those thoughts."

"Depends," Asterin laughed. "How does she feel about the mamas eyeballing the local DILF?"

"She loves it," he admitted.

"Then no, I probably shouldn't give her more fuel for her jokes." Asterin winked. "But just so you know, that cluster at the door? Not one of them has looked away from your ass since you walked in."

"Aaaaand this is where I leave," Rowan joked. "Nice meeting you, Asterin."

"Enjoy your day!"

Rowan made it back to his car with a minimum of blushing, because he very much did hear the snickers and whispers from the aforementioned cluster of mothers. And every word he picked up made him want to scream.

Gods burn him, he could only hear so many comments about that ass before he lost it.

Which must have shown on his face when he returned home, because Aelin flashed him a knowing grin from the office and was still wearing that little grin when she got off her call.

"Poor buzzard," she crooned, letting him bury his face in her shoulder. "Were the horny moms ogling you again?"

"Too much," he mumbled.

She snickered, running her fingers through his hair. "Well, at least you won't have to deal with it any more today."

"I won't?"

"No." She dropped a kiss onto his forehead. "I'll go pick Lana up." A wicked grin curved her lips. "And we'll see how those moms react to the local MILF, won't we?"

~~~

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#my writing #aelin galathynius #rowan whitethorn #rowaelin #dad rowan #dilf rowan #the whitethorns #answered prompt #multiple prompts in one day yes

[werezmastarbucks]

a nasty piece of weather

the masterlist

warnings: mentions of violence

word count: 3838

music: you know

Next day it was raining, so Tyler had to put his skating plans on hold. Kai had to call in to Sam’s school and give his brother’s monitors’ heads up: they knew the youngest didn’t come out of the house in rain, but just in case. Quite frankly, it was infuriating that he had to call in every time; in early spring, the rain season, he had to call almost every day and say the same things: “It’s raining, Mr Stan, so Sam’s staying at home”. He was the best damn student in the whole school. He tried to shift this responsibility on Tyler, but the middle one wrestled him with a good point: Kai knew how to talk to people. His younger brothers didn’t.

“What a nasty piece of weather”, Sam kept repeating, driving the other two crazy. He has given birth to this phrase this morning and kept saying it every other minute like a mantra.

They were trying to keep busy. Kai even cleaned the house and did all the dishes, his dexterous fingers never missing a spot. Tyler stood at the window from ten in the morning till noon, waiting for the police. “They sure are gonna come”, he announced gravely. “I’ll be in the basement. Bang on the wall when they start arresting the psycho, Sam”.

Sam was sitting on the sofa, his eyes transfixed on the television screen. “Oh no”, the youngest sighed without getting distracted, “are you going to scream again?” Tyler looked at Kai with his eyebrows raised.

“You always scream”, the oldest nodded, “you think we don’t hear. Just cause you close the door it doesn’t mean the room’s sealed”.

“I sing”.

“Way to go, Tyler”.

“What a nasty piece of weather”, Sam uttered, savoring every word. Tyler shivered down under his yellow hoodie and headed for the door under the stairs.

“If it bothers you, don’t fucking listen”, he muttered, closing the door behind himself.

Kai crashed on the couch next to his brother, sighing contentedly. “Did you vacuum the living room?” Sam asked, his eyes still on TV.

“Yep”.

“Did you clean the photograph shelves downstairs and in Tyler’s room?”

“Yes”.

“Plates in the dishwasher?”

“Absent. All dry”.

“Bathroom and the sinks?”

“Clean”. Kai shifted, trying to pull the remote from under himself. “Lava lamps?”

“Dusted”.

“Windows?”

“It’s raining, Sam, there’s no point cleaning the windows today”.

“What a nasty piece of weather”.

“Oh my god”, Kai whined, turning the TV on just to make the whole Sam picture more normal, “weather isn’t even uncountable… you can have a good weather and a bad weather… when you say ‘piece of’ I always think of ass…”

Sam finally looked away from the screen, sturdy connection broken.

“That’s because you have a dirty mind. And ‘mind’ can be countable or uncountable, just like – get this – weather. I can say, ‘a piece of mind’ like it’s uncountable, or ‘she has a beautiful mind’, and it’s going to be countable. You can have a nasty piece of weather and not think of eating ass”.

“I never mentioned eating ass”, Kai shook his head slowly, accusingly.

Sam repeated his enchanted phrase four more times under his breath. The rain really got on his nerves: all this clattering and banging, hissing that sounded like someone speaking; then Tyler started to scream again. His songs, all of them, sounded like wailing and a bit of piano. That’s what Sam called it anyway: wailing and piano. The way he articulated stuff really hit the spot from time to time. Or, maybe, he just repeated phrases so many times the other two Parkers got used to hearing them that way. “Isn’t he supposed to be at work, by the way?” Sam squinted his eyes, unable to watch Kai skip through the channels at a cosmic speed.

“You go ask him”, Kai replied lazily, “last time I checked, he skips work like it’s not mandatory. I have no idea why he’s still not fired”.

“I guess it’s the rain. Wh-”

“What a piece of nasty weather, I know”.

“What a nasty piece of weather”. Sam’s jaws clenched. “You did it on purpose! You said it wrong on purpose”.

It got slightly better, as it always does. By the evening the heavy clouds finally started drifting, and the wet asphalt glistened like black jam. The sky is always cleanest after the rain; the torn shreds of fluffy white were slowly filling with pale coral and peach colors. Closing to seven, Tyler and Kai left the house to go to the nearest store: they were running out of eggs, pasta, beans and cheese. Sam examined fridge every other day and always left neatly written post-it-notes right on the parents’ picture. His unbreakable logic, by which, he thought, the world functioned, told him to do so. Kai and Tyler never looked at that picture, but they learned to look there solely in case there’s a note from Sam: ‘we need some herbs for all of us and chocolate for Kai’. That was a nice, working system they had, that didn’t demand too much communication. If the note was gone that meant somebody has been to the shop. Sam could examine the fridge again to look for new imperfections. ‘Tomatoes wilted’.

They threw their boards on brand-new, smooth, clean road and went on. Tyler was a pro, skating ever since he was able to gain balance enough to stand on his two little feet. Moreover, he looked cool on board. He had all the right features and tattoos for that, he wore his special striped T-shirts and wrapped pieces of plaster around his knuckles and elbows in case he falls. But he never fell. Kai has been falling every now and then, because, sure, he was a fast learner, but no Tony Hawke or Tyler Parker. He didn’t enjoy the sensation of not feeling the earth under his feet; he didn’t listen to Sum 41 enough to be a good skater. From aside, he looked good, though, and he hated it when he had to walk while Tyler rides his board, like he’s babysitting his little brother.

“Sam’s taking this rain too seriously this time”, Tyler noted, looking as the ground was flashing past under the little wheels. He was wearing his yellow hat although the air was warm. His head was killing him again.

“He’s fine”.

“How many times has he said what a nasty piece of weather?”

“About two hundred”. Tyler didn’t say anything which sounded like I’m right and you’re wrong.

“Tomorrow’s gonna rain again”.

“You better pray it doesn’t, dude”.

They were moving along the street in their neighborhood. The rows of white little houses prepped against each other were all clean and neat, under the pink sky. “I’ve ran out of chores to do”.

“Find a job”, Tyler suggested, for about a hundredth time this week.

Kai swerved his board, drifting away from him. He liked the air in his ears, warm May light and taste brushing his face. “Job’s for ordinary people”, he yelled, and his joyful voice echoed against the porches. It seemed like everybody was asleep. But then again, it didn’t rain that often in their little town. Maybe they all killed themselves.

“We get on just fine. The money Mom and Dad left will be enough for now”.

“What about then on?”

Kai swerved even further away, bending his knees slightly. Every time he tried to do tricks, Tyler couldn’t help recalling that one time when his brother fell off the skateboard right in front of the house. It was mid-July and the weather was scorching hot, so Kai was out without his shirt. He was riding a straight line, and god knows what he did with his stupid long legs, but he fell face forward, kicking the board back; he was moving ahead and still slid when he touched the ground. His chin, chest and belly got scrubbed on the asphalt really hard. His face was bruised but apparently got away easiest; up to this day Kai had a big long scar from his belly button up to his solar plexus. He was never ashamed of it.

Kai was still skating inside Walmart. A guy was trying to run after him, but he sped away into the home maintenance department. Tyler could shop in peace while his brother took over all walking and talking people.

Carrying his board tightly under his arm, he was wandering along the aisles, the white note in his hand. Sam’s handwriting was ineffable. When he was little, the two other Parkers entertained themselves by making their brother write offensive notes to their neighbors and family friends. People got all kinds of colorful cards saying The Parker family thinks your face is gross in calligraphy. Also, Sam had to write a couple of apology letters to his teachers and friends’ parents. Kai’s all-time-favorite note was created when Sam was ten years. It said, Dear Mr and Mrs Fielding, I’m sorry for putting Greg’s teddy into a blender but it talked too much.

He weighed a can of pasta in his palm and took out one airpod. The security guy’s voice was dangerously close, competing with Kai’s deep, mocking tone. “Young man, for the tenth time: you cannot ride your skateboard inside the shop”.

“But my feet really hurt when I step on the tiles”, he yelled, “and what if I step on the break? My mum dies?!”

Tyler started humming a song under his breath. Kai was twenty-two, but behaved so immaturely it was hard sometimes. He was the one who always got into trouble. Especially with the law. All the more surprising how he could pull off all those killings.

Tyler shivered a little, and his palm flew to his neck, travelling all the way to his face and rubbing it energetically. He couldn’t stop doing that when he got nervous. He looked at his palm and saw a shade of black oil paint smudged.

At the checkout desk he had to wrestle the security people to keep Kai’s board.

“This is not a joke”, one of them barked. Kai was like a head taller than him; he always stood very straight but relaxed and never felt threatened. There was not a single thing Kai was afraid of. In the whole world. The guy’s name was apparently Lacer if they were to believe his badge. Lacer was balding but seemingly in good shape; the red thin lines on the white in his eyes indicated he was a drinker.

“This is the fourth time this month”, the checkout lady helped, giving Tyler a look while beeping his packs of frozen peas. Kai was holding his board above his head as he laughed at the guys, three of them. Lacer was backed up by Roger and Matthew, none of whom looked happy when the Parkers were in.

“I have the right to skate wherever I want”, Kai yelped stubbornly, sheer self-jerkery in his voice.

“There is no such law that states that!” Roger shook his finger furiously, “don’t you understand you can knock something off! Or injure somebody!”

“I have great coordination” Kai replied, at which point Tyler snickered. The checkout lady looked at him again, hostility in her eyes.

“If you guys don’t stop fucking around every time you come here, we won’t let you in anymore” she said gravely. Being reproached by a woman was too much for Kai; his benevolent idiotic stance changed in a blink of an eye. She continued, “You will have to find another place to shop”.

Tyler could have predicted what would happen next but he was too preoccupied with counting the money. Kai rushed to him, bumping into his shoulder. A shot of electric pain stung Tyler’s skull. Everything went dizzy for a second.

“You keep talking, bitch”, Kai hissed, balancing his board right above her head, “and you’ll have to look for a new place to live, because I will be coming for your…” Lacer grabbed Kai by the shoulders and tried to put him in a lock. Tyler started packing his backpack really quickly, humming louder.

“We’re very sorry”, he mumbled as the can of pasta fell from his hand. It fell onto the desk and jumped, as if by magic, falling and kicking Lacer’s ankle. He screamed with pain, and Tyler thought, I’m going to die because my brain is going to explode right now.

“I’m calling the police!” Roger announced. Tyler grabbed his brother by the collar of his shirt just as Kai swung his arms to hit Lacer with his board. The other one, Matthew, managed to catch it from the other end. Tyler pulled Kai, Kai pulled his board, and ache pulled in below Parker’s eyelids.

“The police are busy looking for that Debbie boy”, Kai hissed triumphantly. In his mind, he was a funny punker, living his best life on the sunny streets of Fontana, California, where everybody appreciated the salt of his jokes.

“What fucking Debbie boy”, Matthew snarled through his teeth. Tyler pulled his brother by the neck, and they nearly fell, his board flying above their heads and ending up outside, flying right through the open doors.

“Let’s go!” Tyler yelled. “Stop it! Let go of him, he’s just going to keep making it worse!”

Roger took out his phone. Kai punched Lacer in the face with a swing. The checkout lady let out a yell. Tyler’s backpack was very heavy. Kai’s board was slowly rolling away…

Sam opened the door after the first ring: the sound of the bell irritated him big time. In fact, he’d be better off without any sounds at all. He didn’t enjoy music and especially music Tyler produced; he was highly irritated by his screaming and shouting every other day. He didn’t like the sound of rain, when the drops were beating on the window sills from every side. He didn’t like it when the phone rang so he always had it on mute and made his brothers turn the notifications off. There was nothing more soothing, less disturbing, than silence. In that, he could properly think. Sometimes it seemed to him that Kai and Tyler created all this noise just to distract him from something, to stop him from pondering.

“Good news”, Kai said with a wide smile as he came into the corridor, pushing the youngest with his shoulder, “we bought everything and I had a rush of adrenaline, so I can stay up all night. Tyler’s gonna give you the bad news”. He took off to the kitchen, apparently, hungry again.

“We’ve been banned from the local Walmart, all three of us, and Mum and Dad, too”.

Sam frowned with the expression of pain on his face. He looked at Kai’s back as the oldest stood by the fridge, looking deep into it. “What has he done this time?”

“He was skating inside, and then he threatened to… what exactly were you going to say to her?” Tyler took off his backpack and stretched his shoulders.

“Eighteen plus, I’m afraid”, Kai’s neck bent to the right, then, to the left, snakelike. Sam looked at Tyler with his big, ever confused coffee eyes. His brother shrugged.

“Oh, and also, there were police cars at Teddy’s house”. This was an alerting line which usually worked well. Sam wasn’t the only faulty machine in the family; he wasn’t really afraid of Malachai who was clear enough. He liked to inflict pain, and that was that. He also had quite a temper, something that Sam disapproved of. They both moved into the kitchen, watching their brother’s back carefully. Muscles under his shirt were tense.

“So? I thought his name was Debbie”.

“Debbie’s a girl name, short for Deborah”, Sam said. Kai turned to them, eyeing them innocently.

“So, what do you want from me? I saw the police cars, too. So, his mum is searching for him, there’s nothing we can do about it. I guess some people do have parenting instincts after all…”

Sam licked his lips nervously. “I’m going to tell something unpleasant, so Tyler, cover your ears, because you always get hurt in your head when we discuss killing people…” Tyler rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling.

“Did you hide the body properly?”

Kai’s smile stretched on his face, but his eyes stayed cold, as they always were. “Yeah. It’s in your room, right in your bed… there’s never anyone anyway, Samson…”

Sam exhaled through his nose. “Really?! Why would you do that, you moron? He’ll start to smell!” He was about to run upstairs.

“Cluster! Cluster, Sam”, Tyler whooped. Sam stopped, all ruffled up like a baby bird, eyes wide.

“It was a joke?”

“Yes, he’s pulling your leg”.

“Oh”, Sam patted himself on the chest and returned to the kitchen space slowly, “good thing we have cluster. Good on us”.

They stood, all three of them, around the table, Kai’s jaws moving as he was chewing on something. Tyler’s headache returned again and started drilling his brain. “They are gonna come though”, Kai added, “the cops. So, don’t forget to put Sam away, or he’ll blurt out that his brother killed little Debbie boy”.

“Teddy. His name was Teddy, and he was fucking twelve”, Tyler growled, enraged, “don’t you think you aim low? Got no guts to take on somebody your weight?”

Kai’s eyes narrowed, just like when the checkout lady started lecturing him. His white triangle face became completely snakelike. Not once did Tyler think that his brother was something in between a human and a beast. What did it make him, then? And the youngest?

“Next time try to get offended by older people in my weight category then”, he uttered, “it’s not like I choose them myself”.

Sam sighed.

“Oh no”, Tyler warned him, “do not sigh like that”.

“What did I do?” Sam got frightened.

“You sigh like this and drop your eyes when you think Kai’s got a point. When in reality, he’s just always looking for excuses to explain his urge to…”

Tyler pressed his lips together. He could hear his own voice, tender and a bit rusty, nothing like manly timbre of his older brother, altogether sturdy, like a stone. “Kill”, he helped. “Spell it for me”.

His eyes were dead set on Tyler. Kai could see his younger one melt, his face, his round chin with black paint smudged on it, his half-opened mouth.

“K-I-L-L”, Sam went obediently.

“Not you; the screamy boy”, Kai brushed him off; Sam sat down on a chair like on command. Tyler took a step back.

“You keep reproaching me, little brother, forgetting that half of them went down because of you”.

Kai clicked his tongue, the frozen feeling of the kitchen filling him like fresh, hot blood. He had Tyler in his right palm and Sam, in his left. Maybe because he wanted to destroy them. Maybe because he wanted to protect them. He could see the change in Tyler’s face, every other time he would find strength to withstand him. Tyler manned up, getting that dark, hard matter all over his aura that made him a Parker. He straightened his shoulders, and clenched his jaws but still managed to speak.

“You can’t keep killing people, Kai, I’m amazed we even have to talk about this. You know, other idiots, like you, they go through smoking or death metal phases, but you take your late maturation to all new levels…”

He had him at “like you”. There was nobody like him, not even his brothers. There was him, Malachai Parker, and his copies, good in their ways, but not quite like him. He took a deep breath. He couldn’t hurt his boys, not them. He had to remind himself. For some curious reason, of course, they were the ultimate goals. Of course, you get the most pleasure out of hurting those whose screams actually hurt you in return. But Kai also knew he wouldn’t be able to go on without them, the screamy guy and the youngest. He, the ripper. Needed his brothers. So, be gentle with them.

He grabbed Tyler by the collar of his shirt, just like he’d been grabbed himself, earlier. Brother’s eyes went blank as pain, so strong Kai could feel it, sprang to his closeted mind. Sam covered his head with his hands.

“Don’t”, Kai pushed Tyler to the table and collided him with the countertop, hitting the small of his back. Tyler’s hands crushed into his, trying to unlock his fingers, but Kai had a killer’s clutch like a bulldog. “Don’t ever tell me what I can’t do and never”, he put his face so close Tyler could smell sweet mint in his breath, “compare me with others, screamy boy”. Tyler changed his tactic. He put down his hand and punched Kai in the stomach. The oldest gasped, letting go of him, and bent in half. Sam was watching through his fingers, one curious eye transfixed on the scene.

Kai took a breath and watched his brother, four inches shorter than him, in his stupid yellow hat, preserving his crazy head in the warmth of May. And started laughing. “You punch like a babe, Ty”.

Tyler was fuming. “Should’ve left you there. Let the cops come and take you in for behaving like a goddamn idiot every time we go to public places. Let them question you about what you’ve been doing late nights for the last four months”.

Kai’s smile was fainting as he was deep in his thought. “Yeah, and what you two would do if I went to”, he bit his lower lip, “jail?”

“Oh”, Sam growled, “Tyler, he can’t go to jail, he’s the only one who’s of age…”

“Cluster”.

Tyler wanted to add something else, but he suddenly felt drained. He hated Kai sometimes. The oldest sniffed in the dirtiest manner and smirked. “Imagine this house without me” he simply said. Tyler did. He felt nothing. His headache was killing him more than anger with Kai.

“Go lay down”, Kai suggested, watching his face go very pale. “Are you going to puke?”

“If only because of you”, Tyler grumbled, turning his heavy body, and scuffed away into the living room.

Kai’s eyes darted to Sam, who put his both palms flat on the table as if feeling it. He expected the youngest to burst out in confusion again on how Kai’s physically unable to make someone vomit without touching them. But the boy was silent, looking back with the most loyal eyes Kai’s ever seen. Sometimes Sam looked so well-behaved he got the urge to pat his brother on the head. And he thought, damn mammals, all fluffy and doe-eyed, that make you want to stand up for them and defend them out of their cuteness. All the more incredible how Tyler was able to mutilate animals. If only Sam was a baby owl, Tyler would’ve butchered him long time ago.

#kai parker #tyler joseph imagine #sam gardner

[bad-at-names-and-faces]

A Strange, Wild Scheme

Day 6 (yes, it's the 7th as I write this) with the prompt "time loop" and Catherine Morland and Eleanor TIlney from Northanger Abbey...

Eleanor Tilney bid farewell to her new friend, Miss Morland, as she and her brother Henry left.

“Remember, twelve o’clock!” Miss Morland called out as they were leaving.

“Provided it does not rain, of course!” Eleanor called back. 

“She is a sweet girl, is she not?” she asked her brother on the way home.  He said nothing, only giving the slightest smile that none but his sister would notice.

The following morning was cloudy, which did not bode well for a walk, but Eleanor and her brother agreed that by noon, the weather would most likely improve. 

The days in Bath were often quite indistinguishable, so it was a pleasant diversion that morning to look forward to a walk like this. 

Much to her dismay, however, later in the morning, it began to rain.  The walk might have to be postponed. 

“It’s noon now,” she lamented to her brother. “I’m afraid we won’t be able to see Miss Morland today.”

“Perhaps it will clear up soon enough,” he declared.  

As if by the power of his own words, the rain cleared up within half an hour. 

“Perhaps Miss Morland will still be at home,” Eleanor said. 

They gathered their things quickly, and walked to the house where their new friend was staying. Upon arrival, they learned that she had left with the Thorpes only a few minutes prior.

“What now?” Eleanor asked her brother as they left disappointed.

***

Eleanor woke up and looked outside.  

“Another grey morning,” she sighed, remembering the previous day’s disappointment. Perhaps she would call on Miss Morland this morning. It had been raining at noon when they were to meet, so that may have been the source of the confusion. 

She found her brother alone downstairs reading.

“I think I shall call on Miss Morland this morning,” she said.

“I believe you had agreed upon noon,” he replied.

“What?” she asked. “Have you spoken to her? Are we going to attempt the walk again?”

“Again?” he asked, perplexed. “I believe the first you spoke of the arrangement was last night at the party.”

“Last night?” She thought for a moment. “That is a relief. I think I had a dream that we had not been able to get to her house on time, and we did not see her the rest of the day. It was a very dull and disappointing dream.”

“You are anxious that the social call will go well, that is quite understandable,” he smiled. 

***

Catherine Morland found Mrs. Allen downstairs. 

“I think I will call on Miss Tilney this morning,” Catherine announced. It had been disappointing not seeing her new friend the day before, and she had never made it to the castle, and all in all she would have much rather stayed home doing nothing.

“But I thought they were to come here,” Mrs. Allen said. “I believe you agreed on noon, did you not?”

“Oh,” Catherine said. “I had the oddest dream, I suppose. I’m very glad it was only a dream, though.”

***

“This is so odd,” Eleanor said as they left the house where Miss Morland was staying. “The servant said the very same thing in my dream.”

“Perhaps it is merely that there are a limited number of things a servant will say to callers,” her brother suggested. “It is not his job to think of original prose, but to let visitors know whether someone is home or has gone out.”

Eleanor nodded. That must be it.

***

Catherine Moreland sat in the carriage as the began the journey, wondering at how the day had gone nearly the same as the dream she had.  As they left Bath, Catherine wondered if they would actually see the phaeton that Mr. Thorpe had told her he had seen Miss Tilney and her brother driving. 

The rest of the day went much like the previous day, and she returned home even more disappointed than she had been. She would definitely want to find Miss Tilney the next day.

***

Eleanor looked out the window.  It was another grey day, except something about the clouds was too similar. It wasn’t simply that it was another cloudy day, but the clouds and the sun seemed to come at the exact same times as the day before, and she was quite sure it was the same as it had been in her dream, if that even had been a dream. This was too strange.

She ran downstairs as soon as she could, and found her brother reading.

“What are your plans for today?” she asked him.

“We were planning to go on a walk with Miss Morland, were we not? You agreed on that with her last night.”

***

The rain had cleared exactly as it had the prior days, for Catherine was quite certain that it was not a dream now.  What it was, she did not know, but it did not seem to be a dream. She dreaded hearing the familiar voices approaching the door.  They would be asking her to go with them, and would not care that she had plans.  But, of course, if Miss Tilney and her brother had left without her, that was very well. Still, if it was going to be the same day, she wished to avoid going with them if she could, though she was not sure if her will was strong enough.

***

Eleanor looked around as they left the house where Miss Morland was staying.  They had turned to the left previously, but perhaps if they headed in the other direction, it would at least be something different.

“Why are you going that way?” her brother asked as she pulled on his arm.

“I simply wish to,” she replied. 

With a shrug, he followed her. She heard a carriage in the distance, and looked over. 

“I believe that was Miss Morland,” she said. “But she is too far to see for sure.”

“Well, I suppose she will have an enjoyable day,” her brother said, sounding slightly annoyed at the idea.

***

Once again, Catherine’s party did not make it to the promised castle, and once again, she had not seen her new friends. She began to wonder if perhaps this was all a dream, but what then? 

She found a sheet of paper, and wrote a note to herself. She hoped she would find it in the morning, and as she awoke, she remembered the note, but found that everything was it had been every morning.  

After so many days, Catherine had now given up on anything changing. She waited for the rain, and then the inevitable call from the Thorpes.  Aside from a comment from Mrs. Allen that she seemed particularly out of spirits, nothing was changed.

On this day, however, as they were going along, she saw Miss Tilney and her brother walking along the street, not, as Mr. Thorpe had told her, driving in a phaeton.

“Stop!” she shouted.

***

Eleanor had tried for days now to get closer to the carriage in which she had seen Miss Morland, and some days her brother was just slow enough that she missed it entirely, and other days she got close enough to see, she was sure, Miss Morland looking distinctly unhappy to be there. Eleanor did not like that she was finding some joy in this fact, but it did provide some diversion to the days that were otherwise so difficult to tell apart. 

Today, her brother had allowed just quick enough of a pace that the carriage passed directly by them, and she saw Miss Morland turning around and waving.  She could have sworn that she heard her telling Mr. Thorpe to stop, but her brother did not seem to have noticed.

Still, it was different.  Different was good.

0o0o0

Catherine woke up and noticed the clouds. They were different. She had almost forgotten that the clouds could be different, though she wasn’t entirely sure if she could trust this.

As soon as she found Mrs. Allen, Catherine inquired about calling on Miss Tilney this morning, expecting the answer that Miss Tilney and her brother were to call on her.

“Go, by all means, my dear; only put on a white gown; Miss Tilney always wears white.”

#FFC 2024 #jane austen fanfiction #northanger abbey #eleanor tilney #catherine morland #canon divergence #time loop

[strangerfics2022]

Dustin’s Birthday

Hi Guys! This is my first ever Stranger Things Fanfic! I am excited to share this with you all. I hope you enjoy it! please feel free to leave a comment or a like if you enjoy it If not let me know what i can do to make it better. Thank you for taking the time to read. Enjoy!

“I can’t believe my baby brother is turning 15.” I whine as I throw my arms around Dustin’s neck. He tries to push me off. “Stop it Y/N/N you’re embarrassing me. “ He whines. I giggle and ruffle his hair as we sit at the lunch table. “So any plans for the big day?” Eddie asks as he snakes an arm around me pulling me back over towards him. “No not really. Probably just hanging out.” He says looking a little disappointed. I knew he was really hoping his girlfriend Suzie would come down to visit for his birthday, but she had told him she couldn’t make it. Little did he know I had the whole day planned starting with picking up Suzie from the airport that morning to bring her over to spend the week at our house. Dustin picked at his lunch and sat quietly. Ever since he was little I had always tried to make his birthdays special. This year I finally had enough money to go all out and celebrate him the way he deserved. I had booked the arcade and laser tag place for the afternoon and bought him a cake and some presents All of his friends were in on it. Everyone but Dustin knew what was going to happen. His birthday fell on a Saturday this year so it was perfect. I could spend the whole day doting on my little brother who had been through so much these last few years. I smiled at Eddie and he smiled back. It was hard for me to keep the secrets from Dustin. It was Friday, so after school Eddie drove us home and we dropped Dustin off. And he and I headed out to go get the last minute party supplies we needed. “I’m surprised you have kept the secret this long.” Eddie teases as we pull away from the house. “Me too. Did you see his face at lunch? The poor boy looked heartbroken. I wanted to tell him right then.” Eddie laughs. “Well I’m glad you didn’t a month of planning everything to be a surprise would be down the drain.” He nudges me. “Thanks for all your help.” “Princess I love you and your brother I would do anything for you two.” He smiles at me. I lean over to kiss his cheek. “I love you Eddie Munson.” He pulls into the supply store and we hurry inside to get balloons and streamers. We grab a few other things too that we think he would like then we take everything back to Eddie's which is where everything was hidden. I was afraid Dustin would find it if I hid it at ours so Eddie told me I could hide it at his. We go in and take inventory of the things that we had bought. Balloons, streamers. plates. cups, napkins, a table cloth, and his presents I got him a new vhs tape that he had been wanting and a few new walkies. “Okay I think we have everything we need.” I smile. “You did good princess.” Eddie kisses my head. “You think this is good just wait until your birthday.” I tease placing a kiss to his lips. I turn and gather all the things up and put them away. “Well I better head home. I have to be at the airport by 6 in the morning. “Just stay sweetheart. I’ll drive you.” Eddie wraps his arms around my waist. “Baby it’s like an hour and a half drive. I have to wake up at 4 am to get there. I know how much you hate waking up early.” Eddie groans.”Fine. Only because you're right I will not be waking up at 4 am.” I laugh and kiss his lips. “Okay so  you’ll be at my house by 8 right with all of the supplies?” He nods. “Yep. I’ll be there. What time do we have the arcade and laser tag for?” “Noon. We have two hours so I figured we could do an hour of laser tag and an hour in the arcade.” I say trying to slip from Eddie’s arms. “Okay sounds good.” “Oh baby could you stop by the bakery on your way to mine to pick up the cake please? That way we have it before we head to the party.” I ask with puppy dog eyes. “Fine Henderson only for you will I be up early on a Saturday to go to the bakery.” I stand on my tiptoes to kiss his nose. “Thank you Munson.” Eddie drives me home and leaves me with a kiss. I head inside to start calling everyone to make sure they all remembered. “Hey Steve.” I say into the phone. “Hi Y/N/N. Calling to remind me about tomorrow?” “Yep, making sure you and Robin are still coming.” I can hear him laugh. “As if we would miss Dustin’s birthday party. Yeah Robin and I will meet you guys at the arcade at noon right?” “Yeah noon. See you two then. “Bye Y/N see you then.” I hang up and call Nancy. “ Hey Y/N.” “Hi Nance. Just calling to remind you and Mike about tomorrow.” Nancy laughs. “As if Mike has talked about anything else today. I don’t think we will be forgetting. We’ll see you at noon.” I laugh. “Okay See you at noon. Bye.” “Bye.” She hangs up. I then dial Lucas. “ Hello Sinclair residence.” “Oh HI Mrs. Sinclair It’s Y/N Henderson Dustin’s older sister. I was calling to talk to Lucas about Dustin’s surprise party.” “Oh hi dear, let me go get him.” I Can hear her walk away and call Lucas. “Hey Y/N/N.” I hear “Hey Lucas. Just reminding you of noon tomorrow. Do you need a ride? Eddie and I can pick you up or I can see if Steve and Robin can.” “Yeah actually can you give me a ride so I don’t have to bike.” “Of course I’ll see you around 11:30 then. Okay?” “Okay sounds good see you tomorrow.” He hangs up and now I have one last call to make. “Hello?” ‘Hi Max it’s Y/N” “Oh Hi Y/N/N. What’s up?” “I was just calling to see if you were sill coming to Dustin’s party tomorrow and to see if you needed a ride.” “Oh shit I forgot. Yeah I'll be there and could you pick me up? My mom is working so I won’t have a ride.” “Of course I’ll be there about 11:45 okay?” “Okay. see you then. “Okay bye Max.”Bye” I hang up. I walk to my room to check my list to make sure everything is all done. As I scan over the list it seems like everything is done. I quickly shower and get ready for bed since I have to be up early and tomorrow is going to be a long exciting day. I hurry up and make Dustin some dinner after I get ready so he has something to eat tonight then I climb in bed. 

I wake up the next morning at 4 am. I hurry to get ready and head out to the airport a few towns over. I had never met Suzie before but I had seen pictures so I hoped I would be able to recognize her. It was a long drive but I finally made it to the airport I took a sign with me with Suzie’s name so hopefully she would see it. I don’t have to wait long before a girl comes over to me. “You’re Dusty’s sister Y/N Right?” I look at the girl “ Yeah that’s me Y/N Henderson. You’re Suzie?”  She nods still a little weary which I understand. We had only spoken on the phone a few times and through letters once or twice so I was still a stranger. “Nice to meet you. Dustin talks about you non stop. He will be so excited that you are here.” I say offering her a friendly smile. She relaxes a tiny bit and follows me to the car. “So it will take about an hour and a half to get to Hawkins so I brought some snacks if you get hungry and feel free to choose any cassette tape you would like to listen to.” She nods and thumbs through the tapes I have in my car, most of them Eddie’s mixes that he has given me and a few that I had bought. She picks one and puts it in. We sit quietly not talking much. Suzie dozes off a little bit into the drive. I finish the drive listening to tapes and munching on some snacks. 

“Hey Suzie. We are here.” I say trying to gently wake her without scaring her. She shifts her eyes towards the house and out front I see Eddie’s van. She quickly gets out of the car and we walk to the front door. Inside Eddie is trying to be quiet as he decorates the house. “Shit.” He mumbles as the streamers slip from his hands unraveling across the floor. “Hey handsome. Need some help.” I tease picking it up and rolling it back up towards him. “Shit, hi baby.” He kisses me. There is a light cough from behind us. “Oh Suzie this is Eddie My boyfriend and one of Dustin’s friends.” She nods.” Hi Eddie. I’ve heard a lot about you.” “Nice to meet you Suzie. The little butt head never shuts up about you.” Eddie teases extending his hand for her to shake. “If you want to go wake up Dusty you can. His room is the last door on the left. I point towards his room. “I’m going to start breakfast.” I says turning to walk to the kitchen. It’s not long before I hear Dustin yelling. “Suzie poo what the hell.” I giggle as I cook up his favorite breakfast. He runs out to the living room where Eddie is still decorating. “What the? Y/N/N? Eddie? What is going on?” I come out to the kitchen. “Surprise! Happy birthday Dusty.” I hug him. “You did this.” He points to Suzie. I nod. He wraps me in the biggest hug. “Thank you!” “Anything for you Dustin.” He pulls away a little teary eyed and then hugs Suzie. I head back to the kitchen to finish breakfast. After that is done and Eddie has finished decorating the living room we all sit down to eat. “Happy birthday dude.” Eddie says puling him into a hug. “Thanks man.” Dustin says hugging him back. We eat and after that Eddie and I head to my room so we can get ready for the rest of our day. “HI sweetheart.” He says pulling me close. “Hi baby.” I say into his chest. “You’re a great sister you know that?” I blush. “Thanks, Eds.” I change my clothes and do a quick bit of make-up. It was already 11. “Oh babe I forgot. I have to pick up Lucas and Max to get them to the arcade.” “Oh okay yeah no problem we can pick them up I have room in the van.” He says as he watches me do my eyeliner. “Awesome, thank you.” I turn to place a kiss on his cheek. Then I quickly finish getting ready and head out to the living room where Dustin and Suzie are watching T.V.. “Hey guys let’s go.” I say grabbing my purse and jacket. “What? Where?” Dustin says as Eddie pulls him up. “Surprise.” I say smiling and lead the way to Eddie’s van. We all pile into the van and head off towards Lucas’ house. We pull in and he is waiting out front. He hops in. “Hey guys. Happy Birthday Dustin.” He high fives him. Dustin looks confused. “Oh, hi i’m Lucas. Nice to meet you, you must be Suzie.” He says. “Hi Lucas, Dustin has told me a lot about you. Nice to finally meet you.”  she says shaking his hand. We then head off towards Max’s. When we pull in Eddie run to his trailer to grab a few thing as I walk up to Max’s door. “Max it’s Y/N/N are you ready?” I holler as I knock. “Hey,  yeah I’m ready.” She says as she opens it. We get in and wait as Eddie runs back over and tosses a few things in the back of the van and we head off. We pull into the arcade parking lot at 11:55 and the others are already there waiting for us. “Happy birthday Henderson.” Steve yells pulling him into a hug. Nancy ruffles his hair. “Happy birthday.” “Yeah man Happy birthday.” Mike says. “Happy Birthday Dustin. Are you going to introduce us to your friend.” She says gesturing to Suzie. “Thanks guys. This is my girlfriend Suzie.” He beams as she says hi to everyone. “Okay guys let’s go It’s birthday time.” I say ushering everyone into the arcade. “Hi, we're here for the Henderson Birthday party.” I say at the desk. The guy nods and gives me the things we need. I hand everyone their stuff and they all run off to play games and have fun. After a while it’s time or us to play Laser tag. “Hey Dusty. You ready to lose,” I say throwing the vest at him. His eyes light up. “No way.” He smiles as he rushes over and grabs the rest of his gear. We split up into two teams. Dustin’s team has Steve, Nancy ,Suzie , and Mike. While my team had Robin, Eddie, Max, and Lucas. We head into the dark room and begin playing we play quite a few rounds. Dustin’s team winning 4 of them and my team winning 3. “We let you guys win because it’s your birthday.” Eddie says as we take off our stuff and hang it back up. “Yeah right Munson you just don’t want to admit you guys got your asses handed to you.” Steve laughs back. “Watch it Harrington.” Eddie teases. And we all head out to the parking lot. “Okay everyone still headed back to ours for pizza and cake?” I ask They all agree so we head over to our house. “Eddie you did stop at the bakery this morning to get the cakes, right?” He looks at me pretending to have just been shot. “You wound me babe. Thinking I would forget the most important task on this important day.” I roll my eyes and smile. We get home just in time for the pizza delivery and once we get in I go to get the custom cakes I order special for Dustin in the shape of a walkie talkie and a D&D dice. When I finally find the box from the bakery I open it up. “Eddie.” I holler. He rushes in and so do the others. “Hey princess is everything okay?” “Babe did you check the names on the cake before you picked them up?” I ask still looking into the box. “Uh Yeah I think so.” He says nervous. I turn the cake towards him and it wasn’t what I had ordered it was a wedding cake. “I don’t think you did.” I say laughing hard. Dustin bust out laughing. “This is perfect.” Everyone else starts to giggle too. “Shit babe I’m sorry. It was early and I could have sworn I checked. “Eddie this is the best!” Dustin says smiling at the giant cake in front of us. I smile. “I’m glad you like it.” He laughs. “Best birthday ever.” Dustin says as he cuts a huge slice of cake. We sit around eating cake and pizza just talking. Once we are done I clear the dishes then run to my room to grab Dustin’s gifts. “Here bud.” I say Tossing the gits in his lap. He opens them excitedly. “Wow thanks Y/N/N. I love them.” He pulls me into a hug. Steve pulls a gift from robin’s bag. “Here dude this is from Robin and I.” Dustin opens it to a few bottles of Farrah Fawcett hair spray. “Thanks guys.” He says sarcastically and then hugs them. Eddie heads out to his van and comes back carrying a few small boxes. “Here dude.” He hands them to Dustin. One was a new dice set, the other was a tee shirt, and the last one was a cassette. “Thanks Eddie.” He says. After everyone else gives him his gifts we just sit around and hang out some more watching the VHS that he had gotten for his birthday. As the night goes on and everyone leaves Eddie and I are cleaning up. “Hey thanks guys for making this the best birthday ever.” He hugs us both tight. “Anything for you little brother.” I ruffle his hair.

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