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mondays-writing-pit · 7 months

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everything he wants

(check this shit out on ao3, especially for the tags)

word count: 2,342

summary:

“We’ll look for one tonight after we finish off that nest, huh?” Roy promises and Jason nods, switching books for the one Roy threw at him. It’s a book the archer picked up for him anyway, collecting them like a magpie since he goes outside so much more often, and Jason likes how much Roy knows him. He’ll go by the little blurb on the back if there’s one and then bring it wherever home is at the time if he decides Jason will like it.

“Okay,” Jason answers him again because his brain only allows for one word functions when he’s happy and Roy beams at him before offering him a piece of rabbit just because he thinks it’s funny.

orrrr

if jason told roy he wanted a horse during the apocalypse roy would actually go out and find him a horse and be happy to do it. theyre so in love with each other that it hurts and yet they're still being weird about it.

“What are you doing?”

Roy remembers the first time he felt like his heart beat enough for both of them. It was back when Jason was still human and the bat (figuratively) had turned to smile at him after he finally caught up to the view Jason was rushing to show him. The sunrise was gorgeous but Roy couldn’t help where his gaze kept trailing, face hot as he stared at Jason’s side profile and let his mind run a mile a minute.

Roy wonders what feeling that same fuzziness now says about him.

They’ve learnt some…mundane things about Jason in the past five years he’s been a vampire, like the fact that he can purr and how his bat form is small enough for Roy to cuddle into his shirt. He’s like a tall furnace now too with his internal temperature needing to reach what could be considered fever heights for a human. Roy’s gushing again but he can’t help himself when Jason drools in his sleep because he can’t keep his mouth closed anymore.

Jason looks up at him like he didn’t hear him coming, like he doesn’t hear everything now, and shrugs before breaking Roy’s still beating heart. “I wanna watch the sunrise without burning to a pile of ashes so I’m researching.”

“Oh.” Roy doesn’t really know what to say but Jason saves him by going back to the book in his hands without prompt, humming one of the rotating tunes he’s been stuck on for the past week. They were driving away from Seattle and the only radio station that worked was a ‘80s greatest hits station, so Roy’s been hearing a lot of fleeting lyrics from Wham!, no matter how annoying he thought their music was. It sounds better in Jason’s voice.

They’re staying in an abandoned cabin right now because it has a generator and running water, which is really from the grace of God five years into this mess of an apocalypse, so, instead of pushing on with the conversation, Roy turns to rummage through the running fridge. They had to clean it out because five year old food is absolutely rancid but it was a task that Jason didn’t mind doing while Roy was out scavenging and setting up a perimeter, giving him a fangy smile in greeting when he came back with a rabbit.

“You don’t wanna just, like, sit on my shoulder or somethin’?” Roy finally offers and Jason looks up from his book after a few seconds of thought.

“I’ll fall asleep,” Jason murmurs, fingers tapping the cover of the book in thought. “I always fall asleep.”

“That’s true,” Roy answers after shutting the fridge with a cold container in his hands. There was a point where he and Jason were separated, the bat back in Gotham for a reason Roy doesn’t want to remember, and Roy still remembers how rabbit tastes in his mouth when he couldn’t get a fire started but it’s not a situation where he can be picky, so he’s just grateful for the fireplace instead.

Jason sighs through his nose and watches Roy pad over to the fireplace to get a fire started, gaze low as he turns back to his book again. “I was thinking about sitting in a tree,” Jason suggests just for his reaction because he already knows it’s not a good idea.

“That’s not enough shade,” Roy chides and Jason chuckles softly as he keeps reading, “because too many trees are thin now. It’s fall, dude.”

“I have to get outside somehow,” Jason murmurs, “and I know a tent is hard to find ‘cause everybody’s using them.”

“You also would practically have to camp outside and you don’t like camping,” Roy adds as he goes to grab a pan from the kitchen. Everything works but the fucking stove that he gives a disdained glance to before coming back to his fire.

“And they’re thin!”

“They can be. What are you reading, by the way?”

“Sun Protection for Life by John F. Barrow,” Jason answers, proud to have found a book solely about skin protection, “but he’s kinda nutty.”

“So are you,” Roy snorts and Jason throws an unoccupied book at his shoulder with a little frown. He’s pouting as he goes back to his book and Roy chuckles to himself as he returns to his searing rabbit.

“Give me my book back.”

“No.”

Jason flips him off with an even deeper frown and Roy launches the book at his forehead. He makes it too, because having an aim with no rivals comes with perks, and Jason lets out an embarrassed squawk.

“I’m gonna kill you in your fucking sleep!” Jason hisses, feisty like Damian, and Roy snorts out another laugh.

“You could kill me right now, what would I do?” Roy bites because nothing makes Jason feel worse than the thought of the archer actually dying. The bat hasn’t exactly recovered from the scar he left on Roy’s shoulder, the one right through the tattoo he said was his favorite a few years before all of this. It’s a low blow but Jason settles back on the floor where he was sitting before amongst all of the pillows and stops arguing, going back to his book instead but probably not reading anything.

(Jason brings the pillows from the previous place every time they have to move somewhere new and it’s not as useless as Roy thought at first, especially when they’ve shared so many beds in recent times and makes it easier to relax. Jason doesn’t need to sleep but he likes to and Roy kind of drilled it into him accidentally, suggesting he sleep during the day like how parents “suggest” cleaning your room. The knowledge that he sleeps makes Roy feel a little better because he knows Jason doesn’t watch him anymore or at least not as much as he used to.)

“What about an umbrella?”

“What?”

“An umbrella,” Roy says, in a way of an unspoken peace treaty because it makes him feel like shit when Jason gets that pouty, and Jason considers it for a few quiet seconds before shrugging, red eyes flicking up from the floor to Roy’s green.

“It would work,” Jason mumbles, “probably.”

“You get to push me out of bed if it doesn’t,” Roy promises, coming over to him with his pieces of rabbit still in the pan because plates would’ve been too big of a luxury.

“Okay,” Jason chuckles, no longer shying away at the smell of food. It used to make him nauseous but he’s gotten over it just enough. Roy thought it was pointless watching him shove food in his mouth just to spit it out seconds later, so he’s really glad that’s over. It was intriguing for about two minutes hearing how Jason’s tongue can’t even handle the texture anymore.

---

“Holy shit, I found one!”

It’s a lot Roy would do for Jason and, apparently, getting his ass kicked for an umbrella is one of them. They finished off the nest, because of course they did, but not without a fight. The office building got worse with the mutated vampires who are more animalistic than normal and Roy felt vindictive when he recalled telling Jason they should’ve just pushed through when they first came here.

“What?” Jason’s too frazzled to remember why they left out of their perfect little cabin in the woods besides the nest.

“I found a fucking umbrella!” Roy holds it up after pulling it out of the rubble like it’s Excalibur, free hand glued to his leaking side, and Jason jogs over to him after dropping the vampire he was drinking from. He wishes sometimes that drinking from other vampires gave some added benefits but he’s not sure how much more powerful he could get without scaring Roy off.

“Open it,” Jason says and Roy nods, taking it out of the plastic covering. They have less than an hour left before the sun starts to rise so this really is their first and last chance to find something they should’ve been looking for the entire time they’ve been out. It feels like it takes ten minutes for the umbrella to open up and show them it’s the most broken umbrella they’ve ever seen. Shit.

“Shit,” Roy curses and Jason gives a solemn shake of his head. “I’m sorry, Jaybird.”

“S’okay,” Jason answers before looking around, face brightening once he sees what they’re standing in front of. “Really okay, actually. C’mon.”

The strange thing about this apocalypse is the amount of buildings still standing. Jason drags him into an intact but severely looted 7-11 and sends him off to search after seeing the empty umbrella rack near the front.

They reconverge after finding three other umbrellas and Jason bares his fangs once he sees the one he found is just as broken as the one from outside. Roy looks at him with a little smile, “It’s okay, dude, we have two more. Ready?”

“Ready.” Jason nods, gaze fierce as he presses his thumb to the button that opens up his umbrella. Roy’s doesn’t even open but Jason does and it’s perfect enough to almost bring tears to his eyes, with one bent metal arm and a few holes peppered around.

“Alright, let’s go.” They don’t have time to celebrate with forty-five minutes left to get to some sort of peak. Roy leads him out, still holding his bleeding side, and Jason nods dazedly as he follows.

“I’ll drive,” Jason offers and Roy hands him the keys before slumping into the passenger seat of their stolen truck. Jason looks at him for a moment before shooing his hand away so he can grab the gauze from the backseat. Roy lets his hand fall and watches Jason take a moment to wrap his ribs. He practically feels the color coming back to his face once Jason’s done.

“Thank you,” Roy murmurs, shifting, and Jason nods.

“It’s not stitches but you won’t bleed out. Hold this.” Jason gives Roy the umbrella sitting on his lap before starting the car and taking a sharp left so they can make it to the only hill he knows and so he can focus on something other than the blood on his hands.

There hasn’t been any traffic since vampires took over the world and today’s no different, Jason quiet as he clambers out of the car after the short drive. Roy follows behind him and holds the umbrella over him right when the sky goes from dark blue to burnt orange. They made it.

“It’s been a long time, huh?” Roy looks at him but Jason doesn’t turn to look at him like usual, hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket instead, but he does nod. “I don’t usually question your motives but what was all of this about?”

Jason gives himself a moment of pause before he starts to fidget with his hands, an uncharacteristic show of nerves. Roy is about to tell him not to worry about it but Jason shushes him and explains anyway while he’s flicking the dried flakes of blood off of his fingers, “It’s something me and Bruce used to do.”

“Huh.” That breaks Roy’s heart more than last night did. He wonders how many heartbreaks he can manage while he’s still human for the sake of them both.

“We would get food and just sit on the batmobile so we could watch the sun come up whenever we went on a mission together.” Jason’s gaze narrows at the brightness of the rays painting the sky even more of that pretty orange.

Their mentors aren’t something they’ve talked about often. Jason wasn't there when Dick killed the rest of their family, halfway across the country with Roy trying to find a pipe dream of a cure, and Roy hasn’t been sure of Oliver’s whereabouts since they left Seattle. They both have reason to keep to themselves.

“I understand, Jaybird,” Roy murmurs after a beat and crowds a little closer when Jason digs his teeth into his bottom lip because he knows that face. “I don’t think I ever said ‘I’m sorry for your loss’ but I am.”

“Dick killing all of them feels like a sick joke,” Jason murmurs and his gaze softens once the sun’s just high enough to peek through the little holes at the top of the umbrella instead, stinging a little and singeing his hair.

Roy doesn’t say anything but bumps their elbows together affectionately in a quiet reminder that he’s not going anywhere, letting Jason cuddle against him like they can get any closer. He’s never noticed that Jason still breathes despite all of the angsty sighing, so he shifts a little out of surprise when Jason’s shoulder rises against his before falling.

“If I’m honest–.”

“Roy.”

“If any of you would be evil, it would be Dick.”

“Roy,” Jason repeats but he’s laughing this time, “shut up, man.”

Roy chuckles himself and switches the umbrella with his other hand so he can throw his arm across Jason’s shoulders. “I hope this is everything you thought it would be, Jaybird.”

“…You shouldn’t be moving around so much when you’re bleeding,” Jason answers but he rests his head against Roy’s and doesn’t quite manage to hide his little smile.

#ao3 works #ao3 writer #fanfic #vampire jason todd #batfamily #human roy harper #roy harper #batfamily fic #jason todd x roy harper #vampire dick grayson #human bruce wayne #cross posted on ao3

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keisukyu · 2 years

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MARKS. baji keisuke

CHAPTER OO2 ( masterlist. )

“i saw your boyfriend hanging out with a girl.” chifuyu, your elder brother, bursts through the room where you're currently staying out from nowhere and gave you a worried utterance. “did the two of you already broke up?”

“we just did, yesterday– what did you do to him?”

while you were trying to fathom out what the gleam in those huge green doe eyes meant, the black-haired male could only do one thing: clear his throat and look away. your elder brother grinned with the most innocent expression, as though you were seeing a play in which the villain behaves like a mere civilian. however, you aren't going to be fooled by those expression anymore. “maybe i punched him, or maybe i didn't. the motherfucker cried but really, he's fine. you might wanna visit him at the hospital with his new girl."

you scrunched your nose before shaking your head in dissatisfaction. even if you despised the breakup that recently happened, it didn't died down that easily either. people around the circle of your ex-lover's friends were much more enthused and thrilled about the gossip rather than respecting your own feelings. of course, you didn't liked how it made you feel— uncomfortable, frightened, and embarrassed but it didn't matter anymore since what's done is done. “i swear chifuyu, if you get arrested or something, i’m not going to get your ass out of the jail.”

“are you sure you’re okay? y/n, i'm all ears if there's something wrong. i’ll cry with you.” chifuyu sobbed as he wrapped his arms around your neck and buried his face in the crook of your neck, the soft bed slightly sinking when the two of you slumped.

“get off of me, you stink! i told you i’m fine, no need to worry!”

“okay, fine." the black-haired spoke as he rose up straight, the worried look on his face was changed into a blank one and stepped away from your bed as if nothing happened. “anyways, my friends are coming over here and emma’s coming too so if you don’t want to see them, don’t get out and also, you should probably clean your room.”

“yeah.” you gave the male a sideways glance and then returned your gaze to your phone. despite the fact that you haven't encountered his friends or personally know all of them, aside from emma and manjiro, you can already sense their energy.

“don’t give me that attitude, i might disown you.” chifuyu warned.

“no you won’t, i know you love me.”

soon enough, you found yourself leaning against the headboard of your bed whilst staring at the white ceiling without any plans in mind. sitting up straight, scratching the back of your head in annoyance and rolling around the bed— you tried to find a decent position to make yourself comfortable but to your dismay, none of it worked. you weren't even sure how much time had passed since you cleaned your room exactly as chifuyu instructed you to do and now that you were about to die out of boredom, everything felt like shit. you had the urge to do something but couldn't figure out what is it.

you threw your hands up in frustration as you shut the fridge closed, “it’s empty.”

“who’s this beautiful girl doing in chifuyu’s house?” the long black-haired male asked, suddenly backing away when he’s the first one to arrive with takemichi.

the gang already knew chifuyu had a younger sister, but none of them wanted to query him about your personal life and now that you were already in front of them, the two male felt like they've entered another realm and must flee before you could even land our eyes on their figures. are they afraid that you will be difficult to please? or, if feasible, degrade their entire life? but it wasn't the reason why they felt unwelcome for barging inside without any notice. really, baji had no idea that someone like you could enter and wreck havoc the stability of his mind.

when the long-haired male pays a visit to his friend's house, he doesn't knock; instead, he just charges in without hesitations since he always carries the keys in case the door is locked. even with such distance, he could hear the loud music you were listening to whilst you raided the refrigerator before throwing your hands in the air in fits of frustration. they assume you didn't heard them enter because of this.

“s-should we go back? i feel like once she sees us she’ll hit us.” takemichi gulped, elbowing the boy next to him.

“takemichi, calm your ass down. no one’s gonna hurt you.”

baji had learnt from experience that curiosity always kills the cat, and he could feel his eyes expanding when you shifted around, his golden gaze locking on the clothing that draped elegantly from your shoulder. for a split second or more, the expression of astonishment that was etched over his face was replaced by a broad smile and takemitchi could tell that you already caught his senior's attention only by displaying your back. you were wearing his old clothing which he had given to his friends they had com too small for him baji's basketball varsity jersey, to be precise. it appears so large on you now that you're wearing it and as you averted your gaze to the door, the three of you shouted at the same time, though takemichi doesn’t know what’s going on and feels like he needed to yell too.

“chifuyu!”

the male stumbled out of his room with suds in his hair, and a towel dangling from his hips, which he was clinging to for his dear dignity- evident that the towel may desert him once he made the decision to let go. “come on! i thought something already happened!”

“chifuyu, who’s that girl?”

“matsuno, who are they?” you asked, squinting your eyes because you’re blind as fuck and right now, everything is a blur.

“i told you my friends are coming over.”

“oh.” you blinked, “well then, i’ll go upstairs and call when emma arrives! phew, i was ready to take the knife out."

watching your figure racing back to your room, baji and takemitchi glanced at the black-haired male before throwing themselves on the couch, both slightly sinking. "you look miserable, go back to the bathroom.”

lucky, baji smirked.

“if i can’t find any work this month, i might start working as a stripper and i’m serious.”

you scrunched your nose at the smell. “holy shit! emma, where are you taking me? are you trying to kidnap me?”

as you shifted your gaze through the whole alley, you found yourself strolling with the blonde-haired female whilst grasping on her pink patterned jacket firmly. the stench of something unpleasant was infiltrating the tip of your nose, and even with your eyes closed, you still could feel the rats and insects scurrying around; it's revolting. you were on the verge of sobbing from pure terror at the sheer thought that a mere insect would creep under your wide leg pants.

“just stay closer to me, nothing bad will happen.” emma spoke, side-eyeing the hopeless girl on her side. “draken said the match is about to start in 10 minutes- stop pinching me!”

“fuck, i thought we’re going to the mall!” you cried, shrieking at the sight of rats running around but emma paid no attention to your shouts.

the two of you were first refused to enter by a two build bald man who stated that you seemed too frail for the place. however, after emma brought their ears closer to her and began muttering something that you couldn't quite comprehend what it was, they eventually allowed you both inside. “the reason why my brother and his friends came to your house was to invite chifuyu because he won’t answer his phone. didn’t know you moved there though, i’m coming next time with hina.”

the moment you two got in, a loud roar from the crowd welcomed you. “oh my god, are they fighting? oh, shit bro.”

“it’s underground boxing, it’s illegal though.”

smokes and various names being chanted can be heard everywhere. boys are dispersed across the area, wearing their leather jackets, and there are also girls wearing trousers with bikinis or other exposing tops. no matter how hard you adjust your vision to the blinding lights that came to the stage, the bright light that blinded your eyes stayed there for a moment and when your sight was finally clear again, whether as a result of your decision to wear your contact lenses or the fact that the seat was slightly far from the ring, your stomach drops at the sight of their perspiration. you weren't lying; despite that it's underground, everything appears to be pricey. like the typical boxing ring you see on the television, the ring was large enough to accommodate a two person.

you gasped, tapping the blonde-girls shoulder while looking around. “holy shit emma, why are every girl i see out here are so fine? look at her style, i love it.”

“y/n, your gay side is coming out.”

“emma! over here!” emma simultaneously grabbed your wrist to ensure that you won't get lost through crowd when a deep voice roared her name, and without wasting any seconds, you were hailed by a group of attractive guys. undoubtedly, your brother was one of them.

“guys, this is y/n, my younger sister. say hi!” before the announcer began to name the competitors, they grinned at you warmly and introduced themselves.

“first up, we have kazutora hanemiya!” a tall dude with yellow highlights on his hair and mole under his eye walked into the ring, his vibe gives off a half-good boy and half-bad boy.

“hello,” slowly turning your head behind you, your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “the name’s nahoya kawata, i couldn’t greet you earlier because i went to the bathroom.”

“hi, i guess.”

there was a pause for a second but the whole place was covered in roar after a familiar long black-haired male stepped on the ring. “and going up against him, is baji keisuke!”

@/keisukyu on wattpad !!

#baji keisuke x reader #baji #baji keisuke #baji imagines #baji keisuke imagines #tokyo revengers #baji fluff #baji angst

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halothenthehorns · 1 year

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Chapter 11: CLARISSE BLOWS UP EVERYTHING

"You guys just sit back and chill-ax," Will told, tugging on Nico's sleeve hopefully. "Magnus has been getting snacks, so we'll just grab some of everything and bring it back too!"

"Is that what those jokes about a buffet were?" Percy asked, he was the least motivated to crawl out of his beanbag as fatigue was already setting in again. Whoever said words don't hurt had never read this book!

The others gave it no passing thought as Thalia lounged back comfortably too, staring up at the shadowed ceiling and twirling her bracelet around with a pensive look. Jason went over to see Hearth, Magnus, and Alex were already having one of their ASL talks.

Nico waited until he was sure Percy was out of earshot in the first room with a fridge before asking, "so did Zeus really go from denying Kronos is coming back to blaming it on Chiron in the span of a year?"

"No, Kronos is his dad," Will admitted with a sad smile, already pulling out a whole pizza with different toppings every other slice. "He doesn't like to talk about it much, but, yeah. That's why they blamed Thalia's tree on Chiron instead. Messed up, huh?" He pulled out a pile of perfectly gooey, melted s'mores next.

"I'll say," he scowled for the friendly enough centaur, even if the head of activities had always given him the same uneasy look as everyone else in that camp about what to do with him, at least Chiron had never been outright rude to him.

In this short time, Will had already pulled out a wide assortment of food, practically covering the bed in as many options as he could think of, watching Nico intently the whole time. He hadn't once reached for anything though, so Will asked just to be sure, "anything specific you're going to want?"

Nico resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he plucked up a singular french-fry. "This'll do." He tried to smile like he was hoping Will would laugh it off. He should have known better at this point.

"You've got to eat down here," his scowl seemed to have more weight than anybody else Nico had met, perhaps because it set so firmly into his face, an effort to keep it there instead of his natural smiles.

"No, I don't," he said back without concern. "Child of Hades thing, I don't need to eat as much as-" the lie was passing easily from his mouth, he could barely remember a time he wasn't lying to somebody after Bianca's death.

"Bullshit," Will called out at once, and Nico stopped dead, the french-fry fell from his fingers. He felt such a shock rock through him he glanced over his shoulder to make sure Thalia hadn't appeared.

He didn't ask how Will knew he was lying. Instead, he threw him a bone, the least he could do after Will had been so friendly to him. "It, it's for practice," he finally relented. Couldn't tell him to much, it was still weird to him why Will was asking at all.

"Practice," he repeated, drawing the word out uncomfortably like a hiss, but it didn't even cross Nico's mind to mock him right now.

"Yeah, I'm going on a trip, and might not get food around every corner. Relax, I'll eat something small later." Tartarus probably didn't have magical refrigerators to quench his every desire, he actually needed to make a pit stop to find those seeds just in case this took to long-

"Nico," Will sounded so angry he startled and looked around for a monster before those piercing blue eyes kept looking right at him. "You're always off on some trip! You need to come back to camp, ask for a quest to do this right, let me, somebody help!"

"I don't need your help!" He instantly snapped back, but there was no force to his words for the touch of concern still resonating in him Will had said that at all. "You, you don't even know what you're asking for."

"Then tell me. I'll help." Will didn't look away, didn't even flinch from meeting his gaze, had just blindly signed up for a trip to Tartarus! Will Solace was officially the most frustrating, stubborn person Nico had ever met, and he laughed. Percy and Chiron might actually kick him out of Camp officially if they heard if he was trying to draw anybody else into this. Reason number two he needed to go alone.

Will raised an unimpressed brow, and Nico once again sidestepped by lightly fibbing, "that's not necessary, Jason has some friends, I'll figure it out with them."

"Oh," Will finally deflated and looked ready to let it go, which somehow made Nico feel worse than if he'd tried to insist anyways. Idiot, he chastised himself. He'd never survive down there.

Nico swiped up a fried chicken leg blindly and walked out before he had to make any more half-promises.

Will watched him go with the strangest feeling he usually only got while watching Katie Gardner flirt with Connor Stoll. Jealous.

He doesn't need you along, he reminded himself as he picked the rest of the food up to follow. You'd just slow him down, barely ever leaving camp and having no real clue what was out there. Jason probably had some healing friend too, at least he was getting help from someone. What little comfort he did take from that thought carried him into putting all the plates out on the table, smiling and waving off the thanks from the others it had literally been no trouble.

Then he saw Jason and Nico whispering quietly, Nico was picking off little bits of the fried skin and chicken and eating normally enough, so he instantly turned away. He really was happy if Nico had made a friend with the weird kid who kept using Roman names, and he wouldn't keep bothering Nico now. He snatched up the book and decided he wasn't very hungry himself as he started reading before even Percy had finished his first plate.

"That wasn't a very long lunch," Magnus said in surprise to see Will shuffling pages around the book. He hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Hearthstone maybe he'd like a nap, but at least Jason hadn't stuck around long.

Alex was already laughing at the new chapter title though as he grabbed up a bowl of real, deep fried, not-kale chips and slathered them in chili while calling to Percy, "careful Perce, or she might take your title away!"

"Didn't she just blow up everything?" Percy seemed to be agreeing, snatching pepperoni floating around him from his destroyed pizza before they could settle on the plate. "What else is left? A whale?"

"Hopefully not the quest itself," Jason sighed as he flopped back into his seat with a bowl of fruit.

"Just keep practicing those first six," Magnus told Alex when he sat back down. "I'll quiz you later."

"Done deal," he winked again and turned to Will, leaving Magnus staring at the side of his head with no urge to do the same.

"You are in so much trouble," Clarisse said.

"Story of my life," Percy nodded without surprise.

"What's Tantalus going to do, drown you in bar-b-q sauce?" But there was a note of unease in Magnus's voice like he wasn't sure if he was kidding or not as he did drag his eyes away from Alex.

"Hopefully I won't have to find out," Percy sighed as he rubbed at his temple. If all went well, the tree should have been healed and Chiron should have gotten his job back! If not, well, he wasn't sure he wanted to hear the other outcomes.

We'd just finished a ship tour we didn't want,

"Was it straight to the poop deck?" Alex asked. "Wait, or the stockade? What's ship prison called?"

"The brigadier," Percy at least knew why this information came naturally to him, "or the brig for short. Haven't you ever seen a pirate movie? The captain always says take him to the brig at least once."

"Must have missed those," Alex shrugged, though he looked plenty interested in changing that.

Nico was looking at Percy again, and being as invisible as usual as he bit his lip against the urge to go to his side and laugh about all the awesome pirate stories he'd made up himself. Percy would just laugh at him, or laugh him off, and gods forbid he ever get that close to him without combusting.

through dark rooms overcrowded with dead sailors. We'd seen the coal bunker, the boilers and engine, which huffed and groaned like it would explode any minute.

Percy winced uneasily and the last of his crust fell to the floor. He'd lost his appetite all of a sudden, and Thalia biting her lip and not looking at him wasn't a promising indication.

We'd seen the pilothouse and the powder magazine and gunnery deck (Clarisse's favorite) with two Dahlgren smoothbore cannons on the port and starboard sides and a Brooke nine-inch rifled gun fore and aft—all specially refitted to fire celestial bronze cannon balls.

Jason's eyes were glazed over by then like he couldn't decide if that was the coolest battleship he'd ever heard of, or the strangest. He knew with absolute confidence he'd never been on a boat before regardless, so probably the first.

Nico couldn't help an amused snort at the expression. He didn't know much about that Roman camp, but he'd already picked up on the uneasy look's Jason had given Percy nearly every time his dad was mentioned; he didn't seem to be a fan of Neptune. He'd probably avoided the sea like Percy did the air. Jason had bounced up the second he'd entered the room and been asking him with great eagerness what he did know about the Sea of Monsters though, so hopefully his curiosity would eventually trump misgivings. It hadn't been much though, so Jason was back to watching Will intently the moment his mind had finished imagining it all.

Will didn't seem to be reading with as much bubbliness as usual though, and everyone was noticing. Nico sat back in his seat with surprising guilt he told himself to ignore, he'd done nothing wrong by making sure everybody stayed out of this until he came back with proof of Gaea, then he'd take all the help he could get.

Everywhere we went, dead Confederate sailors stared at us, their ghostly bearded faces shimmering over their skulls. They approved of Annabeth because she told them she was from Virginia. They were interested in me, too, because my name was Jackson—like the Southern general—but then I ruined it by telling them I was from New York. They all hissed and muttered curses about Yankees.

"Can't say I was really rooting for them to like me, but them disliking me feels more foreboding," Percy muttered.

Will smiled without humor as he remembered the boat being summoned in the harbor and Silena wishing Clarisse good luck. One of the ghosts had asked if she was related to P.G.T Beauregard* as Clarisse was packing to go aboard and she'd run off as if offended.

Tyson was terrified of them. All through the tour, he insisted Annabeth hold his hand, which she didn't look too thrilled about.

"I'm not much of a hand-holder myself," Alex sympathized, "but he did just save her from a Hydra! If that's all he wants in return, it's nice she's helping him."

It was probably the nicest thing Alex he'd said while here.

Finally, we were escorted to dinner. The CSS Birmingham captain's quarters were about the size of a walk-in closet, but still much bigger than any other room on board. The table was set with white linen and china.

"I've never had a walk-in closet, you can fit a table in them?" Magnus seemed to be struggling with this as much as he did some monsters.

"We had to suck it in to sit in the chairs smashed against the wall, not exactly luxury," Percy disagreed what 'fit'.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, potato chips, and Dr. Peppers were served by skeletal crewmen. I didn't want to eat anything served by ghosts, but my hunger overruled my fear.

"I don't get it," Nico said, looking around at the others and trying not to especially watch Percy. "If they're summoned back right they're practically normal. Can drive, cook, hold weapons or anything."

"I'm concerned why you know that," Jason admitted.

Nico froze as he realized he was getting a little to comfortable down here, again, and opened his mouth with a quick lie coming to mind when-

"Just part of the pranks that go around camp," Will shrugged, emphasizing the no big deal of it. "Percy hasn't been around them as much, but the Ares campers love to brag about it when they occasionally manage it."

"That was terrifying, thank you," Magnus shivered.

Nico still didn't get it and now felt even more like a freak of nature as clearly he was the only one, but a rush of gratitude swept most of that aside as Will had gone right back to reading like nothing had happened, and even more, Thalia and Percy exchanged a curious look but clearly weren't going to contradict that.

"Tantalus expelled you for eternity," Clarisse told us smugly. "Mr. D said if any of you show your face at camp again, he'll turn you into squirrels and run you over with his SUV."

"Sounds like a waste of gas when he could make a tiger appear to do it," Alex pointed out, and yep that was more on brand.

"I'm sure Grover will agree when we get him back," Percy rolled his eyes.

"Did they give you this ship?" I asked.

"'Course not. My father did."

"Ares?"

Clarisse sneered. "You think your daddy is the only one with sea power? The spirits on the losing side of every war owe a tribute to Ares. That's their curse for being defeated. I prayed to my father for a naval transport and here it is. These guys will do anything I tell them. Won't you, Captain?"

"Woah," Jason said in appreciation, now that sounded like something he could wrap his head around about Mars.

The captain stood behind her looking stiff and angry. His glowing green eyes fixed me with a hungry stare. "If it means an end to this infernal war, ma'am, peace at last, we'll do anything. Destroy anyone."

"None of that made this existing feel any better," Magnus clarified with an 'ugh,' face.

'Remind me later how much you dislike ghosts when I tell you about einherjar,' Hearth told him with an amusing smile that didn't amuse Magnus. He'd finger spelled that last word and then showed him the sign for it which did nothing to encourage him.

Clarisse smiled. "Destroy anyone. I like that."

"Of course she does," Percy sighed, "like everybody on this quest?" Where were the other two companions she was supposed to have, hopefully more sensible kids from camp!

Tyson gulped.

"Clarisse," Annabeth said, "Luke might be after the Fleece, too. We saw him. He's got the coordinates and he's heading south. He has a cruise ship full of monsters—"

"Good! I'll blow him out of the water."

"I will pause to admire her confidence," Will told with an almost natural smile again as he punned his own name, causing the others to groan and Nico to roll his eyes at him.

"You don't understand," Annabeth said. We have to combine forces. Let us help you—"

"No!" Clarisse pounded the table. "This is my quest, smart girl! Finally I get to be the hero, and you two will not steal my chance."

Thalia couldn't imagine how that must feel, to often being forced into the center of attention thanks to her dad whether she wanted to be or not. She was sorry for Clarisse though, and might not be alive right now without her making it back alone, so she couldn't scoff to much at the childish idea to her of wanting to impress.

"Where are your cabin mates?" I asked. "You were allowed to take two friends with you, weren't you?"

"They didn't ... I let them stay behind. To protect the camp."

'Does not play well with others' was one of the first things they'd realized about this girl back when she'd first tried to induct Percy into the toilet royalty, but this was a new extreme. Had her own siblings, everybody at camp refused to go? Was it just faith Percy would come back and save them all before Clarisse had left the state of New York?

"You mean even the people in your own cabin wouldn't help you?"

"Shut up, Prissy! I don't need them! Or you!"

Sounds lonely, Jason kept to himself. A gut feeling told him he'd been on quests, but there was something in that same feeling that made him question if he'd been alone on them too...or at the very least felt this burden Clarisse was shouldering alone.

"Clarisse," I said, "Tantalus is using you. He doesn't care about the camp. He'd love to see it destroyed. He's setting you up to fail."

"No! I don't care what the Oracle—" She stopped her-self.

"Not another one of those things!" Magnus protested.

"I'm curious if Annabeth or Percy did ask for this same quest if they'd have gotten the same prophecy," Alex admitted.

"That's a really good question," Will considered. "The future is a tangled mess, my dad's tried explaining it a few times and it's just a pure headache. Theoretically the outcome is dependent on who partakes in the quest, but prophecies have been in place for centuries before they come true which means some parts of them are set points in time that must happen." Clarisse had never told anyone her prophecy though, so he couldn't be any more certain.

"Well, we all know that thing's got more double meaning than a riddle, homo phone-"

"Homophone," Magnus corrected.

"So we won't know until we finish," Percy finished with an exasperated look at Annabeth's cousin.

"What?" I said. "What did the Oracle tell you?"

"Nothing." Clarisse's ears turned pink. "All you need to know is that I'm finishing this quest and you're not helping. On the other hand, I can't let you go ..."

"So we're prisoners?" Annabeth asked.

"Guests. For now."

Percy twitched uncomfortably at the idea of being an involuntary guest, again. First the hotel, now this, not to mention where he was currently trapped. Could he go just one year of his life without being held prisoner?

Clarisse propped her feet up on the white linen tablecloth and opened another Dr. Pepper.

The snide comment was on the tip of Alex's tongue Clarisse would get along with Luke with that kind of display, but he bit it off and amazingly didn't say it. He remembered Annabeth saying last year how the campers who lived there year around were the ones who went to visit Olympus, and had specifically named Luke and Clarisse. Now she'd been betrayed in a sense by both of them back to back. Annabeth might not be here, but she had a suspicion Will at least was a year-rounder as well as often as he called that camp his home, so that was probably why he was being a little more stiff than usual while reading.

"Captain, take them below. Assign them hammocks on the berth deck. If they don't mind their manners, show them how we deal with enemy spies."

"I have a feeling it'll involve something worse than old plumbing this time too," Thalia said grimly. Clarisse hadn't tried to pull that stunt on her the winter she'd been there, but it wasn't for lack of spirit on creativity the few times she had seen the daughter of Ares making some kind of war plans about being underground.

The dream came as soon as I fell asleep.

Grover was sitting at his loom, desperately unraveling his wedding train, when the boulder door rolled aside and the Cyclops bellowed, "Aha!"

Percy yelped as loud as Grover had. No, not yet! He hadn't enough time-

Will kept reading in that same calm, soothing way he had about himself. Everything was going to be okay, he seemed to be silently assuring even if he had to deliver the worst news.

Grover yelped. "Dear! I didn't—you were so quiet!"

"Unraveling!" Polyphemus roared. "So that's the problem!"

"Oh, no. I—I wasn't—"

"Come!" Polyphemus grabbed Grover around the waist and half carried, half dragged him through the tunnels of the cave. Grover struggled to keep his high heels on his hooves. His veil kept tilting on his head, threatening to come off.

Percy's hands were twitching in frustration as he chanted in his head not to reach for his pen, not to jump in and help. Just because he wasn't dead didn't mean Grover wasn't still trapped, that he'd never made it away from this horrible place!

The Cyclops pulled him into a warehouse-size cavern decorated with sheep junk. There was a wool-covered La-Z-Boy recliner and a wool-covered television set, crude bookshelves loaded with sheep collectibles—coffee mugs shaped like sheep faces, plaster figurines of sheep, sheep board games, and picture books and action figures. The floor was littered with piles of sheep bones, and other bones that didn't look exactly like sheep—the bones of satyrs who'd come to the island looking for Pan.

"I never wanted the answer of what would happen when you cross disturbingly isolated sheep farmer and little old ladies," Alex frowned. He wasn't the only one, they were all feeling a little jittery about that last detail. Thalia had lived on the streets long enough to be grateful the monsters disintegrated when killed for more than one reason, and it wasn't just ease of the mist covering it up. She didn't want to see that either, now here Grover was witnessing the worst.

\Polyphemus set Grover down only long enough to move another huge boulder. Daylight streamed into the cave, and Grover whimpered with longing. Fresh air!

A concept being denied to all of them now they all fought back a whimper for. One of those basic commodities you don't appreciate until you can't step outside your own front door and indulge in whenever you wanted.

The Cyclops dragged him outside to a hilltop overlooking the most beautiful island I'd ever seen.

It was shaped kind of like a saddle cut in half by an ax. There were lush green hills on either side and a wide valley in the middle, split by a deep chasm that was spanned by a rope bridge.

Beautiful streams rolled to the edge of the canyon and dropped off in rainbow-colored waterfalls. Parrots fluttered in the trees. Pink and purple flowers bloomed on the bushes.

Hundreds of sheep grazed in the meadows, their wool glinting strangely like copper and silver coins.

And at the center of the island, right next to the rope bridge, was an enormous twisted oak tree with something glittering in its lowest bough.

The Golden Fleece.

Even in a dream, I could feel its power radiating across the island, making the grass greener, the flowers more beautiful. I could almost smell the nature magic at work. I could only imagine how powerful the scent would be for a satyr.

Grover whimpered.

"This is an epic setting for the monster movie we could get going," Alex fluttered his hands like a movie director prompting his shot. "The clashing settings of the inside of his home and that landscape, expectation subversion and horror. Guy's sitting on a goldmine."

"I'm sure Hollywood would love your pitch," Percy told him in exasperation.

"Yes," Polyphemus said proudly. "See over there? Fleece is the prize of my collection! Stole it from heroes long ago, and ever since—free food! Satyrs come from all over the world, like moths to flame. Satyrs good eating! And now—"

Polyphemus scooped up a wicked set of bronze shears.

Riptide was in his hand without any call on his part, he could not just sit here and let that thing kill Grover while he slept- but then Thalia snatched his elbow and yanked him back into his seat, putting a plate of cheese enchiladas onto his lap.

"Eat, Jackson," she ordered. "Grover won't forgive you if you let those go to waste."

Percy's head was buzzing unpleasantly as he made his blade vanish back into his pocket and stabbed the first bite. She hadn't said he was okay, but he took the feeling implied by her words close to heart.

Grover yelped, but Polyphemus just picked up the nearest sheep like it was a stuffed animal and shaved off its wool. He handed a fluffy mass of it to Grover.

"Put that on the spinning wheel!" he said proudly. "Magic. Cannot be unraveled."

"Worst wedding present ever," Alex wasn't so sure he meant that though, it could be fun to work with.

"Hope he's not expecting some stellar dowry to make up for all this trouble," Nico said drolly.

"Oh ... well ..."

"Poor Honeypie!" Polyphemus grinned. "Bad weaver. Ha-ha! Not to worry. That thread will solve problem. Finish wedding train by tomorrow!"

"Isn't that ... thoughtful of you!"

"Hehe."

"But—but, dear," Grover gulped, "what if someone were to rescue—I mean attack this island?" Grover looked straight at me, and I knew he was asking for my benefit. "What would keep them from marching right up here to your cave?"

"Wifey scared! So cute! Not to worry. Polyphemus has state-of-the-art security system. Have to get through my pets."

"Pets?"

Grover looked across the island, but there was nothing to see except sheep grazing peacefully in the meadows.

"Now if they were llamas, I'd be a little more frightened," Jason looked around carefully to make sure he wasn't missing something, "but sheep?"

"Are there greek stories about killer sheep?" Magnus more clearly asked.

"I'm just going to assume yes," Percy sighed when he realized nobody was going to get an answer as he kept eyes on his plate.

"And then," Polyphemus growled, "they would have to get through me!"

He pounded his fist against the nearest rock, which cracked and split in half.

'I think I'd take him over the sheep though,' Hearth admitted. There was definitely a forbidding look on Thalia, Will, and Nico's face when prompted before that had nothing on that impact.

'I'm reserving judgment,' Magnus would rather not deal with either if he could get away with it.

"Now, come!" he shouted. "Back to the cave."

Grover looked about ready to cry—so close to freedom, but so hopelessly far. Tears welled in his eyes as the boulder door rolled shut, sealing him once again in the stinky torch-lit dankness of the Cyclops's cave.

Percy had had a good night's sleep with no nightmares, as much food at his disposal as he could want, and even friends surrounding him during this ordeal. As miserable, useless, and drained as he already felt again having no way to get back, all he wanted as he watched the half-empty plate be whisked away was to give his best friend a hug when he saw him again.

I woke to alarm bells ringing throughout the ship.

The captain's gravelly voice: "All hands on deck! Find Lady Clarisse! Where is that girl?"

"Probably on her way to destroy that guy for calling her Lady Clarisse," Nico said confidently, making Will snort beside him and grin again.

Then his ghostly face appeared above me. "Get up, Yankee.

"At least he didn't call you Yankee doodle," Alex offered.

Percy tapped his temple in frustration for a moment to the bafflement of all of them as he tried to explain what memory that could have jogged, "I think Annabeth once told me the backstory of that weird song."

"Remind me to ask," Magnus said eagerly.

Your friends are already above. We are approaching the entrance."

"The entrance to what?"

He gave me a skeletal smile. "The Sea of Monsters, of course."

"Is there going to be a moat around the ocean?" Jason was clearly still struggling a bit with this. "An archway in the middle of nowhere uselessly warning people away? A Do Not Enter Sign on a buoy?"

"I like your answers better than what's there," Thalia chuckled.

I stuffed my few belongings that had survived the Hydra into a sailor's canvas knapsack and slung it over my shoulder. I had a sneaking suspicion that one way or another I would not be spending another night aboard the CSS Birmingham.

"I should really have a talk with Clarisse's lack of hospitality scaring you off," Will agreed sardonically.

"I wish I had that feeling now," Percy sighed.

I was on my way upstairs when something made me freeze. A presence nearby—something familiar and unpleasant. For no particular reason, I felt like picking a fight. I wanted to punch a dead Confederate.

"I mean, usually you don't need outside help to have that feeling if you're a decent human being, but..." Magnus trailed off uncomfortably for where they now realized Clarisse might be.

The last time I'd felt like that kind of anger ...

Instead of going up, I crept to the edge of the ventilation grate and peered down into the boiler deck. Clarisse was standing right below me, talking to an image that shimmered in the steam from the boilers—a muscular man in black leather biker clothes, with a military haircut, red-tinted sunglasses, and a knife strapped to his side.

My fists clenched. It was my least favorite Olympian: Ares, the god of war.

"A feeling I can't even disagree with, which is really saying something considering the other contenders we've heard of," Jason muttered with a very put-out look. The Mars/ Ares debate still raged in the back of his mind even if it had quieted some since Ares's defeat. Always worse than any of the other gods shown, and hardest yet to shake when he was on display like right now.

"I don't want excuses, little girl!" he growled.

"Y-yes, father," Clarisse mumbled.

"You don't want to see me mad, do you?"

"No, father."

"No, father," Ares mimicked. "You're pathetic. I should've let one of my sons take this quest."

A shockwave couldn't have reverberated through the room with more power, the insult felt like a slap to each of them whether they'd experienced such horrible words personally or not. None of them had really been able to claim to like Clarisse much, but she'd shown at the very least she wasn't a bad person.

A comment like that even made those not in the know if Clarisse might be Luke's spy in the camp. It was just such a horrible thing to say, she was out here by herself risking her life to save a dying camp the two people in charge of it couldn't be bothered to care about only to have that thrown out? Who wouldn't turn against the gods?

"I'll succeed!" Clarisse promised, her voice trembling. "I'll make you proud."

"You'd better," he warned. "You asked me for this quest, girl. If you let that slimeball Jackson kid steal it from you—"

"But the Oracle said—"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT IT SAID!" Ares bellowed with such force that his image shimmered. "You will succeed. And if you don't ..."

He raised his fist. Even though he was only a figure in the steam, Clarisse flinched.

Percy had nearly destroyed the planet seeing his mom in such a state, the least he could do was contemplate drowning Ares without mercy now as he imagined storming in there to show this god just what he'd planned to do to Gabe in that moment.

"Do we understand each other?" Ares growled.

The alarm bells rang again. I heard voices coming toward me, officers yelling orders to ready the cannons.

I crept back from the ventilation grate and made my way upstairs to join Annabeth and Tyson on the spar deck.

"What's wrong?" Annabeth asked me. "Another dream?"

I nodded, but I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to think about what I'd seen downstairs. It bothered me almost as much as the dream about Grover.

Jason wished he could go back and reread his chapter about Percy stabbing Ares a couple more times now as that moment solidified in his head what nothing yet had. Whatever the gods were to him, it wasn't this. He wanted to go home. He would take Nico up on that offer and find out who Mars, Jupiter, and his gods really were to him.

Clarisse came up the stairs right after me. I tried not to look at her.

She grabbed a pair of binoculars from a zombie officer and peered toward the horizon. "At last. Captain, full steam ahead!"

This, at least, was Clarisse in her natural state. Will could barely imagine her as scared as Grover in the face of that monster, how he now wished he'd volunteered to go on this quest with her and get between her and Ares when somebody had needed to. At least she had come back a conquering hero, but he now feared how her own father would have punished her if she hadn't.

His eyes flickered to Nico and away, but he bit his tongue to stop himself asking if Hades was demanding anything similar. He'd been told to butt out and was getting help from Jason.

I looked in the same direction as she was, but I couldn't see much. The sky was overcast. The air was hazy and humid, like steam from an iron. If I squinted real hard, I could just make out a couple of dark fuzzy splotches in the distance.

My nautical senses told me we were somewhere off the coast of northern Florida, so we'd come a long way overnight, farther than any mortal ship should've been able to travel.

The engine groaned as we increased speed.

Tyson muttered nervously, "Too much strain on the pistons. Not meant for deep water."

Alex cleared his throat uneasily. It didn't feel right to be making trivial comments after hearing that, but he imagined if Clarisse had been here she'd be telling them all to quit gawping already. "How literally were we supposed to take that chapter title?"

"That's never a good thing to be asking," Percy reminded with an uncharacteristic coldness to his voice, his face as drawn and tight as if he were living a nightmare.

I wasn't sure how he knew that, but it made me nervous.

After a few more minutes, the dark splotches ahead of us came into focus. To the north, a huge mass of rock rose out of the sea—an island with cliffs at least a hundred feet tall. About half a mile south of that, the other patch of darkness was a storm brewing. The sky and sea boiled together in a roaring mass.

Percy felt a tingling sensation across the back of his neck and glanced at the ceiling before shaking it off and scolding himself for such thoughts. He wouldn't be able to feel something like that no matter who his dad was, but the thought didn't entirely fade from his mind there was a storm brewing, and it wasn't in Florida.

"Hurricane?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Clarisse said. "Charybdis."

Annabeth paled. "Are you crazy?"

"Jealous Percy?" Thalia grinned. "I thought Annabeth only asked you that."

"If something hasn't blossomed between her and Clarisse yet, I like my chances," Percy scoffed at her.

"Only way into the Sea of Monsters. Straight between Charybdis and her sister Scylla."

Clarisse pointed to the top of the cliffs, and I got the feeling something lived up there that I did not want to meet.

"Or would come back from meeting," Will assured. These were primordial monsters, one of the firsts. Whether a child of Gaea or Oceanus didn't seem clear, but he knew Percy could not kill them. Even if anaklusmos pierced them, they would never vanish long enough to make a difference.

"What do you mean the only way?" I asked. "The sea is wide open! Just sail around them."

Clarisse rolled her eyes. "Don't you know anything? If I tried to sail around them, they would just appear in my path again. If you want to get into the Sea of Monsters, you have to sail through them."

'Talk about your rock and a hard place,' Hearth protested.

"I hate magic," Magnus agreed.

"Thank you!" Percy waved at him in relief someone else had finally said it.

"What about the Clashing Rocks?" Annabeth said. "That's another gateway. Jason used it."

"I can't blow apart rocks with my cannons," Clarisse said. "Monsters, on the other hand ..."

"I swear she makes this difficult on purpose," Nico groaned.

"If she'd said something like her ship wasn't fast enough to beat the Symplegades, I'd understand," Jason agreed without thinking, "but this," he sighed at the idea that girl needed some strategy in her life. He was still waiting for that epic team up she and Annabeth could destroy anything together, this could have been a great moment to show that.

"Well she didn't bring a dove, so it's probably a moot point," Thalia reminded. Clarisse wouldn't listen to anybody else on this regardless of what path she'd picked.

"You are crazy," Annabeth decided.

"She can have that title as long as she doesn't make a bid for my Lordship next," Percy huffed. He had a really, really bad feeling about this.

"Watch and learn, Wise Girl." Clarisse turned to the captain. "Set course for Charybdis!"

"Aye, m'lady."

The engine groaned, the iron plating rattled, and the ship began to pick up speed.

"Clarisse," I said, "Charybdis sucks up the sea. Isn't that the story?"

"And spits it back out again, yeah."

"That doesn't mean you survive the trip!" Alex spluttered she seemed to be overlooking that important detail.

"What about Scylla?"

"She lives in a cave, up on those cliffs. If we get too close, her snaky heads will come down and start plucking sailors off the ship."

"Choose Scylla then," I said. "Everybody goes below deck and we chug right past."

"No!" Clarisse insisted. "If Scylla doesn't get her easy meat, she might pick up the whole ship.

"Then leave the ghosts up there to stall," Nico reminded, "free bait."

"Now see, that's a use I can almost get behind these things existing," Magnus nodded.

Besides, she's too high to make a good target. My cannons can't shoot straight up. Charybdis just sits there at the center of her whirlwind.

It was impossible to imagine what on earth sort of mortal body was going to contain anything being described here. For any of them, as nobody but Percy would have been near this. They just kept picturing one giant mouth sprouting out of the ocean with teeth on all sides vanishing you into a black pit never to be seen again until she exhaled you to the stars above.

We're going to steam straight toward her, train our guns on her, and blow her to Tartarus!"

She said it with such relish I almost wanted to believe her.

"Optimism," Will groaned.

"It, apparently, won't get you everywhere," Thalia blandly agreed. Even if Annabeth hadn't told her otherwise, she couldn't see how this would ever have gone well.

The engine hummed. The boilers were heating up so much I could feel the deck getting warm beneath my feet. The smokestacks billowed. The red Ares flag whipped in the wind.

As we got closer to the monsters, the sound of Charybdis got louder and louder—a horrible wet roar like the galaxy's biggest toilet being flushed. Every time Charybdis inhaled, the ship shuddered and lurched forward. Every time she exhaled, we rose in the water and were buffeted by ten-foot waves.

I tried to time the whirlpool. As near as I could figure, it took Charybdis about three minutes to suck up and destroy everything within a half-mile radius.

"Sounds like the worst wave pool in existence," Jason was starting to look a little gray and wondering if he could swim. He had no memory of it like everything else, so he didn't like his chances!

"I'll take the abandoned water park any day," Nico agreed. Hades probably had a water slide under that place straight to his domain to fast-track how many souls were lost in there.

To avoid her, we would have to skirt right next to Scylla's cliffs. And as bad as Scylla might be, those cliffs were looking awfully good to me.

Undead sailors calmly went about their business on the spar deck. I guess they'd fought a losing cause before, so this didn't bother them. Or maybe they didn't care about getting destroyed because they were already deceased. Neither thought made me feel any better.

"And what would make you feel better?" Will asked looking right at Percy, his gaze so focused on him all of a sudden like he was trying to pry his mind open as if it wasn't on full display in his hands. "All of them running around screaming?"

"Um, no," Percy blinked and looked at Thalia, then Nico for help. Will was acting weird, and he was pretty sure he didn't know him well enough to even be certain if this was normal weird or concerning weird. "Backup plan maybe?"

Annabeth stood next to me, gripping the rail. "You still have your thermos full of wind?"

"Well that's what we have Annabeth for," Magnus reminded with his own grin.

"Right, yeah, glad to help," Will rolled his eyes but at least stopped leering at him.

Nico flushed and looked to the ceiling and nobody needed a mind reader anymore to work out they'd missed some kind of debacle.

I nodded. "But it's too dangerous to use with a whirl-pool like that. More wind might just make things worse."

"What about controlling the water?" she asked. "You're Poseidon's son. You've done it before."

She was right. I closed my eyes and tried to calm the sea, but I couldn't concentrate.

Charybdis was too loud and powerful. The waves wouldn't respond.

"I—I can't," I said miserably.

Nico's ears pricked in confusion, his mind flagged on that sentence as he tried to realize its existence. It was possible that creatures even older than Poseidon could dominate his control, it was even in the realm of possibility Percy himself wasn't strong enough with his own powers yet to be pulling such a stunt.

Regardless of the answer, Thalia smacked her friend on the shoulder and laughed, "don't worry, Annabeth won't hold this over you."

"What a relief," Percy answered honestly though, he was starting to feel pretty useless on this quest in the freaking ocean!

"We need a backup plan," Annabeth said. "This isn't going to work."

"Annabeth is right," Tyson said. "Engine's no good."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Pressure. Pistons need fixing."

Before he could explain, the cosmic toilet flushed with a mighty roaaar!

Jason was now squirming so much in place he looked like he might need to use that thing himself. He'd never had occasion to be seasick before, but just the idea of that was making him so!

The ship lurched forward and I was thrown to the deck. We were in the whirlpool.

"Where's her off switch?" Percy asked through numb lips.

"Not as easy as yours," Thalia said in a voice far to doom like.

"Full reverse!" Clarisse screamed above the noise. The sea churned around us, waves crashing over the deck. The iron plating was now so hot it steamed. "Get us within firing range! Make ready starboard cannons!"

Dead Confederates rushed back and forth. The propeller grinded into reverse, trying to slow the ship, but we kept sliding toward the center of the vortex.

A zombie sailor burst out of the hold and ran to Clarisse. His gray uniform was smoking. His beard was on fire. "Boiler room overheating, ma'am! She's going to blow!"

"Well, get down there and fix it!"

"Can't!" the sailor yelled. "We're vaporizing in the heat."

Clarisse pounded the side of the casemate. "All I need is a few more minutes! Just enough to get in range!"

"We're going in too fast," the captain said grimly. "Prepare yourself for death."

"No!" Tyson bellowed. "I can fix it."

Clarisse looked at him incredulously. "You?"

"He's a Cyclops," Annabeth said. "He's immune to fire. And he knows mechanics."

"Go!" yelled Clarisse.

"Tyson, no!" I grabbed his arm. "It's too dangerous!"

He patted my hand. "Only way, brother." His expression was determined—confident, even. I'd never seen him look like this before. "I will fix it. Be right back."

Tyson had faced down worse monsters already than some ship, but physical prowess didn't mean he'd developed enough mechanical know-how to win this fight. Alex was twining up the edge of his shirt like he was imagining it as his garrote, before he seemed to realize he was doing such a thing and quickly dropped his hands.

As I watched him follow the smoldering sailor down the hatch, I had a terrible feeling. I wanted to run after him, but the ship lurched again—

Percy's hand was left floating in the water now stretched towards nothing, his throat clenching tight. Wrong, wrong, wrong. He couldn't let Tyson do this, he was just a kid. There was something he had to tell him, but what-

and then I saw Charybdis.

She appeared only a few hundred yards away, through a swirl of mist and smoke and water.

The first thing I noticed was the reef—a black crag of coral with a fig tree clinging to the top, an oddly peaceful thing in the middle of a maelstrom.

'I wonder if Luke had to fetch one of those if he'd be as salty,' Hearth signed. It seemed a plenty impossible task to him nobody should have lived through just as much as the first one.

Thalia snorted without amusement and silently corrected him another hero had, Odysseus. Hearth threw his hands up in exasperation there was just no winning, and boy was he right about that.

All around it, water curved into a funnel, like light around a black hole. Then I saw the horrible thing anchored to the reef just below the waterline—an enormous mouth with slimy lips and mossy teeth the size of rowboats. And worse, the teeth had braces, bands of corroded scummy metal with pieces of fish and driftwood and floating garbage stuck between them.

Charybdis was an orthodontist's nightmare.

"Once again, Percy and the stellar descriptions for the win," Alex applauded that visual hell.

"Thank you, I'll be here for eternity," Percy groaned as he sunk farther into his seat. Nobody had yet told him if Tyson was going to be okay, and now he felt like he was looking into the mouth of hell. There was no such thing as a lesser of two evils in this case, every option ahead was going to get blown up!

She was nothing but a huge black maw with bad teeth alignment and a serious overbite, and she'd done nothing for centuries but eat without brushing after meals. As I watched, the entire sea around her was sucked into the void— sharks, schools of fish, a giant squid. And I realized that in a few seconds, the CSS Birmingham would be next.

"Lady Clarisse," the captain shouted. "Starboard and forward guns are in range!"

"Fire!" Clarisse ordered.

Three rounds were blasted into the monster's maw. One blew off the edge of an incisor. Another disappeared into her gullet. The third hit one of Charybdis's retaining bands and shot back at us, snapping the Ares flag off its pole.

"Oh, so it was effective then," Jason said, covering his eyes with his hand like he couldn't watch anymore.

"I'm more glad by the second Clarisse isn't in here, because I'm pretty sure she'd find a way to kill us," Thalia nodded.

"Again!" Clarisse ordered. The gunners reloaded, but I knew it was hopeless. We would have to pound the monster a hundred more times to do any real damage, and we didn't have that long. We were being sucked in too fast.

"We're all gonna die," Percy repeated. Even his powers wouldn't be enough to save Tyson and Annabeth when they had to jump away or be eaten alive!

"Magnus might never talk to you again if so," Alex pleasantly reminded him at least he'd survived the blast, but that was of no comfort if he'd been the only one to do so. If that memory of Annabeth leaning in to kiss him had all been a figment of his scrubbed mind...

Then the vibrations in the deck changed. The hum of the engine got stronger and steadier. The ship shuddered and we started pulling away from the mouth.

"Tyson did it!" Annabeth said.

"Wait!" Clarisse said. "We need to stay close!"

"We'll die!" I said. "We have to move away."

I gripped the rail as the ship fought against the suction. The broken Ares flag raced past us and lodged in Charybdis's braces. We weren't making much progress, but at least we were holding our own. Tyson had somehow given us just enough juice to keep the ship from being sucked in.

Tyson's the strongest kid in the world, Percy kept silently assuring himself as he glared daggers at the book in Will's hand as if demanding his thoughts become true. Stronger than Hercules, and even smarter than the hero of legend with his short time under Beckendorf. He was going to get more of that too, his little brother-

Suddenly, the mouth snapped shut. The sea died to absolute calm. Water washed over Charybdis.

Then, just as quickly as it had closed, the mouth exploded open, spitting out a wall of water, ejecting everything inedible, including our cannonballs, one of which slammed into the side of the CSS Birmingham with a ding like the bell on a carnival game.

Percy was dragged back to one disaster at a time, he'd thrown his instinct into stilling the water around him for once instead of stirring it up and the results left Will's mouth almost frozen in place for a moment before Percy released him and was clutching his pen again to fight off the urge to just read this himself already if his head would stop spinning.

We were thrown backward on a wave that must've been forty feet high. I used all of my willpower to keep the ship from capsizing, but we were still spinning out of control, hurtling toward the cliffs on the opposite side of the strait.

Another smoldering sailor burst out of the hold. He stumbled into Clarisse, almost knocking them both over-board. "The engine is about to blow!"

"Where's Tyson?" Percy demanded at the same time Will was still reading it from the book. Nobody cracked a smile.

"Where's Tyson?" I demanded.

"Still down there," the sailor said. "Holding it together somehow, though I don't know for how much longer."

The captain said, "We have to abandon ship."

"No!" Clarisse yelled.

Percy's eyes flashed dangerously, he fought the urge to punch somebody who wasn't here and thankfully Thalia didn't have long stringy brown hair for him to confuse in her silvery camo jacket.

"We have no choice, m'lady. The hull is already cracking apart! She can't—"

He never finished his sentence. Quick as lightning, something brown and green shot from the sky, snatched up the captain, and lifted him away. All that was left were his leather boots.

"Scylla!" a sailor yelled, as another column of reptilian flesh shot from the cliffs and snapped him up. It happened so fast it was like watching a laser beam rather than a monster. I couldn't even make out the thing's face, just a flash of teeth and scales.

I uncapped Riptide and tried to swipe at the monster as it carried off another deckhand, but I was way too slow.

"Everyone get below!" I yelled.

Nico was starting to wonder if they were inside Charybdis as turned around as he was starting to feel. Percy was trying to save the ghosts, Percy couldn't just fight his way out of this. He wasn't leaving without Tyson, of course not, but the rest, well...something was slipping in him that he'd barely ever given proper words to, and it left him feeling to confused for an emotion he'd never acknowledged.

"We can't!" Clarisse drew her own sword. "Below deck is in flames."

"Lifeboats!" Annabeth said. "Quick!"

"They'll never get clear of the cliffs," Clarisse said. "We'll all be eaten."

"We have to try. Percy, the thermos."

"I can't leave Tyson!"

Percy had done it again in sync with the reader, and Will's heart ached for the guy. He knew better than most it oftentimes hurt worse to heal than the original injury had led you to believe it would, he wished he could look Percy in the eye and promise him Tyson was fine no matter how bad it hurt his head now, but the damage could be worse than the band-aide he'd be fixing.

The son of Poseidon was taking, slow, deep breaths, but there was fear in his eyes. Something was fixing to happen, a part of the epic story that hadn't been told around the campfire that night. Clarisse had certainly never bragged much of her own quest, and that alone should have sent him into worrying and wondering just what they had gone through...

"We have to get the boats ready!"

Clarisse took Annabeth's command.

Jason pumped the air with a victorious smile now, convinced things were going to be smooth sailing as those two finally worked together and Percy would douse the water to get Tyson back!

She and a few of her undead sailors uncovered one of the two emergency rowboats while Scylla's heads rained from the sky like a meteor shower with teeth, picking off Confederate sailors one after another.

"A death for them I can't even laugh at," Alex whispered with still trembling hands Magnus's were twitching to grab. Alex didn't like holding hands though, and boy was that a weird thing to do to comfort someone, a boy!, he'd barely known for two days!

"Get the other boat." I threw Annabeth the thermos. "I'll get Tyson."

"You can't!" she said. "The heat will kill you!"

I didn't listen.

This came to no one's surprise.

I ran for the boiler room hatch, when suddenly my feet weren't touching the deck anymore. I was flying straight up, the wind whistling in my ears, the side of the cliff only inches from my face.

Scylla had somehow caught me by the knapsack, and was lifting me up toward her lair.

Without thinking, I swung my sword behind me and managed to jab the thing in her beady yellow eye. She grunted and dropped me.

The fall would've been bad enough, considering I was a hundred feet in the air. But as I fell, the CSS Birmingham exploded below me.

KAROOM!

The word did nothing to define the explosion. Even their imaginations couldn't quite comprehend the heat, the impact, how Percy felt his whole world blackout for the span of that second where the air had been ripped apart. They were dead, they were all gone.

The engine room blew, sending chunks of ironclad flying in either direction like a fiery set of wings.

Icarus himself couldn't have screwed up this bad. Thalia refused to show even a tick of her anger for Clarisse's pigheadedness causing this, nor bow her head in remorse for her sister nearly dying again. She wouldn't give Percy the wrong impression like that, just kept steadily looking ahead at the book and refusing to blink a single tear at what a miracle it was they were all okay.

"Tyson!" I yelled.

"He's immune to fire," Magnus whispered desperately into the eerily silent room. Percy hadn't echoed that one, he'd just remained locked into place. Alex was working his jaw like he was fighting back the urge to rip something to shreds. "He, those Canadian's, and bulls did nothing to him, and being Poseidon's kid too, maybe he-" Hearth put a calming hand on his shoulder, just the tips of his long slender fingers. He fell silent as the absent promises meant nothing to the god's reality.

The lifeboats had managed to get away from the ship, but not very far. Flaming wreckage was raining down. Clarisse and Annabeth would either be smashed or burned or pulled to the bottom by the force of the sinking hull, and that was thinking optimistically, assuming they got away from Scylla.

Then I heard a different kind of explosion—the sound of Hermes's magic thermos being opened a little too far. White sheets of wind blasted in every direction, scattering the lifeboats, lifting me out of my free fall and propelling me across the ocean.

Jason had fallen back into his seat hard like he'd been knocked back into it. The absent thought flickering across his mind how many other explosions could happen, was Zeus going to strike him out of the sky for being up there so long just to add insult to injury at this point?

I couldn't see anything. I spun in the air, got clonked on the head by something hard, and hit the water with a crash that would've broken every bone in my body if I hadn't been the son of the Sea God.

The last thing I remembered was sinking in a burning sea, knowing that Tyson was gone forever, and wishing I were able to drown.

"My-" the word brother lodged in Percy's throat, even as he now knew what he hadn't been able to grasp this whole time, what Tyson meant to him. "He can't be-" but it wouldn't come out. Just like his little brother, it all got lost.

PJOPJOPJOPJO

*P.G.T Beauregard was a general in the New Orleans, Louisiana Confederate army, and eventual traitor to the 'traditional cause.' Do I headcanon ancestry to Silena? Yes, yes I do.

#pjo #Percy Jackson #Nico di Angelo #Will Solace #solangelo #Alex Fierro #Magnus Chase #fierrochase #Jason Grace #Thalia Grace #Hearthstone #reading the books #fanfiction #characters read their own books #SoM

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flower-slut004 · 2 years

Note

chase davenport x reader where reader dresses up as a playboy bunny for halloween ❤️

M’Lady

“So Yn….halloween plan. Me, you, horror movies, then trick or treating” Bree sighs as she wraps her arm around her best friend.

“Aren’t we a little too old for trick or treating?” Yn giggled as she walked with her to class. The speedster gave a pout as they entered the classroom.

“It’s free candy Yn! Free…. candy! Come on!”

Yn shook her head as she sat down next to Bree “Sorry Breezy but tonight I have a date with your brother”

She gagged “I still can’t believe you’re dating Chase… are you sure you didn’t lose a bet?”

“Don’t be mean, I like Chase. He’s sweet, cute, and super smart”

“Believe me, super smart gets annoying pretty quick” Bree mumbles. Yn tsked as she lightly swatted at Bree.

“What are you even doing with the dork anyways?” she whispered as the teacher began lecture.

“Each other” Yn smirked as she picked up her pencil, rolling her eyes at the sound of Bree gagging.

“Okay…. candy check! Blankets check! netflix?” Chase mumbled as he ran around the living room with a clipboard. “Shit where’s the remote!”

“Ow! This brownie is stale what the heck” Adam complained from the kitchen. Chase whipped around to see the older davenport sibling biting the remote.

“Adam that’s the remote! Give it to me!” Chase reached out for it. Adam glared at this brother “Chase, fridges don’t need remotes duh!”

“Just give me it!”

Adam took a sharp breathe and tilted his head “I don’t know…. there’s a horror marathon on… leo and I were thinking about watching it”

“You can’t! Yn and I were gonna watch netflix!” Chase complained. “She’s coming over for date night!” he pointed towards the food on the table.

“Date night? On Halloween? Pssh, losers” Adam laughed as he threw the remote at Chase. “If you didn’t scare her away when you met, she sure is going to get scared from your costume!”

Chase frowned as he looked at his outfit “I’m not wearing a costume…..”

Adam inhaled sharply. Just then the door bell rang, causing Chase to drop the remote “Listen, Mr. and Mrs. Davenport are at a party, Bree is also at another party, I need you and Leo to stay downstairs in the basement at all time…”

“What? No way! I wanna watch the movie marathon!” Adam complained. Chase groaned as the bell rang again “Adam I promise you, I’ll do your homework!”

“You already do my homework!”

“Adam!”

“Fine Fine!” Adam groaned as he walked away from the kitchen and to the elevators.

Chase took a deep breathe before checking everything again. The bell rang for a third time, causing Chase to fix his hair. “Coming dear!” he yelled as he walked towards the door

“M’lady, your night of horrors has begun but have no fear for your knight of shining armor is….he’s…. um…. he’s…..” Chase was at a loaf of words when he realized what his girlfriend was wearing.

“I’m so scared, good thing you’re here to protect me” she teased as she kissed his cheek, walking in.

Chase was left like a goldfish out of water at the door. Finally closing it and trying not to stare at his girlfriends bunny tail.

“Yn….babe. What…. um… what are you wearing?” Chase squeaked as she pulled him down on the y with her.

“I told you I was going to be a bunny. Duh” she pointed at the ears.

“You didn’t say playboy bunny” he blushed. Yn giggled as she wrapped her arm around his bicep. “Come on Chasey. You’re the smartest man in the world, you should’ve put two and two together”

Chase tried looking anywhere but her breasts but he couldn’t help but stare at her thighs.

“Chasey….” she teased as she brought her pointer under his chin to make him look at her. “My face is up here….” she hummed.

“I really want to kiss you….” he stared at her lips. “Do it then…” she challenged.

Chase wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her to his lap as he kissed her. Yn ran her fingers through his hair, and tugged at the roots. Causing him to grunt and shift his lips upwards.

“Oh ew ew ew! Adam said you two were watching Netflix! He didn’t tell me about the chill part! My eyes oh my eyes” Leo cried as he covered his eyes.

The two jumped from each other, both faces red. “I’m going to kill him….” Yn and Chase both grumbled as Leo ran into the wall.

#multifandom imagines #chase davenport #chase davenport x reader #lab rats x reader #lab rats bionic island #lab rats imagines #chase davenport imagines

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dilemmaontwolegs · 2 years

Note

I love everything that you write so much ❤️

I wanted to ask , would you write something about grumpy , mafia Bucky and sunshine reader ?? Like Bucky being a dick to everyone but has heart eyes for his sweet , kind wife that’s the literal opposite of him !

Thank you, love you 💓

Nawwww thank you sweetie💋 I hope you like this!

Sweet Homecomings || mafia!Bucky

main masterlist || bucky masterlist

The house smelt like heaven and you were just the angel he wanted to see. From the moment he left you asleep in bed, looking so peaceful as you stole his pillow and smiled even in your sleep, he had just wanted to climb back in but duty called. It left him extra grumpy when he was called away early, when he was unrested and unready to leave your side. He was going to be taking that out on anyone who dared cross him.

You hadn’t heard the car arrive or the door open as you hummed along to the music playing and kneaded the bread dough into the bench. You had been baking up a storm after waking up alone and you knew Bucky would be happy coming home to his favourite treats. Weekends were meant to be the time reserved for you, when he could shirk his duties off to his second in command. Whatever it was that pulled him away from you would surely have put him in a sour mood, so you planned to sweeten him.

Your hips swayed to the music as you mouthed along the words and when the dough pulled like elastic you threw some more flour over it and placed it on the baking tray. Turning to the oven, you jumped as you found Bucky leaning against it with a small smile playing on his lips. His hands caught the tray and steadied it for you, his eyes taking in the state of you and growing his smile. There was flour on your forehead and your lips were lightly stained purple from the blueberries you had nibbled on as you made the muffins.

“Hi sunshine.”

You smiled and slid the tray back in the counter so you could greet him properly with your arms around his waist and your lips against his. He hummed as he tasted the sweet berry on your tongue and his hands pulled you closer. You were breathless as you reluctantly pulled away, the timer ringing for the tray of cookies ready to come out of the oven and cool with the muffins. You could help giggling as you saw the patches of flour that had transferred from your apron and hands to his black suit. You tried to dust it off but only made it worse as more came off your hands and Bucky caught them with a laugh, kissing your knuckles with a shake of his head.

“I’ll just take it off, doll.” He chuckled and tossed the suit jacket over the back of a dining chair before rolling up his sleeves. “What’s next?”

“You can roll out the pastry in the fridge while you decide what flavour pie you want.” You answered, already knowing he would choose Apple Cinnamon because it reminded him of his mother’s pies.

He stopped what he was doing to watch you bend over the oven and take out the cookies and put the bread in, letting out a small, pained groan as he remembered how he had missed out on waking you up with his kisses. He couldn’t help letting the rolling pin rest for a moment so he could taste your kiss again, his shadow of a beard teasing your skin as he kissed his way down your neck until there was a knock behind him. With a feral growl, he spun to face the man who interrupted him and you watched Bucky’s scowl return to his face.

“What the fuck is it now?” Bucky asked through gritted teeth as he fingers played with the edging of your apron.

“Another problem with a shipment of ours.”

You knew it was urgent business he needed to attend to but the quiet, exhausted sigh told you how much he wanted to stay and bake with you. Pressing your hand to his chest, he opened his eyes and you gave him the brightest, reassuring smile you could. “Go on baby, I’ll be right here when you get home.”

“I’m sorry, it’s meant to be our day.” He sighed and dropped his forehead to yours. “I wanted to spend it wrapped up in you all day.”

“I know.” You said with a kiss. “But it’s a part of this life we live. If I wanted guaranteed weekends I would have married a legit businessman and not a mob boss. We both chose this, so you do your part and I’ll do mine.”

“And what is that exactly?” He asked with a teasing smirk.

“Welcoming my man home after a hard days work.” You purred as you trailed your fingers down the pearl buttons on his dress shirt. “Running him a hot bath so I can wash away his stress, rubbing the tension from his muscles…”

Bucky moaned softly in your ear and caught your hands before they reached his belt. “I’ll hold you to that, sunshine.”

He kissed your lips, then your nose and finally your forehead before his smile fell away and he left you to go deal with his latest issue, stopping only as he reached the doorway so he could blow a kiss that you caught and held to your chest with a smile just for him.

#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x poc!reader #bucky barnes fanfiction #bucky barnes imagine #mafia!bucky

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solarwriting · 3 years

Text

guns and gifts

carl gallagher x fem!reader

request: Hey! I hope I can send you a request for Karl Gallagher of Shameless. Maybe Karl and y / n were a couple before jail, and after leaving jail he came to her to ask her for forgiveness. y / n doesn't forgive him and he starts giving her gifts and apologizing every day. Then everything is at your discretion. Happy ending please💛 from @powerpuffluuvv

genere: fluff + angst

word count: 2.1k

warnings: swearing, ooc carl

posted on april 18, 2021

puppy love. thirteen year-olds holding hands and sharing stolen kisses. it was a sweet relationship that could’ve grown and matured with the two teens as they did. instead carl found himself a job on the corner and when he got caught y/n was done. fiona tried to get through to the boy, asking him to apologize but he brushed her off.

“can i please just talk to him? maybe he’ll listen to me.” y/n pleaded with the lawyer.

fiona stepped in, “it wouldn’t hurt to try it.”

“five minutes.” the lawyer relented.

y/n thanked him and rushed into the room where he sat. he squinted at her through the glasses fiona gave him. “i’m not fuckin’ sorry. i wish i was smarter about it. i wouldn’t have used chuckie as a mule.”

“you know what. if you don’t tell that judge you’re fucking sorry and that you’ve learned from your mistakes i will never speak to you again.” y/n exited the room quickly letting the ultimatum hang in the air as the door slammed behind her.

during the hearing her eyes were trained on the back of his head, hoping she could somehow will him to do the right thing. she kept her arms crossed as she leaned back. kev and v were sat next to her, waiting anxiously to see what he’d say.

“i’m going to make juvie my bitch.” as soon as he said those words, y/n sighed, getting up from her seat, shouldering her back and slipping out of the courtroom as they hauled carl away. he caught her eye before she left, she froze for a moment before shaking her head and making her exit.

time passed and she still spent time with the rest of the gallaghers, she lived across the street so it would have been hard not too. she helped take care of liam when needed and she got a job at patsy’s with fiona’s help.

the day carl came back had been a surprise for everyone, y/n was helping fiona with making dinner after a shift at patsy’s. the front door had slammed shut and, thinking it was debbie, fiona asked if she got a message about hamburger buns. y/n’s eyes shot up when a much deeper voice responded, “nah, it’s just me.”

excited, fiona rushed towards the boy, wrapping him up in a hug. hugging back, he looked up throwing a wave to y/n who was rooted in place, “hey, y/n.”

snapping herself back into reality she lurched forward wiping her hands and grabbing her things, pulling her bag over her shoulder and gripping her keys tightly she looked back at the boy as fiona fussed over his new appearance. “fuck you, carl.” she spat, slamming the back door shut behind her.

y/n managed to avoid carl at school the next day, he was too busy with “his boy” nick and his new white boy carl personality and selling illegal weapons in the bathrooms to bother her anyways. she rushed to patsy’s as soon as school ended and began her shift.

she spent the afternoon rushing from table to table, taking orders, passing out food, and pouring coffee. she was pouring coffee for a couple sitting near the front door when the bell twinkled, signaling a new customer.

her back turned to the door and her focus pointed and the coffee she was pouring she greeted the customer quickly, “take a seat anywhere and i’ll be right with you darling.” she smiled at the couple before turning around, finding herself face to face with white boy carl himself. “get the fuck out.”

y/n rushed away from him, pouring coffee for a man sat at the counter. carl followed, “please just talk to me, y/n.”

“she doesn’t want to talk to you, man.” the customer spoke up as y/n placed the coffee pot on the burner.

“what the fuck did you just say to me?” carl asked the man.

he stood up, “i told you she doesn’t want to talk. so leave.”

y/n stepped in before a physical altercation broke out, “thank so much, sir, but i can fight my own battles.” she pushed carl towards the door, “out.” she kept pushing him despite his protests, “get the fuck out. go.”

the door slammed behind them, and carl began to speak, “no, you’re going to shut your fucking mouth and listen. i don’t want to listen to you. i don’t want to talk to you. and i don’t even want to see you but that last one might be a little fucking impossible since we’re neighbors and i work with your sister so i’m going to be civil towards you but i will only acknowledge your existence when it is absolutely necessary. clear?”

carl began to protest but y/n cut him off, “are we fucking clear?” carl grumbled an agreement and y/n sighed, “good, now get the fuck out if here. i have to go back to work.”

y/n rushed back into the diner, throwing herself back into work. hoping she looked busy enough to keep the nosy man from before to leave her alone, she poured more coffee, took orders, passed out plates. until her shift ended and she could finally take the l back home.

the next run in with carl happened two days later, she was walking home from school, thankful for the day off from work when carl and nick pulled up on a bike. “y/n! wait!”

sighing, y/n whipped around, “i thought i told you i didn’t want to talk to you.”

“i have something for you.” carl explained as he got closer, y/n ignored him and started walking again, the bike quickly catching up with her. “here.”

y/n scoffed, eyeing the bag, “whatever it is i don’t want it.”

“it’s a book, debbie told me you wanted to read it.”

y/n sped up, “no thanks, already read it.” she didn’t care what book it was, she didn’t want anything from him. she took this moment to cross the street, the passing cars making it difficult for the boys on the bike to follow.

she entered the gallagher house hoping carl would be too busy to come home for a few hours while she watched liam. “i get off at nine, if anyone else comes home you’re welcome to leave but i plan on bringing something back for dinner if you want to stick around for that.”

“of course i’ll stay. me and liam are going to have a great time. isn’t that right liam?” y/n asked the toddler who nodded enthusiastically. fiona thanked her and rushed out the door.

y/n put on a movie, which liam fell asleep watching about thirty minutes in. y/n got up and stretched when the movie ended, adjusting the blanket she threw over liam when he fell asleep. she walked in the kitchen, stiff from sitting for so long. she pulled out a can of pop from the fridge and leaned her back against the fridge, using to stretch her body more.

the door swung open and carl walked in, “good you’re hear, i have something else for you.”

“whatever it is, i don’t want it.” y/n sighed into her drink.

“it’s a necklace, here.” he opened the velvet box to show her an expensive looking necklace.

she turned away from him, “no thanks.” walking back into the living room. “go somewhere else please, i have to watch liam.”

carl sighed before exiting the house with nick, who had been hanging back by the door during the exchange. he nodded to nick and the two rolled out to go do god knows what.

that night fiona came home with food, the entire gallagher clan plus kev and v enjoyed. there were enough people that y/n managed to avoid speaking to carl the entire evening. every time he tried to speak to her she’d find someone to talk to, she talked lip about something she had to do for school, ian told her about trevor, and her and debbie talked about anything.

v even pointed out the strange behavior when carl was left looking slightly dejected to fiona, who just shrugged in response.

“thank you fiona, goodnight everyone.” y/n called as she stepped out the back door. she crossed the street quickly and made it home, which as usual was empty, the rest of her family nowhere to be found.

she sighed, grabbing a beer from the fridge and kicking of her shoes as soon as she made it to her room. she threw herself back on her bed yelping when she collided with something hard. she jumped up only to see the jewelry box and book carl had bought her. she set her beer down and pulled the box open, smiling at the necklace. it was gold, with a small tear shaped pendant that held some sort of crystal or diamond.

she set the box next to her beer, which she grabbed and took sip of as she grabbed the book. it was actually something she’d been wanting, she rolled her eyes before opening it to the first page.

the next fee days followed a similar pattern, carl would stop her at school and work and even his own house to offer her gifts, which she would refuse, which would always end up on her bed at the end of the day. on a particularly rough day, y/n had enough. she was walking home from school, carl (who was alone this time) behind her, like clockwork offering another gift.

“carl, please just leave me alone. i don’t have the energy to deal with you.” y/n said not stopping. carl made a comment and y/n snapped, “god i’m not going to forgive you because you chose to go to juvie. you could have just apologized and gotten parole but that didn’t happen. and i’m not going to be your girlfriend again because i don’t even know who you are any more, this thug personality doesn’t look good on you.” y/n sighed rushing away before he could answer.

she was suddenly thankful for the day off, deciding to spend it all alone at home. it was a friday and her weekend was also free so she spent the next few days home alone. her family was gone of course, they only only seemed to show up once a month just to leave again the same day.

sunday evening y/n laid in the couch watching what was on tv when there was a knock on the door. y/n groaned, getting up to answer it freezing when carl was revealed on the other side. he looked small, he was curled into himself and he looked sad. his braids were out, soft curls in the place. “hey, y/n.” he said softly. y/n wordlessly moved out of the way to let him in.

“i’m done. no more sell drugs, guns, anything. something happened, with nick and i don’t want that to be my life anymore.” his voice cracked and y/n instinctively wrapped him into a hug, squeezing protectively. he cried into her shoulder, holding her tightly, scared to let her go.

“hey,” y/n spoke softly, running her fingers through his hair, “you’re okay. i got you.” once carl calmed down, he pulled away but y/n held onto him, hands on his face.

“i really miss you y/n. and i know i was awful before but all i want to do is be with you. i love you.” he sighed, his hands holding her wrists.

y/n pulled him closer, “i love you, too, idiot.” carl gave her a lopsided smiled before surging forward to connect their lips in a hot kiss. y/n stumbled backwards before backing into the wall behind her. carl bit on her lip softly causing her breath to catch in her throat. she tugged on his hair and he squeezed her hips. she pulled away for breath, pressing her forehead to his, “my room?” breathless carl nodded pressing a quick kiss to her lips before they rushed to her room.

the next morning the front door slammed opened, “y/n! i’m going to kill fiona!” debbie stormed through the house bursting into y/n’s room where she was laying next to a topless carl, wearing only his t-shirt, “oh my god! ew!” debbie shielded her eyes from the sight before her.

“hey, debs.” y/n mumbled, sheepishly.

debbie groaned, “just get dressed, we have school.”

#carl gallagher imagine #carl gallagher #shameless x reader #shameless fanfiction #shameless imagine #shameless #lip gallagher #fiona gallagher #debbie gallagher #ian gallagher #kev ball #veronica ball #veronica fisher #2k words

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babyboibucky · 3 years

Text

Elevate Thy Hate

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Summary: Not a day goes by that you and Bucky don’t argue.

Word Count: 4,642

Warnings: Cliché plot but slight angst, self-doubt and Bucky being a loveable idiot who sucks at communicating

A/N: Surprise one-shot because I just remembered I wrote this like...last year lmfao

MAIN MASTERLIST

You woke up feeling great and excited. The mission was finally finished, debriefings were done and reports have been submitted. Everyone was given an entire week to get some rest and since rest days were pretty rare, you truly looked forward to this day.

Before you could even saunter in the kitchen, you had already heard the chatters from your fellow Avengers. One particular voice irked you though but hell no, you weren’t going to let one Bucky Barnes ruin your day.

A chorus of good mornings greeted you as soon as you walked into the kitchen. Nat and Steve were on one side of the counter sipping their coffee while Sam and Wanda were finishing up their food. Tony and Bruce were out of sight, probably holed up in the lab doing experiments as usual. Bucky didn’t acknowledge you and quickly headed out of the kitchen, thankfully. You weren’t in the mood to pick a fight.

Walking up to the cupboards, you quickly grabbed you favorite cereal and proceeded to pour it out on your bowl. None came out though. You peeked inside bag and saw that only crumbs of it were left.

“Who the—“

Everyone was already pointing at Bucky when you turned around to ask. And of course, Bucky did it on purpose because he stood there at the end of the hallway, watching you with smug grin on his face.

“I hope your day sucks.” He said and flipped you the bird before turning around to walk away.

You groaned out loud, ignoring the amused chuckles from everyone else in the kitchen.

“I’m not stooping down to your level, asshole! I hope your day is average!”

The day was fortunately uneventful, except for your ruined breakfast care of Bucky. You were determined not to let that annoy you for the rest of the day. So far, so good. You could only wish it’d continue that way for the rest of the week.

“I told you not to rush!” Bucky snapped.

“I had him already! If you didn’t throw that goddamn smoke grenade I would’ve killed him!” You explained.

You could see Sam shaking his head in frustration. Bucky always had to blame something on you even though you weren’t the one at fault.

Bucky snorted, “He had a sniper for fuck’s sake! One shot and you’re dead.”

“Oh wow, says the one who got shot before I did.” You rolled your eyes at Bucky.

The two of you continued to bicker until Nat and Steve walked into the living room looking confused as you and Bucky exchanged insults while Sam remained sandwiched between the both of you on the couch.

“Who got shot?” Steve asked, glancing at you and Bucky alternately.

“Did we miss out on a mission or...?” Nat continued.

Sam chuckled, “We were playing Call of Duty and we lost.” He explained, taking the opportunity to get up from the sofa.

Steve still looked lost, something that Nat immediately picked up. “It’s a video game.” She explained.

“You two are fighting over a game?” He asked you and Bucky.

“They fight over everything.” Nat shrugged and walked out of the room with Sam tagging behind her.

“I’m outta here too, I’m so done babysitting the kids.” He muttered under his breath.

It was past midnight when you were in the living room alone, watching television while eating a Whopper. The lights were turned off and it was absolutely quiet in the compound, setting the perfect ambience for the crime documentary you were watching.

Not long after, you heard someone walk into the living room. It was only when your heard the familiar grunt that you realized who it was. Of course, it had to be Bucky.

“Are you eating a burger?” He asked incredulously.

“No, it’s popcorn. Of course it’s a fucking burger, are you blind or just dumb?” You snapped, your eyes still glued on the television.

“Dumbfounded that you’re eating that at this hour. No wonder you suck at cardio.” Bucky said as he sat down on the other end of the sofa.

“Are you body-shaming me?” You gasped.

Bucky snickered, “I didn’t say anything, I just said you suck at cardio.” He said, not looking at you.

You chose to ignore him and brought your attention back to the television. It was quiet for moment. You almost forgot about Bucky’s presence until of course, he decided to annoy you yet again.

“Can you pass the remote?” Bucky asked monotonously.

“No.”

Silence.

“This show sucks.” He commented.

You were focused on the show but noticed that Bucky was staring at you.

“Can you please pass the remote?” He asked again.

“In case you didn’t notice, I’m watching. I was here first. I hold the rights to control the remote.” You deadpanned, refusing to look at him.

There was a flash of black and gold right before your eyes. Everything happened quickly and the next thing you knew, Bucky was hovering above you, trapping you between his body and the arm rest of the sofa.

“The fuck, Barnes?! Get off of me!” You protested and started pushing him away.

“You gotta work on your reflexes, darling.” He said, finally leaning away from you, remote now in his hand.

He grinned triumphantly and switched the channel before placing the remote inside his sweatpants, “Want to switch the channel? Come and get it.” he taunted as he leaned back on the couch, opening his legs wide as he showed off how the remote created a tent in his sweatpants.

That was the remote...right? You mentally slapped yourself for actually thinking about what Bucky was packing beneath those pants and frowned.

“You’re an asshole and a disgusting one.” You told him.

“God, I hate you.” You muttered and crumpled the wrapper of your burger before throwing it at Bucky.

Deciding that you didn’t want to argue any further, you got up and left the living room, but not without telling Bucky again how much you hated him for making your life miserable.

“The feeling is mutual.” You heard him say.

The petty fights with Bucky went on and on during that entire week of rest. Despite the arguments, there were small moments of kindness shared between you and the soldier.

“Where are you going dressed up so nicely?” You asked Bucky upon seeing him walk into the kitchen wearing a leather jacket on top of a black shirt, dark, tight-fitting jeans and a pair of Doc Martens.

It was meant as an insult, of course. You took every opportunity to tease Bucky and his newfound sense of fashion. Said fashion meant his taste for very millennial outfits despite his old age.

“Grocery.” He replied as he went over to the fridge to pour himself a glass of water.

“Ooh, can you buy me Starbucks on your way back? I’ll pay.” You asked kindly.

Bucky just stared at you as he drank from his glass of water. He slammed it on the counter before walking past you.

“Not a damn chance.”

He did buy you Starbucks though. It didn’t shock you that much considering that the both of you didn’t hate on each other all the damn time. But what surprised you was that he brought you your usual drink and your favorite pastry too.

Steve must have forced him to do so, probably told his best friend your usual orders as well so you made a note to thank him as soon as they got back.

And thank Steve you did, but you didn’t expect the reply that you got.

“Oh was that the reason why Bucky kept bugging me about stopping by Starbucks?” Steve asked.

You narrowed your eyes at him, “What do you mean? I thought he told you I asked him to buy me Starbucks.”

Steve chuckled, “I guess now I know why he wouldn’t shut up about it.” he said, amusement laced in his tone.

“I don’t understand, Cap.” you said.

Steve just smiled at you in response before squeezing your shoulder, “Maybe you will understand soon.”

And with that, he left you feeling even more confused. You honestly didn’t understand the context of the conversation so you decided to just ignore it. Steve sometimes would say weird shit that none of the Avengers knew about. You dismissed it and thought that maybe it was Steve being a decade old, it was probably an old man thing.

You decided to make coffee for Bucky the following day, as a simple gesture to thank him for the Starbucks. He didn’t ask you to pay him back so you felt obligated to do a little something for him. You were an asshole to him sometimes, yes, but that didn’t mean you weren’t going to give credit where credit is due.

Okay, so maybe you didn’t really hate Bucky. If you did actually hate him, the entire team would probably do something about it. Maybe force the two of you to talk things out. The hatred was all fun and games, everyone seemed to be amused by it too.

You still considered Bucky your friend despite the constant bickering. You had to admit, the arguments were pretty fun.

Although, you were wondering whether Bucky felt the same about considering you as his friend. Sometimes, his attitude towards you confused the hell out of you.

One day he’d eat the chocolate you’ve been saving up for cheat day just to spite you. And it definitely did because you ended up cursing him out loud when you saw him munching on it. The next day he brought you a new one. You were watching Netflix when he waltzed into the living room and threw a bar of chocolate at your lap before walking out without saying a word.

These exchange of small yet kind (and confusing) gestures remained unacknowledged. You didn’t know why but you also didn’t feel the need to talk about them. You weren’t going to lie but Bucky’s random acts of kindness would always put a smile on your face.

The vacation unfortunately came to an end and everyone had to go back to saving the world. All of you were gathered in the conference room with Fury for a briefing about the next mission. It wasn’t as big as the last one but it still required a lot of planning.

After explaining the mission, Fury let Steve take over the meeting to strategize.

Some were assigned to do surveillance around the parameter while some were appointed to do all the groundwork. Steve of course, just had to partner you with Bucky to do the actual infiltration given that your skills complemented each other’s.

You grinned and was prepared to roast Bucky’s ass when you turned to him and was met with a scowl. He shook his head with what you assumed was disappointment and turned away from you.

It was the first time he ever dismissed you like that. Sure, you were rude to each other but the look that Bucky gave you wasn’t a teasing one. He wasn’t mocking you nor frustrated. Bucky seemed to really hate the idea of being partnered with you. It was the first time that the two of you had to work together without anyone else. Usually, Steve or Sam joined but for this mission, it was just you and Bucky. Concluding that he must have woken up at the wrong side of the bed, you chose to ignore your gut feeling and focused back to Steve.

After the meeting, everyone else exited the room and started with the preparations for the mission. As you walked down the hallway leading to your bedroom, you heard some soft chattering coming from Steve’s bedroom.

You were supposed to ignore it until you heard your name, making you stop in your tracks.

“I can’t be partnered with her, Steve.”

Bucky.

“Buck, just go with it. I can’t be changing assignments at the last minute.” Steve explained.

Bucky sighed, “You know I can’t function properly when she’s around, let alone be partnered with her. She distracts me, Steve. Her skills distract me and I swear on our friendship, I would end up dying on this assignment.”

“You’re being overly dramatic, Buck. Just suck it up, pal. Do the mission and get it over with.”

“Steve, you don’t understand. I really can’t deal with her. Especially if it’s just the two of us. You know how much I fucking—“

“Hate me?”

You couldn’t help but interject in their conversation. How could you not? Bucky was complaining about how he couldn’t deal with you. It really hurt hearing Bucky say all those things about you. Sure, you were somewhat new to the team and you didn’t have superpowers nor years of training like the rest. But you worked your ass off to be in this position. And for him to say that he couldn’t function with you being around struck a nerve. The last thing on your mind was to hold back your teammates, that’s why you train twice, thrice as hard.

Steve and Bucky stared at you as if they’ve seen a ghost. It’s as if all their blood was drained out of their body when they saw you step inside the room. Bucky was about to say something but you decided to cut him off, not wanting to hear more about how he doesn’t want to be partnered with you.

“We don’t get along that well, I get that. But I honestly thought that our arguments were harmless. Hell, I consider us friends. I didn’t think that you actually hated me.” Your voice quivered because you were truly, deeply hurt.

“That’s not what I meant.” Bucky insisted.

“You literally said that you might end up dying because of being partnered with me, Bucky! Look, I know that I don’t have a super serum running through my veins. I can’t move things with my mind and I can’t come up with life-changing tech. I wasn’t trained since childhood nor have the perfect aim. But I worked hard to be in this team. I trained hard not to be a burden to anyone and I’m sorry if my skills aren’t up to your standards.”

What did you even do to Bucky for him to hate you this much?

“Don’t worry, I won’t burden you. Once this mission is over, I won’t bother you anymore. Ever.” You said before walking out of the way, ignoring Bucky when he had repeatedly called your name.

The ride to the location was filled with tension. Although everyone else had no idea what happened, they somehow knew that the tension had something to do with you and Bucky.

Thankfully, the quinjet was big enough for you not to end up sitting beside Bucky.

“You okay?” Wanda asked, noticing how restless you were.

What you heard definitely affected you in more ways than one. You kept on double checking your weapons, your gadgets and you even ended up doubting yourself. Were you really equipped to be an Avenger? Steve said that Bucky was merely overacting but what if he was right? What if you weren’t skilled enough to protect him or your teammates?

“That’s not true.” Wanda said out of the blue. “I didn’t mean to read your mind, though. Your thoughts are coming off too strong, kinda hard to ignore.” She said apologetically.

You softly laughed, “I should really be staying away from you.” You joked.

Wanda smiled and placed her hand on top of yours, “I mean it though. You’re amazing at what you do. I don’t understand why you’re doubting yourself about being an Avenger.”

Swallowing the lump in your throat, you offered Wanda a grateful smile. You noticed that Bucky had been staring at you the entire time but simply ignored him. You weren’t going to let him snap you out of your focus.

Once on location, everyone started to split up and listened for Steve’s orders through the comms. You and Bucky managed to get inside the base, all thanks to Nat and the Hulk who handled all the guards.

The building was completely empty when the two of you walked around in search of the hidden quarters where all the intel were kept.

Bucky whistled to get your attention, you turned and saw that he was motioning towards what seemed to be a regular brick wall. However, there were a few bricks out of place and upon examining it, you realized it was some sort of a secret door. You managed to figure out which bricks to push and thankfully, it didn’t take you long enough to open the door which revealed an old, steel elevator.

“We found the entrance, Steve.” Bucky said into the comms.

“Careful in there, there were suspiciously a few guards within the parameters. They all might be in there.” Nat warned.

You heaved out a deep breath before stepping into the elevator with Bucky trailing behind you. There was only one button in the elevator, a red one.

“Can someone scan the elevator and make sure this button won’t set off any boobie trap or something?” You asked nervously as you inspected the elevator for any hidden traps.

The comms cracked with Sam’s voice. “Button is safe although...” he trailed.

“Although what?” Bucky asked, examining the elevator as well.

“You’re in for a long ride.”

You frowned, “How long?” You asked.

“Can’t see. It’s way too deep.”

Sam was able to scan the entire base and true enough, the elevator would lead deep down into the hidden laboratory. How deep into the ground it was, none could tell. Neither Sam nor Tony’s technology could see through due to the lack of signal. Steve said it might be dangerous to proceed given that there were no other ways into the lab except for the elevator.

The lack of signal down there meant no communication.

“Guys, I don’t think it’s a good idea to continue with this mission.” Steve said.

“But we’re so close, Steve.” You said.

“I think Steve is right. It’d be hard to call for back up when things go south.” Bucky interjected, not even sparing you a glance.

You snorted. Bucky sure wasn’t overacting when he was complaining about your skills. He definitely didn’t trust you. You weren’t going to settle for that.

“We won’t need any back up.”

And with that, you pressed the red button and completely ignored everyone’s warnings through the comms. Bucky looked at you with disbelief and tried to press the red button again in hopes of halting the elevator. However, the brick wall had closed and the elevator started its descent.

“Why the fuck did you do that?!” He yelled and tried to search the elevator for some sort of stop button.

“We’ll follow soon!” Steve’s voice was the last you heard before your comms completely lost its signal.

“Christ, we don’t even know whether it’s the lab that’s down there!” Bucky said, continuing his search for anything that would bring the both of you up to the ground floor.

“I’m not as stupid as you think I am. All secret doors lead to a top secret room and no, we won’t be needing any back up because I am totally capable of taking down anyone who gets in the way.” You stubbornly replied and leaned against the wall.

You wondered how long the elevator ride was going to be. At the speed that it’s going, it wasn’t impossible to take at least fifteen to twenty minutes if the lab was really far down into the ground. Bucky’s frustration was evident from the way he kept on inspecting the elevator walls. At first it was easy to ignore but Bucky was becoming more and more desperate to find a way to go back up.

“Your desperation to stay away from me is just...astounding.” You said with a bitter chuckle.

“I’m finding a way to get out of here, not away from you.” Bucky explained calmly.

You shook your head, “You don’t trust me to keep you alive, I get it. But can you tone it down even for just a bit?” You spat at him.

Bucky pressed the bridge of his nose and let out an exasperated sigh, “You don’t need to keep me alive.”

“Of course not, you don’t need me to do so ‘cause you’re so capable. How did I not think of that?” At this point, you couldn’t stop the word vomit.

You had tons of things to say to Bucky to prove to him that you were totally good at what you do, that he didn’t need to underestimate you just because you were a new addition to the team.

“That’s not what I mean.” Bucky explained again.

It was starting to annoy you that the more you were becoming agitated, the calmer he was becoming. And he kept on telling you that he meant differently with his statements but he never really attempted to further explain his side.

“Then what do you mean, Bucky?” You pressed. “What did I ever do to you for you to hate me this much? Did I say something offensive? Do I have to train 24/7 for you to think that I deserve to be working alongside the Avengers?” You kept on babbling on and on and on.

Bucky rubbed his face with his hand, “I don’t hate you, okay?” He doesn’t even spare you a look.

All this time, he was looking at anything but you and it was really getting on your nerves.

“See? You keep on telling me that you don’t hate me but you can’t even look at me! I mean, if you really loathe me then own up to it! It hurts me more that you keep on denying it when you can’t even explain a damn thing. At least tell me why!” You were never an emotional person and Bucky knew that, so when he finally turned to look at you, he was surprised to see you on the verge of tears.

“Hey, hey...” Bucky coaxed and tried to hold you but you stepped away from him.

“Just please tell me why, Buck. Tell me and I promise to stay away. If you think I suck at being an Avenger to the point of irritating you, tell me so I can train my fucking ass off until you deem me fit to be an Avenger. If my jokes offended you, I’m sorry. If I—“

“It’s because I like you.”

“...what?”

Bucky Barnes...likes you? It’s as if the silence went on forever inside the elevator that seemed to keep going. How long were the two of you inside it anyway? You couldn’t tell anymore and you didn’t know whether Bucky was simply fooling around with you.

“That’s not funny.” You said.

Bucky shook his head, “It’s not a joke.”

You stared at him doubtfully, “Explain.” You demanded.

Bucky licked his lips and let out a soft chuckle, “I’m an idiot.” He said.

“That doesn’t explain anything. If any, I’d think you’re simply fucking with me.” You pointed out and crossed your arms over your chest.

That seemed to urge Bucky to finally explain. “What you heard in Steve’s room was correct.”

“So you really hate me.”

Bucky groaned, “Let me finish, please?” He pleaded. When you remained silent, he continued to explain himself.

“You really do distract me during missions. Because you’re so amazing and I never doubted your skills. But I also get worried and I hate it when I see you in pain or wounded and it fucking distracts me. I didn’t want to be partnered with you because when I see you, I just...fuck. I like you that much. You kick someone’s ass and I’d end up watching you with awe that it’d cause me my own demise. That’s what I meant. That I’d probably end up dying because whenever you’re around, you have my full attention.”

The anger within you dissipated just like that. You could feel your face heat up from Bucky’s unexpected confession.

“But you’re an asshole to me.” You pointed out.

Bucky laughed, “Because that’s how I get your attention. You walk into a room with a kind-hearted super soldier, a witty bird brain and a few more intelligent men and yet I’d be the first one you’d acknowledge. With a snarky comment but still, attention is attention. It’s the only way I get to interact with you without feeling awkward. I suck at conversations, I mean, you heard me and though I was hating on you when I was merely blabbering to Steve about how much I like you.”

This time, you couldn’t hold back your laughter. All along, Bucky was finding a way to talk to you even though it meant constant arguments over the pettiest things. To be fair though, he really did suck at communicating.

“I’m sorry that it came across like that.” Bucky apologized sincerely. “I hope this doesn’t change anything between us.” He admitted.

You shrugged, “Oh but it does. In fact, it changes everything.”

Bucky’s face fell.

“Because I think I like you too and I kinda want for things to change. For the better of course.” You grinned.

Bucky chuckled and scratched his forehead bashfully, “You think, huh? Not sure?” He asked and turned to you just as the elevator doors opened.

Indeed, it led to the lab where almost all of the targets stayed. The man nearest the elevator had his gun pointed at Bucky but before he could even pull the trigger, Bucky had thrown his knife at him without even sparing a glance and choked the next guy to attack with his metal arm before throwing him towards a group of armed men. He was just gazing at you with a smittened smile.

“Still not sure about liking me back?”

Impressed at his gesture, you smirked.

“Now I am.”

By the time Steve, Nat and Sam walked out of the elevator, the mission had already been done. You walked towards the trio and handed Steve a USB.

“All their data is already saved there. Wiped out their entire system clean too.” You told him, voice chirpy and all.

Bucky was right behind you, a couple of folders in his hands before handing them to Sam, “Lotsa confidential info in there too which includes our next targets.” he said and walked past Sam with a certain jump in his steps.

The three exchanged glances before looking around the entire lab. Men were scattered on the floor, most were dead and others heavily injured.

“What the hell happened here?” Nat asked, avoiding the injured men on the ground as she walked around.

“The mission happened, Nat. All that matters now is that everything has been resolved. I mean, everything.” You said meaningfully and threw Bucky a flirty smile before walking into the elevator.

He followed suit and saluted at the three before pushing the red button. The doors weren’t even closed yet when Bucky couldn’t hold back and quickly leaned to press a soft kiss on your lips. An action that definitely didn’t go unnoticed by the three. You couldn’t help but chuckle when you noticed their reactions before the elevator closed.

Said trio stood there dumbfounded and confused as hell. Early on, the tension between you and Bucky was felt by everyone. The kind of tension then wasn’t even a sexual one. It was so intense that Nat was actually expecting to see you and Bucky at each other’s throats when they got down to the lab.

“Guess that the long ass elevator ride did something. Whatever was in that elevator seems interesting. Wanna go check it out, Nat?” Sam asked suggestively.

Steve chuckled and shook his head.

Nat simply smirked and walked past Sam, “In your dreams, Wilson.”

Everything Bucky Tag List:

@ddowii @jessou893 @stealapizzamyheart @bagelofthelord @mxnt @dontputyourfckingdrinkonmytable @jeeperky @ohladymacbeth @wildflowergubler @supraveng @twinerd14 @buckysmar @bakugouswh0r3

#bbbwrites #oneshots: bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x reader #bucky x you #bucky x reader #sebastian stan

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ks-dreams-fantasies · 3 years

Note

Hii can i request a Vinnie x reader where the reader live at the hype house and shes a big tiktoker too and the reader is just soft and she spend alot time at Vinnie's room bc they're secretly dating but no one knew abt it just they're family and thomas and alex and the others kinda knew abt it bc the reader and Vinnie is kinda spending time together a lot and one day Vinnie got a cold and that same day thomas is filming a video and the reader is cutting apples(or any fruit ) for Vinnie and thomas started filming her and ask her if thats for vinnie the fruits that the reader are cutting bc they knew vinnie is sick and the reader said "no, its for me" why a little laugh at the end and she didn't know that thomas is filming her going to vinnie's room and suddenly thoms burst in to Vinnie's room and filming them and see the reader is taking care of Vinnie...you can do whatever you want at the endd just vinnie soft and cuddly thank youuu! <333

Taking care of our boy? - Vinnie Hacker

Hey love 😘 Thank you so much for your request, I hope my story did it justice … I made a few changes, but the idea is still there 🙄 I feel like Vinnie would be such a baby when he’s sick 😆 Enjoy

Warning : None

Word Count : 1.2

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Vinnie hated being sick. He had been feeling off the past couple of days and when he woke up congested, his throat burning, he groaned, rolling onto his side seeing you laying peacefully next to him. You had fallen asleep the night before, after going to Vinnie’s room to watch anime with him. You, being a newly big TikToker, had moved into the Hype House a few months ago, hitting it off quickly with him. You always got teased for it, often getting shipped online with the fact that you guys seemed to be close to each other. People weren’t totally wrong since you and Vinnie had decided to start dating a few weeks ago, hiding it to the public due to the fact that it was still new and scared of the hate you would get if his fans found out.

Not a lot of people knew about your relationship, just your closest friends and of course the other members of the Hype House. Living with them, didn’t make it easy to keep you both a secret, but they respected your decision. You had thought about coming out since people kind of assumed you were together after seeing how close you both were in Thomas and Alex’s vlogs. The responses to their videos were mostly sweet and encouraging, so you often thought about it. You had both posted a few TikToks with each other over the past couple of months and you were seen leaving places together lately, hinting to the public that something was happening between you and Vinnie

He tried getting back to sleep, closing his eyes, coughing a few times before feeling you move beside him. You got closer to him wrapping one of your arms around his torso, opening your eyes as you felt the temperature of his body.

“Baby, you’re boiling hot” you gasped, lifting your upper body to look at him, putting your hand on his forehead. He groaned again before coughing making you sight

“I’ll run you a bath so you can relax, and I’ll go to the store to buy some medicine, okay baby?” you said getting up grabbing a hoodie out of Vinnie’s closet

“You don’t have to do that, I’ll be fin-“ he got interrupted by a fit of coughs

“Sure” you chuckled lightly “Wait here, the bath should be done in a few minutes” you said, disappearing into the bathroom connected to his room, turning on the faucet for the water to start running. You took a towel putting it near the bathtub, calling him in when it got filled up

“Ok, so I’ll run to the store really quick, I’ll be back in a few, try to relax” You said leaving a kiss on his temple, before leaving his room, going downstairs towards your car.

You got back home about 30 minutes later with a bag filled with medicine for Vinnie when you phone dinged indicating a new notification. You opened your phone, seeing that Vinnie had just posted a new Tiktok. You shook your head, laughing slightly, even when sick, he always found a way to make something for his fans. The video consisted of him getting his head out of the water, his hair now being wet. Vinnie being Vinnie, didn’t write much for the caption

Sick 🤧

The comments were already flooded with a bunch of messages from girls saying how much they would kill to come take care of him and how good looking he was. You put your phone in your back pocket as you entered the house, making your way to the kitchen seeing the others sitting at the counter, sipping on their coffee, laughing at something Michael had said.

“Look who decided to join us earlier than usual” Alex said pointing his camera towards you, as showed him your middle finger, sticking out your tongue

“Ouhhh grumpy, she probably didn’t have her coffee yet guys, excuse her” he said laughing, turning the camera back towards Calvin, who was trying to do god knows what. You went to the fridge, taking out some fruits to cut while you put the teakettle on the stove, waiting for the water to boil. You prepared everything while listening to their stories and laughing at them. You took out a tray, placing a plate of freshly cut berries with two mugs and some pills on the side to bring up to Vinnie.

“Two mugs? Perhaps the tea is for Vinnie? Taking care of our boy while he’s sick, I see” Alex stated, grinning softly as he turned the camera back towards you

“Vinnie’s sick? I didn’t know” you said shrugging your shoulders “I’m just really thirsty, that’s all” you continued as you picked up the tray, the others humming, knowing well enough you were lying.

“Anyways, see you later, I have some things to take care of” you said already halfway out of the kitchen making your way up the stairs

“I bet you guys a hundred bucks that the things she needs to take care of is Vinnie” Michael said, laughing as he shook his head.

Arriving to Vinnie’s bedroom you knock on the door hearing a faint “come in” before opening the door, seeing your boyfriend lying in bed, watching anime.

“Hey baby, I brought you berries and tea” you said walking up to him while he moved to sat down “Here take these” you handed him the medicine and his cup of tea while you move to sit beside him with the plate and your own cup of coffee.

“Thank you” he sipped on his tea, the hot liquid soothing the tickled in the back of his throat. You had both finished eating and drinking, putting the plates and mugs away on the nightstand when Vinnie started coughing again

“Poor baby” you said stroking his warm cheeks “Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?” you asked him, worried

“Can we just stay here and cuddle?” he said looking into your eyes, pouting as you smiled at him

“Of course, Vin” you answered as he laid his head on your chest, your hands massaging his scalp slowing, making him let out a small groan of appreciation, enjoying the comfort. A few moments later, the sound of light snoring made you smile softly, indicating Vinnie had fallen back asleep. You knew he didn’t sleep much the night before, so you were happy that he could relax for a bit. You could hear some shuffling in the hallway and soon enough the door opened, Alex and Michael entering the room, fake gasping at the sight before their eyes.

“Well, well, well what do we have here?” Alex said, capturing every moment on his camera

“Shhh! Can’t you see he’s sleeping” you whispered-yelled trying to shush them up, wavering your hands for them to go away

“I guess I was right hun?” Michael said to the camera, a wide grin on his face.

“Mhhhhh” Vinnie groaned, squeezing your body tighter “Baby, tell them to go away” he mumbled groggily, still sleepy.

“AH I TOLD YOU SO! You guys owe me 100 bucks” Michael shouted as he pointed the lenses with his index finger, before Vinnie threw a pillow at him, exhausted

“I swear if you guys don’t get out –“ he got interrupted by the two guys laughing and exiting the room, closing the door behind him. You laughed lightly as he laid back down on your chest

“They are so annoying” he sighed “Thanks for taking care of me baby”

“Anytime Vin” you responded, smiling, leaving a kiss on his forehead.

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Thanks for reading

Hope you liked it, let me know what you think

-K

#vinnie #vinnie hacker #vinnie hacker imagine #vinnie hacker x reader #vinnie hacker fluff #tiktok boys

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baroquebucky · 3 years

Text

the 5 love languages

in which you and bucky love each other, in every and any love language possible

word count: 1.6k

masterlist

a/n: hi hi guys !! hope u all enjoy this i went overboard again srry for any typos !! :]

Bucky loved you. He loved everything about you. He loved the way you dressed, the way you cooked, the way you laughed, the way you talked. He loved every aspect of you, even when you were cranky and would stomp away from him in a fit of anger, he loved you.

You loved Bucky. You loved everything about him, the way he bit his lip when he was frustrated, the way he leaned on everything when he was standing, how his eyes would crinkle when he smiled, how he would take deep breaths when he was upset about something. You loved every aspect of him, even when he would try to shut you out and deal with things on his own.

1) gift giving

“I’ve read all the reviews it’s supposed to be so good, i hope it isn’t overhyped or ill be really upset” you pouted, setting some brownies on a plate for Bucky, putting the plate in his hand without him even asking. He smiled, thanking you silently.

“it looked good from the trailer you showed me” he spoke, eyes trained on the brownies in hand, he just wanted to eat them already.

“buck i baked the brownies for you, eat them” you laughed softly and he blushed, immediately going for a bite, chewing for a second before stopping.

“that bad huh?” You joked, about to make another comment when he cut you off, shaking his head and swallowing his bite, going in for another right after. Within seconds the piece in his hand was gone.

“oh?” You grinned and threw his head back, moaning dramatically as he finished eating the piece.

“this is the best brownie I’ve ever had in my whole life” he spoke, his face serious as he stated you in the eyes, getting up and kissing your face all over.

“Bucky!” You laughed, shoving him slightly, a smile on his face.

“I know you said you didn’t want anything but i saw this at the store and-” Bucky began, knowing you were gonna be upset he bought you something when you told him the brownies were just out of love.

“James!” You scolded him, trying to look angry but failing as a smile creeped onto you face, eyes landing on the bag he held in his hand.

“Cmon baby you’ll love it” you let out a sigh, a grin playing on your lips as you opened the bag, eyes landing on a pretty notebook and your grin grew wider.

“i know you said you wanted to start journaling so” he motioned to the book and you smiled, cheeks hurting.

“thank you bucky i love it” you kissed his cheek before setting the notebook on the table, sitting on the couch next to him and turning on the movie.

Bucky always bought you little things, he loved visiting antique shops and almost every time he brought back something to give you. His excuse being one of three:

“it was too cute to not get!”

“it made me think of you and so i had to get it”

“i figured i could have it as decoration or you would find some use for it”

You told yourself next time he bought you a gift you wouldn’t take it, and every time your heart melted at his actions and you couldn’t help it.

You would be a hypocrite, considering how often you also bought bucky little things. Getting his his favorite snacks and fruit, buying him shirts and jackets when you went shopping because you knew he’d been wanting some, getting him small decoration items because he wanted to decorate his apartment and buying him candles knowing he loved having his apartment smell nice.

2) acts of service

You and Bucky could either have nothing to do or have no time to breathe, no in between.

Bucky loved helping you when you were stressed, he loved knowing he was helping you stress out less.

He would help you with anything he could, cooking for you, helping you with your work, helping with daily chores so you wouldn’t have to worry about them and you could focus on your tasks.

You loved helping Bucky when he was busy. Being an avenger was tough work and you knew how exhausted bucky would get. You just wanted him to relax when he had the chance.

You would buy his groceries along with yours when has barely returned from a mission, bruised and battered, making him breakfast in bed and stocking his fridge and pantry. You would help clean up his wounds, scolding him when he didn’t want to, saying he would be fine and he just wanted to cuddle you.

When you were both busy you still found ways of helping each other, always trying to decrease the others load, wanting nothing but happiness for each other.

3) quality time

When you both had nothing but time you spent it together. Doing work silently, watching movies or tv shows, baking and cooking together, playing board games, anything you could think of.

Both of you loved going out to the park, walking hand in hand and enjoying the cool breeze, sitting down to watch the sunset and smiling at each other when he was caught staring at you.

You would have some spare painting supplies lying around from the time you had a bob ross night with the team, gathering them up and painting with Bucky for the night.

40’s music filling the air as the two of you talked and painted, ignoring everything except each other.

4) physical touch

Bucky was touch starved, he wanted to be held and loved.

And you did just that.

You peppered Bucky in kisses, holding hand and playing with hair, cuddling him any chance you got. You would sit next to him and lay your head on his chest, letting him wrap his arm around you and pull you closer.

Bucky would always be holding you, having his hand on your thigh while he drove or hold your hand when you went out together, sometimes just linking your pinkies together. He would drape and arm around your waist when you slept next to him, holding you securely and protecting you from the world.

Bucky loved running his fingers through your hair, braiding it absentmindedly at times, kissing your forehead when he finished.

He loved kissing you. Placing sloppy kisses all over your face because he loved hearing you giggle, quieting you with a gently kiss on your lips before pulling away and wrapping you in his arms.

You would hold Bucky when he was upset, running your fingers through his hair and kissing the top of his head. You would let him be the little spoon at times and hold him tightly, making sure he knew you weren’t gonna leave him.

5) words of affirmation

Bucky needed reassurance sometimes and that was okay, you were more than happy to tell him how much you loved him.

“you’re doing amazing bucky I’m so proud of you” you would tell him, looking him in the eyes and pulling him into your arms.

“i love you so much lovebug, you mean so much to me” he would stare at the ground, refusing to believe how lucky he was. But you would always gently lift his face, look him in the eyes and assure him that you loved him.

Sometimes he would have a rough day on a mission, he would be upset and cranky, ending your calls short as opposed to his usual bubbly and excited ones that could go on for hours. You would send him some texts, hoping to boost his mood

i love you and i know you’re doing your best

im proud of you, can’t wait for you to come home to me <3

Bucky loved them, his mood always lifting after reading them.

He would always reassure you, when you were sad, upset or just in a bad mood. He would remind you how much he loved you and how proud he was of you, telling you how far you’d come and how much you’d achieved.

“you’re so amazing and so talented angel, you can get through this” he told you, helping you get through the absurd amount of work you had.

When he was away for long periods of times he would have letters he left for you, telling you to open them on certain days so you wouldn’t miss him too much. Writing to you and telling you how much he loved you, wishing he was there to tell you himself.

Sometimes you got in your head after arguing, Bucky was always there to help you out.

“do you still love me” you whispered, eyes red and teary. You had argued an hour ago and had yet to speak to each other, giving yourselves space to calm down.

Bucky was upset, but he immediately softened at your words, moving to sit next to you and pull you into his chest, stroking your hair softly so you could calm down.

“you’re mine angel, you have me forever” he whispered, “of course i love you baby, nothing is ever gonna change that, especially not one argument.”

You both apologized, talking everything out and spending the night cuddled up. Bucky telling you how much he loved you and you telling him all he meant to you.

Five languages of love.

You thought you would only speak one, maybe two.

Bucky thought he could never learn to speak any again.

You were both wrong.

When it came down to your love for bucky and his love for you, both of you spoke all five languages, and you spoke them well, never failing to remind the other just how much you loved them.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes blurb #bucky barnes x reader #Bucky Barnes fluff #Bucky Barnes one shot #Bucky x reader #Bucky x you #Bucky Barnes imagine #Bucky Barnes fanfic #Bucky imagine #soft Bucky Barnes

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ravewood · 2 years

Text

One Night Fuck Up: pt5

Juice Ortiz Imagine

pt1

masterlist

It was almost a full year since Juice found out he was a dad. There was a lot of difficulties to work through as you and Juice became co parents. It took you a while to trust him, he was a complete stranger at first. But Juice really proved himself and he was the best father to Anthony.

Co parenting was so easy to work out. Juice was more then willing to do anything for Ant and for you. It was really nice having him around. With raising your son together, Juice easily became your best friend in all of this.

Juice would watch Ant whenever you had work, no question asked even if it was an over night or rotating shift. He always told you if he was going to be away for a run or whatever club businesses. Sometimes Juice stayed all weekend at your house to spend time with Ant. Sometimes you let Juice take Ant for the weekend when he knew he had absolutely no club businesses to deal with.

It was perfect.

Juice was more excited then normal today. He loved his son, more then anything. He’s pretty sure his son taught him what love was. It was great seeing Anthony growing and learning. He was more and more like Juice everyday.

Juice quickly was wrapping up at the club house. He got everything he needed to do out the way. Sure he would still pick up calls from the club but he really hated having to make any runs when it was his time with his son.

“Where you in a rush too?” Happy asked as he watched his brother running around the club house with his book bag.

“With Ant this weekend.” Juice said with a smile. The club was more then supportive when finding out about Juice having a kid. They never let him live it down when they found about what the pool table part.

“staying at Y/N house?” Jax asked with a teasing smile. He knew how Juice felt about you. He didn't try to hide his feelings either but with learning to co parent together, starting anything romantic wasn’t a good idea.

“I feel like I’m forgetting something.” Juice said mumbling more to himself as he double checked everything. He felt like he was in a rush to see Ant and you. He parked his bike in your drive way in his usual place.

“Hey Y/N.” Juice said as he made his way in the house. He walked over to you placing a kiss to your cheek as you where busy in the kitchen.

“Hey Juice! You’re earlier.” You said smiling up at him. He was the father of you son, he quickly got comfortable sending so much time at your house. You liked having him around.

“Sorry, I should’ve called to let you know.” Juice said, he still felt like he was on eggshells around you. He didn’t want to cross a line and ruin everything. He wouldn’t know what to do if he lost you and Ant. You both where his family.

“No thank god your here. I’m running late and Ant’s been having a tantrum since last night.” You said making Juice laugh as you ran through the house.

“Daddy!” Juice heard a loud voice followed by tiny foot steps running through the hallway.

“Hey Ant.” He said easily picking up the three year old into his arms.

“Mama said you where being bad.” Juice said as he walked through the house. He felt so comfortable here, it felt more like home then his actual home. Well his dorm.

“I have left overs shrimp and rice in the fridge when you get hungry. Theres also a weird noise coming from the hall bathroom anytime you turn the sink on. I’ll be back probably early morning. or the middle of the night.” You said as you threw your hair in a bun already in your scrubs.

“I’ll have my phone, so call me if-” Juice caught you off by handing you the keys.

“I got it, don’t worry. ” Juice said leaning down placing a lingering kiss to your temple making your smile. You loved the extra attention Juice has been giving you. It was hard not to fall in love with him when he was literal perfect. He was such a gentleman. He took care of you and Anthony. He was an amazing father.

“You’re the best.” You said as you stood on your tippy toes and gave Anthony a big kiss on his forehead.

“Be good for daddy.” You said giving him a stern look. You see a big goofy grin on the toddler that he got from his father.

“No kiss for daddy?” Juice asked making you blush as you grabbed your things as you gave him a little glare.

“Well now what do you want to do today Ant?” Juice asked as he plopped down on the couch with the toddler. Any was more like his dad everyday, he was even picking up Juice’s habits the more time he spent with him.

It was a long day, or both you and Juice. The hospital was so short staffed you felt like you where doing the job of 4 different nurses. Juice had his hands full with Anthony bossing him around all day. From wanting to go to the park, to trying and help Juice fix the skin at the house. Anthony most definitely had Juice’s ADHD.

It was around 1 am, Juice was passed out laying in Ant’s small race car bed. He clearly didn’t fit his legs hanging off on the floor. Getting Ant to bed was a challenge every night. Juice had to tell him at least 4 different stories before Ant fell asleep on his chest.

You groaned as you walked into the house. It was spotless, like always. Juice always cleaned up, you didn’t want him to but he did either way. You smiled realizing he fixed a few things around the house as well.

“Juice?” You called out not seeing him on the couch. You walked into Ant rooms smiling when you found them cuddled up against each other. You quickly took picture of them knowing it was going to be your next background on your phone.

“Juice wake up.” You said shortly rubbing his shoulder.

“Y/N your home already?” Juice grumbled in a deep husky voice as he looked over at you in your scrubs. He easily picked up Ant as he got up leaving the toddler in the bed.

“Sorry I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Juice said as you both walked out the room.

“Thank you Juice.” You said giving him a big smile making him melt inside.

“You don’t got to say that. I love being here with him.” Juice said. He kept to himself that he loved being here when you where here too. This was the worst part, he hated leaving.

“Do you want coffee or something before you go?” You asked your eyes watching him desperately.

“That would be nice.” Juice said following you into the kitchen.

“How was work?” He asked as he watched you move around making a cup for you both.

“You know, stressful and busy.” You said as you hopped on the counter. Juice was leaning over watching you. He loved having moments like this alone with you.

“How was Ant today?” You asked Juice knowing there was always some good stories he would tell you.

“He’s been asking for a little brother to plat with. He told me I’m old and I’m not good at playing tag.” Juice said giving you that charming smile of his.

“Oh god.” you groaned covering your face as you felt it heat up.

“ I told him, maybe for Christmas.” Juice joked back only making your face redder. He knew exactly what he did to you.

“Juice!” You yelled smacking his arms only making him laugh.

“Have you thought about having more kids? in the future you know. If you meet someone.” Juice asked feeling his heart get heavy.

“I’ve never thought about it. I never really thought about meeting someone and letting them into Ants life like that.” You said as you watched Juice. What you would give to be able to read his mind.

“Have you ever thought about us?” Juice asked, as he stepped closer to you. He was standing between your legs as you sat on top of the counter.

“I have Juice. Your an amazing father. Honestly you take care of me too. I don’t know what I would do without you now.” You told him looking in his brown warm eyes.

“I would like to stop pretending to play family. I want to be here all the time for Anthony, for you. I don’t want to have to leave. This feels like my home. You both are my home.” Juice admitted his hand coming to rest on your cheek. It was warm to the touch as Juice admitted his feeling to you.

“Can I take you to dinner friday?” Juice asked only making you laugh.

“I would love that, now kiss me Juice.” You said pulling your arms around his neck pulling him back to you. His large hands rested on your thighs as your legs locked around him. The kiss was painfully slow, as you both enjoyed the feeling of having the other against them.

“Maybe Ant could get a little brother or sister.” Juice mumbled into your lips making you laugh. He always knew how to make you laugh no matter what.

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fortuositywritings · 3 years

Text

I Said No (Wanda x R): Pt 5

Pt 1, Pt 2, Pt 3, Pt 4, House Map

Summary: Movie theater, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and the county fair

“We can come back to get the rest. I don’t understand why you’re doing that.”

Wanda watches you struggle trying to carry everything you brought from the store but two bags that Wanda herself is carrying.

“Because, my young Padawanda, it is one of the most important rules of the Jedi Code. One must never make a second trip to the car lest he be a nerd.”

“Oh my gosh! Have you seen Star Wars?” You and Wanda turn your heads towards the porch where Sam and Peter reside. Peter runs down to you in excitement. “Which ones have you seen?”

“Only like all of them!” you answer, just as excited as Peter to have someone else here who likes the movies. Laura finds them boring, Clint thinks they’re too long, and Nat says she’s not a child. You tried watching them with Cooper and Lila but they fell asleep halfway through. So no one can blame you for getting excited. Unfortunately, the little bounce that accompanied your answer causes a few things to slip from your arms, but Peter, given his incredible reflexes, catches them all before they touch the ground. “The force is strong with this one,” you tell him.

“And a second trip is what makes you a nerd.” Sam mumbles under his breath on his way over to help by taking the bags from Wanda. “What’s on your neck?” He asks her. Her hand flies up to her neck only to find it sticky.

“It’s what happens when you mess with a Jedi,” you answer for her in a silly voice making Peter laugh. You also make Wanda blush as she recalls how it happened, but you don’t see this since you and Peter are already making your way to the house. Sam, however, does notice Wanda’s face and recognizes that look, leaving him stumped. Wanda only snaps out of her trance when the door closes behind you and Peter.

“I don’t get it,” he says to Wanda. “What is it about her? Is it the confidently flirty but still kind of geeky thing that does it for you ladies?”

Wanda, embarrassed at being caught, heads to the house ignoring Sam’s questions. She can still hear him as he yells after, “Don’t walk away! I need to know if nerds are the thing now!”

Sam catches her in the kitchen along with you and Peter putting things you bought where they’re meant. Instead of asking Wanda anything, he turns his questions to you and Peter, who you all find out has a girlfriend now. Sam guesses his “nerds are in” theory correct based on that and soon he is agreeing to watch Star Wars with you, Peter, and Wanda. He threw Wanda a subtle wink when neither you nor Peter were looking as if to say ‘you’re welcome’ for including her in those plans. Clint, coming in from the side door, catches the ending of that conversation and groans.

“No! Laura! Peter and Y/N found an interest they can both be annoying about,” he goes to complain to his wife. Later though, he as well as everyone else joins you to watch the movie. You and Peter thoroughly answer all of Sam and Pietro’s questions and hush everyone at your favorite parts, mouthing the lines along with the scene. Wanda ends up not watching the movie anymore but watching you and she begins to wonder if maybe Sam was right.

***

“How much longer?” you find yourself asking the next morning trying not to sound as out of breath as you are. You’ve been jogging for you don’t know how long now but it feels way longer than what Nat had promised it would be when she woke you up at six in the morning.

“Another mile,” she answers, no sign of struggle in her voice as if this is a cakewalk. You suppose it is for her since she’s had to slow down numerous times for you to catch up.

“Another mile?!”

“Hey, you said you would keep up today,” Nat reminds you.

“You know you can’t trust anything I say during my haven’t-had-caffeine-yet hours. Don’t I get points for trying?”

“Like your little green friend says, ‘Do or do not, there is no try’,” Nat retorts.

“I knew you were paying attention last night!” You increase your pace to jog beside her. “You can act too tough to like Star Wars all you want around everyone else, but I’ll always know the truth.” You can see her shake her head from the corner of your eye. You don’t say anything for a moment, but being one who cannot let the quiet linger too long, as Tanya would attest to, you speak up. “So, how’s your little green friend doing?”

You turn your head for a second to show Nat you were genuinely looking for an answer and in the next she’s practically running away from you. She went fast but not quick enough for you to miss the little redness creeping up on her cheeks. You have never in your years of knowing her seen her blush before. You have seen her sweat after a sparring match with Clint, get a bit of a sunburn, and get so angry she looked like she would pop a vein, but not one of those times were her cheeks turning a rosy color. Aww, Romanov’s in love. Once you’ve come to that conclusion, you go to tease her. Wait, where did she go?

“You asshole!” You yell at Nat who you finally find casually leaning on the car door watching you storm up to her. It took you an hour to find the car after losing the trail you were on trying to find Natasha. She doesn’t even flinch as she reaches over and pulls a twig out of your hair. “What happened to you?”

“You left me!” You huffed, walking around to the passenger side while Nat got in the driver seat unfazed. Truth be told, after 30 minutes without any sign of Nat, you thought she was putting you through some kind of test. You were getting paranoid, so it’s not surprising you took a tumble when you swiftly tried to avoid an attack from what turned out to be a squirrel running up a tree. But you’ll just keep that to yourself forever.

You head straight to the shower when you get to the house ignoring the morning greetings from those you pass on the way. “What’s up with her?” Sam asks Nat in the living room. “She hasn’t had her caffeine yet.”

You let the shower wash away your moodiness which, you can admit to yourself alone, stemmed for the most part from embarrassing yourself. Afterwards, you head to the kitchen ready to eat whatever everyone had for breakfast, but come up empty. You guess they’d finished all of it if the plates and pan left out to dry say anything. You open the fridge looking for something to eat. Maybe there is something in there you can heat up. Unlike Laura, Wanda, and self proclaimed chef Pietro, you cannot cook to save your life.

“What’s cooking, good looking?” Speak of the devil. Maybe he can make you something? You know all it would take is some batting of the eyelashes and a compliment. No, Wanda said no. But there is nothing in the fridge to heat up and you were hungry. Wanda would surely understand it was for the greater good, right? Already breaking the first rule, I see.

Caught red handed, you look over Pietro’s shoulder to see Wanda walking into the kitchen to join you two. She’s raising her eyebrows at you waiting for an answer.

“Okay, new rule,” you say. Pietro is confused at what he assumes is your response until he sees that you aren’t talking to him. “No more reading my mind,” you say sternly, pointing at Wanda.

Pietro smirks. “Yeah, I don’t need you to hear what goes on Y/N’s mind when she is thinking about me,” he says to Wanda. Both you and Wanda roll your eyes. “Sam is asking for you outside,” is all she says to him and off he goes with a groan.You groan as well, the chance of getting someone to make you food leaving with him.

“You could have just asked me, you know?” Wanda says, leaning against the sink.

“I thought I said no mind reading,” you remind her. She chuckles when you close the refrigerator door and hit your head against it in defeat.

“I wasn’t,” she defends. “I was serious when I said he can’t cook. I may have saved you from food poisoning.”

“Maybe, but I would have been full and happy for a moment. Since you chased away my shot at food, I think you should make it up to me by making me some breakfast,” you try, leaning against the fridge.

“Oh? I should, should I?” You nod confidently thinking it might just work, but she tears that thought away when she continues, “Cause I remember you still needing to make it up to me when you didn’t buy the ice creams.”

You frown, “I thought you’d forgotten about that.” She smiles, with nose scrunch and all, shaking her head. “Fine, you want to go to the fair? I’ll take you to the fair tomorrow!”

“A fair? I want to go!” you hear Cooper shout. He is coming in through the back door with Lila who looks just as excited and with Nat who does not. You ignore Nat’s face when you tell Cooper that you can all go to the fair. He and Lila run off in excitement to tell the others. Nat glares at you as she takes a seat at the kitchen table.

“See,” you turn to Wanda. “Now I have to take you for sure. Make me some food now, please,” you beg her, drawing out the word please. She squints her eyes like she’s thinking about it and then, “Only because you asked so nicely.”

“Thank you,” you throw her a huge smile at which Wanda rolls her eyes.

“But if you are going to be here,” she says pushing you away from the fridge, “you are going to help. You’ve got to learn how to cook for yourself.” And you do just that. You nod along intently listening to all her instructions, not wanting to miss a thing. Sometimes you’d interrupt to make a joke and when one is about her brother, she playfully punches you. You are so immersed in your little bubble, you forget Nat is not too far away watching your interaction with curiosity. She has you try the food first and you could almost moan. You notice a blush creeping up on Wanda’s face and suddenly she’s avoiding your eyes.The food is so good and you were so hungry that maybe you did let out a little noise of satisfaction. Before you could say anything, another voice interrupts, “What’s this I hear about a fair?”

You turn slowly recognizing the tone your cousin uses. It’s the who-made-these-plans-without-asking-me-first tone. You smile at Laura, mouth full of food. You see Nat point at you but Laura was already looking at you. “Yeah, I think she knows it was me, Natasha.”

***

A few uneventful hours go by and you are bored out of your mind. You have a sudden urge to go out seeing as the sun was still shining. You pull out your phone having an idea of what to do to kill some time. You scroll through your phone to see what movies are playing at the only movie theater in town. You see that the next showing is for a horror movie.

“Do you like scary movies?” you turn to the group playing Uno in the living room. Pietro gets up in excitement when you mention going to the movie theater. Sam agrees to come as well and drags Peter out the door when Peter wants to stay claiming it’s to keep the kids company. You are about to head out with everyone but you notice Wanda still sitting on the couch. You wait for her to get up when Pietro says, “Yeah, good luck with that. She’s too chicken to watch scary movies.”

Wanda, offended, gets up quickly from the couch, “Am not. I just think they’re boring.”

“Sure,” Pietro chuckles as he heads out the door.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to,” you tell her. You think she is going to stay, but she starts heading out the door to the car.

“You sure that’s not enough butter, Y/N?” Peter asks you when he sees how much butter he’s already put in the bucket at your insistence. He can feel some of it through the bucket already.

“Fine, that’s good. You grab some napkins. I’ll hold the bucket,” you tell him after you see his eyebrows scrunch. You all go to the designated room and pick a row to sit in having pretty much any seat you want since it was practically empty. You sit down next to Peter and notice Pietro’s eyes falling to the empty seat on your other side. He aims to sit next to you but his sister who was sitting next to Peter before beats him to it. He throws her a confused look as he shuffles his way down to sit in her abandoned seat. “Real subtle there, Wanda,” you say, amused more than anything.

“I can see the screen better from here.” You let her bad excuse slide and turn to the screen as the movie begins to play. Between you, Peter, and Pietro, the popcorn is gone in record time. The jumpscares begin halfway through the movie. Peter holds the empty bucket as a safety blanket which you find adorable. You don’t even know if Wanda is watching the movie. She’s got her eyes somewhat hidden behind her fingers. You want to tease her, so you reach to take her fingers away from her face, but another jumpscare happens and she takes your hand in her free one. You feel her squeeze the life out of your hand in anticipation of another jumpscare.

Your palm begins to sweat and you start to feel uncomfortable with all the butter on your fingers, so you slip your hand out from hers. She turns to you in question. “Sorry, my hand’s full of butter,” you whisper. She reaches over you to ask Peter something. Without a word, she leans back in her seat with napkins in her hand and cleans all the butter off your hand before taking it in hers once more, this time interlacing your fingers. She turns her focus back to the movie. You feel you should just do the same, so you follow her actions. You let her hold your hand for the rest of the movie until the lights come back up.

Wanda shouldn’t have watched that movie. It is much too dark in the bedroom. It is much too quiet. She can hear Nat’s soft breathing from beside her. The silhouettes of various items around the room are creeping her out. She doesn’t think she is going to be sleeping any time soon. Maybe some tea will help. She gets up quietly trying not to wake Nat, but when she’s at the door, Nat asks, “Where are you going?”

“The bathroom,” Wanda lies easily. She’d rather not let Nat know that she couldn’t sleep because of some scary movie. What kind of superhero would that make her? As she heads downstairs, she wonders if you were still awake. She turns down the hallway to peek into the living room and sure enough you were still awake watching television. She walks over to you behind the couch. “What are you watching?” she asks. You feel your soul leave your body not having heard her approach. She giggles as she walks around to sit next to you. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, just warn a girl next time.” She turns her attention to the show. “It’s Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It’s really good. I used to watch it with Laura when she would babysit while my mom was at work. Some of the jokes I wouldn’t even understand but I’d laugh ‘cause she was laughing,” you reminisce.

“You and her are very close.”

“Yeah, well, she’s practically the only family I have. My mom passed not so long ago and seeing as there was never a dad in my family picture, my aunt and uncle took me in. I don’t have any siblings and neither does Laura so, she’s kind of it.” You add, “Well, apart from Clint, Nat, and the kids of course.”

Another two scenes go by on the show before you ask, “Did you have a nightmare or could you not fall asleep?”

Wanda looks down embarrassed so you add, “I promise I’m not teasing. I’m just asking.”

“I couldn’t sleep. It was too quiet and dark and Natasha was already asleep, so I thought I would come down here,” she replies.

“Oh, so you thought I would definitely put you to sleep. Wow, I don’t see how this friendship is going to work if you think I bore you to sleep,” you tease. Upon seeing her tired smile, you take pity and pat your thighs and gesture for her to lie down. “Come here.”

When she lays her head on your lap, you begin running your fingers through her hair. You hear her yawn and a few minutes later you find her sound asleep. Careful not to wake her, you reach over to the blanket you were meant to use on you and throw it over her body instead. Another two episodes play before you fall asleep.

***

You wake up once again with a sore neck and you feel that your body might be as well, but when you remember the reason, you don’t find it in yourself to complain. You look around prepared to see Nat in gym clothes holding a coffee cup but you find the living room empty apart from you and Wanda. You look out the window and see the sun is barely about to rise. Surprised to have woken up before anyone else, you decide to make the most of it but you are quickly sidetracked getting distracted by Wanda’s sleeping form. “I can feel you staring,” she says, her voice husky which you try hard not to find attractive. She turns her head to look up at you with sleepy eyes. “Friends don’t do that.”

“I was not staring. I was admiring,” you respond. “And friends can admire their friends.”

“Well mine don’t the way you do.”

“Ain’t that a shame.” You boop her nose with your finger making her scrunch her nose.

“They do, however, let me sleep,” she jokes. She turns her head back as if she was to go back to sleep and you decide this might be the best time to get up. You gently lift her head from your lap and swivel your body off the couch. “Where are you going?” she whines, when you place a pillow under her head.

“I am going to wake Nat up for once in my life,” you reply with determination. You stretch and shake your legs trying to get the feeling back in them.

“Good luck with that,” is the last thing Wanda says before closing her eyes and going back to sleep. You head to the kitchen to start the coffee pot and then make your way upstairs. Luckily, the door was left open so you don’t make any noise on your way in. You tiptoed your way to Natasha and bent down so your face was eye level to hers. You honestly can’t believe you’ve made it this far since she is the lightest sleeper. This is the spy they chose for the Avengers? You giggle to yourself imagining the face Nat is going to make when you scare her. Oh, if they could see her now…they would be satisfied with their choice, you think as you try to choke out, “Uncle. Uncle.” Nat somehow has you in a choke hold and you are tapping furiously on her arm. Once she realizes it’s you she lets go.

“Y/N, what the hell! I could have hurt you!” she yells at you as you’re coughing. You stare at her unbelievably, rubbing at your neck, and once you can speak again you say, “Then what was this to you? Some light foreplay?”

Once you both settle down, she realizes you were up before her. You take some exercise attire out for yourself from your luggage. You might not like to exercise but gym clothes are sure comfy to lie around in. “You gotta keep up, Natasha. You don’t want the boss man to catch you slacking. Oh, I’m also making coffee so don’t worry about that.”

“What’s got you in such a good mood?” she asks, her eyebrows furrowing. You smile in turn. “I don’t know what you mean. I’ll catch you downstairs.”

You leave her to change and head downstairs with your clothes. You go to the kitchen first and make two cups of coffee. Then you go to the restroom to change. After she finishes changing, Nat goes to the kitchen and sees you were not kidding. Natasha takes her cup of coffee to the living room as she always does and finds Wanda asleep on the couch. She sighs as things start adding up. She guesses this is the reason for the lack of a grumpy attitude from you so early in the morning. She wants to say something but Nat would rather take a motivated Y/N over Y/N complaining every five minutes on their hike. So, she doesn’t say anything for now.

You actually keep up with Nat this time and to top it off you don’t talk too much like you always do. Nat thinks it’s because you're in a good mood giving you motivation, but the reason for keeping her pace and keeping quiet is your fear she’ll leave you again if you say something to set her off and lose her like yesterday. Nat even goes as far as giving you a compliment at the end. Well, semi-compliment, but her “Not too bad, Y/N”s are few and far between so you return to the house feeling proud of yourself.

This time you’re the one saying good morning to everyone when you enter. You see a few of them still eating breakfast in the kitchen. You hope there will still be leftovers by the time you come back down after showering. Knowing how some of the guys eat, it is going to have to be a quick shower. Laura sees you eyeing the food and says, “Don’t worry, we saved you a plate.” And here you thought Wanda was the mind reader. “Wanda told us you were grumpy yesterday from not catching breakfast so we made sure to make more.” That explains it. You smile, happy someone kept you in mind. Now you can shower in peace. You thank her and head upstairs.

“You saw that, right?” Laura turns to Clint and Nat who walked in not too long before you left.

“She’s been like that all morning. Not one ‘Are we done yet?’ or ‘Why do you hate me, Natasha?’ on our hike,” Nat replies in a hushed tone as if it’s so unlike you to be agreeable in the morning.

“Do you think it has anything to do with a certain somebody?” Laura felt the need to ask.

“Well she didn’t just find a love for exercise,” Nat sarcastically says.

Clint sighs, “Do you think we have to talk to her again?”

Nat goes to respond, but Laura cuts off whatever Nat was going to say, “No, if anyone is going to talk to her, it’s me. And it’s not going to be some crappy ‘no dating’ rule type of conversation. You two are great when it comes to getting someone to talk with your intimidation, but save that for your job, which speaking of, Wanda is your coworker, so you may want to talk to her as well if you had to talk to Y/N because last I remember it takes two to tango.”

Nat and Clint stare at Laura in shock, embarrassment and guilt rightfully taking over their bodies. “Are we clear?” Laura asks them though it’s more of a statement leaving no room for argument.

“Yes.” “Yeah.”

Upstairs, you make your way to the guest room to grab some clothes. Wanda is sitting on the bed reading her book. She is still dressed in her pyjamas, which makes you smile. The sound of her turning the page shakes you from your thoughts and saves you from staring a bit too long. Wanda smirks without bothering to look away from her book and you know she caught you.

“Morning, I’m just gonna get some clothes,” you explain as you move to where your bag is. Wanda speaks up while you zip your duffle closed, “I’m sorry for bothering you last night.”

“Come on, Wanda. You could never be a bother,” you say sincerely, giving her a smile that she shyly returns. “Alright, the shower is calling my name.”

“Yeah, I can hear it screaming,” she jokes and laughs when you take mock offense, “Hey!” She goes back to reading when she sees you heading out the door but you call her attention once more, “Oh! Thanks for telling them to save me a plate.”

“Of course,” she replies like it wasn’t even worth mentioning. You nod at her and then go to shower, closing the guest room door behind you.

A few seconds later, the door opens up again and Wanda amusedly says, her eyes never straying from the page she’s reading, “Did the shower call the wrong name?”

“No, it was definitely calling Y/N’s and mine too, I’m sure, but I wanted to talk to you first.”

Wanda’s head diverts to the door at Nat’s voice.

“And you needed back up for it?” Wanda looks over to Clint who awkwardly stands behind Nat.

Clint clears his throat, “Well it was only fair if Y/N got both of us, you did too.”

Wanda straightens her posture as she places her book beside her. “Ah, so this is about Y/N. I had a feeling.”

Nat and Clint come into the room, Clint closing the door behind him. Nat goes to sit on the end of the bed and Clint stands behind her. “Look, we were wrong to tell Y/N what to do or rather not do. She is an adult and has the right to do whatever she wants, but you have to understand she’s someone who tends to get ahead of herself and we didn’t- we don’t want anyone to get hurt,” Nat starts.

“So you’re saying she is getting ahead of herself with me? That what? Come two weeks, she’ll realize she doesn’t want me?” Wanda starts to get visibly upset.

“No, that’s not what-” Clint tries to speak but Wanda is not done talking. “Even if that was the case, it would be her choice. It would be my choice.”

“Wanda, you are not going to be here in two weeks. You are not going to be here in a few days,” Natasha calmly says trying to reason. “Look, we love Y/N, okay? But she often finds herself making mistakes-”

“So I would just be another mistake?

“No, you would be a dangerous one,” Nat says trying to get something through to Wanda.

“I would never hurt her.”

“No, maybe not intentionally,” Nat continues, and when Wanda looks like she is going to argue, Clint interrupts, “Wanda, just let her finish.” Wanda takes a breath to calm herself down and then nods for Natasha to carry on.

“Being in our lives more than she has to could get her hurt. Even this morning, I hurt her when she was probably just trying to play some stupid prank. Being around us is dangerous. Why do you think Clint kept all this a secret,” Nat motions around the room. “Why do you think I was so upset about her and Yelena? Why do you think we haven’t said anything to Y/N before? Those other girls aren’t you. Those other girls aren’t Yelena. I don’t even know where she is right now. We live different lives. Say things do work out with Y/N. Much like I don’t know where my sister is, there will be times she won’t have a clue where you are or if you’re okay. When Clint and I say we don’t want anyone to get hurt, it goes both ways.”

“Wan, have you seen my blue shirt with the buttons?” Pietro storms into the room like a man on a mission, not even bothering to acknowledge Nat and Clint are in the room as well. “I know I packed it.” Not until he reads the hurt in Wanda’s eyes does he read the room and like the protective sibling he is, he is quick to get defensive. “What’s happening here?”

Her brother’s interruption could not have come at a better time. Wanda didn’t know how to respond to Nat’s explanation. She was feeling herself choke up, Vision’s voice springing in her head again. She’s happy to have Pietro here so willing to jump in to defend her but she doesn’t want to drag him into it, so she clears her throat and says, “Nothing. We were just talking.” He still looks unsure, so she gets up from the bed and offers, “I’ll help you look for it.” Her eyes plead for him to let it go. Luckily, he does and heads out the door. Clint and Nat watch Pietro leave and Wanda stop by the door. “You don’t have to worry. Y/N made it clear to me that we’re just friends,” she says in defeat, then turns to follow her brother.

“Well, that went well,” Clint says sarcastically.

Wanda spends the next two hours helping Sam, Peter, and Pietro get ready. She helps Sam pick an outfit first seeing as he was the first to shower. She has to pry one of Peter’s t-shirts from his hands saying he’s twice Peter’s size and he cannot pull the nerdy look. She helps Peter next. It’s mostly just styling his hair he needs help with. At last she helps her brother after having knocked on the bathroom door four different times telling him to hurry up.

“How does the one with superspeed take an hour in the shower?” Sam asks rhetorically. Sam, Wanda, and Peter are on the bed in Cooper’s room watching Pietro straighten out his shirt.

“Hey, it takes time to look this good,” Pietro says as he fixes his collar. All three of them nearly roll their eyes. “Do you think Y/N will like this shirt?”

“Yeah, if it was on Wanda, maybe,” Sam snorts. Peter holds back a chuckle while Wanda tries not to react.

“You look nice,” Wanda says, not wanting to tear down her brother’s confidence. Everyone’s attention is drawn to the closed door when someone knocks. They hear you ask if you can come in. Pietro responds, “One second.” He goes to lean against Cooper’s desk casually and all three on the bed try really hard not to laugh. Peter has to shove his face in a pillow. “Okay, come in.”

You let yourself into the room, your eyes falling on Wanda immediately. “Not that you don’t look nice in them, but do you really plan on wearing your pjs to the fair?” you tease her. “I mean, you’ll for sure be turning heads, if that’s the plan.”

She replies, “I was waiting on the shower. Someone was taking their time.” She points her head in Pietro’s direction who gives you a nod in acknowledgement and a “‘sup?” Sam’s mouth forms a line trying so hard not to laugh out loud. Peter’s face stays hidden behind the pillow but you can see from the side of his neck his face was getting red. You feel like you walked in at the wrong time given everyone’s behavior. You tell Wanda, “You might want to hurry. Clint says we’re leaving soon.” With that you turn to leave wondering what you had walked in on.

When you shut the door, everyone in Cooper’s room excluding Pietro bursts out laughing.

“What the hell was that, man?” Sam asks between fits of laughter.

Peter gets up and leans against the desk to mimic Pietro, “‘Sup?” Everyone laughs again, Pietro leaning over to slap Peter in the back of the head.

***

They take the family car and Nat’s car to the fair. Sam and Peter ride with Nat while the rest of you ride with Clint driving. As you wait in line to buy tickets, you lean over Wanda’s shoulder, who is standing right in front of you with her back to you, and say “I meant to say this earlier but you look nice.”

She smiles and then turns around to face you as you take a step back. She jokes, “I thought I looked good in my pyjamas but someone implied it wasn’t appropriate for the fair.”

“Oh definitely not appropriate. It was way too sexy. We couldn’t have that around the children,” you reply making her giggle.

“You don’t look too bad either,” she returns the earlier compliment, taking in your outfit as you shuffle forward with the rest of the line. “Your outfit is very nice.”

“Oh, this. I just threw it together.” No, you didn’t. You took your time with it. “But thanks,” you wave her off. When you reach the ticket stand, you rush in front of Clint to pay for yours, Wanda’s, Laura’s, Nat’s, and the kids’ tickets. You explain to him when you are all walking together that you kind of owed Wanda for something and you were the one who promised to take the kids here much to Nat and Laura’s displeasure so you kind of owed them too.

You make it inside the fairgrounds. A giant banner that reads “WESTVIEW COUNTY FAIR!” greets you overhead. Everyone gets excited upon seeing the banner and all the lights in the background. Well, everyone but Nat and Laura, Nat not ever a big fan of fairs and Laura not a fan of taking care of kids at a fair. Out of all the lights shining on the fairgrounds, your favorite is the one shining through Wanda’s eyes as she takes everything in with wonder.

“So what do you want to do first?” you ask her.

She turns to you and almost looks embarrassed. “I don’t know. I’ve never been to a fair.”

“What?” you ask in shock. She shrugs not knowing what else she could say. “Well, it’s settled then. We are not leaving until you get the whole experience. Let’s go buy some wristbands for the rides. We are going on every single one.” Her eyes widen and the wonder in them from earlier shifts into nervousness. “It’ll be fun, come on,” you reassure as you drag her to another line, leaving everyone else behind.

You and Wanda get on every ride but the ferris wheel telling her you have to leave that one for last. You even ride some twice, but you get hungry and ask Wanda if she wants to eat yet. She agrees that she could take a break for food. You try various things the fair offers wanting Wanda to try everything. “You Americans like to fry anything you can,” she comments as she takes another bite of her fried oreo. She hums as she finishes it off. “I understand why,” she says, making you laugh.

You spot Laura and Nat sitting at a table near the stage where some band is playing music. You and Wanda head on over. Soon everyone regroups there, finishing off the food they bought and watching people dance. Clint pulls Laura to dance with him. You all sit at the table watching them with a smile when someone obstructs your view of them. You look up to see a tall guy in a black cowboy hat smiling down at Wanda beside you offering his hand out asking her to dance. She looks at you, unsure of what to say. You give her a smile that admittedly took you a second to form and nod encouragingly for her to accept. She smiles politely at him and takes his hand. You watch them dance, your eyes only ever straying when you see Wanda going to look at you. You watch when he leans down to tell her something in her ear and she laughs. You wonder what he told her that was so funny. Your eyes roam over him. He’s handsome, you’ll give him that. He has a nice face, good posture. You note he is also respectful with his hand placement when dancing, so you can appreciate that. It seems like Westview County has their own Steve Rodgers. The thought bugs you.

Someone blocks your view once again, only this time you are kind of thankful for it. You look up to see Pietro asking you to dance. “Why not?” you say, wanting to do anything rather than stare at Wanda dancing with some guy. He pulls you to the dance floor. You enjoy your time dancing with Pietro though you get dizzy from how quickly he spins you. You’re a little disappointed your dance is cut short when Lila taps your arm asking if she can dance with Pietro. You smile at her saying of course she can. With your distraction gone to dance with Lila, your eyes search for Wanda once more but you cannot seem to find her. You feel someone grab your hand and you are spun into that someone’s arms. Your eyes fall to familiar green ones and you smile, “Smooth moves, Maximoff.”

“Thank you,” she says with a smile as she starts to sway with you to the music. “You let me dance with a stranger.”

“You’re dancing with me now and we were strangers not so long ago,” you rebuttal.

“But at least we know each other’s names.”

“Did you not get his name?” you ask.

“I never asked for it,” Wanda returns simply, shrugging. You find it hard to believe that his name never came up so you say, “That was a lot of talking for him to not have given you a name.”

“You saw us talking? I would not have guessed you were paying attention. Every time I looked at you, you turned to look away,” she teases you.

You swallow, choking on the embarrassment of getting caught. “Doesn’t matter. His name’s probably Brad or something. He looks like a Brad.”

She laughs then catching on to your tone she asks, “Y/N, are you jealous?”

“What? Me, jealous?” you ask, astonished. She nods, smiling like she has her answer. “Wanda, I could never be jealous of some Brad. Dance with a Marcus and then maybe, but a Brad? Pfft. No.”

She just laughs and pulls you closer. You let yourself go and dance with her until whatever song the band is playing ends. “Let’s go play some games. I feel like shooting something,” you say, making her laugh loudly.

Everyone decides to play with you as well so you all head over to the different stands. Nat wins the shooting game, Clint coming in close. He wins the popping the balloons with darts game. They give their prizes to Cooper and Lila. Peter and Sam spend some time with the hammer and bell game; Peter hitting the bell every time garners some attention especially from some girls which frustrates Sam. Pietro wins a fish when he plays ring toss. It seems like everyone but you has been winning something. Even Wanda won a stuffed panda she gave to Lila after playing a water shooting game. You were getting frustrated trying to knock some blocks off a stool. You’ve spent a good $20 on this game already. Wanda catching your frustration decides to help you out. When you are down to your last ball, you try your best to focus and throw the ball. Two of the three blocks fall down. The last one is teetering on the edge. You think you’ve lost but a second later it falls over. You shout with glee. You ask the attendant for the keychain that has the letter W on it.

Wanda watches you with a smile as you approach her. “Thank you for that,” you say, and when she tries to play naive, you continue, “I know you knocked the last block.”

She gives you a sheepish smile. You hold out the keychain to her. “I figure this only rightfully belongs to you. May it proudly hold your keys until you lose it.” She tries to say no but you take her wrist and place the keychain in the palm of her hand. “It has your initial. You have to keep it.”

“I’m pretty sure the W is for Westview County,” she counters.

“A happy coincidence.” You don’t take no for an answer and she finally smiles and thanks you, putting her new keychain away so she doesn’t lose it. You look around to see the others still distracted with the games but you also catch your cousin yawn. You know this means you’re leaving soon so you grab Wanda’s hand and head over to the line for the ferris wheel.

You thank the attendant when he checks you have your belt on and pulls the bar to your lap. The wheel starts turning and when you are midway to the top, it shakes a little as two people get on the final empty cart. The shaking makes Wanda nervous. She grabs your hand almost protectively as her posture turns into one that looks ready for a fight. You turn your palm over to interlace your fingers and rub your thumb on her hand to try to soothe her nerves. “Hey, it’s okay,” you say. She turns to you and you see her irises are red. “They always do this. We’re okay. Just don’t rock the cart and we’ll be good.”

She takes a breath willing herself to relax. The red in her irises fade back to her green. She sits back and the ferris wheel moves again, this time not stopping for people to get on. You keep holding her hand squeezing it from time to time in reassurance. You can see Clint and everyone from the ferris wheel and point them out to Wanda. The only ones to see you are the kids who wave to you. You wave back.

“Do you come to the fair every year?” Wanda asks.

“Pretty much. There’s not much else to do,” you shrug. She ponders this for a moment and then, “So you’ve brought dates to the fair before, I’m guessing.”

“Yeah?” You say more like a question wondering where she was going with this.

“In the movies, people on dates always kiss on the ferris wheel. Did you kiss them?”

“Wanda,” you say her name but it comes out more like a warning.

“Sorry, I was just wondering,” she mutters, then turns to look back at the fairgrounds.

“No, I didn’t.” You answer sincerely. She looks back at you. You explain, “The two other people I’ve taken to the fair on a date were too afraid to get on the ferris wheel.”

“You said ‘other’,” she says smiling at you.

You look at her confused. “What?”

“You said ‘the two other people’ meaning other than me. So is this date?” she raises an eyebrow, an amused expression on her face.

“A friendly date,” you say, making her frown. She huffs in defeat letting go of your hand and hold the lap bar instead. The night had been going so well, you didn’t want this one thing to ruin it, so without letting yourself think it over, you wait until you get to the top of the ferris wheel. You lean into her space and look her in the eye to show her you are serious when you say, “Don’t tell Nat or Clint.” She looks confused but the confusion quickly turns into a pleasant surprise when you gently grab her face and lean in to kiss her. It doesn’t last long enough to give her a chance to kiss you back. You pull back with a cheeky smile and say, “I did promise the whole experience.”

The kiss may have ended too quickly for Wanda but it was long enough for a few people to catch it. One of them being your cousin whose kids were pointing to you and Wanda on the ferris wheel in excitement. She just shook her head in amusement when she saw you kiss Wanda. The other person to catch you was Wanda’s brother who, when seeing you kiss his sister, just whines, “No, Y/N.”

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I'm sorry this took so long. I got sidetracked and then when I started I got stuck and in my true fashion, once I started writing, I couldn't stop and I couldn’t leave you without taking you to the fair. So, I hope the length of the chapter makes up for the wait. Oh, Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there doing their best to be good moms! I created a house map of how I picture the inside to look, you know without the fine details.

Next chapter bring your bug spray, you’re going camping.

Taglist: @madamevirgo @marvels-writings @gayarchnemissis @myperfectlovepoem @purplemeetsblue @magicallymaximoff @b0mbdotc0m @helloalycia @ironscarletwidowsoilder @cantcontroltheirfear @trikruismybitch @your-my-mission

#wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #wanda maximoff x you

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mimi-cee-hq · 3 years

Text

Laundry Days - Aran x f!reader

Summary: Three times you picked up his underwear and one time you missed doing it.

Genres, other tags: fluff, slice of life, humour, meet cute, domestic fluff, not suggestive lol, married under 25, neighbours to married lovers ;)

Words: 1.6k

Warnings: manga spoiler

This is for @neoheros & @coophi's 2021 Summer Haikyuu!! Writing contest. (Okay I'm pretty shy at first so it feels a little scary to tag you two but here's my piece.) I was going for the married under 25 prompt but ended up doing neighbours to lovers too. :D

Don't mind me spreading the underrated characters agenda as well. lol.

*****

A few articles of clothing spilled out of the dryer and onto your feet. Oops. Your neighbour must have forgotten them. You should've checked first.

Your own damp clothes sat inside the washing machine next to it, waiting for their turn to enter the dryer. It wasn't possible now.

You sighed, retrieving the phone from your pocket and scrolling until you saw the name of the neighbour who lived a floor below you.

Ojiro Aran.

You were sure this was the right person after a second look at your texting history. Who'd bring the garbage to the curb, where the lawnmower was kept, and keeping the duplex's stairway clear were some of the conversations you had with him.

You had yet to meet the guy, but he seemed amicable enough.

After shooting him a text, you thought to give him a call instead. Perhaps he'd think a phone call was strange. However, your clothes were damp and you shouldn't leave them for long. Was he even home?

You sighed. Crouched down, you returned the clothes on the floor back into the machine. A scarf, several socks, and a knit hat made their way back inside. But what was this?

Underwear. Men's underwear.

You scrunched your nose as you lifted it from the cold, tile floor. Was that a hole in it?

Click.

"Sorry I just saw your text!" a tall, dark-skinned man blurted out as soon as the door was unlocked.

"Oh! It's alright! I only texted you a few minutes ago!" you quickly explained, waving your hands in front of you.

You shouldn't have done that. The underwear was hanging from your hand.

"Ummm…" Aran scratched his cheek, eyes retreating from you.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" you spat out, tossing the incriminating object to him. "It just fell out of the dryer when I opened it so I went to pick it up!"

Once in his hands, he recognized it as the one with the seam coming undone. "I… umm… should probably have thrown this one out."

"Umm… yeah… you probably should." Those words slipped off your tongue before you could catch them.

"I- I guess I'll go now," Aran said hastily.

He shut the door.

You let out a breath. That was awkward. Heat continued to linger in your body and you weren't sure who was more embarrassed by the encounter.

Wait. His clothes were still in the dryer. Did you dare ask him back?

The door slowly creaked open and Aran peeked his head into the room.

"I forgot something, didn't I?" Aran sheepishly asked.

"Yeah." The corners of your mouth lifted into a smile. "Yeah, you did."

"I'm Aran by the way."

"Y/n."

You never thought this would be how you'd meet your future husband.

*****

The office chair in your apartment was a comfortable spot for folding clothes. The webcam caught your face as you chatted with Aran whose image filled the monitor.

You smiled. Your husband was winding down after a long day with the team and decided to check up on you.

"I'm alright," you told Aran. "I miss you though."

"I literally just saw you yesterday!" he said. "I miss you too."

After that fateful yet awkward encounter with him in that laundry room two years ago, you had run into each other more frequently at the front doors of your duplex. Your classes ended at similar times four out of your five school days. You were surprised he even started a conversation with you. You wouldn't have been able to bear the embarrassment. Fast forward to a confession, a kiss and a rock-embedded ring, and you got a small, snowy wedding during winter break.

It was back to the books for you now, and you dreaded it. Chores seemed much better, easier. Plus doing them for your newly-wedded husband? You got giddy about that.

You quirked your brow, lifting a familiar piece of clothing from the basket.

"Hey, I thought you threw this one out," you mentioned to Aran, dangling his underwear in front of the camera.

"I did! That's, uh, probably a different one."

"Just how old are these?"

"Hey! Wait a moment! Are you folding clothes?"

You avoided the eyes on the screen. "Maybe."

"You have your paper due in a few days! I told you I was going to do it after flying back home."

"I know…"

Aran's eyes narrowed at you, a trademark expression of his. "You're procrastinating again, aren't you?" His tone implied disapproval.

"But I'm still being productive!"

"Y/n…"

"Okay, okay. I'll stop." Your foot pushed the basket away, sliding it across the floor. Maybe you could fold them after you hung up.

Aran must have read your mind. "Show me what the laundry bin looks like."

You groaned. He saw right through you. Complying, you removed the clipped webcam off the monitor and directed it at the pile of unfolded clothes.

"It better be like that when I get home."

"Alright," you said with a pout.

"Love you."

"Love you too."

Must he stop you from doing chores? They were a simple reminder you were married to him, as if the gold on your finger wasn't enough to show you.

You were his wife.

A smile snuck into your lips whenever that thought crossed your mind. The honeymoon phase was a peculiar, strange, lovely stage.

Yet it was fleeting.

*****

You groaned as you stood in the middle of the bathroom. Aran's white track pants hung off the counter, the red t-shirt he got for free from first year college laid on top, and of course his underwear, which likely went through hundreds of washes, remained on the floor.

Great.

You rubbed your temples, your headache getting worse by the minute. It was Saturday morning, and Aran, who was nowhere to be seen, had left his mess behind.

I'll clean it up later, he would tell you. You knew his mother had spoiled him, always picking up after him. You understood why he was like this, but why couldn't he just start doing it now?

"Do you have this problem?" you asked your friend through your wireless headset.

"What problem?" she asked.

"Does your husband always leave laundry around on the floor?" You pinched the bridge of your nose. "Aran never picks up after himself."

She laughed. You weren't sure if it was because you were a young, amateur wife or if she understood all too well.

Knowing her, probably a bit of both.

"Okay two things."

You listened.

"One, don't say always or never. That's lying."

"I'm not lying," you snapped back at her. You began to regret asking her.

"Are you sure he never picks it up and always leaves it on the floor?"

You left no comment.

"Exactly."

"Okay fine, but that still doesn't solve the problem. If only he just did it, it would solve everything–"

"Number two," she interrupted.

You groaned at her and she gave an amused snort in return.

"If you weren't picking up his underwear, it means he's dead."

You were aghast.

"You know I'm right."

Still aghast.

"What? No husband, no mess."

"I can't believe I asked you for advice."

"But it's true."

"Ugh," was all you could utter. She had several years more of marriage experience than you, yet you didn't want to acknowledge it.

You hung up the phone after you finished deciding today's outing with her, but you hadn't addressed the issue in front of you. Your head throbbed again.

Sighing, you picked up the underwear.

A few minutes later, the front door opened and you dipped your head into the hallway. Aran shuffled grocery bags through the door and into the kitchen. He yawned, placing the milk, eggs, and other items into the fridge.

A familiar coffee brand peeked out of a bag on the floor. Right. You didn't have your coffee yet because there wasn't any left.

You wrapped your arms around Aran and relaxed against his broad back.

"I can't put the food away like this," he said with a chuckle.

"You left your clothes in the bathroom again."

"Oh shoot!" He dropped a bag and started towards the bathroom but you tightened your grip on him.

"I put them away already," you told him. His body relaxed and he caressed your arm around his waist.

The honeymoon phase was a fleeting phase, novel tasks turned mundane, but your love for him grew deeper still.

*****

Aran was away again, this time at Tokyo in preparation for the Olympics. He eagerly called you during breaks, wishing to see his favourite person – although your hands were full as well.

"I miss you," he told you, his smile displayed on the screen.

"And I miss picking up your underwear," you told him with a smirk.

Like clockwork, he narrowed his eyes at you with a comeback. "Why don't you say you miss me like a normal person?"

"Because I'm your wife. I'm special," you told him as he rolled his eyes. "I wish I could be there though."

"You wouldn't be able to spend that much time with me anyway," he said. "Besides, one of us needs to stay home."

"I know." You smiled.

"I gotta go," he said as Atsumu yelled in the background. Aran blew a kiss at you.

You snorted. How cheesy. You returned the kiss anyway.

Hearing a mischievous squeal behind you, you told him, "I gotta go too."

"Love you."

"Love you too."

After you hung up, you turned around and sighed. A soggy wet diaper sagged on the floor and the little guy jumping in the crib giggled at you as if he did the funniest thing in the world.

You rolled your eyes and smiled before picking up the diaper.

"Alright kid. Let's put a diaper back on you and wash your sheets."

*****

I hope you liked it. This is a little different from what I usually write but I hope you still enjoyed it!

I blame Aran's current concern for giving me this idea along with the person who suggested I write Aran fluff. (As well as the seasoned wife I know who told her husband, "If I wasn't picking up your underwear, it means you're dead." lolll.)

I hope you stick around my blog to check out my other works! My current work in progress is a fake dating Suna series. I can't believe we're on chapter 10!

If anyone is interested, I have a Google form for my taglist.

#aran x reader #aran fluff #aran fanfic #ojiro aran x reader #ojiro aran #aran ojiro #haikyuu x reader #haikyuu fanfic #haikyuu oneshots #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu scenario #haikyuu fluff #C/R_HQ!CONTEST #hihqnetwork #animehorizons #angelwalker’s virtues #inarizaki #inarizaki x reader

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luxwritesfanfic · 3 years

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On Tap

Sherlock insists that it would work better with the reader on top and after the night they’ve had, there’s no point in arguing. Or, the one where reader plays superhero for poor Greg and her beloved detective. Thanks for reading!

Sherlock Holmes/Reader

You hadn’t even taken your shoes off when your phone started ringing in your purse. Sighing, you dug around for it with one hand and reached for the lightswitch with the other. Work had been incredibly stressful since you were working short during flu season and everyone in London had been feeling under the weather apparently. You had told your coworkers that if they really needed you that you would come back even though you had put a solid 16 hours in. Sherlock and John had gone out for John’s bachelor party so you didn’t mind working late, and Bucky was visiting his brother in the States so all your time was truly yours. You had thought about soaking in the bath or catching up on that show you always missed, but all of those thoughts were stopped in their tracks when the ringing persisted.

“Hey, what’s up?” You tried not to sound like you’d rather chew on glass than clock one more minute into the hospital but you weren’t sure you were so convincing.

“Come get him. Please, for the love of God, come get him.” At hearing Greg’s voice, you were both relieved yet confused. Sherlock must’ve invited him last minute to celebrate with them, you didn’t remember him saying that he was coming along.

“Oh, I didn’t know you went out with the boys! Where are you guys?” It was nice to know they were all having a good time. You liked Greg and thought he was a really good friend for Sherlock and John. You had plopped down on the couch and had started pulling one of your shoes off when he said, “No, I didn’t go with them. They were brought to me. Someone called the cops on them and now I’ve got tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum arguing about the solar system and taking turns puking in my waste bin. Please, I beg of you, come get him. Matter of fact, I can bring him home. If that makes the process quicker--- I mean easier.” You heard Sherlock trying to take Greg’s phone in the background, asking to talk to you and then quickly after arguing with John once more if it was really that important he knew they orbited the sun. Greg sounded just as exhausted as you felt and you could only imagine how annoyed he was by the drunk detective that he was already annoyed with most of the time sober.

“Yeah, yeah of course I’ll come get him. I’m actually at my flat though, so if you could meet me at his place that would be awesome. I’d just need a few minutes to finish up here...” You mourned the hot bath you were never going to get to take and worked on shoving the shoe you just took off back on, “did you call Mary for John?”

“Yes, she’ll be over soon. As soon as she gets here, I’ll bring Sherlock. You’re doing the Lord’s work, thank you.” With that, he hung up and you went to your room to pack an overnight bag. You were exhausted and if you had to go all the way to Sherlock’s, it would be easier for you to crash on the couch than to try to come back home late.

By the time you got to Sherlock’s, you were dragging your feet up the stairs and you could barely keep your eyes open. You had received a text from Mary when she picked John up saying “good luck” and you wished you knew what you were walking into. You had never seen Sherlock drunk, or heard any stories of him being drunk, but you were sure he was even more eccentric than he was sober. If you weren’t so tired, you’d be jumping with joy at the experience to see Sherlock so out of character.

You went into Sherlock’s room and laid out some pajamas for him and went ahead and put a water bottle and some Advil on his nightstand because you were sure he would need it. After doing that, you changed into something more comfortable too and rummaged through his fridge to see if there was anything to eat. Thumbs, unsalted butter, and milk that shouldn’t look like blue cheese was what was on the menu and you had decided sleep for dinner sounded much more appetizing. You’d go shopping for him tomorrow.

Greg had texted that he was outside but Sherlock didn’t have his key so you made your way down the steps to meet them. Upon opening the door, Sherlock looked up at you like he hasn’t seen you in ages. He stumbled towards you and held you at arms length with a look of wonder on his face. “Finally! Y/N, I was thinking I’d die from being surrounded by total stupidity, and here you are. Ever the shining light and the beacon of hope.”

You felt the heat from his stare and turned to Greg to try and keep your composure under all his attention. “Uh.. I— thank you. For bringing him home.”

Still staring at Sherlock and shocked by his outburst, Greg met your eyes with a knowing smile. “It’s no trouble. He’s your problem now. Good luck, my dear.” He was gone in the blink of an eye, leaving you with a very drunk Sherlock Holmes and a dozen steps to climb.

“Okay,” you clapped your hands together, turning towards the door, “do you think you can get up the stairs? Or do you want me to help you?”

“Don’t be an idiot,” he started until his eyes widened like he forgot who he had been talking to. It had only been a second but he saw the look that flashed across your face. You hated when he made you feel dumb because you always tried so hard to keep up with him, and he knew that. You didn’t have a chance to react before he quickly interrupted. His previous statement was immediately followed by, “I’m sorry. Forgive me. Please help me.”

You just nodded, unsure of what made him have such a quick change of heart but you were happy he did. You hated him thinking you were dumb. In comparison to him, maybe, but you were intelligent in your own right and you did a better job of keeping up with him than most. He threw his arm around your shoulders to steady himself and allowed you to lead him carefully up the stairs. He started telling you about his night and it honestly sounded like he had a great time, and so did John. You were really happy that it all worked out even if they did end up with Greg at the end of it all.

As soon as the back of Sherlock’s legs hit his chair, he was down in a clean swoop and you took the opportunity to start untying his shoes. He seemed like he was lost in thought and was quiet for a few moments but you could tell from the way he was swaying that he was too far gone to sober up before the morning.

“I already put your clothes out for you and I’ll help you to the bathroom so you can brush your teeth. You’ll love me for that in the morning.” You smiled at him as you pulled off his loafers and moved to stand up so that you could figure out how you were going to get him out of his chair.

“Will I, though? Will I tomorrow once I’m in my right mind?” He asked, and while he didn’t say it in an ignorant tone, it sounded like Sherlock, and that was close enough.

You looked at him hoping he’d say something else. But he didn’t, and he looked back at you with a look of confusion as if he was really expecting you to answer that. It seemed like just last week he was in your bed trying to convince you that he didn’t have eyes for anyone besides you and now he’s reminding you that he’s not even sure of that. Sherlock could have you at the top of the poll and then have you kissing the ground in the same hour if he tried.

“It’s just a saying. I didn’t really mean...you know, let’s— let’s just get you to bed. It’s late and you have a date with a hangover in the morning.” You could tell he was on the verge of passing out which was good in the way of no more awkward conversations but horrible in that you’d never get him into bed as dead weight. So you pushed things along and eventually got him in bed before he was out like a light.

Draping the blanket over him, you watched as his eyes fluttered behind his lids and how his lips twitched as fell into a deeper sleep and you were sure then that you would never love anyone more. You would never understand how he didn’t realize how beautiful he made the ordinary and how easily he made everything extraordinary. Afraid that you’d turn to stone if you spent any more time staring at him, you turned off his light and made your way to the living room where the the couch had never looked more inviting. It didn’t take you long to get settled in and asleep seeing as the TV in the background ended up being the perfect thing to mask Sherlock’s drunk snores and you had never been more tired in your life.

—

“I thought you were staying over?”

It had only been a few hours since you had put Sherlock to bed when he found himself looking over you on the couch, wrapped up in his bedsheet.

“M’right here.” You murmured into the pillow, body still turned away from Sherlock on the couch. He was probably still drunk and you were hoping if you laid still enough he’d wander back to bed.

He didn’t respond to you, instead he continued to stand and stare with his lips pursed and brows furrowed. You had drifted back off only to be nudged awake once more.

“I won’t fit like that.” He gestured with the hand not holding the sheet to the couch, sounding exasperated like he had been explaining this to you all night. “It’ll only work if you’re on top, so get up so I can lie down first.”

You didn’t process what he said really, you just knew that if he was being persistent and you didn’t do as he asked he’d never let you go back to bed. You squinted as your eyes adjusted to the light and swung your legs off the couch, standing on stiff bones. Sherlock immediately made to get comfortable on the couch while you stood dazed and confused and he cleared his throat expectantly when he had finally got settled. He was on his back with one arm holding the sheet up between himself and the back of the couch allowing room for you to climb over and snuggle right into him.

All you could do was blink and hold his stare as he waited expectantly, still holding the sheet for you. You didn’t think he was asking you to lay with him, especially with how close you’d two be. Sure, you shared your bed before, but there was always enough room for you both to have your own space. You could tell he was getting embarrassed by your reaction, or lack there of.

“I didn’t think this would be rocket science, even for someone like you.” His nervousness was showing as he yanked his arm back down and curled into to himself like a child. You jumped into action so you wouldn’t upset him any more and shook his shoulder as you whined, partially from exhaustion and from missing the chance to sleep next to him.

“I’m tired, I’m sorry! I didn’t realize what you were asking. Come on, open up. Let me in.” You continued to shake at his shoulder until he looked back at you. He looked wrecked from drinking all night and you knew this bout of sobriety wouldn’t be as easy on him in the morning but you were sure he looked holy.

Sherlock reluctantly brought his arm up again and you wasted no time sliding under the sheet and tucking yourself under the crook of his arm. He smelled like beer and mouthwash and Sherlock and you thought you were going to go into cardiac arrest when he brought his arm back down on you, subsequently pinning you down to him. It was definitely a tight fit especially since the couch barely fit Sherlock but you had decided that if you had the opportunity to sleep with him like this every night that you would. Back pain be damned.

The steadiness of his heartbeat was already working you back to sleep. Sighing content, you let your body fully relax and sink further into him.

“You never answered my question.” He shifted next to you and kept you close to him all the same, his head leaning to rest on yours.

“Hmm?” You made an incoherent sound, your breath evening out as you fell asleep.

“My question,” he whispered more so to himself as he worked it out in his head. The feelings he found himself harboring for you were ones he had never felt before. He thought so highly of you in a way he couldn’t understand even if he wasn’t the best at expressing it. You were patient with him when he got on your last nerve and was amazed by him when other people would tell him to piss off. You were always kind and warm and made him feel human even after he spent so long separating himself from his feelings. He couldn’t stand the idea of you looking at anyone else the way you looked at him when you thought he wasn’t looking.

So yes, he thought. Yes, he would love you in the morning. He’d love you when you’re angry with him for putting himself at risk during a case and he’d love you when you were overly tired and petulant after he made you stay up all night to keep him company in the lab. He loved that you valued him regardless of what he offered you, and that you always showed him that even if he never reciprocated it. You were never embarrassed by him, you always tried to learn about what he was interested in, and you never doubted him even when he was wrong.

Girlfriends weren’t naturally his area... but he didn’t think he would mind if it was you. He liked being close to you and physical touch wasn’t something he had sought out often before. He found that he chased the opportunity to be near you at all times. He thought you looked lovely in scrubs and a lab coat and even lovelier in your everyday wear, even if you considered it plain. He had begun to notice the way other people stared at you when you walked by and it left him with the most unsettling feeling. But then you’d smile at him and despite himself he’d smile right back and he wondered if anything in the world mattered to you besides him. Because in those moments, nothing mattered to him besides you.

Sherlock woke up alone again the next morning with the worst headache he’d ever had. Light was shining through the curtains and he cursed the sun for rising another day as he covered his eyes and groaned. Peaking through his fingers, he saw that the Advil and water had been moved to the coffee table for him and when he reached out for it he noticed the note on the table. He sat up with one hand gingerly holding his head as he read it.

“Got called into work to help the girls. John and Mary are coming over for lunch, so text me what you want me to bring home. We can’t serve our best friends buttered thumbs for lunch. I’ll see you soon!

-Y/N xx”

He held the note in his hand, contemplating what his next move would be. You were interested in him, that he knew for sure. He’d contemplated casually mentioning to everyone that you were dating, but he technically hadn’t asked you to be his girlfriend and you two had never talked about any mutual feelings. Maybe he’d kiss you when walking you to your taxi, but he knew he’d make you stay with him instead of letting you go home. Possibly tonight when you were laying in his bed he’d tell you it had to be you, it could only ever be you.

Leaning back against the couch, he rubbed at his eyes and decided he’d call John over early and he’d help him sort it out. John always helped him. Standing up was harder than it looked apparently, as Sherlock wobbled to the side and fought the urge to puke. Perhaps he should shower first, surely you wouldn’t say yes to being his if he didn’t look his best.

He remembered how he looked and acted last night and winced. On second thought, maybe you would. You had already given yourself to him for better or for worse and soon enough, he smiled, he would give you himself in return.

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idkthisisjustforfanfic · 3 years

Text

that makes four.

story page | talk to me + join the tag list

PART 1

Your feet dangled down from the stool, elbows on the granite counter when Jeff turned around. “Alright,” he said, lips in a thin smile when he revealed the plate of reheated lasagna that someone dropped off in the last few days. “Smells good.”

You looked up at him with an unimpressed stare. “It looks a little disgusting.”

“It’s vegan, I think.”

“Jesus,” you rolled your eyes. “You start one all natural skincare line and people think you only eat plant-based shit.”

He let out a small laugh, set the plate down and watched as you picked up the fork. One bite--mediocre. Not exactly hot enough, but after all Jeff had done for you the last few days, you didn’t have the heart to demand he put it in for another minute.

“So--do you think it went well?”

You laughed around the food in your mouth, picked up a paper napkin and let your head tilt to the side. “As good as a funeral could be.”

The lights in your kitchen were dim and the sun had already faded behind the trees, the house quiet after people finally filed out. Friends, extended family, strangers you’d never met had flocked to Los Angeles for the funeral of your famous father.

It’d been coming from a mile away. His health declined, an obvious result of the cocaine and the cigarettes and whatever else he’d ingested regularly in the 70s. A heart attack a year ago put him on a fast track to the afterlife, but he always joked that he’d probably end up in hell.

Being in the music industry ruined him, in a way--it ruined your parents’ marriage and it ruined a lot of the relationships your father had. Blow outs and big fights that left him exiled from a lot of social circles, sometimes never speaking to people again after one bad phone call. But it was never like that with Irv.

“Well, I’ve never seen my dad cry so hard,” Jeff smiled. “He really loved him.”

Another bite of the soggy noodles and fake cheese. “I know.”

A comfortable silence, the doors off the kitchen were open, a breeze from the backyard let the southern California warmth blow through the sheer curtains when you sipped at your left over wine.

Jeff was the closest thing you had to a sibling, his family was all you had left at this point. You were tossed in the bathtub with him and his siblings as a baby, shoved into family photos and tagged along for vacations.

Being closest in age to Jeff meant people always hoped it would be the two of you that would end up together. Happily ever after or having babies of your own. But when you saw Jeff wolf down a whole pizza at his bar mitzvah, any hope of a spark between the two of you had been permanently extinguished.

His older sister was the one who told you what it meant to have sex, and after your mom died, his mom helped you pick out a dress for your Sweet Sixteen.

She was the one who talked you off the ledge when you found out you were pregnant only a few years later, she was the one who threw you both baby showers and she was the one who helped you through your divorce only six months earlier.

So now that your dad was gone, too, you wondered where you fit into their family and what your definition of family even was.

Before the thought could cross your mind, the front door was pushed open and the sound of high pitched giggles floated in from the foyer.

CeCe’s tiny voice echoed down the hall. “Uncle Jeff?”

“Is that my CeCe?” He took a few steps forward and she ran straight into his legs, he hoisted her up onto his hip when Maeve rounded the corner with Tristan in tow.

“Hi honey,” you opened an arm so your ten-year-old could fit into the side of you. She leaned her head on her shoulder. “How was ice cream?”

The easiest ploy to get them out of the house while you hosted some kind of awkward afterparty.

“Fine,” she sighed. “But Tristan said that funerals are a selfish attempt by the living to hold on to someone after they’re dead.”

You blinked a few times and looked down at her, shocked by the words and apparently, her ability to understand them. You looked over at Tristan, arched eyebrows to communicate how displeased you were.

His eyes went wide when Jeff choked down a laugh. “I didn’t--I don’t know what you’re talking about Maeve.”

You kissed Maeve on the head. “Well, Tristan is wrong about a lot of things, trust me. But you two should go get ready for bed, it’s been a long day.”

You looked over at him again--younger by two years and easily one of the most important people in your life. You met him only a year after you started your business, he had a knack for brand management and eye for design that you couldn’t pass up. He was way too sarcastic and cynical to be your regular babysitter, but Jeff and his family were basically in the receiving line beside you.

Jeff let CeCe climb down and Maeve took her by the hand as they headed for the kitchen stairs to the second floor, leaving you alone at the island with two of your closest friends.

He waited until he heard the water turn on from their bathroom sink, then whispered in Tristan’s direction. “Great idea to say that to a ten-year-old and a six-year-old after their grandpa dies.”

Tristan rolled his eyes theatrically, “she asked why so many people came and why she’d never met any of them if they loved her grandpa so much.”

“Well, you can expect a bill for their therapy in a few years,” you laughed, forking more lasagna into your mouth.

Tristan made his way over to the fridge and pulled out the glass dish, helping himself to a piece when Jeff took a seat beside you. “How are you holding up?”

“Fine,” you glanced at him sideways, suspicious about any ulterior motive he might have.

“Okay, Y/N,” Jeff laughed, Tristan eyed you from over his shoulder like he didn’t believe you. “Let me try again. How are you feeling emotionally?”

You cleared your throat and swallowed the most recent bite of dinner. “Oh, you mean cause my husband left me six months ago and my dad just died and now I’m a single mom with two fiesty daughters who just inherited a giant house aaaaaand,” you drew out the word for dramatic effect. “I’m a business owner who barely gets any sleep?”

“That’s what I was getting at, yes,” Jeff nodded and fought a smirk.

“I’m alright,” you sighed. “Tired. Kind of freaked out about what the fuck is going on in my life, but, I’ll survive. I always survive."

You knew you would--in fact, you’d been waiting for this moment for the last few weeks. When Jeff’s mom called to tell you your dad needed to be put in hospice, you prepared. You talked to Maeve and CeCe and explained it all in a way they’d understand. His life on earth is over, but we can still talk to him and visit a pretty garden to remember him.

It was a lot to deal with only a few months after your high school sweetheart turned husband admitted he’d been having an affair and moved out, you saw on Facebook that he’d since bought a motorcycle and was spending most of his time at bars along the coast. That whole fiasco was harder to explain to your children.

And now suddenly everyone wanted to make sure you were okay. Frozen dinners, offers to drive your kids to and from their extracurriculars, a lot of attention was suddenly thrust onto you and your family, as if you hadn’t always hated that growing up.

But you knew the time would come when life would settle back down. Cousins and aunts and uncles would fly home, people would stop asking how you were doing post divorce. Dust would settle and the sun would set on this chapter and frankly, it couldn’t happen soon enough.

So here you were, the funeral was over, the dinner in his honor at Jeff’s parents, the media coverage was starting to die down and life could return to normal. Or, at least, a new normal.

Your dad had been a fixture in your life--weekly dinner dates with grandpa gave you a minute to yourself after working long days and answering endless phone calls. A glass of wine on the couch or even dinner with Tristan and Zoey was a nice escape from breaking up fights or figuring out how to reattach the head of a Barbie doll after someone shoved someone into a closet and tears and screaming ensued.

“You will definitely survive,” Jeff nodded.

Tristan came and sat, forked into the lasagna and made a face when he realized how bad it was. “Is this fake cheese?”

“Unfortunately,” you nodded.

Tristan made a face and then cleared his throat. “I, for one, think this is the start of a new chapter for you. New opportunities, new love,” he smirked.

A quick retort: “Yeah, that’s obviously the first priority right now.”

“He’s right, though,” Jeff said. “You have a fresh start, a totally new chapter.”

You nodded--they were right, but easing into a new chapter felt a lot better than trying to dive right in.

“Speaking of a fresh start, you know, changing things up,” Jeff forced a grin in your direction. “Can we actually talk for a second?”

You eyed him suspiciously, put your fork down to bow out from eating the world’s worst lasagna. “Yeah?”

“I have kind of a weird favor to ask. And--I know it’s kind of bad timing, with everything going on, but--just hear me out, okay?”

Instead of replying, you watched him, lifted your brows to encourage him to continue and tread carefully.

“So I have a client who isn’t from here, he bought a house but it’s in the middle of getting renovated. There’s kind of been a lot going on, it’s a long story.”

“Okay,” you nodded, unsure where he was going with it.

“He needs a place to stay, and I was wondering if maybe he could stay here for a little.”

“Here, like, here here?” You pointed to the floor of your kitchen, an elegant upgrade from the more modest house in Woodland Hills you’d occupied before the divorce.

Along with the death of your father came the inheritance of his Bel Air estate and all of the bedrooms, the four car garage, the manicured lawn and the pool out back. Some people thought you should sell it, use the cash to make trusts for the girls or save for college.

Selling it didn’t feel right, though. It was the house he worked so hard for, the house you called home for the later half of your teen years and the place you always came back to when things got hard. So instead of putting it on the market and closing that chapter, once again, you returned to the safe haven in the hills when you didn’t know where else to turn.

“Yeah, I know it sounds crazy, but you have the room and it might be fun to have someone else around and--”

“I have two daughters, Jeff, I can’t just let a stranger live with us.”

“He’s not a stranger, Y/N, he’s my friend. We’re really close.”

“Who is he?” Tristan asked, waving his fork in the air to remind us that he was still present.

“Harry Styles.”

Tristan’s eyes nearly bugged out of his head. “The kid from the boyband?”

“No way,” you shook your head, dismissing it before you could even let his name register. “I’m not having a pop star boy band kid stay in my house.”

“Okay,” Jeff held up a hand to get Tristan to relax, then moved to point at you. “He’s 24, number one. He’s not a kid, he’s, like, only a few years younger than us.”

“Yes,” you nodded, “exactly. I don’t need a 24-year-old living with my daughters.”

“He’s not like that, though. He’s responsible and he’s a family friendly dude, and--”

“Then why can’t he live with you? Or with your parents?”

“I don’t have the room,” he said. “And my dad hates house guests.”

You rolled your eyes, it was obnoxious, but it was true. Irv hated having people stay over almost as much as he hated it when your dad beat him in golf.

Jeff took your silence as an opportunity to continue selling you on the idea. “He just finished his tour, he’s working on his second album. He’s probably going to be in the studio a lot, Y/N. Do you really think I would let some crazy party animal live with my nieces?”

Another eye roll from both you and Tristan.

“Is this like, just a few nights?” You asked.

“Like, two weeks. Tops.”

“Two weeks?!” You shook your head. “No--I can’t put them through that after all the shit that’s been going on this year. Why can’t he just stay in a hotel?”

“Cause that’s lonely and he’s a people person and--I don’t know, it might be good for you to have someone around.”

You rolled your eyes that, was it a jab at your new status as a single mom or new status as a fatherless daughter? Unsure.

Jeff stood from the counter and grabbed for his phone on the far end of the island. “Just think about it, okay? I’ve gotta run. A few weeks, built in babysitting, maybe--he’s great with kids.”

“I’ve already thought about it,” you told him, resting your chin in your hand and offering a sugary sweet smile. “No fucking way.”

“Mommy!” CeCe’s voice called from upstairs, you hoisted yourself up, ready to tuck them in and forget that Jeff had ever asked such a ludicrous question.

“I would owe you big time--it might be fun! You’ve got the room, he could be a positive male influence on the girls.” He wiggled his eyebrows at the end of his sentence--like that would really sway you.

“And I’m not that?” Tristan pulled his head back, offended.

“You’re the one who told them funerals are stupid,” Jeff said with a sarcastic smirk.

“And you’re the crazy one trying to let a stranger move in here like it’s an AirBnB,” you shot back at Jeff. “So maybe they do need a better male influence than both of you.”

“Mommy!” CeCe called again, more impatient this time.

“I’m coming!” You shouted. “You, let yourself out when you’re finished eating this terrible meal,” you pointed at Tristan and the lasagna. “And you,” you pointed at Jeff with a smirk. “Please never speak to me again.”

He was already heading for the door, keys in hand when he blew you a kiss. “Love you, see you soon!”

“Love you,” you called back, bounding up the stairs, mom mode activated.

A text message the next day when you were at work:

Jeff Azoff (1:43pm): 🙏😇🙏😇

You blew air from your lips, Zoey sat across from you at a conference table when you took a late lunch. She was the first friend you made when you started high school, your long time confidant aside from Tristan and Jeff and a sure bet to tell it like it is.

Now she regularly popped into the Luna offices and she loved nothing more than acting like she was a higher up at your business. She’d rather be doing that than admit she was a new mom with no clue what the next chapter of her life would look like. You had that in common.

Her two-month-old son, Benny, sat in a carrier on the ground, his eyelashes fluttered when Zoey put her feet up on the chair beside her.

“What’s the sigh for?”

“Jeff is being annoying.”

“What’d he do now?”

You looked over at her, nose deep in her phone when you took another bite of the burrito bowl she’d picked up for you. You didn’t know if it was worth it to explain it all. Zoey was excitable, never one to turn down an adventure and her aptly timed identity crisis that came with becoming a mom was sure to make her encourage bad decisions even more.

She looked up at you, suddenly aware of the wheels spinning in your mind.

“Spill it,” she instructed. She put her phone down and let out a breath, clasped her hands and waited for you to fill her in.

“He asked me to let a friend of his stay with us in my dad’s house.”

“Your house,” she corrected. “Deed’s in your name now.”

“My house,” you nodded. “And I feel weird about it.”

“Who’s the friend?”

“Some client of his,” you tried to wave it off as if the name didn’t matter.

It didn’t, really. You’d long been exposed to the rich and famous just because of the nature of your father’s work. He was one of the biggest managers in the music industry in partnership with Jeff’s dad, so you were no stranger to beautiful people with beautiful cars and beautiful homes. When Jeff took on the family business, you only grew more accustomed to it.

“So a celebrity?” she shimmied her shoulders in excitement. “Which one?”

“Harry Styles,” you said the name slowly, quietly, even though it was just the two of you in the second floor conference room and even though this was your office that you bought and you owned and you ran.

“He’s hot,” she nodded casually, less impressed than you’d expected.

“He’s also like twenty-something, so it's disgusting for you to say that.”

“Oh relax,” she dismissed your concern. “He could be your pool boy.”

Zoey--who also grew up in Southern California and spent plenty of time at your house as a kid--hadn’t yet grown so accustomed to the coming and going of celebrities. Her parents owned a florist shop in Santa Monica and in high school you had to tell her she could only come to a Britney Spears concert if she didn’t cry when you inevitably met her in the green room thanks to your dad.

“I have children,” you reminded her. “A ten-year-old who might as well be fifteen and a six-year-old who would think I literally bought her a human playmate.”

“But if he’s friends with Jeff I highly doubt he’s a serial killer,” she reasoned.

“Wow, you are completely missing the point.”

“What’s the point, then?”

“It’s weird--I can’t have a stranger move in with my kids.”

“Why not?”

“Because first their dad left us and now their grandpa died.”

“Sounds like they need a new man in their life.”

You ignored the similarity of her words with Jeff’s from the other night. “I just think it’s crazy.”

“Okay,” she sat up straight and suddenly looked like this was morphing into a business conversation. “How long?”

“Two weeks.”

“Oh my god,” she turned her palms towards the sky. “Just do it.”

“What? No!”

“It’s two weeks--it’ll take your mind off of all the shit that’s been going on, it’ll be a fun distraction for the girls. You have so much space in that house you will never even know he’s there. And you’re helping a friend.”

She wasn’t wrong: Harry could likely stay in the bedroom all the way on the other end of the hall from where the girls slept. Maeve was thrilled to get her own room in the move and CeCe would occasionally run into your room after a nightmare, so the space was a plus.

He’d have his own room, his own bathroom. Hell, he could even park in the extra garage and enter from the back of the house. Maybe you wouldn’t even notice he existed.

You sighed, tugged at your necklace when you met her gaze. “I just feel really protective over them right now. I feel like Luke ruined their sense of family and now with my dad gone--”

She stuck her tongue out in disgust at the sound of your ex’s name. “I get that--but they have you. They have Jeff and his family and they have me and Shawn and now Benny.”

You offered a small smile at her reassurance. She was right in a lot of ways. The Azoffs were as much a family to your daughters as they had been to you. Shelli and Irv were like grandparents, they offered to babysit plenty of times and they always managed to get the girls the most amazing birthday presents.

But something in you knew it wasn’t the same. You’d dreamed of giving your daughters the sense of family you never had: a mom and a dad who loved each other. One house, not two that had two different beds and sets of books or toys.

Luckily and unluckily, your ex hadn’t made a huge deal about custody. Visits here and there were outlined in your divorce papers, but at this point in time he didn’t seem the most interested in maintaining a relationship with his daughters, even though he promised way back when that he’d never leave.

Getting pregnant with him during college wasn’t planned, but he swore you’d make it work and you tied the knot only a few months before Maeve was born. Things were good at first, you always knew you’d have more than one--if only to combat your own only-child loneliness--and then CeCe came five years later when you felt a little more prepared.

“I don’t think it’s going to traumatize them, Y/N. I mean, the least you could do is meet the guy.”

You watched her for a minute, blew air from your nose in a huff before you picked up your phone.

Y/N L/N (1:56pm): Fine. I’ll meet him.

Three days later you pulled up to a cafe in Brentwood and took a deep breath in the parking lot. If he was creepy, you wouldn’t go for it. If you got even the slightest weird vibe from him, you’d ex-communicate Jeff and only go over to visit his parents with the girls when he wasn’t around.

You’d already been leaning towards just doing it, especially once Tristan got a glass of wine in you and reminded you what your dad would have said: he who helps is one who prospers.

A few sleepless nights left you staring at the ceiling and wondering if you were crazy. You just now had the chance to let life settle down and here you were, mourning the loss of your biggest supporter, trying to piece yourself back together post divorce, and considering letting a stranger move in? Grief really did do strange things to people.

But when you walked in and found them sitting at a table in the back, something clicked.

Your dad was already fond of your possible houseguest, which you only knew from overhearing previous conversations between him and Irv about how proud they were of Jeff for picking up the family business, and now it all made sense.

A small part of you--probably the stupidest part of you--wondered if there was something cosmic about it. Your dad was always one to let his artists stay in the house, if they weren’t creepy, of course. You grew up with bands rehearsing in the backyard and going to shows at the Troubadour before you were old enough to drive, and you turned out fine.

“Hi,” Harry stood, offered a hand and introduced himself after Jeff gave you a kiss on the cheek. “Harry, pleasure to meet you.” Polite, maybe a bit of a kiss ass. Your dad must have loved him.

“Y/N,” you nodded, sat down when Jeff tugged out a chair for you. “Thanks for--uh--meeting with me, I guess.”

“Thanks for maybe letting me stay at your house,” he offered a sheepish smile, held your gaze for a second when Jeff adjusted the sunglasses clipped to his shirt.

“I’m actually surprised you guys haven’t met before,” he said.

“I’ve been a little busy this year,” you reminded him with a nod. “But--nice to finally meet you.”

Harry nodded, a dimple in his left cheek ignited a tiny spark in your chest, but you pushed Zoey’s words out of your mind. Two weeks, it wasn’t a big deal. He’d be in and out and this would be a blip on the radar.

“We can order coffee or something, but Y/N, I’m assuming you have like, a whole interrogation mapped out?”

You pretended to laugh at Jeff’s joke, turned to Harry and offered a no-nonsense smile. “I have two children, I got divorced earlier this year and my dad just died. So I don’t need any drama or anything. This is temporary and I’m doing this to help out a friend. Jeff, that is, not you.”

He laughed at your clarification and nodded. “Right. This is just me living in your house. No drama. Short-term.”

“And obviously my children will be there, so no guests.”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Okay I’m not that much older than you,” you said it quickly, offered a small smile when he looked a little scared.

“Sorry--no, I didn’t mean that in a rude way.”

“No ma’am,” you added a rule, pulling a laugh from both of them when you lifted another finger in the air to count them off. “No drugs or alcohol, unless it’s like a glass of wine at dinner or something,” you shrugged.

“Look,” Jeff leaned forward. “Y/N’s kids are great, she’s got a great skincare company and she’s a kickass human. And you need a place to stay, so don’t fuck this up.”

“You both have my word. No drugs, no alcohol, no guests, no ma’am,” he smirked in your direction. “I’ve lived alone for a while, so, it’ll be nice to have some roommates.”

You nodded slowly and watched him for a second. A hoodie with the name of the management firm your dad and Irv had started, a backwards baseball hat and simple Ray-Bans. You ignored the fluttering in your veins from just looking at him, your own words echoed against the walls of your skull: he’s also like twenty-something, so that’s disgusting.

This was his brand, you were sure. Something Jeff had worked hard on--the looks, the smile, the exact formula that management firms drooled over was playing out in front of you. You sipped your drink once the waiter delivered three cappuccinos. Two weeks, tops.

Los Angeles afternoons were meant for playing outside, which is what your daughters did best if they weren’t busy pulling each other’s hair. You had dinner on the stove--enough for five--and a knot of nerves in your stomach when the wheels of his fancy car crunched atop the gravel.

The girls ran to greet him and Jeff showed him around the house. Now, Harry sat across from you at the table, Maeve to his left with an unimpressed look on her face when you cleared your throat. “Okay, gratitude time.”

Jeff set his fork back down, a guilty look on his face to admit he’d forgotten about your pre-dinner ritual.

CeCe squirmed in her seat, let out a sigh when Maeve protested with a flutter of her eyelashes. “I don’t have anything to be thankful for,” she informed you.

“That feels a little hard to believe,” you nodded, losing patience for her attitude over the last few days. “CeCe, do you want to go?”

Your younger daughter looked up at you, scrunched her mouth and thought about it. “I don’t have anything either.”

You tried not to groan aloud. After the week you’d had and the sudden changes in your life, disciplining your daughters felt like the last thing you wanted to do, if only they’d just behave.

“I can go,” Harry lifted his hand sheepishly as if he was sitting in a classroom and not in your dining room, a dimple on his cheek when he smiled sheepishly.

“Take it away,” you motioned towards him.

“M’thankful for being here, having a place to stay--and what looks like it will be a delicious meal.” By now he had a bit of smug look on his face, maybe proud of the fact that he’d broken the ice and stepped up to the pre-dinner prompt.

“Mom’s cooking is a solid six out of ten on a good day,” Maeve looked over at him, her fork now in her hand as if she was ready to dig in.

“Okay,” you leaned in and caught her gaze. “Drop the attitude or go to your room.”

“I’m thankful for Emma,” she named her friend, her quick submission after she rolled her eyes told you she just wanted to eat and get this over with. “She warned me today that Hayley was wearing a shirt I wore last week so I think she’s copying me.”

“Okay,” you nodded, you’d accept anything at this point. “CeCe? Last chance.”

“I’m grateful for pudding.”

Harry let out a quiet laugh, you nodded and said: “Great. I’m thankful for you two,” you smiled at them, hopeful that this nightly tradition would hold some type of meaning, more than just eye rolls and pre-pubescent angst from Maeve.

Jeff looked over at the girls, “I’m thankful for my friend Harry getting to meet my other friends, CeCe and Maeve.”

“Aww,” Harry smiled, a hand clutched to his heart when he looked between them.

“Alright,” you were annoyed by how good your daughters were at turning on their charm for anyone but you. Jeff was often the fun uncle, just like your ex had been the fun dad, which left you forcing them to play this gratitude game every night after they finished their homework.

CeCe wasted no time digging into the spaghetti on her plate, leaving Jeff to ask Maeve: “so what are you going to do about Hayley?”

“I don’t know,” Maeve sighed. “She’ll die when she finds out that you’re sleeping over,” she pointed her fork at Harry.

“He’s not sleeping over,” you corrected. “He’s staying in one of the guest rooms, remember?” You’d already explained it a few times to them. A few weeks, he’s working on more music, he’ll be busy, he’s not here to play with you.

“Whatever,” Maeve said. “Maybe I’ll hold it over her.”

“Maeve,” you looked over, unsure what had gotten into her. “I thought we talked about this stuff with Hayley?”

“I know--but she just keeps annoying me,” Maeve explained.

“Dump pasta on her head,” CeCe suggested with a giggle.

“Don’t do that,” you looked at CeCe and poked her in the stomach.

“I personally am a big fan of that idea,” Jeff smiled over at CeCe. “But it’d probably be better to just forget about it. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.”

“Or the sincerest form of annoying,” she retorted.

Harry let out a laugh at that, caught your gaze when you wondered how soon it’d take him to get annoyed with your kids.

They were great--smart, funny, clever, definitely witty and sometimes dramatic. But they were good kids.

You remembered how tough it was to adapt to motherhood, even though they were your own. Something told you that Harry, no matter how short his stay would be, was not in the chapter of his life that entailed finding joy in playdates and pillow fights.

But he made it through dinner, quiet but friendly and as soon as Maeve was finished, she begged him to play squishball outside before sunset.

“Squishball?” his eyebrows dipped together. “Never heard of it.”

“It’s basically just baseball but with a softer bat and a foam ball cause mom doesn’t want us to break our skulls,” Maeve informed.

“I never said break your skulls,” you argued.

“But it’s what you meant,” she shrugged.

“I would love to play,” Harry laughed, unbelievably entertained by the back and forth he’d already witnessed. They yanked him outside and set up their tiny diamond, CeCe pulled on a tutu just for flair and you and Jeff were left to handle the aftermath of a family dinner.

Jeff put the final plate into the dishwasher after a little bit and offered a hesitant smile when he turned around. “So?”

“So what? It’s been like an hour and a half of him being here.”

Their laughter from outside was audible, CeCe shrieked when Maeve made contact with the bat and sent the ball soaring into the air. “The girls clearly love him.”

“Of course they do--they love anyone for the first two hours.”

“I think he’ll be good for you guys.”

You rolled your eyes, wiped the counter with the sponge when he continued.

“And you guys will be good for him.”

This got your attention. “How so?”

“He’s a people-person, never likes being on his own too much. Some structure and responsibility is good for him.”

“So I’m babysitting him?”

“Oh my god,” he laughed. “Relax, will you? This could be a mutually beneficial thing if you let it, that’s all I’m saying.”

You didn’t read too much into it, you figured Jeff was peppering you with reassurance only to calm your nerves or quell your concerns. When he was finished helping you clean, he hugged the girls goodbye and waved over his shoulder, leaving Harry alone in your house with you and your daughters and nothing but good intentions.

You left him downstairs at first, helped CeCe brush her hair and sat on the floor when Maeve picked out her clothes for the next day: hopefully Hayley doesn’t own this dress.

When you headed back downstairs an hour later, the girls were tucked in, the lights were off, and your usual plan would have been to check your work emails if it weren’t for the dimpled guy in your living room.

He stood at the bookcase, hands clasped behind his back when you found him.

“Hi, sorry--bedtime is always a--” you paused, not even knowing the right label. “A shit show. But thanks for playing with them earlier.”

He laughed, turned around and offered a smile. “No worries--they seem like great kids.”

“They are,” you assured. “Maeve’s been a bit snarky lately but I think that’s just the whole beginning of puberty thing.” You cringed a little when the words left your mouth, wondering if it was too much information for someone who likely had cooler things to do than talk about ten-year-olds and training bras.

But he smiled, shoved his hands in his pockets when you said: let me show you around.

He’d arrived at the worst time. Homework, dinner prep, CeCe crying because Maeve finished her homework first. You didn’t have the chance to give him a tour and you figured it would be better coming from you than from Jeff, that way you could remind him of all the rules.

You showed him the ground floor first. The library, the family room, the two offices and the three different remotes that all worked different TVs or speakers or lamps. He marveled at the pictures on the wall in your dad’s old office space, he was a legend, he told you.

He climbed the stairs behind you and whispered in response when you pointed out what was behind each door. Bathroom, Maeve’s room, CeCe’s room, guest room, another bathroom, master suite, guest room, his room.

You pushed the door open and stepped aside to let him in. Gray walls, a wooden four-post king-sized bed. Throw pillows you’d picked out when you moved in a few weeks ago, a dresser to the left. He looked around and nodded. “S’perfect.”

“Good,” you said, walking over to a small linen closet in his attached bath. “Towels are in here, should be soap and stuff in the shower--had our housekeeper stock it.”

“Thanks,” he nodded again.

“I don’t know where you parked, but there’s a garage in the back that my dad used to keep some of his sports cars in--there’s definitely room and that way you don’t have to leave yours out if it rains.”

Were you talking too much? You just wanted him to feel at home or at least welcomed.

“Amazing,” he said. “Thank you.”

A repetitive answer but it didn't stop you from rambling.

“Keurig’s on the counter--creamer in the fridge. Should be plenty of food but obviously feel free to stock what you like. Except like, weed.”

“Weed doesn’t go in the fridge...” he eyed you suspiciously, the same dimple appeared on his cheek and you rolled your eyes.

“I know--I know weed doesn’t go in the fridge.”

“Just the no drug policy,” he nodded.

“Right. Am I forgetting anything?”

He shifted his weight on his feet and shrugged his shoulders, a subtle shake of his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay,” you nodded, one final look around the room to make sure he had what he needed. His duffle bag was already in the corner, you’d told Jeff to put it upstairs and out of the way so CeCe and Maeve didn’t get nosy.

“I just have a question actually, if that’s alright.”

“Yeah?”

“When did you move in here?”

“Uh, beginning of August, so like, almost a month ago.”

He nodded, his eyes curious despite the fact that he didn’t ask more.

“We had to put my dad in hospice, I was looking for a place anyway after,” a quick motion over your shoulder to gesture to the girls. “My divorce, so--a lot of change, but it’s been nice to be home.”

He nodded thoughtfully, the quiet of the bedroom suddenly felt heavy. “S’a beautiful house.”

“Thank you,” you looked around the room again, if only to put your eyes somewhere other than his face. “I felt shitty about redecorating it at first, but--it was a little too much of a 70s bachelor pad.”

“Leave it to Walt,” he joked.

That piqued your interest. “Did you know my dad? Like, did you spend any time with him?”

He pushed his lips out in thought but shook his head when he sat down on the bed. “Not really--met him a few times at events with Jeff, but I never spent any quality time with him.”

You nodded--he was a busy guy, popular and well respected in his industry. “He was a good person, good grandfather, too.”

Harry smiled at that. “Always heard that Irv was the balls but your dad was the heart.”

You laughed, scrunched your nose at the saying you’d heard a hundred times. The two of them were partners in crime, two peas in a pod, yet they couldn’t be more different. He spoke again before you could reply, voice soft in the sleepy house.

“I mean, if you're his daughter he obviously did something right.”

He held your gaze just long enough for you to feel something, something you pushed out of your mind so quickly that your hand was on the door knob before he could even say goodnight.

Two weeks, tops.

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