#I had this queued to go up yesterday but for some reason it didn’t

[chezzywezzy]

Yandere Lost Boys (3/8)

Word count ; 4.0k

*Does anyone know wtf is going on with Tumblr? I've been queuing everything up and then it doesn't work for one reason.

During the walk back, Dwayne and I shared fleeting smooches. However, we finally arrived at the cave, and he reluctantly returned me to my feet. He threw an arm around my shoulder protectively as we entered. Despite my former distaste toward the group, I was relaxed. Dwayne seemed fine. And everyone had their flaws.

The moment we entered the dimly lit cave, I noticed that David was sitting in a chair with Ruby on his lap affectionately. And, on the couch, it was like Paul and Marko never moved. Several bottles of wine was placed on the table, one almost empty. And yet, assuming Ruby had drank all of it, she didn’t see quite as drunk as last night.

No… In fact, she was her normal, giggly self.

“Well, well, well. You two look like you’ve had a grand old time,” Paul greeted, waving curtly.

Dwayne nodded, returning to his normal, silent self. I noticed out of the corner of my eye that David was planting some kisses Ruby’s blissful cheeks, and yet, his predatory gaze was set on me. It’s like he was waiting for something. He pulled me further into the room. Marko sat up and grabbed a wine bottle, taking a quick swig. I shrunk up against Dwayne, who didn’t voice any complaints about my clinginess. There was something serious in the atmosphere.

As Marko lowered the bottle, he raised it in my direction. “Have a swig, why don’t you?”

“Well, seeing as Rube didn’t wake up until seven p.m. today, I’ll pass.”

“Hey!” Ruby exclaimed. “That is irrelevant right now.”

“Uh-huh, I’m sure.”

“Maybe it’s because she drank the whole thing,” Marko giggled. “Come on, just have a sip. It’s the best you’ll ever try.”

I was more susceptible this time. That much was plain. Akin to yesterday, they were all watching and waiting for me to just try. I even felt Dwayne boring into me. I glanced over the cave. The decoration was fine. Dwayne had explained the circumstances… And his intentions seemed pure.

“Well, I don’t know…” I trailed off unsurely.

I noticed David whispering into Ruby’s ear. His eyes were still trained on me. I didn’t trust that. However, Dwayne leaned down, massaging my shoulders lightly. “Just a sip, please? It would mean a lot to them. They don’t… mean much harm.”

Ruby hopped off David’s lap and sauntered over to me, tugging me away. “You have to try. At least once. There’s nothing else like it.”

Her dark eyes sparkled and there seemed to be no other motive behind her grinning expression. In fact, she seemed to be her normal self. I found my mouth opening and closing again. I felt embarrassed by my reluctancy. It was just a drink, right?

“I mean, okay. I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”

I noticed that even Dwayne pumped his fist into the air. The boys seemed to relish my answer, and a blush rose to my face. There was still something off about all of them, but I didn’t feel nearly as uncomfortable. I allowed Ruby to  drag me over and she eagerly snatched the bottle from Marko’s grasp. The pair were watching me intently, and when Ruby raised the bottle to my lips, I let her pour some into my mouth.

It almost overflowed, but she pulled it away. The liquid swirled in my mouth and I was surprised. I didn’t taste a hint of alcohol. It was almost fruity, and yet there was a hint of salt. It was a combination of flavors that I couldn’t fathom putting together, and yet, it was a pleasant taste.

Addicting, almost.

I felt Dwayne pull up behind me, pressing against my back as one hand wrapped around my waist. Ruby was grinning with that knowing expression that she was right and I was wrong. I almost wanted to take another sip, but my self-control told me to stop.

“Well?”  David finally spoke up.

All eyes went to him and then back to me. David and I maintained eye contact, but there was an unknown emotion that I didn’t like swirling in his bright blue eyes. 

“I mean, it’s okay.”

“‘It’s okay,’ she says,” Paul quipped. “Damn, little lady, you’re hard to please.”

I snorted, retorting,” It’s a drink. I’m not sure what else you want me to say, really.”

Ruby took another swig, sighing dreamily when she finished. “It’s more than a drink, Y/n. David and the other boys told me that it had all sorts of health benefits.”

“It explains why none of you guys are out during the day time,” I sarcastically remarked.

“It’s good for your stomach,” Dwayne mumbled into my ear.

“Is it, now…?”

I turned to face him, but I was left speechless. Something was off. His eyes were sparkling, but more than normal. I blinked, but it didn’t go away. Instead, I found myself becoming more and more blinded. I looked away, and Dwayne tugged me lightly to a bean bag. He hummed quietly to himself as I willingly plopped on top of him.

When I tried searching for Ruby, I found that she had returned to David’s side. Everyone was looking at me. And everyone was sparkling. It was like my vision was swirling with colors I didn’t know existed. I was suddenly so tired and confused, having a difficult time comprehending the moving environment.

“Dwayne?” I muttered, leaning against him. My head fell right beside his, and I felt his nose eagerly nuzzling against my cheek. His arms held me tightly, and yet it felt like everything around me was flying, even though I consciously knew I was sat in a chair.

“Yes, Y/n?”

My eyes flickered up to the cave ceiling. The stalactites were spinning. It’s like they were defending upon us. I kept blinking, and my vision grew progressively blurrier. I was craving something. I was craving more of what was in that bottle. And yet, I had no idea where to find it, because when I looked around the room, all I saw was vague outlines, sparkles, and red.

“Dwayne… Why are the sparkles talking?”

I heard laughter. Everything was swirling into an abyss. It was like my blood was boiling, and yet, I’d never felt so cold. I blinked and kept my eyes shut for the sake of stopping the world around me. When I focused on myself, I could hear my own heart thumping. It was thumping slower… and slower… and slower…

And then it stopped.

My eyes shot open and I gasped loudly. The entire environment had changed. Instead of the cave or my home or the beach, I was on a cliff. No, not a cliff. I looked down and saw nothing but fog. I look beside me, and I’m with Dwayne and his friends. I look behind me and I’m standing on a railway track, a bridge right across an abyss.

I became aware of an arm around my waist. I noticed that I was in the middle of the line. To my left, David was holding onto an equally confused and also scared shitless Ruby. She didn’t like heights. I didn’t either, but here we were, standing near a ledge. To my right was Dwayne, and then Paul, and then Marko. Shivers rolled down my spine as I peered into the foggy abyss.

“I think it’s about time we tell these girls what’s going on, eh?” David spoke up.

“Yeah,” Marko seconded. He removed his hands from his pocket. He suddenly raised his hand and waved. A scream bubbled in my throat as I noticed him raising his foot. But it was Ruby who let to a genuine, gut-wrenching shriek.

Marko suddenly fell completely off. I gasped, about to peer off, but Dwayne held me to him. Paul copied, doing the same thing. And I was absolutely mortified, trying to grab Dwayne as he pulled away. He sent us finger guns and a wink, hopping right off the edge of the wooden boards.

“What the fuck!” I shrieked.

“Come with us, girls.”

Ruby escaped from David’s hold, grabbing me tightly. Tears shimmered in her eyes. She went to tell David to stop, raising an arm toward him, but he did the same. The two of us were left to panic, cursing loudly. I collapsed on my hands and knees and peered through the panel boards. Ruby was quick to copy, but only then did a sense of relief consume me.

All four of them were hanging from metal bars, laughing their asses off. They noticed us. Dwayne sent me a reassuring grin. I didn’t like how confident he was. And what the fuck were they talking about when they said they’d tell us what was going on?

“Are you guys morons?” I shrieked angrily. “Get back up here!”

“Seriously, guys, this isn’t funny,” Ruby seconded, clutching onto me for dear life. She was trembling in my hold.

Dwayne was swinging silently while the rest of them hollered. Some singled me or Ruby out, telling us to join them. But Ruby was stuck in place, and she was on the verge of tears. However, it was David’s demands that really broke through the cheers.

“Ruby, Y/n, come on down!”

My mouth went dry. “Our fucking upper body strength is shit! No way in hell —“

“I swear, if you guys fall —“

“Just try it, Y/n,” Dwayne spoke up.

I was nervous, separating from Ruby and kicking my feet off the ledge. Ruby was looking at me like I was insane for going even that far, and I noticed that she’d shrunk back against a metal pole. I looked over the ledge at them, and I noticed Marko was whistling at me.

Just then, David’s hand grabbed my ankle and yanked me down. A scream tore from my throat and I pawed for any sort of safety. I fell for but a brief moment because one hand made contact with a metal bar. For a moment, I was certain I’d fall to inevitable doom, but I was able to pull both of my arms over the bar.

My legs still dangled over the abyss, and when I looked dup, Ruby’s expression betrayed her terror. She was shaking head to toe and some of her tears dropped onto me. 

“Welcome aboard, Y/n!” Paul exclaimed. “Why don’t you join us, Ruby?”

“How the fuck do I get back up?” I demanded. My legs were suspended and if I slipped for even one moment, I knew I could fall to certain death.

Dwayne, who monkey-barred his way next to me, grinned. “Fun, huh?”

“Are you actually insane, Dwayne? We’re going to fucking die! And what about if a train —…”

“Ready or not! Come on down, Ruby!” David roared.

In the distance, I heard a train horn. Ruby screamed, and despite her fear of heights, kicked her legs off. She ended up catching the bar in time, and the train rattled the boards. Ruby was sobbing at this point, and yet, none of the boys even seemed to care. Even Dwayne, who seemed to be the most sensible one, had a mischievous, deadly glint in his eyes. A few tears slipped down my cheeks, and when Dwayne released one arm and tried wiping it away, I jerked closer to Ruby and sent him a glare.

And yet, as the train passed over, the boys weren’t scared. They were hollering ecstatically. Even Dwayne, with a knowing glint in his eyes, let out a few ecstatic chuckles. 

My grip on the metal bar was beginning to slip, and instead, I was left swinging like the rest of them. My pals were sweaty and I knew they’d only get sweatier. I shut my eyes tightly, wishing that train would pass over sooner.

“Yeah!” Paul’s voice echoed.

Not even a second later, he released completely, falling into the fog. Ruby’s scream over powered mine, and out of shock, one of my arms fell. My grip was loose, and as I tried to regard the bar, Marko dropped, too.

“Take care!” he shouted, leaving my view. 

“What the fuck is going on?” 

Marko shouted at the top of his lungs as he disappeared into the fog. I could still hear him, too. But what scared me is when he went silent.

And then, Dwayne let to a holler. I called out his name, but he was gone. It was like he was never there. And the moment he hit the fog, his voice went silent. All that was left was us three. And David was staring at us keenly. As though we were planning on trying that.

“You’re one of us!” David yelled. “Let go!”

“What?” Ruby cried confusion lacing her features.

“You are one of us, Ruby! You both are!”

He sent us a grin. And silently, he fell. Ruby and I watched din terror before meeting one another’s eyes. We didn’t know what just happened, or if maybe there was ground right underneath us in the fog, but I didn’t plan on finding out. There wasn’t just a bridge situation here for no reason.

“David!” 

All we were met with was silence.

“Y/n, they’re insane!” Ruby sobbed. “What the fuck are we supposed to do?”

My other hand was starting to slip. “Fuck! Ruby! Oh, god!”

The train had finally passed over. I kept looking able for something to grab, but my fingers were barely holding on and my other hand couldn’t reach it. When I looked into the fog, I found that I heard distant yelling. It made me wonder —

A scream escaped my throat as I was forced to let go. I could hear Ruby from above calling out my name, but I was a goner. I became subdued in the clouds, and it was like I was floating, despite how quickly my body was being whipped every which way.

I swung my arms hoping I could fly. And yet, I was falling. Cruel laughter echoed din my ears, and all I could do was shut my eyes, anticipating my almost certain demise.

~~~

I let out a gasp. I almost started flailing right then and there. However, I pushed my body up and examined my environment.

I was in my own bedroom. I was still wearing my cute outfit from last night. The sun was just starting to rise and I almost flinched from the stray rays that escaped through my curtain. I panted furiously and tears threatened to fall, but then I noticed who was also on my bed: Dwayne.

He was still fast asleep somehow, even with how tightly I had pressed my hand into his upper chest. Realization hit me that it was all just some terrible nightmare. I tried to still my beating heart, instead focusing on the gorgeous man beneath me.

His shoes were completely kicked off and he had jeans on, but other than that, he’d discarded his shirt. I admired how sculpted his body was, from every hair on his upper chest to the slightly defined abs on his stomach. It gave me a sense of calmness seeing that it couldn’t have possibly been real.

I let out a final sigh, still wrought with adrenaline, and collapsed onto his bare chest. Just knowing Dwayne was here was a sign that god was good. I wrapped my arm around his waist and placed my head on his chest, his hair tickling my cheek. I rubbed circles on his side my pointer finger.

I was still so very tired. However, I was just as peeved and in awe and scared and - well, you get the idea. My eyes were fluttering shut and I felt Dwayne move beneath me. Both arms wrapped around me and I was on the verge of sleep, despite my previous panic.

He muttered in his sleep, and I found myself humming in reply. It was early. I didn’t have anything to do this early in the day. And if it meant I had more time to spend with such a gorgeous man, I wasn’t complaining.

One hand gently massaged my waist and the other interlocked withy messy hair. I relished the feeling of his soft, frozen skin under my own. And yet, he wasn’t nearly as cold as he was before. It was as though my body temperature was changing to combat his own.

The idea was romantic.

The phone suddenly rang from the hallway. I groaned loudly, wondering who the hell would be calling this early in the morning. It couldn’t be any later than six a.m. I found myself wishing for sleep, and Dwayne’s hold on me only tightened. However, as it continued to ring, I realized that Ruby wasn’t planning on beating me to it.

I pushed my weak body up, forcing Dwayne to release me. His brows furrowed and he frowned, even though he was just as wracked by weariness as I was. I chuckled lowly and swung my legs over his body. My bare feet (Dwayne must’ve taken my shoes off) made contact with the warm floor. 

The phone stopped ringing and I sighed. Dwayne’s arm instantly wrapped around my waist, pulling me back weakly. He kept on grunting in annoyance, which only made me laugh and wake up further.

“Let go, Dwayne,” I muttered in amusement, lightly tugging on his arm. “It could be my… job…”

He sat up just enough to wrap his other arm around it and pull me back. I squealed quietly as I ended lying back down against his chest uncomfortably, and a giggle bubbled in my throat. I tugged lightly at his hands.

“Sleep,” he muttered.

“I need to… answer the call,” I yawned.

“Too early.”

“Too bad.”

He finally released me and I stumbled to my feet, rubbing my eyes groggily. I went to the hallway and replayed the message. Apparently, my shifts at the video store would be starting from seven p.m. to three a.m. five days a week. The man on the other side of the phone informed me that he was the manager Max.

I sighed. I was an early riser, and the idea of a midnight shift irked me. However, it was summer, so I could make it work.

I placed the phone back on the receiver and went to the bathroom. I looked myself over, noticing that the bags underneath my eyes had vanished. It was the first time in years I physically looked awake. I got ready for my day, brushing my teeth and hair.

When I finished,  I looked myself over one last time. I was hungry. I swear, I’d never been so famished in my life. I usually ate on a schedule, but I’d make an exception for today.

I went downstairs. Ot of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the microwavable meal from a few days ago was uneaten and in the trash. I scowled in annoyance. Maybe there had been a bug in it ,since I knew Ruby wasn’t the type to waste our food.

I pulled out a bowl and filled it with milk and cereal. Afterwards I plopped down on the couch and flipped on the small television against the wall. I hummed in confusion. I knew that the morning news was usually on from six to nine a.m., and yet, when I stopped on the California news station, the small clock on screen read six-twenty-two. Why wasn’t the weather on yet?

I dipped my spoon into my cereal and raised it to my mouth. I chomped down on it, only to be clouded by regret.

Instead of normal flavors, it tasted sour and bitter. My body was physically rejecting the taste. I spit it out instantly and the milk slash cereal combination speed onto my lap. I coughed, and it was like the taste of the cereal physically hurt me. 

I stumbled to my feet, tears stinging my eyes. I returned to the kitchen and ran my mouth out with water. Even the water tasted horrible. I went to the fridge in confusion and pulled out the jug. It sloshed, and the movement of the food made my stomach churn even more.

I checked the expiration date. It was supposed to fine for two more weeks. 

I checked the cereal. It was supposed to be fine for up to four months.

I let out a gasp of pain. My stomach was churning and I accidentally dropped the jug, keeling over in pain. My feet drowned in the spilt milk, and I almost cried over it. However, I had more to worry about. My food wasn’t digesting. I grabbed some shredded cheese from a plastic bag and shoved it in my mouth.

However, I had the same section. I was forced to spit it right out into the sink. I was crying from the sheer pain my stomach was in and I gripped the side of the sink tightly. My knuckles grew paler. I retched, although nothing came out.

A few minutes later, I felt a little better. I looked up, and I became rather shocked as I looked out the small kitchen window in front of me. I was panting furiously. It was almost dark out. And yet, I knew I had to go to a hospital and see what the fuck was in that wine.

I felt oddly weak and thirsty as I snatched my purse. I looked like a mess. I pulled on flip-flops and a coat and I hadn’t even bothered to wipe off my feet or the floor. I unlocked the front door and swung it open.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

I almost screamed when I came face to face with Marko. He was leaning against the doorway with that damned elfish grin, and et there was a cunning, evil glint in his bright eyes. In his free hand he held two bottles of the same wine. I didn’t see Paul around but I could assume that he’d show up eventually.

“To the hospital, asshole,” I spat. “Move.”

His grin faded, but only slightly. “And why don’t you just wait it out and talk about it? Won’t you just invite me inside?”

The wind suddenly started up and leaves flew past the doorway. I almost screamed, but I was paralyzed in shock when I saw two feet levitating in front of my doorway, soon lowering enough to reveal Paul. He had a large smirk on his face, eyes glinting with sadism. The wind stopped. 

My mouth became dry and my jaw dropped. It made me wonder if everything from last night was real. They could fly… but how was I alive? What the fuck was in that wine?

“Hey there, Y/n. Would you mind letting us inside?”

My gun. I needed to get my fucking gun and call the police. I slammed the door right in their face, and I heard their boisterous laughter from outside. I needed to wake up Ruby and - and…

I dashed over to the kitchen and picked out a knife. I went over to the phone and quickly dialed in nine-one-one. It started ringing and then someone picked up.

“Hello?”

#yandere #x reader #x y/n #self insert #dwayne tlb #david tlb #tlb 1987 #tlb #marko tlb #the lost boys x reader #the lost boys #the lost boys 1987 #lost boys #the lost boys imagines #yandere x reader

[cloveroctobers]

can you do some jealous/overprotective girlfriend Layla keating headcanons? I know u said that Layla would be the protective gf in ur Layla headcanons so I’m kinda curious to see what she would be like as a protective gf, if that makes sense? you don’t have to if you don’t want to ofc! I love ur work sm ur my fav writer on here!

A/N: hi! I’m currently putting ALL all american/hc writing on a halt for now due to lack of interactions with content I’m putting out. However I appreciate the support and request(s) you’ve been sending in, this will be my farewell piece (for now, maybe) and is in blurb form this time around as I like to give myself breaks in between any queued work I release. Thanks for your understanding 💛🫡

JEALOUS/OVERPROTECTIVE LAYLA!

“Oh just admit it Layla, you’re jealousss!” You tried and failed to hit Nick Jonas’ note as you held the door open to the surprisingly quiet Original Baker household.

Layla flinched on her way in, almost plugging one ear with her fingertip, “sure, whatever makes you feel better and…didn’t you tell me your Grams was a opera singer…what happened?”

You scoffed, “Clearly the gift skipped me but this face makes up for it.” You posed in the near by mirror in the entryway while Layla laughed at you on her way to the kitchen, “And don’t try to deflect, Missy!”

Layla rolled her eyes with her back to you as she searched the fridge for the pitcher of infused water she made one scorching yesterday afternoon, “I’m not deflecting! All I said was sure.”

“You have to add a little more to the convo than that babes,” you leaned against the island counter, eyeing the fruit in one of the bowls but found none of the options to be satisfying enough, “Like the whole holding onto me from behind when Darnell was making his way over. What was that?

Layla frowns as she poured herself a glass, “I always do that. And you like my hugs, especially from behind.”

“That’s not the only thing I like from behind,” you winked making Layla groan and slap a hand to her forehead.

“I walked myself right into that one.”

“Sure did!”

Layla sighed after taking some very long sips of water, making you widened your eyes at her, the impatience sinking in. “What? I told you I was thirsty! Fine, what do you want me to say? That I didn’t like how giggly you were as soon as he came over? The only person that should be making you happy and eyes full of stars is me.”

“You do know I kinda laugh at everything right? To the point Coop even asked me if I had some relation to Kamala Harris. I love a good laugh and what difference does it make if it’s coming from someone else?”

Layla responds, “It’s a big difference if it’s from Darnell.”

Even the way Layla said his name screamed jealousy! So what if you dated for barely three months before calling it quits and him venturing off to Germany? You weren’t going to fall in love with him because he simply made you laugh.

“You don’t see me getting like this when you’re around Asher or Spencer.” You ticked off your fingers making Layla puff out a breath.

Layla snapped, “Well, maybe you should.”

You stood up from your leaned position, facial expression serious now, “No I shouldn’t because I have trust and faith in my girlfriend.”

“It’s not about you! It’s about him. Of course I trust you, it’s him I don’t trust.” Layla massaged the space in between her brows, which indicated that she was getting frustrated with how this is playing out, “I love you okay and I’m sorry for being passive aggressive towards you on our way back home. It’s just a scary feeling to suddenly think about you deciding that you don’t want this—us anymore.”

“Have I ever given you a reason to feel like this?”

“No! Never! That’s just my insecurities settling in since I haven’t been so lucky in love before until I met you and I’ll deal with it at my next therapy session, I promise.” Layla rambled, pressing her hand into her hip now.

Dipping your head, you slowly walked over to Layla, “well…I appreciate you acknowledging that.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm,” you reached forward to play with one of her waves, “you’re cute when you’re jealous.”

“Oh god, stop saying that.”

You grinned as you placed a hand on your own chest, “A little bit of jealousy is healthy though. Shows that you really care about little ‘ol me.”

“So is purposely spilling Dom Pérignon on Darnell’s gorgeous, gorgeous shoes so he wouldn’t lean any closer to you, enough to show you?” Layla added sheepishly, molding her lips together.

You snapped your fingers and pointed at the tall girl, “I knew it! You’re a terrible actress and a bad liar. Go on then, lay it all out on the table for me.”

“Why so you can gloat about it for the rest of the night?” Layla scoffs, “No thank you! you were right. Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“Happy wife, happy life.”

You weren’t married but the statement still stands!

“That works both ways,” Layla points her fingers back and forth between you two, “considering what we identify with.”

You hands were wrapped around her waist now, “want to know something else?”

“I’m afraid to respond to that.” Layla honestly says, resting her wrists over your shoulders.

“That new artist that you’re considering signing…”

There were a few but the most recent one came to mind first, “um, Kendra?”

“Yes! Guess what? That’s Darnell’s new girlfriend.”

The glow almost seemed to fade as Layla hears this, “No way.”

“I’m serious. That’s what we were ‘giggling’ about majority of the time since I proved him wrong twice about his heart only belonging to football. He really found it in Kendra.” A smirk was on your lips then, especially at the shocked expression on your girlfriend’s face.

“And—

“Nope! We’re not back pedaling.” You warned.

Layla closed her eyes and breathed before reopening them, “agree. And now I really look like a dumbass.”

“Just a little bit,” you pinched your fingers together.

“How long have you known?”

“We still follow each other on Instagram and I liked Darnell’s birthday post for Kendra back during…spring break I think it was.”

“Has he liked any posts of us together?”

“Layla.”

“What? I’m just curious!”

“Yeah a few of them, even complimented us saying how good we look together.”

She’ll have to do some research on that later but she kept that to herself.

Instead Layla sassed, “If only he knew the half of it.”

A laugh bubbles through your lips, crinkles by the corner of your eyes, “sure.”

“Oh, whatever.” Layla shoved your shoulders back before hugging you to her frame.

Your temples were pressed together as you softly caressed the small of Layla’s back. It seemed like the tension released with the deep exhale Layla let out in your arms.

“That’s whyyyyy,” you started after some silence making Layla toss her head back in annoyance, “C’mon, you have to join in and have a laugh about it now!”

Layla makes a impressive rewind noise, “Cause you’re so sexy, beautiful, and everybody wants a taste, that’s whyyyyy.”

“I still get jealoussssss!” Both of you belted into each other’s face with one of you sounding like a dying cat and the other’s voice started of soft but cracked right towards the end of the note.

Layla held her throat and cleared it, “I should have done a vocal warm up but I’m supposed to be off today! I think I’ll need some lemon and honey tea tonight.”

“You know I got you,” you told her with a wave of your hand as if it wasn’t in the daily night routine, before your thoughts got the best of you, “I wonder if Priyanka ever feels that way.”

“Have you seen her?”

Your reply was instant, “I mean I’m looking at you.”

Layla gasped, “Fair point,” before laughing and placing her lips right on yours.

🍋 🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚🍋🐚

Continue along with my summer anthology prompts here.

#all american #all american cw #Layla keating #Layla keating x reader #layla keating x f! reader #greta onieogou #asher adams #Spencer James #darnell hayes #requested #asks #requests #summer writing

[blueberry-beanie]

Foals at AFAS Live Amsterdam | 15th May 2022

Read about the whole experience below...

As I’m writing this, I am sitting on the train on my way home from Amsterdam. Exhausted, with a sore throat and a head full with all the things that happened since I left home just two days ago...

Waiting for Foals

Charlotte and I arrived in Amsterdam Centraal on time and went outside to look for the metro station and the ticket office. Charlotte bought tickets and we took the yellow M54 Metro to AFAS Live, which is again situated next to a stadium and a shopping district. We decided to go look for the AFAS queue and found it on a big public space, readily set up with single lanes. Four people were already queuing although it was not even 2 pm yet. We groaned, because we were really tired and didn't want to start queuing so early, but decided to go and check in at Hostelle nearby. The hostel is a really weird mix of shabby and girly and I didn't quite like it, but the small room in the corner was reasonably clean, just as the toilets and showers. We got ready, applied suncream because it was quite warm and sunny, and went out to find Albert Hejn supermarket. I was a bit overwhelmed with it and was reminded of my first day in London. We got some snacks and went to the queue which still consisted of the same people an hour later. A girl (and later her boyfriend) and Brent with flowery shoes joined soon after. Later Mickey and Kim, who is a chocolate maker and had a jeans jacket with really cool pins, joined. It turned out, Mickey had been in Berlin yesterday too, he was the friend of the guy who got his self-painted jeans jacket signed by Yannis. We ended up having quite a nice conversation and established Charlotte as the fandom mum again to introduce the first timers to the Foals live family. We had a lot of fun and time passed fairly quickly with eating, going on a walk around the venue and seeing the tour buses with four trucks and visiting the weird Media Markt which doesn't have a proper music section. But we were really really tired, until the point Charlotte was lying on the floor and i wondered whether a lying in front of the barrier would be a more permanent feature today. Even when the doors were about to open at 6:30, I was so tired that I doubted I'd enjoy the concert very much today. the whole entrance procedure went incredibly smoothly and Charlotte had once again saved us the best place. But there was a shock: the stage was as high as for a stadium and further away than yesterday's. I went to visit the weird bathroom with round frosted glass walls surrounding them and ended up meeting a chatty member of staff who asked me if i was a tourist and asked who is even playing (Foals? Who are Foals?). She told me the story about how she didn't sleep for six days in her youth because of partying in Berlin. Then she wished me on her way and left a confused me to return to my friends. I was sitting on the Floor between Charlotte and Mickey. Charlotte talked to the first girl in the queue in Dutch, so i didn't understand anything. But that was alright because Mickey and me had a lovely conversation where we talked about concerts (he likes Everything Everything and thinks about going to Vienna because it's not far from his home town in Germany). He was very nice and we discovered we had some things in common, such as rather not buying merch or both speaking Russian as well. Time passed very fast and it was now necessary to get up for the support act Egyptian Blue none of us enjoyed. After they had finally finished we sat down again, completely exhausted, and waited for Foals to come on, late as usual.

Wake Me Up

I have to say that this time I was freaking out much less than the previous day, more likely because of the lack of sleep. But as the lights went out, excitement crept in nevertheless. The visuals were more stunning this time because of two additional strips of screen in front of the stage and above the band. And then they appeared and suddenly there was Yannis, in the white shirt from the Dork magazine photoshoot, just like on the photo from earlier that day Charlotte had shown to us just a few minutes ago on Instagram. We stood right in front of him and it felt quite surreal to see him again less than 24 hours later. My brain was searching for some sort of catch, but there was none: it was all real, happening right here, right now. Wake me up! we shouted, simultaneously waking up from our exhaustion. The crowd was completely different from Berlin - it was much too quiet during the first songs and actually throughout the entire gig up until the last five songs. We had so much space to dance and jump and it was a lot of fun to party with Charlotte and Mickey next to me. We didn't care about others standing still, we gave everything, shouted the lyrics, jumped, threw our hands in the air and gestured to go along with the lyrics. I had a feeling that Yannis was watching us closely the entire time, which wouldn't be a surprise since we were the only crazy ones. In between the craziness I managed to try out my prisms and take photos. At the time I thought the photos wouldn't be that great because i was too dumb and tired to take good ones. I also filmed three songs, The Runner, Black Gold and a part of 2001. Late Night was tempting to film, but I was too busy with staring at Yannis who just sang it so beautifully and perfectly. It was a special moment for me and way too dreamy to ruin it with filming.

What Went Down - Round Two

Then of course Providence happened and Yannis managed to jump from this gigantic stage and disappear into the crowd somewhere on the right side where we couldn't see anything. He eventually reappeared, hand stretched out to let the crowd high five him. On his first pass got hold of his hand and on his way back I touched his upper arm, just like the previous day. I have to say, the green shirt felt softer. Not that I'd have any reason to complain... Things started getting out of hand with the crowd during the next songs but it was not as bad as in Berlin. That means, until What Went Down happened. I had instructed Mickey to try together with me to get Yannis over to us and what can I say - it worked. We yelled and stretched out our arms and I thought “ok, fuck it”, and even beckoned him to come over. Yannis was looking over the crowd, looking for a spot to pick. I don’t know if it was just on a whim or he actually saw us going mental the whole time and wanted to reward that or it was just out of convenience, because we were the closest. Finally he jumped down and came to a spot just next to Charlotte. Suddenly everything was chaos, we were squished together and he stood directly above us. He was much, much closer now than in Berlin. I first tried to get his hand like the previous day, but he didn't give it. That’s why I thought, “ok fuck this all”, so I just reached out for his leg. I held his leg with both hands above his knee, trying to process why he is so close and how it is possible to just do that. In the meantime Yannis was unbothered by all these hands all around him and  went into full alio mode instead. At some point he screamed and shook his head, and everything was just raining down on us. I got something in my eye and thought, “holy fuck, this is all much closer than I asked for, help”. It lasted and eternity and was over so fast at the same time and he was back on stage when I realised what had just happened and I literally buried my face in my hands a few times because I had to process it. But we gave our everything for Two Steps Twice and screamed and jumped like no tomorrow. Yannis again disappeared, the only life sign being his little guitar sounds, like a sonar locating him still in this room. He did not pass by us again but that's alright because I think we had our fill of Yannis for the day. Way too soon it was all over, now for the final time, and they disappeared from the stage.

Exhaustion Takes Over

Mickey had caught a drumstick from Jack, but gave it to Charlotte. We reunited with Brent and I wasted time in the toilet queue, while they were already waiting outside for me. We had exchanged our contacts before and just promised now to go to concerts again together with a group hug. Mickey came with us to wait for the band. This time the entire situation was different. Much less people were waiting and Jimmy was already outside in conversation with Jack Freeman, Kit and the support band. Security and staff kept coming out. At some point the support act started loading their little bus. Mickey had to catch the last train and I was very sad he already had to leave. We also heard music upstairs (and very weird music on top of that, definitely nothing you'd expect from a Foals party, more something for a party for midlife-crisis-housewives, in my opinion). The window was open and Jack and some dude we didn't recognise were having a bro moment. We heard Jack's voice and his laughter and they were smoking out of the window. Yannis was nowhere to be seen. As it was already past midnight now, we were starting to feel low and tired and questioned whether it was wise to wait longer. Who knows when the party would stop and in which state our party alio would come out? Some increasingly weird people coming out of the building and some woman shouting from somewhere to someone to finally fuck off did not help the mood either. Eventually we decided to just go and get some fucking sleep. It was a bit of a low point, but that had nothing to do with the concert itself, more about our exhaustion. Charlotte got herself a snack and we ate in the common room before we washed and fell into our beds like dead people. At least today I had no issues sleeping and slept like a stone. Amsterdam Alone and the Lost Phone

I woke up, somehow getting in touch with what happened by looking at screens from Charlotte's video she miraculously filmed yesterday during THE moment. We eventually had to rush to get Charlotte to the flixbus to Brussels, the route to which Google decided to make as difficult as possible. Then she was gone and I was all alone. I found a ticket machine, got the next metro to Amsterdam Centraal and put my stuff into an incredibly expensive locker. But oh well... it was good to not carry it all around. I found a little supermarket with vegan wraps and cereal bars. With them I settled into a beautiful spot in Vondelpark and had a first proper meal in days. The Vondelpark is very peaceful and beautiful and I took a long stroll around it. Then I explored the steeets around the canals and found that I recognised some from my explorations with Liad. Amsterdam is surely more interesting together. I visited the soap shop I drop by every time I’m in Amsterdam, several Mango shops (to look for Yannis beautiful shirt, unsuccessfully) and got wet in a sudden heavy rain. By 2 pm I made it to the central station, got food from Albert Hejn and my bags from the expensive locker. Once I was on the platform, I saw that it had started to rain once again. Now, in the train I can't wait to get home, get a shower and some sleep and finally have time to process everything that happened in the matter of just two days. But not so fast - a young man asked if the place next to me is still free. It turned out that he was not only travelling to Hannover (and then Berlin) too, but also that he was a very nice person to talk to. We talked about our studies (he is an economic law student), our bachelor thesis, student accommodation, Brexit, cinema, and many other things. It was such a pleasant journey that the hours just passed in a flash. Almost in Hannover, I asked him his name (he is called Marijn) and we prepared to get off the train. He just stood up to leave the train and I wanted to follow, when suddenly I noticed that I did not know where my phone was. Panic shot through my body. Without my phone, no ticket, no bank account, no work login. I frantically started searching and found nothing. I could not stay in the train, so I ran outside, threw my stuff on the platform and still found nothing. I started crying in panic. A kind woman asked what was wrong and the train attendant delayed the departure so I could go back in and search. But nothing. I eventually found it in one of the secret pockets in my hand bag and sobbed out of relief, saying sorry and thanking that woman many times. So if there was any more proof necessary why security can never find my cameras at concerts... this is it. The rest of the journey went smoothly, I caught my train and got off in my home town. It felt very odd to be back in this tiny, quiet town that smells of blossoming trees and is usually filled with students and senior tourists. It felt as if another person had returned and the weight of all my adventures made me feel dizzy. Back in my flat, I fell into bed freshly showered and exhausted and did not even have the strength to look through all the photos and videos I took... sleep finally caught up with me. The next morning, I had no voice and hopefully only a cold and felt like rubbish but then again if you asked me to go again next week... I would definitely do it. Thanks for the adventure everyone. Hope to see you again soon!

#my concerts #foals amsterdam 22 #my photo #foals #yannis #jack #jimmy #liy

[pocketsizedquasar]

today? i offer you soft fluffy low effort quishmael sketches. tomorrow? who knows...

(ID: a sketch of Ishmael and Queequeg from Moby Dick. The sketch is done in soft red pencil, and Queequeg is shaded in pinks and reds while Ishmael is in blues. They’re smiling fondly at each other and Ishmael is holding Queequeg’s face in his hands.)

#mobydick #moby dick #ishmael #queequeg #herman melville #melville #classic lit #classic literature #books #reading #book art #dark academia #sketch #queer art #lgbtq art #art #my art #I had this queued to go up yesterday but for some reason it didn’t #so y’all are getting two arts today

[uwuwriting]

Denki, Dabi and Bakugou in a secret relationship

Request: hii!! i loved your post about the secret relationship being exposed and i was wondering if you could do the same for dabi bakugo and denki - anonymous

Um this was supposed to go up yesterday, I had queued it but tumblr decided to just deleted. Oh well. I hope you like it you guys even though its a day late. This was fun to write. Love ya. 💖💖💖

rules

warnings: some sexy times mentions, fluff

Kaminari Denki

-Kaminari is an idiot.

-I don’t even know who you’ve managed to keep your relationship a secret.

-90% sure the whole school knows and just pretends to be oblivious. 

-Anyways.

-It kinda bothers him that he has to keep it a secret. 

-He wants to scoop you up and spin you around in the hallways, hug you after a really rough training session with Bakubro, kiss you when you are being extra extra cute. 

-Plus he wants to brag to the other idiots for getting a girlfriend first. 

-But alas he respects your wishes and tries to keep it all under wraps. 

-Your parents are pro heroes and have warned you about the dangers of dating since you are their kid. 

-Villains wouldn’t hesitate to threaten you with your significant other if it means they’ll get to your parents. 

-So now Kaminari is stuck sneaking in your dorm late at night only to spend a few hours with you and give you as much kisses as he can fit in the little time you have. 

-Surprisingly he has kept it a secret for almost a year now. 

-No slip ups, no marks on his skin after a spice night, none of your clothes could be found in his room whatsoever.

-Apart from his usual flirty nature towards you, there was nothing that could indicate that you two were an item. 

-Now being in your third year, things had gotten rather serious with your hero works.

-Most of you if not all had been working along side a pro hero for the last year or two but that didn’t mean they would take you in after high school. 

-Every student had to wait for the acceptance letter from the agency or an agency in general and they would be set for their hero work after school. 

-You had been working with a hero agency since your first year and you were pretty happy. 

-But the pro hero you had been with decided that after you were done with your hero studies, he would retire leaving you with no agency to boost your career after school. 

-Kaminari was as devastated as you were.

-He tried comforting you as much as he could, extra hugs and kisses, more snacks and movie nights, anything to help you cope with the fact that you would be back to the starting line once school was over. 

-He hated seeing you cry. 

-Then the unthinkable happened. 

-Mt.Lady was a well known hero and one with a desired sidekick position that no one seemed to really fill. 

-You had just helped her stop a major villain attack tricking the villain and capturing him before he could do any real damage in the area. 

-To say that Mt.Lady was impressed was an understatement. 

-She contacted your hero agency and asked if you had already signed a deal with them.

-You can see where this is going.

-When you got the notice from Mt. Lady’s agency you were over the moon and so was Kaminari. 

-He was so happy that the person he loved the most was finally getting what she deserved. 

-He had dragged you to the janitor’s closet to give you his personal congratulations, catching the attention of a certain red head.

-He kissed you like there was no tomorrow, his arms keeping you as close as possible, flush to his chest as he peppered your face and neck with feather light kisses. 

- “I’m so proud of you babe!”

-You tried to keep your giggles on the down low to no avail since Kaminari’s goal was to make you laugh. 

-For a long moment you didn’t care if someone found you, you were so happy and so comfortable in Denki’s arms that you didn’t want to leave the closet and go back to your hidden lives. 

-Then you saw the light coming from the door, getting ready to lightly scold Kaminari for leaving the door open when you made eye contact with Kirishima......and Mina ..... and Sero..... and somewhere in the far back with a pair of ruby red eyes.

- “Babygirl is everything alright?”

-He hadn’t seen them yet, then he followed your line of vision and the man has never yeeted you out of his arms faster in his life.

-Your friends just stared at you in complete shock for a full minute before Bakugou broke the silence. 

- “Oi you own me ramen Kirishima.”

Dabi

-With this guy I’m not surprised that you managed to keep it a secret. 

-Oh no no no.

-I’m surprised you managed to get him into a relationship.

-It wasn’t easy though you would give him that. 

-You were part of the LoV of course and well you didn’t really take any of their shit. 

-The only person you respected was Kurogiri and that was borderline pity. 

-He had to babysit a 20 year old killing machine with issues, many issues, many many issues. 

-When Dabi approached you with his signature flirty and I-only-do-one-night-stands-babygirl attitude, you being the idiot that you are took the bait.

-The LoV knows of yalls nights together but they only thought that that was it.

-Dabi slept around and you were a really attractive person. 

-Plus they knew you both were bored so sex was, to their eyes, the only solution. 

-What they didn’t know though was that Dabi was starting to catch feelings and soon enough he hated seeing you remotely talking with another human being. 

-Then that fateful mission happened and the deal was sealed. 

-You were spying on Overhaul and his lackeys, hidden in his underground lab watching as they went around doing stuff.

-Then you heard a childish scream and it was the first time Dabi saw fear flash in your eyes. 

-You turned around following the source of the screams absolutely ignoring Dabi’s protests and threats. 

-It was like you were in a daze and Dabi felt the terror sink his claws in his throat as you passed by so many of Overhaul’s members nearly getting caught. 

-When you reached the glass door that led into Eri’s experiment lab, he saw the color drain from your face and your knees buckling. 

-He caught you before you hit the floor dragging you away from the lab door despite the fact that you clawed at his coat to put you down. 

-He felt his shoulder getting wet and that’s when he saw the tears that were falling freely down your cheeks. 

-He had managed to calm you down long enough to convince you to leave before you got caught but luck wasn’t on your side when one of the lackeys spotted you. 

-Dabi was a few feet away from the exit, becoming reckless at the sight of freedom not noticing the masked individual pointing his gun at him. 

-You noticed though. 

-And you got in the way, pushing Dabi to the ground as the quirk cancelling bullet pierced your side leaving you to fall to the floor with a grunt and a strangled pained moan.

-The next few minutes were a blur.

-Dabi didn’t remember how he got you out of there or how he was now on a rooftop with you pressed flush against his chest as the affects of the bullet made you tremble. 

- “Shh doll, shhh. I’m here I got you.”

-He knew your trembling was not entirely because of the bullet, he saw how your eyes glassed over at the sight of Eri back in the lab and he knew that this had something to do with your past. 

-He used to get the same glassy eyed look on his face when he would see Endeavour on the news shortly after his “death”.

-Things changed after that. 

-He didn’t take you to the hideout that night, he brought you to his apartment where he helped you clean up your wound and calm down. 

- “I know it’s not my place to ask but what the hell to you happened back there?”

-When you explained what you’ve been through and how those screams brought back things you thought you had long ago buried, he was left gawking at you. 

-For some weird reason he believed that you were just a brat who ran away from home on some rebellious whim. 

- “Ugh what am I saying? You don’t give a damn! Why did I even-”

- “Touya.”

- “What?”

- “My real name is Touya, I-I wanted you to know.”

-Sharing a heart felt night analyzing your past trauma with someone you sleep with is one way to get yourself into a relationship.

-You both agreed to keep it secret and you did keep it like that for a long time, a very long time. 

-The LoV never truly found out. 

-Some had their suspicions sure, Mister Compress had even made a bet with Toga but you two never gave them any further hints apart from the constant paired up missions you went on. 

-The only one who knew was Kurogiri. 

-He had caught you two spending the night together on a rooftop, all cuddled up together your hands intertwined as you looked up at the stars. 

-He was getting back from an emergency snack run when he saw the familiar glow of Dabi’s blue flames and your characteristic giggles. 

-He never said anything and when Dabi came to him to ask for some pregnancy facts, he knew that he truly loved you. 

-No one ever knew and no one will ever know. 

-Unless the run into you two in five years while you’re out for a walk with your son. 

Bakugou Katsuki

-Sparky sparky boom boom man is a lil bitch.

-Don’t try to argue you know that too. 

-You just need to accept it.

-His way to approach you was by insulting the living shit out of you before making you reach the tip of an anger fit. 

-He knew how to press your buttons and it made you fume. 

-You had to give it to him he was hella attractive and his true personality shined through his faced at times. 

-And so did his worry for you.

-You got together after his kidnapping. 

-He suffered from nightmares after the incident and one night he came to your dorm, trembling and cold sweat running down his spine. 

-He had no idea why his feet led him to your room, he just knew that you were now wrapping him in a fluffy blanket and putting on a Disney movie as you hugged him so so tightly. 

-He slept over and the next morning he confessed. 

-Actually you both confessed but those are useless details. 

-In reality it wasn’t even a confession with words. 

-You both woke up facing each other, your noses touching and I don’t know who leaned in first but next thing you knew you were kissing his hand cupping you cheek while the other intertwined with yours. 

-Keeping your relationship a secret with this one is easy. 

-He is still being a lil bitch to you and you are still sassing him back.

-Behind closed doors he is kinda sweet and caring not a lot though because even with you he has to uphold his reputation. 

-After some time though he calms down and is a cuddle bug. 

-Like he will tackle you on the bed the moment you close the door to his dorm, restricting any movement until he is satisfied with the cuddles. 

-Baby even said ‘I love you’ first awwww!!

-He was so shy about it. 

-Anyways.

-That’s a story for another time. 

-He doesn’t really care about keeping it a secret anymore. 

-He’s low key tired of hiding. 

-Much like Kaminari he wants to kiss you whenever he wants, hold you and hug you till you can’t breathe after he gets back to the dorms after a rough patrol with his hero study. 

-But oh well the cat isn’t out of the bag yet and you being third years now you couldn’t really do something about it. 

-You spend so much time with him that you would think that some of your classmates would like sniff you out. 

-But no.

-They all dumb af.

-You would spend a lot of time with him and the Bakusquad since your first year so they just think you’re really good friends. 

-Todoroki kinda knows but he doesn’t at the same time. 

-Some mannerisms remind him while he was in a secret relationship before Momo found out but then he sees how Bakugou treats you just like any other person so he is really confused. 

-More confused than usual. 

-Now you got outed by the man himself. 

-Bakugou is not good with jealousy. 

-Jealousy and Bakugou should never go hand in hand.

-You were talking to Mina in class, leaning on the desk behind you. 

-Your skirt had ridden up show casing your thighs making Bakugou think back to some noises you made a few nights ago. 

-If he got hard he would blame you and he would be extra pissy. 

-He was enjoying the show though. 

-He watched you like a hawk.

-The way your body leaned back making your legs straighten and flex slightly or how he could see the hickey he had left right at the base of your neck the other night that you’ve tried to cover with make up. 

-He could see it because he knew it was there, to an outsider everything was normal. 

-He was jolted out of his daze by Mineta’s voice. 

-And the sound of your name on his lips. 

- “Look at Y/N’s thighs! She could suffocate me with those legs and I would thank her!”

-Kirishima smacked him upside the head trying to shut him up. 

-Kaminari was slowly escaping the scene because he saw the small sparks in his friend’s hand at the comment. 

-He chose life. 

-Mineta though didn’t stop. 

- “I could lose myself between those legs. Oh the noises she must make.”

-Now what happened next is a huge question mark. 

-The end result however was Mineta almost being blasted out the window and into space and Bakugou almost popping the vein on his forehead. 

-You had to get in between them and try to calm down your boyfriend. 

-Most of your classmates had long forgotten Mineta and his whining and had zoned in on your hands on Bakugou’s chest or on his arm that had wrapped around your waist in an attempt to push you behind him. 

- “You ever dare speak my girlfriend’s name I’m blasting you to the next dimension.”

- “Katsuki please calm down it’s fine.”

-Legit you both forgot that your relationship had been a secret for the past three years. 

-You floated back into reality when Present Mic himself asked. 

- “YOu TWo aRe aN iTeM?????”

-Chaos ensued and a crap ton of explanations. 

TAG TEAM AY:

@iwaqchan​ @the-arcana-fan-fic​ @angelwritings​ @axerrri​ @reinyrei​

#kaminari denki #bnha denki #denki x reader #kaminari x you #kaminari x reader #denki x you #dabi x reader #dabi #bnha dabi #dabi my hero academia #dabi is a todoroki #dabi x y/n #dabi x you #bnha bakugo katsuki #bakugou x reader #bakugou x you #bakugou x y/n #bnha #bnha x reader #bnha x you

[watchmegetobsessed]

Update - Harry Styles

i’ve been deep inmy harry feels and this thought just wouldn’t leave me alone so i had to write it. im thinking about starting a taglist for harry, i think i’ll write more about him in the future. let me know if you’d be interested in the taglist!

word count: ~5.9k

masterlist

Sequel: The best present

Harry is not that into YouTube videos, has never really been, which is kind of ironic seeing the number of videos on the internet that is about him. The man himself who makes everyone talk online feels weird seeing someone talking on his screen, looking into his soul as if they were right there with him. But today he felt the sudden urge to be like his peers and get lost in random rambling videos from strangers, who felt the need to put themselves out there.

He has made a mean cup of tea for himself, made himself comfortable on his couch with his laptop balancing on his thighs and now is opening up his browser to unwind in an unusual way. As YouTube opens in front of his tired eyes, he stops when he tries to type in the keywords he is searching for. What is he looking for really? He thinks to himself trying to remember what he heard from his friends when they talked about funny or interesting videos. One thing is for sure, he is trying to avoid watching videos of himself in any content. He has had enough of him for the day, it’s time to focus on someone else, even if he doesn’t know the person.

He scrolls through several pages of many different keywords until he settles for a video where a girl talks about how her latest moving day went. Starting off Harry feels weird listening to her talk about such personal things as where her bed went in her room, how she packed all her stuff to fit them in the boxes, but soon enough this feeling settles and he starts to realize it’s kind of relaxing.

It doesn’t take too long for him to fall down a rabbit hole and by the time his tea empties out from his cup he is intensely watching a guy rant about his boss at Subway while doing a mukbang. The latter is a new discovery for Harry, he has never heard of it before, but he can see why some people find it satisfying.

The video ends, Harry checks the time and sees that it’s already after midnight and he hasn’t even realized how fast time flew by.

“Alright, just one more,” he mumbles to himself scrolling down the column of the recommended videos until his eyes stop at one particular upload at the very bottom.

July update for my Sammy, ready the title and an eye-catchingly beautiful girl is smiling from the thumbnail. He finds her breathtaking, the lack of makeup, the worn out hoodie she is wearing and the many various plants in the background makes it appear she is sitting in the middle of the forest.

Harry finds himself clicking on the video before he could even decide consciously to watch it. The screen loads and the girl appears in front of him, this time in a much larger size.

“Hi Sammy, welcome back to our channel,” she starts with an angelic little laugh as she pulls her shoulders up to her ears as if the camera is making her shy. She has no reason to be shy, Harry thinks to himself. His second thought is about Sammy, he is one lucky guy to know this angel and have her think about him. “It’s Y/N here, your one and only sister,” she adds.

Sister. The word brings Harry relief and he is surprised to feel this way, but he has no time to think anything of it because she starts talking again.

“Here is my July update, I’m sorry I’m a little late, but we got back from Oregon yesterday. Aunt Ella is sending you kisses and hugs, she missed you at the barbeque, or maybe it was just your helping hand at the grill,” she chuckles to herself, probably recalling the memory.

Harry has no idea who Aunt Ella is or where she lives in Oregon, but the way she talks about it makes him feel like he is part of the family a little.

Y/N carries on and starts talking about everything that has happened in July. Painting the shed at her parents’ home, buying a new armchair, one her cat absolutely adores and refuses to sleep anywhere else now, she went to the hairdresser to get a trim, but not too much. She tells about her plans for August, how she is thinking about going to the farmers’ market more often, and she has been playing with the idea of adopting another cat.

“I think Henry has been feeling a little lonely lately. He could use a buddy,” she tells the camera, her eyes moving to the side from where a weak but moody meow can be heard as an answer. “Yeah, I think he agrees,” she chuckles and Harry finds himself smiling at the screen.

At the end of the video she asks a few questions from Sammy, how he has been doing, if his wrist feels any better, even asks about a friend called Matthew. Harry wonders if she has ever gotten the answers to her questions and where Sammy saw this video. What is he doing that made her want to do an update on YouTube?

When the video ends Harry clicks on her profile faster than he would willingly admit to anyone and it’s like he opened the gate to paradise. Tens and maybe hundreds of videos are queuing on her page, monthly updates, birthday wishes, short story times about family gatherings, news and happenings in her life.

Harry gets lost in her tales. He watches video after video, noticing the smallest details about her, almost mentally taking notes about her updates, finding anything and everything she talks about so interesting as if he knew those people and places she mentions. He comes to realization that Sammy is her older brother who is serving somewhere in the military. Y/N is making the videos to update him about her life even if she knows most of them doesn’t get to him until weeks later, but it doesn’t seem to bother her. He also learns that Sammy sends them back lengthy emails once a month and always ends them with a joke they made up with his mates at the army. Y/N loves them even when they're not even funny, she never fails to mention that she smiled reading them.

Hours pass by and the rising Sun peeks inside the window pulling Harry back to his own reality, shocked that he just spent the whole night watching her videos and didn’t even realize how deep he has gotten in her life. Lucky for him he has nothing planned until the afternoon, so shutting his laptop he sets it aside and heads straight to bed, but lying between his silky sheets he catches himself staring out the window, wondering what Y/N might be doing right now. From what he collected she lives somewhere in Spokane and has family in Seattle and Portland, which puts her quite a few time zones behind him. He finds the thought of them going to bed at the same time despite the distance a little funny. He lies in bed for quite some time before he finally drifts off to sleep with a particular girl on his mind, who doesn’t even know he is thinking about her.

 “Do you think you can fall for someone you have never met?”

Harry’s question catches Mitch a little off-guard, but he is kind of used to his random bits of thoughts. Pouring some sugar into his coffee he follows the wondering singer to a free table in the corner.

“Isn’t it what all your fans feel?” he answers with a question, earning a surprised look from Harry. He hasn’t thought about this side, now the situation is kind of ironic, he supposes.

“Y’re right,” he nods stirring his coffee around in the small cup.

“Want to let me in on your thoughts?”

Harry feels a little shy to admit how he has watched all of her videos in the past few days, 207 to be exact and now he feels an oddly deep connection to this girl he has never even seen outside of a screen. Last night he dug up her Instagam profile, and even though she is not posting as frequently as she does on her channel, it was a refreshing change to see her in different settings. Chilling at a lake, having drinks with her friends, playing with her parents’ puppy, it amazed him that she has a whole life outside that small portion she lets him see in her videos.

Hesitantly, but he tells his friend about his latest hobby, if it’s not too weird to call it that, while his friend patiently listens and nods along his words while sipping on his morning coffee.

“D’you think I’m crazy?” Harry sighs leaning back in his seat, looking at his friend and colleague for validation that he hasn’t lost his mind entirely.

“Definitely not,” he chuckles shaking his head. “It’s like falling for that girl in school you know so much about but never really met.”

“Only that I’m stalkin’ this poor girl.”

“This is not stalking. We both know it’s far from that.” Harry nods with slight relief that his situation doesn’t seem as bad as he has been feeling lately. “Have you gotten in touch with her?”

“And what am I supposed to do? Comment on her video that I think her cat’s a cutie and I watched all her videos in three days ‘cuz I think she’s beautiful and I find her voice soothing?”

Mitch lets out a soft chuckle at the oddly specific answer he just gave and finds it amusing how interested his friend has grown about someone in such a short time.

“Maybe phrase it a little different.”

“So you do think I should reach out?”

“I don’t see why you shouldn’t. Use your personal YouTube, leave her a nice comment. Maybe she’ll reply.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know, Harry,” he chuckles. “Just go with it and you’ll see. You are obviously interested in her, it’s better than just sit and watch her videos.”

Harry agrees. It wouldn’t hurt to try to reach out to her, possibly in a not too creepy way. Maybe just a sweet comment on one of her videos and if she replies… Well, he doesn’t know what comes after, but he’ll figure it out.

 Y/N updates regularly. Usually once a week and mostly it’s Sunday when a new video gets uploaded. This next Sunday Harry finds himself checking her page occasionally through the day to see if there’s a new update, but it seems like she is missing today. Right until he is driving home and gets a notification from the app.

Y/N has just uploaded a new video! It reads and Harry’s heart beats a tad bit faster. He thinks about pulling over to see it right away, but he tells himself that would be a bit too much, so he is forced to wait until he is in the comfort of his home.

Finally sitting on his couch he opens up his laptop and clicks on the video that has the title: September update.

Y/N sits in her usual spot, Henry in her arms as she is gently stroking his head with a warm smile on her face.

“Hi Sammy! Welcome back to our channel,” she greets him with her usual words and Harry loves how she calls the channel theirs. “This is my September update, even though not much has happened,” she breathes out, eyes wandering to the window besides her and Harry wonders what she sees from her window every day. Does she live in the city? Is it an apartment or a house with a backyard? Are there any trees or does her room have a terrible view, maybe just another house next to hers?

She starts her talk about the month, which she spent mostly with working, a little shopping and meeting her friends. She tells him about her planned trip to the local shelter to see possible new kittens to add to her household and Harry feels himself growing excited about it. He even thinks about what kind of cat he can see get along well with Henry even though he has never even met him.

“Anyway, mom and dad miss you, I miss you too. I loved your joke about ducks in your latest email,” she chuckles sweetly, bringing a smile to Harry’s face as well. “Mom is excited to see you at Christmas, our cousins will come to Portland as well. Maya can’t wait to play Jenga with you, she said she’s been practicing.”

The video soon ends as Y/N tells Sammy how much she loves him and eventually turns the camera off.

He straight away moves the cursor to the beginning of the video and as she starts talking again he scrolls down to the comment section that’s entirely empty. There are only two views on her video, usually a hundred is the max, but she doesn’t seem to care about the views, it’s more about the message.

He clicks to type a comment, but his hands stop above the keyboard as he tries to think of what to write. Mitch was right about taking a chance at reaching out, but what is he supposed to write exactly? Everything that comes to his mind sounds so creepy and scary, and he knows it’s weird that he formed such a deep connection to an unknown girl online. At last he starts typing.

“Hi Y/N! I’ve stumbled across your videos the other day. Love how you keep your brother updated, it’s such a nice gesture. I hope life treats you and Sammy well, you truly deserve it. Good luck with finding a buddy for Henry! Love, an admirer of yours, H.”

He reads it back several times, deleting then retyping it again until he decides to just go with it. A rush of adrenaline washes over his body when he sends the comment and it’s officially out there. Secretly he wishes she would reply right away, but moments pass by, then moments turn into minutes and nothing happens. His comment stands there alone and he has to realize that maybe she will never even reply or even see it.

It doesn’t matter, he tells himself as he shuts the laptop down and goes on to do his things, but he finds his thoughts wander over to her from time to time.

He has a busy day ahead of him the next day, quite a few meetings and a fitting. He checks back for a reply in the morning, but it slips his mind the moment he leaves from home and his phone rings right away. Throughout the day he basically barely has time to check his emails, his other notifications are just sitting patiently on the bar, waiting for him to acknowledge them. It’s way past five in the afternoon when he finally have some time for himself after his fitting. He is sitting in his car, people walk past him without even realizing who is sitting behind the tinted windows. Scrolling down he gets rid of everything that doesn’t seem urgent until his eyes stop at one particular notification.

“Y/N replied to your comment,” he reads it out loud, just to make it real, as if he is seeing it wrong and saying it with his own mouth brings it to life. He quickly taps on it and the familiar video opens up and while Y/N starts talking again the screen jumps down to the comments where, in fact, there is a reply from her.

“Dear H! Thank you for your heartfelt comment! I always forget it’s not just my family who sees these videos, but I’m happy you found them interesting enough to watch a few of them.”

“A few?” Harry huffs to himself feeling a little ridiculous he has watched all of them.

“I hope I didn’t bore you too much. Thank you for the well wishes for me, my brother and Henry too. He is sending his love to you. Y/N xx”

The comment was posted three hours ago. The thought that she has acknowledged his existence with not only reading but also replying to his comment brings him extreme joy. He reads her words over and over again, looking for any clue that would give away that she found his comment weird, but it seems like she was more surprised and happy that someone else saw her video besides her brother. Harry starts to type his reply without hesitation.

“Bore me? You saved me from watching another “what’s in my bag” video the other day. It was a pleasant change. I love your plants, by the way. Your room always gives off the most relaxed vibes. It reminded me I should have more of them in my home. H”

Harry smiles to himself posting his comment, the fear of appearing like a stalker long gone from him, the interaction is making his inside blossom from joy. For his biggest surprise a reply appears just a few minutes away and Harry reads Y/N’s new lines with deep hunger.

“Those videos suck the life out of me every time! I might be having a problem with buying too many plants, but I can’t help myself. They truly bring peace to me just by looking at them. I’m glad you are planning on buying some more, you won’t regret it!”

Harry is dying to reply, but he doesn’t want to look too eager and needy, so he opts for just liking her comment to let her know he read it and agrees. He locks his phone and puts it aside with the widest smile on his face as he starts his car and leaves his parking spot.

Two weeks pass by. In those two weeks Y/N uploads two more videos, one about her time with her grandparents, for a change it was filmed at their home and they even said hello in it. Harry feels wholesome seeing her with her granny and grandpa, it’s clear she cares a lot about them. The other video is just a short one where she has met some of Sammy’s old high school friends and she had a check in from them, sending a sweet message to him through the video. Harry doesn’t doubt how much these little things mean to Sammy, even if he doesn’t get to see them right away. Seeing Y/N alone boosts his mood every time she uploads a new video, he can only imagine how they make Sammy feel.

He leaves comments on her videos without a second thought and she replies to all of them, a lot of the time almost immediately. These are the highlights of his days without exception. Knowing that she has anything to do with him just fascinates him and he is starting to realize what his fans feel towards him on a different level. Whenever he sees the notification that she has replied to what he wrote or that she uploaded a new video he flies right to her page to check it, no matter what he is doing. Some of their comment threads turn out pretty lengthy, almost like a chat conversation and it has Harry wonder how they could maybe move it to somewhere else from the comment section.

He wants to ask for her number, but figures it wouldn’t be the best idea. Regardless of how much he enjoys their short little conversations, the situation is still weird and complicated and he doesn’t want to forget that.

But he is pleasantly surprised when she brings it up herself, to move the conversation to somewhere else.

“Would love to discuss that more with you. Up for exchanging IG names?” her question reads and he blinks a few before he fully comprehends that she wants to talk to him more in private. However there’s no way he can send her his real Instagram profile and making a fake one would be way too suspicious. Opening up the private messages he sends her a short, but informative message.

“I don’t use Instagram, but feel free to text me,” and then his phone number.

He sits at the dinner table anxiously, waiting for his phone to light up from a new text, and just a few minutes later it finally comes.

“Hi! It’s Y/N,” he reads from the notification and he saves the number right away.

“Hello! Save me as Harry. I haven’t even told you my name yet, how rude of me!” he replies chuckling to himself.

“Will let it slip this time. Harry. What a nice name!”

“Is it what you thought about from the H?”

“It was one of my theories. The other one was Hayes, but Harry fits you better.”

“You haven’t even seen me, how do you know what name fits me?”

“I don’t know. You had a vibe. There are many great Harries in the world, you seemed to fit between them!”

Harry wonders if she is thinking about him without even knowing that… it is him. He wants to ask her, but decides not to. Instead, he is enjoying that he can now reach her immediately and not through a comment section. He never thought this would actually happen.

 The texts never stop. They have so much to talk about! Their entire life to share, millions of thoughts and so much to discuss! Harry is not proud of the time he has spent with his eyes glued to his phone, but he wouldn’t miss a chance to talk to her for anything. Their friends are not blind to the change in him, but Mitch is the only one with a guess about why he has gotten so addicted to his phone.

“Is it the girl from the videos?” he asks Harry one time when they are at the studio, having lunch break. Different food boxes are scattered around them, on the table and the couch. Harry’s phone just light up from a text and he immediately dropped his lunch to type a response.

He glances up at his friend with a shy smile nodding his head. He hasn’t talked about his newly funded friendship with Y/N yet, it feels like as if he tells it to anyone it might evaporate into just a dream.

“So you reached out, huh?”

“I did,” he nods returning to his food once his message is sent. “She’s great.”

“Does she know who she is talking to?” Harry’s lack of answer tells enough about the truth to Mitch. “You can’t hide forever, especially if you are planning on meeting her.”

“I know,” he answers shortly. “But I just don’t know how I could even bring it up to her without sounding like a mad man.”

“She’ll need proof.”

“M’not ready to show m’self to her. What if it changes everything?”

“Then it wasn’t worth it,” he simply tells him.

Deep down Harry knows it’s the truth, but he is not ready to be robbed from the joy she is bringing him. He has never felt such a deep connection to anyone before and they haven’t even met. It’s just a version of her he is seeing on the screen, not her real self. But it feels real to him and he wants to keep this reality to himself for just a little longer.

 “I wish I could hear your voice, Harry. You are one big mystery to me, you know that?”

He forgets to breathe for a moment as he reads her message, lying in bed one evening, getting ready to sleep, but he wanted to check in with her before ending the day.

“You know so much about me already,” he types back.

“Not enough, I feel like. Sometimes I’m afraid Nev and Max are about to show up at my door and tell me that I’ve been catfished.”

He chuckles at her words, though he completely understands her fear.

“What do you want from me then?”

“Send me a voice message so I know you are real. That would put my suspicion to sleep. For a while…”

Harry hesitates for a long time until he decides just one voice message couldn’t hurt. Just a short one where his voice is not that recognizable so his cover won’t be over immediately.

“Good night, Y/N,” he tells into his phone and then send the recording to her.

He watches the status change from delivered to read and a couple of minutes go by before she finally responds.

“Thank you. Now I know that you are real. I hope I’ll hear your voice in real life one day.”

“I hope that too.”

 His time spent undercover is coming to an end and he knows it’ll happen soon. It’s been weeks since they started chatting, almost an entire month and she’s been hinting her will to see his face and though he has been putting it off, he knows it has to happen.

Fate is playing under his hands, because he is traveling to Seattle for a few days, exactly when Y/N is traveling there to visit her parents.

“I hope you know you can’t leave without meeting finally,” she wrote when she found out they are going to be in the same city.

“It never even crossed my mind!” he wrote back chuckling to himself, however it brought him extreme anxiety that he is now going to be forced to come clean about who he really is.

He spends his whole flight to Seattle making up possible outcomes for their first official meeting. Not all of them end well and it’s just fueling his fear that he might lose her for not telling her the entire truth.

But she is a smart girl, she’ll see your reasoning, he tells himself, however he can’t entirely convince himself that it will be the case.

In hopes of squeezing in more than just one meeting into the weekend they agreed to meet almost first thing after he lands. So after checking into his hotel he heads into the city to finally meet her in real life in a local café she suggested for the occasion. Arriving to the place he is running a little late and she already texted him she’ll be waiting for him inside. Harry is wearing a beanie with shades to try to keep up his cover and it seems to be working, no one has approached him yet.

Stepping inside the cozy looking place his eyes roam around and immediately finds her sitting in the corner, pouring sugar into her coffee, not even paying attention to the door at the moment, but truth is she’s been intensely staring at it in the past ten minutes she has been there.

Harry takes a deep breath and nods to himself before heading in her way, hands shaking nervously as he stops at her table.

She glances up at him with innocent eyes, a smile spreads across her face as she sees that her mysterious Harry has arrived and she doesn’t recognize her until he finally takes his sunglasses off.

Harry watches her face turn from happiness to surprise then utter shock as she realizes who is standing in front of him.

“You are… my Harry?” she asks, confusion laced through her voice and Harry can’t ignore how she called him her Harry. He likes the ring of it.

“M’orry if it’s a little too much f’you, I really didn’t know how to tell ya.”

Keeping his eyes on her he pulls out the other chair at the table and takes a seat across her while she is still staring at him with a shocked and puzzled expression sitting on her face. Then she looks around in suspicion as he wiggles his coat off his arms, before her eyes settle on him once again.

“It’s not an episode of Catfish, right?” she asks making him chuckle.

“It is not, don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry if I’m being weird, but this was literally the last thing I was expecting,” she admits leaning back in her seat. “I believed things like this only happen in movies.”

“Not just there,” he smiles, slowly relieving that she is still sitting there and hasn’t ran out. It’s going way better than he expected.

She needs a little time to put the whole picture together and befriend the thought that she indeed just developed a friendship with Harry Styles through her videos for her brother. The absurdity is still shocking to her, but the more time passes by with him still sitting there, the more she finds peace with it.

Once the shock and surprise is gone they slowly realize they are seeing each other in real life finally. Harry feels overwhelmed, she is even more breathtaking than in her videos and through texts. He is mesmerized by her whole being and could listen to her talk in person forever, he wouldn’t get bored of her.

Time stops existing as they sit at the little café, talking for hours even though that’s all they’ve been doing through texts, but they just can’t get enough of hearing each other, seeing each other’s reaction and be able to see each other and not stare at a screen while talking.

Unfortunately, time never stopped just for the two of them and soon she realizes she needs to head back home. Harry doesn’t want to let go of her just yet so he offers to give her a ride, thanking himself for getting a rental for himself upon arriving. Y/N accepts the offer so the two of them head back to her parents’ home, soaking up the last minutes of their precious time spent together.

“Thank you for today, I really loved meeting you finally,” she smiles at him once they are parked on the driveway.

“I hope I didn’t shock you too much,” he chuckles scratching his chin.

“Just a little,” she admits before they both get out of the car and walking around it she stops in front of him, after a moment of hesitation she opts for a hug that he returns more than happily.

It feels as if her frame was perfectly sculpted to fit in his embrace and Harry can’t imagine how he could go this long without even seeing her in person. He knows it’s gonna be utter misery to be away from her after they leave the city.

“Will I see you before you take off?” she asks letting go of him. Harry looks down at her, the urge to kiss her growing bigger with each passing moment, but he is not sure if it would be appropriate to give it a try on their first time meeting.

“I’m free tomorrow for a lunch,” he tells her and she nods smiling.

“Then I’m free too,” she chuckles.

There’s an awkward moment where they are not sure what else should be done or said and the more they wait the weirder it’s getting so Harry clears his throat as he takes a step back, sad that he has to leave without feeling her lips on his, but he is not trying to be too greedy.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he smiles walking back to his car. Y/N waves after him and sitting back to behind the wheel he takes a moment to himself to collect himself after everything that has happened today. His hands curl around the wheel and he is about to start the car when someone knocks on the window. Y/N is smiling at him through the glass and he rolls it down curiously.

“I just…” she starts hesitantly, her eyes wander down to his lips and Harry knows what’s about to happen, but it still catches him by surprise.

Y/N leans in through the window and presses her lips to Harry’s, capturing them in a sweet, long awaited first kiss they both have been dreaming of for quite a while. Harry smiles into the kiss, bringing his right hand up to cup her cheeks as they stretch the moment for as long as possible. Whenever one pulls back the other brings them back for just one more kiss that turns into two more, then three… It takes a long time for them to finally let go of each other.

“See you later, H,” she smiles backing out of the car and running up to the front door, smiling wildly as she waves in his way one last time before disappearing in the house.

 Lying in bed that evening Harry is scrolling through his Instagram feed when he finally realizes he can now follow her without a worry. He is quick to find her profile again and hit that follow button. He is happy to see she was already following him.

He is just about to put his phone aside and go to bed after such a busy but exciting day when a notification pops up on the screen.

Y/N has just uploaded a new video!

He taps on it quickly and her smiling face greets him from his phone’s screen.

“Hi Sammy! It’s me again. Welcome back to our channel,” she starts with a shy smile. The setting is new this time, he supposes it’s her parents’ home this time. “This is going to be a short video, but I wanted to tell you about something. Or someone.”

Harry’s heart skips a beat when he thinks about where it’s heading. He listens to her voice holding his breath.

“I met someone today. We’ve been talking for a while, but I could finally hug him today. His name is Harry, and he is a wonderful man. I think you two would get along well,” she says with a soft chuckle. “I love spending time with him and I hope he feels the same way. Actually…” Her eyes move up straight to the camera, something she doesn’t do often. She usually stares out the window or plays with Henry while talking. “I think he is watching it right now. Hi Harry!”

“Hello, Beautiful,” he greets her back with a smile as if she could hear him.

“I wanted to tell you how amazing you are making me feel. I hope I didn’t disappoint. I was so nervous to meet you today, I hope I lived up to what you imagined me to be.”

“You were so much better than that,” he answers again.

“Anyway… I hope you feel the same way. You are the first guy I’m talking about in an update, so appreciate it!” she tells him and he chuckles lightly. “I’ll see you soon, H. But until then… Know that I’m thinking about you.”

“M’thinking about you too, Angel.”

“Sammy, I miss you as always. I hope everything is well, can’t wait for your next email. I love you,” she smiles before the video ends.

Harry heads straight to the comments. This time he doesn’t leave a lengthy one, just a short line, but it has everything he wanted to tell her.

“I feel the same way.” The comment reads. Just a few seconds later comes the notification and he smiles sweetly at his phone.

Y/N liked the comment.

#harry styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles imagine #harry styles oneshot #harry styles fluff #harry styles fiction #harry styles x you #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #harry #styles #one direction #harry styles fanfictions

[beyondspaceandstars]

While You Sleep

Chapter 13

Relationship: Bucky Barnes x Reader Warnings: sad. this chapter is sad. Summary: Soulmate!AU - Throughout life, you’re given glimpses of your soulmate through dreams. As you sleep, memories flash in your mind showing you the life your soulmate has lived. Everyone around you raves about how their soulmate reads great books or volunteers in their spare time. But you can’t relate as your dreams end up being more like nightmares. Through initial images of death and violence, you come to learn your soulmate is the Winter Soldier.

Masterlist | Series Masterlist

You were sitting at a stool in the compound’s kitchen when a familiar face walked in. Bucky had eventually explained to you that this was a sort of “headquarters” for the team. You felt a bit foolish having realized you never kept up much with these mighty heroes but you were eager to learn now. So far, you hadn’t encountered anyone you didn’t personally know on this famed team. Even now your eyes landed on the welcoming yet worried face of Steve.

“Morning,” you said, waving your fork before stabbing some of your scrambled eggs. Bucky had insisted on cooking for you despite your assurance you were fine but his cooking skills were....subpar. Still, nothing was inedible and you needed your strength back.

Steve reciprocated the greeting, saying your name with much excitement. “How are you feeling?” He added while making his way to the coffee pot. You chewed your eggs borderline viciously as you debated on an answer. 

“I’m okay.” You gave a shrug, staring down at your plate. Part of you wanted to let more out but you ignored it.

Steve came back around to the counter, standing on the other side across from you. He held his coffee cup firmly, nervously almost. You could feel him watching you. That excitement he had said your name with felt like it was evaporating from the room slowly.

“That’s… good,” Steve said. “If you need someone to talk to we have plenty of resources and - and I wanted to say I’m sorry.”

You peaked a glance at him, confused. You placed your fork on the counter. “Sorry? Why are you sorry?”

“I worry I led them right to you,” he explained, “like you two were separated for a reason.”

You frowned. You hadn’t thought about this - heck, you hadn’t thought about blaming anyone other than the disgusted men with such joyous evil looks in their eyes.

“Steve, I don’t think there was any way anyone could’ve prevented this.” You pushed your plate of food away. “They had their sights set. They had a plan, an optimism. It may have just been the soulmate experience in this case,” you sighed. Steve mumbled your name, shaking his head, but you continued, “And that’s fine. Love doesn’t come easy, right?”

“Being kidnapped is not part of being in love.”

“Yeah, well, you don’t have an ex-assassin for a soulmate.”

Steve’s jaw went slack. You were staring him down now, practically begging him to say one more thing. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Steve finally settled on. Ever the cool, calm, and collected star-spangled man. “You will recover and it’ll never happen again, we can promise you that.” His voice was serious as if every word ended with a period. You felt tears starting to well in your eyes. You wanted to say something, maybe ask for a hug or just… you didn’t know what, so you just sat there, slumped in your chair like a defeated puppy.

“Everything okay here?” A sudden voice made you jump. You and Steve turned towards the kitchen doorway where Bucky was standing, arms crossed, worry etched all over his face. It seemed to become his permanent expression now. Even when it was just you two, he always appeared on edge.

You nodded, turning back to collect your plate and take it to the sink. “We were just chatting.” You didn’t see the look you just knew Steve and Bucky were sharing.

When you turned back around to face the pair, Bucky had crossed the room, almost close enough to now be hovering over you. You flinched when he went to put a comforting hand on your shoulder. You didn’t know why as you clearly didn’t think he was a threat but hadn’t you seen how threatening he could be? You lowered your head, fighting off the thoughts. He wasn’t like that to you and he had proven it time and time again. Why was it suddenly different?

Before either of the men could comment on your sudden hesitation, you said, “I’m going to go take a shower.” They just nodded, letting you exit.

***

When you got out of the shower and back into the room the team had lent you and Bucky for the time being, Bucky was waiting patiently on the bed. You lingered around the space, picking out some pajamas to wear, acting as normal as you could. You took in the space, still amazed by it. It was fairly large with top-notch amenities, including a luscious bed, spacious dresser, and television from technology you weren’t sure existed for the general public. It even had access to your own grand bathroom, saving you some war flashbacks of the communal restrooms at college. 

You dipped back into the bathroom and got changed. While your intimacy with Bucky hadn’t been on the shy side, you weren’t in that kind of mood right now. Rightfully so, you would say.

Emerging once more, you noticed Bucky had made a sort of resting area for you on the bed. Your side was surrounded by blankets upon blankets and soft pillows. He even had a movie queued up for you two to watch. He laid waiting, his eyes practically begging you to come to him. After giving your hair a final wring, you gave in and crawled into the soft bed, letting all of you just melt into it.

“How are y-,”

“Bucky,” you sighed, turning towards him. He was laying on his side, staring down at your curled-up form. “Please don’t ask how I am.”

He nodded. “I get it, doll. I’m just worried about you. You seemed alright yesterday but today…” Yeah. You’d taken a dive. Your whole mood had shifted. Heck, your views on the world had shifted. As dramatic as it seemed, you were having a hard time snapping back. You weren’t even gone for over two days and yet the smallest thing...

“I think it’s just all settling in,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe it was just shock yesterday or something but realizing what all happened… Gosh, this probably seems so foolish to you.”

Bucky began shaking his head profusely. As gently as he could, he took your hand in his. You welcomed the action as you shifted under the makeshift mountain of blankets. “Don’t do that, honey. Don’t try to dismiss it or think what you’re feeling is foolish. You went through something so terrifying. You’re allowed to react to it.” He took a deep breath. “When we talked yesterday, I think I thought maybe they hadn’t gotten to you. That nothing had happened that would leave you torn up but you saw… a lot.”

You knew he wasn’t talking about just being exposed to Hydra and their twisted selves. “I did,” you hesitantly agreed. “And I fear it’s going to take a lot to recover.” Your words felt like you were delivering punch after punch to Bucky but where were you going to get if you weren’t honest?

“Anything you need, sweetheart,” he mumbled, his thumb drawing soft patterns on the back of your hand, sending shivers through you. “I’ll do anything to make it better.”

You nodded, averting your gaze to where your hands were connected. Your hand was so tense but you hadn’t even realized you were squeezing his. You relaxed it slightly and Bucky’s motions stopped.

“Bucky,” you mumbled, “can I ask you something?”

He hummed in response.

“What do I offer you?”

You could feel Bucky’s eyes staring you down. No doubt a concerned frown was playing on his lips. “What are you getting at here, honey?”

You shifted uncomfortably. “When I was… you know… the - the older man said that he didn’t understand why we would be paired together. They were determined to figure out what I offer you. What makes me so special.” A beat. “I really don’t know the answer.”

Bucky sighed, shaking his head. You glanced up at him again, his eyes now holding a different kind of anger. You felt bad for doubting yourself but the insecurity from the words of some random guy settled into your brain. 

After a thoughtful moment, Bucky spoke, “I don’t think you’ll ever fully understand what you give, not just to me, honey, but the world. You’re so fearless. You’re incredibly understanding. Not to mention how compassionate and bright you are…” His voice cracked slightly, breaking your heart a little. “You force me to remember that I’m not alone and I don’t have to be. And I just really hope I do the same for you.”

You could feel your own tears forming as you shifted just a bit closer to your soulmate. You weren’t quite touching but you could still feel his presence. It was as comfortable as you could get right now and Bucky seemed to respect that. 

“I hope I’ll be okay,” you confessed. “Eventually.” 

It quite amazed you how fast stuff could change within yourself. You woke up from being rescued with the more extravagant hopes and overwhelming relief of just making it out alive. But then you remembered the price of you making it out alive. What you had to witness to get there. And then the thoughts of actually being back in that position rushed over you. Needless to say, it was weird. Simply weird. Unlike anything you had encountered before. 

Bucky soon nodded, encouragingly. You hated putting anything else on him but he had become part of the memories now. It was one thing to see him in dreams and another to watch it just feet away from you. 

With a choking sob, he said, “Me too, doll.”

#bucky barnes #the winter soldier #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes angst #bucky barnes fluff #fanfic #fanfiction #marvel one shot #marvel fanfiction #marvel #mcu #mcu fic #soulmate au #angst #fluff #bucky x you #bucky fic

[pretend-writer]

Kid Of The Future (Chapter 5)

Mini-Series

Summary: After time traveling from the apocalypse in 2019, a surprise waits for Diego and Y/N as they arrive at Dallas, Texas circa 1960.

Pairing: Hargreeves x sibling!reader, Diego Hargreeves x reader

Word Count: 2.7k words

Warning: mention of violence, mention of sex, swearing

✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤  ·  ✤

'This is an easy fix, do I even need to spell it out?' Five blurted, getting frustrated about the plan of getting back to 2019.

'Yes, Five. I need you to spell out exactly what you mean because if so, that is so messed up.' I yelled at my kid brother. I knew what Five was implying when he said "it was an easy fix." I would never get rid of Bel and if Five tried anything, I would fight him.

Luther sighed, 'Guys can we please not fight about this again?'

'No. It's always Five bringing up bullshit that no one agrees on and he expects everyone to listen to him.'

'That kid doesn't even belong in our timeline. We cannot bring her to 2019. We barely escaped that apocalypse, I'm not going through that shit again Y/N.'

'So you think I'm going to trade off my baby to the psychopath? You must really be crazy Five.'

Allison jumped in, 'I agree with Y/N. You out of everyone knows what The Handler is capable of. Do you really want to hand off an innocent kid to her?'

'Do you know why she wants her? For her to be so desperate to hand us a briefcase? The kid can be some assassin from the future that The Handler wants.'

'More reason for me to keep Bel.' I crossed my arms, 'Maybe she became an assassin because you decided to hand her to The Handler and she's seeking revenge.'

Klaus nodded, 'Y/N makes a great argument Five. I'm sorry but I don't think it's a good idea to give sweet Bel away.'

Groaning loudly, Five balled his fists. 'You imbeciles are so.... ugh.'

'So if The Handler wanted Deloris in exchange for the briefcase, you're saying it's okay?' I raised my eyebrows, watching my brother's response.

Luther laughed but immediately stopped as Five glared at him. 'So how do we plan to go back to 2019?'

Allison licked her lips, holding in her laugh as she made eye contact with me. Honestly, I didn't think convincing Five would be so easy. I should've thought Deloris was the key to breaking him.

'You take me with you to the Commission. Simple as that.'

'Woah, woah.' Diego jumped in, 'Just the two of you? Are you crazy?'

'No, I'm not.' I turned back to Five, 'So what do you think?'

Vanya cocked her head, 'Is this really safe? Shouldn't we all go together and help each other?'

'Ah, no offense Vanya but taking you would be a terrible idea considering the fact that you ended the world in 2019.' Luther flashed an awkward smile.

Five, Allison and Diego groaned in sync, Klaus hitting Luther on his forearm. 'You dummy! Why would you bring that up?'

'Guys, it's fine.' Vanya smiled, 'Let's just figure out a safe and effective way to go back without turning Bel away.'

I smirked, clapping my hands cheerfully. 'Don't worry, I have a plan. Five will love this.'

He rolled his eyes, 'Ugh. Can't wait to hear it.'

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

Diego walked in the room after putting Bel to sleep in her room, sighing as he sat on the bed next to where I was laying down. 'Are you up?'

Turning around to face him, I nodded. 'Yeah.'

'Ah.' Diego scooted a little bit closer to me, biting his lips as he figured out what words to say next. 'Uhm, I'm sorry about yesterday.'

'What do you mean?'

'The things I said before you left to the alley.'

My eyes immediately shifted away from him, embarrassed about what I told him while I was intoxicated. I wish that I could take whatever I said back to him, I hated the awkward tension between us.

'Don't know what you're talking about but don't worry about it.' Pretending that I was too drunk to remember, I tried to brush everything off.

'It's not okay because I was lying, Y/N.' Diego looked down, started to fiddle with the bed sheets. 'I care about you, a lot. I was too scared to talk to you because I didn't know how you felt. I honestly thought it was just a casual thing between us, or at least I thought that's how you felt about me.'

That was a surprising thing to hear, thinking that the response I got from him yesterday at the salon was the truth. I didn't think that Diego would think of me as more than a friend, despite the things we did.

I've always assumed everything we've done was just casual, I tried so hard to suppress my feelings I had for him.

'I thought that you thought the same thing. I'm sorry I brought it up out of nowhere last night. It had been a while since I had alcohol.'

'No, no.' He softly grabbed my forearm, it was a comfort touch that I loved from him. 'I'm kind of glad you did. If you hadn't, I don't think I'd had the guts to tell you all of this right now.'

Smiling at him as he rubbed on my arm, I sat up next to him. 'Well, thank you for telling me.'

Diego nodded, softly smiling at me and enjoying my touch. 'Please be careful tomorrow when you go out with Five. I don't even know who this woman is but she sounds dangerous.'

'I'll be fine, I promise.'

He nodded, 'Uhm, you still don't want me to come with you guys?'

'Five and I will be just fine on our own. Don't worry. Besides, the less of us we have will be better. We're trying not to draw attention to ourselves.'

Diego seemed unconvinced, he always worried about things he didn't know what to expect. Especially with this mystery lady that Diego knows nothing about, I knew he was scared.

'Stop, don't think about it.' I scooted towards him, rubbing my hand on his forearm as I tried to calm him down.

He looked me in my eyes and slowly came closer, leaning into me as he cupped my cheek with his hand. I leaned closer, our lips touching as I gently started to kiss him.

'Daaaaad, the aliens are coming after me!' Bel's scream echoed through the entire apartment, I wouldn't be surprised if our neighbors heard her.

'Mood killer.' Diego sighed as he pulled away. As I giggled, he rolled his eyes. 'I bet you're happy she started calling for me instead of you. She needs to start calling for her mama.'

'Very happy.' I grinned, 'I've been waiting for this day where I don't have to get out the bed after her screams.'

Diego got up lazily, 'Someday when I get old, I'm gonna keep calling her name every ten minutes for her to come get me too.'

✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤ · ✤

Crouching down as soon as Five helped me get to The Commission, he looked around nervously. I knew that he was some sort of legend around here, helped them assassin many people in the past to fix the timeline and what-not.

'The Handler's gone in the 50s but she could be back anytime. I'll leave to go get the suitcase while you switch up to The Handler and you try to distract them from me. Please for the love of Deloris, don't leave her office. We can't be caught.'

'Speaking of.' I pulled up a mask, handing it to my brother as I smiled. 'Your famous self can cover up with this.'

It was a mask that fairly looked like the ones ChaCha and Hazel wore, except it was a bunny and I honestly thought it would look good on him.

'The fuck do I look like wearing that?' Five looked disgusted. 'I'm not wearing that thing.'

'Yes, you are. If they find you, this is over. We are never going back home.'

Five decided to ignore me and change the subject. 'Why don't you turn into The Handler first and maybe I'll wear that mask.'

'Ew, she reeked of strong perfume and I'd rather just wait. Besides, I asked you first.'

'Okay, I asked you next.'

'Five, please don't play with me.'

He squinted his eyes, 'You wanna be childish, I'll act like you so you know how annoying it is.'

'I swear Fi-'

The sound of the door nob startled us both, not expecting anyone to come into her office especially without knocking. That queued me to morph into The Handler quickly, rehearsing how she sounded like in my head so I wouldn't be caught by these people.

'Oh, mom. So glad you're back from the trip.' A girl, probably the same age as us Hargreeves, ran up to hug me. She pulled away and looked over next to me. 'Who's this midget?'

I looked over and saw Five wearing the mask I got him. I smiled at myself softly, happy that Five decided to wear it. I knew he didn't have a choice but the fact that he took the mask over running away into thin air made me feel like I did something right.

'Ah- my new recruit. Trying to find him the perfect partner for this new mission I have lined up.'

The girl stared at him, 'Nice to meet you.'

Five just stood still, possibly staring back at her too. I figured he didn't speak because she would've figured out who he was as soon as she heard his voice, so I didn't force anything on him.

'Ah, not much of a talker. Such a professional assassin move.' She grinned and looked back at me. 'Speaking of assassins, why don't you take me to the mission with him. I can be his partner.

'Uhm, no. You can't go.'

The girl groaned, 'Why? I'm old enough you know? You trained me since I was a child for stuff like this and you're not even letting me use my talent. Instead it's always "Lila do this stupid thing" and honestly I'm so bored now.'

'You know I just care about you, right Lila?' I'm so glad she said her name because I was panicking not knowing what else to say. 'You're too important to me and I just can't risk that.'

'Whatever, mom. I asked to go to the Hargreeves mission with you and you didn't let me go so I know that's bull.'

In my mind I was screaming, I wanted this girl to leave so we can get the briefcase and get out of here. 'Five isn't a priority right now and frankly, he's a harmless boy. It was a quick job and I didn't need another person with me.'

'Not Five, Belinda Hargreeves. You told me you'd take me with you and you just left me, knowing I was asleep. Why would you do that, I was so excited to take her down.'

She must be talking about the night The Handler visited me, I thought to myself. The stories were slowly lining up. 'Well, she's just a baby. I figured I didn't have to wake you up and I'd just take care of her myself.'

'Just a baby? Mom, you wouldn't shut up about her being this next big thing The Commission needed and now she's just a baby to you?'

'I think you'll best fit that position anyway. Maybe it's time for us to move on from that.'

Lila chuckled, 'You're kidding me right? This kid has like one of the best powers I've seen. Even the Hargreeves siblings don't have that much talent. You really want to turn that down now?'

It was hard to contain my confused and my urge to beat this girl up. It annoyed me that Lila was talking about my daughter as if she was some experiment, and now she's talking about her having some powers. The frustration didn't help either when I had to stay in character.

'Are you sure that's Belinda Hargreeves we're talking about? That harmless looking baby? Surely we're talking about some other kid.'

'Mom, you clearly need sleep or you're doing drugs or something because you really don't sound right. We need her here, that was your saying. Literally, last night you told me that and now you're changing your mind?'

'There's just things in mind I need to consider before I take that route.'

Lila laughed, 'Okay mom. Whatever it is, I hope you make the right decision for us.'

'Yeah sure.'

She shook her head as she slowly walked to the door. 'You are acting a little weird so I'll leave you to it mom. Take a nap, rethink it. I'm sure you'll change you mind again.'

'I can't believe this.' I heard shuffling from behind as the door shut behind Lila. 'All that girl said was true, the powers and everything.'

Quickly rushing next to Five with doubt still on my mind, I snatched the file from his hand.

Everything about her was there; Her name, her birthdate and birthplace. All the information I knew nothing about was here in my face.

'October 1st, 1989...' I mumbled as I continued to read the rest of her file. 'Sh-she has powers. I-I don't understand.'

'So technically Bel's our sister.' Five blurted, 'How did she get to the 60s with us?'

None of what Five was saying was sinking into my brain. The reason why The Handler was hunting me and my family down made sense, how Bel was probably going to end up being their next soldier that does their dirty work.

Five looked over at me, realizing that I was having a hard time processing everything. 'Y/N, don't worry. We will figure this out, okay? We won't abandon her, I promise.'

'But she's one of us. She somehow ended up in our hands and now-' I was trying to put all the information in my head and tried to make sense out of this.'

'Y/N, Y/N. Breathe, it's okay. The Handler doesn't know that we know, we're one step ahead of her. It's perfect.' Five nodded his head. 'We have the upper hand and we can get rid of her before she tried to her Belinda.'

It was nice to see this side of Five, especially when I was freaking out about this huge news. Even thought it was a bit weird. I turned to Five, 'Why are you being nice to me?'

'Honestly, it's hard given the fact that you look like that.' He chuckled lightly, looking me up and down in my "The Handler costume." 'You seemed to grow fond of her and knowing The Handler, I don't know what she's going to do to her. I've worked with her my whole life and I didn't even know she had a daughter.'

I raised my brows, 'Wow. How brotherly of you.'

'You know, I try but you all are annoying and stupid for me to care sometimes.'

'And there's the brother that we all know and love.'

He rolled his eyes, 'Bel is going to outsmart all of you guys. Not to mention she has ecokinesis.'

'Sounds like you're obsessed with this child now.' I smiled, 'I love that you love her.'

'Whatever helps you sleep at night, Y/N.'

I looked at Five and smiled, it was unbelievable to almost impossible that our beloved brother had sympathy for how I was handling this news. 'Thanks Five, really. Don't know what I'll do if I lost her.'

'You won't, you got us now to have your back.'

'Are you really Five or are you a shapeshifter too?'

'Just trying to be nice, for once.' Five's smile went away as he became serious. 'But if you tell anyone about this, I'll figure out a way to send you to a different dimension.'

I laughed lightly, nudging my brother as he got to leave. 'I try to keep the secret to myself.'

Despite Five's thoughtfulness and caring words, I was scared. Even with my family by my side, the reality was that Bel didn't belong here either. Not only was Belinda warped from 1989 for some odd reason but The Handler really wanted to get her, as if she had something planned for her.

Nothing was making sense, starting from the reason why she was out of her timeline but none of that mattered. The only thing that mattered was keeping my child safe from that freak.

No matter what it takes, I was determined to protect my daughter. Nothing was going to stop me.

#tua series #the umbrella academy fic #tua fics #diego hargreeves fics #diego hargreeves x reader

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Stark Spangled Forever

A Very Rogers Christmas.

Part 1- The Best Things In Life Are Tree.

Summary: It’s that time of year again and the Rogers family prepare to go and pick their Christmas tree. But when Emmy calls with a bit of bad news, it puts a little downer on the whole thing for Katie and Steve decides to call in reinforcements to pull off the best Christmas Heist he can…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So here we go, Part 1 of my Stark Spangled 2020 Christmas special- A Very Rogers Christmas.  This one was written for for @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ and @sagechanoafterdark​ ‘s Winter/Holiday Challenge. My prompt- Finding the PERFECT Tree.

It feels like AGES since I wrote for my babies so I hope you enjoy this little three parter. Part 2 posting next Friday, and part 3 on Christmas Eve.

SSF Masterlist //  WIYPT Masterlist 

"Daddy, I found something else I want to ask Santa for, for Christmas." Rori bounced into the study and Steve closed his eyes on the papers he was trying to grade and sighed.

"I bet you have." He mumbled before he glanced up at his daughter and couldn't help but smile at her as she skipped over to him, her long pony tail swinging behind her "What is it, Princess?" "A capybara." she said, scrambling up onto his lap. "A what?" Steve frowned. "A capybara. Look!" she turned the tablet she was holding towards him to show him a picture of the brown animal "They're like huge guinea pigs. I saw one at the zoo with Uncle Buck yesterday and when I said I wanted one he told me to tell you that I was gonna ask Santa." "Course he did." Steve sighed, mentally cursing his asshole best friend. "You know, Rori, don't think Santa can get you one of those." "Why not?" "It’s too big." He attempted “There’s nowhere for us to keep it.” "Our garden is huge!" Rori blinked at him. "And when Emmy and Petey move into the Tower he can live in the cabin." Trust her to be as damned smart as her mother. "They're wild animals honey." Steve shook his head as he tried attempt number two. "But they live in a zoo." Rori looked up at him, her face full of eager excitement “That’s not the wild.” "Yeah but that’s different." Steve reasoned patiently. "They're not like dogs or cats or regular guinea pigs. They need very special care.” "Oh." Rori looked down a little, her shoulders slumping and Steve sighed.

Fuck you, Bucky.

"Okay. Never mind." She clicked off the screen of her tablet and turned towards Steve, looking up at him with those damned green eyes. "Do you think he could get me a kitty instead?"

No, just say no… "Maybe."

Way to go, Rogers. Rori's eyes lit up and Steve inwardly groaned. It was a well-known fact in their house that whenever Dad said maybe, it meant yes. Fuck.

“I love you Daddy!” she beamed, reaching up to press a kiss to his bearded cheek before she hopped off his lap and skipped towards the door “Oh, me and momma are going to make gingerbread men for tomorrow so we can have them when we decorate the tree.”

“Can’t wait baby.” He smiled

“Are you gonna be working tomorrow afternoon?” she asked a little shyly and he shook his head.

“No, I promise.”  He assured her. “All day tomorrow is family day.”

She gave him another huge smile, one that truly warmed his entire being as it made her look even more like his wife, and then headed out of the room, her feet pattering on the tiles of the hallway as she skipped back into the other part of the house. Steve exhaled and looked back down at the paper, groaning as he realised he’d lost his place. He’d been home early that afternoon hoping for more peace and quiet than he got in his office at the University to concentrate on getting through all these and for the most it had worked, until Jamie and Rori had arrived home from school full of it as usual. Katie had kept them out of his way for the most but the realisation that Christmas was well on the way had hit the eldest two and whipped them up into a fever.

Not that Steve particularly cared. He adored this time of year. It was Katie’s holiday and from the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas period started in full throttle in the Rogers household, and they’d picked tomorrow, 2 weeks before the schools broke up, to go and pick the trees for their lounge and hallway. He was a little disappointed that it hadn’t snowed yet, there had been a good covering the previous year but, still it was set to be a cold and dry day so they could still get bundled up and have their hot chocolate and snacks as usual.

He rubbed at his eyes and focussed, reading through the paper in front of him on the ‘Strategy, Diplomacy and politics of Axis and Allied forces in WW2’, wishing to God he was marking something on the course he was actually employed to teach now- Fine Arts- but all those had been done and graded last week. This was the module of History that he taught, because as the Uni said- he was a living, breathing expert.

Aparently.

An hour or so later he finished red-penning the final six paged essay, with a proud smile as that one had been particularly good and he quickly checked it over once more, making sure he’d captured all the notes on the electronic copy and queued it up to send on Monday, just like Katie had shown him how to, so that each student had the hard copy and soft copy back. He stood up, stretched, turned off his laptop and headed through to the main area of the house, the smell of baking and cooking hitting his nostrils as he went.

He walked into the kitchen to find Rori kneeling on one of the tall stools over the island-slash-breakfast bar, her hands and face smeared in pink icing as she decorated a gingerbread man, her little tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Katie was stood supervising Harry who was also covered in frosting, this one bright green. Flossie sat in the highchair opposite, banging a spoon on the tray occasionally letting out a yell or babble of something incoherent. As soon as she saw Steve she gave a huge grin and her shouts became louder and he smiled.

“Hi Floss-Floss!” he beamed, crossing to drop a kiss to her head before he looked across at Katie “Where’s Jamie?”

“Upstairs in his room.” Katie gave a little sigh “He said, and I quote, ‘I’m ten now, far too old to decorate gingerbread, mom.’ I could have cried there and then Steve.” She finished with a pout.

Steve gave her a sympathetic smile, the fact her eldest baby boy was growing up was something he knew she hated “Yeah, I bet he won’t be too old to eat them, though.” He appeased and she smiled.

“That’s what I said.” Rori gave a dramatic roll of her eyes and Steve chuckled.

“You finished Grading?” Katie asked as she gently guided Harry’s hand over the cookie shaped like a Christmas tree.

“Yeah, all done. Sorry it took so long.”

“It’s okay.” She looked up at him, smiling “Your dinner is in the oven. I already ate with the kids. Sorry, I was starving.”

“I didn’t expect you to wait.”  Steve walked over the room and dropped a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”

He made his way over to the Aga stove and opened the door, giving a little groan when he saw she’d done his favourite, a Mac and Cheese bake laced with chicken, chorizo and broccoli. He turned to look at her and didn’t miss the flicker of a smile on her face as she knew what he was thinking, before he pulled out the plate giving a yell as it burnt his fingers, dropping it onto the side with a clatter.

“Careful daddy, hot!” Harry turned to face him, and Katie burst out laughing.

“Yeah, thanks Son.” Steve tried not to roll his eyes as he sucked his thumb. Grabbing a tea-towel he gripped the plate, found some cutlery and sat down at the table to the side of the kitchen, tucking in.

“I finished all mine, Momma.” Rori grinned, placing the tube of squeezy frosting down on the side. Steve watched as Katie moved to look over Rori’s shoulder.

“Good job sweetie.” She smiled, “Creative, I’ve never seen a pink cat before.”

Steve paused and looked at Rori as she grinned “I know they’re not really pink, and my kitty won’t be, but it can have a pink collar.”

At that he winced and hastily shoved another forkful of food into his mouth, praying that the conversation stopped there.

Katie sighed “Rori we’ve been over this, you can’t have a cat.”

“Daddy said I could.”

Shit.

Katie’s eyes shot to Steve and he gave her his best innocent look, but from the way her features grew stern he knew he was utterly busted and he swallowed the food in his mouth which turned to cement in his throat.

“No, that’s not what I said.” Steve shook his head.

“You said maybe.” Rori shrugged “Same thing.”

“We getting a kitty?” Harry asked, looking at Katie.

“No.” she shook her head.

“But I asked Daddy if Santa would bring me one and he said maybe.” Rori looked at Katie.

“Well Daddy is wrong.” She glared at Steve and he visibly shrank in his seat. Katie’s green eyes narrowed before they turned back to Rori. “Santa can’t bring live animals. It’s in the rules.”

“What rules?”

“The Christmas Rules” Katie said quickly “No live animals. It’s not fair on them. They don’t like the sleigh.”

“But…”

“No buts Rori.” Katie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose “I’m sorry honey, but it’s not gonna happen.”

Rori pouted a little but she knew when she was beat and glanced down at the cookies on the tray before she looked up, grinning smugly. “I’ll just ask Uncle Bucky to get me one. He got me Dory.”

“Oh for the love of…” Katie spluttered “Uncle Bucky won’t get you one either.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ll tell him not to.” Katie looked at her “We have Stark. No more animals.”

Rori folded her arms and at that point Steve stepped in, sensing an impending tantrum.

“Aurora.” He said sternly and she turned her head to face him as he pointed his fork at her. “Enough.”

She glared at him before she sighed and looked at Katie “Can I get down now please?”

Katie obliged and pulled her stool out a little allowing Rori to hop down. “Stay right there little miss.”

“Why?” Rori frowned as Katie headed to the sink, coming back with a cloth. With a groan, Rori held out her hands so Katie could wipe them clean, along with the little smear of icing on her face “20 minutes and then its bath time. We’re up early in the morning.”

“Ooh, yeah!” Rori bounced excitedly “To pick our trees. Hey, can I get one for my room?”

Katie hesitated before she shrugged “You know, I saw some in the shop that already have the lights on and they change colour. We’ll get a big one for the lounge and hallway like normal and I’ll get you a special one. And you get to keep it for next year and the year after.”

Rori pondered this for a moment before she shook her head “I want a real one from the farm.”

Katie groaned, and threw her hands out to the side “Fine, just, go and watch TV or something in the Play Room.”

“I watch TV too please, Momma?” Harry asked and Katie nodded, cleaning him up too before she lifted him down off the stool. He toddled after Rori, yelling for her to wait and as soon as they were gone Katie rounded on Steve.

“Honey, I…” he began and winced as she exploded on him.

“Seriously? A damned cat?”

“She caught me unawares.”

“She always catches you unawares!” Katie scoffed “After six, almost seven years I’d have thought you’d be used it by now.”

“I only said-“

“And as usual I’m left to be the bad guy.” Katie ranted, shaking her head as she moved to turn Flossie’s chair so she was facing the table. “You’re an asshole.”

“This is technically Bucky’s fault.”

“Oh, no, Steven Grant Rogers! Don’t you are try and blame this one on Buck.” She hissed.

“But he took her to the zoo and told her to ask for a capybara!” Steve practically whined “When I said no she asked for a cat, the maybe just slipped out.” Katie paused, her arms folded, face furious and Steve peered up at her giving her a little smile “Don’t be mad, come on baby. I didn’t mean it.”

“You’re still an asshole.” She grumbled, before she crossed to the fridge and pulled out the wine. “And for that you can deal with bedtime. I’m going for a bath.”

“Sure, not a problem.” Steve nodded, swallowing more of his food. Katie poured herself a large glass before she moved to put the bottle back and then changed her mind. With the bottle in one hand, full glass in the other she made for the door. “I love you.” Steve shot as she passed him, and despite her annoyed demeanour, the slight smile that played on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble.  

****

All kids were bathed and in bed little over an hour later. The youngest three settled down to sleep, Jamie instructed he had an hour of TV or reading time before lights off.

“Ok Dad.” He nodded, running his hand through his hair as he tidied up his games console a little, Stark curled up on the bed.

“I’ll be in to check.” Steve looked at him, and Jamie rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I got it. You can trust me.”

“I know.” Steve gave a chuckle “Night son.” He crossed the room to drop a kiss to his head and Jamie pushed him away.

“Gerroff, I’m ten.”

“Yeah, well, you’re still my kid so…” Steve grumbled, and Jamie burst into laughter as the pair of them began to play fight, Jamie digging Steve in the ribs with a well-aimed jab. “Ouch! “ Steve stood up, rubbing at his side, that had hurt a little too much for his liking. “Nice shot.”

“Bucky said I had a good right hook.”

Steve rolled his eyes “I don’t wanna know how he even found that out.”

“He has a punch bag in the garage.” Jamie shrugged as he flopped down onto his bed. “Like yours. He was teaching me to swing.”

“I could teach you that.” Steve replied, a little petulantly.

“Will you?”

“No. You’re ten.” He shot back and Jamie let out a groan of frustration, before Steve chuckled “Ok, I’ll teach you a little IF you promise not to use it anywhere but on the punch bag.”

“But what if I need to use it?”

“Well, that’s different.” Steve pondered, before he shook his head. “But you’re far too young to be getting into situations like that.”

“Uncle Buck said you were fighting people form the age of six. And getting your ass kicked.”

“Well, you do as I say…”

“Not as I do, yeah I got it.” Jamie grinned and Steve arched an eyebrow before he made his way to the door. He paused and turned back to look at his son, not for the first time taking in how damned tall and broad he was for his age. He pointed to Stark “Don’t let your mother catch him on the bed.”

“You know she says the same thing about you.” Jamie looked at him and Steve chuckled.

“I do, but let’s just pretend I don’t okay?”

“Okay, night dad. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Steve smiled, closing the door behind him.

He made his way back downstairs and into the lounge, and paused as he saw Katie talking into the laptop, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said softly, and he could tell she was fighting to keep her face straight as Emmy’s voice came from the other side.

“I’m just gutted we can’t get home to come with you guys for the tree.”

“What’s going on?” Steve frowned as he sat next to Katie on the sofa, looking at Emmy and Peter as they both waved to him on the screen “Hey Kids.”

“The UK has been caught up in a huge snow storm.” Katie turned to him. “Their flight has been cancelled.”

“Bummer.” Steve’s frown deepened “Is there nothing from another airport?”

“Not in London.” Emmy shook her head “And the roads are that bad, even if we managed somewhere else…”

“Don’t wanna risk driving Mr R.” Pete shrugged and Steve had to give it to him, that was a sensible move.

“Wise decision.” Steve bit his lip, before he turned to Katie “Can we not get The Stark jet over? You guys should have used that anyway, not gone commercial.”

The irony of his statement didn’t pass him by, as there’d been a time when he had hated using a private jet as he felt it was ostentatious, but he’d fast learned to live with it as it was less hassle and a damned sight comfier and quicker too.

“I told you we didn’t want to.” Emmy shot back and Peter hastily cut in to prevent an argument.

“Already tried Happy before we called. He can’t get in any airfield be it private or other. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Katie shook her head “If you need anything just call. Have you got a place to stay?”

“Yeah, The Savoy found us another room.” Emmy shrugged before she grimaced “I’m gonna have to put it on my credit card though.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Katie shook her head “Just do what you gotta do, we’ll sort the bill out. Do you need us to wire you some cash or-“

“No, we’ve got enough between us for that.” Pete smiled “Just the hotel. We could get somewhere cheaper if that’s-“

“If it’s that bad out there you can stay where you are.” Steve shook his head. “Don’t worry about the money kids, it’s not important.”

“Just call us if you need anything.” Katie added.

“Thanks Mom. Look, we’re gonna go try and get something to eat and then sleep” Emmy sighed “It’s past 1 am now.”

“Sure, call us tomorrow okay, keep us updated.” Steve instructed and Emmy nodded.

“Will do. Love you both.”

“And you.” Katie smiled “Stay safe, and look after each other.”

“Got it.” Emmy grinned and with that she blew them both a kiss as Peter waved and the screen went blank.

Katie bit her lip before she tapped at the keyboard of her laptop “I’m going to send her some money, just in case. I know she has plenty in her savings, but…”

Steve nodded “Good idea. Those are for a rainy day, not a snowy one.”

Katie gave a small smile as she logged into the banking, and hesitated before she transferred a few thousand over to Emmy and closed the laptop, running her hands over her face. Steve saw her shouldes shake and he gave a sigh, pulling her to him.

“Hey, come on. They’re safe. In the poshest hotel known to man.” He pressed a kiss to her head “No doubt thinking this is some kind of huge romantic adventure. Snowed in, in London, with a mini-bar, room service.”

At that thought he grimaced, as his mind took him to a very dark place about just exactly what the spider kid would be doing to his daughter in said hotel room but he shook himself out of it as Katie spoke, sniffling a little.

“I know it’s just, well we started this tradition with Emmy that first Christmas she lived with us.” Her voice cracked “We went with Tony, Pep and Nat remember?”

“I could I forget.” Steve chuckled, his hands rubbing Katie’s back “You were almost five months pregnant and had that jumper on with a huge Christmas pudding on the front.”

“I’ve still got that.” Her voice was muffled as her face pressed into his Henley.

“And Pepper was going mad when Tony bought that nine foot tree for their lounge.”

“Ours wasn’t much smaller.” Katie laughed, leaning back to wipe her eyes. “You had to trim the top off.”

Steve chuckled, his hands cupping her face “A few days after that we found out bump was blue. Hello Jamie.”

“God it seems so long ago.”

“It was.” Steve smiled pressing a kiss to her lips. “11 years.”

“Yeah.” Katie looked at him “We’ve been through a lot since then.”

Steve nodded, as he wiped her face with his thumbs “And a lot worse than this. I know it’s disappointing, kitten, and I’m gutted as well, but it can’t be helped. We’ll still have a good time and we can go out with Emmy and Peter when they get back, nice meal and a few drinks somewhere instead, just the four of us. Start a new tradition now she’s all grown up.”

“Yeah suppose.” Katie sighed “I mean when they moved out in the New Year, they might not wanna come with us to get a tree anymore.”

“Like that’s gonna happen.” Steve snorted “She’ll simply be getting one for her own place. You know she loves Christmas as much as you. All the kids do. Because you make it so special.”

“It isn’t all down to me.” She smiled “You help.”

“It’s definitely your speciality.” Steve shook his head “You do the baking, the carols, the cooking…suss the decorations out.”

“Yeah, but you hang them. And you’re the one that started leaving Santa footprints by the hearth.”

“Okay so it’s a team effort.” Steve shrugged, dropping another kiss to her lips. “It always is when the kids are concerned.” He pulled back a little and nodded to her glass “You want another?”

“I wasn’t going to but yeah, now I do.”

Steve chuckled “I’ll go get us a drink, you find us something suitably Christmassy to watch.”

He stood, pressing his lips to the crown of Katie’s head before he wandered into the kitchen. As he closed the door behind him he pulled out his phone. He’d had an idea, but hadn’t wanted to mention it to Katie just in case it didn’t work…but if it did, well, he was going to reunite his family for their tradition and earn himself major husband points.

Win win situation.

“Hey punk.” Bucky drawled as he picked up.“What’s crackalackin?”

“God you talk some shit.” Steve rolled his eyes and Bucky laughed

“Sorry, we were watching Madagascar.”

“Yeah, I know where it’s from. I got five kids, remember. Six if I count you.”

“Well you could argue Diva Doll counts for two so you really have seven.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, I got a bone to pick with you about her and a damned capybara.” Steve narrowed his eyes as he spoke and there was a pause before Bucky burst out laughing. “Yeah, laugh it up, jerk. That got me in some major shit before.”

“You didn’t say yes?”

“No of course I didn’t.” Steve sighed “But she sideswiped me asking for a damned cat and I said maybe, so…”

“You fucking moron.”

“Whatever, listen, that’s not why I’m calling anyway.” Steve sighed, his voice growing serious. “I need a favour, Buck.”

“I’m listening.” Bucky replied, before Steve explained the predicament and possible solution. When he finished there was a pause and Bucky let out a long whistle. “Man, that’s…”

“I know, I know.” Steve sighed “But I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. Katie’s heartbroken Emmy can’t get home.”

“Well, we can’t have the second most important woman in my life upset now can we?” Bucky replied “Leave it with me.”

“Cheers buddy.”

“You’ll owe me a life time of favours if I can pull this off.”

“We’ll call it quits for you almost getting me couched.”

“Not my fault you can’t say no to your likkle Princessa.” Bucky responded and Steve snorted.

“You’ve met her, right?”

There as another pause and Bucky laughed “Point taken.”

“Not a word to Katie.” Steve instructed “Just in case you can’t do it.”

“You seriously doubt me after all this time?” Bucky sighed “That hurts Stevie.”

“You know what else will hurt?” Steve shot back “My foot up your ass.”

“You want me to do this or not?” Bucky scoffed “Because threatening me aint gonna make me wanna do you any favours.”

“No but not wanting to see my wife upset is.”

“You fight dirty, Steven.” Bucky’s voice was low and Steve could imagine the narrowed eyes he was pulling as he spoke. “Okay, I’ll call Sam now. Leave it with me.”

“Thanks Buck.”

Steve cut the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, running a hand over his beard. Buck was right, it was a big ask and ridiculously over the top but, well, nothing was too much for him where his family was concerned. And after everything they’d been through this year what with Flossie’s horrific birth and Katie’s post-partum depression, his amazingly brave and gorgeous wife deserved the damned world. With a sigh he yanked open the fridge as he pulled out Katie’s wine and a beer for him, simply hoping that it worked.

**** “You good?” Steve asked as Jamie hopped into the back of the Q7, taking his place on the rear row of seats.

“Yup.” Jamie grinned “I prefer it back here, Rori can’t bug me.”

“Wanna bet?” Rori turned her head and peered at him from her place in the middle of the second row and Steve shot her a look.

“Enough. I hear one sound outta you that’s annoying him, we’re coming straight home.” He said sternly. Rori eyed him shrewdly, as if weighing up whether he was serious or not and he raised his eyebrows, challenging her.

“Ok Daddy.” She shrugged, turning back round. Steve shot Jamie a wink as turned and collapsed Flossie’s little stroller. He slotted it down the side of Jamie’s seat before he shut the trunk and then quickly inspected the roof rack. Satisfied he looked up just as Katie came out of the house, Flossie on her hip, Harry jumping down the steps in front of her. He headed over to his dad and peeked up, Steve giving a laugh as his little woollen hat slipped down over his eyes.

“Come here, buddy.” He said, swinging him into his arms. The little boy gave a giggle as Steve pulled his hat straight so he could see.

“Thanks Daddy!” he smiled and Steve pressed a kiss to his rosy cheek.

“No problem. You ready to get a tree?”

He nodded “Big one!” he threw his arms out wide and Steve nodded seriously.

“The biggest.”

Ten minutes or so later they were sailing out of Brooklyn in the winter morning sun, heading for the tree farm some forty or so minutes away. True to her word, Rori was behaving and chatting to Harry, Jamie was quiet in the back doing something on his tablet and Katie was gently humming to something on the radio. Steve’s hand reached over for hers and he entwined their fingers, gently bringing her arm across his body, pressing a kiss to her wrist.

The journey pass uneventfully and as Steve announced they had arrived the kids all gave a cheer. He parked the car up and then the disembarking began along with issued orders for Jamie and Rori to stay where they were as they sorted the youngest two.

“I think I’ll just carry Floss.” Katie glanced around. “Pushing her stroller is gonna be a pain. I’ll put her in the carrier.”

“You sure?” Steve asked “I would say I’d do it but…”

“You’re gonna be carrying trees, yeah I know.” Katie waved him away. “Its fine, she’s not heavy. Besides, she’ll be too big to do this with next year.”

Steve smiled at her wistful tone, and between them they had Flossie strapped to Katie’s back in no time, having become experts at it over the years. Katie glanced over her shoulder as Flossie gave her a hug grin, before she peeked around and started to gabble animatedly.

“Ready?” Steve looked around and held the hand that wasn’t containing the saw out, Rori taking it as Katie took Harry’s, Jamie falling into step at her other side next to Steve who strategically placed himself between his eldest son and Rori to avoid any potential arguments between the two siblings.

“Want me to take that Dad?” Jamie asked, nodding to the saw. Steve hesitated then shrugged, it had the safety cover on so he handed it over, Jamie slinging it over his shoulder proudly, stepping in front of them a little and Harry wriggled his hand free of Katie’s and ran forward to take Jamie’s. Jamie smiled down at him and Steve shared a glance with Katie as she smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. The family made their way to the entrance and as they approached the various little trade stands, one of which was selling various hot drinks and baked snacks. Katie took a deep breath and smiled, the warming scents of spices, cinnamon and pine hitting her nostrils.

“Smells exactly the same.” She beamed and then frowned as Steve was looking around, blatantly not listening to her as he was busy studying something to their right.

“Hey!” she tugged on his hand and he glanced down at her.

“Sorry, honey.” He diverted his attention “Just saw someone I know.”

“Oh, from work?” she asked.

“Not exactly.” He nodded in the direction he had been looking and Katie spun at the same time Rori let out a shriek.

“Emmy!” she yelled, wrenching her hand free of Steve’s and bolting towards her sister as she strode towards them alongside Peter, Bucky and Sam.

“I don’t-how?” Katie was struggling for words at the sheer emotion of seeing her eldest daughter, who should still be stranded in England, sweeping Rori into hug. “Steve? What?”

“You got Bucky and Sam to thank.” He said gently, as she spun between them all, before she strode forward meeting Emmy halfway and throwing her arms around her.

“Hey mom!” Emmy smiled, before she pulled back and gently waggled Flossie’s hand. “Hi Floss!”

“How did you get here?” Katie sniffed, wiping her eyes, chuckling before she gave Pete a hug.

“Quinjet.” Emmy grinned “It was awesome. Hey Dad!”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Steve swept her up into a huge hug, picking her up slightly off the ground kissing her head. “Nice to have you home.”

“Hold up, a Quinjet?” Katie looked at Emmy, then to Bucky who shrugged.

“Yeah well Steve rang me last night begging for my help…” he began, putting on a whiney voice “Please Buck, I can’t do this without you Buck, you know the usual.” Steve rolled his eyes as Bucky sniggered. “So, me and Birdbrain set off on a daring rescue mission.”

“Yeah, we totally used and abused Fury’s equipment.” Sam chuckled, as he pressed a kiss to Katie’s cheek as he gave her a hug. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”

“Oh, screw him!” Katie gave a laugh as she turned to Bucky, wrapping her arms round him. “Thank you so much!”

“Anything for you darlin’” he beamed before she stepped back and spun to face Steve, reaching up and grabbing his face. With a smile she pulled him down to meet her in a long, deep kiss.

“Thank you.” She whispered against his lips, and he beamed at her, his nose brushing hers. “I love you, so much.”

“Love you too.” He smiled, before he drew himself up, a little embarrassed at their PDA in front of his two friends and the kids. “Right, who’s ready to go tree picking?”

“We’ll leave you to it.” Bucky smirked as various excited shouts rang out around them. “I’ve got stuff to do with Jen and Sam’s…ahhhh, crap.” The smile on his face turned into a grimace and Steve spun round to see a familiar figure in a trench coat and eyepatch stood by a black SUV watching from a distance.

“Son of a-” Steve snorted, shaking his head as Fury started walking towards of them. “He still knows everything.”

“You have no idea. “Sam muttered.

“Oh, trust me, we do.” Katie grinned as Fury stopped in front of them.

“Someone wanna tell me why one of my jets was in London this morning?” Fury looked at Bucky, then to Sam, then to Peter, all three of them giving him an innocent look.

“Well, there was a thing.” Bucky shrugged “Emergency.”

“Emergency.” Fury dead panned “So nothing to do with a certain Miss Rogers and Mr Parker being stuck in London in snow storm?”

“How do you know this stuff?” Bucky looked at him.

“I told you Barnes, you wanna get one up on me you gotta keep both eyes open.” He levelled him with a look. “Happy called me in a flap to see if I could action a pick up and I told him I wasn’t running a damned Uber service. And then one of them went missing so I put two and two together and looks like I came up with four” He paused and shrugged, smirking a little “Plus, you forgot to wipe the mission log.”

“Damned it Tin Man!” Sam shoved Bucky “You dick, I told you!”

As the two men began to squabble Fury raised his eyebrows and turned to Steve and then Katie, a small smile flickered across his face “Nova, Cap. Long-time no see.”

“Hi Nick.” Steve smiled, reaching out and shaking his hand.

Fury jerked his head as Katie shook his hand, his eyes roving over each of their kids in turn. “I’ll say. You’ve been busy I see.”

Katie gave a huff “One way of putting it.”

Nick arched an eyebrow before he sighed and turned to Bucky and Sam who were still bickering. “Imma let this one slide.” He spoke loudly, the two men instantly turning to face him. “But only because it’s the holidays and I’m in a good mood.”

“You know technically Stark Industries owns half those jets. Tony paid for and designed a lot of the tech on them after all.” Katie quipped and Nick looked at her, before he let out a laugh.

“You’re more like your brother than you’ll ever care to admit” he shook his head as she snorted, pointing at her.

“Worse people to be like.” She smiled fondly, and Fury gave one last scoff before he turned to Sam and Bucky.

“I’ll see you two later. Now, imma go get me some churros then split.” He looked back at them all “Merry Christmas.”

As they all waved him off, watching the curious glances he attracted as he strode towards the hot food stand and then Harry tugged on Steve’s sleeve, causing him to turn his attention from Fury to the little boy.

“Daddy, who’s the pirate?” Harry asked.

There was a pause before Katie burst out laughing, Steve following suite as they both shared a knowing glance, remembering Tony’s fond little nickname for their one time director.

The Goth Pirate.

“He’s an old friend of mine and your momma’s “Steve explained before he glanced up, not surprised to find that once more Fury had disappeared from sight. “We haven’t seen him in a while. And I doubt we will again for a long time.”

There were more hugs shared and after another final thank you to Sam and Bucky, Katie demanding they come over later for drinks, the four remaining adults and four kids all headed into the farm and the chaos began as they began to scout for their perfect trees.

“So we need two large ones.” Katie spoke, “And one for Emmy and Pete in the Cabin and a smaller one for Rori’s room.” she paused “Jamie, did you want one for your room too?”

“Nah, it’s okay.” He shook his head “Thanks though.”

“So four over all.” Steve nodded. “Okay gang, let’s find us some trees.”

They decided to get Rori’s first as it would be smaller and easier to carry once they’d picked it. They set about walking down the various aisles, and before long the jokes started flowing and they were getting worse and worse with time.

“What would you get if you ate the Christmas decorations?” Pete asked and Jamie looked at him, arching a brow. “Tinselitis.”

“Oh God.” Emmy snorted “That’s as bad as one of dad’s”

“Which reminds me.” Steve said, a smirk on his face, “Did you guys hear the forecast for Christmas eve? They’re predicting rain, deer…”

Katie and Emmy both let out a groan as Jamie and Peter howled with laughter.

“What do you call an elf that runs away from Santa’s workshop?” Jamie asked and Steve paused before he shrugged.

“No idea.”

“A rebel without a Clause…”

Katie, Steve, Emmy and Pete burst out laughing as Pete held out his hand to hi-five him. Jamie grinned.

“That’s a good one buddy.” Steve chuckled. “Where did you hear that?”

“Moo text me before.” He smiled “She said her and Auntie Pep had been googling them to put in their cards this year.”

“Like Father like daughter.” Katie smiled to herself, a little nostalgically as a memory of her brother crashed over her and Steve pulled her a little closer, his hand tightening on hers as he dropped a kiss to her head.

After half an hour or so of scouting and plenty of excited shouts and laughter, Rori paused in front of a tree that was the same height as her and she gave a gasp.

“Daddy, that one.” She pointed.

“You sure?” he cocked his head to one side. The tree was leaning to one side, the branches completely uneven, sticking out at all angles and the top was bent. “It’s a bit-”

“It’s perfect.” Rori insisted.

“Okay Princess, whatever you say.”  He looked at Katie as she smiled, her hand dropping to the back of Rori’s head. “Jamie, you got the saw?”

“Yup.” Jamie nodded, passing it over and they all watched as Steve gripped the trunk of the small tree with one hand a little higher up and began to cut it towards the bottom. He could have easily snapped the trunk with his bare hands but he played the part and in four strong swipes it pulled free with a little crack and Rori gave a shriek and clapped her hands.

“I love it!”

Once the safety cover was back on the saw they continued their search, walking towards the slightly bigger trees they spotted and Katie paused in front of a large, Norwegian spruce and reached out, gently crushing one of the needles between her fingers. She took a sniff and stepped back, nodding.

“That one.”

“I still can’t believe you pick them with the smell.” Steve shook his head.

“It’s not all the smell.” She protested “There’s a lot to consider. The height, width and spacing of the branches…this one’s just right for the corner in the lounge. And that one two down will do for the hallway.”

Steve chuckled, knowing better than to argue. “Positive?”

Katie nodded and once more Jamie passed him the saw. This time they all stepped back as Steve crouched down on the ground, expertly cutting the trunk and just the right place. As he took the final swipe, the tree pitched over to a loud shout of “Timberrrrr” from Jamie and Peter and it landed with a thud.

Harry gave a loud cackle and clapped, Flossie shrieking too as Steve then moved two down and repeated the action with a slightly smaller one that would sit in the entrance lounge directly in front of the photo of the pair of them at their wedding, so it would be the first thing anyone saw as they walked into the house.

Emmy strode past the tree to one that was behind it and then nodded to Pete “I think this one will do. I kinda like the way it fans out at the bottom.”

“Sure, Em.” He smiled “Mr R?”

“Oh, here.” Steve handed him the saw and watched as Pete cut his and Emmy’s first Christmas tree down, his arm round Katie’s waist, lips softly kissing Flossie’s cheek as the baby grinned. He arched an eyebrow as Emmy pressed a kiss to Pete’s lips, giving a soft huff as Katie dug him in the ribs, shooting him a warning glance which he returned with an innocent one of his own.

“Well, that was easy.” Emmy commented “It took us 2 hours last year.”

“They need to be right.” Katie shrugged simply, Steve and Emmy exchanging a look before Steve watched as Pete hoisted his tree easily onto his shoulder. It still surprised Steve how strong Peter was, even though it shouldn’t, he knew he was enhanced after all.

“I’ll take Rori’s, Dad.” Jamie stepped forwards, puffing his chest out a little, picking the smaller tree up easily and placing it on his shoulder, in an identical manner to Pete. Steve actively fought the urge to laugh as Jamie began to walk besides Peter and Emmy, clearly proud as punch at being able to help before he turned to Katie.

“Don’t say it.”

Katie laughed “Oh I’m gonna.” she smirked “If he was any more like you I’d be convinced he was a clone.”

Steve snorted as he bent down and easily lifted their two trees onto his shoulders, before they followed a little slower due to Harry being with them. Steve maneuvered around the other tree pickers as they went, his boot clad feet traipsing on the damp of the ground as they made their way back towards the main entrance and joined Pete, Emmy and Jamie at the place ready to pay. As the various helpers, all dressed in little Elf outfits bustled around to wrap their trees and strap them to the roof of the Audi, Katie was suddenly struck with a little problem.

“Hang on.” she turned to Emmy as she thanked the man who’d been dealing with and handed over the cash. “How are you two gonna get home if Bucky and Sam left?”

At that Pete gave a little grin and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, “Mr Wilson let me borrow his Chevvy.”

“Yeah they went home on Buck’s bike.” Emmy shrugged and at that Steve let out a huge laugh.

“What?” Katie asked.

“Sorry, I’m just picturing those two riding pillion.” He snorted “I give it five minutes before Sam ended up tells Buck to let him off on account of him driving his Ducatti like a maniac.”

“You’ve no room to talk.” Katie scoffed and Steve looked at her with mock outrage.

“Mom?” Jamie asked and Katie turned to him “Can we get a drink now please?”

“Sure, come on.” She smiled and they headed over to the stall. She purchased a hot cider each for her, Steve, Emmy and Pete before hot chocolate for each of the kids along with a selection of donuts, churros and Stollen as Steve took Flossie back to the car so they could pop her in the stroller. They made their way over to one of the benches by the side and sat down and Steve returned, parking Flossie besides them before he handed her a piece of a donut and slipped his arm round Katie, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“You have a good time?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She beamed, before she glanced over at the other side of the bench. Jamie was settled to Emmy’s left, talking to her about school, as she nodded along whilst Rori was perched on Peter’s knee as she animatedly told him about how she was going to decorate her tree in unicorn colours. Harry meanwhile sat in between both Pete and Emmy, his little frame chewing on a donut as he grinned at his parents who smiled back. Katie turned to look a Steve again, leaning up to kiss him softly “It’s been perfect, thank you for making sure we were all together.”

“Well it wouldn’t be a Rogers Christmas otherwise would it?” he smiled, kissing her again.

“Get a room.” Emmy grumbled and Steve turned to her as she smirked, shoving a piece of donut in her mouth.

“Watch it young lady.” Steve pointed at her.                      

“Daddy.” Rori asked “Can I go with Pete in their car to Target? I need decorations for my Princess Tree.”

Steve hesitated for a while and Pete hastily cut in “It’s no bother Mr Rogers.”

“Yeah we need some for ours.” Emmy nodded.”So we’re going anyway.”

“I come too?” Harry asked hopefully and Emmy shrugged

“If Momma and Daddy say it’s ok, course you can, squirt.”

Steve looked at Katie who shrugged “Fine by me. Sure you can manage them?”

Emmy rolled her eyes “They’re no bother.” She then turned to Jamie “You wanna come too?”

“Hell no.” he said hastily, peering round at Rori before he shook his head “I’m going home for some peace and quiet.”

Both Steve and Katie let out a loud laugh, as Katie shook her head “Oh Jamie.”

“What?” he frowned.

“Nothing pal.” Steve smiled, reaching for his cider. “Nothing at all.”

#ssholidaychallenge #sageandsweater

#ssholidaychallenge #sageandsweater #stark spangled forever #steve rogers #katie stark #steve rogers x original female character #steve rogers fan fiction #mcu fanfiction #stark spangled #chris evans #chris evans characters

[blu-joons]

You Meet Him At A Fansign ~ Min Yoongi

From the moment you walked into the theatre his eyes were on you, there was something about you that caught his eye, following you all the way through the queue, up the stairs, and in front of the first of the boys, Namjoon, who smiled widely at you.

“Nice to meet you,” he smiled, taking your photo, signing his signature on it. Your heart was pounding as he looked into your eyes, “what’s your name?” He asked, taking the lid off his pen.

“Y/N,” you told him, trying to hold it together as your eyes watched his hand write your name on the photo, followed by a short message and your signature. “I’ve been waiting for so long to meet you guys, I’m so happy to meet all of you guys today.” Oh, really? That’s really kind of you Y/N.”

You giggled loudly, “you’re such a talented rapper by the way.”

A blush appeared on his cheeks, covering his laughter with his hand over his mouth, passing your photo onto the boy next to him, Jin. You moved along the line, having heard you tell Namjoon your name, Jin signed your photo too.

Once he’d written his name, he looked across at you, tapping his pen on the table. “Have you got a favourite BTS song? One you love to shout in the shower when you’re having fun?”

“I love your new album.”

He chuckled, passing on the picture to Taehyung, who also signed your picture, asking how your day was going, and then to Hobi who also wrote his signature under his face, and then to Jimin who did the same, giggling as you told him how nice his outfit looked.

“I also try to look good for Army, so I’m glad that you paid attention to my outfit.”

“You look great,” you giggled, reaching out to high five him, “you’re always the most stylish member of BTS in my opinion, your clothes are really nice.”

“I’m glad you like it, I try hard to make sure I always look good, you’re the first one who has complimented me on my outfit today,” he told you, smiling widely.

Your eyes widened, feeling the person beside you begin to nudge you towards Jungkook who was next, “well even if no one else thinks it, I think you look really nice.”

“Thank you, that means a lot to me. Enjoy the rest of the event, we’ll do our best.”

In the corner of his eye, Yoongi spotted you in front of Jungkook, he turned to face you, smiling weakly, whilst still trying to focus on the fan who was before him. His heart was pounding seeing you so close, for such a long time today he’d been spotting you in the crowd, and now there was barely a metre between the two of you.

He frowned however, as he watched you reach into your bag, pulling out a plush toy, passing it across to Jungkook who smiled. He picked it up, studying it closely, placing it in front of him as he added his signature to your photo.

“I saw it yesterday when I arrived and thought of you instantly,” you told him.

“It’s a really sweet gift, I’ll add it to my collectables on my shelf in the dorm.”

The two of you chatted for a while, Jungkook asked you about where you came from, remembering the concert the boys had done there before. You knew there was no way he could remember, and he was just being nice, but that didn’t stop you from laughing.

“Here’s the big question, if I was to ask you your favourite member of BTS, who would you say?” He asked, brushing his hand through his long fringe in front of his eyes.

The question caught Yoongi’s attention, he leaned in slightly to be able to hear what was going on, moving the fan that was in front of him along having signed her photo card and answered all the questions she had for him.

“You can’t ask me that,” you scolded, “It’s impossible to pick a favourite, you’re all equals in my eyes, you all have things you’re good at and reasons to be my favourite.”

He chuckled, nodding his head lightly, leaning across the table, bringing his face millimetres from yours, whispering into your ear, “It’s alright, I know I’m your favourite really.”

You shook your head at his cheekiness, sliding your photocard down so it was in front of Yoongi, feeling Jungkook’s eyes stare you down until the fan who was behind you started talking.

Then you looked across at him, Yoongi’s smile instantly grew, seeing you so close, you looked nicer than he could have ever imagined, taking the photocard and signing it quickly.

“It’s nice to meet you Y/N,” he whispered, giggling nervously, revealing his gummy smile. It made you blush, turning away from his eyes to the table.

You laughed, before asking, “how did you know my name?” He pointed to the photocard where Namjoon had earlier written your name, causing your cheeks to darken once more.

“So, how long have you been a fan of us for? It takes a lot of dedication to wait in these queues to see us,” he complimented, brushing his hands through his hair, looking up at you with a huge smile.

He felt slightly insignificant having seen you give Jungkook the toy, even though he liked you, perhaps he wasn’t your favourite member after all. If you preferred Jungkook, then he had no choice in getting your attention, everyone loved Jungkook, it was impossible to ever be able to compete with him.

You tilted your head, admiring his smile, clearing your throat, “for a few years now, but I’ve always wanted to see you guys in person. I’ve watched loads of fan videos of meet and greets, and they always look lots of fun for the fans.”

“We try our hardest to be able to make them as fun as possible, so would you say we’ve done that for you?” Your head nodded, looking at the photocard, you’d got everything you wanted and more.

“It’s been really good, and all the queuing was definitely worth it. I’m glad you’re on the end of the line too, saving the best until last and all that,” you encouraged.

He tried hard to keep himself calm, but on the inside, he was excited, hearing you speak so kindly of him brought a smile to his face, struggling to hide it from you and try not to freak out, making a fool of himself.

The two of you talked a little more, you asked him what projects he was working on, but he scolded you, reminding you all of that would be top secret. You desperately tried to coerce him into spilling some secrets, but he remained tight lipped, no matter how hard it was for him not to share.

He took your photocard as you were nudged to begin moving along the line, he turned it over, taking the lid off of his pen, “do you mind if I write on this?” He asked, to which you nodded, trying to figure out what it was he wrote, before he turned it over and slid it over to you.

“Thank you for being so nice,” you smiled, placing the card in your pocket, “I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the fan meeting, and get some rest after.”

“I will do, I hope you enjoyed yourself too,” he smiled, waving as you walked down the steps from the stage.

Once you were a safe distance away from the stage, you turned the card over, studying the message that Yoongi had written. Your breath hitched, running your finger over it to make sure it was real, the pen had dried, and would remain forever, the perfect memory to finish your day, and help you look to the future too.

Y/N, here’s my number, I’ve had my eye on you all day, and would love to spend some time with you properly away from all the chaos. Let me know when you’re free, Yoongi x

---

Masterlist

#bts #bts imagine #yoongi #yoongi imagine #min yoongi #min yoongi imagine #suga #suga imagine #min suga #bts reaction #bts scenario #bts drabble #bts one shot #yoongi drabble #yoongi one shot #yoongi fluff #bangtan #bangtan sonyeondan #kpop #kpop imagine

[svtshine]

Meeting Vernon for the first time

title: A meeting by chance

pairing: Hansol x reader

genre: oneshot, scenario

about: fluff, fansign!au

summary: you weren’t actually a fan of seventeen however your roommate was a big fan of their band. She was supposed to attend their fansign but she unfortunately fell sick that day and begged you to go in her place, to get their signatures.

“please Y/n, please you have to go in my place. i’m BEGGING you.” your roommate pleaded you, sniffing, while hugging your arm. You rolled your eyes and continued playing your game. “F/n, you need to stay away from me. i don’t need your flu germs as much as i love you” your roommate sighed, adjusting the surgical mask she was wearing and wrapped the fluffy blankets closer to her.

“Y/n, this is a chance of a lifetime. if i can’t go YOU have to go FOR me. please” she begged you again and showing you her puppy eyes. “I’ll uh do your laundry for one and a half month” you hummed and shrugged your shoulders, showing that you weren’t interested in her deal.

“Fine, i’ll fix you your meals and always restock the snack basket for you” you blinked at her and gave her a look saying, you know better than that. “FINE a new skateb-“

“deal.” you said, eyes still focused on your game

your roommate jumped and hugged you while squealing. “thank you sooo much, okay i definitely owe you”

“yes F/n, you do”

“i can’t believe i got sick....this is horrible. But at least i have you, now get off your game. i need to teach you some stuff you have to do for me at the fansign”

“i’m finishing, go eat your meds and then we’ll talk”

your roommate nodded, couldn’t fight with you anyways.

After finishing up your match, you stretched your arms and neck finding them a little stiff after playing too long. You walked out of your little apartment to where you found your roommate finishing up her soup that you made earlier in the morning. you pulled out a chair and joining her at the dining table. you placed your chin on your hand and looked to the right, looking at the bag of stuff on the couch

“ok Y/n, there’s 13 members. And i have a newer album for them to sign on. i’ve packed goodies and specific items to give each member. so just try to listen out for their name and you’d be able to give it to them” you nodded. 13 members, that’s a lot, you thought.

“Anyways you gotta reach there early and start queuing. Thank you so much again, try not to get lost babe” You sighed, and watched her finish eating and then helped her wash the dishes and made sure she went to bed.

you looked through the bag of goodies and you also found pictures next to each members name. Vernon, you found. You carefully picked up his item and brushed your fingertips at his picture so as to not crumple anything. He’s gorgeous i should also probably learn abit more about them for tomorrow

you just wanted to learn about vernon.

American-South Korean rapper. real name is Hansol, 1.78 metres, 22 years old. He’s older than you. positioned as main rapper and in the Hip-hop unit

hmm not bad, pretty muscular too. you thought to yourself, looking at his form and couldn’t help but stare into his mesmerising eyes, even if it was a photograph.

you even watched their HOME;RUN MV since you were curious as to the music they produce. You couldn’t help it when your eyes continued following vernon dancing and rapping the whole times

for some reason you just couldn’t look away.

Anyways you shook your head and checked the time before deciding it was better for you to turn in for tomorrow’s event.

When the next morning came, you woke up early, washed up, and had breakfast before checking your roommate if she needed anything. F/n was still asleep so you took abit longer in choosing your outfit, a simple cropped sweater set and jeans. Clipping your hand in a claw clip before carrying the bag filled with seventeen items and your ticket and heading out.

You were definitely slightly shocked at the amount of people who were already waiting patiently for the even to start, but your roommate did warn you about being early beforehand. You read the signs and went to queue for your turn. You waited almost an hour or two, waiting for the time your name would finally be called to lineup front

Now you could see the boys lined up in a row. Your roommate was right when she said that these boys, they literally sparkled. You turned to look at every one of them, your gaze lingering on one specific member. you got ready your things as you started off with the first member in the row, Seungcheol. The boys were actually very friendly and warm towards their fans, and although you had explained why sometimes you needed to ask for their name because you were only helping out a friend, they still treated you with respect and asked about you.

it was nice to see how the boys kindly treat their supporters. You finally got to Joshua, your palms were getting a bit sweaty since the next member was vernon.

Joshua flashed you a warm smile, which reminded you of sunshine and teddy bears.

“What’s your name.” joshua said getting ready to sign on the album. “oh uh, i’m Y/n, but could you help me sign off with F/n.” you replied.

Joshua looked at you kind of curious as to how you were abit more calm as compared to previous fans when meeting him and the rest.

“i’m here for a friend, she was supposed to come but she fell sick yesterday and didn’t want to risk spreading her awful germs to anyone. i didn’t really know you guys, but my friend really complimented all of you” you smiled awkwardly.

joshua gave you a nod and a look saying he understood what you were saying. “Wow your roommate must be lucky to have a friend who would do so much for her, even when she doesn’t know the band. tell her to get well soon for me.” he smiled and signed on the album while initiating a conversation with you. Joshua was very welcoming, and he made the conversation very comfortable so you were pretty immersed in it.

Vernon finished signing the album of the fan infront of him when he looked up and his eyes landed on you. his heart unconsciously skipped a beat and he didn’t understand why he felt a pull towards you. Of course you were one of the prettiest girls he has ever met, but he just felt attracted to you. when Joshua raised his hand to give you a high five and the both of you locked hands for a while. Vernon felt a need to pull you away from him. the sight of you smiling towards Joshua and not him, slightly bummed him.

it was so weird how fast he felt a connection with you. it was like he couldn’t take his eyes off you. But he had to, focusing on the fan infront of him and waving her off, knowing you were next.

you bid goodbye to Joshua as the staff requested that you moved to the next member. Your heart started beating faster as you placed the album infront of vernon and picked up his item from the bag to pass it to him. He smiled and thanked you for the gift. Vernon’s smile left you mesmerised and for a while you stared at him

“What’s your name” Vernon said in a voice that left you nervous

“Y/n, ah but this album is for a friend so if you don’t mind, could you use F/n. i watched an MV of your song for the first time yesterday and you were probably the most amazing i felt. but don’t tell the rest, they were awesome too.” the last part you sort of whispered

but vernon heard every word you and his cheeks started blushing slightly.

“Thank you Y/n, you know i don’t say this a lot but i think, in this hall, you shine the brightest.” Vernon gave you a bigger smile and reached for your hand, interlocking them with his. you were amazed and shocked by how much your smaller hand fit inside his way bigger hand. he swayed your hands side to side as he continued writing on the album while engaging a conversation with you.

Vernon made you feel like the only two people in this room were the two of you. you felt an attraction for him that you’ve never felt for anyone before.

however, soon it was time to move on to the next member. Vernon gave you a slight pout and wrote something swiftly on a piece of paper and sliding in into the album. He winked at you and you knew that message was for you.

He was the third last member thus you soon reached the end of the line and you bid goodbye to DK, the last member.

You stayed a little while afterwards for one performance. It was definitely dazzling, watching them dance in tune to each other, smiling to the audience and engaging with their fans. You wanted to learn more about them.

Unknowingly, Vernon was always looking at you. The whole time. Even when he was rapping or just standing and waiting for another member to give a speech, his eyes never moved away from you. He rapped his heart out for you. Maybe it was because he loved how excited you looked whenever his part came on, or the smile that grew wider when they danced to the song.

You breathed out a sigh and stretched out your arms when you left the building, sadly you had to check on your roommate and leave for your part time job.

your hand touched your chest where your heart laid. It was a wonderful time, meeting the boys and watching them perform in real life.

oh! you remembered the note that vernon left you. you quickly dugged out the album from your bag and flipped to the pages. The small piece of paper fell and it looked like a napkin.

written in scribbled handwriting,

Y/n

This is the first time i’m doing this for a girl i just met. but something about you, just made me want to know you better. Please call or text me!

+82 XX XXXX XXXX

Yours,

Hansol

your eyes widened at the sight of his message, you fumbled slightly and quickly found your found and typed in his number.

You stared at his contact, and a big smile grew on your face.

You were definitely going to thank your friend for this meeting by chance

Masterlist

#vernon #seventeen #svt #scenario #hansol #Vernon x reader #vernon fluff

[wiypt-writes]

Stark Spangled Forever

A Very Rogers Christmas Part 1- The Best Things In Life Are Tree

Summary: It’s that time of year again and the Rogers family prepare to go and pick their Christmas tree. But when Emmy calls with a bit of bad news, it puts a little downer on the whole thing for Katie and Steve decides to call in reinforcements to pull off the best Christmas Heist he can…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x OFC Katie Stark

A/N: So here we go, Part 1 of my Stark Spangled 2020 Christmas special- A Very Rogers Christmas.  This one was written for For @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ and @sagechanoafterdark ‘s Winter/Holiday Challenge.

Prompt- Finding the PERFECT Tree.

"Daddy, I found something else I want to ask Santa for, for Christmas." Rori bounced into the study and Steve closed his eyes on the papers he was trying to grade and sighed. "I bet you have." He mumbled before he glanced up at his daughter and couldn't help but smile at her as she skipped over to him, her long pony tail swinging behind her "What is it, Princess?" "A capybara." she said, scrambling up onto his lap. "A what?" Steve frowned. "A capybara. Look!" she turned the tablet she was holding towards him to show him a picture of the brown animal "They're like huge guinea pigs. I saw one at the zoo with Uncle Buck yesterday and when I said I wanted one he told me to tell you that I was gonna ask Santa." "Course he did." Steve sighed, mentally cursing his asshole best friend. "You know, Rori, don't think Santa can get you one of those." "Why not?" "It’s too big." He attempted “There’s nowhere for us to keep it.” "Our garden is huge!" Rori blinked at him. "And when Emmy and Petey move into the Tower he can live in the cabin." Trust her to be as damned smart as her mother. "They're wild animals honey." Steve shook his head as he tried attempt number two. "But they live in a zoo." Rori looked up at him, her face full of eager excitement “That’s not the wild.” "Yeah but that’s different." Steve reasoned patiently. "They're not like dogs or cats or regular guinea pigs. They need very special care.” "Oh." Rori looked down a little, her shoulders slumping and Steve sighed.

Fuck you, Bucky.

"Okay. Never mind." She clicked off the screen of her tablet and turned towards Steve, looking up at him with those damned green eyes. "Do you think he could get me a kitty instead?"

No, just say no… "Maybe."

Way to go, Rogers. Rori's eyes lit up and Steve inwardly groaned. It was a well-known fact in their house that whenever Dad said maybe, it meant yes. Fuck.

“I love you Daddy!” she beamed, reaching up to press a kiss to his bearded cheek before she hopped off his lap and skipped towards the door “Oh, me and momma are going to make gingerbread men for tomorrow so we can have them when we decorate the tree.”

“Can’t wait baby.” He smiled

“Are you gonna be working tomorrow afternoon?” she asked a little shyly and he shook his head.

“No, I promise.”  He assured her. “All day tomorrow is family day.”

She gave him another huge smile, one that truly warmed his entire being as it made her look even more like his wife, and then headed out of the room, her feet pattering on the tiles of the hallway as she skipped back into the other part of the house. Steve exhaled and looked back down at the paper, groaning as he realised he’d lost his place. He’d been home early that afternoon hoping for more peace and quiet than he got in his office at the University to concentrate on getting through all these and for the most it had worked, until Jamie and Rori had arrived home from school full of it as usual. Katie had kept them out of his way for the most but the realisation that Christmas was well on the way had hit the eldest two and whipped them up into a fever.

Not that Steve particularly cared. He adored this time of year. It was Katie’s holiday and from the day after Thanksgiving the Christmas period started in full throttle in the Rogers household, and they’d picked tomorrow, 2 weeks before the schools broke up, to go and pick the trees for their lounge and hallway. He was a little disappointed that it hadn’t snowed yet, there had been a good covering the previous year but, still it was set to be a cold and dry day so they could still get bundled up and have their hot chocolate and snacks as usual.

He rubbed at his eyes and focussed, reading through the paper in front of him on the ‘Strategy, Diplomacy and politics of Axis and Allied forces in WW2’, wishing to God he was marking something on the course he was actually employed to teach now- Fine Arts- but all those had been done and graded last week. This was the module of History that he taught, because as the Uni said- he was a living, breathing expert.

Aparently.

An hour or so later he finished red-penning the final six paged essay, with a proud smile as that one had been particularly good and he quickly checked it over once more, making sure he’d captured all the notes on the electronic copy and queued it up to send on Monday, just like Katie had shown him how to, so that each student had the hard copy and soft copy back. He stood up, stretched, turned off his laptop and headed through to the main area of the house, the smell of baking and cooking hitting his nostrils as he went.

He walked into the kitchen to find Rori kneeling on one of the tall stools over the island-slash-breakfast bar, her hands and face smeared in pink icing as she decorated a gingerbread man, her little tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration. Katie was stood supervising Harry who was also covered in frosting, this one bright green. Flossie sat in the highchair opposite, banging a spoon on the tray occasionally letting out a yell or babble of something incoherent. As soon as she saw Steve she gave a huge grin and her shouts became louder and he smiled.

“Hi Floss-Floss!” he beamed, crossing to drop a kiss to her head before he looked across at Katie “Where’s Jamie?”

“Upstairs in his room.” Katie gave a little sigh “He said, and I quote, ‘I’m ten now, far too old to decorate gingerbread, mom.’ I could have cried there and then Steve.” She finished with a pout.

Steve gave her a sympathetic smile, the fact her eldest baby boy was growing up was something he knew she hated “Yeah, I bet he won’t be too old to eat them, though.” He appeased and she smiled.

“That’s what I said.” Rori gave a dramatic roll of her eyes and Steve chuckled.

“You finished Grading?” Katie asked as she gently guided Harry’s hand over the cookie shaped like a Christmas tree.

“Yeah, all done. Sorry it took so long.”

“It’s okay.” She looked up at him, smiling “Your dinner is in the oven. I already ate with the kids. Sorry, I was starving.”

“I didn’t expect you to wait.”  Steve walked over the room and dropped a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks, Sweetheart.”

He made his way over to the Aga stove and opened the door, giving a little groan when he saw she’d done his favourite, a Mac and Cheese bake laced with chicken, chorizo and broccoli. He turned to look at her and didn’t miss the flicker of a smile on her face as she knew what he was thinking, before he pulled out the plate giving a yell as it burnt his fingers, dropping it onto the side with a clatter.

“Careful daddy, hot!” Harry turned to face him, and Katie burst out laughing.

“Yeah, thanks Son.” Steve tried not to roll his eyes as he sucked his thumb. Grabbing a tea-towel he gripped the plate, found some cutlery and sat down at the table to the side of the kitchen, tucking in.

“I finished all mine, Momma.” Rori grinned, placing the tube of squeezy frosting down on the side. Steve watched as Katie moved to look over Rori’s shoulder.

“Good job sweetie.” She smiled, “Creative, I’ve never seen a pink cat before.”

Steve paused and looked at Rori as she grinned “I know they’re not really pink, and my kitty won’t be, but it can have a pink collar.”

At that he winced and hastily shoved another forkful of food into his mouth, praying that the conversation stopped there.

Katie sighed “Rori we’ve been over this, you can’t have a cat.”

“Daddy said I could.”

Shit.

Katie’s eyes shot to Steve and he gave her his best innocent look, but from the way her features grew stern he knew he was utterly busted and he swallowed the food in his mouth which turned to cement in his throat.

“No, that’s not what I said.” Steve shook his head.

“You said maybe.” Rori shrugged “Same thing.”

“We getting a kitty?” Harry asked, looking at Katie.

“No.” she shook her head.

“But I asked Daddy if Santa would bring me one and he said maybe.” Rori looked at Katie.

“Well Daddy is wrong.” She glared at Steve and he visibly shrank in his seat. Katie’s green eyes narrowed before they turned back to Rori. “Santa can’t bring live animals. It’s in the rules.”

“What rules?”

“The Christmas Rules” Katie said quickly “No live animals. It’s not fair on them. They don’t like the sleigh.”

“But…”

“No buts Rori.” Katie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose “I’m sorry honey, but it’s not gonna happen.”

Rori pouted a little but she knew when she was beat and glanced down at the cookies on the tray before she looked up, grinning smugly. “I’ll just ask Uncle Bucky to get me one. He got me Dory.”

“Oh for the love of…” Katie spluttered “Uncle Bucky won’t get you one either.”

“Why not?”

“Because I’ll tell him not to.” Katie looked at her “We have Stark. No more animals.”

Rori folded her arms and at that point Steve stepped in, sensing an impending tantrum.

“Aurora.” He said sternly and she turned her head to face him as he pointed his fork at her. “Enough.”

She glared at him before she sighed and looked at Katie “Can I get down now please?”

Katie obliged and pulled her stool out a little allowing Rori to hop down. “Stay right there little miss.”

“Why?” Rori frowned as Katie headed to the sink, coming back with a cloth. With a groan, Rori held out her hands so Katie could wipe them clean, along with the little smear of icing on her face “20 minutes and then its bath time. We’re up early in the morning.”

“Ooh, yeah!” Rori bounced excitedly “To pick our trees. Hey, can I get one for my room?”

Katie hesitated before she shrugged “You know, I saw some in the shop that already have the lights on and they change colour. We’ll get a big one for the lounge and hallway like normal and I’ll get you a special one. And you get to keep it for next year and the year after.”

Rori pondered this for a moment before she shook her head “I want a real one from the farm.”

Katie groaned, and threw her hands out to the side “Fine, just, go and watch TV or something in the Play Room.”

“I watch TV too please, Momma?” Harry asked and Katie nodded, cleaning him up too before she lifted him down off the stool. He toddled after Rori, yelling for her to wait and as soon as they were gone Katie rounded on Steve.

“Honey, I…” he began and winced as she exploded on him.

“Seriously? A damned cat?”

“She caught me unawares.”

“She always catches you unawares!” Katie scoffed “After six, almost seven years I’d have thought you’d be used it by now.”

“I only said-“

“And as usual I’m left to be the bad guy.” Katie ranted, shaking her head as she moved to turn Flossie’s chair so she was facing the table. “You’re an asshole.”

“This is technically Bucky’s fault.”

“Oh, no, Steven Grant Rogers! Don’t you are try and blame this one on Buck.” She hissed.

“But he took her to the zoo and told her to ask for a capybara!” Steve practically whined “When I said no she asked for a cat, the maybe just slipped out.” Katie paused, her arms folded, face furious and Steve peered up at her giving her a little smile “Don’t be mad, come on baby. I didn’t mean it.”

“You’re still an asshole.” She grumbled, before she crossed to the fridge and pulled out the wine. “And for that you can deal with bedtime. I’m going for a bath.”

“Sure, not a problem.” Steve nodded, swallowing more of his food. Katie poured herself a large glass before she moved to put the bottle back and then changed her mind. With the bottle in one hand, full glass in the other she made for the door. “I love you.” Steve shot as she passed him, and despite her annoyed demeanour, the slight smile that played on her face told him he wasn’t in too much trouble.  

****

All kids were bathed and in bed little over an hour later. The youngest three settled down to sleep, Jamie instructed he had an hour of TV or reading time before lights off.

“Ok Dad.” He nodded, running his hand through his hair as he tidied up his games console a little, Stark curled up on the bed.

“I’ll be in to check.” Steve looked at him, and Jamie rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, I got it. You can trust me.”

“I know.” Steve gave a chuckle “Night son.” He crossed the room to drop a kiss to his head and Jamie pushed him away.

“Gerroff, I’m ten.”

“Yeah, well, you’re still my kid so…” Steve grumbled, and Jamie burst into laughter as the pair of them began to play fight, Jamie digging Steve in the ribs with a well-aimed jab. “Ouch! “ Steve stood up, rubbing at his side, that had hurt a little too much for his liking. “Nice shot.”

“Bucky said I had a good right hook.”

Steve rolled his eyes “I don’t wanna know how he even found that out.”

“He has a punch bag in the garage.” Jamie shrugged as he flopped down onto his bed. “Like yours. He was teaching me to swing.”

“I could teach you that.” Steve replied, a little petulantly.

“Will you?”

“No. You’re ten.” He shot back and Jamie let out a groan of frustration, before Steve chuckled “Ok, I’ll teach you a little IF you promise not to use it anywhere but on the punch bag.”

“But what if I need to use it?”

“Well, that’s different.” Steve pondered, before he shook his head. “But you’re far too young to be getting into situations like that.”

“Uncle Buck said you were fighting people form the age of six. And getting your ass kicked.”

“Well, you do as I say…”

“Not as I do, yeah I got it.” Jamie grinned and Steve arched an eyebrow before he made his way to the door. He paused and turned back to look at his son, not for the first time taking in how damned tall and broad he was for his age. He pointed to Stark “Don’t let your mother catch him on the bed.”

“You know she says the same thing about you.” Jamie looked at him and Steve chuckled.

“I do, but let’s just pretend I don’t okay?”

“Okay, night dad. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Steve smiled, closing the door behind him.

He made his way back downstairs and into the lounge, and paused as he saw Katie talking into the laptop, her eyes brimming with tears.

“Don’t worry about it.” She said softly, and he could tell she was fighting to keep her face straight as Emmy’s voice came from the other side.

“I’m just gutted we can’t get home to come with you guys for the tree.”

“What’s going on?” Steve frowned as he sat next to Katie on the sofa, looking at Emmy and Peter as they both waved to him on the screen “Hey Kids.”

“The UK has been caught up in a huge snow storm.” Katie turned to him. “Their flight has been cancelled.”

“Bummer.” Steve’s frown deepened “Is there nothing from another airport?”

“Not in London.” Emmy shook her head “And the roads are that bad, even if we managed somewhere else…”

“Don’t wanna risk driving Mr R.” Pete shrugged and Steve had to give it to him, that was a sensible move.

“Wise decision.” Steve bit his lip, before he turned to Katie “Can we not get The Stark jet over? You guys should have used that anyway, not gone commercial.”

The irony of his statement didn’t pass him by, as there’d been a time when he had hated using a private jet as he felt it was ostentatious, but he’d fast learned to live with it as it was less hassle and a damned sight comfier and quicker too.

“I told you we didn’t want to.” Emmy shot back and Peter hastily cut in to prevent an argument.

“Already tried Happy before we called. He can’t get in any airfield be it private or other. I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.” Katie shook her head “If you need anything just call. Have you got a place to stay?”

“Yeah, The Savoy found us another room.” Emmy shrugged before she grimaced “I’m gonna have to put it on my credit card though.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Katie shook her head “Just do what you gotta do, we’ll sort the bill out. Do you need us to wire you some cash or-“

“No, we’ve got enough between us for that.” Pete smiled “Just the hotel. We could get somewhere cheaper if that’s-“

“If it’s that bad out there you can stay where you are.” Steve shook his head. “Don’t worry about the money kids, it’s not important.”

“Just call us if you need anything.” Katie added.

“Thanks Mom. Look, we’re gonna go try and get something to eat and then sleep” Emmy sighed “It’s past 1 am now.”

“Sure, call us tomorrow okay, keep us updated.” Steve instructed and Emmy nodded.

“Will do. Love you both.”

“And you.” Katie smiled “Stay safe, and look after each other.”

“Got it.” Emmy grinned and with that she blew them both a kiss as Peter waved and the screen went blank.

Katie bit her lip before she tapped at the keyboard of her laptop “I’m going to send her some money, just in case. I know she has plenty in her savings, but…”

Steve nodded “Good idea. Those are for a rainy day, not a snowy one.”

Katie gave a small smile as she logged into the banking, and hesitated before she transferred a few thousand over to Emmy and closed the laptop, running her hands over her face. Steve saw her shouldes shake and he gave a sigh, pulling her to him.

“Hey, come on. They’re safe. In the poshest hotel known to man.” He pressed a kiss to her head “No doubt thinking this is some kind of huge romantic adventure. Snowed in, in London, with a mini-bar, room service.”

At that thought he grimaced, as his mind took him to a very dark place about just exactly what the spider kid would be doing to his daughter in said hotel room but he shook himself out of it as Katie spoke, sniffling a little.

“I know it’s just, well we started this tradition with Emmy that first Christmas she lived with us.” Her voice cracked “We went with Tony, Pep and Nat remember?”

“I could I forget.” Steve chuckled, his hands rubbing Katie’s back “You were almost five months pregnant and had that jumper on with a huge Christmas pudding on the front.”

“I’ve still got that.” Her voice was muffled as her face pressed into his Henley.

“And Pepper was going mad when Tony bought that nine foot tree for their lounge.”

“Ours wasn’t much smaller.” Katie laughed, leaning back to wipe her eyes. “You had to trim the top off.”

Steve chuckled, his hands cupping her face “A few days after that we found out bump was blue. Hello Jamie.”

“God it seems so long ago.”

“It was.” Steve smiled pressing a kiss to her lips. “11 years.”

“Yeah.” Katie looked at him “We’ve been through a lot since then.”

Steve nodded, as he wiped her face with his thumbs “And a lot worse than this. I know it’s disappointing, kitten, and I’m gutted as well, but it can’t be helped. We’ll still have a good time and we can go out with Emmy and Peter when they get back, nice meal and a few drinks somewhere instead, just the four of us. Start a new tradition now she’s all grown up.”

“Yeah suppose.” Katie sighed “I mean when they moved out in the New Year, they might not wanna come with us to get a tree anymore.”

“Like that’s gonna happen.” Steve snorted “She’ll simply be getting one for her own place. You know she loves Christmas as much as you. All the kids do. Because you make it so special.”

“It isn’t all down to me.” She smiled “You help.”

“It’s definitely your speciality.” Steve shook his head “You do the baking, the carols, the cooking…suss the decorations out.”

“Yeah, but you hang them. And you’re the one that started leaving Santa footprints by the hearth.”

“Okay so it’s a team effort.” Steve shrugged, dropping another kiss to her lips. “It always is when the kids are concerned.” He pulled back a little and nodded to her glass “You want another?”

“I wasn’t going to but yeah, now I do.”

Steve chuckled “I’ll go get us a drink, you find us something suitably Christmassy to watch.”

He stood, pressing his lips to the crown of Katie’s head before he wandered into the kitchen. As he closed the door behind him he pulled out his phone. He’d had an idea, but hadn’t wanted to mention it to Katie just in case it didn’t work…but if it did, well, he was going to reunite his family for their tradition and earn himself major husband points.

Win win situation.

“Hey punk.” Bucky drawled as he picked up.“What’s crackalackin?”

“God you talk some shit.” Steve rolled his eyes and Bucky laughed

“Sorry, we were watching Madagascar.”

“Yeah, I know where it’s from. I got five kids, remember. Six if I count you.”

“Well you could argue Diva Doll counts for two so you really have seven.”

“Yeah, speaking of which, I got a bone to pick with you about her and a damned capybara.” Steve narrowed his eyes as he spoke and there was a pause before Bucky burst out laughing. “Yeah, laugh it up, jerk. That got me in some major shit before.”

“You didn’t say yes?”

“No of course I didn’t.” Steve sighed “But she sideswiped me asking for a damned cat and I said maybe, so…”

“You fucking moron.”

“Whatever, listen, that’s not why I’m calling anyway.” Steve sighed, his voice growing serious. “I need a favour, Buck.”

“I’m listening.” Bucky replied, before Steve explained the predicament and possible solution. When he finished there was a pause and Bucky let out a long whistle. “Man, that’s…”

“I know, I know.” Steve sighed “But I wouldn’t ask if I wasn’t desperate. Katie’s heartbroken Emmy can’t get home.”

“Well, we can’t have the second most important woman in my life upset now can we?” Bucky replied “Leave it with me.”

“Cheers buddy.”

“You’ll owe me a life time of favours if I can pull this off.”

“We’ll call it quits for you almost getting me couched.”

“Not my fault you can’t say no to your likkle Princessa.” Bucky responded and Steve snorted.

“You’ve met her, right?”

There as another pause and Bucky laughed “Point taken.”

“Not a word to Katie.” Steve instructed “Just in case you can’t do it.”

“You seriously doubt me after all this time?” Bucky sighed “That hurts Stevie.”

“You know what else will hurt?” Steve shot back “My foot up your ass.”

“You want me to do this or not?” Bucky scoffed “Because threatening me aint gonna make me wanna do you any favours.”

“No but not wanting to see my wife upset is.”

“You fight dirty, Steven.” Bucky’s voice was low and Steve could imagine the narrowed eyes he was pulling as he spoke. “Okay, I’ll call Sam now. Leave it with me.”

“Thanks Buck.”

Steve cut the call and stuffed his phone back in his pocket, running a hand over his beard. Buck was right, it was a big ask and ridiculously over the top but, well, nothing was too much for him where his family was concerned. And after everything they’d been through this year what with Flossie’s horrific birth and Katie’s post-partum depression, his amazingly brave and gorgeous wife deserved the damned world. With a sigh he yanked open the fridge as he pulled out Katie’s wine and a beer for him, simply hoping that it worked.

**** “You good?” Steve asked as Jamie hopped into the back of the Q7, taking his place on the rear row of seats.

“Yup.” Jamie grinned “I prefer it back here, Rori can’t bug me.”

“Wanna bet?” Rori turned her head and peered at him from her place in the middle of the second row and Steve shot her a look.

“Enough. I hear one sound outta you that’s annoying him, we’re coming straight home.” He said sternly. Rori eyed him shrewdly, as if weighing up whether he was serious or not and he raised his eyebrows, challenging her.

“Ok Daddy.” She shrugged, turning back round. Steve shot Jamie a wink as turned and collapsed Flossie’s little stroller. He slotted it down the side of Jamie’s seat before he shut the trunk and then quickly inspected the roof rack. Satisfied he looked up just as Katie came out of the house, Flossie on her hip, Harry jumping down the steps in front of her. He headed over to his dad and peeked up, Steve giving a laugh as his little woollen hat slipped down over his eyes.

“Come here, buddy.” He said, swinging him into his arms. The little boy gave a giggle as Steve pulled his hat straight so he could see.

“Thanks Daddy!” he smiled and Steve pressed a kiss to his rosy cheek.

“No problem. You ready to get a tree?”

He nodded “Big one!” he threw his arms out wide and Steve nodded seriously.

“The biggest.”

Ten minutes or so later they were sailing out of Brooklyn in the winter morning sun, heading for the tree farm some forty or so minutes away. True to her word, Rori was behaving and chatting to Harry, Jamie was quiet in the back doing something on his tablet and Katie was gently humming to something on the radio. Steve’s hand reached over for hers and he entwined their fingers, gently bringing her arm across his body, pressing a kiss to her wrist.

The journey pass uneventfully and as Steve announced they had arrived the kids all gave a cheer. He parked the car up and then the disembarking began along with issued orders for Jamie and Rori to stay where they were as they sorted the youngest two.

“I think I’ll just carry Floss.” Katie glanced around. “Pushing her stroller is gonna be a pain. I’ll put her in the carrier.”

“You sure?” Steve asked “I would say I’d do it but…”

“You’re gonna be carrying trees, yeah I know.” Katie waved him away. “Its fine, she’s not heavy. Besides, she’ll be too big to do this with next year.”

Steve smiled at her wistful tone, and between them they had Flossie strapped to Katie’s back in no time, having become experts at it over the years. Katie glanced over her shoulder as Flossie gave her a hug grin, before she peeked around and started to gabble animatedly.

“Ready?” Steve looked around and held the hand that wasn’t containing the saw out, Rori taking it as Katie took Harry’s, Jamie falling into step at her other side next to Steve who strategically placed himself between his eldest son and Rori to avoid any potential arguments between the two siblings.

“Want me to take that Dad?” Jamie asked, nodding to the saw. Steve hesitated then shrugged, it had the safety cover on so he handed it over, Jamie slinging it over his shoulder proudly, stepping in front of them a little and Harry wriggled his hand free of Katie’s and ran forward to take Jamie’s. Jamie smiled down at him and Steve shared a glance with Katie as she smiled at him, slipping her hand into his. The family made their way to the entrance and as they approached the various little trade stands, one of which was selling various hot drinks and baked snacks. Katie took a deep breath and smiled, the warming scents of spices, cinnamon and pine hitting her nostrils.

“Smells exactly the same.” She beamed and then frowned as Steve was looking around, blatantly not listening to her as he was busy studying something to their right.

“Hey!” she tugged on his hand and he glanced down at her.

“Sorry, honey.” He diverted his attention “Just saw someone I know.”

“Oh, from work?” she asked.

“Not exactly.” He nodded in the direction he had been looking and Katie spun at the same time Rori let out a shriek.

“Emmy!” she yelled, wrenching her hand free of Steve’s and bolting towards her sister as she strode towards them alongside Peter, Bucky and Sam.

“I don’t-how?” Katie was struggling for words at the sheer emotion of seeing her eldest daughter, who should still be stranded in England, sweeping Rori into hug. “Steve? What?”

“You got Bucky and Sam to thank.” He said gently, as she spun between them all, before she strode forward meeting Emmy halfway and throwing her arms around her.

“Hey mom!” Emmy smiled, before she pulled back and gently waggled Flossie’s hand. “Hi Floss!”

“How did you get here?” Katie sniffed, wiping her eyes, chuckling before she gave Pete a hug.

“Quinjet.” Emmy grinned “It was awesome. Hey Dad!”

“Hey, sweetheart.” Steve swept her up into a huge hug, picking her up slightly off the ground kissing her head. “Nice to have you home.”

“Hold up, a Quinjet?” Katie looked at Emmy, then to Bucky who shrugged.

“Yeah well Steve rang me last night begging for my help…” he began, putting on a whiney voice “Please Buck, I can’t do this without you Buck, you know the usual.” Steve rolled his eyes as Bucky sniggered. “So, me and Birdbrain set off on a daring rescue mission.”

“Yeah, we totally used and abused Fury’s equipment.” Sam chuckled, as he pressed a kiss to Katie’s cheek as he gave her a hug. “He’s gonna be pissed when he finds out.”

“Oh, screw him!” Katie gave a laugh as she turned to Bucky, wrapping her arms round him. “Thank you so much!”

“Anything for you darlin’” he beamed before she stepped back and spun to face Steve, reaching up and grabbing his face. With a smile she pulled him down to meet her in a long, deep kiss.

“Thank you.” She whispered against his lips, and he beamed at her, his nose brushing hers. “I love you, so much.”

“Love you too.” He smiled, before he drew himself up, a little embarrassed at their PDA in front of his two friends and the kids. “Right, who’s ready to go tree picking?”

“We’ll leave you to it.” Bucky smirked as various excited shouts rang out around them. “I’ve got stuff to do with Jen and Sam’s…ahhhh, crap.” The smile on his face turned into a grimace and Steve spun round to see a familiar figure in a trench coat and eyepatch stood by a black SUV watching from a distance.

“Son of a-” Steve snorted, shaking his head as Fury started walking towards of them. “He still knows everything.”

“You have no idea. “Sam muttered.

“Oh, trust me, we do.” Katie grinned as Fury stopped in front of them.

“Someone wanna tell me why one of my jets was in London this morning?” Fury looked at Bucky, then to Sam, then to Peter, all three of them giving him an innocent look.

“Well, there was a thing.” Bucky shrugged “Emergency.”

“Emergency.” Fury dead panned “So nothing to do with a certain Miss Rogers and Mr Parker being stuck in London in snow storm?”

“How do you know this stuff?” Bucky looked at him.

“I told you Barnes, you wanna get one up on me you gotta keep both eyes open.” He levelled him with a look. “Happy called me in a flap to see if I could action a pick up and I told him I wasn’t running a damned Uber service. And then one of them went missing so I put two and two together and looks like I came up with four” He paused and shrugged, smirking a little “Plus, you forgot to wipe the mission log.”

“Damned it Tin Man!” Sam shoved Bucky “You dick, I told you!”

As the two men began to squabble Fury raised his eyebrows and turned to Steve and then Katie, a small smile flickered across his face “Nova, Cap. Long-time no see.”

“Hi Nick.” Steve smiled, reaching out and shaking his hand.

Fury jerked his head as Katie shook his hand, his eyes roving over each of their kids in turn. “I’ll say. You’ve been busy I see.”

Katie gave a huff “One way of putting it.”

Nick arched an eyebrow before he sighed and turned to Bucky and Sam who were still bickering. “Imma let this one slide.” He spoke loudly, the two men instantly turning to face him. “But only because it’s the holidays and I’m in a good mood.”

“You know technically Stark Industries owns half those jets. Tony paid for and designed a lot of the tech on them after all.” Katie quipped and Nick looked at her, before he let out a laugh.

“You’re more like your brother than you’ll ever care to admit” he shook his head as she snorted, pointing at her.

“Worse people to be like.” She smiled fondly, and Fury gave one last scoff before he turned to Sam and Bucky.

“I’ll see you two later. Now, imma go get me some churros then split.” He looked back at them all “Merry Christmas.”

As they all waved him off, watching the curious glances he attracted as he strode towards the hot food stand and then Harry tugged on Steve’s sleeve, causing him to turn his attention from Fury to the little boy.

“Daddy, who’s the pirate?” Harry asked.

There was a pause before Katie burst out laughing, Steve following suite as they both shared a knowing glance, remembering Tony’s fond little nickname for their one time director.

The Goth Pirate.

“He’s an old friend of mine and your momma’s “Steve explained before he glanced up, not surprised to find that once more Fury had disappeared from sight. “We haven’t seen him in a while. And I doubt we will again for a long time.”

There were more hugs shared and after another final thank you to Sam and Bucky, Katie demanding they come over later for drinks, the four remaining adults and four kids all headed into the farm and the chaos began as they began to scout for their perfect trees.

“So we need two large ones.” Katie spoke, “And one for Emmy and Pete in the Cabin and a smaller one for Rori’s room.” she paused “Jamie, did you want one for your room too?”

“Nah, it’s okay.” He shook his head “Thanks though.”

“So four over all.” Steve nodded. “Okay gang, let’s find us some trees.”

They decided to get Rori’s first as it would be smaller and easier to carry once they’d picked it. They set about walking down the various aisles, and before long the jokes started flowing and they were getting worse and worse with time.

“What would you get if you ate the Christmas decorations?” Pete asked and Jamie looked at him, arching a brow. “Tinselitis.”

“Oh God.” Emmy snorted “That’s as bad as one of dad’s”

“Which reminds me.” Steve said, a smirk on his face, “Did you guys hear the forecast for Christmas eve? They’re predicting rain, deer…”

Katie and Emmy both let out a groan as Jamie and Peter howled with laughter.

“What do you call an elf that runs away from Santa’s workshop?” Jamie asked and Steve paused before he shrugged.

“No idea.”

“A rebel without a Clause…”

Katie, Steve, Emmy and Pete burst out laughing as Pete held out his hand to hi-five him. Jamie grinned.

“That’s a good one buddy.” Steve chuckled. “Where did you hear that?”

“Moo text me before.” He smiled “She said her and Auntie Pep had been googling them to put in their cards this year.”

“Like Father like daughter.” Katie smiled to herself, a little nostalgically as a memory of her brother crashed over her and Steve pulled her a little closer, his hand tightening on hers as he dropped a kiss to her head.

After half an hour or so of scouting and plenty of excited shouts and laughter, Rori paused in front of a tree that was the same height as her and she gave a gasp.

“Daddy, that one.” She pointed.

“You sure?” he cocked his head to one side. The tree was leaning to one side, the branches completely uneven, sticking out at all angles and the top was bent. “It’s a bit-”

“It’s perfect.” Rori insisted.

“Okay Princess, whatever you say.”  He looked at Katie as she smiled, her hand dropping to the back of Rori’s head. “Jamie, you got the saw?”

“Yup.” Jamie nodded, passing it over and they all watched as Steve gripped the trunk of the small tree with one hand a little higher up and began to cut it towards the bottom. He could have easily snapped the trunk with his bare hands but he played the part and in four strong swipes it pulled free with a little crack and Rori gave a shriek and clapped her hands.

“I love it!”

Once the safety cover was back on the saw they continued their search, walking towards the slightly bigger trees they spotted and Katie paused in front of a large, Norwegian spruce and reached out, gently crushing one of the needles between her fingers. She took a sniff and stepped back, nodding.

“That one.”

“I still can’t believe you pick them with the smell.” Steve shook his head.

“It’s not all the smell.” She protested “There’s a lot to consider. The height, width and spacing of the branches…this one’s just right for the corner in the lounge. And that one two down will do for the hallway.”

Steve chuckled, knowing better than to argue. “Positive?”

Katie nodded and once more Jamie passed him the saw. This time they all stepped back as Steve crouched down on the ground, expertly cutting the trunk and just the right place. As he took the final swipe, the tree pitched over to a loud shout of “Timberrrrr” from Jamie and Peter and it landed with a thud.

Harry gave a loud cackle and clapped, Flossie shrieking too as Steve then moved two down and repeated the action with a slightly smaller one that would sit in the entrance lounge directly in front of the photo of the pair of them at their wedding, so it would be the first thing anyone saw as they walked into the house.

Emmy strode past the tree to one that was behind it and then nodded to Pete “I think this one will do. I kinda like the way it fans out at the bottom.”

“Sure, Em.” He smiled “Mr R?”

“Oh, here.” Steve handed him the saw and watched as Pete cut his and Emmy’s first Christmas tree down, his arm round Katie’s waist, lips softly kissing Flossie’s cheek as the baby grinned. He arched an eyebrow as Emmy pressed a kiss to Pete’s lips, giving a soft huff as Katie dug him in the ribs, shooting him a warning glance which he returned with an innocent one of his own.

“Well, that was easy.” Emmy commented “It took us 2 hours last year.”

“They need to be right.” Katie shrugged simply, Steve and Emmy exchanging a look before Steve watched as Pete hoisted his tree easily onto his shoulder. It still surprised Steve how strong Peter was, even though it shouldn’t, he knew he was enhanced after all.

“I’ll take Rori’s, Dad.” Jamie stepped forwards, puffing his chest out a little, picking the smaller tree up easily and placing it on his shoulder, in an identical manner to Pete. Steve actively fought the urge to laugh as Jamie began to walk besides Peter and Emmy, clearly proud as punch at being able to help before he turned to Katie.

“Don’t say it.”

Katie laughed “Oh I’m gonna.” she smirked “If he was any more like you I’d be convinced he was a clone.”

Steve snorted as he bent down and easily lifted their two trees onto his shoulders, before they followed a little slower due to Harry being with them. Steve maneuvered around the other tree pickers as they went, his boot clad feet traipsing on the damp of the ground as they made their way back towards the main entrance and joined Pete, Emmy and Jamie at the place ready to pay. As the various helpers, all dressed in little Elf outfits bustled around to wrap their trees and strap them to the roof of the Audi, Katie was suddenly struck with a little problem.

“Hang on.” she turned to Emmy as she thanked the man who’d been dealing with and handed over the cash. “How are you two gonna get home if Bucky and Sam left?”

At that Pete gave a little grin and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, “Mr Wilson let me borrow his Chevvy.”

“Yeah they went home on Buck’s bike.” Emmy shrugged and at that Steve let out a huge laugh.

“What?” Katie asked.

“Sorry, I’m just picturing those two riding pillion.” He snorted “I give it five minutes before Sam ended up tells Buck to let him off on account of him driving his Ducatti like a maniac.”

“You’ve no room to talk.” Katie scoffed and Steve looked at her with mock outrage.

“Mom?” Jamie asked and Katie turned to him “Can we get a drink now please?”

“Sure, come on.” She smiled and they headed over to the stall. She purchased a hot cider each for her, Steve, Emmy and Pete before hot chocolate for each of the kids along with a selection of donuts, churros and Stollen as Steve took Flossie back to the car so they could pop her in the stroller. They made their way over to one of the benches by the side and sat down and Steve returned, parking Flossie besides them before he handed her a piece of a donut and slipped his arm round Katie, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“You have a good time?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She beamed, before she glanced over at the other side of the bench. Jamie was settled to Emmy’s left, talking to her about school, as she nodded along whilst Rori was perched on Peter’s knee as she animatedly told him about how she was going to decorate her tree in unicorn colours. Harry meanwhile sat in between both Pete and Emmy, his little frame chewing on a donut as he grinned at his parents who smiled back. Katie turned to look a Steve again, leaning up to kiss him softly “It’s been perfect, thank you for making sure we were all together.”

“Well it wouldn’t be a Rogers Christmas otherwise would it?” he smiled, kissing her again.

“Get a room.” Emmy grumbled and Steve turned to her as she smirked, shoving a piece of donut in her mouth.

“Watch it young lady.” Steve pointed at her.                      

“Daddy.” Rori asked “Can I go with Pete in their car to Target? I need decorations for my Princess Tree.”

Steve hesitated for a while and Pete hastily cut in “It’s no bother Mr Rogers.”

“Yeah we need some for ours.” Emmy nodded.”So we’re going anyway.”

“I come too?” Harry asked hopefully and Emmy shrugged

“If Momma and Daddy say it’s ok, course you can, squirt.”

Steve looked at Katie who shrugged “Fine by me. Sure you can manage them?”

Emmy rolled her eyes “They’re no bother.” She then turned to Jamie “You wanna come too?”

“Hell no.” he said hastily, peering round at Rori before he shook his head “I’m going home for some peace and quiet.”

Both Steve and Katie let out a loud laugh, as Katie shook her head “Oh Jamie.”

“What?” he frowned.

“Nothing pal.” Steve smiled, reaching for his cider. “Nothing at all.”

#stark spangled forever #ssholidaychallenge #steve rogers #katie stark #steve rogers x ofc #steve rogers x original female character

[lordseochangbin]

Falling in the Club

Seo Changbin x Reader -Fluff, Suggestive, Angst

A/N: Hi this is the 4th Changbin fic I’ve written in a row please don’t hate me MSKSKSK I’ve just been... nonstop thinking about Changbin sooooo... anyways enjoy <3

“Good morning” Changbin whispers into your ear in a raspy voice that sends tingles down your skin. 

Your eyes flutter open at the sight of the handsome man in front of you. It’s an unfamiliar feeling- a panic when you jump at your surroundings. Fuck, where were you? 

Pictures and more pictures, more memories from last night. They all seem too blurry to remember. You were in the club… Seungmin! God, you saw Seungmin there. That must’ve been bad. 

After two years, Seungmin decided to call it quits. It was probably one of the most devastating moments of your life considering Seungmin was what your mother would call “your only achievement” and now losing him seemed to degrade you to nothing. 

That was until a man named Seo Changbin stepped in. As the dark room filled with colored disco lights fills the room, you were able to hide the one tear that shed as you saw Seungmin with another girl on the other side of the club the day before. 

Stepping in front of you, Changbin covered all sights of your ex-boyfriend across the room. Not only your ex-boyfriend, but all your “friends” that you had made by being with Seungmin. You knew if you ever lost Seungmin you’d lose everything- your shared apartment, your friends, your life. 

It all struck you at once as the stranger who blocked your sights leaned down to meet your teary eyes. “Are you alright?” He asked, his minty breath mixed with a hint of vodka. You eyed his glass, he didn’t drink much- maybe a few sips. 

You bit your lip and looked down in embarrassment before shaking your head. “Sorry.. no, no. I shouldn’t be here” You repeated before turning around to leave. 

Feeling a sudden grip around your wrist, you gasped as the man spun you around. Considering the weakness that took over your intoxicated figure, you found yourself bumping into the man’s broad chest. “I’m guessing that’s your ex-boyfriend over there?” He asks, placing his drink on one the passing server’s trays. 

“Is it that obvious?” You reply, rolling your eyes. 

He tilts his head to the side as if he was thinking about it before replying, “A little” 

The music seemed to have queued off in your head ever since you landed eyes on this stranger. A black tee hugged his frame with distressed jeans and a pair of black shoes. A small silver necklace and matching earrings complimented the look, a split parting his jet black hair to reveal a bit of his forehead. He must’ve noticed you eyeing his figures before giving you a small smirk. “My name’s Changbin,” He said, loosening his grip on your wrist as if to give you the choice. Will you stay or will you go? 

His gaze watched yours as you thought about the question before pulling him to the middle of the floor. “Let’s dance?” You asked daringly with a smile. 

“My pleasure” 

And that’s how the rest of the night went on. Your back pressed against Changbin’s chest, hands thrown behind his neck, his strong arms holding your close. Teasing and teasing, over and over. His lips biting onto your ear every now and then. Closing your eyes in bliss and his hands rubbing circles on your hips. God, the tension between you two thrived. No one else was in the room but the two of you- or so it felt that way. 

You let yourself fall into him, fall in love with him. As the song came to an end, you two smiled and cheered on the DJ. Laughing at each other’s presence, you held onto Changbin’s hands before locking eyes with Seungmin. Instant panic ran through you as you felt your heart drop in your chest. 

You forgot he was here. You forgot Seungmin was here with another girl. “What’s wrong?” Changbin asked, noticing your expression change. 

“N-nothing.. can we get out of here?” You quickly ask as you notice Seungmin furrow his eyebrows and walk towards you. 

“Yeah, just let me grab my jacket” 

Changbin grabs your hand before pulling you off the dance floor. You two disappear into the crowd and when you have the chance to turn back you realize Seungmin was gone. 

“Where do you wanna go? C-can I take you out for dinner if it’s not too late?” Changbin asks, taking his jacket and putting it over your shoulders. 

“Burgers does sound really good right now” You nervously chuckle, trying to say anything in order to get yourself out of this situation. You look past Changbin to see Seungmin again, who’s looking around to find you. 

When he looks your way, you take Changbin’s hand and turn around. “W-woah slow down” Changbin chuckles as he lets you drag him out. 

You let out a sigh of relief as you two successfully leave the club, but the feeling is quickly broken off when you hear the voice of Seungmin. “Y/N, what are you doing here?” 

Your hand gives Changbin’s a squeeze as you bit your lip. “I’m just here..? What are you doing here?” 

Seungmin looks down nervously as he itches the nape of his neck. Of course, what is he going to reply? That after one day he managed to get over you and now he’s out with another girl? 

“I’m here with a co-worker” 

Of course he is. You eye Changbin, obviously feeling left out given the situation, and grab his hand. “Let’s go” You say before Seungmin could but in again. 

“Wait Y/N, you’re just going to go out with some drunk stranger? Do you even know who he is?”

Changbin clenched his jaw at his words, “Look man, I barely had anything to drink... I’m fine”

“You’re not fine!” Seungmin exclaims, separating you two. “Y/N, I’ll take you home,” He says, grabbing your hand. 

“Are you kidding? Y/N, let’s grab something to eat” Changbin asks, grabbing your free hand. 

You found yourself asking that same question. Will you stay or will you go? Between the guys, you weigh the options. If you went with Seungmin, it would be no different. You’d go home and your mom would scold you for not letting Seungmin stay the night… little does she know that you two ended it. 

If you went with Changbin the opportunities were endless… who knows where the night would take you. That’s exactly what you needed. Not to be in the same place as you were yesterday, broken-hearted and shedding tears. You needed, no- you wanted, more opportunities.  

“Let’s go grab a burger,” You say, wiggling out of Seungmin’s grip before he could repeat himself. 

“You’re going to get yourself in trouble Y/N, he’s going to treat you like shit!” 

Turning around, you watching Seungmin before replying “That’s a lot better than how you’ve treated me these past two years!” 

Changbin smiled at the remark, “Fucking crushed him man, he’s a piece of shit” You smiled at Changbin before he could guide you to his car. 

“Y/N… You don’t need him to look after you like that” Changbin said

“Really? It seems like he’s been the reason for everything in my life” You shrug your shoulders. It was true, Seungmin helped you make friends, get an apartment, you did everything with him. 

“He’s not anymore, don’t let him be,” He said, opening the door for you. 

“You’re right” You smile at Changbin, getting into his car. 

“I know” Changbin smiled before closing your door. 

The morning after, here you were. Wide awake, fully aware of your actions. Headbanging from the hangover. Almost sober with a lot on your mind. 

“Good Morning Changbin…” God. You’re not wearing the same clothes you were wearing yesterday. Did you really do it?! Your mom’s going to be so pissed. 

You whisper, “Did we… do anything last night?” 

Changbin sits up, his back against the backboard of the bed before smirking. “You mean this?” He asks, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal red kiss marks on his chest. Your eyes pop out at the sight, did you give him those?! 

“Oh my god,” You start sobbing as you eye your clothes on the ground. “Changbin my mom’s gonna kill me... I’m not a virgin but my mom’s gonna kill me” You continued to cry out, throwing your face into the palm of your hands. 

“Y/N?! Y/N, yo I’m just kidding I put there on myself!” He laughed as you looked up at him hopelessly. “I’m just messing with you!” 

Your jaw drops at his words. “Are you kidding me?!” You take one of his pillows and hit him with it. “Don’t ever do that again!!” 

Changbin laughs at your reaction before leaning closer. Using the sleeves of his shirt, he wipes the few tears off your cheeks before confirming. “Don’t worry, after going to the burger shack I took you here because you refused to go home to your mother all drunk, and I gave you some clothes to change into and you crashed on my bed.”

“You… didn’t sleep here?” You asked curiously. 

“Couch seemed pretty comfortable” 

Leaning closer to him, you caged him against the backboard of the bed before asking daringly, “Why not?” 

Changbin smirked at your actions, keeping his hands on your waist to maintain some distance. “What do you mean, why not?”

“Why didn’t you do anything with me?” You ask again, leaning closer to him. 

“Don’t provoke me, darling, it won’t make you feel bolder” Changbin says, his eyes watching yours. 

“But I want to…” You whispered, lips inches away from him. Making yourself comfortable on his lap, you link your lips with his. He instantly kisses you back, hands gripping on your waist and yours being thrown around his neck. He grabs your ass to pull you closer, kissing you deeper with every moment. Yes, it’s messy, but it feels so good that you can’t stop.

You pull away from his lips, quick to attach them to his neck and you feel Changbin shift under you. Allowing your every move on him as you continue to kiss around the area before he could pull you away. 

“If you keep this up I’m not sure if I’ll be able to stop myself…” Changbin says in a voice that arouses you. As much as he hated to admit it (a/n:omg hi bang chan’s song sorry isdfhdsjkfskdf), he really liked you. He had fallen for you just as hard. 

“That’s a chance I’m willing to take…” You reply before leaning closer to kiss him again. 

“H-how about I make breakfast?” Changbin says, licking his lips as he acknowledges that he ruined the moment. 

You shyly get off Changbin’s lap before muttered out, “Sure” and throwing the grew comforter over you. 

Changbin’s quick to leave the room, leaving you alone to your thoughts again. What the hell was that?

Luckily the sudden moment had kept your mind off of last night as you leave Changbin’s bed to grab a robe and join him in the kitchen. His penthouse seemed top class, all walls black or grey and the leather furniture only adding to the dark vibe. Vinyls met the walls and you eyed each one as you walked down the hall, he had amazing taste in music. Safe to say, he must of been a terrible cook though. 

“What are you doing?” You laugh as you watching Changbin unsuccessfully crack another egg. You run to the counter before he could pick up another egg. “You’re so aggressive, just lightly tap the shell… it’ll crack on its own” 

Putting your hand over Changbin’s, you lightly tap the egg on the edge of the counter and help him drop the yolk inside a bowl. The close proximity doesn’t hit you until you notice Changbin’s heavy breaths behind you, he’s trying so hard to hide it but it’s noticeable. He clearly didn’t want to be with you though, seeing as he interrupted your last moment. 

“Umm… I’ll just wait here” You say, gesturing at the other side of the counter. 

“Ah..ah” Changbin interrupted, handing you a few eggs and a bowl. “You can do this, I’ll get some bacon out” 

You smile as he hands you the eggs and turns around to grab the bacon. You could get used to this, but you knew it would only last today. Don’t fall for it... he only pitied you last night. He pitied your broken-hearted self. This was just a one-night thing. 

You kept telling yourself the same thing before the door could knock. “Do you mind getting that?” Changbin asks, turning around to eye the door. 

“Sure” You get up on your seat and walk towards the door before Changbin could stop you. “Wait.. I’ll get it, I don’t want anyone to see you like that” 

“Like what?” You look down realizing you were only wearing a robe. “Oh… got it” You two laugh before Changbin could get the door. 

“Where’s Y/N?!” You hear from the door. It’s a familiar voice, one that strikes all the panic out of you. 

“Umm.. she’s right over-” Changbin’s cut off by Seungmin as he barges into the room. 

“Y/N, what the hell are you doing here?! In his house?! Are you serious??” 

You roll your eyes at his words. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m here to take you from him,” Seungmin said, gesturing at Changbin who was stood by the door. “I asked around at the club and people told me he always takes girls home, how do you think I found his address? Just from another one of the girls, he messes with here.”

“W-what?” You reply before Seungmin could grab your hand. “Let’s get out of here Y/N,” Seungmin says. You stumble on your way out the door, keeping your eyes on Changbin as you pass by him. 

“Tell me it’s not true Changbin..” 

When he doesn’t reply, you take a deep breath before repeating yourself. “Tell me it’s not true Changbin” 

Changbin looks down at the floor. He looks disappointed almost, and he chokes on his breath as he replies “I-I can’t…” 

Seungmin tugged at your arm to take you to his car, letting him. Letting him drag you anywhere you wanted. It didn’t matter anymore. The one guy that told you to not let Seungmin control your life threw you in his control again, and you knew once you came home to your mother you’d have to explain that you weren’t with Seungmin- and never will be. 

#hahahahhaahha another changbin fic mel stfu !!!! #stop being so whipppedddd hahahahhdjasdfjfha #ok sorry anyways #changbin #seo changbin #changbin fic #seo changbin fic #changbin x reader #seo changbin x reader #changbin fluff #seo changbin fluff #stray kids changbin #skz changbin #changbin angst #seo changbin angst #changbin suggestive #seo changbin suggestive #changbin imagines #seo changbin imagines #changbin au #seo changbin au

[iamakiller]

FaceTime with Nicole

It’s Self-Care Sunday.  The one day a month Nicole gets to herself.

Henry spent the night at her mom’s yesterday, so Nicole was able to sleep in until the blissful hour of ten. No demands for breakfast.  No cartoons on full blast in the living room.  And absolutely no terrifying drives to the emergency room with an eight year old boy bleeding and crying all over the cream interior of the car.

No, none of that.  Today is all about Nicole.

Face mask on and tub of low-fat non-dairy ice cream beside her on the couch, she has just queued up the first episode of the new season of The Crown on Netflix when her phone goes off.

Of course it’s Charlie.

Fuck.

She answers it without thinking, forgetting that it’s a FaceTime call, so the first thing Charlie says is a rather shocked, “Jesus, Nicole!  What the hell have you done to your face?” and then he starts laughing.

She would scowl at him, but the mask has already started to dry, and she doesn’t want to have to deal with cleaning up shards of it off the couch. “It’s Amazonian Clay,” she tells him shortly.  “Great for anti-aging.  I’ll send you the link, if you want.  You should try it.”

Twenty seconds in to their conversation, and she’s already fired the first shot.  Must be a new record.  But it’s better to start off that way, isn’t it?  Assert dominance before her ex starts running rings around her.  Talking down to her.  Like he always does.

Charlie’s lips briefly press into a thin line, but he doesn’t reply.  The silence stretches … and stretches … and stretches.  Nicole begins to feel stupid and uncomfortable.  Beside her, the ice cream is already beginning to melt.

She cracks first, as always.  “What do you want?” she demands.  “You know Henry’s at my mom’s, right?”

“Yes, I know,” he replies.  She can’t see him rolling his eyes, but she can definitely hear it in the tone of his voice.  “That’s why I’m calling now. I wanted to talk to you without the possibility of him listening in.”

“O-kay,” she says, very slowly.  Now that she thinks about it, he looks rather more serious than usual.  Almost nervous.  And Charlie rarely looks anything but smug, self-satisfied and supremely confident. “You have ten minutes before I need to wash this mask off.  I’m listening.”

Charlie takes a breath ... and then hesitates, as though he doesn’t know where to begin.  Which once again, is completely unlike him.  In the absence of him speaking, Nicole’s mind starts running riot with the possibilities of what he’s about to say.  Maybe he’s going to jail for murder!  Maybe he has cancer!  Maybe he’s relocating to Europe and she’ll never have to see him again …

“It’s about Britt,” he begins, and then stops again, chewing on the inside of his lip in that annoying way he does sometimes.

Nicole frowns.  A puff of dust falls off the face mask, and drops onto the front of her nice white bathrobe, staining it pink.  That name again.  It’s been over a year, and that woman is still around, and Nicole can’t understand why.  Henry talks about her quite often, and has a photo of her, Charlie and himself on his nightstand. Nicole glanced at the photo just once, when Henry had been waving it in her face.  She remembers thinking that Britt didn’t look anything like her.  She didn’t look anything like those floozies Nicole used to convince herself Charlie was just flirting with, either …  “Oh?” she says, in the most disinterested tone anyone in the world has ever used.  “What about her?”

Charlie runs his hand through his hair twice, even though it looks annoyingly perfect as always.  “She’s been offered a transfer at work. We’ll be relocating next month -”

Oh, thank god, Nicole thinks, relief rushing to her head so quickly she almost feels drunk with it. Please let it be far away.  Like Europe.  Or Africa.  Or the moon.  

“- to LA.”

There’s a faint buzzing in her ears.  Her jaw tightens involuntarily.  A couple more chunks fall off the mask, and flutter down onto her robe. “I’m sorry,” she says, softly.  Dangerously.  “I must be hearing things.  I thought you just said you’re moving to LA.”

The bastard actually gulps, but he sounds extremely patronizing when he responds, “I did.  I wanted to let you know as early as possible. I thought it was only fair to keep you in the loop, as it were.”

Fair? Fair?  There is a tirade of words beginning to creep up her throat like a tsunami of bile.  But all she does is nod slowly, and all she says is, “I understand.”

She watches his shoulders slump slightly, and a smile begin to appear. “Okay, good-”

“I just think it’s funny how you’re deciding to do it now.”  The words tumble out of her mouth.  She hadn’t even known she was going to say them.  Hadn’t even thought them.  And now there they are, hanging in the air between them like a bad smell.

The smile fades, and Charlie’s brow creases as he begins to frown. “Excuse me, what?”  He’s keeping his voice quiet and calm.  The hand that isn’t holding the phone is raised, palm facing her, as though he is trying to deal with some rabid animal.

Well, two can play at that game.  Where she blurted out her last sentence, now she speaks slowly, enunciating every word quite clearly.  “It’s really interesting how you promised you were going to move out here two years ago, and then you changed your mind at the last minute.  But now that she wants to-”

The fingers on the raised hand are now flexing slightly.  “We’ve talked about this so many times. You know I’ve been trying to think of a way to make this happen -”

“BULLSHIT!” she yells.  In the quiet of the house, it echoes slightly, so it sounds like there are several Nicoles all calling him on his crap.

That stops him right in his tracks.  Half the goddamn mask has just cracked off, but it was worth it to see the bastard shit himself like that for once. But he’s still not rising to her bait, like she wants him to.  Like she knows he wants to.  He clears his throat.  “Nicole … sweetheart … let’s be reasonable …”

Nicole grits her teeth.  Fucking fucker.  “Don’t you dare ‘sweetheart’ me, Charlie Barber!  Don’t you fucking dare tell me to be reasonable.  I’m just pointing out a fact here.  You wouldn’t do it for Henry.  You wouldn’t move to LA for your own son.  But you’ll do it for her-”

“No. NO -”  Finally, he’s starting to lose his cool.  Finally.

She rolls her eyes.  “Sure, Charlie.”

His mouth opens and closes several times like a fish before he speaks again.  “Listen, Nicole.  Listen.  We’re doing it because I want to be closer to Henry.”

She snorts.  “It’s always about what you want, isn’t it?”

He’s pointing at her now, finger stabbing to emphasize every word he says. “That’s not true-”

This time, she lets out a mirthless HA!  “I get it, Charlie.  Now it’s convenient for you, you’re going to do it.  Well maybe it’s not convenient for us.  Maybe we don’t want you here.  Have you even thought about that?”

His big, stupid mouth snaps shut.  His face has gone even paler than usual.  He’s staring at her like she’s just slapped him.  “What?”

“You can’t just do whatever you want, Charlie.  That’s not how it works.”

He opens his mouth to respond, but she has already hung up on him.

She slams the phone down on the couch, and marches up the stairs to the bathroom to wash the mask off.  It hasn’t been anywhere near ten minutes yet, but she needs to do something; needs to distract herself from the way her hands have begun to shake, and her eyes have started to sting. Even from upstairs, she can hear the phone ringing and ringing, but she ignores it as she dabs her face dry with a towel, then applies toner, moisturizer, eye cream, and a lip mask, all without looking at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

By the time she’s finished, the phone has stopped ringing.  Nicole straightens her robe and leaves the bathroom, but instead of taking a left and heading back downstairs, she turns right into Henry’s room.  She steps over and around the minefield of Lego that Henry promised he was going to clean up before her mom picked him up last night, sits down on the edge of his unmade bed, and after a few moments turns her gaze towards the photo she’s looked at only once before.

It was taken outside the Museum of Natural History last winter vacation, judging by their attire.  Henry is standing in the middle, clutching his latest haul of dinosaur merchandise, and pulling a funny face at the camera. Both Charlie and the woman have a hand on Henry’s shoulder, and an arm around each other.  Her head is resting against Charlie’s chest, and he is looking down at her and Henry with a small, soft smile.

They look like a family, Nicole thinks, feeling slightly sick.

And just like that, Self-Care Sunday is over.

#22/11/2020 #facetime #tw: argument

[rune-writes]

Unbreakable Bond

Fandom: Persona 5

Ann Takamaki Week 2020 » Day 5: Birthday

Word Count: 4704

Rating: G

Summary: Six months after Shiho's accident, Ann still could not forget the sight of her friend’s crippled form on the ground. All she wanted was for Shiho to be healthy again so they could have fun like they used to. On Ann's 17th birthday, Ren prepared a surprise for her.

Note: A belated happy birthday to Ann!!

Read on AO3.

~*~*~*~*~

Ann was reading a fashion magazine on her bed when her phone vibrated, beeping once. She reached for it, patting her bed and the sides of her pillow. Where was it? Her phone was nowhere to be found, so she looked up, and saw light shining from the top of the stackable cube shelves next to her bed. She grabbed her phone and checked the notification. One message. From Ren. The smile came unbidden as Ann unlocked her phone and clicked the message.

‘Happy birthday!’ it said, followed by party-face emojis and birthday stickers. The time stamp beside it read 12:02 AM. Her grin only grew as she struggled to keep her composure, rolling over to her back and holding her phone over her head.  

‘Why aren’t you asleep?’ she asked. 

‘Why aren’t you?’ 

Ann snorted a quiet laughter. Would it kill Ren to be honest sometimes and say he wanted to be the first to wish her a happy birthday? Not that she would admit she’d been waiting for his message either. 

‘What are you doing?’ he asked then.

Ann grinned. ‘Texting you.’

‘On your bed?’

‘Yep.’

There was a momentary pause before he said, ‘Do you have plans after school? Wanna go somewhere?’

There it was—the question she’d been waiting for. Ann had kept her afternoon open for this very reason. Her grin threatened to swallow her face whole as she typed, ‘Are you asking me on a date, Ren?’

Another pause. ‘Maybe.’ 

Cheeky. Ann laughed under her breath. ‘Alright.’

***

Ren’s invitation was the only thing occupying her mind the entire morning. She wondered where they would go. Sharing a parfait at a cute cafe would be nice. Or maybe they’d go to the movies? They could eat a fluffy cake at a pastry shop. What if, at the end of their date, Ren surprised her with a present? Not something huge, but something unexpected. And then he’d walk her home, his hand holding hers, and once they reached her porch, his eyes would bore into hers in that way that made her stomach twist and knot before he’d lean into the gentlest kiss he had ever given her. The thought already made her heart race and cheeks burn.

Her phone vibrated again inside her bag while she queued in front of the subway escalator. She had put it on silent after the incessant beeping on the train ride to school. Her friends had flooded their group chat with birthday wishes and promises to hang out. A birthday party at Leblanc after school, Ryuji had said. But Ann already had plans, and when she’d said so, Ryuji and Futaba had bombarded her with questions: what plans? With whom?

Ren was conveniently not on. Ann wondered if he was doing it on purpose. It wouldn’t be a stretch to think he was waiting for her somewhere at the station, smirking to himself as he watched their group chat notifications come in. 

When her phone vibrated again, Ann exhaled a quiet sigh and fished her phone from inside her bag. If Ryuji still spouted nonsense about how no one in their right mind would date a girl like Ann, she would give him a piece of her mind once she cornered him at school. However, it wasn’t Ryuji’s name that greeted her eyes. Ann’s eyes widened when she beheld the name displayed across her phone.

‘Happy birthday, Ann!’ Shiho said in her message. ‘Wish you all the best. Sorry we can’t celebrate together like we used to, but I’m sure Ren-kun has prepared something amazing for you. I’m still doing well on my rehab. The doctor said I’ve improved a lot. Not enough to do any sports yet, but I hope we’ll get to see each other soon.’

Her fingers twitched, and she clutched her phone tight. Shiho always wished her a happy birthday before school. Then Ann would find a cute little present hiding in her shoe locker or desk drawer. Shiho would throw her arms around her from behind with a beam spreading from ear to ear as she asked her where Ann wanted to go or what she wanted to eat. A part of her expected that to happen now, grinning with glee as she read the message, before she remembered that Shiho was no longer at her school.

‘Thanks, Shiho,’ she typed her reply, then her fingers wavered over the keys, her lips quirking up in quiet delight. If Shiho’s health had improved, the time they’d be able to hang out might be closer than she thought. She’d set to type something, anything—that’s amazing news, Shiho—when the image of Shiho’s crippled body on the ground flashed across her mind. 

It’s your fault.

She froze in her tracks, her hands on her phone becoming still.

“Hey.” The sudden hand on her shoulder made her jump. A figure stood beside her—a figure in her school uniform. Sunlight reflected off a pair of glasses as Ren peered into her eyes. But then his smile faltered at her lack of response. “You okay?”

“Huh?”

“You kind of spaced out.”

Ann blinked—once, twice. “Sorry, I was—” The rush of traffic on the other side of the sidewalk startled her. She looked back behind her shoulder and found the subway exit standing some thirty feet away. She glanced at her phone, then quickly typed her reply. She’d already sent it and stashed the phone back inside her bag before Ren could take a peek at it.

“Were you waiting for me?” Ann asked instead, adjusting her bag straps around her shoulder.

Ren’s gaze was searching, but when Ann said nothing, he didn’t press the subject. He nodded down the pavement toward their school. “Let’s go,” he said, his lips breaking into a small smile.

***

“It’s from Shiho,” Ann said later that day. On lunch break, she sat on her desk, leaning against the window while she ate the melonpan she’d bought at the cafeteria. The sweetness exploded in her mouth. Ren’s dark gray eyes flitted upward, meeting hers for only a moment. “The text message I received this morning. She wished me a happy birthday.”

“That’s nice.” Ren responded with a nod, taking a bit bite of his tuna-flavored rice ball.

Ann waited for more, but no other answer came. “That’s it?” she asked.

“What else?”

She didn’t know. Some kind of surprised reaction, maybe? Or asked how Shiho was doing?

“She’s your best friend,” Ren went on. “You try not to show it, but I know how much you miss her.” 

Ann pursed her lips into a thin line. She averted her gaze to her bread now held on her lap.

“How is she, though?” he added.

“Good, it seems, at least from her texts.” Amazing, in fact. Now she just needed to wait until the doctors let Shiho travel. Or, wait, she had a better idea. Ann turned around in her seat and fully faced Ren. “Do you think we should go see her?”

“What?”

“She’s been pestering me to visit, saying there’s a confectionery store with all manner of sweets near her school. She said they’re really good.” 

Ren chuckled. “Do you wanna meet her or do you wanna eat some sweets?” he said. Ann responded with one of her own, leaning back against the window.

“Do you remember when I told you about Shiho?” she asked. 

Her voice was quiet under the cacophony of her classmates’ gossips and talks. She hoped her voice reached no one but Ren. From the corner of her eyes, she could see she had his full attention. 

“We only met in middle school, but it always felt like I knew her my entire life. She was this weird girl, quiet. While everyone avoided me, she just... randomly struck a conversation with me, saying my painting sucked.” The memory prompted a wry grin spreading across her face. “My parents were always away, so my house was always empty. When Shiho learned about this, she started taking me to all sorts of places. Pastry shops. Bakeries. These cute accessory stores or just shopping for clothes. Sometimes, I go with her to visit some sports stores or help her practice before big games. I never missed her games...”

Ann trailed off. It seemed like it was just yesterday when they were perusing the stores in Shibuya’s underground mall. Shiho had never tasted the buffet’s chocolate fountain either. When Ann went to visit her, maybe she could bring Shiho a crepe from that stand in Central Street Shiho loved so much. The small pang in her heart returned, clenching a little tighter. 

After school, Ann refrained herself from pestering Ren to tell her where they were going. It was going to be a surprise, and she was content to let it stay that way. They rode the train to Shibuya and hopped off at the station. She half-expected Ren to lead her out and into Central Street, but they headed for the Keio Inokashira Line, where they boarded another train heading for Inokashira Park.

“We’re going to Inokashira Park?” Ann asked once they boarded the train and found an empty spot between a man in a suit and a woman carrying groceries.

“Yep,” he replied, but didn’t elaborate.

That was unexpected, though Ann wouldn’t say she minded going there. It had been a while, and strolling through the vast park under beautiful autumn leaves might be a great way to spend her birthday. 

The ride took 20 minutes, give or take. They descended from the train, then exited the station to a quiet residential area. The park lay only a short walk away. Over a stone bridge crossing the river, trees with gold and brown leaves lined the path on both sides. Ann breathed in the crisp afternoon air, cool against her lungs. She always loved it here. 

“So,” Ann said, turning around on her side and peering into his eyes. “What’s the plan?”

“Want me to tell you, or would you prefer it be a surprise?” He’d kept walking with hands in his pockets, his lips curving into the beginning of a smile.

Ann grinned. “Surprise me.”

Ren grinned back.

The first agenda of the day was a swan boat—one of the top tourist attractions of the park. Ren had apparently accompanied Yusuke on a ride once, where several people had thought them a couple. He had wanted to ride it with Ann after that. But when the rental place came into view, standing in the distance over the bank of the large pond, Ann ground her feet to a halt. Legend had it that the Goddess Benzaiten would curse any couple who rode the swan boat together. They would break up shortly thereafter. 

“You really want to ride the boat?” Ann asked.

Noticing she had stayed back, Ren paused on his steps, tilting his head in genuine inquiry. “Why?” he asked. Ann refused to say why, partly because it was a ludicrous legend, partly because she feared the legend might come true. Understanding dawned on his face when she said nothing, and Ren pulled his lips into a teasing grin. “What, you’re afraid of some superstition?”

There were valid reasons one should be afraid of it. What if something bad truly happened to them and they broke up? 

“If something bad truly happens and we break up,” Ren went on, “you can just blame the curse and forget all about me.”

Ann scoffed, feeling his reply was ridiculous enough to lighten her mood. “I could never forget you,” she said. Her answer brought a smile to his face, and Ren reached out to take her hand.

“That’s why I’m saying we should get on the boat and prove the legend wrong. Besides, would you really let some curse get between us?”

The answer was obvious as Ann felt her lips pulled into a quiet grin. He tugged her hand, then led her to the boat rental place.

It was her first time riding the boat too. It seemed fun, but she never had the chance to ride it. “Next time” had been her reason. If she thought about it now, there were no particular reasons behind it. Why? She could’ve ridden on it with Shiho if she wanted. Had Ann ingrained the curse so deep in her mind that she became incapacitated because of it? Because even without the bad luck, her life had already been a hell of its own. 

People had shunned her. Some had even bullied her. She’d tried not to let it get to her, but for a twelve- or thirteen-year-old, peer pressure had been enough to corner her and make her think of the worst. Should I dye my hair black and wear contact lenses? If I look like everyone else, people may start to like me. These thoughts had spiraled down in her mind with no signs of stopping. She was always alone; her parents were never home. She had no one to depend on—until Shiho, but even that light only lasted three years before she was taken away from her. 

Paddling the swan boat was harder than it looked. And with a difference in strength, it was hard to coordinate their movements. Ann would think their time in the metaverse had strengthened her muscles, but that did not seem like the case. 

“You don’t look like it, but you’re pretty strong, aren’t you?” Ann said, huffing and puffing her breath. 

Ren wasn’t entirely active in gym class either. He wasn’t the strongest nor the fastest. When the boys played soccer or basketball, he would always sit back. “I hate breaking a sweat,” he’d said once. Yet every time they were in the metaverse, he always looked like he was ready to show off. 

Ren chuckled under his breath. “I’ve been going to the gym. Morgana nagged me to strengthen my muscles.”

Figures. The cat was behind everything. She should follow his example and visit the gym more often. 

Wait—

“Where is Morgana?” Ann hadn’t seen him since morning. 

Ren’s smile was wry. “When I told him I’ll be going on a date with you, he turned around and flicked his tail at me.”

“Poor guy. You should buy him something. What about sushi?”

“I should buy you something.”

Ann clicked her tongue in irritation then stared him down, her eyes hard. “You never gave him those tuna sushi, right?” He never did, from all the way back in August—Ann knew. Ren quickly relented, averting his gaze and finding some interesting spot to observe on the water. “It won’t be the high-end sushi bar like in Ginza, but I’m sure there are some delicious ones around here.”

“Then,” he said, “we’re having sushi for dinner.”

***

Massive trees lined the pond on either side. In the spring, pink and white sakura petals decorated the trees in its transient beauty. Ann often sat on the benches, under the awning of the low-hanging branches and overlooking the pond. She imagined that rowing a boat in the middle of it would feel like traversing through a forest. The thick foliage obscured the view of passers-by and park-goers, making it seem like she was in a dreamscape or fantasy, where there was only herself and nature. 

That was what Ann felt now that she was sitting on a boat in the middle of the pond. But instead of sakura, the trees were now lined with gold and red and yellow with a dash of green here and there. They had stopped paddling, resting their legs. They’d gone quite far, their boat rocking between the gentle waves. Late sunlight dappled across the water surface. When a cool, crisp wind that brushed past her skin like a soft caress against her face, Ann watched the water rippling along with it. By the bank, leaves danced in the wind, swirling and dipping and soaring high until they flew out of sight. 

“Having fun?” Ren asked. Ann nodded, drawing a quiet, contented breath. She felt his smile more than she saw it, before he shifted his gaze away and said, “I heard you’ve been wanting to ride the boat.”

That caught her attention. She turned to him.

“Who did you hear it from?”

“Shiho.” The answer rolled easily off his tongue, as though it was apparent. If Ren were any other person, Ann would have thought he might have heard it in passing or from Shiho herself. But he barely knew Shiho—barely talked to her before the incident in April—so how could he have known? He didn’t give her a chance to ask before he glanced behind his shoulder and said, “The sun almost set.”

The far eastern sky had grown a deep blazing orange while the sun made its slow descent behind them, sending out the last of its rays before dipping under the horizon. Ann swallowed her question as she moved to paddle alongside Ren to turn the boat around. They’d gotten the hang of it, finding the perfect rhythm between his paddling and hers. They reached the rental space by the time the sun completely disappeared. 

Hand in hand, they headed for the gate leading toward Kichijoji. Various kinds of stores stood on both sides. From second-hand boutiques to chic cafes, furniture stores and handmade accessory stores. Ren’s focus had been on his phone for a while, typing one-handed as text message after text message came with each vibration and incoming beep. 

“Who’re you talking with?” Ann asked.

“Hm? Oh, Sojiro.” The slight pause had tugged her curiosity, but when he met her inquiring gaze, Ren only said, “He’s making sure I don’t go home too late.”

That was nice, Ann thought, to have someone to worry about when he would get home. She didn’t have anyone like that.

Ren messed with his phone for a while longer. When Ann peeked, she noticed the map open on his screen. ‘Sushi bar’ was the search item and several red dots had appeared. Ren clicked and unclicked each dot, reading the descriptions and the reviews left on it, until he finally decided on a place and led her to it. 

His phone beeped again. Another incoming message. Ann glanced at him right as Ren sent his reply. 

“Boss again?”

Sojiro didn’t seem like the type to worry so much. Hadn’t he let Ren out on nights? Ren’s ambiguous nod only fed her suspicion that he was hiding something. She opened her mouth then, about to say something, when they rounded a corner and a voice she hadn’t expected to hear reach her ear. 

“Ann.”

Ann froze. 

Soft and meek, it was a voice she hadn’t heard in person for months. The last time Ann heard it was when they brought her to the school rooftop before she moved away. Ann slowly turned around in search of the source, and there, some twenty feet ahead, was a person she hadn’t expected to see. Dressed in a navy-blue jacket and white cropped trousers, her black hair tied in its usual ponytail, Shiho’s features lit up by the smile blossoming across her face. She held her hand high above her head, waving at her excitedly.

“Aren’t you going to say hi?” Ren asked when Ann failed to react.

He was beaming, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Did he know? Did he plan this? Nonsense. Didn’t he know how far Shiho’s home now was? How had she even gotten to this place? On a school day, no less. Then there was her message that morning. Sorry we can’t celebrate together like we used to. Shiho wouldn’t have said that if she’d planned to come. She wasn’t the type to surprise Ann like this. But—

I’m sure Ren-kun has prepared something amazing for you.

Ann slowly shifted her attention to her still-beaming boyfriend, who was nodding his head toward Shiho as if trying to say, go on. Go to her. 

“Did you plan this?” Her voice was only above a whisper. 

He replied with a shrug and a knowing smile. Maybe he thought this was what she wanted, and maybe it was—she’d said so herself; she wanted to meet Shiho. But as Ann loosened her hold on Ren’s hand and all she wanted was to cross the distance and hug Shiho with all her might—because Shiho was here! She’d travelled all the way here!—Ann found herself hitting Ren’s arm instead. Again and again and again—hitting him with a fist as, one by one, tears rolled down her cheeks. 

Why did he bring Shiho here? Didn’t Ren know her friend was still in recovery? Didn’t he know she was still going to rehab every week? Ann knew, because Ann had been in touch with Shiho every other day. They’d texted each other and called each other. Ann knew everything that was going on in Shiho’s life as though she lived it herself. And Ann knew that every day was still a struggle, even though Shiho had said she could almost do everything by herself now. But almost was still not one hundred percent everything. Her physician praised her for improving so much in so little time, but they’d told her to not push her limit. And travelling was clearly pushing the limit. 

What if something bad happened to Shiho on the way? What if Shiho could never return to how she once was?

Arms wrapped around her. Shiho rested her cheek on Ann’s shoulder, warm tears seeping into her school blazer.

“I’m alright, Ann,” Shiho whispered to her ear, over and over like a mantra. “I’m safe.”

***

“I’ll leave you two to catch up,” Ren said before he disappeared from the bar. Ann watched him leave from their seat by the corner. They’d ordered several sushi sets, Ren promising to pay for everything. From his part-time jobs, he’d explained to Shiho. Though there was probably some truth to his words, Ann knew most of it came from their Palace pilfering. 

Silence descended, broken only when Shiho said, “Don’t blame him too much, Ann.”

Ann glanced at her friend before shifting her gaze to her hands. “I’m happy you’re here with me now, Shiho, but…” She shook her head. “Once we return, I’m going to give him a piece of my mind. How could he have thought of bringing you all the way back to Tokyo?” If their sushi had arrived, Ann imagined she would have taken out her irritation on them. It’s not that she disliked Shiho’s presence. Just that…

“I wanted to.” Shiho’s quiet reply drew Ann’s attention to her. “I want to celebrate your birthday with you. And more than anything, I wanted to show you how well I’ve gotten.” Her lips quirked into a small smile, brightening her features. “And it’s not like I went alone. Mom’s here somewhere.”

“Your mom?”

Shiho gave a self-deprecating chuckle. “I got an earful, though.”

“Serves you right! If you wanted us to meet, I could’ve gone to your place instead. In fact, we were just talking about that this afternoon.” 

“But that wouldn’t have been a surprise.”

A muscle twitched along Ann’s jaw as Shiho let out another light laugh. Ann clenched both of her hands on the table, gritting her teeth at her friend’s nonchalant attitude.

“Don’t overestimate your body, Shiho, please. Didn’t the doctor say you shouldn’t push yourself? You’re not your one hundred percent yet. What if something irreversibly bad happens? Yes, it’s great to hear your health has gotten better and I can’t wait to hang out with you again, but—”

Shiho’s crippled form flashed across her mind. Her throat closed up; tears sprang in her eyes as Ann furiously blinked them away. When she spoke next, she couldn’t hide the tremble in her voice: 

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.” If Shiho’s rush to return to her full potential backfired, Ann didn’t know if she could forgive herself.

The server brought their sushi with three glasses of cold green tea. Ann averted her gaze, brushing at a stray tear as she took out her phone and mumbled something about telling Ren the food had arrived. However, before she could, Shiho’s hand encompassed hers. 

“Do you still blame yourself?” her friend asked.

Ann went still. “I don’t,” she said, even as her heart clenched tight and her breath caught in her throat. 

“It’s not your fault, Ann.”

She knew that. She thought she did. That was why Carmen woke up from inside her. But then there were moments when she lay in the dark, when thoughts she never knew she ever had kept her awake the entire night.

Your fault. Your fault. Your fault. You should’ve noticed the signs. You should’ve known she was suffering. Even if there had been nothing you could’ve done, you should’ve been there for her at the least. You’re her friend! Why had you let her feel so alone, so cornered, that the only consolation she could find was on the other side of the rooftop ledge?

Shiho pulled her into her arms, whispering soothing words to her ear. “It’s alright. It’s okay. I’m fine. It’s not your fault, Ann. It never was.”

The dam broke. Ann clutched onto Shiho’s back as tears she never realized she had held streamed down her face. 

***

Maybe it was an excuse—checking up on Shiho, or going to the sweets store near her school. All Ann ever wanted was to see her friend healthy again so they could have fun like they used to.

When Ren returned to his seat, Ann ended up giving him a piece of her mind. A little more nagging and scolding and refusing to speak with him for the rest of the day. Shiho joked that it must have been Benzaiten’s curse, at which Ren laughed and Ann frowned. 

“We’re not breaking up,” Ann said with certainty. 

Shiho and Ren looked at her in surprise, after which Shiho said to Ren, “You heard her, Ren-kun.” They snickered at Ann’s expanse. 

Shiho’s mother had gone to Kichijoji’s shopping arcade before she went to pick her daughter up at the sushi bar. Ann drew an internal sigh of relief when she saw no signs of vexations on her face as she greeted Ann with a smile. When the girls introduced Ren, however, there was a frozen stillness to her features that even made the unflappable Ren break out in sweats.

They waved her goodbye, but before they turned around the corner to wherever her mother parked her car, Shiho turned around once and shouted, “Come over sometimes, okay?” Shiho beamed, waving her hand high, then disappeared from view. 

“You heard her,” Ren said. She did.

Ren offered his hand, but Ann only spared it a glance before turning her back on him and heading down the opposite direction from Shiho. Ren fell into step beside her. 

“I’ll walk you home,” he said.

“No need.”

“Even so.”

Night had fallen. Lights flickered along the storefronts and windows. Conversations floated around as they walked in silence between passers-by in the shopping district. 

As they turned the corner and headed back toward the park, Ann murmured, “Thanks.” 

She’d acted strong—acted like she had accepted everything. That was never the case. A part of her—an insecure part of her—always came in the middle of the night to whisper despicable things about herself. Fake. Impostor. She only joined the Phantom Thieves because she felt guilty about Shiho. She’d sought to change the hearts of vile adults so no one would have to suffer like her again. It was true, but that was only half of the truth. In all honesty, Ann wanted to seek forgiveness. A redemption. If she accomplished many good deeds, maybe the Gods would hear her prayer and give Shiho her health back. 

As the park came into view, Ann felt Ren’s gaze on her. She still refused to meet it, but let her face break into a tiny crack of a smile. The twinge of pain in her heart gradually subsided, leaving her feeling liberated, as though a heavy weight had been lifted off her mind.

~ END ~

#ann takamaki #ren amamiya #shiho suzui #shuann #renann #persona #persona 5 #fanfiction #persona fanfic #p5 fanfic #annweek2020

[shoutosteakettle]

Happy Birthday!

Word Count: 3.3k

Key: ☆

Ask: How does Todoroki celebrate S/O’s birthday which also happens to be a holiday? 

An: This is one of my first scenario fic so don’t judge too harshly, anyways, Happy Birthday Nonnie, I hope you enjoy!

It’s your birthday (!), but unfortunately, it’s also a local holiday meaning everything is closed for the day so no going out to celebrate.

You wake up to the smell of bacon in the air, and your boyfriend missing from bed. Before you have time to get up and investigate you see Todoroki walk in with a breakfast tray filled with your favorite breakfast foods. You can’t help but smile at the sight of your messy boyfriend. He is dressed in his normal grey sweats and black tee, his hair is more ruffled than usual and he has a smidge of pancake batter on his left cheek. 

“G’ morning, birthday girl.” You prop yourself up so that you’re sitting in your bed, "Thank you Todo, but you know you didn’t have to do all of this for me.” He smiles.

“This is just the beginning.” He chuckles as he turns around to walk out of the room. "Todo? What does that mean”, he doesn’t answer, "Todo! Tell me what that means” you take a pillow from his side of the bed and throw it at his back. He stops at the impact and turns his head towards you and winks before slipping behind the door frame and out of sight.

You spend your breakfast thinking about Todoroki’s words ‘This is just the beginning’ what did he mean by that. You ponder and don't even notice that your cup is empty when you pick up your it to take another sip of orange juice. You set the breakfast tray aside and hop out of bed. You walk over to the brown dresser in the corner of the bedroom and open the drawer second from the bottom on the left to grab one of your boyfriend's shirts. You drape it over your head sticking in one arm, then the other. You open the drawer to the right and grab a pair of shorts and put them on foot at a time before pulling them up to your waist.

You walk to the bed stepping over the pile of clothes left on the floor left by Shouto stopping halfway through your movements to momentarily question the sight because your boyfriend isn’t known to be such a slob. You shake any thought of suspicion from your mind before continuing your stride towards the bed. When you bend over to pick up the breakfast tray you notice a card halfway tucked under your plate. You pulled the card all the way out and sat down on the bed to read it.

‘Happy Birthday Y/n,

Before I met you I was ready to give up. It was your light that dragged me out of the dark corner I forced myself into. I’m thankful everyday that bumped into you at that coffee shop. Today I hope to make you feel every ounce of emotion that I’ve felt for the last nine months.

Love,

Your Precious, Todo’

You wiped away the tears that had trickled from the corners of your eyes and placed the card on top of your nightstand. Turning to the side you pick up your breakfast tray and carry it out to the kitchen. To your surprise, you see Todoroki washing dishes. "What are you doing? It’s my turn to wash the dishes.” You walk closer to him and set the tray down on the kitchen counter.

He turns off the tap and looks you in your eyes, "Y/n, I thought I told you I didn’t want you working on your birthday.” He takes a minute to read the emotions on your face. Todoroki takes a step closer to you and raises his hands to your face, he uses the pads of his thumbs to caress your cheek,, "What’s wrong love, it looks like you’ve been crying.” You wrap your arms around his waist and pull him impossibly close to you.

“I love you. I love you so much” you say as you cry into his shoulder. Todoroki rubs his hands up and down your back trying his best to comfort you, "H-hey, it’s okay. I love you too, everything is going to be fine.” He removes your head from his shoulder and looks down into your puffy, red eyes. He leans down and before you know it his lips come crashing down onto yours. This kiss was just like always, passionate, kind, considerate, intimate, loving, lustful; it reminded you of all the reasons you fell in love with him.

He detaches his lips from yours, "Y/n,” he looks once more into your eyes, "Are you going to tell me what happened?” Todoroki asked, his voice laced with concern, "Nothing, everything is perfect, I just love you so much I don’t know what to do.” you exhale, "I-I don't know how I could survive without you. You are my life, you’re everything to me.” Todoroki stares at you for a minute processing the word vomit that had just spewed from your mouth. You begin to panic thinking you said too much and scared him off and then all of a sudden you hear laughter.

You look up from your hands to see Todo laughing as if he had just heard the funniest joke on earth. "Is that it! You had me worried, I thought something important had happened!” You looked at him, dumbfounded, your feelings a little hurt. "No, no. I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just-” he took a deep breath, "It’s thrilling to hear that you feel the exact same way I do. I wasn’t going to say anything any time soon because it’s still pretty early in our relationship and I didn't want to scare you off!” he wipes away his tears of laughter, before doing the same to yours.

You couldn't help but smile at his adorable confession. "Early! How in the hell can you call nine months ‘early in the relationship?’” You said the last part in a husky voice in an attempt to mock your boyfriend. "Well, I didn’t know where your head was at, I can’t read your mind.” he sighed, " We should talk about our feelings more often to prevent more emotional breakdowns like this.” He laughs a little, waiting for your response. You sniffled at his words of advice, nodding your head in agreement.

Todoroki extended his hand towards you, "Come on, I have a surprise for you.” You take his hand in yours and follow as he leads you out of the kitchen and into the living room. You looked around in awe of your surroundings; fairy lights streaming from the ceiling and your favorite fuzzy blankets in collage form on the floor enclosed with just about every pillow in the apartment. Inside the nest shaped contraption of blankets and pillows is a platter of all of your favorite sweets and two bowls of popcorn. 

You turned around and stepped over the pillows and into the ‘nest’, only to turn back around and look at your boyfriend, before you could speak you saw your favorite movie queued up on the television behind him. "What is this?” You ask in a laugh-y breath. "Well, I wanted to take you out to see a movie, but since everything is closed I thought that this could be the next best thing.” He grabs the remote off the coffee table before making his way over to you. The two of you sat down and Todoroki played the first of many movies.

A couple of hours later and you and Todo had reached the end of your movie marathon. You helped him clean up the bowls and such. After you watched him wash the dishes you saw Todoroki pull eggs out of the fridge. "Are you going to cook again?” He finished gathering ingredients from the pantry before turning to you, "Yesterday I went to the bakery to pick up a cake for your birthday, but then I thought to myself ‘What could be more fun than baking with my girlfriend?’ So I took a detour and headed to the grocery store to pick up some ingredients for a cake instead.” You looked at Shouto taking a minute to respond.“That actually sounds like a lot of fun! S0 how do we do this?” 

He takes a minute before answering your question, "That's the thing, I’ve never made a cake before,” Todo reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone, he tapped around on his screen before pulling up a recipe for a ‘simple white cake’,, "I thought this could be a nice learning experience for the two of us.” Todoroki hands you his phone and waits for your response as you read over the recipe.“Okay, it says here that the first thing we have to do is preheat the oven to 350°F”  Todoroki walks over to the oven and turns the knob and asks you, "What’s next?” 

You and Todoroki spend the next hour or so preparing the cake batter. "Okay, I’ll put the cake in the oven.” You slip on the oven mints before picking the cake tin up off the counter and placing it on the oven rack. You take the oven mitts off and wipe your hands on your apron. You saw Todoroki disappear into your shared bedroom when he returned he has your nail box in hand. "Oh Todo, are you going to do my nails?” You can’t stop the smile from forming on your face. "I wanted to do something special for you.” 

“‘Something special’ is all you’ve been doing all day and I really appreciate it Todo, but why don’t you take a break? I don’t want to overwork you.” He smiles at you before taking your hand and leading you to a stool by the kitchen counter, "Y/n it’s your special day so I want you to feel special, so don’t worry about me because today is about you.” He takes the seat next to adjusting his stool to face you before setting down the nail kit on to the counter. "You spoil me too much Todoroki.” 

He sighs, shaking his head, "Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do?” You chuckle at his words before drifting away into thought, focused on the beauty of his monochromatic eyes. He takes a blood-red nail polish out of the box before gently grabbing your wrist and pulling your hand towards him. Todoroki spends the next hour working on doing your nails making small talk and avoiding all topics about your birthday including the rest of his plans for today. When he’s done you pick up your hand and bring it up close to your face and you're a little surprised at how good your nails came out. "Thank you so much Todo, they look really go-” before you could finish your compliment you were cut off by the sound of beeping coming from the oven.

“Oh, that’s the cake!” You get up from your seat so you could get the cake out of the oven but before you could Todoroki pulled you into him. "I’ll get the cake out of the oven, you go get ready. I left you a present on the bed.”

You gave Todo a lil smooch on the cheek and turned around and walked into your shared bedroom. Once you get to your bedroom your attention is immediately pointed towards a beautiful black dress on the foot of your bed, and next to it you see a note. You walk over to the bed and pick up the note to read it, ‘The only dress worthy of your beauty is one that matches it, Todo.’ You held the note close to your heart before placing it back on your bed. This time you pick up the dress instead, you hold it up to the light to get a better view of the design; the dress is made of a lacy material but underneath the lace is a second layer of cloth so it’s not too revealing. The dip in the neckline is sharp v that shows just enough to leave things to the imagination. The hem of the dress looks just long enough to stop right above your knee in the front, touching your mid-calf in the back.

You walked to your closet grabbing your nice undies before heading over to the bathroom dress in hand closing the door behind once you entered. You had already taken a shower this morning so you decide to skip that part of the process this time. You change into the dress Todotoki had bought you and looked in the mirror, you couldn’t believe how perfectly the dress fit you, and on top of that, it was super comfy. You opened the drawer under the sink and grabbed your flat iron to straighten your hair. You apply some light makeup, nothing too showy, and left the bathroom. You grabbed your favorite pair of black heels and slipped them onto your feet one at a time before getting up to leave the bedroom. 

When you open the bedroom door you’re met with darkness, the only light coming from the candles on the floor that outlines a rose-petaled path. You walk the path all the way to the door of your apartment, you open the door and follow the path to the building’s elevator. You walk into the elevator and see a sticky note with an arrow that points to the last floor, you press the button and the elevator begins to move. You wonder what Todoroki has planned this time around. You reach the last floor in the apartment building and the elevator dings before the doors open only for the rose-petaled path to continue. You follow the path around the corner and up the stairs, you open the doors to the roof and follow the path to a table. The table is draped with a beautiful blood-red tablecloth that matches the color of your nails almost perfectly, on top of the table there are two placemats, in the middle of the placemats is a single rose. 

You hear the doors open behind you and whip your head around. You see Todoroki with the biggest grin on his face. He’s wearing your favorite tux of his and a red tie that match the tablecloth and your nails. He has a gift bag hanging around his wrist and a plate in each hand. You return his smile and walk over to him. You help him out by grabbing a plate and walk to the table with him. He puts his plate down before walking over to you and pulling out your seat for you. You sit down and thank him and he nods his head. He walks to his side of the table and does the same to his chair as he did to yours. You look down at your food and then up at Souto and out of curiosity you ask him a question, "Who taught you how to be such a perfect boyfriend?”

Todoroki breaks out into small blush before answering your question, "I’m nowhere near perfect, but I do try my best.” he responds, waving his hands gesturing towards the dinner that he prepared for the two of you underneath the stars. "Jokes aside for a second, I hope that you enjoyed yourself today,” he takes a breath, "I know that we couldn’t do much, what with everything being closed, but I tried my best to make things work.”

You shake your head at Shouto’s words, "You didn’t just make things work, I love everything that you did for me today, the weird nest-pillow-blanket-fort contraption that you created, you remembered my favorite movies and suffered through watching them for me. You baked a cake with me an-” you take a quick breath, "There isn’t anything you could’ve done to make today any better because today was perfect. I love you Todo.”

Todoroki returns your words before digging into dinner. You and Todo make small talk over dinner until you both run out of food to eat. After that happens Todoroki picks up the small gift bag that he had placed on the floor at the beginning of the dinner and slides it over to your side of the table. You exchange a quick glance with him before you begin to pull tissue paper out of the bag. At the bottom of the bag, there are two little black boxes, you take each box out and place them on the table. You put the tissue paper back inside of the gift bag and place the gift bag back on the floor. You look back up at your boyfriend who is barely containing his excitement as he anxiously waits for you to open your gifts. 

You reach forward and pick up the smaller of the two boxes, you open it up and are immediately hit by a million different emotions. Inside there is a charm for the charm bracelet he had gotten you on your third date, "Aww Shouto” you began to stand up to give him a thank-you hug but before you could Todoroki pointed at the other box on the table. Regaining your balance you sit back down and reach for the second box when you open this one you stare at the pink diamond-studded earring inside before closing the box and sliding it over to Shouto. "T-these are too expensive, you have to take them back.” Todorki grabs the box before pushing his chair back standing up and walking over you. He pops a squat in front of you taking your hand in his.

“When it comes to you there is no such thing as ‘too expensive’” He lets go of your hand to open the earring box. Slowly and cautiously he places an earing in each of your earlobes. Once again he takes your hands into his own, he stands up and buries his head into the crook of your neck whispering to you about how he loves you. After 15 mins of him saying you silently to the beat of the music playing in the background, he leads you downstairs and back to your apartment. When you get downstairs he draws you a bath making sure to use your favorite scents and plenty of bubbles. In the bath, you try your best to relax but you can’t help but wonder what all the racket coming from outside the bedroom was. You decide to cut your bath short, you put on the PJ’s Shouto left for you and exit the bedroom. 

When you walk into the kitchen you’re met with familiar faces snaking on the freshly frosted cake, Uraraka and Izuku. You rush at them pulling them into a tight bear hug. "What are you guys doing here?” You let go of them and notice that they are wearing pajamas identical to yours. "Todoroki called and said that it was your birthday so he wanted to do a sleepover type thing to celebrate!” Uraraka gushed. 

Todoroki turned the corner interpreting your reunion. "I see you’ve finally left the bathtub,” You break out into full tomato face blush as everyone laughs at Shouto’s sly remark. "Guys I’m done setting up the show.” Todo waves everyone over to the living room where the blankets and pillows from this morning still lie, you peer over to the television to see the latest season of the ‘Bachelorette’ is ready to play. Izuku whispers to you informing you that it was he who picked the subject of entertainment for tonight. Everyone gets comfortable and Todo turns off the lights before walking over to you and getting situated under the covers with you. He plays the show, you rest your head on his chest and he throws his arm over your waist. You thank him for helping you celebrate your most perfect birthday ever. He whispers his last ‘I love you’ of the night before falling asleep with you in his arms. 

#shouto x reader #todoroki x reader #shouto todoroki x reader #bnha x reader #bnha #spiceless