#I saw a few tags and comments in that last vent that just make me angry

[thediktatortot]

Not people saying “Fandom has always been like this” in that vent post I made. No. It hasn’t always been like this. Fandom has NEVER been like this until recently and if you were in fandom pre-tumblr purge, pre-twitter, pre-netflix boom, pre-tiktok....then you would fucking know it was nothing like this.

We still had the drive to create. We still sold prints and charms and made zines...but it was never like this.

The introduction of streaming, binge shows that drop all at once, tiktok and vine RIP i still love u vine but you were the beginning of a particularly ugly era) creating this bite sized, quick paced ‘content’ era of creation and it bled out into fucking everything else.

Fandoms didn’t die down when the show ended or the season was over. You didn’t mass unfollow artist, writers or moots just because they changed fandoms. There wasn’t this need to please the algorithm in order for your posts to get seen by people and enjoyed.

Fandoms used to last YEARS. Star Trek is literally the oldest running fandom out there and you got people in there that could care less about the new stuff and still have been happily prancing through their fucking fifty year old fandom today. Hell, even SPN after all it’s fuckups and shitshows has a dedicated fanbase STILL creating tons of art and fic.

There is no patience anymore. No calm feeling of taking in fandom and friends at a pace that which doesn’t make you stressed and is still fun.

Do I blame fandom for this? Of course not, but people are complacent with it and start changing their vocab to accommodate and end up making the situation so deep it cant be fixed.

We call Art & Fic Content now, completely stripping the value of what it is to a level of consumerism instead of personal entertainment & community bonding.

#vent post #sorry for another vent #I saw a few tags and comments in that last vent that just make me angry

[sentientgolfball]

i love soft phantom but how about a scenario of a new ghoul or some other demon species acting predatory towards reader and phantom being all protecting and aggressive!!! 🤭

When I saw this one I knew I had to save it :> consider this Golfball's Halloween special

Tags: nothing too overtly gory, but there's some description of injury, demon Phantom, blood drinking, extremely brief mention of suicide

My requests are open !

Phantom has always been a cheerful ghoul, ever since the day he was summoned. He was always willing to help where it was needed and eager to learn about the strange world of humanity. He was talkative and affectionate, kind and curious. He’s someone you considered a friend with how often he’d swing by to help you where he could. But something has been off lately. 

It started with snide comments and jokes that were a bit too personal. That quickly turned into stealing your things and hiding them where you’d never find them. Bleeding into the shadows just to pop out when you thought you were alone. The worst part was nobody else seemed to notice his change. You tried venting to your friends one night and all you received were confused looks and questions. He only seemed to be treating you like this. You felt crazy. And now here he was sitting on your desk. 

“Come on, is it really that important?” He snatches the paper you were looking over from your hand. His eyes roam over it quickly before a sick grin crosses his face as he tears it up. 

“Phantom what the fuck!” You feel your gut twist at the sight of the contract now in tiny pieces all across the desk. 

His once sickeningly sweet laugh sounds grating to your ears. You look at him only to be met with a horrible Cheshire grin full of fang. 

“What? You said it yourself we couldn’t hang today cause you were busy. Now you’re not busy.” 

You stare incredulously at him, mouth slightly agape “Get out.” 

“Excuse me?” 

“Get the fuck out!”

“Aww come on you’ve got nothing to do now.” He purrs 

“No. Now I have more to do! Leave!” 

He shrugs with a chuckle before hopping off your desk and out the door, tail flicking happily as he goes. You dig the heel of your palm into your eyes and let out a frustrated groan. What the hell was up with him? You felt crazy. He’s been like this for weeks. What’s even worse there would be days that he seemed completely normal and you could almost forget how much of a pain in the ass he’s become. He’d flip so often you were beginning to wonder if he needed to go see Omega. You started to loathe seeing him, it was getting exhausting dealing with the whiplash of demeanor. 

A soft knock on the door interrupts your thoughts. Whoever is there waits only a few seconds before slowly opening the creaky door. 

“Hey” a smooth voice calls out “you missed lunch so I thought I’d bring you something small.” 

Your irritation spikes. You actually couldn’t believe him. The audacity of this ghoul. 

“Phantom do you really fucking think a little sandwich is going make me forgive you?” 

You remove your hands from your eyes and glare at him. 

“What?” He asks with genuine confusion, ears drooping. 

You huff and stand, shoving your chair in with a shrill scrape against the floor. You gather the rest of the papers before Phantom has a chance to shred them. You shoulder past him and out the door. You couldn’t be near him anymore. You went to go find somewhere to finish your work without a little demon bothering you. 

You had spent the rest of your day fixing the mess Phantom caused and catching up on what you had to put on pause. You were now alone in your room trying to alleviate the headache that had plagued you for the last few hours. You were laying in bed staring off when you heard a knock at your door. You didn’t answer. You really didn’t care who was on the other side, you didn’t want to deal with it. 

“Please let me in.” A soft whine came as you stayed quiet. 

“Go away Phantom.” 

It was quiet for a long time. You started to settle believing that he actually listened and left you alone. Until you heard a whisper you would’ve missed if it hadn’t been dead quiet. 

“I’m sorry.” 

You rolled over and looked at the door, weighing your options. You had been sick of the way he was acting towards you, but he was your friend. He had been so kind to you much longer than this new asshole side of his. Maybe he was going through something ghoulish that you couldn’t understand? You sigh. If he was coming here to apologize then he at least realized he did something wrong. You’d be willing to forgive if he could mend the tears in your relationship. 

You push yourself out of bed and open the door. You stand in the doorframe eyeing his downtrodden posture. He was slouching, ears drooped and eyes wide with his tail wrapped around his leg. Little pricks of guilt began to soften the anger steaming in your mind. 

“I’m sorry” He squeaks again “for everything.” 

“Phantom” you sigh and cross your arms “I don’t know what’s up with you, but it’s really hurt.” 

“I know, I know I’m sorry I just need to exp—“

“I really don’t want an excuse just…fuck.”

“Please let me make it up to you.” 

You consider him for a moment. You really hated the way he’s been acting, but you had a fondness for the sweet little ghoul you once knew. You wanted to believe he could make it up to you. You wanted to have the Phantom you knew back. Maybe you would regret it. Maybe you would come to realize he’s a demon no matter how soft his smile is. Maybe you were just stupid and naive for thinking it could change. But if he’s willing to apologize, willing to admit how fucked he’s been maybe he deserves a second chance. 

“Okay.” 

His ears perk up. 

“Not tonight. I’m still pissed about the paperwork, but if you haven’t flipped out again overnight then maybe we can work something out.” 

“Yes it’ll be different I promise, no more bad Phantom. I’ll make sure he’s gone.” 

“Goodnight Phantom. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

“Tomorrow.”

He stays and watches you close the door before departing. You sigh heavily, shoulder slumping before crawling back into your bed. You were exhausted. Everything’s been so exhausting lately. Though, on the bright side it seemed like your headache finally went away.  

After Phantom’s apology everything seemed to go back to normal. Well almost normal. He refused to leave you alone now. Granted he was always a little clingy, but this was a whole new level. He was always hanging around the same area as you even if he wasn’t directly interacting. You honestly didn’t care at this point, you were just glad he seemed like his sweet self again. He even kept his promise. He had begun getting you small little gifts of crystals and flowers and helping you with your tasks around the Ministry. It was nice. About a week of this passed and you felt good, great even. You wanted to do something with him, show him you’re no longer mad at him. With Samhain right around the corner you both decided on having a gigantic movie marathon.

You were waiting for him in your room, everything needed for the night already set up. You were just waiting for him to get out of rehearsal. A knock at your door startled you. You furrow your brow opening it to see who was there. 

“Phantom?” 

“Hey hey we were let out early. Come on, let's get this party started.” He shoulders past you into your room. 

You shrug it off and close the door behind you. He flops onto your bed as you start the first movie. You offer up the snacks you gathered but he declines scrunching his nose in disgust. You get a weird feeling. You try to ignore it though as the movie begins. You settle next to him on your bed, eating since he won’t. Another sinking feeling creeps in when he doesn’t move closer. He’s always been physically affectionate, but now he stays leaning against the wall with a rigid posture. You try to focus on the movie. 

Your phone buzzes after about thirty minutes into the movie. You check it. A text from Phantom. 

I’m on my way! Copia just let us out….please tell me you remembered my candy 

What…? 

You stare at it. The sinking feeling in your stomach twists. You feel nauseous. You try to sneak a glance at the Phantom sitting next to you. He’s staring right at you with a sick grin. You jump out of the bed away from him. 

“Something wrong?” He asks nonchalantly. 

“Who the fuck are you?” 

“That’s a stupid question. I’m Phantom, your favorite ghoul.” That Cheshire grin splits his face. 

“No you’re not. You’re not him. Who are—“ 

“Oh ouch guess my time is up. Or no that’s not right. Your time.” 

The thing wearing Phantom’s face stands from the bed, eyes rolling back joints popping sickeningly. You don’t waste another second. You run out of your room determined to make it to the practice room. Find Phantom. Find Papa and the other ghouls. Find anyone before this thing turned you into prey. As you ran you heard its wicked laugh bounce through the halls, the scraping of claws against polished floor. You didn’t dare spare a glance behind you. You needed to get away from it. You turn sharply at the next corner hoping to either lose it or find somewhere to hide until it was safe to run. 

You dipped into an alcove throwing a hand over your mouth to stifle your breathing, praying to whoever was listening that you'd be safe. Your eyes widen as the creature stalks forward. It still wears the appearance of Phantom but there’s something so unsettlingly wrong about it. He looks thin, too thin. Bones clearly visible through skin that was drawn too tight. Its hair was long, greasy like an oil spill. Everytime it moved you could hear its tendons snap and pop. You could see black ichor under its skin where its veins popped on its neck. 

“Where are you?” Its cracked, layered voice sang out as it stalked down the hall. 

Lucky, it passes right by your hiding spot. You wait just a bit longer for safe measure before ducking out. It’s gone. You move at a brisk pace towards where you knew a pack of ghouls was hanging. You end up slowing down after a while. It still hasn’t caught up to you. Maybe it lost you? Or maybe one of the sentry ghouls caught it? Either way, you felt safe enough to slow. It hadn’t appeared and you were almost to the practice rooms. You were so close. 

You were so close. 

You stop dead in your tracks when you feel a thick substance drip onto your face. You swipe it, seeing a black ichor coating your fingers. 

“Hello” that voice laughs. 

You try to run but it’s faster. It grabs you, claws digging deep into your skin. You feel the blood flow before you see it, but when you do see it you’re suddenly snapped into the reality of the situation. You panic. You freeze. You don’t know what to do. All you can think about is the gory demise that surely awaits you. It drags you forwards and you stumble. When you fall to the floor the thing pounces. You stare in horror at its gaping maw, filled with hundreds of needle-thin teeth. Spit dripped from his mouth coating your face as it leaned in. You flinch when it springs forward and it latches onto your arm biting down hard and sucking the blood from the wound. It burns. It feels like fire is coursing through your veins as its saliva infects you. The imposter Phantom rips its teeth from your arm and grins, licking the excess blood from its mouth with a sick tongue. 

“You know…I was not going to hunt you” it’s cracked voice says “you were feeding me so well. I would have taken from you until you ended your own life, but that vermin that horrid guard dog pushed me away. Starved me.” 

It brings its mouth close to your throat, jaw cracking and popping as flesh rips so it can open its mouth wider than should be possible. You make one last attempt to push it away, but the burning all but consumed your mind. You couldn’t move, couldn’t think, could barely feel. All you could do is watch in paralyzed horror as the beast that wore Phantom’s face prepared to end your life. 

You hear a sharp trill and you close your eyes waiting for the final blow. But it never came. The force of the beast is suddenly knocked off you. You blink your eyes open and you see Phantom. The real Phantom crouched between your broken body and the creature. He growls low in his throat at the thing, tail lashing dangerously. The Phantom you see before you is not one you’ve seen before. It’s definitely him, but something is different. He looks bigger, taller. His horns are long, more sharp. His quintessence pops and cracks haphazardly over his body. His claws look sharper. His eyes are gone, completely black and hollow, swallowed by the void within his very core. His physical form is barely contained as wisps of smoke and stardust curl around him. 

The creature screeches and jumps up, form twisting as it does so. Its joints pop as it grows, thin limbs becoming thinner. It’s leathery skin is stretched so thin you can practically see every ichor filled vein. It still wears Phantom’s face but it looks half melted as it struggles to maintain the appearance. It’s sharp, every ridge and bone visible. It lunges at Phantom. 

He growls and disappears in a puff of smoke before reappearing behind the beast. He rakes his claws down its back, black ichor spilling onto the pristine floors. He warps away again when it turns, landing another blow to its side. He does this again and again, but the beast catches on. The minute he puffs away it spins and catches him when he reappears. It throws Phantom against the wall with horrible force. He lets out a pained wheeze, rolling over trying to gather himself before it’s too late. He’s not fast enough though. The creature sinks its teeth deep into his shoulder and Phantom wails. Its teeth dig in. 

Phantom screams and digs his claws into its head. He sets his jaw and unleashes so much raw quintessence from his body that the hallway is filled with a purple glow. The beast falls limp, sparks jumping from its body. Phantom doesn’t hesitate. He sinks his fangs deep into its throat and pulls and pulls until it’s ripped from its neck. He spits it onto the floor and bends back down, drinking the ichor like blood that pours from the wound of the dead creature. He pulls back when he’s satisfied, swiping his forked tongue over his mouth collecting the remnants. He growls at the body of the beast. 

You scream at the scene, or at least you try to. It comes out more as a whimper as the venom works its way through your system. The moment you do, though, Phantom’s head snaps to your body laying on the floor. Immediately everything about him changes. The quintessence stops rippling over his body, he goes back to his normal size, his form becomes solid again, his eyes return to their normal purple. You see his mouth move but you can’t hear it over the ringing in your ears. You see him run to you before your eyes fall shut. 

When you finally blink open your eyes, you're met with the sterile white of an infirmary room. Everything hurts. You felt slick with sweat and cold. Your head was absolutely pounding as you looked around trying to get your bearings. That’s when you notice a little ball of purple curled up at the foot of your bed. 

“He’s been there all night you know.” 

You whip your head around at the voice before you can stop yourself. You groan feeling like someone took a hammer to the side of your skull. 

“Don’t move so quickly. Your body is still recovering from the venom. You’re lucky I was able to make an antidote.” 

“Thanks Omega.” You wince both from the pain and how that came out a lot more sarcastic than genuine. 

He chuffs “Don’t mention it Sibling, however next time a trickster spirit is within these halls please alert me before another scene is caused.” 

And with that, he walks out. You lay back in the bed and close your eyes against the annoying fluorescent. You replay the night's memories over and over again until you feel a weight shift as Phantom moves from his spot at the foot. A smile ghosts your face as he curls closer to you and mumbles a sleepy “You’re thinking too loud” before he falls back asleep with a purr in his chest. 

#the band ghost #nameless ghouls #ghost bc #phantom ghoul #i hope you like it anon <3 #phantom x reader #the band ghost fic #ghost fic #nameless ghoul #nameless ghoul x reader #golfball writes

[worriedvision]

What if Al haitham has been working on a difficult mission so he has unpurposely been neglecting reader. This makes us think he has grown tired of us and is moving on. Kaveh then finds us upset at this and get mad at Al haitham and goes to argue with him. Maybe at the end Al haitham apologizes and comforts us !!!

Gender neutral reader, tagged as angst, happy ending.

--

You and Alhaitham were often away from each other, work duties giving you little spare time to spend with each other. After the honeymoon phase of the relationship, you realised you rarely saw him. When you were together, he did show you affection the way you did for him, but a few months in, and you started having arguments. The last argument you had together before Alhaitham had an especially taxing argument, and while you both resolved it, you carried the weight of it with you.

You had made a small comment, saying you always looked forward to seeing your boyfriend after work. You didn't like your work, but it brought in the rent money for your place. He then started to make comments, saying how you need to put your spare time to better use, which you totally get. After you agree, however, he starts telling you that you need to be working elsewhere. Somewhere where you'd 'make a difference' or you'd 'feel more fulfilled'.

You both had a talk about it, and when he went away for his work, you looked forward to the usual schedule.

--

A few months landed up passing, and you only saw Alhaitham in passing. It was clear he had a lot of work to do, and you knew better than to surprise him with a visit. You couldn't help but feel like you were losing him, not seeing him as often as you used to, and your mind starts thinking back to that argument. In your mind, you thought that Alhaitham had been fed up with an underachiever for a significant other, and he couldn't stand the thought of spending time with you. He must have been fed up with you just being boring with your work, and complaining about how boring work was.

You tried to visit his house, several times for that matter. No answer every time you knocked. Not even Kaveh answered the door, and you remember he was away for his own work.

You try his door one more time, calling his name out, and you hear a set of footsteps behind you. Turning around, you see Kaveh.

"Oh, a pleasure to see you, _." Kaveh states. "I was hoping you knew what your boyfriend, and my lousy roommate, had to do with the recent events at the Ake-" he looks at you shocked when he hears you sniffle. "Oh, uhh, have you two... You know..."

"I don't know." You pout. "The past few months, we haven't spoken once. Kaveh, am I unworthy of having him in my life?" You ask. "Oh, what am I going on about. Here I am venting about my uncertain love life to you, not even asking you how your work is going."

"My work has been good." Kaveh brushes off quickly, keeping on the topic. "If I'm honest with you, I don't think Alhaitham is the best with romance. He is purely academic, he solely works based on logic." Kaveh tuts, crossing his arms.

"He's probably already moved on from me, it's been so long and I haven't spoken to him. I ought to start as well." You sigh, turning to walk home and cry yourself to sleep yet again.

"I'm going to make your boyfriend realise he's been neglecting you." Kaveh uncrossed his arms, storming off. "The imbecile took my set of keys."

--

Alhaitham calculated the likelihood of Kaveh storming in, demanding his set of keys after he had taken both sets of keys to tick him off. Turning, he fails to hide his smirk as he spots Kavehs telltale fury.

"You made your significant other cry, Alhaitham."

That wiped off the smirk, the comment completely catching him by surprise. Kaveh laughs in disbelief, knowing that he hit the nail on the head. Alhaitham had unintentionally been neglecting you, plunging himself into this project he decided needed to be done. Kaveh still didn't understand why you weren't at least occasionally talking to him, but this is Alhaitham.

"What, were you expecting me to demand my set of keys? Truth be told, that was what I was going to do, but then I happened upon your lover crumbling right in front of my eyes." Kaveh laughs out. "You know what they said to me? They asked me if they thought they were worthy of being in your life. If you ask me, you're a loser and they can do better for themselves."

"I think you and I both know I am not a loser."

"Academically, you're 'cool'. Emotionally, you're a dick." Kaveh spits out, Alhaitham still not sure what to say. "If your lovers thoughts are correct, and you have already moved on from them, I'm going to make my move."

"Hey, how could you do that?"

"Give me my set of keys, and I promise not to make a move until you iron things out." Kaveh states. "You'll find them at home, but I'm not sure they'll hear you over their weeping."

Alhaitham tosses Kaveh his set of keys, putting his paperwork away before rushing out to get to your house.

--

You heard someone knocking on your door after you changed into your nightwear, in bed, and eyes red and puffy. Hoping they're going to just come back tomorrow, you bury your face into your pillow. A more persistent knock is heard, and you groan out before trying to clear up your face. One more knock, and you yawn before getting to the door. You didn't know who it was going to be, your best guess possibly being Kaveh asking to sleep on your couch.

Opening the door, you're met with your boyfriend. Before you can fully process it, he's in the house and closing the door behind him. He places the bag of ingredients down, holding you in his arms and whispering apologies for neglecting you. He was going to cook dinner for you, to help you find a happy you enjoyed, but his priority was reassuring you that his feelings never died.

After you calmed down, he explained that he had a big project he had to work on. A highly important one, one where it resulted in a gods freedom, and he just had to find people to fill the now vacant spots. Afterwards, he would be able to spend a week with you.

#gender neutral reader #genshin impact imagines #angst #alhaitham #alhaitham x gender neutral reader #alhaitham x reader #kaveh

[copias-sewer-rat]

hello again! ❤️ inspiration has struck for a new ask (if you’d like to ofc)

would it be possible for you to write the different papas maybe helping a s/o who’s overwhelmed with work, stress, bills or whatever etc. and how they help them relax, calm them?

Thank you! 😘

Sorry this took so long! I myself am very stressed with work so this ask got me pretty hard. I tried to portray different types of behaviours when stressed so I hope you enjoy the little scenarios (they might be a bit angsty if you are feeling down, but it is nothing serious.) Fluff and comfort overall! (THIS IS ALL WORK STRESS RELATED BECAUSE RN THAT IS ALL MY MIND GOES TO SORRY)

Tags: no proof read, gn reader, overworked reader, slight argument but overall fluff and comfort.

PAPAS WITH A READER WHO IS STRESSED (GN)

Primo

- Now that he has been retired for a few years, Primo doesn’t feel that stressed anymore. Nonetheless, he doesn’t have fond memories of the piles of documents piling at his desk when he was Cardinal or even Papa.

- Currently he gets the most stressed when some unexpected plague attacks his dear plants.

- That and when you come to him stressed yourself.

- He sees you entering your shared chambers, dark bags under your puffy eyes (you had probably been crying, he thought) and he gets stressed just from your aura.

- He has seen you like this before, but this is one of those extreme cases when you don’t even speak to him, so he worries a lot.

- He jumps straight to you, grabbing anything that you might be carrying, trying to make you feel lighter somehow.

- When he gets back to you after placing your belongings where you usually leave them, he resorts to the only thing he can think of to know how to help you: yes or no questions.

- You are not speaking right now, but you do make very slow almost unreadable gestures.

- He asks if you want to eat, you nod. He prepares you a plate of the dinner he had made for both of you, still hot and smelling delicious, you eat what you can.

- He offers you various options afterwards. That you vent to him about what got you so stressed, a warm bath or to get wrapped in blankets and sleep as much as you want.

- Whatever you choose the last option is always mandatory, because he knows that that is what relaxes you the most.

Secondo

- You learned a long time ago that Secondo’s bitter and dry behavior came to flourish mostly when he was stressed, which occurred pretty often.

- Since you got together he had snapped at you a few time because of that, but he promised to work on his issues so you don’t get to suffer because of him.

- He picks up wood work to destress when he has a bit of a break and he hasn’t snapped at you ever since.

- So imagine his surprise when it is you the one that snaps at him.

- You cannot avoid it, you had loads of work and you workmates were being assholes and your boss even more. Everyone shouted at you so you shouted at Secondo.

- He had asked a pretty innocent question about the washing machine, something that he had asked before, but somehow he always forgets and you keep reminding him. But this time it bothered you more that it should. You screamed at him that he was stupid, that he didn’t put any effort into figuring out himself.

- Secondo wasn’t one to get affected by those kinds of comments, but coming from you, his beloved, it definitely pricked his heart in a way he didn’t know it was possible.

- You saw his hurt expression and regretted you actions instantly, breaking into tears in front of him.

- You apologized profusely time and time again, explaining the root of your aggressiveness towards him. That certainly softened him and made him angry at the same time.

- How dared everyone at your job to treat you in such way? You were perfect!

- He told you that there was nothing to forgive, that he understood why you had snapped. However, he made you promise that you would come to him sooner when you started feeling that way, that maybe you could carve something together.

- Later that night Secondo prepares a movie night with your favourite snacks and a marathon of your comfort movies to chill together.

- You definitely fall asleep before the first movie ends and Secondo carries you to your shared bed.

Terzo

- You were so stressed that you finally shut down. You couldn’t do anything, you felt so incompetent.

- The last day you had spent it under the sheets of your bed, crying all the time, thinking that you didn’t deserve a job. Everything was piling up and you had asked for a couple of free days to drown in your own self pity.

- The break itself was not working, guilt building up for even skipping a day of work, but you could not handle being there anymore.

- Terzo had been worried about you, you were not answering your phone so he decided to visit you in person. He had a spare to you keys so he invited himself in.

- Everything was dark and cold. Being the dramatic ass that he is he imagined the worst possible scenario and called for you. He heard some rustling coming from your bedroom and grabbed a pan from you kitchen to defend himself.

- When he saw your figure curled up in bed between mugs of cold tea and used tissues he run to you, leaving the pan at the edge of the bed where it didn’t make a noise.

- He observed that you were awake so he tried to talk to you. You could do anything but hug his torso as tightly as possible.

- He didn’t say nothing more, he just caressed your greasy hear, tucking it away from you puffy face.

- Terzo sang your favourite Italian songs to calm you down and you did.

- When you felt better, you told him why you were like that, but he didn’t understand much between your hiccups and sniffles, he got the general picture though.

- He prepared a spa session for both of you, with the whole package: face masks, cucumber for your eyes, exfoliating, warm bath with rose petals, manicure and pedicure for both of you and of course a scalp massage that sent you to heaven.

- He definitely knows how to work those fingers to turn you into a puddle.

Copia

- The current Papa is always so stressed himself that you don’t want to add your own stress to his own growing pile. You fake a smile every time he asks about your job, but on the inside you are hurting so badly.

- You want to quit, you have wanted to do so for a while. Your job doesn’t bring you any joy and it is the furthest you would find to your dream job.

- Copia doesn’t know this, so when you almost collapse on him due to you overworking yourself, he is so panicked that he debates calling an ambulance.

- You recover yourself quickly and ask for a glass of water which Copia runs to fetch for you.

- He thinks you might have a very serious sickness. When he hands you the tall glass of water (which you down in one go) he sees how pale you look, the bags under your eyes, the shine of your hair is gone and you look thinner.

- He asks what is wrong while putting you on his lap and you break down. You explain everything. How you didn’t want to worry him, how everything had seemed too much lately, how you don’t want your job anymore.

- He listens attentively, but his face is one of concern. He explains that you should not stick with something if it makes you unhappy. Of course every job has bad moments, but if that is all that there is to it, it is not worth it.

- You nod and hug him tightly. Copia runs his hand through your hair, explaining how he will always be there by your side, that you can talk to him about these things, that you are not a burden or a bother.

- You laugh, you had been so blind to that. He is Copia, your Copia. Of course he would have time for you, and you for him. You wanted to do it alone, and the weight became so heavy that you sank down. Fortunately, Copia was always going to be there to pick you up.

- After that you shower together. Copia pays extra attention to all the parts of your body that look extra tense. He rubs and washes with hot water and you do the same for him in such and intimate fashion that you end up hugging under the hot stream.

- After that you eat dinner, talking about anything but work, Copia throwing his typical silly jokes. Those he knows make you laugh no matter what.

- At the end of the night, he carries you to bed and massages you with scented oils, massaging any spot that was still tense even after the shower.

- You fall asleep with your head nested on his neck, inhaling his scent and wondering how lucky you truly were of having him as your other half.

#gonst #the band ghost #papa emeritus iv #ghost #cardinal copia #ghost band #ghost bc #papa emeritus iii #papa terzo #papa secondo #ask box #ask #my writing

[certifiedlovergirlsstuff]

valentines day

summary: valentine’s day. the day of chocolate hearts, flowers, budding romance, and heartbreak.

WC: 1.7K

warnings: this is clean

A/N: ALL PARTS UNDER THE TAG -The Byers Harrington Story-

this is version2 of what i original started with but my break caused me to change it. so maybe in the future my version1 of certain stories might be posted, we’ll see obviously.

THANK YOU FOR 300 FOLLOWERS💗💗💗

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February 14, 1985

The house was quiet, the only noise heard through the structure was the mild volume of the TV. Movies and shows playing their romantic scenes, couples going on dates, a guy running through the rain to get the girl before it’s too late or many other romance gestures Hollywood could think of.

No one was in the house, well except for two people, those two people lounging on the couch just staring at the small screen and it was only two-thirty in the afternoon. Jonathan went out earlier since he planned a who day with Nancy, and said something about going to the next town over for dinner or something. Joyce had to work, as usual, she was basically the only employee at Melvard’s, so you wouldn’t see her until later that day. So it was only you and Will.

Steve called earlier and said he’s being held hostage, metaphorically, but also literally. His parents were in town for a few days and he mentioned something about lunch and his father’s work, so you know he wishes to stab himself to leave that situation. So you wouldn’t see your adoring boyfriend until tonight, dinner plans he step up, not Enzo’s he added.

You asked Will what his plans were when you saw he made himself comfy on the worn brown couch, just lounging in his pj's.

“Mike said he’s hanging with El today, followed by Lucas remembering to make plans with Max, so that’s two couples I don’t want to third wheel today.”

“What about Dustin? He doesn’t have a girlfriend.”

His attention moved from the screen to a loose thread he started picking at, “said he was working on a science project or something, and also that he was going with his mom for bingo at her friends.”

You twisted your torso to lean into the cushions, left leg angled on the seat while you face Will, head tilted at his pouting face. You poked a finger into his right thigh for his attention.

“Why don’t we do something? Like we used to do.” It used to be homemade valentine’s day cards with baking brownies or cookies and the final piece, going on a walk down the block and venting to each other.

“Is it only ‘cause Steve can’t come until tonight?” His comment was low, but you heard the sadness in the whispers.

You scooted closer to his, your leg to his thigh, your hands grabbing at his to stop any fidgeting, “Will, you know I love hanging out with you. Just ‘cause I have a boyfriend now doesn’t mean that changes.” With one hand you placed it upon his left cheek and turned his head to completely face you, “you’re my number one guy, always will be. Partners come and go, but my family will come first no matter what.”

You saw his eyes dip away, “hey,” you cooed softly to him, “Will, is something wrong?”

He didn’t even say anything and you knew there was something eating at him, but he was holding back. The only sign was the wetness growing along his lash line, and the tiny bite to his bottom lip.

“Hey, hey, hey.” You moved off the sofa to crouch at his knees, “Will, please, please, tell me if there’s something I can do to help. Or tell me what’s wrong, please, I don’t like seeing you like this.” Your own eyes tearing up and your throat straining.

The tears started to slip from his eyes and down his cheeks, matching stains on both your faces. He still didn’t say anything, only sniffling to stop the snot from dripping. Your fingers drummed along his knees, the physical sign of your nerves.

“Will…”

“I…I like someone…” his voice cracked on the last word, like the thought of them broke his heart.

You released a small sigh, relieved it wasn’t about something horrible, just a middle school crush. Your actions showed your thoughts as you dropped your forehead to rest on your knuckles that still sat on Will’s knees.

“Will…you scared me-” Your light chuckles stopped when you felt his body shaking and looked up to see his face pinched in hurt.

“Will… everything… it’s only a middle school crush.” You tried to comfort him. “You- you don’t… you don’t get it (Y/n).” His stuttered cries cracked your heart.

“Then tell me, explain to me. I was a kid in middle school not too long ago with a crush, I know the pain. I even had elementary crushes, and those hurt me.” A quick flash of middle school you staring longingly at middle school Steve, a kiss shared between you and another girl in your room.

You moved from the floor back to the couch, closer to Will and pulling him in by the shoulders, his head resting on your collarbone. One hand going to tangle in his dark brown strands while the other rubs up and down along his spine to soothe his hiccuped crying.

“Okay, okay. You don’t need to tell me anything right now, but know that you can tell me when you’re ready. I understand the pain of crushes, some of them you can’t have.” His hands clutched at your shirt.

No words were spoken for the next five minutes. Only the sounds of the TV as white noise, Will’s sniffling, quieting, and trailing off as the seconds ticked by. Your hand moved in slow and soothing circles over his shoulder blades while your other hand held the back of his head.

“Do you want some water?” Those were the first words out of your mouth.

Will nodded in acceptance of the offer. You both detangled from each other, limbs sore and bones cracking at the sudden movement. Your footsteps thudded against the hardwood that led into the cool tile of the kitchen. You stood on the tips of your toes and reached for a clean mug before placing it under the faucet. Just as the cup was full and you turned around, the landline blasted its high pitch ringing. A bit of water splashed to the floor due to your jumping at the blaring noise. You exhaled a sigh, placed the mug on the table, and trekked to the ringing phone.

“Hello?”

“Hi, beautiful.” His honey-laced voice greeted you.

A smile tugged at your lips, “Hi, Stevie. How are you doing?”

He huffed at the question which caused a giggle to slip from you, “I wanted to stab my ears so I could block out my dad’s annoying voice and comments. But I’m free now, so can I escape my jail and hide out at your place until dinner tonight?”

You twirled the thick cord ‘round a finger, “as much as I would like to see you, Will kinda needs me right now.” You kept your voice low, and you peeked into the living area to look at Will.

“Is everything okay?” Your heart skipped a tiny beat hearing the worry in Steve’s voice at the mention of Will.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s nothing horrible, just something personal. But I’ll- I’ll call you back when you can come over, or maybe you can come over in like…in like two hours. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll bring some extra stuff to stay over.”

“Perfect. I wasn’t planning on having you leave at the end of the night anyway, Harrington.” The last name holds an implication in the tone.

“Oh really, Byers. And why is that?” 

“Well-” “Please, god, stop!”

Will was fully facing you from the couch and his face was morphed into a disgusted scowl. You chuckled at his annoyance but knew you should hurry up anyway to get back to him.

“I gotta go. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, don’t have too much fun without me.”

“That won’t be a problem.” And you hung up.

Will watched you as you came back to the couch, polka-dotted mug in hand.

“So…you wanna- wanna talk about it? Your crush.” Your fingers drummed against the ceramic.

Will took the mug from your grasp and chugged half the fluid before setting it on the table. You weren’t gonna rush him, knowing if you pushed someone in the Byers family to open up, most likely they’ll close themselves off.

So you waited and watched as he picked at the skin around his nails. Saw how his top teeth dug into his bottom lip harshly, blood likely to draw if he went any harder. And just when you were beginning to think he had changed his mind, his voice hiccuped.

“I…I like someone…that someone being...” he started picking harder at his skin, “it’s a- it’s a b-boy…” he trailed off, you almost didn’t hear him with the TV still on.

“Oh. Oh.”

Now you understand his pain and hesitation to tell you. But also you’re just a bit hurt to think he was scared to tell you, you understand where he’s coming from.

“Will, I understand that feeling you’re having. Where your brain is telling you it’s wrong to feel these things for someone of the same sex, but your heart is doing somersaults at just the tiny thought of them, getting to hold their hair, watching them smile at a stupid joke you made, or just looking at you like you’re the only person in the world to them. And- and I know people say it’s wrong an- and immoral or some bullshit that they use religion as an excuse, but there is nothing wrong or disgusting or immoral about loving someone.” 

The silence, along with the tones of dialogue in the background filled the space. Your mouth got a bit dry at the end of your speech, need to make sure you got your point across in one go so Will could speak up at any time. You wanted him to ask questions, get those horrible thoughts out of his head and replace them with a new perspective.

“Do you… do you wish you could be normal? Not have these thoughts? I- I know what you went through…when dad was here.” He was looking at you through his lashes.

“Sometimes,” you sighed, remembering laying awake after getting hit by your dad, “but I would never change that about myself. And you should never think about changing yourself just to fit into the norm.”

You held a hand out, palm up with inviting fingers. It took a second, but Will got the message and linked hands with you. He didn’t say anything further, and you didn’t poke for more information. The two of you just sat in the quiet, knowing that the two of you shared something no one else in the family would understand, your bond growing just a bit more that day with each other.

-----------------------------

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#The Byers Harrington Story #steve harrington #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x reader #stranger things imagine #stranger things fic #stranger things series #stranger things self insert

[darklydeliciousdesires]

The Dark Passenger - Chapter Five.

A huge thank you for such glowing feedback! Yep, I went full on man bastard with EZ and ohhhh, you’re all going to hate him so much more by the time I’m done here! Oh, and to the people reading who only offer a like, could I tempt a little comment out of you, perhaps? Maybe a reblog? Your author is in need of feeling appreciated :)

Previous chapters - One  Two  Three  Four

Words - 3,576

Warnings - 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

Tag list - In the comments. Please DM to be added/removed

“It is a pity, Ezekiel, that your club voted down on the idea of you supplying us with the product, but this does not mean we shall not continue to press ahead with it.”  

EZ closed his eyes for a few seconds, a wave of cold, biting anger rising within him. Of course, what Soledad wanted, Soledad got. And she wanted her product cut with fentanyl, doubling the club’s risk, except with none of the payoff they would receive from organising the supply. He knew it was bad when she’d called him personally, rather than relaying the message to Miguel Galindo in his role as intermediatory between the two groups. When she wanted to be nothing but a hundred percent clear, she always did reach out personally, though.

The head of the LNG might have been tiny, but lord, she was mighty.  

“Message understood,” EZ spoke, each word almost bitten as they passed over his lips. “Until next time.” Hanging up, he hurled his phone across the clubhouse in a fit of rage, a couple of glasses following. It was all their fault, the sets of eyes that watched him, expectant for an answer. “She’s going ahead with it anyway, so our risk is doubled, and we get no pay out from it. I hope you’re all fucking happy with the gutless choices you made. Every single one of you bar Nestor, all lacking in spine.”  

“EZ, that ain’t fair,” Bishop spoke up. “Truly, you shouldn’t have approached her before you did us, given her the idea she could have easily cut us out from, which is exactly what she did.” In his naivety, green as he was in some respects in dealing with a cartel as he navigated his way through being president of an MC, of course, EZ was bound to make the kind of mistakes Bishop wouldn’t have. He needed to see here that this was one of them.  

And beneath his rage, EZ did know it, which is what caused his fury to pulse even whiter hot, knowing it was his fuck up.  

“How is it gonna be more of a risk, though?” Hank interjected with. “You said you’d got a chemist organised.”

EZ’s head shot round to look at him sharply. “One she didn’t mention to me she’d be using. We have no power over how this will be being controlled here, so that’s where the risk lies. What else do you need fucking spelling out for you tonight, huh?”  

Hank left it there, nodding in the wake of his president’s vented venom, venom he continued to let pour. Everyone received a yelling at from a highly irate EZ, his tirade only coming to an end when he felt something soft brush his leg, a wet nose pressing into his hand. Looking down, he saw his faithful pitbull sitting at his feet, her tail wagging, eyes pleading with him not to shout any longer. Sally was perhaps the only thing he had close to him who could calm his rage.  

He was so stressed and so worked up, his head was pounding, but the pureness in her big, brown eyes soothed him, EZ jerking his head towards the back of the clubhouse. “Come on, you want food?”

Woof.  

His jaw was still set as he cast a disapproving glance around the room, turning and heading for the stairs. Above the clubhouse, for many years it had just been a mainly disused, dusty old attic. That was until EZ took the gavel and decided to convert it into an apartment, growing tired of life within a trailer. It wasn’t huge, but it was big enough to call home, had a small bathroom and kitchen area, and most importantly, a large bed he could stretch out on, or be able to roll around upon with a girl without ending up on the floor. That last girl had left her underwear there the night before, EZ picking up the small, orange thong from the mess of sheets in the unmade bed and putting it in the trash.  

She was forgettable. She wouldn’t be returning.  

Heading to the kitchenette, he pulled out the large bag of dried dog food, putting the cupful into Sally’s clean bowl and turning to place it on the floor, patting her belly as she scampered over to eat. For himself, he chose a pouch of ready mixed grains and quinoa, mixing it with broccoli and chicken, something simple and quick, since he hadn’t eaten anything close to decent in nutritional content all day. Coffee and tacos were far from it.  

By the time midnight had rolled around, he felt no better, his headache still present despite the Advil he’d taken, Sally curled up in her bed asleep while he lay back listening to music quietly. He needed a distraction from his residual fury, and knew exactly where to go looking for it.  

Camille felt her stomach explode with butterflies when she turned at the top of the pole, seeing EZ beaming up at her from the previously empty seat, the club virtually dead at that time, just twenty-five minutes from closing. She’d been wondering when he’d pop up, and despite the words of warning from her friends, despite Mai’s near unbreakable assumption that he was married, she’d been secretly feeling excitement about when she’d see him again.  

“I see that perfect ass is back to being perfect again,” he commented as she dismounted the pole neatly sauntered over, deciding to call it a night.  

Reaching to the back of the stage where it dropped down and met the back of the bar, she picked up her glass of diet Coke, moving to seat herself next to him. “Yes, all healed very nicely, now.” Sipping her drink, she set her glass down, suddenly having him lean into her space, kissing her softly.  

It made her a little anxious, since Martin advised the girls not to fraternise with anyone they might be dating while out on the floor, that it was a sure-fire way to kill the fantasy from the client's point of view, but Camille didn’t know what he was to her yet. Was he just casual sex? Where they at the beginning of the dating game?  

“Are you hungry?”  

The randomness of his question made her chuckle softly, her face contorting in a way that had him return such. “I could eat.”  

“Good,” he hummed, sipping his beer. “I know a place, open ‘till late to deal with people rolling out of the bars and clubs in search of food. Are you okay with Jamaican food?”

Now, there was something new. “I’ve no idea, I haven’t ever tried it.”  

Forty minutes later, and she was pulling into a parking space behind his bike, EZ waiting while she got out of the car, taking her hand in his and walking her down the street to where the small eatery was located. “So, how was work?”  

Taking her for food, hand holding, inquiring about her day. Yep, maybe this was the beginning of them dating. “Tiring on both counts. Trudi booked me in to give three massages and four electrolysis treatments to do, and then having to grasp a pole all night hasn’t really helped the hand cramps.”

“Well, there go my plans for later.” She couldn’t help but snort with laughter, giving him a little shove against his huge arm when he looked down at her with a wink.  

“There’s nothing wrong with my mouth.”

Her statement made a bolt smoulder right through him, remembering just how amazing she was at blowjobs. Hell, he had to have something to look forward to, and maybe quell the persistence of his headache. Looking at her again, his smile grew, suddenly halting, leaning down to kiss her. “She’s the girl who says all the right things.”  

“I do?” she questioned, EZ continuing to lean down to her diminutive height, her back bending further.  

“Mmm.”

She giggled, her arch continuing, glad of her flexibility. “Mmm?”

“Mmm.” His confirming hum was followed by another kiss, straightening again quickly, taking her hand in his once more. She walked along fizzing on the inside, all hopped up on the brand-new energy, the excitement of it all. As for EZ, everything was going exactly as he wanted it to. Hell, he was even enjoying it on a level that wasn’t tied to him playing games with her, deliberately making himself unavailable for a week, not leaving his phone number so he was the one in control of when he saw her again, keeping her hooked with the token of flowers.  

She was hotter than hell, too. He enjoyed the envious looks he received from passers-by at seeing him with such a stunning woman, it fed the need for his ego to be ever-inflated quite nicely. No more so than when they walked into the establishment with the amazing aromas drifting from the door, Horace, the owner, immediately thrusting a fist across the counter.  

“Ezekiel!” he roared brightly, smiling a mouthful of silver teeth. “How’s it going, my brother? And damn, you didn’t tell me you were dating Pamela Anderson! You slummin’ it down here away from Hollywood, darlin’?”

EZ bumped fists with him, grinning. It hadn’t escaped him, that she very much resembled the famous blonde actress. “Yeah, all good, Horace. This is my girl, Camille.”

Immediately, she widened her eyes while turning to look at him. “I’m your girl?”

“Yeah,” he chirped, leaning in close, kissing her neck several times.  So, there was no wife, then. Surely if there was, he wouldn’t be so open about referring to her as his girl. “Why wouldn’t you be?”

She wanted to say because they still barely knew one another, because it hadn’t been discussed, but the way he looked at her, god, she let herself get swept up by it, the tornado that was EZ and his obvious affection towards her. He noticed it, though, that she looked a little spooked by the rapidity of his statement.  

“Good to meet you, Camille. Imma call you Pam, though!” Horace boomed, clapping his hands together with a loud, raucous laugh. “Now! What are you guys eating?” EZ ordered the jerk chicken and steamed vegetables, Camille looking up at the menu, unsure.  

“What would you recommend for someone who hasn’t sampled Jamaican food before?”  

“Do you like spicy, my darlin’?” Horace asked, heaping jerk chicken into a takeout container.

“I do, but not too much,” she confirmed.

“Then I recommend the stew chicken, with rice and peas.” She took his recommendation, EZ paying him and grabbing a couple of sodas from the fridge before they sat down, Camille taking her first mouthful with a soft noise of appreciation.  

“Oh my god, that’s so good!” she exclaimed, looking very happy. “Thank you, too.”

“You’re welcome,” he began, licking a drip of hot sauce from his lip. “Oh, and I didn’t mean to freak you out or rush things by calling you my girl, it’s just that anything else either felt too much, or too casual. We don’t have to be official or anything, so don’t panic. I’m like my name, easy.” The tone of her eyebrow raise earned her a soft foot to the shin under the table. “Behave!”

“What?” she exclaimed. “You said it.” They paused, sharing a look before falling into laughter. Official, unofficial, whatever it was, she was enjoying it immensely. He was the nicest, most attentive guy she’d dated in a while. Once they were done eating, they returned to her place, Camille thinking they’d head right on through to the bedroom, EZ surprising her by taking a seat on her couch.  

“Can I be a pain and request a coffee, please?” he asked, Camille leaning to kiss his head.

“That isn’t being a pain, of course, you can. How’d you take it?”

“One sugar and the tiniest splash of milk. If you by chance have any dairy free, that’d be awesome. I got this fucking headache, and dairy always seems to make them worse,” he revealed, his eyebrows knitting together.  

“Yeah, I have almond milk in the fridge. It makes much nicer smoothies than regular. And protein shakes, they go all thick...” she began, EZ chiming in with her.

“Like a McDonald’s shake!” they both spoke at the same time, Camille nodding vigorously, heading back through the lounge and into her kitchen, finding her guest had decided to follow after a few moments, hindering her progress around grabbing mugs and tipping coffee grinds into the machine by having him clutching her waist as he kissed the side of her neck.  

“You’re hampering me here, Ezekiel,” she complained lightly, switching the machine on, the element hissing into life, EZ finally letting go and leaning back against the counter. “So, I didn’t get to ask you how your day was? How was the shifting of many, many tonnes of metal?”  

Of course, she wasn’t to know that his illegal activities far outweighed any kind of work he did around the scrap yard. Few did. He wasn’t about to reveal that he’d ridden to a meet in order to negotiate some kind of truce with the Sons that morning, his terms clear. Back down, allow the heroin to flow freely through their turf, or feel the weight of the Mayans continue to bear down upon them. Chibs Telford didn’t intimidate him.  

He also couldn’t reveal to her that his wife, the famously fearsome former IRA foot soldier turned arms dealer very much did, EZ instructing everyone to run checks from then onwards upon any vehicle they happen to climb behind the wheel of, or motorcycle they mounted, since he knew well Abigail Telford’s penchant for making vehicles of those who displeased her explode.  

She might not have been a member of the club, but she was, by extension and marriage to the president of the mother charter, a very, very lethal asset to the Sons. He also knew he didn’t need the weight of the army coming for his club, should he decide to make the iron lady of Charming disappear in a pre-emptive move to thwart that possible threat.  

No, EZ definitely couldn’t reveal much about the day that had begun with him getting up at 4am to deal with the mother charter of the Sons, and ended up with him having his idea swiped out from under him by the cartel he and his club ran heroin for. Even if he could, he wouldn’t. There would always be a part of himself that would remain mysterious to her, without Camille ever actually knowing it.  

“It was tiring,” he began in answer, stifling a genuine yawn, “productive, though.” She wondered to herself what he’d truly been up to, those thoughts over his illegal activities never far from her mind, but perhaps clouded enough by how happy she felt while she was around him to not let the fact he was a criminal bother her more than it did. She then remembered back to her chat with her friends.  

“Oh, before I forget! I don’t have your phone number, and I’ve been meaning to ask for it,” she put to him, watching him roll his eyes and cover his face with his hands for a moment. Her heart thudded sharply, scared for a moment, wondering if his reaction was because of her asking that question, before he emerged, cringing slightly.  

“I’m such a dick, I never even thought to leave it for you. God, what an idiot! I guess I’m enjoying myself too much and overlooking silly little things like that.” She was fooled completely by his self-deprecating reply, EZ pulling his burner phone from his pocket, and not the cell everyone else contacted him on. They were indistinguishable but for a carefully placed nick on the end by the charging jack on the burner one. He guessed he needed to give her something here.  

Moving back to the lounge with a cup of coffee each, he recited the number, requesting Camille call him so he could save hers too, making her melt completely by what he saved her as after turning the screen. Beautiful girl. He changed it to simply read ‘C’ when she wasn’t watching. They sat at opposite ends of the couch talking, EZ being very attentive and rubbing her feet for her, Camille making him laugh with her little observations from her evening at work.  

It was one of those times where he felt himself slip and actually enjoy her with no agenda. It wasn’t that he didn’t like her, he very much did, but he liked what she, and manipulating her could do for him much more than any feelings of sincerity toward her. Then, just for a little flash of a moment, he wondered why the hell that was.  

“Sorry, too hard?” he asked, backing off the pressure he administered to the centre of her foot with his thumbs when he noticed her wince.  

“No, no it’s great. I think it’s something else. Excuse me a moment.” Getting up, she kissed his head on the way past, EZ giving her hand a squeeze. When she returned five minutes later, she didn’t look pleased. “Well, there goes my plan to bounce you around the bed through the early hours. I just got my freakin’ period.”  

He crinkled his nose a little, poking out his bottom lip at her, Camille never seeing sympathy look so adorable. “Come up here, come on.” He patted his chest, Camille moving to lie on top of him, EZ holding her, sliding one hand down to her lower abdomen. “Heat, to help with the cramping.”  

She smiled, receiving a forehead kiss, wondering how the hell she’d gotten so lucky with him. “You’re great, you know that?”  

“I’m not bad.”  

Yes, he was. Knowing that he wouldn’t be getting laid by her that night, he lay there being attentive for a while, letting her settle before pulling his cell out and discreetly sending a text. Dina, one of his regulars would likely still be at the clubhouse, since people didn’t usually start leaving until 4am on any given Friday or Saturday night.  

‘I’m here, yeah. Got Tranq all over me, so hurry up and save me! I need daddy to come make me bite down on his belt while he’s nailing me from behind.'  

He felt his cock twitch at just the thought of doing that to her, sending her a reply.

‘I’ll be there at about three. Just got something to sort out. Actually, send me a text in twenty minutes. Something else nasty, you filthy little bitch.’

Placing his phone down, he returned his arm around Camille, kissing her head a few times as she snuggled into him more, continuing to watch the movie she’d put on. He wasn’t really interested but feigned it all the same. For the next twenty minutes, at least.  

“Ahhh, shit. I gotta go, sorry, baby,” he spoke, after receiving a picture of Dina, her fingers splaying herself open with the message ‘can’t wait until you’re right here’ accompanying it. “That was my sister-in-law. Apparently, Angel isn’t home yet so I gotta go find him. It’s kind of a regular thing with them.”

“Oh, okay,” she spoke softly, a little sad she wouldn’t have his warmth to cuddle up to. Her heart went out to Angel’s wife, worried, with no idea where her husband was. What a man to be married to, she thought. Except, of course, Angel was nothing short of an adoring husband, one who was currently showing his beloved wife exactly how much he’d missed her while she’d been on tour. Camille wasn’t to know that, of course. “When will I see you again?”

“Erm, not sure,” he spoke, standing up, shoving his feet back into his boots. “I’ll call you, though. Promise. Actually, can you get out of work on Wednesday night? I could take you out for dinner, if you like?”

Standing to join him, she reached up on her tiptoes, kissing under his chin, EZ granting her his lips, tickling her sides softly. “I’d really like that!”

“Alright, well I’ll call you about it. Want me to come tuck you in before I leave?”  

Her eyes were soft like her smile, kissing him again. “I appreciate it, but no. I’m going to stay up and watch the rest of the movie before me and my disgruntled womb hit the sack.”

He laughed at disgruntled womb, enjoying another lingering kiss before leaving. Fifteen minutes later and he was striding through the clubhouse, seeing Dina at the bar, Hank next to her, still trying his luck. EZ simply breezed in, threw her over his shoulder and continued walking, his brother looking put out as his president turned back to him with a cocky eyebrow raise. “I’m taking her upstairs to fuck her brains out, just in case you need that spelling out for you, too.”  

Hank got up and left, wondering what the hell had happened to the EZ he used to know. As for the man himself, he was taking off his belt, kneeling over Dina as she sat back on his bed, taking the leather at either end, yanking it to make it snap.  

“Open your mouth.” Her jaw dropped immediately. “Mmm, good girl.”  

Yes. For the most part, EZ was perfectly fine with the man he’d become, even if others weren’t.  

#ez reyes #ez reyes fanfiction #ez reyes imagine #ez reyes smut #ez reyes x ofc #ez reyes fanfic #ez reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans mc fanfiction #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc imagine #mayans mc smut #mayans mc fic

[streets-in-paradise]

Best Friends Till the End - Andy Barclay x (fem) Childhood Friend!Reader Part 1

Masterlist

Word Count 5 K 

Relationships: (platonical) child!Andy Barclay x child!Reader. 

Characters: child!Andy Barclay, child!Reader, Chucky/Charles Lee Ray. 

Warnings: Rewriting of the first film taking a few detours, a mix of characterizations between Child’s Play 1 Chucky and Curse!Charles Lee Ray. Explaining why the Pierce family was never mentioned before Curse, I imagined Child's Play 1 Chucky thought he killed Sarah and Nica.

Summary: The birthday sleepover of your best friend and neighbor ends up abruptly after his babysitter suffers an accident. Attributing it to a local boogeyman, you try to convince Andy of investigating the matter like a Scooby Doo mystery untill you realize you may have stepped into something worse when his talking doll admits the guilt.

Notes: This is going to be a two parts childhood friends to lovers story. Kinda like in IT, part one is about Andy and the reader facing Chucky as kids and part 2 will follow their reunion as adults. 

Tags: @losersclubisms​​

Karen almost forgot to tell Maggie that you were coming over for a sleepover, only children invited to Andy’s birthday because you were his only friend. Finding out at the last hour that there were actually two children to babysit was not a nice surprise, but you two were frankly adorable. It was pretty easy to notice you were lonely kids watching too much television, craving for playing buddies and being very happy at any chance you had around each other. 

The one year and months of difference in your ages didn’t become an obstacle for your bonding, but played out a separation on school time because you were still in kindergarten. Andy didn’t mind that and you would tag along with him on any game.  

It was heartwarming and heartbreaking to see you share excitement over the possibility of finding new companions. Andy introduced you to his new toy friend with the purest joy, as if he was truly introducing a third party to your little group for play dates. You confidently activated his catchphrase, remarking that your cousins taught you how because they had two dolls like that one, then proceeded to ramble about your unborn sibling and how you all would be playing together once the baby would be old enough to follow you. The circumstantial babysitter got the impression that Chucky was making you feel a bit jealous, as if you feared Andy could be forgetting you for paying too much attention to him, but she also had some unusual fun observing your exaggerated mannerisms. 

At some given moment you were playing in separate areas of the place: Andy and Chucky were constructor workers, a blue helmet of the Good Guy brand on the doll’s head as the kid was teaching him how to use the hammer and blocks of wood. Meanwhile, remaining close to her as she handled the cake leftovers in the kitchen, you were the waiting wife ironing the back of a jacket with a pink toy iron 

“ I wonder when my husband will come back home?” You commented to her as if Maggie was another housewife from the fictional neighborhood. “ Andy is never late for dinner, I bet this is on Chucky. Since he is here he barely looks at me.” 

She seriously wondered where did you hear that from. Soap operas? Married with Children? The mindless repetition of things you saw being included in your games made you sound like a little child actor, which was definitely a bit lovely. 

The boy only pretended that he didn’t hear you, talking to Chucky as if they were at work. Since neither of you really understood what you were saying, he would just look at you and laugh at the mention of his name. Then, he would whisper secretively to the doll and that would make your acting escalate. 

“ Maggie… Am I not attractive anymore? He is always going out with his new friend, he doesn't care if I am here.” 

Peggy Bundy venting to her neighbor Marcy. Seeing a four to be five girl enacting that shouldn’t be funny, but it was. The part of her that was a bit horrified made Maggie remember it was bedtime, to which she told you both to get ready.  

That simple action made Andy come up with an odd complaint. 

“ Aunt Maggie, Chucky wants to watch the 9’ o clock news.”

The occurrence amused her. 

“ Sure, he does.” 

You abandoned the spiteful character, not needing it outside of the game, and sweetly tried to comfort the doll into understanding why he shouldn’t ask that. 

“ It is too scary, Chucky. Mommy and daddy were watching the news and they were speaking of this very bad man that sends people to heaven. They don’t know his face, just like the boogeyman, and daddy said that if I am bad he is gonna come to get me.” 

The only adult there found your tale disturbing. 

“ That is a very bad joke, but I am sure your dad was just kidding.” 

“ Don’t worry, (y/n). Chucky is brave and I am a big boy.” Your friend comforted you. “ Tell me when it is scary and I’m going to cover you like this” 

He covered your eyes with his hands and you two laughed. 

Maggie picked Andy up and turned off the tv. While obediently following them you were supposed to pick up Chucky, but you didn’t rush to do it immediately as the boy would have expected. You didn’t want to do it because the doll said something really rude to you for picking the side of Andy’s aunt. You weren’t sure of what being a little bitch meant, but you didn’t like it. 

While waiting your turn to brush your teeth, you were unpacking your sleeping bag in your friend's bedroom when you saw Chucky rush to the living room to turn on the tv. If there was one thing you learned quickly about him, it was that he didn't like when things wouldn't go his way and he didn't mind getting you all in trouble for his mischief. 

Maggie found you trying to stop him and that made her think you did it, no matter how many times you told her it was Chucky. Even though Andy backed up your story, she wouldn't believe any of you. She got angry, thinking that you were being bad.

 You weren't, Chucky was, but maybe that wouldn't stop the man of the news from coming after you. The room was dark and your sleeping bag wouldn't let you cover all the way to your head, it wouldn't let you hide. 

" Andy, Andy!!" You cried out for your friend's help. " Your aunt thinks we were bad... What if he comes to get us??" 

He didn't answer, but another voice did. 

" I'm going to handle that, just shut the fuck up you annoying little bitch." 

That didn't make you calm down, Chucky was making everything worse. He wasn't in the mood to pretend niceness and the fact that he was struggling to get out from Andy's covers didn't help. 

The pathetic sobbing was exasperating him, you were terrified. 

" You can't, the Lake Man will come because you turned on the tv. " 

When you spoke about that before he was too into his own concerns to pay real attention, but then he had nothing else distracting him from the realization. 

He threw a happy, but bone chilling cackle that nearly woke Andy up. 

" .... Are you scared of the Lakeshore Strangler?" He asked you, trying so hard to fight the satisfaction in his voice. Never before it occurred to him that he could be some child's boogeyman. 

" Why don't you tell me what you heard about him? 

The news report you saw was from before the cops identified him. The name Charles Lee Ray meant shit to you, but you were scared of him as some faceless evil. 

Excellent news: scared children were easier to manipulate. From then he identified you as the weak element of the duo.

" Take the freaking covers away from me if you want to live." 

Maybe he got too excited about causing fear in you. For an instant, he forgot that you didn't know he was the Strangler. 

" Listen, (y/n). I can't protect you if I am stuck here and that is what my friend Andy wants me to do. Get me out and i am going to keep watch in case the Lake Man shows up." 

" What if we are asleep and he gets to you first?"

" Bitch I am immortal!" Chucky bragged, too full of himself. " This body is made of plastic, I don't have lungs. That means i can't be strangled to death, but you can, so GET ME OUT" 

The slight elevation on his voice volume, product of the annoyance, finally woke up Andy for real. Hearing you speaking with Chucky got him excited, you were his best friends and he wanted you to get along. 

Feeling you pulling the doll out made him stare at you with some happy pride. 

" I told you he would look after us. " 

The empty spot Chucky left ended up occupied by you. Andy allowed you to jump into his bed and you rushed to hide underneath the covers. 

" Don't. " The boy stopped you. " I will not let anything bad come to you, I promise." 

He kissed your forehead and you hugged him. 

" I love you, Andy. You are my best friend in the whole world." 

" I love you too... and I bet Chucky loves you. Don't you, Chucky?" 

" Sure, kiddo.Whatever you say, just go back to sleep. "

A nice detective took you back to your apartment that night because something horrible happened to Maggie while you were asleep. You told him that it had to be the Lake Man, but he didn't believe you. Your mom explained to him what you were talking about and he said that was impossible because he took him down. You didn't believe that, boogeymans can't be killed. 

Hugging your mom and talking to your sister in her belly, you repeated the same promise Andy did to you. The detective playfully asked you, as many adults before did, how you were so sure she was going to be a girl. You just did, it didn't matter how many times your dad claimed the baby was going to be a boy because he wanted so. No one would convince you otherwise. 

Picking up your Scooby Doo plushie as your protector for the rest of the night helped you start imagining the situation as an episode of your favorite show and that made you feel a bit better. That man didn't believe you because cops never do at first. Every time the gang stumbles with a mystery they do things on their own, being told that they are just kids. 

At that moment you were just like Shaggy: very scared and hugging Scooby because you weren't feeling brave enough to face the monster. Andy, your brave friend, was like Fred. He would be coming up with a plan to catch the bad guy. There had to be a masked man, maybe someone wanted to scare you all into leaving the building because they wanted to buy it and they invented the Lake Man. Maybe all the persons that were thought gone would reappear somewhere, even Aunt Maggie.

' And I would have gotten away with it too, if it wasn't for you meddling kids and your toys. ' The villain would say after you would unmask him while revisiting his spooky plan. The toys were the dogs: you had Scooby and Chucky was like Scrappy Doo because he was tiny, feisty and disobedient. 

Maybe a bit scary too, he said a lot of bad words. No other Good Guy you saw before spoke like him. You wanted to like Chucky, but he scared you. There was something in his voice that made you feel wrong, hearing him in the dark made you want to cry. Andy was older than you, maybe that was why he didn't got scared as easily as you. That was why you felt you couldn't tell him, you feared he would think you were too little to play with him. Chucky frightened you, but thinking that Andy could want to stop being friends with you because you didn't like him scared you more. 

The next time you saw them was at your apartment and then you were ready. Scooby and your Mystery Machine car toy were placed in front of the tv and you were going to watch the old episodes your mom recorded for you. 

She didn't notice anything strange, just the two of you whispering things to each other while watching. Chucky laughed weird again once, but she couldn't hear because she was bussy doing something else.

From all the funny things happening in all the episodes you watched, the Chant of Manba Wanga was the only thing Chucky seemed to have found funny. It wasn't, not for you at least, because it was clearly meant to be a scary moment. His creepy laugh made you jump towards Andy, grabbing his arm tightly as if you were begging for protection. You were as scared as Shaggy and Scooby were when Mamba Wanga was casting his voodoo curse on Layla and your fear only encouraged Chucky's bad behavior. He was having fun scaring you, probably thought Andy would find it funny. 

By the end of the episode, when all the persons touched by the curse and assumed disappeared were found, you spoke to your friend about your own mystery. You told him that maybe the Lake Man was like Mamba Wanga, the Green Ghost or the Black Knight, that all you had to do was solve the mystery. 

" We have to find the masked man, that will make Maggie come back. " 

Chucky looked at the boy, waiting for him to crush your hope. 

" (y/n), there is no mystery. it wasn't the Lake Man, Chucky did it. " 

 You didn't know what to think anymore. 

" My bad, the bitch is gone. " The doll admitted to you without hesitation. " You know, I noticed your dad is a real asshole, since he came back from work all he does is bitching because you are watching cartoons. He was the one who scared you with that thing on the news, right? But he doesn't listen to you and I don't think he really cares. I bet your dumb mom thinks that baby is going to save the marriage, but that dude doesn't feel shit for her. " 

He shouldn't have said that to you, but he couldn't help himself. Chucky got to know your family and found out you were like a dysfunctional photocopy of the Pierces. Cute talky little girl, pregnant mom: the main flaw on the picture was your daddy. It was very easy to see that he was an emotionally distant husband who wouldn't win the father of the year award anyways. Everything Sarah's husband did right, your papa seemed to do wrong. He was more a manchild than a family man, someone who you weren't seeking for support or protection. 

" ... Wouldn't it be nice if he would be gone too?"

Dead father jokes were upsetting for Andy too, so he had to stop. Yet, deep down, he wanted you to say yes just to deviate from his path a little and kill that man off. Two deaths in the same building would have dragged too much attention, the only thing that saved your father was Chucky's own convenience. He couldn't indulge in killing him, not if that would be an obstacle for his personal revenge on the people who screwed him over in life.

You both were seeking explanations on his part, starting to get suspicious about him. 

"Chucky, why did you kill Aunt Maggie?" Andy straightfoldy confronted him once you were all in the safety of your room. 

" I told you: she was a real bitch and got what she deserved." 

That didn't seem to be enough for you. 

"Or maybe you are just bad." You exclaimed, still hurt because you heard him say he wanted to kill your dad. 

It wasn't the time and place to get into mentoring, but Chucky saw himself forced to explain his attitude somehow. Otherwise, he would have been done manipulating you. 

" Sometimes violence can be really fun." 

Two clueless little children stared at him like he just said the weirdest thing they ever heard. "  

" I don't understand." 

" It's like in cartoons, like Tom and Jerry. Isn't it fun to see the cat getting hurt chazing the mouse?

You nodded in agreement and he seemed pleased with that. 

" It's funny cause Jerry is tiny and he always wins." 

" ... But Tom wants to eat Jerry. " Andy replicated. " What did Aunt Maggie do to you?

"Being a pain in my ass." 

" If she was annoying you, you could have called Andy's mom. Or get the big dog, the muscled Bulldog. Do you have one of those, Chucky?" 

Mindless talking with little kids was the most exasperating thing ever, neither of you were able to deliver one goddamn sensical reply. 

" No, but I have voodoo doll friends." 

Your eyes opened wide in amazement.The intrigue made him feel flattered once more.

Dumb innocent children completely unaware of how he would have to make them witness a real voodoo ritual very soon. 

When Chucky got the bad news about his doll body and assumed immortality you were the first thought element of his plan. The second kid he revealed himself to, also not his preferred choice for a new body, but he knew your fear could be useful to him. Either as a collaborator or a good bait, getting you on board was the easiest way to Andy. The little boy was protective over you, the even more little girl he befriended: he would cooperate thinking he would be saving you that way. 

He knew you were not going to put any resistance against him and Karen made that part even easier. While asking you about everything you knew of him in her desperate search for information, she accidentally revealed to you ahead that he was the Lakeshore Strangler.  It made him feel a bit disappointed because he was stripped from the pleasure of coming out to you as your great fear by himself.

Andy was the big boy: he was the brave, the strong, the smart. In the course of those moments you were thinking of him as your hero. He WAS your hero, without him you were just like Shaggy hiding behind furniture to avoid the monster without noticing that his long trembling legs would tell his position. It was funny in the cartoons, not in real life. You loved Shaggy, he was your favorite in the gang, but you wished you could be brave for once.The doctors took Andy away and you were alone, you had to be brave for him. 

Mommy had to go out for some grocery shopping and you begged her not to leave, but she said you would be causing more mess outside than inside. Surely it was because of that time you got lost in a Wallmart after you left her side searching for the toys section, or the fact that you were used to asking for things that would catch your attention. It wouldn't be the first time you would stay at home watching tv, that's why she didn't see the problem. 

You promised you would be good, you wouldn't leave her side or ask for anything, but you needed to go with her. In a hopeless attempt to make her understand, you screamed that Chucky was going to kill you. It didn't work and you stayed alone, a bad feeling telling you that he was going to come for you soon. 

Pacing around the place to check on every exit, you were singing to yourself the ' Scooby Doo! Where Are You?' song to feel less lonely. 

" If we can count on you, Scooby Doo. I know we'll catch that villain. "  

Pathetic child, he thought while hearing you as he was sneaking in. Your shaky voice was music for his ears, he could feel you were about to cry. 

" Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We got some work to do now." Your song began again. " Scooby Dooby Doo, where are you? We need some help from you now. " 

A very noisy cackle took away any hope. 

" That dog ain't gonna help you, kid." 

You froze and tears began to fall. 

" No one is going to help you, all you have is helping me find Andy. " 

The magic of friendship, like in My Little Pony, gave you a bit of strength to talk back. 

" NEVER! You want to hurt him, you never wanted to be his friend. HE IS MY FRIEND!!!" 

Even to pretend you weren't scared you were overdramatic, Chucky was very fed up with you. 

" LISTEN TO ME, LITTLE PIECE OF SHIT!" He yelled at you, threatening you with his knife. " Offering to kill your dad was me being nice... DO YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT I CAN DO WHEN ANGRY?" 

There was no reply, so he held you at knifepoint while keeping his threatening ramble. 

" If you don't do exactly as I say, there will be no more Mr Good Guy. You are going to go last, first I'm going to make you watch as I kill your mom. " 

Sliding the weapon slowly, he enacted the threat pointing it against your tummy. 

Your sister. 

" Ríght here, (y/n). I'm gonna stab again and again and again until there will be nothing left. It wouldn't be the first time i do it." 

Vengeful memories were coming back to him. Since he didn't have to hide anymore, there was no point in not enjoying the moment. 

"I'm gonna tell you a story: once upon a time, a cunt thought she could fuck with me and that's how she and the little parasite growing inside her ended. That's how fucked up shit can get if i am angry. Is that what you want, Barbie? "  

You nodded negatively in visible panic as your hopeless sobbing became more intense. 

The name slipped out of his mouth before he could control his phrasing, you were just like her. Perhaps that was why he loved your fear: it flattered him even more through the memories attached to the comparison. Losing time was worthy in order to have you as his traumatized unwilling hostage. Not only was it convenient for his plan to get Andy's body, part of him enjoyed projecting about the Pierce that got away through you. 

Despite being severely terrified, your childish mind was still able to come up with coping mechanisms. You almost ruin his mood because at some point of the way you had a cute dumb grin and he heard you giggling, as if a warm thought would be making you ignore the stress. 

The monster was kidnapping you to get to your friend, just like it regularly happened to Daphne on Scooby Doo. 

You were like Daphne, even if you were as scared as Shaggy.  

Smart as Velma and brave as Fred, Andy didn't fall for Chucky's tricks so easily. You escaped from  the doll together, getting away from the place where your friend was locked. The chaze wasn't funny like in the cartoons, but you felt so much better because  he was alright and he was with you. 

You would follow him anywhere, but you didn't want to go back to your apartment building knowing Chucky would go there after you. Andy was insisting on going back to his home, reminding you to hurry up, but you weren't convinced of the plan. 

The fear of what could happen to your mom and your unborn sister paralized you. Hiding in an alley and forcing him to do so, you refused to give one single step more.

" Chucky will get them. " You tried to explain to him between sobs. "... My sister, he said..." 

Andy cut you off while trapping you in a comforting hug. 

" It doesn't matter, I will not let him do it... but you have to help me. " 

He sounded like a hero to you, so brave and you were so scared. 

" I can't, Andy. I will make it worse. I am not brave like you, he knows it." 

You made him smile: did you really think he was brave? He was scared too, he cried in fear just like you did but you didn't see him. If he wasn't crying then, that was because he wasn't alone in that dark room anymore and you were with him.  

" What if we make you brave?" 

Andy showed you some smashed cookies he had in his pocket, a secret gift from one of the nurses at the hospital. 

" Scooby Snacks make Shaggy and Scooby brave. " 

You smiled at his offering, then opened your mouth to let him feed you the scrumbles of cookies as if he was feeding you with courage. 

" Scooby Dooby Doo!!" You cheered to later kiss his cheek while your lips were still stained by scrumbles.

The innocent trick worked and you were feeling so much better, but it wasn't just because of some special power on the cookies. 

It was the support of your friend that made you feel strong enough to keep up. 

" I love you, (y/n). You are my true best friend."

Preparing on his home got you following Andy's lead as if it would be one of Fred's plans. Once you secured the entrances you both hid in his closet to wait. He searched through his toys looking for weapons and when you saw him picking up a baseball bat you figured out he wasn't going to stay still for long. 

" Don't go, stay!!!! Don't let him find you!!" 

His following action was one of the purest acts of love you experienced over the course of your life. It settled a mark of an impact then impossible to imaginate. 

" Wait here. I'll keep you safe, I promised you." 

Andy closed the door behind him, leaving the hiding spot to do his stand against Chucky. You hesitated, doubtful of disobeying his command, but you got out after him as soon as you heard noises making you guess he was in danger. 

Too late, he was laying on the floor. 

" ANDY WAKE UP!!!" You yelled and rushed to shake him. " WAKE UP, PLEASE. WAKE UP!!!!" 

Chucky was there and he could have killed you easily, but you didn't care. 

" STEP ASIDE, DUMB BITCH!! HE IS MINE!!!!" 

Right before pulling you away he got to witness your last desperate attempt to save Andy. 

A kiss, a children's interpretation of how one should be. You barely posed your lips against your friend's hoping he would wake up like Snow White or the Sleeping Beauty. 

" DO YOU REALLY THOUGHT THAT WOULD WORK???" The doll mocked you. " I do the magic here ... AND THIS AIN'T A FUCKING FAIRYTALE!!!!"

Chucky laid one hand on top of Andy's forehead, then he began to recite some really odd words. It sounded to you like the Chant of Mamba Wanga, only more complicated. Was he going to curse Andy? Did he want to make him disappear like in the Scooby Doo episode? 

The gestures made you fear something even worse, but you didn't get enough time to react. Mrs Barclay and the nice detective came to your rescue. It was the beginning of a hard fight worthy of nightmares, but your friend woke up being still him. Andy burned Chucky alive, but not even that seemed to stop him. Only after the cop shot in the heart did he stay still, but that didn't mean you both got any peace. Neither Andy or you got convinced that Chucky could be completely gone. 

That was the reasoning behind the hardest choice of your life, that you were forced to take as little kids. Even with the support of three adults who saw him, no one believed Chucky was alive and he killed all those people. If you would have followed Andy's story, they would have taken you away and there would have been no one to look after your unborn sibling. If he would ever come back, nothing would have stopped Chucky from getting to fulfill the promise he made to you. 

You lied, but the boy wasn't mad at you because he knew why you did it. You two understood each other better than anyone, he saw it in your eyes with just one look. 

Andy told the truth because someone had to, but that couldn't be you. He sacrificed himself for you one last time, letting his life be ruined so you could keep yours because you had to protect your sister. 

She was born on that January, the nerves of your mom caused an early birth. A girl, just like you predicted. 

At least he got to meet her before the doctors took his mom and he was taken away. 

" I will tell her about you. Even if dad doesn't want me to, I will." You promised him, tears falling from your eyes because you knew what was coming. 

You sneaked a little goodbye gift. It was a friendship bracelet that you were making for his birthday but didn't get to finish on time back then.

Andy began to cry, hugging you as if he refused to accept reality as much as you did. 

" I don't want to leave! "

" I'm so sorry. I didn't want to... I don't want to lose you."

" You are my best friend." It was his way of saying that he forgave you. " You will always be. " 

" You will always be with me." Was your equal reply. " I will never forget you, Andy. "  

 You never did, that painful separation left a hole in your heart that never healed. Even if he left forgiving you, it was you who was never able to forgive yourself. You cried in his absence, you called him in dreams. From your fifth birthday and for years to come during your childhood, you reserved one of your three wishes to ask for him to be happy.  

Even after losing hope of seeing him again, all you wanted was for him to be happy somewhere else.

#andy barclay #andy barclay x reader #alex vincent #alex vincent x reader #child's play 1988 #child's play fanfiction #chucky franchise #curse of chucky #chucky series #chucky #charles lee ray

[megan016]

Heyyy I just wanted to say that I really really enjoy reading your poems!! You're truly a great poet and please keep it up because you're doing amazing 💙!! I'm truly thankful and grateful for the tags and it's such an honor and it warms my heart and makes me really emotional that you consider me and tag me in your poems, you have no idea how happy it makes me feel. So thank you so so much, endlessly 🫶🏻✨. I don't know you personally, but you're an amazing person Megan and you deserve a lot of love and appreciation. I hope you find happiness in life, I hope you reach all of your goals cuz you truly deserve all the best. And just wanna tell you something, even though we don't talk that much, but I truly consider you a close friend and I'm thankful for you. Please always keep on writing poems, they are amazing!!! And I hope one day you release your own book of poems ♡⁠˖. I'm your number one fan and I'll always support you and support your writings!!! Sending you much love and big hugs 🫂✨.

Song recommendation 🎧

Have a wonderful day / night <3

First of all-

AAAAAAAA I WAS SO HAPPY TO SEE YOUR RETURN, I MEAN, YEAH OF COURSE YOU HAVE YOUR OWN LIFE AS WELL WITH ALL THE BUSY STUFF (formulated shortly and poorly :') ) BUT STILL, I WAS LIKE:

WHEN I SAW THE NOTIFICATION POP UP, SAYING "animehideout liked your post" THEN I READ YOUR COMMENTS AND WENT:

Aaaaaaaa hewo :3

At the moment my last 2 braincells are fighting for their dear life and won't multiple as they should.

Second of all, I was just depressing (listening to my vent playlist, basically) and aaaaaa, not only did I become happier, but you also made my undiagnosed but present depression dance.

Third of all, and most importantly, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND FEEL SO F------ HONORED THAT YOU LIKE MY POEMS AND SUPPORT ME SO MUCH, MY HEART IS ABOUT TO BURST (I teared up<3), ALSO, YOU CONSIDERING ME AS A CLOSE FRIEND, OOOH HOLY SPIRIT (who is never present around me), MY BRAIN SHUT DOWN, IN A GOOD WAY, LIKE, HELLOO? :DD

By the way, a book is planned, I just first have to become a psychologist with PhD and/or an English teacher.

Also.... I'm in dept to you in so many ways. The affection I get from you, aaaaaah, but most importantly, the 14 stanza masterpiece I made as optional school work. While I have to take notes of my poems in my exercise book as well. Just not in the upcoming few days, ALSO I WANNA WRITE RANDOM HEADCANNONS AND SCENARIOS, ONE SHOTS AND I DON'T KNOW TT

Aaaaa so many plans, but none done

AAAAAND, also (I need an "also" counter at this point-) I'm glad to see that I didn't cause any problems or anything by tagging you🩷

💚;3💚

💙:3 <3💙

#🎀megansbs🎀 #I'M NOT OKAAAAYY HELLOO???!!! <333

[watevermelon]

Touch-Averse | Kiyoomi Sakusa x Reader

✧ Summary: Physical affection was something you loved, and while Sakusa was not exactly the biggest fan, you didn’t want to encroach on him. You weren’t expecting your boyfriend to get jealous!

➳ A/N: Hey! This has been waiting around for so long; I think I steered a little too into the angst with this one asfdgfhj ;-; ➳ Tags: Angst with a happy ending, komori is a lil shit; ➳  Masterlist 

—xXxXxXxXxXx—

By all intents and purposes, Sakusa was the perfect boyfriend.

You were friends before through Komori since junior high and one thing led to another before the wing-spiker finally asked you out. You knew long before as his friend that he was averse to physical contact — even if it was under two layers of gloves.

No, the germaphobe kept everyone at a distance further from arms length. He wanted to keep things neat and orderly and straying from that made him uncomfortable.

And it warmed your heart that, despite this life-long struggle, Sakusa still let you into his world in little ways.

He would hold your hand through the halls of school (of course, you had to thoroughly wash your hands first and then get his personal approval). And, on lucky days like when Itachiyama won their practice matches that week, Sakusa would kiss you on the forehead openly in public.

All you had to do was vocalize things, keep the roads of communication between you two and he would respond. If you wanted to come over to his family home or vice versa — just let him know ahead of time and he would be happy to accommodate you. You want to go on a date to the arcade? Sure, send him a text and he’ll pencil you in for a couple days from now. A part of you also liked wearing his sweaters, the ones that plastered his last-name across the back. And on request, Sakusa let you wear his own to school.

Sakusa was generally aware of your needs and was not against being vocal about your relationship. You knew all about this prior to being his official girlfriend and had even found it endearing how much he cared about your personal health.

All it took was a look. 

A single look was enough to plant the seed of doubt and make it take root. 

It was after volleyball practice — you had stayed behind after your student council duties and went over to the courts instead of heading straight back to the dorms. You hadn’t told Sakusa before that you would be visiting, just popping in so you can walk back together.

You waved at the others, Komori noticing you first from the sidelines and greeting you. Some others from the team took notice beside him and recognized you from being friends with the second-years.

Between the break, you approached Sakusa’s pack where you knew he would go, happy to greet him.

He shot you the most disgusted look you had ever seen.

After, Sakusa had greeted you in his usual monotone voice. Voice clipped and simply drinking his water, Sakusa was there for a quick minute before returning back to the match without so much as a goodbye.

Your walk back to the dorms was eerily silent.

It could have been nothing, just a look that he always had in his resting judgmental grandma face. But for some reason it stuck to you, how mean his tone was towards his girlfriend of all people and how quick he was to get away from you after.

You tried to wave it off, give him the benefit of the doubt as you lay awake in your dorm room. Not saying anything to your roommate, you internalized most of your feelings and let it continue to fester below the surface.

He already didn’t like physical touch with you. But you had just greeted him, hardly pushing into his comfortable space. But even so, it was clear Sakusa had still been disgusted with you.

Was this what he really thought about you?

You tried your best to wave it off — maybe he wasn’t feeling too well that day? Maybe the match was annoying him? Maybe something just happened with his other teammates?

And so the next day after you were done with your extracurriculars, you dropped by the gym again just to see how Sakusa was doing.

Sakusa was quick to find in the crowd of boys, his tall height and curly black hair bobbing along as he readied to jump in the air. Seeing him spike, hearing the smack of power as it slammed into the floor, it always made you so proud at how fair he had come.

That moment didn’t last long.

No, it was pushed out by another emotion entirely.

The coach called the players on the opposite side, ringing them in to give some tips to them specifically. Sakusa’s side backed off to grab drinks of their water, the main manager running up to him with a towel in hand.

And Sakusa let her wipe at his face.

A small dab at his forehead and at the sides of his face and the moment was over. But that was not what you saw. You saw your boyfriend, your long-term friend, allow someone in his close space to touch his face of all things! You still had to wear gloves sometimes. And here she was, noses only inches away from one another, as she was allowed into his world.

What was it that made you so undesirable?

Was Sakusa annoyed with you? Had you been asking too much of him? You knew he was averse to the things you liked, but you never thought that it would push Sakusa away to this point.

You loved Sakusa and you had tried really hard to accommodate what he was looking for in a relationship. But was that really fair? Was he being fair to you at this point? Did he even view you as anything special, as his girlfriend?

Walking out the gym without a single word, you turned around with all intents to go back to your room and reevaluate your decisions. You failed to notice Komori’s wandering eyes that followed you out the open doors.

Your roommate commented that you looked terrible that night and was a willing open ear for you. You were grateful beyond compare, she was an awesome friend that you shared classes with and was alsoa member in the student council.

But instead of venting, you just relished in the tight hug she gave you. This physical touch was what you crazed and, while it had never really affected you before, it made you sad that this was something Sakusa would never want.

Was it really fair to have to schedule a hug with him? 

Did he even want you as his girlfriend?

You internalized this hard and the it was hard to even look at Sakusa the next day at school, these thoughts only propping up again and again. What hurt even more is that you were actively avoiding the wing-spiker and it seemed that he did not even notice. Just went about his day, avoiding most people and sticking to corners alone.

But you were his girlfriend. He avoided most people but should that really include you?

Did he feel like you were suffocating him? You loved him and didn’t want to lose him. And so if he wanted space, you were willing to give it to him. But for Sakusa to treat you so cruelly when you were trying so hard - was it even fair at this point?

A text-tone from your phone permeated the room and you felt your spirits almost physically lift themselves up at the prospect of Sakusa reaching out to you.

But his text only made your heart drop.

Give me back my sweater already. Sakusa’s words read, Don’t you have your own?

And suddenly your thoughts of doubt were solidified as fact in your mind.

Grabbing the sweater from your bedside, you almost cried as you folded it up. Sakusa’s terms of endearment were few and far between, you wearing his sweater was one of the few things you could compromise on. And now he did not even want that.

You went about your morning weakly, going into Sakusa’s homeroom and leaving the sweater in a bag there. Alongside it was only a small note that you did not have time to wash it while it was in the bag. You did not wait a moment longer, dropping off the package and hoping to avoid him the rest of the day.

And throughout the school hours, you were doing a good job. During lunch you were able to avoid spending time with both Sakusa and Komori, leaving your classroom the moment the teacher dismissed you and retreating to the outside area behind school. Would it do you any good to confront Sakusa over something that he probably did not even care about? Was he planning on breaking up with you?

These thoughts only continued to plague you throughout the day and the more you continued to ponder on it - the worse it got. Maybe he always viewed you this way, just humoring your relationship for the sake of your friendship.

Your mindset spiraled downward worse and worse and you had little initiative to even go to club activities after school. Your roommate had vouched for you at the student council meeting while you went back to the dorms depressed and very not well dressed.

The moment your phone dinged to life you shot up in repressed excitement, wondering if Sakusa had noticed your mood and reached out.

It was Komori.

Hey, missed ya during lunch. Wanna catch dinner together?

Of course, it was Komori.

You wondered for a hot second if it would be smart to go with the libero out to dinners the campus cafeteria. Odds are you were going to pour your feelings out to the boy and he was undoubtedly loyal to Sakusa. Komori was always one of your closest friends, even before dating the wing-spiker.

Another ding ringed out a second later.

Come on, you’re my friend too.

It was almost like he was reading your mind - the poor boy was probably so used to your evasiveness from before that it was no doubt he remembered it.

You typed back, Okay, I’ll meet you after practice.

See you then <3

You texted your roommate that you would be meeting with the libero, so as not to worry when she returned. In the meantime, you hung around your room and completed some of your homework early. Once Komori texted you that he was ready, you put on a large hoodie and some leggings, trying your best to look presentable despite your solemn expression. 

“Hey!” Komori perked up when he saw you, already at a table in the cafeteria. Thankfully he was sitting alone. The moment you were close enough, Komori pulled you into his chest and wrapped his arms around your shoulders.

Komori always gave the best hugs and you squeezed your arms around his middle right back. It had been a while since he, or any male for that matter hugged you like this. Most of the male population at school was well aware of your relationship with Sakusa and all it took was a look from the strong spiker to get most to back off.

But with Komori being his best friend and also one of yours, he was one of the few people who could get away with sharing you in a warm embrace. However, you did notice as of late that he was withholding some of the best hugs from you.

“Thanks for joining me tonight.” Komori continued, leaning back while you were still in his arms. “I know you’ve been kind of down.”

“Yeah.” 

“Listen, you can tell me anything or nothing if you want. Whatever you’re comfortable with - I just wanted to spend this time with you so you know you’re not alone.”

You almost teared up on the spot, with the exception of your roommate, it had been so long since someone had been so considerate with your feelings. Komori was the best bro and just all friend anyone could ask for.

Nuzzling further into his chest, you shakily replied. “You’re the best, Komori.”

Komori guided you to the seats, telling you that he had actually placed a comfort food order and was waiting for the number to be called. You smiled at him in response, placing your hands on the table and mentally preparing for what you wanted to say.

It felt almost therapeutic, admitting to the libero all the feelings that you had bottled up over the past few days. Komori nodded along, listening to you without cutting in or interrupting with his own point of view. He took in every word, keen on gaining your perspective before he added on.

“It makes me wonder, does Sakusa even want to be in this relationship?” You asked aloud, baring your insecurity to him.

Little did you know that Sakusa was reacting exactly opposite to what you were thinking.

Komori had actually invited the wing-spiker to join this dinner, but he had simply walked away in silence back to his own dorm.

Sakusa would never admit this aloud, but he cherished you in so many ways that it frightened him. Your relationship was built on years of knowing each other. And from the beginning of it all, Sakusa knew that he was all in. From high school to the end of your days, he was sure that this was the only relationship he wanted to ever be in. You were the first and only person he ever loved and he wanted to be that for you too.

And with that thought, Sakusa had always been afraid of losing you. He wondered, on multiple occasions, if you would be happier with someone else. After all, yes you were friends for a while, but you were much closer to Komori before you were in a relationship. 

Sakusa saw it all - he knew how you leaned into the libero for tight hugs and how the both of you were still fond of spending time alone together. He had never doubted you or his cousin’s loyalty; neither you nor Komori would ever do anything to hurt him, Sakusa was sure. But he had a much more looming fear, one that frightened him simply because it was probably true, that you would probably be happier with Komori.

The libero was capable of easily reading your mood and reacting to it properly. It was Komori after all that noticed you had left the gymnasium the other day without greeting either male. He was very in-tune to your personality and it seemed the both of you were very agreeable. Sakusa remembered the time that many of your classmates had thought it was you and Komori dating after all.

Sakusa would honestly never forget that.

And so the wing-spiker had thought on multiple occasions if you would be happier in the arms of another. Maybe someone who had more time for you, who liked being as affectionate as you did.

Admittedly, Sakusa knew something was off from the moment you returned the sweater. He knew that you cherished wearing it for some reason. But you had it over a week and it was time for him to wash it. After all, it must have been dirty from overuse at this point and he did not want you possibly getting sick from something he wore.

Besides, he could just lend you another cleaner sweater for you to wear.

This was simply the way he thought - cut and dry and oftentimes misconstrued by other people.

But the last person he ever wanted to hurt was you.

Sucking in a hard breath, Sakusa attempted to figure out what to say. Not that he was unsure what to get across, but that he wanted to get out the proper wording before he caused any true damage to you. He must have been standing in the middle of his dorm room for a good twenty minutes, trying to keep a level head as different phrases evaded him.

Calm and collected, he told himself as he got near the cafeteria.

The last thing he wanted to ever see greeted him - you and Komori standing alongside a cafeteria table, you in his arms as he held you tightly.

It seemed you were still in the middle of your meal, your trays of food still stacked with chopsticks to the side. Regardless of the situation, Sakusa stalked over quietly and made his presence extremely known.

From Komori’s nice hug to suddenly pulled into another, your ten seconds of panic morphed into surprise at seeing your boyfriend.

“Sakusa!” You exclaimed, head against his chest as he continued to stare down his cousin. “This looks bad, but I was just talking to Komori about something.”

Komori only laughed, picking up his tray and taking it with him elsewhere. “See you tomorrow, lovebirds.”

“I--” You stuttered over your words as the libero made his quick escape, “We were in the middle of a meal!”

“We need to talk.”

Wait. 

Was Sakusa breaking up with you right now?

You felt fresh tears break your visage as you asked him outright, “Are you breaking up with me?”

Sakusa recoiled before grabbing your hand, “No. Let’s go.”

You allowed him to drag you wordlessly, following along as he led you back to his dorm. He unceremoniously brought you along with him - was he sparing your feelings by breaking up with you away from the public eye?

The worries must have shown up on your face since, once you entered the elevator, Sakusa took one look at you before pulling you into his embrace again. He lingered for a second, as if unsure where to place himself, then leaned down to put a small mask-covered kiss on your forehead. You stilled at the motion, surprised that he was willing to show any display of affection in public.

The moment was only broken when he pulled you toward his dorm room, closing it loudly behind you.

“Why would you think that I would want to break up with you?” Sakusa asked, not at all sugar-coating his words.

You hesitated, looking at the ground before back at him. “Sakusa, are you even happy being with me?”

His eyes peeking over the mask widened in surprise. In the next second, Sakusa pulled his mask off and threw it in the direction of his trash bin. You took a step back at his aggressiveness, but he only followed the movement and wrapped an arm around your waist.

Sakusa pulled you against him and stated clearly, “I want to be with you forever, if given the chance.”

“Really?”

He did not hesitate in response, “Yes.”

You smiled at how sure he was, but his actions from the last few days still had you on edge. With a hand on his chest, you bit your lip before asking. “You don’t feel like I’m suffocating you?”

Sakusa angled his head in question before shooting back, “Why would you assume that?”

“I just feel like you don’t really want me around?” You admitted, words coming out slowly. “I mean, the other day you just seemed like you didn’t want me at your practice. And then I saw your manager dabbing you with the towel and even I can’t even hug you without warning.”

Sakusa simply stared at you as you spoke, his full attention to your words as he recalled the past few days.

“I like spending time with you, but at practice I was sweaty and you were still in your school uniform. It would be unfair to you if I was the one to sully it.” Sakusa replied, “While I am not close to the manager, handling the towels is one of her responsibilities. And I prefer to get toweled down rather than do it myself then touch the volleyball with sweaty hands.”

“Oh.”

You were at a loss for words once he explained himself.

“What about the other day?” You recalled, “I get that you don’t like me wearing your sweaters, but you should have just told me outright.”

You were not expecting Sakusa to shoot you a tired smile.

He moved to kiss your forehead again, lips lingering above your brow before he spoke. “I like seeing you in my sweaters. It reminds everyone that you’re mine.”

“What?”

“But you had that sweater for more than five days, right?” Sakusa answered with a question, “I have the proper detergent to clean it. It would do you no good if you got dirty or even sick from one of my articles of clothing.”

“Oh.”

You were an idiot. 

An overthinking, doubtful, big dumb idiot.

You felt the small exhale against his chest, tantamount to a small laugh from Sakusa. “Oh?”

“I just--” You tried to articulate yourself, “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?”

“I’m sorry I doubted you.” You admitted, “There are just these moments. I know you don’t like physical touch that much, but there are times I want to hug you or kiss you. And I get the feeling that you don’t like it.”

You heard Sakusa exhale above you, before feeling a slight nudging at your chin. Using his free hand, the wing-spiker was guiding your gaze back to him. He had an oddly fond expression on, before he leaned forward to slot your lips against his.

Leaning forward into the kiss, you carded your fingers in his curly mop of hair, arms crossed behind his neck. He pulled you as close as possible, lingering in the moment of your passionate lip-lock before settling you back down on your feet.

“I love kissing you.” Sakusa stated fondly, eyes still glued to yours.

You laughed breathlessly, “I know that now.”

“Good.” Sakusa replied, “I’m not good at these things. I can’t comfort you like others do, but please trust in me. Communicate with me - not your roommate and not Komori.”

“Okay. I’m sorry that I closed myself off.” You apologized, receiving a second kiss back.

You were caught off-guard, like the hesitation Sakusa had before was suddenly lifted from its floodgates. He pecked you one, twice, returning over and over as he lost himself in the feel of your lips against his.

“I have two newly cleaned sweaters for you to choose from.” Sakusa whispered, as if this was his version of sweet nothings. “I would prefer it if you wore one tomorrow.”

You shot him back a radiant smile, one that he eagerly savored in the back of his memory. “I would love to.”

Your relationship did not magically fix in that single night, but you resolved to continue working on your communication. It was a two-way street, one that the both of you had to work on.

But by God, you two loved each other. 

And that was all that mattered.

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[bastillewolf]

Shinigami Eyes (I)

Pairing: Corpse Husband / Reader

Summary: When you’re paired up with Corpse as imposters in a game of Among Us, you seem to somehow apprehend each others strategies even though it’s the first time you’ve ever played together. He appreciates a good impostor.

Notes: I know I still have many fics I need to finish, but I just wanted to throw out a quick Corpse one because sad to say I’ve been simping for him too. By the way, this is my interpretation of him and this is just for fun. Also, I haven’t written for second person in a while, so I’m sorry if this sucks.

TAG LIST CLOSED!

Shinigami Eyes - Oneshot

“Hey, I wanted to invite Corpse,” Sean said right as the Among Us theme started playing on your computer.

“Great vooooice,” Grease called out.

“Oh, I haven’t played with him before,” you said. It was true, but you’d heard of his legendary voice before and your viewers had been asking for him. You’d only allow it because No Simp September was over. Chat was already going mad.

“You’ll love him. Unless he murders you, because he’s a great imposter,” Sean replies. “He’s too good,” Felix adds.

After a moment, you heard the familiar noise of someone joining the Discord. “Hello everyone,” a deep rumble greeted. The group all said their welcomes, while you introduced yourself. “Very nice to meet you, Corpse,” you added. You didn’t want to comment on the obvious. He must hear it all the time. But you couldn’t deny it was like silk to your ears.

“Nice to meet you to. You make great vids.” A blush spread across your cheeks, “You shouldn’t say things like that, chat is already jealous.” He chuckled.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

Great, you’re instantly sweating. Thankfully, though, it seems you were lucky enough to have been teamed up with the king of lying himself. Corpse’s name is as bloodred as yours.

You decide to follow him after Toast and Sean, and think about how it was Sean who ironically invited the person who was going to murder him in just a few moments. All four of you were being decontaminated below lab, when Corpse made stepped a tad closer to him. You almost synchronically chopped their heads off, and you squealed in excitement. 2 down, 4 to go. As long as no one would find their bodies for a while, you still had time.

Next thing, you’re out of the South entrance and you’ve split up. You join Sykkuno in electric and just wait on him to do his task. Felix joins you afterwards in the next room. That’s when Toast’s body, and ultimately Sean’s, is reported.

Corpse had run back and self-reported.

“Corpse and I just ran into decontamination and found Sean and Toast,” Rae announced.

You were still muted. “Oh god, he’s playing a dangerous game.”

Sykkuno decided it would be the perfect time to call you out. “You and Felix only joined me a while later and decided to stay. Kinda sus of you.”

“No, she was with me at the beginning. I watched her do a task in office,” your fellow impostor vouched. They’d been right, he’s a damn good liar. He manages to hide any sliver of emotion in that deep baritone.

“I don’t trust Corpse anymore, he does stuff like this all the time when he’s impostor,” Lily noted.

“Stuff like what?” He huffed in amusement.

The group agreed the accusation made was a bit vague, and it had affectively directed the attention away from you and onto Felix. After another round of some serious investigating and threatening you all decided to skip.

“Corpse makes me feel less nervous about being an impostor,” you tell chat, “He seems so chill about it.” You ran down to Weapons, but decided against killing anyone when you found three people doing tasks there. You shoved yourself into the clump of bodies and waited until everyone had finished. Running back up to centre with both Lily and Rae, you felt restless that you would eventually have to kill one of them. You just hoped they wouldn’t take it personally.

Corpse ran past, alone. Your characters didn’t have eyes, but somehow they showed a mutual understanding. He killed Lily, you killed Rae. You sputtered and chortled and followed right on after him down into the venthole. He met you in the bathroom stall. “Cosy,” you joked. Until Grease walked in. “Oh, that’s awkward.” You realized you were still standing suspiciously over the venthole. “Shit.”

You didn’t know where Grease had gone, but your first instinct was to hit the red emergency meeting button in the Office. “Grease was in the bathroom stall hovering over a vent.” You may not have your fellow impostors emotionless tone, but you knew laughing through your accusation usually worked.

“Are you kidding me?! I just saw you and Corpse standing in there doing I don’t know what!” Grease yelled.

“That’s a bold statement. You know I’d never cheat on Sykkuno,” Corpse said. “Wait, what?” the man in question replied. Corpse ignored him.

“Corpse was with me when I found you there. On another note I don’t think I’ve ever seen two people vent at the same time before.” Two truths, technically.

“Alright, I’m voting Grease,” Felix said, “I’m sensing liar voice.”

Sykkuno suspected Grease and you, but promised he’d vote you out after if he was wrong. “We have to vote now,” you reminded them.

Grease was ejected.

You met Corpse again in laboratory, where only Felix was doing a task. No one moved. “Oh no, you may have the honours,” you gracefully called out to an unsuspecting impostor. He seemed to get the message through however, and swiftly killed Felix when the Kill button was set to press again.

Defeat.

 “Oh my god, that was so stressful,” you cried out. Corpse chuckled, “Don’t worry, you did great.”

“Hey, don’t you dare steal him,” Sean threatened, “He’s my impostor mate!” You laughed.

“You murdered me and Lily almost synchronically,” Rae sputtered, to which Sean added, “Oh my god, same here. It was some nasty psychic shit.” “Corpse and I just have the Shinigami eyes,” you explained. You saw Corpse’s name flash in the top left corner, but only heard him exhale in amusement. It was cute.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1…

Impostor

“Oh… my… god.” Has this ever happened before in this game? Either way, no one will suspect both of you to be it again. You imagine he was feeling similarly, as he hadn’t moved from the spawn point yet. “How in the fuck…?” Chat was confused, but seemed to enjoy the spectacle.

You and corpse split up this time. Don’t use the same tactics twice.

You followed Felix and Sykkuno into Office and faked a task. They decided to wait for you, and you kept your eyes on the green bar until it moved. You travelled trough Admin and Decontamination until you met up with Lily in Labs. “Shit,” you murmured, “There’s too many people. I’m gonna look suspicious.”

Corpse showed up. Lily and Sykkuno left. You killed Felix. Toast walked in, and unfortunately at the hands of your teammate, he did become toast.

You ran in a circle around him and hoped it was enough of a hint for him to follow you. He picked up on it and followed you into the bathroom stall. But neither of you vented. You let a smile slip, almost forgetting you had a face cam. Awkwardly clearing your throat, you explained to your viewers in a very non-convincing way this was just a good impostor strategy. They’d do well to learn from it.

The bodies were reported instantly, and you cursed under your breath. Lily was the one who reported it. “So, I found Felix in Labs and there were only two other people in there before me and Sykkuno left.”

“I went down through Decontamination,” you explained, “I lost Corpse back at Labs.”

“I went back North, I passed you on the way there, Lily.”

Lily was sus of you. “What? Why?!” You asked. “Because I didn’t see anyone in Decontamination and there’s no way you could’ve gone through there that quickly. I wasn’t gone that long,” she said.

Well, shit. “Weren’t the lights off? You couldn’t possibly see me in Decontamination. I’m wondering why you walked back into Labs anyway, Lily.”

A series of ‘ooh’s were heard through the Discord call.

“But I was running up that hallway, I didn’t see you come out,” Grease suddenly spoke up.

“Why were you in there, Grease?” Corpse asked, but you knew it was already too late.

“I was running up to do my task in Labs. I didn’t see her come through the doors before the body was reported.”

“I wasn’t out of Decontamination yet,” you ground out. It was of no use, however. More than half of the people left voted you out, including Lily, Grease, Sean and Corpse, since he had an image to maintain as fake crewmember.

HeartEyes was ejected.

You decided, both out of your own interest and for content’s sake, to follow Corpse as a ghost. He seemed to be having the same trouble as you, suddenly being surrounded by a group of people. “That’s rough. He’s gonna have to kill five more people.”

That was when he bravely decided to take action. Sabotage the reactor, follow everyone there, jump into the lump of people trying to fix the problem and kill so no one would know who did it. He self-reported it in the blink of an eye.

The group was indeed confused, to say the least. Grease had died. “Wait, who was the last to come in?” Sean asked. “It was me,” Corpse admitted, “But I did the handprint scan because no one else was doing it. Weren’t you standing there doing that with Lily?” “Yeah, I had to wait because it wasn’t working.”

“What?!” Lily exclaimed, in only a way she could, “I was doing the scan! It was Sean, then!” The two suspects were starting a heavy discussion, whilst your eyes were trained on the red of Corpse’s name.

The group decided to vote out Lily, as she was the one to report the last murder.

“Is he just… Killing the people who voted for me?” you muttered. Shaking your head, you continued, “Nah, it has to be coincidence.”

But then a body was found, and Corpse said he suspected Sean again. Was he actually working down the list? “Is he avenging me? That’s so sweet, no one has ever done that for me before…” Just a video game, you had to remind yourself. It was just a video game you were playing with friends. And a man with a very nice voice who’d just murdered everyone who did you wrong. Just a game, yes.

Turns out, Corpse really knew how to put his voice to use, as Sean was ejected. He managed to kill Sykkuno and Dave after that, and the game was won by the imposters.

“AGAIN?!” Felix yelled, “How did you two get teamed up again?!” “That’s bullshit,” Sean laughed.

You smiled, as Corpse said, “Us Shinigami’s have to stick together.” It made you blush. “Thanks for avenging me, Corpse. That was very sweet of you.” He chuckled, “Any time. I don’t mind killing people when I have a good teammate.”

“Hey! I’m still here too, you know!” Sean yelled upset.

“It was really fun playing with you guys,” you said, stretching your arms. You’d already been streaming for three hours, it was time to go. Everyone said goodbye, but you didn’t hear Corpse. And you wished it hadn’t twisted your stomach in the way it did.

You wished your viewers a nice day, and promised to update them on Twitter when you’d be streaming next. You were done for the day.

Yet, as you’d closed all tabs and were about to close Discord, you got a call. It was private, and it was from Corpse.

“Hey, miss me already?” you jokingly said.

He chuckled quietly. He suddenly seemed a lot shyer now, being extracted from the group. “Nice game.”

“Yeah, you really know how to keep your emotions hidden. I was impressed, to say the least.”

“You were really good, too. I can appreciate a good imposter.”

You bit your lip. “Hm, I hope to see some more of that appreciation in the future. It was rather nice having someone avenge me.”

“I’d do it again any time. Hiding in the toilet was a good strategy, by the way.”

You snorted at that, “Not good enough, it seems. They voted me out.”

“Big mistake. Nobody kills my teammate.”

“Aww, did the Shinigami catch feelings for the human?”

He rumbled, “I thought you weren’t human?”

You didn’t comment on the fact that he’d failed to answer the original suggestion you’d made. “Touché.”

It was quiet for a moment, and you wondered if you’d crossed a line there and made the wrong assumptions about where the conversation was going. You quickly added, “Are you playing again this week?”

“Yeah, Sean said they’d stream again this Thursday.”

“I suppose I’ll see you there, then.”

He hummed. You sensed there was more to it, though. He hadn’t made any indication he wanted to end the call yet. But then he finally said, “I hope we get teamed up again. So you can get your own revenge.”

“I hope so too.”

***

Might do a follow up to this oneshot, if anyone asks for it. Will definitely create more for Corpse, he’s a lot of fun to write.

#Corpse Husband #Corpse #Corpse x reader #corpse husband x reader #jacksepticeye #pewdiepie #youtube fanfiction

[artzee-bee]

Best friend’s ex | Benny Weir x reader

Fandom: My babysitter’s a vampire

Request: “ Um if you don’t mind can you write for mbav? Something along the lines of the reader and Ethan try a fake relationship thing cause Ethan asked her to? Like to get to Sarah/ or get her attention. And everyone is shocked cause they thought Benny and the reader would date instead cause all 3 of them are childhood friends”

Genre:Fluff mostly but I guess a little angst torwards the end

Warnings: some arguing and also it’s LONG, don’t say I didn’t warn you

A/N: This has a little Ethan x reader too but over all it’s Benny with a guest apperence from jelous!Benny torwards the end (or at least that’s what I was going for)

~~~

“Wait, you’re dating?! Like for real dating?!”

 You clinged tighter to Ethan’s arm “Yeah, we are” but you weren’t. You didn’t want to lie to your friends and it was honestly making you kinda uncomfy but you were doing it for E.

“Ok so how long has this been going on for?” asked Benny. You and your entire friend group were gathered around his locker and you decided to break the news to them about your and Ethan’s “relationship”, which was all bullcrap. He had asked you a couple nights before to pretend. He was hoping it would get him closer to Sarah.

“Um, no more than a month” E said, trying to sound as confident as possible and doing a fairly good job at it. Of course you saw right through him but everyone else seemed to buy his act.

“Well that’s...interesting news” Sarah laughed awkwardly

“You think so? Why?”

The group went silent for a moment

“Well, just cause” Sarah started, nervousness laced into her tone “I mean I would have guessed that Benny and Y/N were going to get together eventually.” Rory and Erika just nodded in agreement while Benny tried to suppress a nervous laughter.

“I mean, come on guys” he said “ I’ve known Y/N for just as long as Ethan.” 

“Yeah, but you two just always seemed, I don’t know, closer?”

“Well” Ethan interrupted “ seems like you were wrong on that one.”

Suddenly aware of how rude she sounded, Sarah babbled some lame excuse and left quickly, face red from embarrassment. Rory and Erika left as well, each in their own direction, but not before congratulating the couple once more. Benny was the only one left.

“You good Benny?” E asked

“Yeah, I guess it’s just interesting seeing you like this”

“I hope you’re not mad or anything I mean we…” you were quickly cut off by Benny

“No, no, absolutely, not! I’m really happy for you guys! My two best friends are in love, that’s really cool!” A pink tint made its way onto your cheeks hearing Benny say “in love”, even though you knew it wasn’t true. E smiled at you and hid his face in your hair. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he placed his hands on your hips, swaying you two back and forth for a moment

“Alright, well I gotta go. Chem starts in a few” you told your boys and headed to class, not before hugging both of them and leaving Ethan with a quick peck on the cheek

As soon as you got to class however, you texted your “boyfriend”

“Think that went pretty well”

“I think so too. Everyone seemed to buy it!”

“I know!” you said and the conversation ended like that. 

You switched your attention back to your teacher, who was discussing your next assignment but even though your eyes were on her, your mind was replaying Sarah’s comment on repeat. You and Benny, huh? You couldn’t say you disliked the idea or that you’ve never thought about it. You’ve always felt different when hanging out with him compared to all your other friends.You felt more free and comfortable. You couldn’t stop the smile on your face from the fuzzy feeling you got just thinking about Bens and you together.

“So how long are we gonna be doing this for?” you texted Ethan. Now that you thought about it, you could never date Benny after this. The sudden realisation made your stomach twist in knots. He would never even go on a date with you if he thought you to be Ethan’s ex! Bro code or whatever but you couldn’t blame them!

“I don’t know for sure, I don’t see why it should last more than a couple months.”

“Ok” you didn’t mind helping E. He was a great guy and one day, some amazing girl is gonna see that and be all over him, even if it’s not Sarah! And he’s going to fall in love and have a beautiful wife and a happy family and this thing you are doing right now is just gonna be a silly high school memory to look back at. You tried not to overthink everything like you usually do and go with the flow, have fun.

It was surprisingly easy to do. Holding hands and occasional cheek kisses didn’t mean much and you never had a “proper kiss”, telling everyone you were simply not fans of PDA. It didn’t feel much like you were a couple, just closer friends. Touchier.

About 4 months down the line, you and Ethan go on your last “date”, which really just meant pizza night at Morgan’s.

“Thanks for all this Y/N, I know you didn’t have to and it might have been awkward at times but it means a lot that you went with it all this time” Ethan says sincerely while pouring you a glass of soda

“Don’t be silly E! You are one of my best friends. I would do anything for you.”

“Yeah but, now you and Benny won’t be…” he didn’t finish his sentence, as if he wasn’t sure if bringing this up was even a good idea or if it was gonna make you mad. You told E about your crush on your best friend not long after your first day as a “couple”. You couldn’t lie to him and quite honestly, you needed someone to vent to. The more you thought about Benny, the more it hurt and while you weren’t mad at Ethan for bringing it up now (you knew he had the best of intentions), it was putting you off

“Let’s not talk about that tonight” you said softly

“Right, yes, of course! Sorry” you giggle and reached out for your glass of soda, raising it up

“A toast!” you declared dramatically, making E laugh “To our breakup!” Ethan raised his own glass and clicked it with yours 

“To our breakup!” he said before you both took a sip of your drinks

You laid down on the couch, getting ready to watch Scare Finder. Your head was resting on one of Ms. Morgan’s decorative pillows and you placed your feet on E’s lap. He rolled his eyes at you and you giggled

“I love you!”

“I love you too babe” he joked before laying down next to you and wrapping you in a hug. The couch was a bit too small for the both of you to lay down side by side and you felt the left side of your body  hanging off the edge but E’s arms were around your waist, holding you and you felt safe

“Can we..” Ethan whispered nervously “can we keep cuddling during shows even if we aren’t boyfriend- girlfriend anymore?” 

“Yes of course” you giggled

“Good, cause this is really comfortable” he whispered in your neck

“I know, I love it too”

~~~

 Your breakup was a much bigger deal than you anticipated.Your friends seemed not only shocked, but heartbroken too. You didn’t tell them anything about why you ended your relationship, saying it was too early and you didn’t feel like talking about it but that you were still close friends and nothing was going to change

Things went back to normal afterwards, except now you were single and so was Benny and you couldn't help the invisible pull, dragging you closer and closer to him. Everyone of his silly jokes made you crack up and you couldn’t even be mad at him when his failed spells ended up in a big mess that you and the friend group needed to solve. You hadn’t realised how much you missed him until you broke up with E. Whether or not that relationship was real, it felt like a real reason to stay away from Benny. It felt like you were taken because everyone else belived you to be. You couldn’t make a move on him because everyone knew you to have a boyfriend but now you didn’t and you couldn’t help yourself from looking at B in a different light.

You were over at his house, helping him pack some herbs he had to organise for his grandma, as punishment for wasting all her old ones on some spell. You were stuffing dried leaves in tiny jars, while Benny was busying himself attaching little tags to them, with the name of each plant.

“Thanks again for coming to help me, you didn’t have to”

“Anytime Bens, you know I’m always here for you” you looked at him and smiled sweetly. He looked into your eyes and said

“I know, Thank you” you nodded and switched your focus back on the plants, hoping he wouldn’t notice the blush on your face. Lucky for you, he started telling a story that happened in his geography class and things slowly fell into their usual, casual place, at least up until you had to leave.

You placed the last little jar in its respective spot on the shelf

“I think this is it, right?” Benny asked

“It should be”

“Perfect, I’m in dire need of a snack. You want chips? I have some upstairs”

“No, it’s late, I should head home”

“Um, ok yeah. No problem” but none of you moved after that, you just looked at one other for a little bit, until the awkwardness got too much and you took your backpack and headed to the door

“Thanks again” Benny said right when you reached the door

“No problem” and then time froze again. You got lost in his pretty eyes and barely noticed his chest rising and falling faster with every second that passed until, you both found yourselves in each other's arms, kissing deeply and desperately, as if you’ve waited all your life for this. Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling at loose strands, his hands running up and down your back, bringing you as close to him as possible. All your senses were intoxicated with him and finally, the little pit in your chest disappeared. Your lips fit together like puzzle pieces but than, all of a sudden, Benny pushed you away aggressively

“No, I can’t do that!” his back turned to you, but you saw the red in his face and his hands went to his head, massaging the back of his neck just like you had been doing

“Benny…”

“No, no, you are Ethan’s ex and we can’t do that! I can’t do that!”

“B, listen to me!” you tried to step towards him but at your slightest movement, he jumped back, finally turning to face you

“Y/N, that was a mistake and I’m sorry! We shouldn’t have done that! It was a mistake” your eyes stung from the tears threatening to spill down your cheeks

“Don’t say that…” you could barely hear your own voice and were genuinely surprised when B replied

“Of course it was! As much as I wanted to do it and as right as it may have felt, it’s barely been a few weeks since your last relationship with MY BEST FRIEND and your best friend too and we can’t, I CAN’T do this to him! You, you guys dated and…”

“But we didn’t!” you said

“Of course you did, are you out of your mind?” Benny looked at you, teary eyed and desperate “I saw you, we saw you! Holding hands and cheek kisses! He had his arm around your back every moment of every goddamn school day and every time I wished it was me! He had all of you and he could hold you during movie nights and spend all his free time with you and kiss you and run his hands through your hair and everytime he did it I imagined that I was in his spot, hoping you would look at me with the same love and admiration that you looked with at him but now it’s too late! It doesn’t matter that he didn’t cherish you better while he had you because I still can not take you! I can’t do that to him!”

“Benny it wasn’t real!”

“What does that even mean Y/N?” he was yelling now, but you knew he wasn’t angry, just hurt. You saw the tears in his eyes and how hard he tried to stop them from running down his face.

“We weren’t ever dating! We just pretended!” the madness in his eyes turned to a question, an invitation for you to continue “It was all a show Bens. He wanted to impress Sarah. He asked me to fake a relationship with him.”

Benny leaned over the table, resting his body on his arms. He seemed to be thinking for a while, until he said “That’s a stupid idea”

You laughed “I thought so too when he told me” Benny seemed to think some more before saying

“Such an Ethan idea to have” which only made you laugh more

“So it was never real?” he asks you finally

“No! It was just an act” but even now, Benny couldn’t say anything. He was looking at his hands nervously. You took a deep breath and said the one thing you could think of

“He knows if that’s what you are wondering” the boy looked at you with questioning eyes again “Ethan I mean”

“Ethan knows what?”

“That I like you” Benny straightened and looked at you with soft eyes once more, you felt your cheeks heat up and turned to walk away but Benny quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him, holding you in a tight hug. 

“So, does that mean I can kiss you again?” a small smile tugged at your lips

“Please do”

#mbav x reader #mbav #benny weir #benny weir x reader #benny weir imagine #benny weir fluff #benny weir angst #ethan morgan x reader #ethan morgan imagine

[mysticalrambling]

Love Eventually Wins (A.B) Part 2

(Part 1)

Andy Barber Fanfiction (Fanfiction Master List)

Warnings: Angst but eventual fluff.

Summary: dad! Andy Barber x female reader. You juggle in the hospital between your dad and your son. You haven't forgiven Andy for what he said to you but you guys talk it out in the end and it's all eventual fluff.

._._._._.

“Dad, you are going to be fine. We are all going to wait for you after the surgery.” Gently kissing your father on your head, you held back your tears because you didn’t want him to back down from his decision. You just prayed to God that this operation would be successful because you had already lost your mother to a car accident when you were four, so it was just you, Julie and your dad. You could not afford to lose another family member and you wanted Gabriel to know his grandfather when he grows up.

“Okay, sweetie. Will see you after.” He looked so pale and sickly just lying on that uncomfortable hospital bed. Silently kissing him on the forehead, the nurses took him away to the operation theatre.

When you got out of the room, your little sister immediately took you in a bone crushing hug and started sobbing uncontrollably. “It’s all going to be okay, Julie.” You tried to console her but there wasn’t much you could say to convince her when you yourself were worried.

After about half an hour, you finally got her to quiet down and then went to check up on your son in the pediatric ward. The receptionist pointed you towards a NICU ward that kept babies from the age of six months to two years and you didn’t know why he was admitted in to the hospital so you internally freaked out on the way there.

“Hi. The doctor said that Gabriel had some kind of stomach infection so they will have him on IV drips and antibiotics for two days.” Andy explained it to you as soon as you entered the room and went to your son’s crib. He was in the crib in a small hospital gown and God, you hated this sight. Touching his forehead, you realised that his temperature was higher than when it was at home.

“His fever is way too high right now.” Looking at your husband, you felt so helpless because your father and your son were sick and you didn’t know what to do.

“The doc said that it will return back to normal in no time.” Andy was observing you from the moment you entered the hospital room. Puffy eyes, rosy cheeks and a tear stained face was a completely new look for you. He wanted to be there for you but he knew that you had still not forgiven him. It was not easy to forget the things that he said, even if he didn’t mean it.

“Oh okay. I am just going to sit here with him.”

“I will bring you some coffee because you haven’t eaten since morning.”

“Non-”

“Non filtered, without sugar. I know.” He lightly kissed you on the forehead but was slightly hurt when you didn’t give him a smile like you always did. He could feel a wall separating the two of you and the only thing that he wants is to tear that wall down. Why could he not keep his mouth shut and let you talk? Everything would have been alright then.

“Hey, baby. I need you to be fine really fast, okay. Mommy needs you to get through all of this and I love you so much.” Gripping on to his little hand, you gently rest your head against the crib. The nurse came after sometime and you asked her is she could stay with Gabriel for sometime. Everything was too much for you and you just needed to vent it all out in private.

“Hi. Where is my wife?”

“She said she needed some fresh air.”

“Okay, I am just leaving the coffee here. You are going to stay with him, right?”

You were just looking at the stars and remembering the time when you spent countless college nights with Andy on the rooftop, just staring at the stars. It quickly became your thing and now you were sitting here all alone. A few tears escaped you when you remembered all the things that your husband said. It was still too much to comprehend.

“Please, don’t cry. I am truly sorry for all the things that I said.” Sitting next to you on the bench, he didn’t have the power to look you in the eyes. He was too embarrassed. It was his job to let no harm come to you but now he was the one who is causing the harm. He just wanted someone to beat the crap out of him and punish him for making you feel unworthy.

“I know you said that you didn’t mean a word of it but I know that’s not true. I know you better than you know yourself.” You looked at him from under your eyelashes and saw a look of realisation cross his face. Andy thought that he could just hide it from you because of all the things that you have been going through. He sometimes did forget that if he could easily read you then you could do the same.

“So the district attorney has been telling me that I am not doing my job properly because I am a family man now. I am too distracted on my job and the last case, the witness didn’t show up and Jacqueline just laid it out on me. She even gave my next big case to Carter and I just lost it on you. I am so sorry.”

Tears welled up in his eyes when he realised how innocent you were in this whole situation and he had no right to make you feel so bad about yourself. He didn’t dare move his face away from the stars and you knew the guilt was eating him up inside.

“Hey, look at me.” Gently placing your hands on his bearded face, you made him look at you. “I was being genuine when I said that you can take a break from us. I won’t mind.”

“No, I don’t. It was all said out in anger and you don’t know how sorry I am. Please don’t think like that because you are my whole world.” His heart was tearing up in pieces and you were the only one who could fix it.

“Okay but what about Jacqueline then?”

“I will take care of her. She can not just assume that I would be the same Andy after having my own family to look out for. You don’t worry about anything.”

“Okay.” Kissing him under the stars was your favorite pass time and you wouldn’t change it for the world. “Let’s go check up on our baby right now.”

“No, you go to your sister because your dad is going to be out of surgery in sometime and you should be with her. I will check on Gabriel and then come to you.”

“Let’s check on Gabe together because I won’t stop worrying until then. God, I just want this day to end already.” Hand in hand, you got up from the bench and went to meet your son.

Gabriel was slightly waking up by the time you entered his room and you immediately went to pick him up. Keeping in mind to not touch his iv drip, you cradled him to your chest. Your heart ached for your baby boy because he was always the one to cause trouble and never sit still in one place. “Mommy, hurts.” A whimper escaped him and he clutched on to your shirt with his tiny fists.

“It’s going to be okay.” He looked so small in your arms and you were barely holding yourself together because you didn’t want your son to cry after seeing you.

“Give him to me.” Andy carefully took him from you and tried rocking him back to sleep. By now, he was full on crying and trying to take his bandage off. Your husband took Gabriel’s hand in his hold but the kid did not quiet down for one second. You tried to give him his lion pacifier and he just turned his head the other way round. The doctor came in when he heard the commotion and quickly inserted some sedatives in to his IV drips.

He told you both that Gabriel would be alright in a few days and he will stay with him so that you both can go check up on your father. Gabriel was going to sleep for some hours so it was okay for you guys to stay with your dad until then.

“The doctor said that the surgery went well and we can see him after they transfer him to ICU.” Your sister filled you in as soon as she saw you both walking down the corridor. Ecstatic, you hugged Andy tightly and believed for the first time in all night that everything is going to be okay.

“I love you.” You whispered affectionately in to his ears.

“I love you too.” Kissing you softly, he tried to express his love with his actions.

Hope you guys enjoyed it!!

._._._._.

A/N: Here's part 2. I loved watching Defending Jacob so I came up with this plot. Andy Barber has my whole heart and I hope you guys liked it. Tell me what you think and message me if you want to be added to the tag list.

Like, comment and reblog.

Tag list: @kalopsia-flaneur, @fantasywriter104, @justile

._._._._.

#rachelleblodgettwrites #my writing #writing community #creative writing #fanfiction #tv shows #defending jacob #defending jacob fanfiction #andy barber #chris evans #dad chris evans #chris evans x female reader #chris evans fanfiction #chris evans fluff #andy barber angst #andy barber x wife reader #andy barber fanfiction #chris evans x wife!reader #chris evans x reader #andy barber x female reader #andy barber x reader #marvel #avengers #steve rogers #steve rodgers x reader #my imagination

[peachsayshi]

Chapter 11 - Friends

Tags: Friends with Benefits, Angst, Fluff

Summary: You convince Gojo to make up with your best friend and memories from the past come up. 

A/N: A wild ex-boyfriend appears! I am finally introducing the character and getting into some backstory. I got some smutty chapters coming up, which I am excited to share because I do love writing sexy Gojo X comments are always appreciated! 

- - - 

( Three Years Ago)

You cleared the plates in front of you as you made your way back to your kitchen. You packed the meal that you had taken the time to meticulously prepare, including the expensive steaks you bought this morning and the vegetables that you hand picked at the farmer’s market. As you opened the fridge to put away the items, you saw the row of vanilla cupcakes placed neatly on a pan, your shaky handwriting spread across each one that read “ Five Years ” with red hearts decorated on the extras. Suddenly, it all seemed silly how you took the time to prepare a surprise anniversary dinner for your boyfriend. You’ve both been together for so long but you still insisted on making every occasion special.

After you tidied up your dining table, you picked up the wine glass you have been nursing for the last hour and made your way over to your bedroom, where you sat on the chair next to your vanity. You removed the earrings that your boyfriend had bought you for your birthday, your favorite pair because they matched beautifully against your skin, and safely tucked them away in your jewelry box. You were disappointed that you made such a big deal out of tonight, feeling like a sentimental fool as you took a sip of your drink. Haru has been so preoccupied with work lately and the pressure of being in a highly competitive field was getting to him. Of course with the way things have been he wouldn’t remember that tonight was your anniversary dinner. You were trying to be mature about it but you couldn’t ignore that you were hurt. You glanced at your phone, reading 10:45 on the clock before finally giving up on the hope that he would show up.

You removed the dress you were wearing, a bold shade of orange that accentuated your body in all the right places - a dress that he bought you while you both went on a summer trip to Okinawa a few years ago. You changed into something a little more comfortable, throwing on a tank top and some loose lounge pants instead.

You heard your phone ping, a message popping up on the screen from Gojo.

Gojo : How did the dinner go?

You sighed to yourself, before plopping down onto your mattress. You tapped away at the keyboard, erasing each message a few times as you were unsure whether you wanted to vent or give him a brief explanation.

You : It didn’t…I think he’s still at work :(

Gojo : That sucks :\ Well, if you have any leftover cupcakes, I will gladly take them off your hands.

You: Nice try, idiot.

Gojo: I didn’t hear you say I couldn’t have any :)

When you didn’t respond to his message, Gojo followed up with another text that read:

Gojo: You okay?

You: I’m fine, I was just looking forward to tonight. I’ll get over myself. Tell me about your night, you can keep me preoccupied from my disappointment lol

Gojo merely responded with some eye emojis, a cheeky indication as to what he has been up to this evening.

You: At least one of us got some action...what’s her name?

Gojo: No idea, I was too distracted by her legs to care.  

You merely rolled your eyes at his comment.

You: It doesn’t take much to get you going, does it?

Gojo: I’m a simple guy, really…

You: …

Gojo: …

You: In WHAT universe?!

Gojo : Pshh, so mean to me all the time :(

You: With reason :)

You smiled when you sent that last text, grateful that Gojo came in at the right time with a distraction. You tried your best not to dwell on the dismal way your evening ended and instead continued to list off the many reasons why the word “simple” and “Gojo Satoru” did not go hand and hand with each other. Your conversation made time fly but that was usually the case whenever you spoke with your friend.

You were so lost in the playfully heated debate you were having, you barely heard the knock coming from your front door.

You abandoned your conversation to see who it was, surprised to find a massive bouquet of flowers greeting you on the other side.

“What…”

Haru peaked from behind the flowers, his sweet smile spreading as he looked at you with sad eyes.

“Happy anniversary!” he chirped, but you could hear the anxiousness in his tone. “ I know I’m late, I know I missed dinner…”

A deep sigh escaped him, as he slightly slumped his shoulders, extending both his hands out to you to pass the bouquet.

“I know this is a meaningless gift in comparison to whatever amazing thing you prepared, I know my efforts don’t even come close to yours, you always put so much care into everything you do. By the time I knew I was late, I was running around the city like a mad man hoping that someone, anyone, would be kind enough to open their shop for me so I would at least not come back empty handed…”

“Haru, take a breath…” you replied, hearing how quickly he was blurting out his words, something he usually did when he was nervous.

You took the bouquet from his hands, admiring the selected assortment of your favorite florals, all picked out by your boyfriend. You traced your fingers along each petal, some a little bruised and you could tell that these flowers were from  the leftovers of the day.

Haru approached you, cupping your face in his hands as he leaned down and planted a kiss on your lips.

“I’m so sorry . None of my excuses justify missing dinner tonight. I swear I am going to make it up to you…”

You tried to calm him down, running your fingers through his light brown hair and taking in every word he said as you remained focused on his hazel eyes. Your heart flutters thinking of him galavanting around the city in his disheveled work suit trying to knock on every florists’ door, a funny anecdote you will surely use against him in the future.  

“How do you plan on making it up to me?” You teased, noticing the way his brow raised at your question.

He pulled you closer into him, planting kisses along your neck before he brushed his lips against your ear to say, “I’m taking the weekend off, how does a nice trip to Hakone sound?”

“ Mmm, ideal… ” you replied, clutching the bouquet of flowers as he hugged you, “but if you keep holding me close, you’re going to ruin this lovely gift you bought me…”

“Then I’ll buy you another, and another, and another ...until I’ve given you enough flowers so that you can plant an entire garden,” he kissed you again, his fingers stroking the back of your neck as he pressed his forehead against yours.

“I’m so sorry, baby…” he repeated, his voice wavering slightly from his second apology.

“It’s okay, work comes first. I know you have been busy and probably should have planned our evening with you instead of surprising you. But you’re here now and that's what matters.”

He nodded his head, finally untangling himself from your arms, relieved that you seemed to have forgiven him.

“ I love you so much.”

“ I love you too, Haru .”

You gave him a small smile, tilting your head towards the direction of your kitchen, “It might be too late for dinner but I baked you some cupcakes if you’re up for a little snack…”

Haru removed his blazer, carefully hanging it over his elbow before undoing the first few buttons of his shirt. He held your hand, following your footsteps as you led him into the direction of your kitchen.

“ I can’t wait to try them. ”

( Present)

“ You brought me here under false pretences …” Gojo grumbled, holding himself back as you tugged on his jacket.

It’s been four months since the two of you started hooking up and weeks since he and Rina have even spoken to one another.

After Gojo confessed that she knew about your relationship, you managed to find the time to sit down with your best friend for a heart to heart. The two of you had a ritual which included locking yourselves up in a room with snacks  and drinks until you came to resolve whatever conflict you were dealing with.

“I just don’t understand why you kept this from me,” Rina explained, before taking a sip of the mixed cocktail you both made.

“ You’ve been so overprotective ever since Haru and I broke up…it’s hard for me to talk to you because you start analyzing every little thing I do. Like when I told you I wanted to stop dating for a while, you kept insisting that I was making a mistake because I was running scared…”

“I also know you’re a hopeless romantic, and a few bad dates weren’t fitting this idealised version you have of love…” Rina pressed, “You got lucky with Haru, but diving back into the game takes time and work…”

“I know I was lucky. I know it’s not usual for the first guy you meet to be so… good ,” you replied, that word tasting bitter in your mouth, “But you keep pressuring me into something I am not ready for…”

“That’s not true!”

“Rina, you would take me out on “surprise” double dates when the two of us were just supposed to just be hanging out together. Whenever I talk about Haru, you shut down and change the subject immediately. I can’t even have a night out together without you herding every single eligible male and asking me my opinion…”

Rina sighed, “it sounds way worse when you say it out loud...”

“It’s like you can’t stand that I’m just… a little broken . I let Haru become a part of who I am for five years and losing him feels like I lost a part of me, and I am struggling trying to get that person back. You want me to be okay so badly it’s stopping me from opening up to you…”

Rina inched her way closer as the two of you sat side by side. A sigh escaped her before she spoke, “I’m not good at this…I’m sorry for making you feel that way. I just can’t stand seeing you so hurt. I know that he took a piece of your happiness and I am so angry that he did. I hate that he betrayed your trust, but more so that you haven’t been able to be yourself without him…”

She squeezed your shoulder before giving you a gentle reminder, “but he never defined you. You’re attaching yourself to the love you had for him. And you will find somebody else, somebody better …”

“Maybe but I can’t see myself falling in love again…at least not anytime soon…”

Rina rested her head on your elbow, “I don’t want you to ever think you can’t speak to me…we’ve lasted way longer than all the exes that have walked in and out of our lives…”

You were happy to mend this small fracture, one of the many that has tried to hinder your friendship.

You eventually explained your little arrangement with Gojo, watching Rina’s reaction closely and trying to pull the truth of what she  exactly  said to him.

“I may have thought you were dating, like seriously dating, and told him he wasn’t good enough for you. I am glad to know that you are not. We don’t need to trade one man whore for another…”

You laughed, “Gojo has always made it clear that he has no desire to commit to anyone. I’m not worried. Besides, we can stop our arrangement anytime we are over it.”

“Sooo, when might that be?”

You shrugged your shoulders, “right now, I’m having fun and I think he is too…”

Rina hummed, you could tell she was thinking about something but whatever ran through her mind in that moment she chose to keep to herself.

Even though you and Rina smoothed things over, you realised that neither she or Gojo tried to make an effort to speak to one another. He was avoiding her at all costs while she chose to ignore  the subject entirely. You still had no idea what was said that set those two off but you were over this cold game they were playing.

“Between your inability to handle any confrontation and her stubborn attitude, you two are going to drag this on for way longer than it needs to be…” you lectured.

You paused when you arrived at her store, staring up at Gojo with pleading eyes. “I don’t like being the reason why you two aren’t speaking… please just talk to her…”

Gojo whined, “throw it on my conscience instead, that way you have no reason to feel guilty…”

You furrowed your brows before letting go of him, but a thought passed your mind which gave you an idea, “Remember that thing you brought up the other night? Your little roleplaying idea…”

Gojo arched his brows from underneath his blindfold, surprised that you were even bringing this up. “ Yes… ”

You smirked, stepping closer to him without actually touching him at all. “If you do this for me then I'll happily return the favor…”

His eyes widened, his heart racing slightly as a wave of excitement rushed through him.

You could see he was contemplating your offer, finally scoffing in defeat. “You know saying no to you was a lot easier when you weren’t bribing me with sex…” he grumbled, as he begrudgingly walked passed you.

“You did tell me once that you were a man of simple taste…”

“And I vividly remember you disagreeing with me.”

“Thank you!” You called out watching him reach the handle of the entrance door.

“Just know I am expecting you to hold up your end of the deal,” he replied before making his way inside.

***

Gojo sat at the counter, the awkward silence hung heavy in the air as Rina waited for him to break the tension. When that didn’t happen, she sighed to herself before storming to the backroom of her shop.

Gojo waited for her return, his eyes widening when she finally reappeared with something in her hands.

“ I’m sorry for how I spoke to you,” she said, bowing in his direction and handing him some treats.

“Aww, Rina-chan, how did you know kikufuku was my favorite?” Gojo questioned, his tone softening his sweet words as he held the packet between his fingers.

“I heard it through the grapevine…”

Gojo couldn’t hide his pleasured grin.

You were always so considerate of everyone, going above and beyond to make them happy and paying close attention to the things they liked the most. You must have already spoken to Rina before he came here, playing the role of matchmaker between friends.

Rina definitely noticed his response.

“Thank you,” he replied as he opened up the packet, “I know your anger was coming from a protective place. I don’t fault you for it. Besides, you and I can happily agree on one thing…”

“What’s that?”

Gojo smirked, “she’s too good for me…”

Rina swallowed hard, mainly because of how sincere that statement actually sounded.

“I care about her…”

Gojo hummed to himself, taking a bite of the sweet snack. “And you think I don’t?”

“Can I be honest?”

“ Please. ”

“I am not questioning your care for her, I am questioning what your intentions are. I won’t apologize for not trusting you.  You promised me after she broke up with Haru that you wouldn’t make a move on her but here we are now…”

“I kept my promise.”

“You found a loophole…”

“It’s been three years…she’s allowed to move on.”

“Yes she is…”

“You know, I was surprised by how angry you got at her for keeping us a secret, especially since we both know that there are plenty of things you’re hiding from her right now. Then I started thinking that it wasn’t the secret that was bothering you, you just don’t want her moving on with me…”

Rina averted her gaze, completely surprised by how easily Gojo read her.

“Like I said, I don’t trust you…”

He leaned forward to rest his elbows on the counter, “What did Haru tell you exactly?”

“Why are you asking?”

“I just want to know if you’re still adamant on convincing yourself that I am the bad guy or if you would like to know what actually happened between us…”

*** 

CHAPTER 12 - MUSE

#Gojo Satoru #Gojo Satoru x reader #Gojo x reader #jjk x reader #jjk x you #Gojo Satoru x ofc #Gojo x ofc #Gojo Satoru x you #Gojo x you #gojo fanfic #jjk fan fiction #Gojo angst #Gojo fluff #Gojo smut

[laurenairay]

Prove You Wrong - J. Skinner

Summary: Audrey James, the girl with the loving heart, and Jeff Skinner, the boy with the brilliant smile, had been best friends for most of their lives – will their friendship ever develop into anything more?

Word Count: 9.1k

Warnings: pining, childhood friends to lovers, a little angst, a lot of cute fluff

A/N: I’ve wanted to write for Jeff for a while because I love this smiley pretty boy - and now that I’ve reached a new follower milestone (600!!) I thought I’d finally crack this out! I hope you all like it 💖

Tagging some lovely people who make hockeyblr a better place for me: @itsbadgerbadgermushroom​ @danglesnipecelly​ @texanstarslove​ @princessphilly​ @broadstbroskis​ @denis-scorianov​ @chicagoblackhawkslover96​ @kallmekmk​ @thebookofmags​

*

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Brontë

Audrey James had known Jeff Skinner for as long as she could remember. Having grown up together in Markham, Ontario, Jeff the second youngest of six siblings and Audrey the youngest of four siblings, they’d bonded so quickly – and so strongly. Where Jeff went, Audrey was sure be by his side, most often a calming presence, a balancing figure, even from a young age.

When Jeff started skating like his siblings, Audrey was scooting along beside him.

When Jeff started figure skating lessons, Audrey twirled right there with him.

When Jeff started hockey practice too…Audrey helped him practice in his backyard.

She kept his many emotions as level as possible – he made sure she strayed out of her comfort zone. Friends came and went, schools changed, injuries healed, but things never changed between Jeff and Audrey. She trusted him as wholly as he trusted her, and their friendship only grew stronger every year. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t have been more different in appearance and personality – her long straight blonde hair versus his dark brown curls, or her grey eyes versus his brown eyes, or even her sweet retiring nature versus his joyful energetic nature. They complemented each other perfectly, balancing each other out and boosting each other up, and this only strengthened as they grew older.

Summers were spent practicing hockey in the backyard with all of their many siblings, road hockey games leaving sunburn, grazed knees, the occasional tears, sticky ice-cream and fond memories. Whenever Jeff got cuts on his knees, elbows or on one occasion his chin, he accepted Audrey’s pretty princess bandaids with a shaky smile. Whenever Audrey got knocked on her ass (by accident) by one of the older girls, she blinked away her tears as Jeff fiercely defended her, yelling at his sisters and hers in turn. When Jeff’s curls got too much for the summer heat, she held his hand as his dad clipped his hair short, watching sadly as the curls fell to the ground. When Audrey broke her arm in the last hockey game of the season, Jeff pestered his sisters to teach him how to braid their hair, so he could surprise Audrey by braiding her long blonde hair back out of her face for her, earning him the biggest smile he had ever seen. Every summer held a special memory for Audrey and Jeff, the sweetness of childhood and the beauty of friendship, and it didn’t matter what else was going on, what other friends joined or left – they always made time for each other. Summers were their thing, even more so when Jeff went to Kitchener – this made summers even more special, their time to spend together without normal-life distractions, and Audrey treasured it more than anything.

Time seemed to only be going past faster as they grew older though, and with that came changes. Growing up came with growing out of love with figure skating for Audrey.

While her interest in figure skating waned by the time she was 12, she never lost interest in his skating, whether that was figure skating or ice hockey. Audrey was even there watching with his family at the Canadian Junior National Figure Skating Championships (she couldn’t have been more proud of his bronze medal) before he chose to focus just on hockey. And as for hockey – Audrey truly was his biggest supporter. She went to every game possible, with either his family or with hers as well, and whether it was a win or a loss, Audrey was ready with a big hug and a smile. And Jeff appreciated it more than he could ever say. When he heard murmurs of people commenting on his small size, she would fiercely defend him, insisting that his speed, skill and heart were more than anyone could ever hope to measure up to. Because it was true. Jeff had always been special, Audrey knew that, and her heart could only fill with pride as he continued to prove people wrong.

But he never proved her wrong. She always knew he was going to be magnificent.

That was the funny thing about love – when you know, you know. And Audrey had known how she felt about the boy with the brilliant smile for a very long time. Her heart had been Jeff’s before she even knew what it meant, and as they grew older, especially as early teenagers, Audrey realised just what her feelings for her best friend meant.

She knew there was a glimmer of hope that Jeff felt the same. She knew that Jeff shared things with her (thoughts, feelings, fears) that he shared with no-one else. She knew that there were moments that lingered with a what if? She knew that the boys on his teams always teased him for having a girl best friend and that he always shrugged it off. She knew that the way he blushed around her sometimes was more than just nothing.

But she also knew that she could never tell him how she felt. Why? Because even at 16 she knew that he was destined to play in the NHL – and she wanted a career of her own too. Was it selfish? Perhaps. Was there a hint of cowardice? Perhaps. The thing is, Audrey had only ever known herself by Jeff’s side – and she wanted the chance to know who she was without him, as much as the very thought scared her.

So when Jeff was drafted to Kitchener, Audrey buckled down in school to get herself into college. She still went to as many games of Jeff’s as she could, still told him all the time of how proud she was, still phoned him every week to talk about anything and everything, still went with him family to his draft day and cried when he was selected 7th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

He was finally living his dream – now it was time to live hers.

Over the next four years, Audrey completed a civil engineering degree from University of Toronto. Staying in Toronto meant she got to stay close to her family – and to Jeff’s, who she saw in some capacity at least once a month. And naturally, regardless of exams or school events, if Jeff was in town playing the Leafs, Audrey would be there watching with his family – always with that big hug and a smile.

And as Jeff’s career continued to soar, Audrey’s narrowed into focus. After another year in education, completing a Masters in Environmental Sciences, she graduated straight into a job for a green energy company, staying in Toronto like she always had done. Same old Audrey.

That was, until the summer of 2018. That was the summer that Jeff got traded to Buffalo. That was the summer that Audrey’s company offered her a promotion with the condition that it came with an office transfer…to Buffalo. She would be managing her own pollution project with a small team, her first by herself but an opportunity that she knew she was ready for. And Jeff had been ecstatic – the nerves and anxiety of moving to a new city, to a new team, was lessened by the promise of being in the same city as his best friend after all these years. Audrey called it a happy coincidence. Her mom called it fate and a kick up the backside.

She ignored her mom on that one.

Two years passed and that happy coincidence was working out perfectly. Around both of their busy schedules, they tried to see each as often as possible, whether it was dinners after a long day in the lab, meeting each other for lunch nearby Audrey’s office, weekends off chilling on the sofa, or going out for drinks after her meetings or after his games.

With that came the standing tickets that Jeff always put aside of Audrey for all home games he played in. Audrey had yet to miss one, so happy she got to give him that big hug and a smile like she used to when they were younger.

And Jeff couldn’t have been happier. He had his calming rock, his confidante, the person he could be his most vulnerable self with. Just like he listened to her vent over her frustrating lab results or her long admin days in the office, she listened to him vent about his stresses in hockey. She listened to him get angry and sad and frustrated and desperate about the slump he had last year – and every time she reminded him of the love he has for the sport, for his career, always encouraging and telling him that if nothing else, she thought he was wonderful. She also listened to his nerves and excitement about Eric getting traded to Buffalo this summer, knowing that as much as Jeff was worried that things would be different within his friendship with his old mentor, their reunion would be a good thing for both players.

Audrey was his everything, and Jeff only wished he could show her how much she truly meant to him.

*

One thing that moving to Buffalo did change about their relationship was that they both saw the other one go on dates. Sure, Audrey was well aware that Jeff’s charm had worked well for him in Raleigh, and Jeff was more than well aware that Audrey turned heads wherever she went, but before they’d never seen the other one going on a date or being in a relationship.

Not that either of them had lasting relationships over the past two years, but there had definitely been enough dates to affect both of their hearts.

Audrey was the one that was currently dating – had been on a few dates now with the same guy. David. Jeff had weird vibes from this one already and he hadn’t even met him. But just from the way that Audrey described him, recounted their dates, Jeff had a bad feeling about this guy. David was an attorney, ambitious and confident, and he’d taken Audrey out to three fancy cocktail bars, a night out watching a play, and two very fancy restaurants, but…Jeff didn’t know. He just had that niggling thought that something wasn’t quite right about him.

And unfortunately, Jeff was proven right.

It was 10pm on the night of their seventh date that Jeff’s phone rang. Audrey. A pang of dread ran through him, and he quickly answered.

“Hey, Aud, you okay?” he asked, worried.

“No. He…”

He heard her take a shaky breath, and immediately felt sick.

“I’m coming over,” Jeff said, walking over to his front door and shoving on the first pair of shoes he picked up.

“Jeff, no, it’s okay,”

“I’m coming over,” he repeated firmly, before sighing, “you sound like you need a hug,”

Audrey choked out a laugh, settling Jeff’s stomach a little. At least she could still laugh.

“I’ll be with you soon, okay?” Jeff said softly.

“Yeah, okay. See you soon,”

He wasted no time in driving over to her apartment, potentially pushing the speed limit a little, but as soon as he saw her tear-streaked face he knew it was worth it.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here,” Jeff cooed.

As soon as he pulled her into his arms, Audrey started crying into his chest, making Jeff curse under his breath. He carefully walked her backwards, shutting the front door behind himself, and manoeuvred them both over to the sofa, letting her curl up on his lap. It was all he could do to hold her tightly as she cried, rubbing her back and murmuring nonsense into her blonde curls, trying not to tense up too much as he plotted David’s murder in his head.

Eventually she calmed down enough to lift her head, the smudged mascara under her eyes breaking her heart. He rubbed at the marks with his thumb, making her laugh a little watery, before he sent her an encouraging smile.

“So what happened?” he asked softly.

Audrey’s bottom lip wobbled briefly, before she took a deep breath.

“He broke up with me,” she whispered.

Jeff immediately scowled, and Audrey’s lips twitched in a smile.

“That asshole,” Jeff growled.

“Well, it wasn’t a break-up break-up because we were never official, but it was 7 dates, y’know? I thought we were exclusive and heading somewhere,” Audrey sighed.

“It was still the end of something important, Aud. And you liked him,” Jeff said firmly.

“Yeah, I did,” she said shakily, sniffing as her eyes filled with tears again.

“Hey, no, don’t waste any more tears on that asshole,” Jeff said sadly, cupping her face with both hands.

Then he squished her cheeks making her pout like a fish until she giggled, batting at his hands to let her go. Jeff smiled again, earning a soft smile back.

“Did he say why he wanted to break up?” Jeff asked, wincing.

Audrey swallowed heavily, dropping her eyes from his face, before she forced a smile on her lips.

“Apparently he didn’t want to waste any more time trying to get into my pants when he could get sex on tap with his secretary,” she said as calmly as possible.

Jeff’s jaw dropped, rage immediately flooding through his body. Audrey saw this and held her hand up to stop him exploding, which barely made him simmer down.

“Oh that fucking asshole!�� Jeff spat, hands gripping onto her hips where she was still sitting on his lap.

She just nodded, smiling sadly. “At least I never actually slept with him,”

“Thank fucking god for that,” Jeff scowled.

Audrey placed her hand over his heart, making him look at her properly. “Hey, it’s okay. Well, it’s not, but it’s better that I know now than before we went into anything more, right?”

Jeff’s anger melted down a little, realising that she was trying to be brave, trying to protect herself, and steeled himself, nodding.

“Yeah, you are so much better off without him. He never deserved you,” Jeff said firmly.

“I know you didn’t like him,” Audrey said dryly, making Jeff blush a little.

“No, I didn’t. But you did. I only ever want you to be happy,” he said softly.

Now it was Audrey’s turn to blush.

“I know. And I appreciate that,” she said sweetly, although the sadness in her eyes told him she wasn’t quite there yet.

Jeff smiled sadly, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her blonde hair.

“I’m here for you, no matter what. You know that,” he said, looking into her grey eyes.

Audrey’s eyes filled with tears again, and she looked away, trying to blink away the sadness that he didn’t deserve.

“Are you okay?” he frowned.

“Yeah,” she sniffed, nodding.

Jeff paused for a moment, looking over Audrey’s exhausted face properly.

“Honest answer?” he pushed.

She choked out a laugh, a small smile teasing at her lips. She should’ve known she couldn’t fool him, not the one person who knew her better than anyone.

“No,” she admitted.

Jeff nodded, smiling sadly, as if he had expected that response. “Would it help if I stayed?”

“Oh god, so much. But you-”

“If you’re about to finish that sentence with don’t have to then I will be so mad,” Jeff interrupted, raising an eyebrow, making Audrey blush lightly, “You’re my best friend, Aud, of course I want to stay,”

“Okay then,” Audrey said softly, “let’s get to bed then,”

Jeff followed her silently, smiling at the familiarity. This was far from the first time they’d shared a bed, sleepovers when they were younger a very common thing, and it wasn’t the first time they’d shared a bed in Buffalo either, a few drunken nights out leaving them passed out snuggling. But it was the first time they’d shared a bed after a broken heart – and that changed things.

They stayed silent as they got ready for bed, Jeff just pushing off his sweatpants to leave him in his t-shirt and underwear while Audrey changed into short-shorts and an old t-shirt, but Jeff was basically vibrating with the need to talk by the time Audrey came back from the bathroom.

“You know what, this isn’t enough,” Jeff said suddenly.

Audrey jumped at the sharpness in his voice, earning a sheepish smile from her best friend.

“You deserve to be happy. I want to make you happy,” Jeff said softly.

“You already do, Jeff,” she said, a little confused.

“I just mean…you deserve a date that makes you happy. You deserve to be so happy. So I want to take you out,” Jeff explained.

Audrey inhaled sharply. What did he…

Take her out?

Jeff saw the confusion, the nerves, the hope on her face, and swallowed heavily. Maybe he hadn’t been thinking when he first opened his mouth, but now he couldn’t take the words back. He didn’t want to take the words back.

He wanted to take her out.

He’d wanted to take her out for so long, the urge getting stronger and stronger with every terrible date she went on, with every terrible guy she met. He’d loved the girl with the loving heart for as long as he’d known what love is, but she’d always been just out of reach, never the right moment. And he didn’t want to scare her off, not after her heartbreak tonight. So…a dinner could work, right?

But he had to do this properly. She deserved that.

“Go out to dinner with me. Tomorrow night?” Jeff asked softly.

“In what context?” Audrey found herself asking.

Because as much as she wanted to curse herself for not just saying yes, she needed to know. Jeff chewed his bottom lip, thinking over his words carefully, and Audrey just waited with a fluttering heart.

“I want to make you happy. Can we just say that for now?” Jeff eventually said.

Audrey let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding but nodded. That…perhaps that was for the best for now. The thought of anything more, so out of the blue, after such a bad break-up, was extremely overwhelming. The thought of anything more with Jeff in itself was overwhelming after so long. Maybe it would feel too weird at dinner with him – keeping it low-key would limit any damage to their friendship, right?

“I would like that,” she nodded.

The smile that Jeff sent her was devastatingly happy, and it was impossible not to smile back.

“So we’ll have breakfast together before you have to leave for work, and then I’ll come come back around 7 to pick you up?” Jeff suggested.

It was all Audrey could do to nod, the smile still on her face. Whatever tomorrow night would bring, whether it was just a nice dinner out or the start of something new, she couldn’t wait.

*

7pm came around for Audrey before she even realised it. Her outfit was on, her hair was curled and pinned half-up half-down, and she was wearing a cute little pair of heels she had been saving for a special moment. And this was a special moment, no matter what they’d agreed. The butterflies in her stomach told her that much.

Of course she’d gone into work and told her colleagues all about what happened with David (who were all completely shocked and disgusted – and she had her suspicions that one of them would send him a glitter bomb to his office), as well as letting her older siblings know in their group chat. Her oldest sister Laura offered to send an anonymous tip to his work place to ruin him. Her older brother Simon offered to fly down and punch him in the throat. Her sister closest-to-her-in-age Dana offered to visit for as long as Audrey needed. She smiled and thanked all of them, but said it wasn’t necessary and that Jeff was taking care of her. Laura and Simon teased her like they usually did (and she knew that Laura, who was good friends with Jeff’s sister Jennifer, would be telling the Skinner family too), but Dana messaged her separately.

Because after Jeff, it was Dana who knew her best. And Dana could tell that something was different this time.

So Audrey had confessed everything during a call on her lunch break, telling her sister how Jeff had asked her out to dinner, admitting that it wasn’t quite a date but that he wanted to make her happy. Dana, naturally, had been over the moon, basically squealing in excitement down the phone, but Audrey had sworn her to secrecy. It wasn’t a date date. Nothing had been said between them. And she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Reluctantly Dana agreed to keep quiet for now, but she did insist on helping Audrey get ready for their not-date after work.

And to be honest, Audrey had really appreciated the confidence boost. Over video call, her sister her helped her narrow down her outfit to a cute long sleeved blue dress with a swishy skirt, knowing that blue really made her hair and her eyes pop. Pairing that with the cute comfy silver heels and a matching silver bag, Audrey was waiting by the door with her grey coat in hand, trying not to chew off her lipstick.

Then her phone buzzed. Dana.

~

From: Dana

Have fun tonight!

I know you’re trying to keep things low-key, but just see what the evening brings.

Go with the flow.

Be open to opportunities.

Call me tomorrow!

~

Audrey couldn’t help but smile, sending back a trio of heart emojis. Her sister really was the best. It was only moments later that Jeff arrived, and she rushed downstairs to meet him with a smile. She could do this. She could be open to possibilities. She could go with the flow.

“Wow, you look amazing,”

Audrey blushed at Jeff’s words, earning a blush back. She looked him up and down dramatically, making him laugh, but to be honest? He looked incredible. Jeff was wearing her favourite dark grey suit, a slight tweed in the pattern, with a white shirt that had the top two buttons undone. Incredible.

“You look great yourself,” she replied.

Jeff’s answering smile made her heart skip a beat. They walked to his car without further hesitation, just talking about their days as he drove, until Jeff parked up outside of a nice sushi restaurant.

“I hope this is okay?” Jeff said hesitantly.

“You know I love sushi,” she mused.

“I know, but we’ve never gone into an actual sushi restaurant, we always just order take-out,” Jeff pointed out.

She put her hand over his on the gear stick, making him inhale sharply.

“Then it’ll make a nice change to try a new setting, Jeff. I’m excited, let’s do this,” she said happily.

Jeff just nodded, the nerves in his stomach settling a little. They ate sushi all the time – this was just a nice dinner. Nothing weird or unusual about this at all. He could totally do this.

The way she looked shyly at him as they walked to the door still made his body thrum with nerves though.

But neither of them should’ve been nervous. The dinner went past so smoothly it felt like magic to Audrey. The food was fantastic – both of them daring the other to try at least one dish they hadn’t had before – and their conversation flowed like it always did. To be honest it felt like their usual nights – if Jeff hadn’t added that level of what if then it wouldn’t have been any different. But he did add it, and neither of them could forget that.

As always, Audrey made Jeff feel like the only guy in the world, her warm smile focused only on him. As always, Jeff made Audrey feel like the most important person in the world, so sweet and kind. And as always, they laughed and smiled and talked, and Audrey couldn’t have been happier.

Jeff achieved what he had promised to do – he had made her so happy. So what next?

They arrived back at Audrey’s apartment building late, having taken a walk after dinner, not wanting the night to end so soon, wanting this idyllic moment to continue on as long as possible.

But eventually they had to call it to an end, both of them having early starts in the morning, as much as they wished otherwise. Like the gentleman he always was with her, Jeff walked Audrey up to the front door of the building, both of them pausing.

“I had a really good time tonight,” Audrey said softly, looking up into Jeff’s eyes.

“So did I,” Jeff replied.

They both blushed, Audrey ducking her head, before she looked back up at him. She’d always seen him look at her like this, so open and happy, but for some reason tonight added another level. He was looking at her like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. And that sent a thrill through her body that both excited her and overwhelmed her. But in a good way?

“I know you’re busy for the next couple of days, but we could do something on Saturday?” Audrey offered.

Jeff nodded so enthusiastically that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“That sounds perfect,” Jeff grinned, not deterred in the slightest, “I’ll bring takeout?”

“I’d like that,” Audrey nodded in agreement.

She bit her bottom lip, hand reaching out to brush against his hand briefly, before she stepped away, heart pounding in her chest.

“Thanks for tonight Jeff. Call me tomorrow?” she said, a little breathless.

“Yeah, of course. See you,” he said, smiling a little hopelessly.

They lingered in silence a little longer, before Audrey laughed, opening her front door as Jeff rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Bye Audrey, sleep tight,” Jeff smiled, finally starting to walk away.

And she absolutely did.

*

Audrey spent the next day in a daze. She’d woken up with more butterflies in her stomach than she ever thought possible, a stupid smile on her face as she read Jeff’s good morning :) text. Last night had been different. So different. But she liked it? She had definitely liked exploring this new side of Jeff, the guy she’d known since they were toddlers, but who walked to their dinner table with a hand on the small of her back and pulled out her chair for her.

He showed her the romantic side of him last night, and she definitely liked what she saw.

And when she gushed down the phone to her sister Dana on her lunch break again, she knew her sister was at least a little smug.

~

“I told you that being open to opportunities was a good thing!”

“I know, I know, but I didn’t expect this,” Audrey laughed.

“What, the boy who’s always been in love with you making you just as happy as we all always knew he would?”

Audrey blushed at the dryness in her sister’s voice, and shook her head.

“He’s not always been in love with me, don’t be ridiculous,” Audrey said simply.

“If I was with you right now I would be shaking you by the shoulders. Talk to him. I swear to god. You know I wouldn’t say it, not now, if I didn’t mean it,”

Audrey swallowed heavily. Dana’s voice had so much conviction in it, like she truly believed what she was saying, and that only sent Audrey’s head into more of a spin. Jeff…was in love with her?

~

That phone call hadn’t helped, to be honest. This was all still throwing her for a loop. Her feelings for Jeff had been building up for two decades, two long decades, and to have the potential of his feelings matching hers? It was almost too much to bear.

And she had to wait until Saturday to be able to see him in person again. This was so much more than something she could do over text, or over a phone call, but she knew that maybe waiting was a good idea. Maybe it would give her time to get her thoughts together, to not be impulsive. Maybe it would give her enough time to get her head around the thought of Jeff’s feelings. Maybe.

The day after that passed with a blur as well, going faster than she thought possible, and even after another phone call with Dana on the Friday night, Audrey still didn’t know what she was thinking. But she knew she had to try. So just after midday, changing into a pretty pale blue dress and curling her hair lightly, she headed over to his house. Jeff opened the door with his usual smile, and he welcomed her in straight away. She bit her bottom lip as he not-so-subtly checked her ass out in the dress, trying to stop the smile that threatened to break out. Maybe. Just maybe.

“So I told Dana about our dinner the other night,” Audrey blurted out.

Damn it.

Jeff’s eyes widened in fear, making Audrey laugh slightly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“I swore her to secrecy, she’s not going to say anything to anyone,” she reassured.

“I mean, if it was Laura you told, I know she would’ve already told Jennifer, and then everyone would know within the hour,” Jeff admitted.

Oh god yeah, that would’ve been the worst idea.

“So, um, what did you tell her?” Jeff asked hesitantly.

“That you took me out to dinner because you wanted to make me happy. And that I had a really good time,” Audrey summarised, not wanting to admit the full extent quite yet.

Jeff’s instant brilliant smile made her heart race a little, before he blushed. “Okay, that’s not so bad. What did she say in response?”

Audrey hesitated, not sure how much detail to go into. She definitely couldn’t say that Dana thought Jeff was in love with her…

“That I should be open to opportunities, that we should see where this goes,” Audrey eventually said.

Jeff bit his bottom lip, but nodded, looking deep in thought, which Audrey didn’t know whether it was a good thing or not.

“She makes a lot of sense,” Jeff said softly.

Audrey inhaled sharply. Just like that?

“What if something goes wrong between us?” she whispered.

“What if something goes right?” Jeff countered, stepping towards her.

Audrey didn’t dare move, Jeff getting closer and closer until he was standing right in front of her, barely a foot of space between them, his beautiful brown eyes dark and intense, making her head swim. So she shook her head, trying to clear out the haze.

“I can’t lose you. If something didn’t work out between us, I couldn’t bear to lose you, I don’t know what I’d do,” she said firmly.

Jeff licked his bottom lip nervously, his eyes going through various emotions.

“And if we didn’t let ourselves feel? We just carry on as we always have done, never knowing?” Jeff frowned.

Let ourselves feel. Was he admitting his feelings? Did he know hers already?

“I don’t know, Jeff. I just don’t know,” she mumbled.

Jeff reached out with both hands, cupping her elbows gently.

“I don’t think we can just go back,” Jeff admitted.

Well, shit.

“So where does that leave us?” Audrey asked softly.

“I don’t know! But I can’t stand the thought of you giving your heart away again to some guy who doesn’t appreciate it! Who doesn’t deserve it!” Jeff snapped, stepping away from her sharply.

Audrey’s jaw dropped slightly, her heart beating faster as a lump rose in her throat.

Jeff swallowed heavily, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you, I swear. But can’t you see that these other guys have only ever treated you like shit?”

Audrey’s lips pressed together in a tight line, trying to control her emotions, and she clenched her fists.

“I know that I haven’t exactly had a good track record, but you haven’t really had the best taste in dates either Jeff. All the exact same type of woman traipsing through your life and not a single one has stuck around,” Audrey said angrily.

“That’s because none of them ever measured up to you!” Jeff retorted.

His words hung in the air, Audrey inhaling sharply. Jeff groaned and closed his eyes, wishing he could take his last statement back, but knowing that he couldn’t. It was out there now, the real reasoning, but he was nervous to open his eyes and see Audrey’s reaction.

Would she be angry? Disgusted? Happy?

“Jeff, please look at me,” Audrey said softly.

“I don’t know if I can,” he said, choking out a laugh.

“Please?”

Jeff took a deep breath, before doing so, the pleading in her voice making him powerless. When he finally looked at her, he could barely read her face, the first time in a very long time.

“None of them measured up to me?” she said quietly.

It was the sheer volume of hope in her eyes that made Jeff brave enough to speak.

“You’ve been it for me for a long time, Aud,” he admitted.

There it was.

The noise that Audrey made was so full of both surprise and hurt that Jeff flinched. But she quickly reached out towards him, tugging him back towards her with her hands at his waist.

“I’m it? You…you really do love me?”

Jeff laughed a little wetly, full of emotion, but he nodded which only made Audrey’s heart clench. After all this time…

“I love you Audrey Marie James. I have done for a long time,” Jeff said simply.

“Oh Jeff. Jeff, I love you too,” Audrey whimpered, “so much,”

Jeff grinned, so hard that he made his cheeks hurt, before raising his hands to cup her face. He squished her cheeks into a fish pout like he always did, making her laugh and bat at his hands, breaking the tension.

“Fuck, I love you,” Jeff said happily, hands moving to rest on her shoulders.

“I love you too. Oh my god. I love you. I can’t believe I finally got to say it out loud,” Audrey giggled.

Jeff just laughed as well, giddiness overtaking him, not letting him think of anything but her.

“We’ve wasted so much time,” he huffed.

But Audrey just shook her head, her smile a little sad. “I was just so scared of not having you in my life that I didn’t dare risk you rejecting me,”

“There is no parallel universe in which I would reject you,” Jeff laughed.

“Nerd,” she said fondly, earning a brilliant smile, “I just…I wanted my own career too, y’know? And I didn’t know what would’ve happened if I just followed you for the rest of my life,”

Jeff swallowed heavily at her confession, but nodded.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened either. We’ll never know. But what I do know is that you’re a brilliant woman, who is crazy smart and wonderful and beautiful, and I’m so proud of everything you achieved. Like, you’re literally a civil engineer and an environmental scientist! That’s so cool! I’m just happy you could possibly want to be with boring old hockey-playing Jeff,”

“You’re not boring or old. And I fell in love with hockey-playing Jeff a long time ago, so I really don’t think I’m losing out here,” Audrey mused.

Jeff huffed a laugh, his heart racing a little more at her firm words, leaning his head down to rest his forehead against hers. “Well would you be this hockey player’s girlfriend?”

“Only if you’ll be this engineer-scientist’s boyfriend,” she countered.

Jeff grinned, dimples out in full force, making Audrey tilt her head back to laugh. This was real life. This was really happening. Holy shit.

But there was just one thing left…

“Hey, Jeff?” she said suddenly.

“Yeah?” he asked, one hand rising to cup her face.

It was when his thumb stroked over her cheekbone that she knew this was everything.

“Will you kiss me?”

Jeff looked a little astounded, jaw dropping a little, before that brilliant smile came back.

“Yeah, ‘f course,” he murmured.

Audrey inhaled sharply, before tilting her head up, leaning up towards him as Jeff leant down to her. Their lips touched softly, sweetly, both of them breaking off to laugh, both a little stunned, before Audrey pressed her lips to his again a little firmer. Jeff made a soft happy noise, kissing her back, his free hand sliding around her waist to bring their bodies together. She moaned in surprise at the feeling of his strong body against hers, but melted in his arms, lost in the motion of their kisses, completely consumed in a way she’d never been before.

Jeff broke away briefly with another soft moan, eyes searching her face a little desperately, before he kissed her again, clutching her a little tighter. And then he broke away for a final time, taking a step back with wild eyes, leaving her head spinning.

“I don’t want to get carried away,” Jeff panted, cheeks heating up in a blush.

Audrey bit her bottom lip but nodded, knowing her was right even if her racing heart didn’t want to admit it. “At least it was worth the wait?” she offered.

Jeff just groaned, making her laugh. Then her breath caught in her throat as Jeff adjusted his dick in his pants, alerting her to just how riled up he gotten. Oh fuck. Carried away indeed.

“You’re worth so much more to me than rushing into sex. I want to ease into things, y’know? I’ve waited this long for you to be mine, I can wait a little longer,” he said seriously.

“I love you too,” Audrey said happily.

Jeff just smiled that brilliant smile.

~

To: Dana

He loves me.

He loves me!

~

From: Dana

Holy fucking shit, about time.

Can I actually tell everyone now?

*

The next two weeks were the happiest that Audrey could remember. They had three days in a row together where Jeff wasn’t doing anything other than light training and rest, ahead of a 10 day roadtrip, and they made the most of it. Well, after another long talk about their emotions, because they could do that now, and fielding various calls from their many family members, they’d also spent a lot of time sweetly making out on the sofa whenever Audrey wasn’t working. Because hey, they could do that now too. To be honest, Audrey was a little addicted to the feeling of his lips on hers anyway – she fantasised about it for years on the occasional forbidden burst of weakness, but the reality of it blew away all fantasy.

Jeff was finally hers, and she couldn’t be happier.

The 10 days that Jeff was away on his sweeping road trip was harder this time though too. She didn’t expect it to be this hard, but she supposed that the emotions she’d locked away for so long were finally out and they were vulnerable in this newness. It did help with Jeff calling her every night though. She did tell him he didn’t have to, that she sure as hell didn’t expect it, but he just said that he’d always wanted to call her every night but he felt like he would be pushing boundaries. So how could she say no to that?

And it did make having him home finally a sweeter moment.

Tonight was the first home game since they got together officially, and Audrey was a little nervous. It was tradition for the players’ partners to wear a special customised jersey, and Jeff had presented her with one in the hopes that she would wear it to the game tonight. She had immediately agreed, of course, but it didn’t make this new step any less daunting. It was a big declaration, so public, but she did want people to know that Jeff was hers just as much as she was his.

It wouldn’t be so scary, right? She hadn’t missed a home game since he’d been in Buffalo, and she wasn’t about to start now.

So after kissing Jeff goodbye, leaving him with a sweet smile as he headed to the rink early to prepare for the game, Audrey got herself ready to enter the arena as Jeff Skinner’s girlfriend, a little more make-up and hair curled a little neater than usual, just like armour.

“Oh my God, Audrey!”

Audrey jumped at the sound of Tanya Staal’s shriek as she entered the family box, unable to stop the smile that spread across her lips. There had been a few occasions in Raleigh, when Audrey had visited while Eric was still playing there, that Audrey had met the former captain’s wife, and she had always been so sweet and welcoming. And although Tanya mostly stayed up in the family box with their kids, there had been a few team occasions since Eric was traded to Buffalo this season started that Audrey had attended as just Jeff’s friend (as that’s obviously all she had been until recently) where she’d been able to make friends with the older woman properly this time round.

Audrey always had the impression that Tanya thought she and Jeff were more than friends, but obviously now with the statement of the jersey, it was clear that the situation had changed.

“Is this true? Is this really happening?” Tanya asked hopefully.

Audrey blushed but nodded, earning a happy squeal.

“Yeah, Jeff told me he loved me two weeks ago and we’ve been dating ever since,” Audrey admitted.

“Holy shit, about time,” Tanya laughed.

It was all Audrey could do to nod, laughing a little wetly, still a bit overwhelmed.

“Okay, let me introduce you to the other player’s partners? It’s totally different than just being a friend,” Tanya offered.

Thank fuck for a friendly face. Audrey nodded in relief, letting Tanya guide her around the various women and children, the partners that she’d met previously thrilled with the news of the relationship status change (most of them saying finally or about time, which really made Audrey reconsider how obvious she’d been), and the rest of them just as welcoming. She’d done it. She was officially introduced, and she felt almost giddy with it.

The game itself was choppy, rough with hits and scrappy with goals, but the Sabres managed to pull out a win making all the people in the family box cheer. Tanya walked down by her side to wait for their men, linking their arms together like she knew just how much Audrey needed the support. As soon as Jeff saw her by Tanya’s side in their customised jerseys, his face got a really dumb lovestruck look, making Tanya laugh and nudge Audrey over to him.

“Hi, wow,” Jeff said happily.

“You like it?” she asked softly.

“You know I do,” Jeff murmured.

It was all Audrey could do to lean up on her tiptoes and kiss him, earning happy sighs and coos from the other women around them. She broke away with a laugh, moving so that they were just holding hands, but couldn’t stop looking at him despite how sappy she knew it was.

“You were amazing. I’m so proud of you,” she said softly.

“Couldn’t let you down, not when I knew you were watching as my girl,” Jeff grinned.

Audrey just laughed, rolling her eyes fondly. More players started walking out now (Jeff must’ve rushed out, bless him), including…Eric Staal.

Eric took one look at the way they were looking at each other and whooped.

“Holy shit, about time,” Eric grinned, unknowingly mimicking his wife.

“Nice to see you too, Staal,” Audrey said dryly, although she leaned up to kiss his cheek in greeting with a smile.

“Oh god yeah, you’ll know about their long suffering pining, won’t you Staalsy?” Jack laughed from behind Eric, joining their little group, Tanya already under Eric’s arm.

“So much pining, it was painful,” Eric said solemnly, although the laughter in his eyes mostly ruined the effect, “Audrey visited a few times down in Raleigh and she was at every game against the Leafs too, and Jeff’s smile was always at it’s brightest when she was there,”

“Gotta support my best friend,” she said simply, nudging Jeff with her arm.

Jeff nudged her back, but she didn’t miss the pleased smile on his lips.

“Oh come on, it was so much more than that! Jeff’s crush was so damn obvious, right from the very first time Audrey visited,” Eric mused, looking at Jack.

Audrey grinned. Was it now? Jeff just rolled his eyes, making her laugh.

“We literally only started dating two weeks ago,” Audrey pointed out.

“You’re shitting me, I thought you were joking Jeff,” Eric said, jaw dropping.

“I can actually confirm that. That day that Skinny came in to practice smiling like it was Christmas and his birthday all rolled into one really was the first full day,” Jack smirked.

Jeff blushed furiously, making Audrey laugh. Eric just shook his head, still shocked.

“All that time and you never did anything about your crush?” Eric asked, confused, “I thought you were just keeping things low-key,”

Hah, not quite.

“We tried telling him,” Jack sighed dramatically, although he was clearly loving this.

“Holy shit Skinny, took you long enough,” Eric snorted, Tanya just giggling.

“If we’re done gossiping like old grandmas?” Jeff asked dryly.

“Never,” Eric grinned.

Jack just looked delighted, and Jeff knew there was no way that the rest of the team wouldn’t hear about this.

“I’d say it was worth the wait,” Audrey said happily, squeezing his hand.

Jeff’s irritation immediately faded to a soft happiness, and Jack made a loud gagging noise at their heart-eyes.

“Okay, I’m out. Hurry up and shower, Skinny. We’ve got team drinks to get to,” Jack said firmly.

Jack sent Audrey a wink, letting her know how happy he really was for them, before leaving them.

“So does this mean I can tell Jordie? He’s going to be thrilled,” Eric grinned.

Jeff just groaned.

*

Dancin' in the kitchen, You singing my favourite songs, Swinging on the front porch, Just laughing at the dogs, Now you swear you love me more, When you're whispering goodnight, All those little moments are every reason why.

Jeff watched from the kitchen door as Audrey sang to herself, swaying slightly as she stirred whatever she was cooking in the pot on the stove. He didn’t think he could love her anymore than he already did, but seeing her like this in his kitchen, blonde hair loose and messy, wearing one of his t-shirts instead of one of her own, well…he was happy to prove himself wrong.

Then she spotted him out of the corner of her eye and shrieked, swirling around to face him with one hand clutching her heart.

“You almost scared me to death,” she gasped, pouting.

Jeff laughed, shrugging apologetically. “I couldn’t help myself. You looked so cute singing and dancing to your music,”

Audrey blushed a little, but shrugged too. “I’m obsessed with this Kane Brown song right now. Although if I’d known you were watching I probably wouldn’t have sung…”

“Aww no, don’t ever stop because of me,” Jeff mused, shaking his head, earning a smile from her, “maybe I can make it up to you?”

Audrey frowned in confusion, before Jeff moved his hand out from behind him, revealing the flowers he’d been hiding behind his back.

“You bought me flowers? How sweet!” she cooed, reaching out for the bouquet.

“Yeah? You like them?” Jeff asked hopefully.

She nodded, smiling widely as she inhaled deeply, making Jeff smile in turn. “I love them Jeff. And, um, no-one’s ever bought me flowers before,”

Jeff’s heart flickered with rage, at all those stupid guys she’d dated, who never deserved her, who never treated her like she deserved, before he forced himself to take a deep breath. No, past assholes weren’t worth thinking about any more. He was going to prove to her that he was worth it instead of them.

“Well I happen to love buying flowers, so be on the look out for more,”

“Jeff!” Audrey giggled, “You know I don’t want to buying me things, spoiling me,”

Because it was true. She didn’t want it or need it. And she never wanted him to think that it was expected.

“Oh they’re definitely not for you. They’re for me,” Jeff grinned, clearly lying.

Audrey rolled her eyes fondly, before smiling. “Oh, well, if they’re for you then that’s definitely acceptable,” she teased.

Jeff just laughed, moving to slide his arms around her waist, Audrey sliding her arms up around his neck, the flowers still in her hand.

“Will you dance with me?” Jeff asked softly.

“Right now?” Audrey laughed.

“Right now,” Jeff nodded, deadly serious.

Audrey laughed again but nodded, letting him sway her from side to side in a simple two-step shuffle, resting her forehead against his. It was little sweet moments like this, Jeff surprising her with his romantic notions, that made Audrey’s heart ache a little for all the potential missed moments over the years, but also made her heart sing that she got to experience them with him now.

Because this guy was everything to her, and even something as simple as him buying her flowers, or asking her to dance in the middle of the kitchen, made her realise just how lucky she was.

*

Mornings were quickly becoming Audrey’s favourite time of day. Whether it was waking up in her own bed or waking up in Jeff’s, seeing his face first thing as she woke up just made her day started so perfectly.

How could she not love feeling his arms wrapped around her? How his face was usually buried in her hair? How his leg slotted between hers?

She knew she loved that first sleepy smile, his wonderful dimples soft and gentle, always giving her butterflies without fail. She definitely loved the way his groggy voice murmured her name, how he pressed a closed-mouth kiss to her lips, never wanting to wait for that first simple pecked kiss before he brushed his teeth.

It was everything she could ever have asked for, everything she could never have dreamed of. With the highs came the lows, of course, and being in his arms those mornings was just as important. Like this morning, for instance.

“Last night was rough…” Jeff sighed, scrubbing at his tired eyes with the palms of his hands.

The game. The game was so stressful even just watching, so Audrey could only imagine how it would’ve felt being on the ice. Turnovers, stupid penalties, sloppy passes – it really just wasn’t their night. And when Jeff had finally walked out of the changing room ready to go home…well, it was all Audrey could do to go to bed in silence and let him curl into her side.

“…but waking up with you by my side makes me feel a million times better already,” he finished.

“You, Jeffrey Skinner, are a sap,” Audrey said fondly.

“Well you already knew that,” Jeff mused.

True, she did.

“Kiss me?” she prompted.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth,” Jeff said hesitantly.

“Don’t care,” Audrey shrugged, “you didn’t kiss me last night,”

Jeff’s face looked horrified, making Audrey burst out in laughter.

“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Jeff insisted, eyes wide and serious.

Babe. Huh. She could get used to that.

“Well luckily for you, you’ve got all day to make up for it,” Audrey teased.

Jeff’s eyes lit up at that, making her laugh again, before he rolled on top of her. He looked down at her fondly, face soft in the morning light, before he leaned down to kiss her slowly, softly, sweetly, over and over again. One of Audrey’s hands reached up to slide into his messy curls, the other clutching at his waist, Jeff just moving in to lie between her thighs, making Audrey’s body stir with excitement. Yes, she could definitely get used to this.

Eventually their kisses slowed down to a final few pecks, Jeff leaning back to look down at her properly.

“Have I told you that I love you?” he asked, resting his weight on his forearms as he hovered over her.

“Not today,” she grinned.

“Well let me rectify that,” Jeff grinned back.

Audrey shrieked as Jeff pressed a flurry of kisses to her face and neck, saying I love you between every few.

*

6 months later

Jeff’s hand was resting on Audrey’s thigh as they drove through the familiar streets of Markham, two weeks of vacation booked for her and invitations to come home from both their families guiding the way. To be honest, Audrey was pretty excited to experience their childhood homes with this new evolution of their relationship, to see things through a different perspective, and she knew that the childhood friends that were still around were excited to see them as them too.

It was a long time coming, after all.

“My mom is thrilled that I’m bringing you home as my boyfriend for the first time,” Audrey said softly, when they were about 5 minutes away from her family home.

“She’s known me for nearly three decades…” Jeff pointed out, trailing off in confusion.

“And she’s been cheerleading us for at least half of that,” Audrey admitted.

Jeff’s face froze briefly, before it shifted into fear.

“We’re about to be ambushed by your whole family, aren’t we?” he sighed.

“Definitely. Potentially all of yours as well, if I know my mom,” Audrey smirked.

And Audrey did know her mom – she knew in her gut that the moment Audrey told her that she would be bringing Jeff by as her boyfriend, that her mom rang Jeff’s mom to organise a joint group effort. There was no way that the women weren’t going to see them both at the same time, and there was no way their siblings wouldn’t be around to say I told you so. It would be ridiculous…but it was just who their families were.

Jeff just groaned, making Audrey giggle.

“There’s still time to turn the car around you know. Say we changed our minds, hide away in a cabin somewhere for a couple of weeks?” she offered.

No amount of stress was worth losing Jeff, not now she finally had him by her side.

But Jeff anxious face split into a smile. “As much as I would love to avoid the combination of our giant families…we can’t avoid them forever,” he mused, “and besides, you’re worth it,”

Audrey didn’t think she could love him any more than she already did, but there he goes, proving her wrong.

#my writing #jeff skinner #i love childhood friends to lovers so much #and i love jeff and his cute dimples so much too #follower milestone #jeff skinner fic #jeff skinner x oc #jeff skinner fanfic #hockey writing #hockey fic #hockey fanfiction #nhl writing #nhl fic #nhl fanfiction

[darklydeliciousdesires]

From Blood Love and Courage - Chapter Eight.

So... apart from my usual lovely people (you know who you are) I’ve noticed interest dwindling over the last few chapters. Sigh. Can I prompt a few more of you to interact if you’re enjoying this? I’m kinda feeling like I suck. Again :( 

Previous chapters - One  Two  Three  Four  Five  Six  Seven

Words - 4,195

Tag list - In the comments, please message to be added/removed

Warnings - Mentions of rape and the associated trauma of such to come in future chapters. While I do not plan on detailing these overtly graphically, there will be detailing of such and conversations surrounding the subject, so if this is a trigger for you, you’d be best not to begin reading the story. 18+ content throughout, minors DNI!

When she awoke the next morning, Lily felt something sharp ping at her insides at remembering the day before. She didn’t want it to be difficult to move past, Angel’s behaviour spurred by his jealousy, but she knew it likely would be. Turning over, she saw him still sleeping beside her, reaching to stroke his face.

She loved him so much.

In dealing with it, she knew too that his behaviour wasn’t indicative of him loving her any less, there was no lack of sincerity on his part; it was because he loved her so much that he’d lost his mind out of jealousy and tried to sabotage them, all out of fear that he was going to lose her to another. She’d done the same, except without the vindictiveness, and his ease and swiftness to resort to such was a worry, she couldn’t deny that it was. His love didn’t make what he’d done right, it didn’t excuse it.  

Sliding from her bed, she went about getting ready for her early training session, leaving him to sleep. With her match the following day, she couldn’t worry about Angel, or whether he’d freak out like that and do it again in the future. She just had to hope that he wouldn’t, because it was a side of him she really did not care for.  

It was a side of him that if she saw again, there would be no him and her.  

She felt it begin to piss her off, despite what they’d discussed, or the resolve they’d come to, because she knew for a fact she would never, ever have used another man to make him feel like shit, knowing his issues with rejection. He knew hers, and had done so anyway. Okay, so he didn’t have sex with the other girl, but seeing him kissing her had been bad enough.  

What could she do, though? She’d said all she needed to, vented her anger, punched him in the eye for it as well. All she could do now was sit tight and see if he truly did intend on changing his ways. The man he’d been, the Angel she had seen prior to his falter was very much worth it, she couldn’t deny.  

“Hey, sleepy,” she spoke softly as she sat down on the bed, bending to kiss his chest. “You have to take me back to get my car, remember?” He stirred, reaching for her, pulling her into a hug.  

“I do, yeah,” he grunted, still half asleep. “Is that coffee I smell?”  

She sat up, flicking the large mug on the nightstand she’d brought in for him with her fingernail. “Sure is.”  

He stretched, sitting up properly, reaching for the mug and taking a swig. “You’re too good to me, mamacita. I don’t deserve you, especially after yesterday. Again, I’m so sorry. All I dreamed of last night was you walking out on me, and it sucked, even if it wasn’t real.”  

She sighed softly, drawing her knees up to hug them. “That all depends on how you act, going forward.”

He acknowledged that. “I know. I mean, even just doing what you did with Sofia and having a little temperamental meltdown would have been preferrable, but I really hate myself for trying to hurt you and push you away. Everything has been going so great, and then I go act like a child and fucking wreck it all!” The fact that he could see how wrong he’d been and honestly was ashamed of himself went a long way for Lily, it really did. “I get it, that in light of all this you’re gonna have issues trusting me. I understand, sweet pea.”

Again, it was reassuring that he did.  

After he’d gotten ready, they headed back to Santo Padre, Lily hopping off his bike in the quiet scrapyard, not a soul around given that it was still only 6:30am.  

“So, I’ll meet you at your place at six tonight, then?” he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist. He hated it, seeing how her smile didn’t quite reach her eyes. Oh, if he’d fucked all this up, he wouldn’t easily forgive himself. His timing was awful, too, with her fight the following day. God, what an idiot he was!  

“You will, yeah.”

“Want me to bring dinner?”  

She brightened a little at his suggestion, but not by much. “Yeah, can you get Chinese so I can have brown rice, chicken and broccoli, please?”

“Yeah, no problem, baby. See you later, love you.”

“Love you, too.” The lack of enthusiasm in her speaking those words made his stomach drop, Angel sighing as she walked to her car, heading for the office and opening up to grab his work shirt. He might as well make an early start. There were several old cars that required crushing and heaping before the wagon arrived to take them away later that morning, so he got on it, admonishing himself with every moment that passed. He internally kicked himself, repeatedly, furious over what a fuck up he’d been.  

He had a wonderful girl, and what had he done? Almost blown it. That’s what he’d done.  

Hell, she might even turn around at some point soon and decide that no, she actually was worth more than an emotional headcase like him, and who’s fault would that be? His. Once the cars had been sorted, he turned his attention to a large container full of copper that needed sorting, jumping in over the side of the big, metal crate that had been lifted via crane into the yard, beginning to pull pieces of copper out from the mixture of steel, hearing footsteps approach.  

“Feel like taking a break?” EZ asked, holding up the breakfast items he’d been to fetch in his hands. Coffee and a breakfast burrito; he could definitely do with such sustenance.  

“Yeah, hold on.” Hauling himself up, he jumped down, removing his thick work gloves and jerking his head in the direction of the clubhouse, the brothers seating themselves on one of the old, battered couches out front on the porch. “Thanks for this, I appreciate it.”

EZ nodded, sipping his coffee. “What I really wish you’d appreciate is how much I care about you, and because of that, how I’d never make the moves on Lily.”  

Angel laughed softly though his nose, closing his eyes for a moment. “You mad at me too?”

“A little,” he confirmed. “But I know it’s not really anything to do with me. It’s your toxic shit, biting you in the ass. It does bear me mentioning, though, that I wouldn’t ever do that to you. Look, Lily is great, and yeah, she’s beautiful as well, but we were just having fun, hanging out, pursuing a mutual interest in fitness and getting to know one another better. I thought it was important I do that, since I sense she’s gonna be around for the foreseeable. Unless you fuck it all up by acting like you did last night. I heard all about it, by the way. Taza filled me in.”

Of course, he had. Angel saw it quite clearly, the fatherly eye Taza watched over Lily with. “Then I extend an apology to you as well.”

“Appreciated,” EZ interjected with.  

“And you’re right, it is my shit. I got so damned lucky with her; I really did. Anyone else would have just screamed at me and then told me to go fuck myself, but she didn’t, because she believes I’m capable of better. I know I am, too, I just gotta... ahh, you know.”

He did. “Not be all up in your head about everything?”

Angel fiddled with the lid on his coffee, his mouth tightening a little. “Yeah, exactly that.”

“It’s all that stands in the way of everything you want, and what I think you need,” EZ continued, Angel making an inquiring face as he bit into the burrito. “You need a steady girl in your life, someone you can start building a life with, have a family with eventually, too. Because that’s your goal, isn’t it? You wanna be a dad.”

It was true, Angel had to somewhat concede. “Maybe not yet, but yeah, eventually I’d love to have kids, see how much I fuck that up, too.”  

Angel and his self-deprecation; that’s when EZ knew his elder brother was under no illusion of his wrong doings. “You won’t. Whether it’s with Lily or not – and that’s way too soon to even consider – you'll be great. Just maybe get the whole not fucking up being a good boyfriend bit out of the way first, huh?”  

While Angel was beginning to feel a little better, Lily was in the ring, having a tap around with David, a young guy also coached by Larry, who looked on proudly from the floor.  

“Hands up, pivot, great block, yes!” She had the speed, she had the power, and by god, she had an extra measure of ferocity, too. She was ready. “Okay, Lily. We’re calling it a day there. Cool down and relax, you’re looking perfect. The nemesis ain’t gonna know what’s hit her.”  

With the fire in her belly at seeing the man she loved kissing another woman burning away savagely, Lily finally felt confident that Gabriella Martinez truly wouldn’t, either. Hell, something good had to come from the utter clusterfuck that was the previous evening. With her mind on her fight as well as all things coffee and light snack related while she worked her shift, she managed to keep her thoughts steered away from Angel for a few hours, returning home to let Charlie out onto her shoulder, feeding him his snacks and placing him on his perch, quickly tidying her apartment a little bit before crashing down and listening to music while she waited for him to arrive. For the first time since meeting him, she wasn’t really looking forward to it either.  

After eating dinner in what was predominantly silence only punctuated by stunted conversation, Angel was glad in that moment that Lily didn’t smoke inside her apartment, letting himself out on the balcony and lighting up, blowing a plume of smoke down his nostrils as he scratched his forehead, contemplative. He hated that she was still angry at him, but completely understood. He didn’t expect immediate forgiveness, but the more immature side of him just wanted to smooth it all out, the uneasiness not sitting well within him. The grown man in him knew it was his punishment for acting like a complete asshole.  

He also knew that Lily likely needed to vent a little more about it, that there was probably another talk they needed to have, and time to pass before she began to feel more secure in their relationship once more, but there was no way he wanted to rock the boat on the eve of her match; it was too important a fight to her for him to possibly unsettle her more than his actions already had. This left him between a rock and a hard place, and he knew he deserved to be there, too.  

“It’s your learning curve, man,” he muttered, taking another long drag on his cigarette. “If you don’t want to feel like this again, then don’t fucking do what leads to it, you stupid fuck.” Groaning, it then hit him; he’d reverted to thinking of himself first, not her, or her hurt in the wake of it all. One learning curve after another, and he knew he had to continue going through them this time, because Lily was worth it. More than worth it. And, it was about time he started behaving like someone who was close to thirty-three years old.

The way he felt about her dictated he should feel like shit for as long as it took for her to feel comfortable and trusting of him again, while he’d learn each lesson as it came, rather than avoiding it via methods of sabotage, only destined to repeat his mistakes all over again with the next woman. He didn’t want there to be a next woman. Angel only wanted the woman who barely spoke more than a few words to him for the rest of the night, sitting lost in her phone, watching videos of her opponent’s fights on YouTube, studying her hard. He might as well have not been there, but he wasn’t about to bolt on her. That wouldn’t be an action befitting of his proving that she could rely on him.  

His feelings of awkwardness were eased a little when they went to bed, Lily curling into a ball next to him to begin with, before relaxing, her hand moving to stroke his chest.  

“You okay, mamacita?”  

She hummed, sinking a little deeper into her pillow. “Yeah, just nervous about tomorrow.”  

His hand covered hers, fingertips stroking the soft skin. “You’re gonna do great. Just look how well you did in your last fight, a knockout in less than a minute. I get that they’re different fighters, but you’re the same absolute savage. You’ll knock her flat, I believe in your capability to do just that.”  

She smiled into the darkness, kissing his shoulder and settling, asleep much sooner than she expected to be with everything floating around in her mind. The next morning, she wasn’t quite as serene, doing a quick workout at home before hitting the shower, Angel sitting chatting with Diego, who was house sitting so Charlie had someone to care for him who he actually liked (Angie would have done it, but she and Ernesto were away in Cancun on vacation) while she got ready.  

While drying off and applying her lotion, she noticed how chatty Angel was, knowing exactly why, too. Someone was there who he could actually talk to, because she knew why he wasn’t with her; he knew she was still stewing at him, and didn’t know how to handle that, likely didn’t want to piss her off any more than he already had either, so hadn’t wanted to stir things. How right she was in her guess, feeling a little bad for him sitting out there talking Diego’s ear off, knowing how gregarious he was with people whom he liked, probably relieved he was in the company of someone who talked back with more than five words.  

She knew he was sorry, genuinely remorseful over his actions, but it still didn’t sit well with her, wishing she could hit the fast forward button to a time where she’d feel confident that he wasn’t about to get jealous, freak out and do it all over again. That wasn’t possible, though, so she just had to ride out the uncomfortableness, because she knew he was worth it. At that immediate time, though, she was keeping him somewhat at arm's length, because she knew if she engaged with him too much, she’d lose her focus on the fight, and she needed the tunnel vision. Gabriella Martinez had to be where her mind was one hundred percent, or as close to it as she could get.  

However, in light of the fact she knew he was trying hard to do what he thought was right, she did let him know of her appreciation. “Thank you for this, for coming with me when things between us aren’t quite right,” she spoke, about halfway through the journey up to Anaheim.  

It was small, but her recognition of that did go a way to make him feel a little more comfortable, in a situation where he felt anything but. “Of course, baby. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” He wouldn’t have either, although he found himself in the background a lot to her duties once they’d checked in at the hotel and arrived at the venue, Lily offering him an official introduction to Larry before she was absconded in her world, pre-fight prep and the like. Before Angel knew it, the venue had filled up, the first two fights had been and gone, and Lily was deep in focus mode as Larry wrapped her hands, turning into the girl who’d first barked at him on her way from the ring. Her focus was completely polarised.  

Standing in the tunnel as she was announced, her entrance music beginning to filter through the speakers, Lily stared ahead unflinchingly, feeling Angel’s hand on her shoulder. “Go get her, tough girl.” Oh, she would. Confidence radiated through her, channelling her usual anger, this time adding to her normal mental repertoire by replaying the moment she’d watched Angel kissing the other girl, her fury burning as she strode for the octagon with fire in her heels, rage in her heart and determination pulsating through each and every muscle, entering the black cage with Larry, Angel waiting at the side, readying his phone so he could record her fight.  

“Remember, she’ll strike strong to weaken, don’t give her the opportunity. Pull back, let her surge and then strike hard, catch her off guard. You got this, Lil.” Larry advised, slipping her tooth guard into her mouth before squeezing her shoulders, leaving the octagon, Lily pacing from foot to foot as she circled her neck, staring at Gabriella with the same venom filtered back in return from her opponent, the ref calling them to the centre as the crowd cheered.  

Everything seemed to quieten as she reached out to touch mitts, the bell ringing, her guard going up immediately as the women began to circle one another. She moved forward, goading Gabriella to hit out, Lily leaning back and then ducking and elbow, her first shooting out to strike hard against her solar plexus, Gabriella countering with a fist to the side of her head. Fuck. She’d forgotten how hard she punched, her left leg immediately coming up, Lily blocking, seeing Angel kissing the girl in her mind’s eye, steaming in with four sharp punches, two hooks, a body shot and an uppercut that sent her backwards, but not to the canvas.  

It was enough to rock her confidence a little, though, Lily blocking her next punch before steaming in to rain blows upon her face, push kicking her backwards, Gabriella growling in frustration before coming back with a kick that hit her shoulder hard, a fist catching her cheekbone, Lily side stepping neatly before turning, locking her arm and striking her in a spinning back fist that hit her hard, hard enough for Gabriella to stumble, Lily on her, her first hitting her nose so hard, blood spurted out as the bone broke, the ref dragging her back when she continued to thrash brutality upon her, her rage pumping like wildfire.  

That was it, job done. Nemesis defeated in two minutes and forty-eight seconds, Lily ecstatic as she heard the bell ring, Larry charging into the octagon to bundle her into a huge hug, Angel cheering her from the floor, immensely proud. Her arm was raised in indication of her win, the crowd cheering, Gabriella looking absolutely destroyed, her nose dented and pouring, her coach attending to her with a cloth. After, and much to Lily’s surprise, she offered her hand to her in congratulations with a curt nod.  

Exiting the octagon, she had her mitts removed by Larry, tooth guard too, turning to Angel and receiving a hug and kiss before quickly turning back to Larry and whispering something to him, her coach nodding. She then took her boyfriend by the hand and walked back up to the locker rooms, entering her designated space and locking the door behind them, hastily unwrapping her hands before drinking back a litre of water.  

“Okay, so now I’ve gotten that done with, I can concentrate on this thing with you and me,” she began, Angel leaning back against the door, hooking his thumbs into his belt as he prepared himself for the likely tirade he expected. “I want to be alright with you, I do, but fuck, I’m so angry at you for daring use another woman against me. I thought I could just carry on, but I can’t just yet.”  

She walked towards him with purpose, getting right in his face, adrenaline still rushing wildly through her, post-fight mode still in full swing. “I’m not going to labour the point about it, I won’t. But you’re going to show me whose man you are, Angel. You’re going to fuck me like you’re mine, and you’re not going to stop until I know for damned sure there’s no other woman in your mind other than me. Got it?”

Oh yes. He got it. He knew what this was, he knew it with every fibre of his being as he grasped her waist and launched himself forwards, kissing her with feverish intent. Lily needed to reclaim what was hers, mark her territory, and by all the stars in the damned sky, he’d let her. She needed him to show her that he belonged to no other than her, and the need to do such took over him completely as they pulled at each other’s clothes, bodies revealed as Lily dragged him back towards the shower, entering the block tiled construction and pulling the lever, cold water raining down over them before it finally turned warm.

It was all pawing hands and needy, messy kisses as the water soaked them, Angel pulling away from her for a moment, resting his forehead to hers. “I don’t wanna break you apart any more than life already has. All I want to do is mend all your broken pieces.” Her heart somersaulted in her chest at such a profound statement, her sore fingers from bruised knuckles that had shattered bone not ten minutes previously now gentle as they stroked at the neck of the man she was in love with. “I love you so much, Lily.”

She leaned forward, fingertips chasing water trails that ran in tiny currents down his chest. “Then show me.” The need to do it burned through him, his mouth on hers as he held her face in his hands, thumbs stroking over sore, bruised flesh, kissing her as if nothing else mattered, like his life depended on it, hands reaching for her legs and grasping, Lily jumping, locking her thighs as she gripped on around his waist, breaking their kiss with a gasp as he dropped her down onto his cock. It stoked the embers within her, the glow spreading as the feel of him back inside of her reignited the flames, his body the agent that set about the fire beginning to roar through her.  

He paused, fighting through each of her legs to hold her spread on his forearms, fucking up into her hard, Lily biting his lower lip with a little cry that daggered right to the soft of his insides, nuzzling her nose, watching as water glittered on her long eyelashes. “I love you.” With that whisper, tenderness was cast aside as he began to drive into her furiously, teeth set in a carnivorous bite upon her jaw, her neck, her shoulder, her nails clawing through his hair and down his back, red marks left behind in their torrid wake. Yes, Lily would definitely let it be shown whose man he was.  

It was just them, the outlaw and his fighter, bodies sliding together, earthy brown meeting glacial blue in a gaze of complete adoration and a raw flow of uncontained lust as he fucked her hard against the tiles, their moans rising along with the steam, the drag of rigidity against her soaking walls making her glimmer, pleasure winding tightly. A bonfire of lust to ravaged her senses, his hands gripping at her thighs roughly, body pounding against hers as he used it to tell her, to show her, how every last inch it was all hers.  

She fizzed with the ecstasy of each deep, unfettered thrust right down to her very marrow, crying out as she clung to him, her cunt clenching onto him in a greedy grasp as he rutted her deeply, kissing her with blinding, hungry need. The undulatory motion of his hips began to lose their deep set, rolling rhythm, replaced by something much more staccato, but every last bit as brutal, Lily feeling herself pulse and throb as he chased cool fire through her, panting hard against her neck as they both rose on the huge wave that crested and then crashed, dragging them under, pleasure soaring through their bodies.  

“Yeah,” she began in gasp, Angel moving to kiss her, his chest heaving against hers. “That’ll do it.”  

He laughed in reply of those words, cock still gently trawling her, the little flutters around him feeling amazing. “Just you wait until I get you back to the hotel. That is, if I actually let you out of here any time soon.”

“Oh, you wanna go again?” she questioned as he placed her down. He smiled, kissing his way down her body until he was crouched before her, lifting her leg over his shoulder, tongue running a slow, firm drag over her clit.  

And there she had her answer.  

#angel reyes #angel reyes fanfiction #angel reyes smut #angel reyes x ofc #angel reyes x oc #angel reyes fanfic #angel reyes fic #mayans mc #mayans mc smut #mayans mc fanfic #mayans mc fic #clayton cardenas #clayton cardenas fanfiction #clayton cardenas smut #clayton cardenas x ofc

[youarejesting]

Washout.8

Banners: @purpleskies1999 Pairings: Dolphintrainer!Taehyung x SharkDiver!Jin,  Mer!Jimin x Reader, Scientist!Namjoon x MerKing!Jungkook, Mer!Yoongi x Mer!Hoseok. Rating: 16+ Genre: Mystery, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, little bit of Action, Slice of life, Enemies2Lovers, Friends2lovers, Social media au, Fake Texts, Fake Subs.

Summary: Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung’s rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?

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Taehyung finished up his work and headed to the shark tanks to speak with Seokjin. What he didn’t expect was him to step out of the locker room, his dry clothes sticking to his body and hair still dripping like he hadn’t tried to dry himself at all.

Taehyung went to wave weakly and was barged by a damp shoulder. The loss of Namjoon was truly taking a toll on Seokjin and the poor guy needed a break from work to actually grieve for his friend. He was bottling everything up and it wasn’t healthy.

Pushing on Taehyung thought perhaps it would be a good idea to check up on you and the fish-man. He wanted to make sure you were okay and not doing anything that could get you killed.

Taehyung arrived and waved at you and you waved back, he noticed the young merman look at his hand and shake it to himself. Taehyung waved to him with a soft smile and watched his hand lower to a fist and he swam away.

“Are you making fun of my new friend?” You square your shoulders, even though you weren’t as tall as Taehyung you were ready to fight to protect this new friendship. He found it admirable, you had always been like this. Any creatures who couldn’t speak for themselves always had you protecting them.

“How are things going with ol’ fish tail?” Taehyung laughed as he got closer leaning over you and watching the merman circle the tank craning his neck to keep you in his sights. He seemed to be monitoring the interactions between the two of you.

“Don’t call him that, it’s not his name!” You scolded, slapping his arm and the two of you were jokingly slapping each other and the merman swam closer looking down imposingly at Taehyung. 

“He likes you, all the animals do, what is your secret?” Taehyung accused, poking you once more and sitting on your desk swinging his legs. “Has he tried anything?”

“Taehyung, get out and go home.” You pushed him off the table and he stumbled aside. “Oh but if you can swing by my house and grab me some clothes and things that would be lovely. I will give you my key and send you a list via text.”

“Get to bed early, don't let that fish keep you awake, with that six pack of his.” Taehyung wiggled his eyebrows at his suggestive comment and you frowned.

“I am more worried about Dolly going into labour at any minute and having to figure everything out by myself. I tried reading over Namjoon’s work, with him not here…” Your voice trailed off.

After consoling you and assuring you were the best choice after Namjoon and that he checked his watch. “I have to hurry if I am taking the bus.”

The bus arrived at your house after twenty minutes. Taehyung had been to your apartment multiple times. So it wasn’t a shock to him that you had almost no furniture. You were a minimalist. Preferring clean and clutter free. You had appliances sure, but no sofa, only bean bags, a small table with only two chairs. To any newcomers it looked almost like the place had been robbed or was frequented by squatters.

He packed a bunch of your swimsuits, giggling when he grabbed the more alluring styles. You would definitely win the fish over in these. He made sure to conveniently forget shirts and pack only the shortest of shorts. He wanted you to have more confidence in your body.

Packing your bag with a few random items, your favourite sketchbook, pencils and snacks, Taehyung headed back to the amusement park. He walked past the security guard smiling and commenting about the long evening ahead.

He weaved past park cleaners and more security on patrol and arrived at the old marine clinic warehouse and saw you dancing to some music while making some ramen. He placed the bag down and smiled, waving at the merman, placing the keys down on the desk silently before sneaking up on you. 

It seemed like the fish didn’t like this. He was banging his fists on the glass which didn’t get your attention. Taehyung was able to poke your sides with a loud ‘Boo!’. You shrieked eyes filled with fear searching the surroundings for any sign of a threat. Until they landed on Taehyung where they narrowed and a pair of chopsticks collided and bounced off his head.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” you shouted clutching your heart, Taehyung thought it was funny watching you jump.

“Go shower while your water boils, I know how to cook Ramen.” He gestured to the bag on the table and watched you rush off. Over your shoulder he saw Jimin glaring directly at him but softening his expression when you gave him a hand sign of five fingers. He gave back a thumbs up awkwardly watching you until your figure was no longer in sight.

Taehyung spoke to you through the shower roof vent, “This fish really likes you, you should try getting in the tank again. He hasn’t stopped glaring at me since you left.”

“He isn’t glaring he just has a strong gaze” You defended, “I heard Seokjin called the office and asked for some time off, you should go check on him, he seems to be bottling up his emotions over the loss of Namjoon.”

“Yeah he doesn’t look like he is doing well.” Taehyung breathed, nodding, “I will give him the Taehyung break up special.”

“Yeah but he doesn’t like chocolate but he loves chocolate flavoured things or and he loves strawberries but doesn’t like strawberry flavoured things.” You shouted making Taehyung halt in his steps, your house keys jingling in his hand. “What he told us at the company dinner,”

Taehyung looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded, rushing off to catch the last bus. It took longer to cross the town but soon enough he had arrived at the door of Seokjin’s home. Hands full of bags, snacks and a soft plushy. The only one left in the convenience store was a Alpaca wearing a red bandana around its neck.

He took a deep breath and raised his fist to knock.

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