#I’ve never almost had to take a phone call or let someone in the office while crying so many times in my entire life

[hxney-lemcn]

This is Home — Osamu Dazai x gn! reader

summary: reader and Dazai's bond grows, feelings are revealed and Dazai shows a rare moment of vulnerability.

tw: mention of Dazai being suicidal, slight angst (mostly fluff), slight hurt/comfort

a/n: I hope I didn't write Dazai's character wrong. He's such a complicated character and I made him super lovesick so oops. Also this is super self indulgent (tbf I always write the reader in relation to how I would act).

wc: 3.3k

Master List

Your life outside of work wasn’t too exciting. After coming home from a stressful day of talking down a hostage situation or tracking down a criminal ability user, you were grateful for the peace you found at home. The Armed Detective Agency wasn’t what you expected to do as your career, but you weren’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, after dealing with troubling situations all the time, laying down in bed and watching whatever managed to keep your attention was all the more gratifying. 

It was funny looking back, when you had been afraid of growing up lonely and bored. You got more than enough excitement at work, and you almost saw your colleagues as family. You truly loved them, they were everything (which was a bit sad but you digress), but you also enjoyed the tranquility of your home. The time you had to yourself was something you always appreciated. 

Today was one of those rare peaceful days. It was the weekend and you all were given a much needed day off. You had been letting your top coat dry, being careful as you scrolled through your phone, tv playing something in the background. Your pet cat laid peacefully on your feet, her cute little head snuggling into your legs. Days like these were your favorite. The weight of your job was lifted momentarily, soaking in as much of this relaxing feeling as possible. 

What you hadn’t fully expected (you can never underestimate what he’d do) was for Dazai to pop into your bedroom…at least he had the decency to knock on your bedroom door before entering. How did he get into your apartment? Lock picking. He totally lock picked your door. Much to his amusement, you hadn’t even batted an eye at his appearance. He hadn’t done this before, but from the way he acted around you in the office, this was bound to happen. Your only grief was that your cat had jumped away in apprehension of the ‘stranger’. 

Dazai let out a gasp, eyes starry as he noticed the nail care products that were on your bed stand, “You do your own nails? I always thought you got them professionally done.”

“Nah,” You shrugged. “You think I have the money or time for all that? I’ve been doing my own nails for as long as I can remember.”

“You’re so talented,” Dazai praised, jumping onto your bed next to you. Taking one of your hands in his own, he took in your work, even though it was just one color he was staring like it was the most fascinating artwork he’s ever seen.

“Want me to do yours?” You asked, unsure why he was so enraptured with your usual nails. You always tried to keep them nice. You could neglect any other aspect of your health, but you always tried to keep your nails looking good. You weren’t sure why, but maintaining them was relaxing, as well as a routine that calms you down. 

“Would you really,” Dazai gasps, now clasping your hand in his, an exciting grin dazzling his beautiful features. “You spoil me truly, Abelia.” That was something only Dazai called you. His fawning over women had slowly fizzled out, the pet name belladonna long forgotten. Instead, he had turned that attention towards you tenfold. If someone needed Dazai (mainly Kunikida), the first place they’d look was wherever you were. He would constantly drap himself over you, complimenting you and fawning over you. It was weird, you weren’t used to such attention, but you had started to look forward to the next time you’d see Dazai. You soaked up any and all attention he was willing to give you, while he had been doing the same. 

You looked up Abelia, unsure what that was. It was a plant, just like belladonna. But except being the name of deadly nightshade, it was a flowering plant, a part of the honeysuckle family. It was a unique, but heartwarming nickname that you had grown fond of quicker than you’d like to admit. It was hard for you to fully comprehend if Dazai actually was interested in you, or if this was his weird way of showing you affection. Although as mentioned earlier, he had stopped his flirting with women altogether, which made you wonder if he was okay (he’s just whipped for you). 

“You can pick out any color you want,” You motioned to the small rack of nail polish you owned. You had more than you needed, but that gave Dazai a wide variety. You watched him, the warmth in your eyes clear as he made a show of what color to pick.

“Ahh what do I choose?” He sighed, hands pointing to different colors. “There’s so much to choose from.” Suddenly, he perked up, picking up a color and quickly sliding up to you. A grin formed on your face as he waved the sparkly pink color in front of your face. 

“I’m warning you now, those sparkles are a pain to get off,” You warned, grabbing your nail file and cuticle cutters. “I had to scrape them off even after all the nail polish was already gone.”

“All the more reason,” Dazai smiled, watching as you fully turned towards him. Dazai didn’t hesitate when you held your hand out towards him, placing his in yours. Your touch always warmed him in a way he hadn’t felt before, the simplicity of your routines is what drew him in. That wasn’t to say you were boring, it’s just all he had known was chaos. If he wasn’t the center of chaos, he would create it. You were the complete opposite. You gave Dazai a taste of something he thought wasn’t meant for him, and he was slowly becoming dependent on you to show him more. A world that isn’t bloody and terrible, a world where he can be loved even with the terrible things that he’s done. A world where he’s with you. 

Dazai didn’t pay any attention to the tv, warm chocolate eyes watching your every movement. How you gently filed his nails into a nice looking oval shape (he couldn’t believe how better they looked just after the first step). How your eyes would dart to the tv every so often to keep up. How you made sure he wasn’t hurt when you clipped his cuticles, he was in slight awe at how you made it look so easy. Finally you put on the base coat. It had been thirty minutes and Dazai was already feeling a bit antsy. Sitting still wasn’t really his style even though he could be the laziest motherfucker alive. You were just so close, and he felt like it was a crime that he hasn’t held you close yet.

Even though Dazai knew his feelings for you ran deeper than they should, he hadn’t been able to tell you. Yes…he was kind of obvious, but he could tell that you would always interpret his affection as nothing but friendly. It was amusing and frustrating at the same time. He wanted to move past this stage, for you to be his, and him yours. Yet he was held back, knowing he didn’t deserve such kindness. How many people has he killed that wanted the same? How many people has he killed that had that warmth, only to extinguish it? 

At the end of the day, he still felt that hollow feeling. He didn’t really care about whomever he killed, they were just blank faces adding to a number. That alone made him feel guilty, because he knows you wouldn’t see it as such. You were so kind, kind enough to see a monster like him and care. He’s been shown the light time and time again within the ADA, and you only furthered that. At first it was hard for Dazai to understand the difference between the brutality of the Port Mafia and the ADA, but it slowly became clearer over time. You had been the nail in the coffin, showing him the true beauty of protecting someone. You had become a shoulder to cry on for many victims, almost crying with them sometimes, sharing their pain. He didn’t understand how you did it, but he’s trying to learn. 

That antsy feeling in Dazai slowly rose, the way you gently treated him as you continued to apply the polish to his nails only fueling the feeling further. That warm, fluttery feeling was getting worse and you were his outlet. Oh how he wanted to hug you, cuddle you, squeeze you tight to get those feelings out of his systems. What a predicament he put himself in. 

“Careful!” You gasped, holding his hands still with wide eyes. “I just put on the top coat, you gotta let it dry.”

“How long will that take?” Dazai whined, a pout forming on his pretty lips. 

“A while,” You replied, waving his hands to help them air dry a bit faster. “I don’t have an exact time, I mostly just wing it. When you can tap your nails without them sticking to each other is when they’re completely dry.”

“I don’t know how you do it,” He whined again, dramatically swaying as you continued to hold his hands still. “How am I supposed to live without you in my arms?”

“You survived 22 years,” You teased back, a sly grin on your face (Dazai thought he was going to die at the sight). “I’m sure you’ll live.”

“You’re so cold,” Dazai bemoaned, tilting his head back (but making sure his hands never left yours). You found yourself stuck holding Dazai’s hands until his nails fully dried. You had almost let go and he nearly ruined all your precious work. It was nearly dinner by the time his nails dried, and you found yourself making plans with him. 

“Take out or should I actually try to make something?” You pondered, looking into your fridge to see if the latter was even possible.

“Take out,” Dazai replied instantly. Glancing at him, you watched as he beckoned you towards your couch, arms stretched out like a child asking for a hug. Although this was the first time either of you had done anything like this before, it felt completely natural, almost like this was how it was always supposed to be. 

“Alright,” You shrugged, closing your fridge and approaching the man that took up your couch. “I’m kinda craving pizza, what about you?”

“Pizza is fine,” He mumbled, gently pulling you to lay on top of him. You felt yourself fluster slightly, unused to such an intimate hold. Yes Dazai would cling to you almost 24/7, but this was in the privacy of your home, and without the company of your friends that kept you grounded, it felt like the moment was more tender.

Taking out your phone to the best of your abilities, you kept making sure Dazai was okay with your decisions (he would eat dirt with you if you asked). After you confirmed everything, he had started playing with your hair, making almost completely melt into him (he had quickly found your weakness). Dazai watched with fondness as your eyes fluttered as he scratched gently at your scalp, it was so cute how you tried to act so nonchalantly (it worked greatly to his advantage that you were also touch starved). 

At that moment, it felt like your relationship with the suicidal detective had shifted. An understanding washing over the both of you. You had both been the others this entire time, you both were just too cowardly to speak it outloud. The warmth in your chest hurt so nicely, enjoying every second that Dazai’s nimble fingers twirled your hair around, never wanting him to stop. Unfortunately for you both, the pizza arrived quickly, causing you to pry yourself off Dazai as he tried to tangle you into him further.

“I have to get the pizza,” You grumbled, the more responsible of the two.

“Fine,” Dazai relented, allowing you to stand up properly. 

…

You couldn’t hide the lovesick grin on your face as Dazai showed everyone his nails the next work day. Atsushi complimented him, albeit hesitantly, asking when you did them. Dazai held the most shit eating grin when he mentioned you both hung out over the weekend, causing Atsushi to sweat. The look on Atsushi’s face as he looked at you read ‘my condolences’. 

If you thought Dazai was clingy before, he was basically a leech at this point. That day had changed him, and he found himself becoming more selfish. He wanted to call you his. He wanted to be yours so badly, the thought of you both sharing more domestic moments consumed him. 

Such a moment happened after work. Dazai was feeling particularly romantic, and who was he to deny you such affection? You deserved the world and he would give you no less. He brought you to a park, a thick blanket and a bag of food for you two to share (he sadly couldn’t find a picnic basket in time). Since your work day ended at five, the park wasn’t too full. Parents were starting to take their kids home and some people were having their evening jog. Dazai had brought you to a more quiet area, placing the blanket beneath a tree. 

You felt flattered at the amount of attention Dazai had put into this. The blanket was a nice thickness so it wasn’t super uncomfortable to sit on the ground, the foods were your favorites and Dazai currently held a chocolate covered strawberry up to your mouth.

“Say ahh~” He giggled, clearly amused with the situation. You opened your mouth hesitantly, feeling embarrassed at the situation. This wasn’t the first time someone’s fed you something, albeit it wasn’t often, this scenario was more intimate then anything you had experienced. 

“Is this a date?” You couldn’t help but ask after you swallowed the berry (it was delicious). Normally you’d shy away if the topic was brought up, but at the moment you couldn’t find it in yourself too. After that domestic day, the way Dazai treated you was warmer than normal, and it felt 100% genuine. He had desensitized you to the notion of dating him, and it seemed to work in your favor. 

“If you want it to be,” Dazai hummed, grin widening.

“I don’t mind,” You replied, picking up a sandwich. “As long as that’s also what you want.” 

His heart fluttered, an occurrence that had become normal in your presence. The fact that you wanted his full consent, even though he’s the one that planned it warmed him. You were so sweet he could feel his teeth rot. If anything, he should be asking you if you really wanted this. Even though you knew he was an ex-Port Mafia executive, he didn’t think you truly understood the sins he had committed. What he’s done without a second thought. The sadistic acts he did for fun. You had nearly cried over a song about a rat being killed, how would you react if you heard the details of his crimes?

You had sensed the change in Dazai’s demeanor. The shine in his eyes dulled, even if everything else hadn’t changed. He suddenly looked drained, the eye bags under his eyes were dark. At first you were worried that he didn’t want to date you, but that thought seemed silly. It then dawned on you that the charming, lovely Dazai might have been feeling inadequate. 

“Of course,” Dazai smiled, masking his feelings as quickly as they appeared. “I would be honored to be yours, Abelia.” He grabbed both of your hands, holding them up to his cheek as he swooned dramatically. A smile tugged at your lips as you noticed the polish on his nails, they had slightly chipped, but they were still nearly intact. 

Sliding one of your hands out of his grip, you caressed his cheek (a bold move on your part), “You know I care for you, right?” His dark eyes widened, a small blush rising over his cheekbones. Your thumb gently rubbed his cheek as he kept your other hand clutched in his own. 

“You shouldn’t,” Dazai muttered, letting you see a fraction of how he felt. He wasn’t sure why he admitted such a vulnerable thought so quickly. It was like the honesty in your eyes had compelled him to tell you the truth.

A frown tugged at your lips, unwavering adoration filling you, “Everyone deserves someone to care for them.”

The determination in your eyes, your kindness, it had all caused Dazai to turn into a gooey mess on the inside. You said such astounding things with such a strong truth. He knew you meant what said.

“Everyone?” Dazai repeated, raising an eyebrow, trying to lighten the atmosphere. 

You paused, thinking of some bad people from history that were definitely not worthy, but decided to stand strong (or your defense could easily be dismantled), “Everyone.” You noticed that the shine of despair still clouded in his eyes, his smile unwavering. That’s when you realized he truly didn’t think he deserved to be loved and cared for. Taking your other hand out of his grasp, you held his face in your hands, a seriousness taking over you.

“You may have done bad things, you may have hurt people, but you’ve changed,” You stated, staring deeply into his eyes in hope to get through to him. “And as long as you try to be good, to atone for what you’ve done, then you deserve a second chance. Osamu Dazai, you are not a bad person, and you deserve to be loved.”

The formidable Osamu Dazai, the carefree, lazy, unbreakable, cunning Dazai had cracked. And you, sweet, loving, caring, kind you had been the one who managed to break him. He had never expected to hear such kind words aimed towards him, he never had expected to show anyone his guilt he carried. He never expected to have someone like you in his life, who would love unconditionally. He thought people like that were fools who were oblivious to the horrors of the world, but you fought frontline and still smiled and loved ceaselessly. 

A bittersweet look fell onto your face, and when he felt your thumbs brush something wet away from his cheek, he realized he was crying. Something he had never done in front of someone else. He supposes it was a sign of how deeply he trusted you, when he thought you couldn’t get any kinder, you had shown him that some people simply didn’t have evil in them. Yes you could be selfish, no you weren’t perfect, he knew you were insecure and sometimes your kindness was due to you being a people pleaser. He had seen you become devastated at the thought of someone not liking you, how you’d do something for someone at your own expense because you want them to be happy. For someone who was extremely independent, you were still quite dependent on others' views on you, for someone so trusting, it was hard for you to fully trust someone.

“This was supposed to be a romantic date,” Dazai sighed, a small pout on his lips.

“I think this went quite well,” You replied. You smiled gently as you lifted a strawberry up to Dazai’s mouth. “Say ahh~”

Dazai couldn’t hold back his delighted giggles, happily chomping on the strawberry you offered him. He felt lighter than he ever had, who knew telling someone your problems could make you feel better, even if it's just slightly (get therapy man, it works). You had managed to endear yourself even more to the bandaged man (if that was even possible). If you wanted to get rid of him now good luck, he wasn’t letting you go anytime soon.

If only he could mutter those three words that rested at the tip of his tongue.

#dazai osamu x reader #osamu dazai x reader #dazai x reader #bsd x reader #bungou stray dogs x reader #bungo stray dogs x reader #bsd #bungou stray dogs #bungo stray dogs #osamu dazai #dazai osamu #dazai #x reader #imagine #one shot

[babyonboard]

just hooking up. | jake ‘hangman’ seresin x f!reader

Summary: as a nurse for navy pilots at top gun, hooking up with one of your patients seems unprofessional. but for jake seresin, you’ll make an exception.

Word Count: 6,080

Warnings: mentions of, and a small amount of smut (minors dni), a little angst, slow(ish) burn, mentions of blood, intense medical scenarios.

I am not a nurse and I may get some shit wrong about hospitals. Also, I had to tweak some things about top gun to make this story work. Deal with it :)

It had just been a boring day in the office. Sitting silently in your room, you cleaned the medical table, the bed, and even got some organizing done for your cabinets. Humming a non-existent song, you were interrupted by the phone that sat outside of your door ringing. Swinging the door open, you answered.

The phone ringing usually meant one thing. Something had gone wrong in the field, and someone was on their way to you to get checked out. You hadn’t met anyone in the new pilot class yet, you had only seen a few of them coming in to get their physicals with the Doctor. Other than that, these new people were complete strangers to you. The thing about Top Gun was that usually, the problems were either very minor, in which you would receive a phone call that a pilot was on their way to you, or the problems were extremely major. You had only experienced one major problem, a couple years ago during your first year as a nurse at Top Gun. You didn’t like to think about it.

“Hello, medical ward.” You greeted, holding the old phone to your ear. Wrapping the cord around your finger, you mentally noted that, even though the hospital was tiny, you really needed a new phone.

“Hey, this is Captain Mitchel, I’ve got a pilot headed your way. We were fixing up his jet and a piece fell on him, he's got a pretty good gash on his arm.” He said. You could hear the muffled voices of other pilots laughing around him, making you almost sigh in relief at how small this problem seemed to be.

“Thank you Captain. We’ll take good care of him.”

“You’re the best.” You could practically hear him winking through the phone.

Seconds later, you heard the door in the lobby burst open, and two boys talking. You walked through the double doors towards them, and they both stopped talking to look at you. Fuck you thought. They were both cute.

“Hi gentlemen.” You smiled, suddenly self conscious about your decision to wear red lipstick this morning.

“Well what do we have here.” One of them said “I’ve never had a cute nurse before, I thought that those were a myth.” He smiled. You rolled your eyes and noticed the blood slowly running down his arm.

“Mav said he was gonna call you, but Hangman cut the shit out of his arm.” The other one said said, You noticed the dirty, oil stained towel they were holding to his wound on his bicep. Nice.

“I heard.” You said, stepping closer to them. Setting your hand lightly on the blonde's shoulder, you said, “Let's get you checked out.” You turned to the boy who had come with him. “Thank you Lieutenant, I'll take it from here.” He gave you a head nod and turned to walk out.

“Follow me.” You said. “Hangman, is it?”

“Yes ma’am. And you are?” He still had a paper white smile on his face. Unexplainably happy for someone with blood dripping from them.

“Y/N.” You stated.

“I like that name.” He said simply. You stopped in front of the door to your office and opened the door.

“Thank you.” you said as he walked inside. You walked in and patted the bed twice.

He got on the bed, his eyes never leaving you. He stared at your face, your red lips, and your figure. He started wishing he had cut his arm much sooner than today.

“So, how’d this happen?” You asked, turned around at the counter, wetting a new clean towel with sanitizer.

“I was fixing my jet. I scraped my wing on the side of a mountain and when I was replacing it, one of the pieces that got scraped came off and, well, this happened.” He explained. He seemed very nonchalant.

“Alright, well I’ll see what I can do, Lt.” You said, turning around. He still wore that award winning smile on his face.

“You can lay back.” You mentioned, lowering the back of his bed so he could lay down.

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” He smirked. Classy.

The cut was on the underside of his bicep, sort of near his armpit. You lightly grabbed his elbow, moving his arm so it was by his head. You could hear him breathing, and you could see his eyes on your face out of the corner of your eye, and you could see the seemingly never ending smirk that rested on his lips.

You took off the towel they had used, and you saw the gash for yourself. “Jesus” you breathed. “Stitches for sure.” You muttered under your breath. He shrugged.

“How are stitches a shrugging matter?” You laughed, placing your new towel over his wound.

“Used to it.” He shrugged again.

Sighing, you continued to disinfect his cut. He never winced or tensed, sometimes he even laughed, which you thought was strange. At some point, he changed his position from holding his arm up by his head to putting his hands on the back of his head, leaving him in a seemingly relaxed position. Again, strange. As you worked on him, you couldn't help but admire his muscles. They were extremely defined, especially in the position he was holding his arm.

“You know, gorgeous,” He started.

“Y/N” You interjected quickly.

“Same thing.” He quipped. “I think I might need to start getting hurt more often.”

And that’s exactly what he did.

Over the next several weeks, he had come in for a number of reasons. Which, not that you minded. It added something interesting to your day. Also, you liked seeing him. He was cute.

He came in for any reason you could think of. A “sprained ankle” that he needed ice for, but he couldn’t put the ice on it himself because he was “really sore” so you had to sit at the end of the bed, holding it on his ankle. He came in for a headache, a stomachache, a “sore hand”, and he even came in for a paper cut.

You noticed that each morning, you spent a little bit more time on your makeup in hopes you would see Hangman that day. You noticed that whenever the phone rang or whenever you got a knock on your door, your heart would skip a beat. This was a problem. You knew that Top Gun pilots come and go. The class only lasts upwards of 6 months. It had already been almost 2. You had no idea where he would go after this, and you didn’t want to fall for someone you might never see again.

One particularly early morning, your coffee still hot, you heard a knock on your door. Standing up, you adjusted your hair subconsciously. You opened the door to Hangman leaning on the door frame, giving you a puppy dog face.

You sighed with a smile. “What is it today, Hangman?”

“Good morning to you too, princess. And what did I say about calling me Hangman?” He half scolded with a smirk on his face. Uninvited, he makes his way into your office and sits down in his usual place on the bed.

“Right” you shut your eyes “Jake, sorry.”

“I forgive you.” He smiled his signature smile. “Is that a new necklace?”

Instinctively, you touched your neck. It was a new necklace. “Yeah, it is.”

“I like it. Pretty necklace on a pretty neck.”

The color of your face had to have changed in a second. “So… what is it?” You asked, sitting on your stool, changing the topic so you didn’t have to blush any longer.

“Well,” he started, bringing his hand in front of his face. “I have a hangnail.”

You put your face in your hands. “You have to be kidding me.”

“I know, it’s very tragic, I’m not kidding you.”

Defeated, you lifted your head. Wheeling your stool towards him, you said “Let me see it.”

He looked at his pinky. He studied it for a second then met your eyes. “I think it fell off.”

You stared at him. He stared right back. It was silent for a moment while the two of you tried not to laugh. He broke first, a smile pulling at the corner of his lips. It made you push away your own smile, and you had to look away, and before long, you both were laughing.

As the laughing died down, he took a deep breath to compose himself. “Okay, okay, the real reason I came in was for something else.”

“Really? I never would’ve guessed.”

“Well, me and my friends usually go to this bar across the street on Fridays, and I want you to come with me tonight.” He said.

You sighed. Bars. Not exactly your thing. “I don’t know Jake…”

“Come on, goody two shoes, it wouldn’t kill you to have fun.” He reached over and put his hands on your shoulders. Unintentionally, his grip was tight. He had huge hands.

“I am not a goody two shoes.” You crossed your arms, your shoulders adjusting under his large palms.

“Sure.” He scoffed. “Come with me, princess. Please?”

It’s nicknames like those that get you into difficult situations. Nicknames that you can’t say no to. And now, your difficult situation was that you were standing next to Jake in a bar, surrounded by his loud, sweaty friends. More and more just kept appearing.

“And who’s this?” A girl asked, giving you a sweet smile.

“This is Y/N. She’s my… well, she’s a nurse over at the medical ward.”

You quirked an eyebrow at where that sentence was heading, but you didn’t have enough time to question him about it, because that girl immediately dragged you to play darts with her.

You learned that her name was Phoenix. You sucked at darts, but she didn’t seem to care either way.

“So, you’re the girl hangman’s always talking about, huh?” She said, keeping her eyes on the board.

Butterflies erupted in your stomach at the thought. Sure, you talked about him non stop to your friends, but imagining him talking about you almost made your heart burst.

“He talks about me?” You looked across the bar at him, his eyes already on you. He held a pool stick, and he offered you a head nod and a wink. You smiled in return.

“Hell yes he does. He runs out of class like it’s a race and is always talking about how he’s going to see his “sexy-nurse-dream-come-to-life.”

You laughed. You knew what he thought about you, he’s not afraid to say it, but hearing it from someone else felt different. It felt more real.

Phoenix got bored with darts and she led you over to the bar. You half-pretended to not see Hangman’s eyes on you at all times. Without asking, Phoenix ordered two shots.

“Shots? Phoenix I’m not the best at-“

“Shots without me?” You heard Jake's voice over your shoulder. After hearing his voice, you felt his hand on the small of your back. His pinky touched the rim of your skirt. You had to close your eyes and take a deep breath in order to not lose your cool. His touch felt so good.

You stuttered to try and make a sentence, your whole focus on his hand on your back. “I was just saying I don’t know if I can do that. I haven’t done a shot in… well in a long time.”

“You’ll be fine.” Phoenix smiled and turned back to the bartender, speaking to her as she poured the clear liquid into two shot glasses.

Suddenly, Jakes grip got tighter, and moved to the side of your hip. It wasn’t set on your hip, he was grabbing it. “I like this skirt.” He spoke slowly in your ear.

You gulped. You wanted to make a snarky comment back at him, but you didn’t think your brain could form words right now. Phoenix turned around with your shot, handing it to you.

You grabbed it and turned to look at Jake. “I seriously don’t know if I can take this. What if I like, throw up.”

“You won’t.” He smiled. He grabbed it from your hand. “Let me help, okay?”

You nodded. His huge hand came up to the side of your jaw and cupped it. His fingers on the back of your head, he tilted your head back. His thumb moved across your cheek, and painfully slow, it made its way over your lips, coming to rest on your bottom lip. He tugged it lightly. “Open.” He spoke. Without thinking, you opened your mouth. His jaw clenched, he pulled at your hair the smallest amount to tilt your head even further back. You had subconsciously brought your hands to hold on to both of his elbows, completely trusting yourself with him. Your eyes were glued to each other, the eye contact never broke. A grip that had started out light was now intense. He brought the cool shot glass to your lips pouring it into your mouth with no warning. Keeping your eyes on his, you swallowed.

“Good.” He mumbled. You didn’t really wince or make a grossed out face, your entire mind thinking about his hands on you. His thumb came back to your lips to wipe them clean of any vodka. You couldn’t tell if it was the shot or his touch that made your knees wobbly. All at once, he let go of you and smiled, suddenly in a joking mood again. “See?” He laughed, “that wasn’t so hard.”

You had no idea where Phoenix went, but she had left you and Jake at the bar together. You blinked, standing completely still, your mind lagging while trying to process what just happened. Heart racing, you chose to ignore what was going on between your legs right now.

“This is a random question, do you wanna get out of here?”

The walk back to Hangman’s apartment was excruciating. It was a hot July night, your hair sticking to your neck and shoulders as you walked. It was a short walk, but it felt like it was taking forever. The conversation on the way back was normal. The two of you were back to playful banter, which made you question if he felt the same way about what had just happened at the bar. Is it normal for him to do that to girls?

Stepping through Jake's door, you put your arms out to feel the cool air conditioning. “Oh, my god.” You groaned as he shut the door behind him. “It was so fucking hot in that bar, I thought-“

Jake's lips were on yours. His hands on either side of your face, his lips were practically squished against yours. Shocked, your body completely froze for a second. You dropped your arms at your sides, and let your brain catch up to what was happening. His lips were searing hot, yet his hands were cool on either side of your face. Your legs almost gave out on you, and he must have noticed, because he moved to wrap his arms completely around your waist, pressing your stomach against his abs. Your body catching up to your brain (or vice versa) you brought your hands to his broad shoulders. You fought back a shudder as he bit your bottom lip lightly, but you couldn’t hold back the small moan you let out.

That must have flipped a switch for him, his hands moved down over the curve of your ass, landing on the back of your thighs. He pulled them up, picking you up completely. You wrapped your legs around his torso, and you could feel him walking somewhere. He stopped at some point to mess with the light switch, turning it on as he held you up with one arm.

He dropped you lightly on your back onto his bed, his hands were on either side of your head, propping himself up. For a second, he gave you a sweet smile. You giggled lightly, a “is this really happening?” giggle.

“Have I ever told you how gorgeous you are?” He nearly whispered above you, his eyes scanned all over your face.

“I think you’ve mentioned it a few times.” You smiled.

Hooking up. That’s what it was. Friends with benefits. Well, friends who flirt and are obsessed with each other with benefits.

You really liked hooking up with Jake. You liked waking up in his bed, you liked how he would just come and see you at work now, no medical excuse at all. You liked the way he looked above you, and below you, for that matter. You liked holding onto his hair while he goes down on you, and you liked the way his hand felt around your neck. You like how fucked out and flushed he looked when you were done, and you liked how sometimes, he would kiss your forehead at the end. You liked that he started keeping a toothbrush for you in his bathroom, and you liked how safe you felt in his arms. And, you liked him.

The situation was sticky. You have heard multiple murmurs from his fellow pilots how you were his “girl of the month”. You knew his reputation, and you didn’t even wanna know how many girls have gotten this same treatment before you. The way Jake felt about you was playful. It was sexual, flirty, and fun. And for you, it was the same way. But recently, you felt like your connection to him was a little deeper. You had real feelings for him. You felt stupid that sometimes you would let yourself think that he felt that same way about you. But sometimes, the way he looked at you was not the way that “friends with benefits” look at each other.

One day in particular, he had you underneath him after a really long day of classes. He hadn’t been able to see you for a few days prior, practices on the field ramping up more and more. You’d think that after a frustrating day, he would be rough with you, but he wasn’t. He stroked your cheek lightly, his forehead pressed against yours and the tip of his nose touching yours. You could tell he was getting close by how sloppy his thrusts got.

“Fuck.” He gritted his teeth. “You are, fuck, Y/N, you’re so beautiful.”

You said nothing, you just looked at him with complete and total heart eyes. Your heart fluttered and you thought that if he didn’t have real feelings for you, he wouldn’t have said that. When he finished, he rolled off of you. You hoped for a kiss on the forehead, but unfortunately, not today.

He didn’t take a moment to catch his breath, or hold you, he got straight out of the bed. You visibly frowned.

He stretched and picked up his shorts off of the ground. “Fuck, my head hurts.” He mumbled as he walked out of the room and into the kitchen. You laid there, naked in his bed. You suddenly felt over-exposed, so you pulled the covers over you. Your mind raced. Why did Jake Seresin have to be such an emotional roller coaster? Now, seconds after being sure he had feelings for you, you were almost positive he didn’t. You wished that, just once, he would hold you after he was done. You heard a pill bottle shake from in the kitchen, and you contemplated leaving. You didn’t want to be annoying. Pulling your shorts up, you found your sweatshirt on the ground and pulled it over your body.

He stood shirtless in the kitchen, holding a glass of water. “You sleepin here tonight?” He asked

As badly as you didn’t want to seem clingy or needy, or reveal your feelings for him at all, you really did want to spend the night. You couldn’t tell if he was asking because he wanted you to, or if he wanted to know if he was getting rid of you. “I can.” You answered simply.

“We could watch a movie?” He smiled smally. Fuck, he was so cute. If he asked you to marry him right now, you would say yes.

Your heart lifted. He did want you to stay. After all, you were forgetting that you and Jake were practically best friends. He liked being around you. “Okay.” You smiled.

He was confusing. One second, he was telling you how beautiful you were while he finished inside of you. Next, he won’t even look at you when he’s done. Then, he wants you to spend the night.

Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin had spent a good part of his life hooking up with girls. Usually, it was a bartender, or a sorority girl, or a girl he met in flight school. He had partaken in numerous friends with benefits agreements, had many ongoing hookups, and plenty of one night stands. He will admit, he has never met a girl like you before. A literal ray of sunshine, a beautiful girl with a beautiful heart. It kind of scared him. As terrible as it sounds, a lot of his hookups had been passing time, where he sees the girls only purpose as getting him off. Then he met you. He spent his time on you, making sure you were, well, real. He thought you were too good to be true. He didn’t really know how to go about it.

So, I guess he would say it started as meaningful hook up’s with you. He didn’t see you as someone who could get him off. The problem was Jake didn’t know how to do relationships. He knew hookups and one night stands. He didn’t know what crossed the line into relationships and how to tell if you wanted to be with him. As time went on, he had to remind himself that you weren’t in a relationship. You were hooking up. He had to remind himself that whenever you kissed him and he wanted to pick you up and spin you around. He had to remind himself when he found himself caressing your face, your eyes locked in his. He really had to remind himself whenever he saw you. Just. Hooking. Up.

He had to remind himself that night, while you were curled up under a blanket on his couch. He wanted to put his arm around you, but he didn’t know how. For about the first time in his life, he felt awkward in front of a girl.

He usually would know the perfect move to make, but that would be in a sexual, flirty situation. Now, he wanted nothing more than cheesy romance. He started out with his arm over the back of the couch, then he let his fingers touch your hair. He wanted to take this slow, he wanted to make sure you knew his touch wasn’t sexual, he just wanted to cuddle with you.

“You can lay back if you want.” He blurted out. Mentally scolding himself, he held his breath. So much for taking it slow, Jake.

You turned around and looked at him. He had to be horny or something. If he didn’t have feelings for you, would he really be asking you to cuddle with him right now? His back against the arm rest, he waited for your response. He was relieved when he saw that small, familiar smile on your lips.

You obviously weren’t going to pass up this opportunity. “Okay.“ you replied softly. You slowly leaned into him, resting your back on his abs, the back of your head on his chest. He adjusted his arms around you, bringing a hand up to touch your hair.

You couldn’t see each other’s faces, but you were both smiling.

It was nice to be touched by Jake, not because he wanted to fuck you, but just because he wanted to touch you. His hand lightly stroked your hair as the movie played, but neither of you paid any mind to it.

The two of you sat in silence in this position, and after a while, you turned over onto your stomach, wrapping your arms around his torso and laying your cheek onto his chest. His heart swelled.

In a quiet, sleepy, middle of the night haze, your eyes fluttered open. A second passed and you weren’t exactly sure where you were or what was going on. Becoming aware, you opened your eyes fully, and you realized that Jake was carrying you. He was cradling you like a baby, almost tip toeing so that you didn’t wake up. You must’ve fallen asleep on the couch. You felt him gently lay you down on the bed and pull the covers up over you. His lips touched your forehead softly, then he climbed in on the other side of the bed. Climbing under the covers, he wrapped you up in his arms. You nuzzled your face into his neck and sighed.

It must have been because you were tired, or just because you were overwhelmed with the feeling, but without thinking, you opened your mouth to whisper “I love you, Jake.” The words never made it past your throat, your mouth stuck open like you were about to start a sentence. Part of you thought you should just say it, but the rest of you thought you were so stupid to think you could tell the boy you were hooking up with that you loved him just because he was cuddling with you.

That morning, you woke up early with Jake. He had to be up at around 6 to go to classes, and the absence of his arms around you had caused you to wake up.

“You could call in sick?” You crossed your arms at the edge of the bed.

He was changing at his dresser and he laughed at you. “You know, you’re cute when you’re grumpy.”

You frowned. He looked to you to see if you liked his joke, and he sighed. “Y/N, you have work today too.” He came to sit by you on the bed. “You can sleep here until you have to go in, and maybe I’ll come visit you today.”

In a silent agreement, you rested your head on his shoulder. He patted you back then stood up. Ouch.

You hoped that he would kiss you before you left, but he didn’t. He rushed out the door, leaving you with a mere “maybe we can chill tonight.”

When he was out the door, you slammed your back against the bed with a groan. He cuddles with you all night, then doesn’t want anything to do with you the next day.

‘Just hooking up’ Jake repeated in his head as he walked out of his apartment, leaving a bed headed, incredibly cute you lying on his bed. ‘Just hooking up. Just hooking up. Just hooking up. Just hooking up.’

It was almost time for you to leave the office, and Jake hadn’t come to visit yet. You couldn’t stop checking your phone, waiting for a “Come to my apartment after work ;)” text. You started to believe it wasn’t going to come.

Your moping was interrupted by the sound of the small radio on your belt beeping. Confused, you looked down. The radio was for emergencies. It must be a test.

You picked it up and held it to your ear. “We’ve got two pilots that need search and rescue. There was some sort of collision. Both ejected. We’ve got Bradley Bradshaw and Jake Seresin. Pull their files and be ready for treatment. EMTs, rooftop helicopter in 2 minutes.”

You stood there, frozen. Your mind couldn’t even process the words, and your feet took off out of mere instinct. You wouldn’t even let yourself think of the possible outcomes of this situation, and yet, there was only one thing on your mind as you climbed the steps to the roof:

Jake.

You made it to the roof where the rescue helicopter was. You weren’t an EMT, and you certainly weren’t search and rescue, so you knew they wouldn’t let you come. You technically should be getting ready for two pilots who will need medical attention in about 5 minutes.

Not even sure what you were doing, you ran up to the helicopter where the EMTs were loading on. “Let me on!” You yelled over the roaring helicopter.

Most of them didn’t even pay attention to you, but one of them looked at you. “Y/N? You’re a floor nurse?”

“I know, please let me on.” You nearly whispered. Hopeless, you felt tears in your eyes. You thought for a second about fighting your way on, but then you thought about how this hospital only had a handful of other nurses and doctors, and if you really wanted to help, you should be getting ready right now.

You took a deep breath and wiped your eyes. Pull. Yourself. Together. Put the stupid fucking hookups aside and do your fucking job.

Not having time to be embarrassed by the looks the EMTs were giving you, you ran back inside. Everyone was already bustling around, grabbing files, supplies, moving beds, and clearing rooms. You didn’t have a ton of time to get ready for whatever you were about to see, but you had enough.

A beeping sound came from your monitors, which meant that the EMTs had made it to the site. Everyone listened to hear the severity. You closed your eyes, dreading what you could possibly hear. “Both responsive.”

You seriously could have cried in relief.

The buzzing noise on the intercom meant that the patients were in the building. Half of you hoped you would be one of the nurses to help Jake, but the other half thought maybe it would be best if you weren’t. It was kind of a gamble on which patient you would get, it just depended on what room the EMTs were closest to and which patient made it in the building first.

When Jake was wheeled in through your door, his face bloody and his shirt tore open to reveal a dirtied up chest, your breath hitched in your throat. Do your job Y/N, forget about who he is and do your job.

The doctor started barking orders at you and the other nurse in the room. “Scissors for his shirt.” He directed the other nurse. “Y/N, hook up his vitals.”

Cautiously, you stepped up to his bed. Holy fuck. You couldn’t tell where the blood on his face was coming from, it looked like his head. His eyes were drooping closed, and his chest was heaving. You picked up the IV and touched his arm lightly. His eyes shot open.

“Y/N” he cried. His hands were shaking.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and blinked your tears away. “It’s okay, Jake. You’re okay.”

“Y/N” he croaked again. Tears mixed with the blood under his eyes. His lips quivered and his chest heaved even harder.

You couldn’t even respond as you slipped the IV into his arm.

“Jake?” The doctor said “I need you to tell me what’s hurting you.”

“My head.” He cried “Fuck, it’s my head.”

You heard the doctor say something about an MRI to someone in the hallway. The doctor was examining his head as you wrapped a blood pressure cuff around his arm.

“All set for MRI.” A tech popped their head into the room.

You turned back to Jake, who was looking at you. “They’re taking you for an MRI, Jake. It won’t take long, I promise.”

“No, please.” He shut his eyes.

“It won’t be bad Jake, it’s okay.”

“Come with me.” He said, reaching for your hand.

“I can’t. I’ll be here when you get back.” A technician came in to take him away.

“I’m sorry.” He cried. They started to wheel him out of the room. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I love you.”

You swallowed. “I love you too.”

They took him out of the room and you stood there, heart pounding. Honestly, you didn’t spend too much time thinking about how he said that he loved you. You didn’t have the time.

The only moment you had a small amount of down time to think was a few hours later. It was getting dark outside, and your shift had already ended. You obviously stayed. His room was lit up by a lamp in the corner and his head was turned to look out the window until you walked in.

You hadn’t gotten to talk to him since he told you that he loved you. Since then, he got 14 stitches and 6 staples in his head, and a brace put on his back. They were keeping him overnight for observation due to the trauma on his head.

“Hi.” You said as you walked in. His head turned towards you and he smiled.

“Hi princess.”

You sat at the edge of his bed, resting your hand on his leg. “How you feelin?”

He shook his head and shrugged. “Not great. Just crashed a hundred million dollar plane, almost killed another pilot. They’re never gonna let me go on the mission now.”

“I’m sorry.” You offered.

It was silent for a moment. Not awkward, but peaceful. “You know, when I went down and I was waiting for search and rescue, I was like ‘fuck I hope Y/N doesn’t see me like this’.” You giggled, which made him smile again.

“But I knew you worked today, and then when I got here, I was hoping I would see you.” He gulped and looked out the window. “I was scared. I didn’t wanna die and have a ton of random people around me.”

“I was scared too.” You said. “I don’t like seeing you hurting.”

In a moment unlike Jake Seresin, he was quiet. He messed with the blanket on his lap, looking down. “You know, I’m sorry if what I said made you uncomfortable. I just, I had a moment of like, realization, I guess.”

“Jake, you know how I feel about you, don’t you? I’m not very good at hiding it.”

He sighed. “I know. That’s why I said I was sorry. I feel like I kind of fucked with your feelings.” You nodded slowly. “But I’m done with that now. I’m just… not good at emotions, and all that shit.”

Confusing as always. “What are you saying?”

“I want to be more than just hooking up. I do love you, Y/N. I meant it when I said that.” He finally looked up at you.

You let out a breath of relief and leaned down to kiss him. For once, it wasn’t a kiss that was going to lead to something else. It was just a kiss. A loving one. “I meant it too. I love you Jake.”

You weren’t allowed to spend the night, so you went back to his apartment. You spent the whole night washing his sheets, making his bed comfy, cleaning his kitchen, and you even went and got some groceries early in the morning.

That morning, you drove Jake back to his apartment. You tucked him into his bed and made him breakfast. He absolutely adored how domestic you were, and he always begged you not to get out of bed, even if you were going to the bathroom. You laid in bed next to him as he ate his breakfast, and he tried to share some of it with you, but you insisted you weren’t hungry. You spent the whole day babying him, and he spent the whole day loving it.

The best part by far was the several “I love you”’s that we’re exchanged every 5 minutes.

As a movie played on his tv, he stroked your hair. “I have a question.” He stated.

“Okay.” You said, not lifting your head from his chest.

“So… I'm like… your boyfriend now, right?”

You couldn’t help but giggle at how awkwardly he posed the question. “Yes, Jake.”

He smiled widely. “I think that, since you’re my girlfriend and all, you should give me a kiss.”

You lifted your head to get close to his face. “Nothing would make me happier.”

#top gun imagine #top gun one shot #hangman imagine #hangman seresin imagine #hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin #jake seresin imagine #jake seresin x reader #hangman #rooster imagine #bradley bradshaw #hangman x reader #top gun maverick imagine #Bradley Bradshaw imagine #rooster x reader

[onceuponaoneshotfanfic]

And All the Pieces Fall Right Into Place

I'll Write Your Name Chapter 2

Roy Kent x Latina!Popstar!Reader

3.7k words

Warnings: Language, adults drinking adult things, a smidge of slut-shaming, sexual references, immature adults, Roy being Roy

Holi Dani! I’m back in town. Let’s get together tonight! I miss you!

Under April’s watchful eye, I typed my text to Dani Rojas and hit send. I knew full well that the Greyhounds had a game; Keeley Jones had sent me their schedule, after all. Step one of the most insane idea in the world was officially in motion.

“Remember, you can’t seem too desperate,” April reminded me as we lounged in my living room. “We don’t want it to be obvious that you’re fishing for an invite. Just be really subtle, like ‘Oh you have a match? Wow I’ve never been to one.’ You know?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I know, I know.”

Bzz!

Dani’s quick response would have been surprising if it was anyone else; but Dani Rojas was the friendliest, most accommodating person I knew. Since we first met at a party for some tequila brand back in L.A., Dani and I immediately clicked. Our paths crossed frequently enough in London, and I considered him one of my favorite people in England. We bonded over our shared desire to find good pan dulce in London and how much we missed our big, crazy families when we were away. It wouldn’t be too hard to finagle an invitation to his game, right?

Aww chula, I wish! I’ve got a fútbol match tonight.

Just as I was crafting a text that would score me a ticket to Nelson Road, another message came in.

You should come!

“Well, shit,” I laughed, showing April my screen. “That was almost too easy.”

My assistant- sidekick and soulmate, I preferred to call her- chuckled and started typing on her own phone. “I’ll let Keeley and Lanie know that our mission is complete. And I’ll take care of getting your ticket. All you have to worry about now is looking hot and having a good meet-cute.” She paused, pursing her lips. “You and Kent… you two can flirt with each other, right?”

“The heck’s that supposed to mean?” I snorted as I texted Dani back, letting him know that I would love to go to his game.

She shrugged. “You two just didn’t seem to like each other very much.” Her matter-of-fact tone held no emotion. “You’re going to have to pull some Daniel Day-Lewis level acting for this to work.” April grinned at me. “I mean, your goal is to get an EGOT, right? Maybe your Oscar will be for acting.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle as Dani texted me back, all excitement. “Well, just call me Meryl, because that’s how good my acting will have to be to get people to think I’m into someone like Roy Kent.”

April’s face softened. “You’ve gotta admit,” she said slowly, “he’s pretty cute.”

“Cute?” I rolled my eyes. “I mean, sure, I could see how he could be considered handsome by some people. I could totally see him with models and shit. But if you’re worried about me falling for the guy, don’t stress.” I slouched further into my couch. “No way in hell am I falling for Roy freaking Kent.”

~

Keeley grinned and showed her phone to Roy. “She got Dani to invite her!” she hissed to the manager as they ate lunch together in his office. “Everything’s going according to plan.”

“Yeah,” Roy muttered flatly as he poked at his food. “Great.”

What the fuck had he gotten himself into? He hated this kind of shit, the paparazzi and attention. And he hated her party-girl lifestyle, always out at clubs. And what the fuck were they supposed to talk about on the dates Keeley would surely make them go on? He liked football, hanging out with Phoebe, reading… What did she like? Flirting with scrawny rockstars? Stealing her best friend’s boyfriend (according to the tabloid he’d noticed at the store that morning)? Her Malibu Barbie Dreamhouse, or wherever it was she lived when she was in Los Angeles? And he was going to have to endure months of this. Fucking hell.

But it was for Keeley, he reminded himself as he watched the blonde munch happily on her salad. She’d asked him to do something, something she knew he’d hate, and he said ‘yes’ without complaint. That had to mean something, right? Surely that would earn him a few points with her, maybe even enough to forget about the whole ‘pick one’ shit he and Jamie had pulled. She’d definitely see how above and beyond Roy was willing to go for her and remember why she had loved him, wouldn’t she?

Besides, seeing him with an admittedly gorgeous popstar on his arm might even make Keeley a smidge jealous.

“It’s gonna work.” Keeley’s reassuring voice penetrated his thoughts. “I know it is. You wouldn’t believe who’s gotten away with this scheme. You know that actor from-”

I’m drunk in the back of the car and I cried like a baby coming home from the bar

Roy stood, frowning in the direction of the suddenly bolstering changing room. “What the fuck is that?”

Keeley grinned as she hopped up and followed his gaze to the sight of Jamie and Colin and a few other guys shaking their hips and singing along. “Your new girlfriend,” she whispered with a wink. “Come on, Roy, you know this one. It was only her big hit last summer.”

“Hmmph.” Yeah, he recognized the catchy tune that still seemed to always be on the radio all these months later; Phoebe’d made him play it about twenty times in the car just that week. But why the fuck was his team screeching it while they got ready for their afternoon training?

Jamie’s smile widened at the sight of Roy and Keeley. “Oi! Did ya hear Dani’s news?”

“What’s up?” Keeley asked, as if she didn’t know exactly what Jamie was about to say.

Sure enough, Jamie pointed in the direction of Colin’s little speaker, where the music was blasting from. “She’s comin’! To our game tonight!” He looked just about ready to do a cartwheel. “Apparently, she and Dani are buddies, and he invited her to watch us! Can you believe it?”

“You’re kidding!” Keeley gasped convincingly, smacking Jamie on the arm. “How the fuck did he never tell us they’re friends?” She glanced at Roy before turning back to Jamie. “D’you reckon he’ll get her to go out with you boys tonight? Or is she too famous for our little Greyhounds?”

Richard appeared over Jamie’s shoulder. “I hope so,” he sighed. “She recently broke up with her boyfriend.” He waggled his eyebrows. “She’ll be looking for a rebound, no?”

Roy rolled his eyes. Shit, was this going to be an even bigger distraction than he thought, he realized. For the millionth time since he stood in Keeley’s office and signed the NDA, Roy was regretting this decision. But when he saw the excitement shining in Keeley’s eyes as she watched the Greyhounds dance around, he couldn’t help the soft sigh he let out.

Fuck, he hoped it was worth it.

~

I took one last look in the mirror. Little jean skirt, black leather jacket, boots. April had assured me that the outfit was perfect: casual enough for a game, stylish enough for a night out with the team, hot enough to catch the attention of Roy Kent. Or at least, look like I’d caught the attention of Roy Kent.

The car ride to Nelson Road was quicker than I’d expected, and the walk to my seat was a blur of phones taking photos and my name gasped out of people’s mouths. I wondered if, with all the time I’d be spending at Nelson Road in the coming weeks, the reaction would die down. Or if, like Keeley Jones had implied towards the end of our first meeting, my presence would lead to a spike in attendance.

She seemed to be hoping for the latter, because she made sure my seat was very visible: right by the pitch, close to the Greyhounds’ dugout. Even if I wasn’t the biggest soccer fan, I had to admit it was exciting being so close to the field; I quickly snapped a few pictures to send to my family, who would appreciate the view much more than I ever could.

When the team came out, I joined in the enthusiastic cheers and screams, shouting Dani’s name loudly. His face lit up when he spotted me, and I saw him nudging his teammates and pointing in my direction. Keeley had warned me about their reactions; indeed, they were grabbing each other and making faces similar to the ones my nephew made when he saw Mickey Mouse on his first trip to Disneyland.

“Whistle!”

The two syllables slammed against my ears. There he was, no longer in the black leather jacket I’d met him in, but instead wearing a dark blue Greyhounds jacket. One of the players- Jamie Tartt, I remembered- started animatedly talking to a very bored-looking Roy Kent. With one of those eyerolls that I knew I’d have to get used to seeing, he turned in my direction.

Despite my initial instinct to roll my own eyes, I instead forced myself to hold his gaze for a moment. A horrified thought suddenly struck me: Could Roy Kent pull this off?

Then his mouth tugged upwards in the corner, forming an admittedly sexy little smirk. In return, I let my eyes wander down his figure, taking in the way his jacket hugged his muscular arms and the way his pants hugged thick thighs. Damn. If I hadn’t already met him, if I hadn’t already discovered what a cranky and irritable grouch Roy Kent was, I’d probably be attracted to his smug expression and athletic build. He wasn’t my usual type, but I couldn’t deny that he was, frankly, kind of gorgeous.

He gave me a curt nod of acknowledgement before turning back to his team and shouting at them, his sharp yell reminding me that I was here for a reason. Remembering Keeley’s instructions, I pulled out my phone and snapped a couple of photos of the pitch, making sure to get Roy and the other Greyhounds in the frame. I quickly posted the picture to my social media and tagged Dani in it, as Keeley had suggested.

With the “official business” out of the way, I relaxed in my seat and prepared to at least appear to look like I was enjoying the game. Figuring that there were eyes and cameras pointed in my direction, I made myself steal several glances at Roy Kent; he must have been thinking the same thing, because more than once, he was already looking over at me.

~

Roy sighed when he looked over at the corner where most of the Richmond players were assembled, practically falling over themselves to get in a word with her.

It was a bit perplexing, honestly. These men were professional athletes. They regularly dated models and actresses. But this singer, this popstar, had them falling all over themselves trying to chat her up. Sure, Roy thought, her level of fame was pretty fucking impressive. She’d won a couple of Grammys, her songs were constantly on the radio, and he’d heard her latest tour was practically impossible to get tickets for. So maybe some of their fawning was justified.

He glanced at his phone, wishing he was at home in bed already. With a deep exhale, he made a beeline for Dani; the sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could leave, he reasoned.

“Oi,” Roy grunted as he approached the striker. He nodded towards the swarm of players, doing his best to keep his trademark disinterested expression on his face. “You going to introduce me to your friend?”

Dani’s eyes sparkled knowingly. “You too, eh Coach?” He chuckled and clapped Roy on the shoulder. “Vámonos.”

Roy’s heart stuttered in his chest as he followed Dani to the corner of the club, where he saw, of all people, Jamie sitting close to the singer, murmuring something in her ear. She laughed at whatever he said and responded with a smile on her face. Her eyes flickered to Roy as he approached; was that… disappointment he saw?

If it was, it was only there for a fraction of a second. Just like on the pitch, her eyes trailed over his figure, a small smirk forming on her lips. If he didn’t know better, Roy would be intrigued by the boldness on her face, the uninhibited way she eyed him. In the back of his head, he couldn’t help feeling a bit smug when he saw the way Jamie’s brows furrowed as the striker looked back and forth between the two.

She kept her eyes on Roy as she stood up and stepped away from Jamie and the guys. She batted her lashes at Roy before turning to Dani, her eyebrows raised expectantly.

Shit, Roy thought. She’s good at this.

“Chula,” Dani said, smiling at his friend. “I want you to meet my coach, Roy.” He turned to Roy. “Coach, this is-”

Roy reached out and took her hand in his and shaking it slowly. “Only an idiot doesn’t know who you are,” he hummed, raising his eyebrows. “You caused quite a stir with my team, you know. You enjoy the match?”

She nodded, giving his hand a squeeze before letting go. “I did. Sorry if I was a bit of a distraction.”

“I think you actually brought us luck.” Fucking hell, when was the last time Roy flirted like this? Was he doing it right? “You should come again sometime.”

Her smile widened as she tilted her head coyly. “Well, if that’s an invitation, maybe I will.”

Desperate to end this charade, Roy cleared his throat. “Have these fellas bought you a drink yet?” When she shook her head, he rolled his eyes playfully. “Fucking hell, guess I need to remind them what fucking manners look like.” With that, he placed his hand on her lower back and nodded towards the bar. “Come on, then.”

She winked at Dani and let Roy lead her to the bar, keeping that coy smile plastered on her face. Once they had ordered, she looked up at him, still smirking.

“Kent,” she hissed through gritted teeth. “Watch your fucking hands.”

Sure enough, Roy realized that his hand was dangerously low, just above the curve of her ass. Shit.

Despite his embarrassment, Roy scoffed, although he did remove his hand. “You’re a natural at that flirting shit,” he all but sneered. “Then again, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of practice, with all your shaggy little rockstar pricks.”

Her eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second as the bartender slid over her drink. Still, she kept her expression neutral; to anyone watching them, she looked as though she was enjoying their conversation. “Oh, I’m sorry.” Her snarky tone contrasted with her sweet face. “Tell me more about the women who sell stories about your dick to the press and steal your watches?”

“Oi,” Roy growled as he picked his beer up off the bar. “That happened once, alright?”

“You mean it got into the papers once,” she grumbled, sipping her drink. She raised her eyebrows at him. “So, what’s the plan?”

Roy frowned. “Fuck d’you mean? We’re doing the fucking plan.”

She shook her head. “Like, are you going to ask me to dance? Are we taking off and going to a restaurant or some shit?” Roy avoided looking at the way her lips wrapped around her little straw as she sipped her drink. “Keeley said it’s up to us, just no going home together on the first night.” The little snort she gave would’ve been adorable coming from anyone else. “As if.”

“Well, I guess if we dance, we don’t have to fucking talk,” Roy muttered, doing his best to mirror her amiable expression; it was challenging, he realized, looking cheery while feeling irritated as hell. He downed the rest of his beer and practically slammed the empty bottle on the bar. “One song, alright? I don’t usually fucking dance.”

“Trust me,” she hummed, finishing the last of her drink. “For me, you’d make an exception.” Flashing what he assumed was her most winning smile, she took Roy’s hand and led him to the crowded dance floor.

On the dance floor, she pressed her body close to his, her movements teasing and natural. Everything about her- her hips, her smile, her eyes on his, the way her hands played with her hair flirtatiously- would have normally had Roy’s chest feeling tight with attraction.

She brought her lips to his ear, looking as though she was probably flirting with him. “I swear to God,” she hissed. “If you get a boner, I will fucking kill you.”

Yeah. Right.

~

Officially introduced? Check.

Flirted? Check.

Had a drink together? Check.

Danced? Check.

We’d gone through enough of the motions. There was no way I was going to spend more time with Kent than I had to; we’d be thrown together enough in the coming weeks once the “dating” began. Besides, Keeley had warned me that Roy didn’t like to stay out late anymore. He was probably even more ready to call it a night than I was.

Sure enough, after a couple of songs, he gave a small grunt and looked at his phone.

“Should get going,” he grumbled.

“Why?” I huffed, fluffing my hair. “Will you fall asleep right here on the dance floor soon?”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Anyone ever tell you you’re a real ball of fucking sunshine?”

“That’s an improvement from nightmare.” I exhaled and tugged at his jacket. “C’mere.”

Roy’s eyes widened. “Why?”

“So I can say goodnight, you idiot. Someone’s bound to take a photo of this.” Not waiting for an answer, I pulled his face close to mine and planted a small, lingering kiss on his cheek. His face was warm, a little itchy from his beard, and now carried a little red mark from my lipstick. I smiled up at him and released his jacket. “Goodnight, Roy Kent,” I hummed.

He cleared his throat and gave a curt nod. “Right. Goodnight, then.” He reached down and gave my hand a squeeze before turning and walking away, his movements stiff and almost robotic.

Fighting the urge to childishly wipe my mouth on the back of my hand, I returned to the corner where the Greyhounds were gathered. Dani’s face lit up when I slid into the booth next to him and stole a sip of his drink.

“Did you have fun dancing with Coach Kent, amor?” he asked, his voice dripping with teasing.

I smirked at my friend. “He was very nice,” I declared with a playful eyeroll.

“Roy doesn’t normally dance,” one of the players- Colin- informed me. “And he usually doesn’t stay out this late.” He waggled his eyebrows at me over his beer. “Wonder why he came out tonight.”

Putting on my best coy smile, I leaned forward. “What about when his girlfriend comes out with you all? Doesn’t he dance with her?”

Immediately, all the men at the table shook their heads. “Roy doesn’t have a girlfriend,” Isaac, their captain, clarified. “He actually hasn’t really dated anyone since….” He glanced around the table. “Well, since he broke up with his serious girlfriend, Keeley.”

“Keeley?” I echoed without thinking. “Keeley Jones?”  

Dani’s smile widened. “Oh, how do you know Keeley?”

Shit.

“I don’t,” I lied. “But I’ve heard of her. We’ve got some mutual friends. She’s a model, right?”

Isaac nodded. “She’s moved into PR, actually. Runs her own firm, works with the club. She’s brilliant.”

“And once upon a time, she and Roy were our OTP,” Colin sighed dreamily. “But they’re good friends now. Them and Jamie and their weird little dynamic.”

“Jamie dated her too,” Dani explained. “Before her and Roy got together.”

I nodded, slowly piecing together the story. “Jamie dated her too?” I chuckled, wondering why I felt like I should have been told all this ahead of time. “Gosh, she has a type, doesn’t she? Dating two guys from the same team.” I put my hands up and quickly added, “Not that I have the right to judge. I dated bandmates once, did not turn out well for the band.”

The guys laughed good-naturedly. As I was about to feign interest and ask another question about Roy, Jamie Tartt approached, plopping down on my other side and setting down a drink in front of me, his arm behind me on the booth casually.

“Finally escaped from Grandad, eh?” he joked, eyes twinkling playfully.

Damn. Normally, his pretty-boy looks and admittedly annoying swagger would be exactly what I wanted, and we’d probably have a fun couple of weeks in each other’s beds. But I needed to stick to the plan; besides, wasn’t I done with guys like this?

Offering the athlete nothing but a polite smile, I turned back to Dani and took my friend’s hand. “It was fun watching you play today,” I hummed. “Think I could come again? Become a Greyhounds fan?”

“Yes!” Dani kissed my forehead. “Please, amor, come to more of our games.” He nudged me. “I’m sure Coach Kent would not mind one bit.”

Hoping my smile was shy rather than obviously fake, I giggled. “He did tell me I brought you all luck,” I said slowly. I batted my eyelashes at Dani. “Don’t suppose you could pass along my phone number to him? I’d love to know which game he’d like me to bring luck to.”

The table fell into a dead silence, all eyes wide and mouths agape. After the guys exchanged looks that could only be described as utterly shocked, Colin finally cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry,” he started, “are you asking Dani to give Roy your phone number?”

Feigning innocence, I nodded. “Sure,” I chirped. “Is that alright? You all said he’s single, so…” I shrugged and turned to Dani. “Unless you think it’s too weird, chulo?”

“No, no,” Dani assured me. “I can give him your number.” He tilted his head at me. “You… you liked Coach Kent, then?”

Nope. Not at all. Not one fucking bit.

“Sure,” I giggled, hating myself. “I mean, as much as I can like a man after one drink and a couple of dances.”

His smile lit up the entire club as he lifted his drink. “Well, then Coach Kent is a lucky man. I will give him your number tomorrow, how does that sound?”

I tapped my glass to Dani’s. “Sounds like a plan.”

Taglist: @infinetlyforgotten@ladygrey03@book-of-roses@thatonedogwithablog@misshall14@wibblywobblyvampywolfystuff@akornsworld@itswhateveripromise@purecinnamonextract@oceanncurrent@dearvoidgoodnight@hopefulromances @respondingtoshowerthoughts-blog @hotleaf-juice @emmy2811 @captainorbust-blog @preciousbabypeter @shion-ah @royalestrellas

#roy kent i'll write your name #roy kent iwyn #he's here he's there he's every fucking where #roy kent #roy kent x reader #roy kent fanfic #roy kent fic #roy kent fanfiction #roy kent imagine #ted lasso fanfiction

[yuurivoiceincorporated]

Hiii! Been a lil under with a cold lately and I was wondering if you could write Auron taking care of sick listener who refuses to rest until their work is complete? Thanks <333

No Rest For the Wicked

Auron x Reader

You were typing away at your desk, checking emails, reviewing contracts, answering calls, and participating in small talk with your coworkers.

It was a usual day, except for the fact that you were sick. Really sick. Coughing, sneezing, the whole shebang. You looked pretty ill, too, even though you tried to hide it.

Your chest and throat hurt so much from you suppressing your cough when talking on the phone. But you just had to fake it till you made it. Especially in front of *him*.

Auron stopped by your desk, making his routinely walk-through.

“Hello, Rook.” He greeted you as per usual.

“Oh… hello, Auron.”

“Is something wrong? You look unwell.” He brushed some hair out of your face.

You stammered as you felt your face growing hot. “No, everything’s alright…I’m just… doing my work… like I’m supposed to.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not stupid, Rook. You are sick. Go home. I’m not keen on catching any illnesses for the time being.”

“I can’t just leave now. I’m not finished with the task you assigned me and I have a meeting to prepare for.”

“Nope. You’re going home. I don’t care if the contracts come in a little late, you’re ill. I can drive you home.”

“No, you really shouldn’t. Don’t you have a meeting today? I can drive myself.”

He sighed. “Oh, I can just cancel it. I’ll call Trish up.”

“Are you sure…?”

“Yes, I am. Now, come on. I’ve got to call Trish first but we can go afterwards. I don’t want to see you even *touch* or *graze* a keyboard. Got it?”

You nodded though you seemed reluctant.

He went to his office, picked up the phone, and dialed Trish’s work phone number.

“Trish? It’s Auron. I need you to cancel the meeting I have today. Thanks.”

…

“Yes, I know it’s rude, but I’ve got something more important. I’ll be off for the rest of the day. I have someone—err… something to take care of.”

He hung up the phone.

“Let’s go, Rook.”

He drove you home. The drive seemed like it went on forever. When you two arrived you almost collapsed on the couch.

Moments later, you did in fact, collapse on the couch.

Auron stared at you for a little bit. He felt sorry for you, but he’d never tell you that.

He carried you up to your room and put you on your bed. He brushed some hair out of your face. And sighed.

“Oh, Rook… what am i going to do with you?”

#yuurivoice #x listener #x reader #yuurivoice auron

[akaridream]

after dark pt. 4:  recon (hawks x reader)

tags: hawks x reader

cw: just a taste of spice ;) cursing, hawks is a big fat flirt, afab reader, mentions of drugs

taglist: @inkthgoat @pnsduck @animedreamworlds @melxdig @mizvaun @mysideeffectsofyou @thecityofspareparts @soleilandpeaches

masterlist

You crushed your silky bed sheets in your fists and arched your back wildly. A whine died in your throat. With great effort, you pried open your eyes to see what was between your quaking thighs.

"Mm, angel," his voice echoed in your head. Whatever he was doing made you whine again. You reached down and clawed at the mess of blond hair, pulling hard. His eyes, hazy with lust met yours. Your heart quivered. The little black marks around his fierce amber eyes, his lips glistening, his cheeks flush with desire...

Your phone buzzed, startling you awake.

Fuck.

You removed your sleep mask and whipped it away, then rolled over and groaned into your pillow. You sprawled out over your queen size bed, stretching your legs and wings to occupy the whole things. You rolled to your side and pressed your thighs together, trying to feel the remnants of pleasure left over from your dream.

Damn it, this bird boy is gonna kill me.

Breeding season had never been an issue, thanks to your solitary lifestyle. A personalized birth control pill had kept your hormones regular, but it didn’t quell your drive entirely. In years past, spring had meant a day or two off with a trashy romance novel and your detachable shower head. It was nothing you couldn’t take care of on your own. But with a certain someone a daily presence for the next three weeks, you feared a far more agonizing season than ever.

I can’t let myself do anything stupid, you thought as you reached for your phone.

Hawks: lemme know when you’re up, I’ve got some intel on our little friends

Of course it was him, like he could read your dreams. Oh, the glorious color that would spread across his face if he knew you were dreaming of him. His pupils would dilate with arousal, he’d take a step closer and-

God damn it. This is gonna be harder than I thought. You had to take a cold shower before you replied, decidedly not reaching for your shower head. How could you look him in the eye in a few hours if you got off to thoughts of him?

Your raging hormones finally began to subside as you wrapped a towel around yourself and combed your wet hair.

You: Morning bird boy. I’ll be heading to my office in a bit, was gonna do some recon on Yamamoto

Hawks: you got time to chat? Or I can meet you at your office while I’m on patrol 

 You: You can call whenever you get a minute. I’d rather you not be seen going to and from my office too frequently

Your phone started ringing. “Hey, what’s up?” you answered.

“Morning, angel, although it’s almost noon already. You stay up late last night after we separated?”

“Maybe a little, but I usually sleep ten hours or so.”

“Damn, that’s luxurious! Next time I get a day off I might have to go for that,” he said. You could hear the wind rushing through the phone.

“How long have you been at it already today?” you asked.

“Been out and about since 8 or so. But before that I was digging around on my agency’s database, so I got in to the office around 6:30.”

“Geez, workaholic.”

“Yeah, I know. I gotta take time off and take you out one of these days!”

You smiled. “Oh yeah? And where do you think you’re gonna take me that we won’t be seen together?”

“Ah, I can’t tell you yet. It’s a surprise. But I do have an idea.” Your heart danced. “Oh yeah, the reason I called. Turns out Officer Mori has had three different fitness-for-duty evaluations in the past three years. Typically those only happen when-”

“When an officer gets in trouble for something, I’m familiar. Any details about why he was evaluated?”

“That’s the thing,” Hawks said. “The documents were full of redacted passages. My suspicion is that he’s gotten caught for Trigger before and they covered it up for some reason.”

“So you think this supply link has gone on for that long?” you asked as you sat at the foot of your bed.

“Well, if this is the main guy linking them, yes. But there could be other officers involved. We may want to look into who else has been caught with Trigger in the past three years or so.”

“Why would they want to cover it up? You’d think they would fire him after the first or second offense, but the fact that this recent one was his fourth is really fishy.”

“Yeah, I agree. The police are hurting for new recruits, so they might wanna keep as many on board as they can. But why would you want to keep officers that are committing crimes?” he asked.

You sighed. “Hm, not a great situation. So, do you want me to look more into the police?”

“Sure, see what you can find. If nothing, we need to check out Yamamoto from the Safety Commission- Oh, shit. I gotta go, text me if you find anything out before we meet up tonight!” The call disconnected.

Silly hero, you thought. But man, he really must be working a lot. We separated around midnight last night and he was already back at his office by 6:30? And he worked the whole day yesterday…

You dressed in a simple pair of black skinny jeans and camisole, throwing on a hoodie you had cut to just sleeves and hood to allow for your wings. Complete with your favorite chunky boots, you hopped on the subway across town to your office. Once there, you selected a focusing citrus scent for your diffuser and got to work. You began with news reports and press releases about officers with Trigger, corroborating their information with the police database. After a few hours of digging, you were stumped.

You: Hey, I’ve been poking around the police archives and haven’t come across a single thing with redacted info

Hawks: what kind of reports have you been looking at?

You: Well I started with incidents that came up from public records like news articles and stuff

Hawks: check out everything you can find on Mori specifically, see if you can find the report from his first evaluation three years ago

You did as he suggested and like magic, the exact report Hawks had told you about came up. You sat back and scratched your head.

You: I found the report, black lines and all. Why the hell didn’t this report come up earlier?

You went back to scrounging around the database for your target’s name and found the two other evaluations. They too, were full of redacted information. “What the hell?” you said under your breath.

A flash of red out the glass office door caught your eye.

“Hey,” Hawks said, strolling in like he owned the place. “I was nearby and had some downtime, figured I’d stop by.”

You smirked and tried to ignore your quickening pulse. “Cutting out from work early?”

He smiled and pulled a box of matcha Pocky from his pocket. “Yeah, to do other work!”

You tilted your head. “Spring Pocky is out already? Didn’t we just have the winter one the other day?”

He opened the box and offered you the first piece. “Yep, the sakura will be blooming before long. We’ll have to go see them together.”

Hawks stripped off his flight jacket, headset and goggles, then ran a hand through his windswept hair. “Man, it’s starting to feel like spring too. Way warmer than I thought it’d be today.”

Your eyes grazed over his taught abdomen and arms. His black muscle tee showed off every dip and contour just right. You began to salivate, and not because of the Pocky. You cleared your throat and stared at your computer, reluctant to take your eyes off him.

“Yeah, it’s supposed to be gorgeous out today.” He placed his shed gear on the arm of the love seat. With his back turned, you had a chance to admire him further. The way his wings transitioned to his lats, his strong traps, and those triceps… You bit your lip. Hard. You wanted your legs wrapped around that thin waist of his, your back pressed to the wall, his lips sealed to your neck-

Shit. Can’t go there right now!

He turned back towards you and your eyes locked for a beat before he glanced at your monitor. “You find anything else?”

You swallowed, hoping he couldn’t read your sinful thoughts. “Yes, Mori’s other two reports, full of black.”

Hawks took a knee next to your chair. “Yep, looks just like the first. Hmm…” He thought for a moment, eyes running over the screen. “Seems like anything that was reported publicly was a full report. All the stuff about Mori was kind of buried and I had to know what I was looking for to find it.”

Hawks rested his upper arm against your thigh. “Makes sense. They’re trying to hide it. Makes me wonder if there are higher up’s involved. Hey, I have an idea. Pop open a tab for the Fukuoka Police staff listing.” You did as he requested.

“Sorry I don’t have a second chair for you,” you said.

“No worries, I’m used to being on my feet or wings all day. So, I think we should scour the database for every officer like you did for Mori and see if we come up with any redacted reports.”

You nodded and worked diligently with Hawks next to you, guiding your inquiries. You worked together seamlessly, your minds synced in similar thought patterns. Eventually, you compiled a list of officers with suspicious reports to their names.

“Alright, so now we have an even better idea of who might be involved besides Mori. But there’s one more person I think you should check out,” Hawks said. “Search for Chief Matsui.”

“Really?” you asked, turning to look at Hawks directly. “You think this could go that far up?”

He looked disappointed. “’Fraid so. We’d be remiss if we didn’t at least check him out, right?”

You nodded and ran a search for the chief of police. To both of your surprise, not a single document came up.

“Nothing?” you said. “Nothing at all? Everyone had at least a little something, even just a yearly salary report.”

Hawks sighed. “Shit. That’s even weirder than finding redacted docs. No way that’s accurate.” His phone began to buzz, but he dismissed it.

“Villains taking over the streets?” you asked.

He chuckled. “Nothing my sidekicks can’t handle, I’m busy with you,” he said with a nudge and soft smile. “Plus I haven’t made a playlist for tonight’s stakeout yet.”

You scoffed. “Is that really a top priority?”

“Absolutely! While I do that, here-” he stood and leaned over your desk to open a new tab. “Let me get you signed in to the Safety Commission database so you can check in on our pal Yamamoto. You have a VPN, right? Don’t want them to see your IP connected to their database.” His earthy, masculine fragrance made your head so dizzy that you almost purred. You watched the toned muscles of his forearms move beneath his skin as he typed in credentials. Your nails dug into your knee and you breathed deeply, his woodsy natural aura filling your lungs. It was more invigorating than any of your fancy oils.

For fuck’s sake. If I can’t get control of my thoughts, I might melt into the floor.

“There, should be good to go. Hope you don’t mind, but I’m gonna take a few minutes to chill, maybe make a game plan for our surveillance tonight,” he said, sauntering over to the love seat and lounging across it on his side.

You nodded stiffly and stared back at your computer.

“You alright?” he asked. “You seem a little… Tense.”

Oh, you have no idea.

“I’m fine. Sleep was… Tumultuous last night,” you lied.

He quirked up an eyebrow. “Maybe you should take a few minutes to relax then.”

But if I look away from this computer, I’m going to look at you. Looking at you would only make me more tense, and tension means I might do something irrational, like jump in your lap.

You closed your eyes and massaged the space between your eyebrows. “Don’t want to lose focus.”

“Kind of seems like you already have,” he said. He scooted back on the love seat and patted the open space in front of him. “Just five minutes to kill the eye strain from staring at that monitor.”

You sighed and tilted your head. “Fine. But only five minutes.” You padded across the office and sat down with him, subconsciously resting your plush ass against his belt and lower abs. He curled his body around you, resting his hand next to your hip.

“Here, help me find some songs. How do you feel about My Chemical Romance?” he asked, pulling out his phone.

“I like them. I only know a few of their more popular ones though,” you said. As you compiled songs together, you traded subtle flirtations. He gave you a playful poke, you took his hand to view his phone more closely. He moved to rest his phone against your thigh, you added a suggestive song. Hawks’ hand at your hip slid a finger through your belt loop, you leaned back into him. His every touch, every movement was caught by your sharp perceptions. He was claiming you, and you were letting him.

This can’t happen, idiot, you thought to yourself. This partnership is nothing more than temporary. Get your horny self under control or he’s gonna break your heart!

You frowned, knowing you were right. On the other side of mating season, you’d go back to being perfectly happy alone and Hawks would be nothing but a flirtationship, just like the rest of your crushes.

“S’matter?” he asked, tilting his head to look at you with puppy-like eyes. You melted, nearly sighing aloud.

“It’s nothing, promise,” you lied, but Hawks looked incredulous. He opened his mouth to argue, but his phone began to buzz. This time, he answered.

“Yo, you guys get things cleaned up downtown?” he asked, leaning away from you. You took the opportunity to walk to your desk to work on more research. Hawks’ conversation wrapped up quickly and he sighed.

“Heading back out?” you asked. He started putting his flight gear back on, easily working his wings through his custom jacket.

“Yeah, duty calls I guess. Glad I got to have a little break from the action at least. Let me know if you find anything else of interest, kay?”

You nodded as he slid his flight goggles back on. “Of course.” Your focus drifted back to your computer, but Hawks stepped over to your desk once again.

“One more thing before I go though. It’s really important.”

You spun your chair towards him and looked up at him. “What’s up?”

He smiled and fidgeted with his fingers. “Friday night, when we’re done with surveillance.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Mmhmm. What about it?”

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and leaned against your filing cabinet. “I know the owner of this little ramen shop. It’s one of those places with booths where you order from a screen and there’s a little window where your food comes out. No interaction with waiters or anything. Owner said he’d stick around late so I can take you there.”

The corners of your mouth turned upwards before you could stop them.

“And since it’s technically after we’re done working…” he continued. “I was hoping you’d let me call it a date.”

Your stomach flipped like you were free-falling. Your eyes connected with his and you melted like butter on a stack of fresh pancakes: Warm and fluffy on the inside, hot enough to burn on the outside.

“Um… Yeah. I think I’d like that.”

He nodded and grinned. “Great! I’m already looking forward to it. It’s in this romantic little back alley, and Murakami makes the best tonkotsu. Promise it’ll be worth your time!”

You giggled, your cheeks growing sore from smiling so hard. “I trust you, Hero.”

He tilted his head and a soft expression graced his handsome features. “Wish I could stay, but my sidekicks will be wondering where the heck I snuck off to. I’ll see you in a few hours!” He waved and disappeared down the hallway.

You squealed quietly to yourself and put your cheek down on the cold glass of your desk. Even in your bliss, the logical part of your mind screamed.

Just what the hell am I getting myself into?

part 5

#hawks x y/n #hawks x reader #bnha hawks #keigo takami #keigo takami x reader #keigo takami x y/n

[beelmons]

No one is as hot, happy, or cool as Instagram shows, some people are bald

Genre: Fluff Pairing: Spencer Reid x BAU!Fem!Reader CW: None Series: Part of Technophobe in Recovery Summary: Your friend Spencer didn't really understand social media, until he found out that it could be used to hit on people, more specifically to hit on you. Perhaps if he had a profile you would look his way?

Social media is a narcissist’s crack, at least that’s what Spencer always thought. There are so many ways of keeping communication, what’s the point of plastering every detail of your life for the world to see? As FBI agents, the entire team knew to thread carefully when it came to public profiles. Of course, all of you kept it light, without giving locations away, and taking every precaution Penelope had told you to take.

—He liked your picture?! —Penelope screamed from your behind. She had sneaked up on you and caught a sight of your phone to see the username of a very popular S.W.A.T. member on the “liked by…” section of your Instagram.

—First of all, ouch. —you joked, pretending like her scream hurt your ear—and second, he didn’t only like the picture, he is in my DMs right now asking about my day.

—You go, girlfriend—Emily joined as her and JJ got closer.

The not-so-subtle scream from Garcia had gathered everyone’s attention, and shortly there after the familiar faces that walked the ballpen had gathered around you.

—Whoa, baby girl, what’s all the commotion about? —Morgan asked once him and Reid had joined the rest of your coworkers by your side, his hand instinctively reaching for Penelope’s shoulders.

—Miss hot and smokey right here. —she pointed in your direction— The super-hot SWAT captain from last raid just liked her picture on Instagram and slid into her DMs.  

—I think this is the first time I’ve been in a conversation where I don’t understand a single word. —Spencer had furrowed his eyebrows in plain confusion— Is that a good thing?

—It’s like a modern version of a mating call, Spence, you like someone’s picture to capture their attention, let them know you are interested, and then message them privately to see where things go. —JJ explained in the young doctor’s direction.

As everyone’s attention went back to your phone, Spencer found the perfect opportunity to swallow down the knot that had formed on his throat. Never could he have guessed that from all the people you were surrounded by, decorated officers, top-of-the-field lawyers, fellow elite FBI agents, the one person he had to worry about was trapped in the rectangular gadget he hated the most.

Not that the team knew, they suspected yet he had never admitted to it, but Spencer liked you. He wasn’t the one to act on his crushes almost ever, he liked when things developed naturally, which apparently was not going to be the case with you now that “super-hot-swat-captain” was “sliding into your DMs”, whatever that meant.

—You guys are making it a bigger deal than it is. —you tried to shut down the chatter in the office— He hasn’t even asked me out, just asking random questions.

—Come on, you don’t talk to someone on Instagram to make friends. —Morgan affirmed.

—And you look good good ok that picture. —JJ added.

The statement made Reid stick out his neck, he wanted to catch a glimpse of what everyone else what admiring; in his eyes, you always looked good, what could be so special about that one pic— Oh. He could feel the heat on his face spreading through every corner of his head, and some other places to the south he was doing his best to avoid; the way the lighting was ideal to your face, the pose that highlighted the best features of your body, and an outfit he could tell made you the most confident. A whole other person that he seemed not to know, and yet prayed in his very soul he could, at least, get the chance to one day.

Reid cleared his throat as he noticed everyone, specially Morgan, staring a bit too long, and with embarrassment he headed back to his office. The traces of the smile he had earlier in the morning were long gone, his serious expression taking over instead, with a slight furrow on his brows. He grabbed a random file as he walked to his desk and pretended to work intently in wrapping up some paperwork.

—Okay, that’s enough. —not being used to such praise and attention to your private life, you snatched the device away from Penelope whom, at some point, had gotten her hands on it— We’re not snooping on my love life right now, there’s tons of paperwork to do and the next case could come at any time.

The team reluctantly left your work area, not before threateningly asking for updates whenever you got one, and you were free from their questions once again. On the corner of your eye you were able to notice a rather sulky Spencer sitting on his desk, his troubled expression not going unnoticed by the rest of the team as well, to any stranger it would look like your average agent on the job, but to those who knew him was obvious, and boy, did you not know him.

You decided to disobey your own advice and visit his station instead, you leaned over the furniture with a concerned expression and he looked up questioningly, as if your presence was not required.

—Spence, you good? —you asked amicably.

—Sure, I’m fine. —his answer was quick and apparently emotionless—Got a lot to do, though.

Without giving you a chance to speak any further his sight went back to the file in his hands. You muttered a tired “okay” and headed back to your desk to finally get to work. The feeling of having done something wrong didn’t go away for a while, even if strictly you had made no mistake. You liked Spencer, and you figured you had left enough clues for him to pick up on them, but so far he hadn’t made the first move, and you were beginning to think perhaps he just wasn’t interested, after all, you were the first one to volunteer whenever he offered an extra ticket to his obscure events, and there’s no way he didn’t notice the creeping blush on your ears that one time he would mutter live translations during the Korean film festival.

On his side, he was only pretending to read and type on the computer, he wasn’t able to concentrate at all. Would you maybe take interest in him if he liked your every picture? If he wrote you a DM even if he still didn’t quite know what that meant? If he posted shirtless pictures occasionally? Or showed off his tactical gun? Hold on, those thoughts were getting too specific. Without even noticing, he had landed on the SWAT captain’s profile. He knew how to vaguely navigate profiles thanks to Garcia, but any further than that was a mystery for him. He couldn’t help to feel like this guy was a little pretentious, absolutely not the kind of man you deserved, or even would like; Penelope was right, you can know a lot about someone thanks to their social media.

—Stalking the competition? —Derek’s voice scared Spencer out of his wits.

His fingers quickly hit the close button on the browser, and he jolted upwards. When he realized the weight of the words said to him he nervously looked around, thankfully you were nowhere close to a hearing range, to his relief.

—Just curious, that’s all. —he said in a lower voice as he rubbed one of his eyes.

—I get it, kid, —Morgan offered a handsome smile and a supportive pat on the shoulder— social media can sometimes be the source of lots of negative feelings, it’s not a perfect tool, but it’s fun. You don’t have to worry, chicks love your old-school techniques too, you just have to, you know, actually use them on a girl for them to work. —he signaled with his head as you walked from Hotch’s office, where you had been discussing details of a report with the Unit Chief, to the office’s kitchen—And, sometimes, an “I’m sorry I was a jackass to you” goes a longer way than any like on a picture.

Spencer watched carefully as you made your way through the ballpen, he was the body language and microexpressions expert, he knew you were feeling down and, guiltily, he was the reason behind that. Without answering his friend he skipped from his seat towards the entrance you had just walked by. As magic, and as usual, the second he was in front of you any other logical thought seemed to disappear from his brain, you had that effect on him.

—Hey. —he said, you answered with a slight smile and turned in his direction— I just wanted to apologize for being so dismissive earlier.

—That’s fine, Reid. —you answered with a swatting of your hand— Sorry I upset you.

—No, you… —he sighed and looked down at his feet— you didn’t upset me, sometimes I just have a hard time understanding modernity, and it can get very overwhelming.

—We know, we know. —you reached over to squeeze his arm reassuringly, and he could have sworn his heart was going to jump out of his chest.

—I just don’t get the point of it all.

—Well, there isn’t really much a point. For a lot of people it’s a source of pride and vanity, sure, but some of us just want to share pieces of our lives to those we love the most.

—And that includes sexy SWAT captains? —he asked in a tone that seemed to be smaller than the rest of his sentence.

—The people you love the most, and some other randos, too. —you corrected with a small laugh, not wanting to even pay attention to the SWAT captain, since truth was you weren't interested— It can also be a great way to make sure you don’t lose important memories.

—Important memories don’t just get lost. —he joked.

—Not everyone has eidetic memory, Spencer. —you shook your head and reached into your back pocket to take a hold of your phone, your profile still open on the picture that had gotten him so excited before which you quickly tapped away to scroll through your posts—Like, look at this one, this is a picture of Rossi’s carbonara.

—You could get that any time.

—Yes, but what if I transfer or quit? I want to be able to remember that I used to have this amazing food with you guys. —you scrolled a bit further— Oh, this one is from Hotch’s birthday, when we surprised him by bringing Jack to the office, that was fun. This is a trip I took with my family. That’s a cute cat I saw on the street, nothing worth noting but surely worth keeping.

As you kept going down your posts your lips curled into a bigger smile. Memories were nice, they were fun, especially the ones you liked to share, they brought you joy and warmth, and he noticed, in fact, that’s all he could look at, the bright smile on your face as you reminisced. He wondered if, maybe, you would smile the same when remembering him, perhaps years from now, or during lazy weekends, on a random Thursday, when the fragrance of his cologne seemed to linger in the air, in a similar way he was used to thinking of you.

—Hey, that’s me! —he said excitedly when he noticed a picture you had posted months ago of the two of you together.

—Oh, yes! This is when we went to that event, what was its name? Like lollapalooza but for books.

—Litepalooza. —he added

—Right, it was so lame we decided to leave and go have something to drink, we ended up in that Mexican coffee shop where we tried the... Spicy Hot Chocolate!

—Spicy hot chocolate!

The screaming of the name came out of your mouths at the same time and it was followed by a loud laugh. On the caption it read “Awesome days, awesome friends.” and a heart emoji following. Most of your pictures were of other people, or other objects, or by yourself, as far as he could tell he was the only person, outside your family, to appear on a picture alone with you. The mere fact that he felt special for it made him feel ridiculous.

—Your lips were red the rest of the day. —you let out a final chuckle— It’s not so bad. Think of it as a digital scrapbook. I know, I know, you are not big on digitalizing things, but not everyone is crafty enough to make one!

—When you put it like that, yeah, it doesn’t sound so bad.

You took a second to look into his eyes, and you could have sworn that your suspicions of him not being interested were wrong. Before making it awkward he hit you with a soft “let’s head back”, to which you complied.

The rest of the day went by pretty fast, before you knew it was time to head back home, thank god, serial killers had taken a weekend off and you didn’t have to travel for a case on Friday. You didn’t have any plans, so a night in it was. Before you headed out you made sure to stop by Spencer’s desk and he let you know that he had something to do before heading home and you should go back first.

The appointment in question was with no other than Penelope Garcia herself. Spencer shyly slipped past the door of her office after knocking on it almost ashamedly.

—What can I do for you, boy wonder? —she asked, spinning her particular pink furry pen in her hand.

—I was wondering…—he began to explain—could you maybe help me create an Instagram profile?

—Do my ears deceive me? —she asked with an astonished expression—Spencer Reid, are you sick?

—No, I feel fine. —he answered earnestly and a little puzzled, unaware of the undertone.

—Then this must be a miracle! You have come to the right place my child, we are going to make the most irresistible profile ever!

—Wait, before we start… —he interrupted the girl’s clicking and she looked at him expectantly—Can you tell me what does a DM stand for? Has been bugging me all day to not know.

—Oh, boy genius, your analog brain is thirty, but your digital brain is five.

With her snarky remark, the both of them got to work.

You kept turning on your bed as you watched a random, very uninteresting, show on Netflix. Your night in, regardless of it being what you needed, was boring to the core. You didn’t think your night was going to pick up until you saw the screen of your phone light up with a notification. A very odd username caught your attention enough to skim through them.

[Instagram] dr.sreid started following you

[Instagram] dr.sreid liked your photo

[Instagram] dr.sreid liked your photo

[Instagram] dr.sreid: Hey, guess what?

You bit your lip in attempt to not look like an absolute clown with the wideness of your smile. Hurriedly, you unlocked the device and headed to the pretentious social media app.

You : No fucking way.

You : How did you even manage to make one?

dr.sreid : Garcia helped me.

dr.sreid : Is it too weird?

You : A little. But it’s nice seeing you adapt to modernity.

dr.sreid : I still have no idea how to use this properly, I also don’t understand what’s the difference between this and texting.

You : Jesus, this must be killing you.

You : Hold on, I’ll follow you back and call you instead, enough dm-ing for today, I gotta give you a break.

dr.sreid : I have no idea what you just said, but sure.

You laughed at his confusion, regardless of his genius brain he hated familiarizing himself with technology, and he could learn about it pretty easily, but he just didn’t enjoy it in the minimum. You headed to his profile as you promised, he had followed 6 people, Morgan, Rossi’s official writer account, JJ, Garcia, of course it was the first account he followed, Emily Prentiss, and you. The profile picture was an impromptu photo of them in Garcia’s office, since he barely kept pics around in his phone, and his only post was an old picture taken on your birthday by Penelope herself, both of you unaware that it even existed. In it, he was struggling against you trying to smear his face with buttercream, his hands on your wrists, and both of your smiles the biggest you had ever since, the caption read “Favorite picture, favorite person.” with a heart emoji following. You couldn’t put a name on the way it made you feel, but the butterflies in your stomach were giving you a hint, you followed him back, liked the picture, and dialed his number. You couldn’t go a second without hearing his voice.

The next day at work you would get an earful about having ghosted the SWAT captain, and the only thing that replaced the outrageous news about your love life was the realization that Spencer had, in fact, made an Instagram account. After some teasing and internal jokes, the office went back to normal.

Spencer would only post a picture every couple of months when a special occasion arose, by the request of his friends, and when Penelope managed to get his hands on his phone. However, from that day on, he was the very first person to like whatever photo you were to post.

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid/reader #spencer x reader #spencer x you #spencer reid x you #reid x you #reid x reader #criminal minds #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid fan fic #criminal minds fanfic #criminal minds fan fic #TIR

[moral-terpitude]

Fourth Time’s the Charm - Pt. 3

You never thought 10 years ago you’d end up married with four children. It honestly wasn’t the way you were thinking at the time with a sister to care for and a business to run, but the way the universe works almost always seemed to surprise you, so it was fitting when a husband practically fell into your lap.

You were content running the bookstore on your old family farm in Bedworth, just outside of Coventry, that your father had left you in charge of as he opened another and lived above it closer to London. An old train depot abandoned and purchased by your family. Surrounded by books you found yourself at home and content. The air always smelled clean and the sky was always blue, and you could hide between the rows of books and no one would see you.

That was until your husband came along and completely disrupted your life. In the best ways possible no doubt, but you felt completely blindsided the first time you encountered him.

The phone rang, a rare occcourence. Rare enough that you sometimes wondered why you even had a phone. You were located far enough down the country road that you and your sister knew that if someone was coming there, it was for a reason. She sold wonderful baked goods, and you were in charge of the books, literally, since you were better with numbers, and it was a delightful combination.

When the phone rang you answered it hesitantly, a breeze blowing warm air around outside, “Astley Books and Baked Goods, how can I help you?”

There was a pause on the line before he spoke, and they were words you didn’t realize would change the course of your life when you heard them, “I’ve been looking for a few books and I was hoping you may have them.”

His voice was low and rough, and had a smoothness, a bravado, to it that about knocked you off your feet, and that was without even seeing him. Now knowing him, you could picture the way he had sat, alone in his office, slid down in the chair as he spoke.

“Well, if you’d like to read me the list, I can take note to check what I have and give you a call back.”

“Very well.” He rattled off the list to you, and as you transcribed it to paper, you found yourself missing a letter here or there as wanted to rather just sit and listen to him talk.

“Sir, are you trying to start a small library over night?” You laughed as the list took up almost two sheets of your ledger.

You could hear him chuckle, pen scratching against paper and the noise and chaos of people entered the background as a door opened and shut, “If I am, are you offering to catalogue it and organize it for me?”

Your heart stuck in your throat and with a hard swallow you cleared it. “Well, sir, I’m a bookseller, not a librarian, and that would depend on how many books I can find here. What’s the name for the order?”

“Thomas Shelby.”

“Okay Mr. Shelby, I’ll see what I have and give you a call back.”

“Thank you.”

Before the call ended he asked for your name, and you gave it. The way he spoke it, saying he looked forward to hearing from you, made your stomach flip.

On the return call you let him know you had all but four of the books he was looking for and he had asked if he could pick them up that evening.

“I won’t be able to be there until half-seven.” You heard silence in the background now, as a lighter clicked near the phone receiver, a breath and exhale as the smoke passed through his lips.

“I can stay open until half-seven, Mr. Shelby. It’s no trouble.”

At half seven on the nose, a silver Bentley pulled down your long drive as the dog barked and ran beside the car. You had just finished putting the last few books in apple crates and totaling up his bill. Your sister, 4 years your junior, had brought out sandwiches for supper and helped you check and make sure everything was there.

“Why have you a book-maker here this late?” She whispered as you popped out and waved him to the partly cracked door, not yet taking full sight of him.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s Tommy Shelby, he’s the Devil of Small Heath, a gangster.” You looked to her to continue before he entered the door and heard you talking about him, “He owns the race tracks, they say he fixes the races himself. He owns the export company, someone told me he’s bootlegging liquor in the car parts he ships to America. And he just bought a house.” She polished off the last of the tea and another sandiwch as she leaned against the wooden counter.

“You need to stop going to town and finding out all the gossip. You’re as bad as mother was.”

You snuck a glance at him as he took the final drag from a cigarette and extinguished it with his brand new boot in the drive. Buddy trotted over to him and he patted the dogs head, giving him a good scratch behind the ears, before opening the cracked door.

He wore a dark grey three piece suit and a gold pocket watch. His blue eyes met yours and they were clear enough for you to see your future with him in them.

“Hello, Mr. Shelby,” you spoke as your sister retreated to the house with the tray and a small tutting for you from the way you said his name. Your heart pounded in your chest as the door closed behind her leaving the two of you alone.

“Please, call me Tommy.” He gave you a smile. His dark hair and high cheekbones were a wonderful combination. You felt underdressed in comparison to him, a simple blouse and skirt with dirty scuffed boots from tending to the chickens every morning.

You gave a nod before patting the top most of the 5 crates that contained the small fortune of books, “I can help you take them to your car if you’d like,”

He eyed you, brow raised and one hand in his pocket before he spoke, “I’d only allow you to help if I can take you out for a drink afterwards, eh?” The words hit you as if you’d stepped in front of a train. “I’ve made you put all this together, surely I owe you more than a cheque and a thank you.”

You swallowed hard, ignoring your sisters thinly veiled warning from moments ago, as you grabbed the top crate of the pile, “I think I’d allow that then, Tommy.”

His name felt foreign yet familiar on your tongue and he grabbed two of the crates as you held the door for him to pass by you. He smelled of tobacco, whiskey, and aftershave, and as you watched him walk before you, thinking of how close he had been passing by you, you desperately wanted to kiss his soft looking pink lips.

Once the last crate was loaded, he wrote you a check that covered the volume of books you usually sold in a month, and you turned off the small lantern on the counter that separated the two of you. A strand of hair fell in your face and he returned it to its home behind your ear as you fell flush from his touch. Even with the light out there was enough daylight for him to see the change in your complexion.

“If we’re to go for a drink, you’ll have to excuse me while I change my clothes.”

He gave a slow shake of his head, “You don’t have to change,” it was a whisper as he looked at you from the small stack of books behind the counter he had been reading titles of. New ones you had just gotten in.

“Well it wouldn’t be fair to you to go out with a woman that’s underdressed in comparison, Mr. Shelby.”

He watched you as you handed the stack to him, “You’re welcome to look. I’ll return shortly.”

As the door slipped closed behind you, you took off across the yard to the house on foot like a child chasing after a kickball to keep it from going in the river.

“Is everything alright?” Ivy called as you rounded the corner and started up the stairs, hoping she wouldn’t come after you. She did.

“Yes, why?” Your heart hammered in your chest as you thought of his fingers gently brushing you skin as he put the lock of hair back behind your ear.

“Tommy Shelby’s car is still in the drive and you’re headed to your room.” She had a hand on her hip as you looked at her from three stairs up.

“To change.”

“What for?”

“He’s taking me out for a drink.”

Her eyes grew wide as her hand flew to cover her now open mouth. A breeze blew the window curtains about.

“You cannot be serious! And you’ll go with him. You’ll go on a date with him?”

“It’s not a date.”

“Wear the navy dress. It complements your eyes the best.”

The both of you chatted in the car about business and family the whole way to town, and you felt at ease. Conversation was easy for you, especially with him.

Neither of you wore any ring, and the women in the bar eyed you with suspicion as you talked with your heads closely together at a small table, each over a whiskey while he smoked a cigarette.

“Your sister, comes in me brother’s pub. I’m sure she’s warned you all about me.” He stubbed the cigarette out in the ashtray, his words catching you off guard as he made the conversation take a rapid turn.

“I know only the words that she’s said to me today. If they were bad enough I never would have gotten in your car with you. You sound like a businessman who has had his stories whispered through a thousand lips, and I should believe the way the story has been changed with each person?” You shook your head, taking another sip of your drink.

He sighed, “Do you want the truth?”

“If this is to happen again? Yes.”

He stared into the glass before speaking, “I’ve killed men.”

He had mentioned he’d been to war. Everyone killed in the war. He could almost see you having the thought.

“I’ve killed men since the war.” He whispered.

“Have you killed women?”

He shook his head.

“‘Whereof what’s past is prologue; what to come, in yours and my discharge.’” His lips allowed a small smile, he had asked for other Shakespeare, but The Tempest hadn’t been one of them, “Mr. Shelby, I haven’t much a worry then if you’ve never killed a woman.”

An eyebrow quirked at your response, as he picked the same piece of literature for his answer to you, “‘This thing of darkness, I acknowledge mine.’”

You felt your tongue get tingly as he brushed his fingers along your cheek. Your heart leapt in your chest. His fingers grazed your jaw as if he were to pull you in and kiss you, but that small touch gave you so much more. You wanted him to grope your breasts and spread your legs. A shuddering sigh escaped your lips as he took your glass and retrieved you both another drink, a brazen reminder you were in public, despite the amount of sound that had raised in volume around you the small gesture of his touch had almost made you forget.

By the time he took you home, it was dark, with only a few glittering stars in the sky. The fingers of each of your closest hands had played a game over the half hour ride on the empty spot of the seat of finding each other in the dark and lingering there, not held but gently touching.

When he pulled in the end of the drive a single light wasn’t on in the house.

“Stop the car,” you whispered, unsure of where your boldness came from. However he obliged your request, blue eyes finding you in the dark as the engine went silent, waiting for you to continue.

You swallowed, a beat, waiting for the nervousness to descend back into your stomach before you spoke, “I’ve been thinking this whole way if I should ask you to kiss me before we part.”

You could see him smile, looking away from you and to the darkened house before finding your eyes again, his fingers once again finding your face, however this time it felt more urgent. More needy.

“And if your father should come out here and find me kissing his daughter at almost midnight?” His fingers moved to the back of your neck, rubbing in circles, and the movement told you that he didn’t much care what your father though.

“My father doesn’t live here, Tommy. Just my sister and I, and it looks as if she’s in bed.”

As his lips met yours your hands found that his skin was as soft as it looked. Your thumbs traced the dip in the hollow of his face, below his high cheek bones.

You’d ended up in his lap, between him and the steering wheel before you broke apart. You caught your breath as your heart hammered in your chest, and with him resting there you were sure he could hear it. He was soft and rough all at once. Loving and needy.

“Can I see you again?” He sounded shy as he asked the words, his hands resting on your waist as your fingers toyed with the collar of his shirt before answering.

“Yes.”

Over those next few weeks, he found an excuse to call you for some book almost daily. Every few days the call would lead to him asking if he could take you for dinner or a drink, to which you agreed.

The nights you didn’t go for dinner or a drink, he would stop on his way home, those nights usually after dark, and you would sneak out to the barn and relight the oil lanterns. He would park the car at the end of the drive so your sister never saw the headlights, and walk the whole drive to meet you there.

One of those nights he sat on his jacket on the cobblestone floor against your legs as you each read through a book. The back of his neck had found your kneecap to be particularly comfortable, but after awhile his fingers found their way working up you calf and you realized you weren’t reading anymore.

“When will we stop sneaking around your sister?”

You hadn’t realized that was what had been happening, but it indeed was what you were doing.

“Come have dinner with us, tomorrow. She’s heading out of town tomorrow night and taking the car, but then, if you’d like, you could stay.”

To your surprise they were rather conversational, Ivy prodding him with questions while you finished dinner. You pretended you didn’t overhear some of their conversation.

“So does my sister think I don’t know that you park at the end of the drive and meet her in the barn the nights you don’t go out?”

You heard him choke on the water, as you stayed at the stove and continued stirring, cursing yourself for ever letting them in there alone.

“I think that’s exactly what she believes, yes.”

“Do you love her, Tommy?”

He paused. Her question hung in the air and you now knew what path her questioning was headed down. He lowered his voice, probably sure you had been listening regardless, before continuing.

“Not quite fair for me to let you in on me secret before I have a chance to tell her meself, is it Ivy?”

You heard her snort as a smile crept across your face and he rose from the table and made his way to stand beside you.

“Do you need help with anything?”

His hand smoothed the sweater at the small of your back, bunched up from moving and caught on your skirt.

“No,” you ruffled his hair and pecked his lips quickly, allowing yourself to appear oblivious to their conversation, “almost finished.”

It was late when she left and you realized in the last how many years it was a rare occasion for you to have the house to yourself. It was the first time in months of his presence that you came up speechless. You understood what you wanted to do to fill the silence, but without being overly forward you weren’t sure how to get there.

#tommy shelby #peaky blinders #peaky fucking blinders #tommy shelby fanfic #peaky blinders fanfic #peaky fookin blinders #peaky blinder fanfic #fanfic #eventual smut #tommy shelby smut #tommy shelby x you #tommy shelby x reader #tommy shelby imagine #peaky blinders fluff #tommy shelby fluff #cillian murphy x reader #cillian murphy x y/n

[carefulfears]

heey :) i always enjoy your meta and your responses to questions and there’s something i never really understood so i thought i‘d ask your opinion <3 what do you think about mulder‘s brain disease during s7? i just can’t make sense of it like at all .. how would he have hidden it from scully? and why? like even if he‘d tried his best to hide it i feel like she would have noticed? and how would mulder be able to completely suppress it when with her?

imo this story development is unnecessary and just sad. why did they have to put that in there? for my personal canon i’ve decided it’s not true and mulder never was ill. but i am open to another take and would actually love to make sense of it so i thought i’d ask you since i enjoy your writing so much :3 thanks in advance!

god this is just so sweet of you to say, thank you so much. i really appreciate you reading my page and thinking of me, i always love to chat these little questions with you guys. as far as the brain disease goes, it is unnecessary and sad. on a wider scale, it’s obviously something they didn’t put much thought into, and just needed to use as a plot device retrospectively. but also…it colors season seven in a different light. i think that’s one reason why people don’t like it: it takes something. season seven is “secret sex” and movie nights and flirty mornings. it’s going to LA or kansas city just to see the sights, between monster hunts. it’s “there is so much more than this.”

when you drop a secret death sentence onto that, it takes something. it questions what the source of that peace was. i understand why most people choose to leave it.

i know i’m in the minority, but honestly, i don’t mind that questioning. it’s uncomfortable and it’s sad. but there has always been something in mulder that the audience or those around him is rarely let in on, and sometimes its fatal.

i always think about this fic:

She’d been dying once, too, and she’d told him before she told her own mother. Once, he had done everything he could to keep her alive, to find a cure, and didn’t he know she’d have done the same thing for him? She’d asked Skinner that, on one of the bad nights. Called him up in the middle of the night to ask. There was a long silence, and then Skinner just said, “Maybe he didn’t want to be saved.” He said it like he had been thinking about it for a long time. Like he’d been practicing how to tell her. In the moment she’d blanched and hung up the phone. When she came into the office the next morning, she could tell that he hadn’t slept either.

and i really recommend reading the full story, because it conceptualizes the situation so well emotionally. scully is pregnant with their miracle baby and she buried him and he was going to die, anyway, whether she knew it or not. i love the way this fic ponders...but he'd been happy, right? was he happy because they were together, or because it was almost over? it's unnecessary, it's sad, but it's also uncertain, it leaves questions.

i loved this thread trish had on twitter the other day:

thinking about mulder by scully's side through her cancer. him desperately searching for a cure. the way he clings to hope he doesn't really have because he's watching her die. when he gets his brain disease, he doesn't tell her. he hides it and looks for a cure on his own. he doesn't let that man eat his disease because he doesn't want him to suffer more. he gets abducted in scully's place.

mulder is "professionally in denial." he looked for 27 years for someone he would never have been able to save. he "refused to believe" that scully was dying, barely acknowledged it or talked about it, as she worked to her deathbed. he never told her about diana, even as the woman was in the backseat behind them. i know no one wants to think he would choose to die alone, without telling her, especially with his growth in season seven...but, it makes you question? it makes you wonder. and maybe he could.

#that's how i make sense of it at least #my answer is basically...i LIKE unnecessary and sad. lol #for those of you who don't you can totally pretend it doesnt exist it makes no difference #but i dont mind it #i could rationalize anything this show said i think skjdfh #thank you so much again darling. this was really sweet #asks

[autumnleaves1991-blog]

Long time reader. First time asker.

Gonna be greedy and request an angsty fic involving frankie but with a smutty and fluffy end.

Please and thank you 💚

A/N: Thank you so much for this request and for being a long-time reader! I hope you enjoy this story, please let me know. It's always hard to know if anons see the stories.

Pairing: Frankie Morales x F! Reader

Warnings: 18 + ONLY for language, angst, mentions of drug use, and rehab, oral F! receiving, unprotected p in v sex, and feelings.

Old Mistakes, New Beginnings

He’s alive.

It shouldn’t be surprising; you’d known he was alive and survived his days in the army. He called his folks regularly, wrote letters, and had them visit the base.

“Catfish!” Benny roars over the jukebox in the corner, “you made it!” You watch as he removes his hat, the same stupid one you found at a thrift store in your junior year of high school and bought as a present because you were broke and had to get him something. He’s changed, but so much is still the same, the same beautiful dark brown curls.

Memories float of lying in the meadow behind your house, his head in your lap as you carded your fingers through his hair. His laughter was bright and booming as you told him some story, his eyes reminding you of melted chocolate closing as he hugged his stomach. You close your eyes, the tears threatening to fall before you let out a shaky breath.

When you open them, he’s there, almost like he’s been there all along. He whispers your name, and you can’t take it, shaking your head and mumbling something to the other bartender before retreating quickly to your office. But you’re not quick enough, his hand gentle on your elbow, “please,” he begs, “please don’t run away from me.”

You turn the feeling of pain melting into an uncontrolled rage as you take a step back, his hand falling, and the burning on your elbow doesn't dull. His touch still set you afire. “Me?!” you shout, several heads turning to glance your way, “you’re asking me not to run away? But that’s what you did, Frankie! You fucking ran away and never came back!”

He remains silent, watching as myriad emotions cross your face, each more devastating before you land on a dull pain, sighing, “what do you want, Frankie?”

“Can-can we talk in private?” he turns around, and you finally notice how the whole bar is silent, all eyes on you as you nod quickly, swallowing down your screams.

He follows close into the office, shutting and locking the door behind him. You can feel his eyes on you, watching every step like you’re a gazel about to bolt, and him the hunter waiting in the shadows. Pulling back your chair, you collapse, head in your hands, a whispered plea between your lips, “what do you want, Frankie?”

He takes his time, his silence stifling, and you finally glance up to see him wiping at the corner of his eyes, swallowing hard to keep the sob from erupting. “I-I thought I was protecting you,” he finally chokes out, “I-I got to the b-base, and several of the guys were talking about how hard it was on their loved ones, the distance, always having to wait for a phone call or a knock at the door. I knew I wanted to join the Delta Force, but that would be putting me in even more danger. I didn’t want- I didn’t want to die and leave you alone.”

“But you did leave me, Frankie,” you whisper, “you promised me you’d call, that you would write but you never said a word. It’s been almost twenty years…and this is the first time I’ve heard your voice, you didn’t think that would hurt me?”

“I thought if I made a clean break…that you would be able to move on. That you’d find someone else, get married, have kids. That you’d forget all about me,” he walks over to the couch across the room, sitting down and dropping his head between his hands.

“Did you forget all about me?” you can’t help asking, the fear that bubbles up when you think of him married, having kids, loving someone who’s not you.

The answer is immediate, “no. You never forget the love of your life.” Your heart pounds so loud you’re sure he can hear it across the room, your eyes drinking in each other, drunk off the other. He blinks, breaking the spell with a cough, “I-I do have a daughter,” he pulls out his wallet, worn leather, tearing at the edges pulling out a photograph.

On shaky legs, you stand, coming over to the couch and sitting down beside him, your knees almost touching. Shakily you grasp the edge of the picture to see a beautiful little girl no more than three with a big toothy grin and brown curls, the same eyes of melted chocolate staring back at you. “She’s beautiful,” you almost choke on your next words, “does she-does she take after her mother?”

“Just the ears,” he takes the photo back, running his finger over the edge, and tucking it back into his wallet, “the rest is 110% Morales.”

“Is that where she is tonight? With her mother?” He glances over at you, obvious to what you asking before he sighs with a shake of his head.

“No, we-we aren’t together anymore. I took a job with some of my old buddies when Isabella was just a few months old, and when I came back she’d left Issy at my moms and signed over her rights. I haven’t seen her since.” He picks at the denim thats fraying at his knee, “she never wanted the baby, not really, but I begged her. I thought we could become a family, but it wasn’t meant to be.”

“Did you love her?” you know it’s wrong to ask but you can’t help yourself.

“No. It was a one-night stand, meant nothing. But I did get Issy out of it, she’s the light of my life. I don’t know what I would have become without her.”

“What do you mean?” you scoot closer, your knees knocking into his.

His head bows before he reaches tentatively for your hand, lacing his fingers through your own when he realizes your not pulling away, but pulling him closer. “I-” he struggles, “I was addicted to cocaine for a couple of years, actually got suspended from flying for a couple of months.” Frankie glances up, his eyes tracing over your face, but instead of the judgment, the repulsion he fears, he sees nothing but acceptance, and the overwhelming feeling of love that always seemed to be flowing out of you.

“So you stopped using because of your daughter?”

“That was the driving force,” he nods, “but my buddies are the ones that really stepped in and got me clean. Pope, he’s my best friend, he moved in with me, threw out all the coke, took me to rehab, and all the meetings after. He’s really stepped into this whole godfather role too with Issy. He’s the reason I moved back home, it was time to return to my family, my roots. Tonight’s the first night I’ve been out since we unpacked, my moms watching Issy. Tomorrow my goal was to look you up, see if you were still around, hell of a surprise when I find out you own the bar my buddies love.”

“Why…” you take a deep breath, “why were you going to look me up?” The hope that flares in your chest is painful and you go to pull your hand away from his to rub at your chest but he tightens his hold, pulling your hand up to his lips, kissing your knuckles with such tenderness, his mustache tickling your skin.

“Because there was some part of me, deep down, that was hoping and praying that you didn’t move on. That you still loved me as much as I have loved you for the past twenty years.” You feel the tears sliding down your cheek but his hand moves fast and catches them with his thumb, his hand cradling your face. “Tell me,” he breathes, his lips hovering before your own, his eyes flickering between your eyes and lips, “was I a fool to hope?”

“You are a fool,” you nod, “you were a fool to think, I’d ever stop loving yo-” you can’t even finish as his mouth crashing against your own. He’s warm, so damn warm, and your arms wrap around his neck, his hands instantly finding your waist and pulling you into his lap. “Frankie,” you pull back with a gasp of air, his lips latching onto your neck and you toss your head back, running your fingers through his curls, tossing his hat to the floor. He moans your name, biting and kissing his way up to your ear.

“I love you,” he sucks your ear in between his teeth biting down, “I’m so fucking sorry.” He repeats them like a chant, a man praying at the alter of your body. It’s all muscle memory, your brain ceasing to function when he pulls you to stand, quickly moving to the button on your jeans and flicking it open working the fabric down your legs, his lips trailing kisses over your thighs. He switches your positions, him on his knees before you, your butt bouncing as he tosses you back onto the couch. You meet his eyes as his hands, coarse and rough from years of work, pull your panties slowly down your legs.

“Do you want this?” he asks, quietly waiting for permission, and watching as you bite your lip nodding, “I need to hear you say it, baby, tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you. I’ll give you everything you want.”

“Frankie,” you whimper, pushing your hips down to the edge of the couch, closer to his mouth, “please, please, please.”

“Please what baby?” he moves closer, you can feel his breath over your drenched folds, sending shivers up your spine.

“Please put your tongue on me,” you cry out when he surges forward, licking and sucking at your clit, your eyes dropping closed. Everything feels on fire, the energy in the room crackling to life, and you become lost in the euphoria of it all.

“Hey,” Frankie reaches a hand up, grasping your chin, “keep your eyes on me,” they flicker open and you subconsciously lick your lips, “good girl.” You don’t remember blinking, too caught up in watching him, the absolute pleasure he takes from ripping orgasm after orgasm from your trembling body, your voice hoarse from shouting his name. “That’s it, baby, you can give me one more can’t you?” he teases pressing a kiss to your thigh and chuckling when you tug away, his mustache tickling your oversensitive skin.

His eyes are brighter, and the smile on his lips has you falling a little more in love with him between each breath, “I can,” you nod, “but I want you inside me, Frankie, it’s been to damn long.”

Frankie stands, reaching around his head to pull off his t-shirt, his sun-kissed skin warming you like a ray of sunshine, and god those fucking shoulders make you want to climb him like a tree and never let go. He notices you watching, a smirk on his face, “do you like what you see?”

“Absolutely,” you grin, cocking one finger out to gesture him forward, “now take off your pants and get over here.”

He nods, shucking his jeans and boxers to the ground and standing before you, “can-can you ride me? I just want to touch you everywhere…” He doesn’t even need to ask, chuckling when you pull him down to the couch beside you and straddling his thighs. His hands trace over your waist, his eyes trained on you as you toss your T-shirt across the room, his fingers flicking open your bra and letting it cascade down your arms. He’s silent, taking in every inch of exposed skin, “you’re so fucking beautiful,” he whispers before raising his hands up to frame your face and bring your lips down for a searing kiss.

Slowly, you lower yourself down onto his cock, the multiple orgasms he’d given you before alleviating all the tension, both of you moaning into the kiss. When you’re fully seated down, you can feel the tears slide down your cheeks, Frankie brushing them away with his thumbs, his lips never leaving yours. “Frankie,” you pull away, pressing your forward to his, overcome with emotion, “I-I-”

“I know,” he rumbles out, his own voice choked with the tears sliding down his own face, “I know, baby, and I am never leaving you again. You’re stuck with me.”

“Good, because I’m never letting you go again,” you grab him, pulling his lips back to your own, grinding down on his cock. He moans your name, pressing your foreheads together as you bounce up and down in his lap, his fingers sliding between you to rub quick tight circles on your clit. You grasp tight to his shoulders, and he moans, jerking his hips up to meet you with every thrust.

“I’m gonna cum, baby,” he whimpers, “cum with me.” It’s not a question but a command, and you follow orders, cumming with a cry and grasping tight to his curls as he floods your pussy with warmth, both of you coming down from your high together.

You stay seated with him inside you when he finally speaks, “I love you, baby, I never stopped. I’m so sorry it took me so long to come back,” the regret heavy on his tongue.

“Frankie,” you whisper, forcing his eyes on yours, “I forgive you and love you. The past is over, and we need to move on together. Can you do that?”

“Yeah, baby,” he nods, kissing you softly, “I can do anything with you by my side.”

Please leave a comment or a reblog if you enjoyed it, it really keeps me motivated to write more. Thank you!

#Frankie Morales x Reader #Frankie Morales #Female Reader #Triple Frontier #Triple Frontier Fanfiction #Autumn Writes #Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal Character Fanfiction

[mrsmiagreer]

Here’s a prompt/request because 👀 reasons 👀 but it’s Ollie/ Lasko/ Cam or anyone of the soft characters taking care of you when you’re sick

Feel Better

Warnings: Fluff

Characters: Camelopardalis × Gn!Listener/Reader

————————————————————————-

“Hey. I’m back…”

“Mmm…”

He walked over to your lifeless looking body on the couch in his office. You were VERY sick. Fever, Cough, Stuffy nose, Mucous, Headache, the whole 9 yards. Seasonal Flu he assumed. Cam noticed you hadn’t been feeling well before he started your biweekly follow up and decided it’d be best to check up on you.

That’s how he ended up here, making you soup and tea and tucking you into the couch that you can’t seem to get off of.

“Sit up carefully and eat some of this. I’ve never been sick before, but i’ve seen enough people’s memories to know what they did for it to go away. I also read up on it as soon as i realized you had a fever soo…here I am!”

He handed you the bowl and gestured for you to sit up, hovering a hand behind your back just incase you needed steadying.

“Thanks” You whispered at him, taking a sip of the soup he made.

The soup was a creamy broccoli chicken soup.

• He can really cook! •

You thought. It was funny to you that a daemon could choose to never cook/eat food and live perfectly fine but be a good chef. But your chest hurt too much to let out a chuckle, you would start a coughing fit. Instead you slightly grinned and took a huge spoonful of the soup.

“I see a little smile..Is it working?”

You put a playful smiley-pout on. You shook your head no with a small “mm mm” attached to it. He let out a pretty small laugh and used his magic to make an ice pack.

“Rest this against your head when you get the chance. I’ll be right back.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Cam walked into his break room, seeing Crux near the refrigerator, drink in his left hand and phone in his right. Crux looked up to see who entered the room and immediately furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Well, surprised to see you here. I thought your shift would be over by now.”

Cam shook his head and walked to the cabinet, getting a new tea bag. You hadn’t had tea in a while, and instead have been drinking water.

“Nope. I’ve been taking care of my client because when they came in for their follow up, they were burning up. They say it’s a cold but I think it may be more than that.”

Crux tilts his head in even more confusion. People come in for Cam’s follow ups all the time, but he’s never seen someone come in as often as you did. And now you’re sick?

“A cold huh? Since when did you become a human doctor?”

Cam chuckles a little. He’s still rummaging through the cabinet, not able to decide which tea would best sooth yourcongestion and throat.

“Well i’m definitely no human doctor. ‘m not even sure what’s actually wrong with them. But I love helping people, so i’ll try my best.”

Crux nodded even though Cam wasn’t facing him to see it. He crossed his arms in amusement. It’s a big possibility that this is all a coincidence, but he doesn’t think that’s the case.

“Cam…Humor me. Do you have…what the humans call…a crush? On your Client?”

Cam immediately blushes and takes a little while to respond. He didn’t think he had a crush…

“What? No! I mean it’s not that I don’t like them, they’re my client, of course i like them. But- but not like that! I mean yeah i’m nice to them and i see them a lot more often than my other clients but I just really like their company, and they seem to like mine. Anything to put a smile on their face, it’s my job.”

“So you’ve never wanted to kiss them?”

Cam gasped. Not because he was shocked, but because he almost answered the question. He’s thought about it everytime he sees you once or twice but he couldn’t bring himself to ever act on it. Sometimes he thinks about how nice it would be if you liked him back…

•Wait…like me BACK? that means I DO like them…Jeez•

He thought. He was snapped out of his thoughts by laughter. Crux couldn’t contain it.

“You don’t even know you’re blushing do you?”

He’s never really felt like this before. He touched his face, hoping that his cold hands would cool down his cheeks. When he touched his face, he felt something itch him. He remembered that he has holding a tea bag, and that you were still in his office waiting for his return.

“Oh my goodness, I have to get back to them. They really need this tea. I’ll see you later Crux.”

“Goodbye Cam. See you tomorrow.”

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

“Sorry I took so long. I couldn’t decide which tea to get you.”

He gently apologized and set the tea down on the small table next to you. You seemed to love the soup, seeing as you damn near licked the bowl.

“It’s okay. Any tea sounds good right now”

You slightly chuckled, remembering to be careful not to laugh. Your voice sounded scratchy so Cam figured your throat was dry. He’s glad he picked chamomile tea.

“That’s great. Drink up, the tea will help with your throat. I’m glad to see you liked the soup”

He smiled. You smiled back weakly, blowing gently on the cup of tea.

“Liked? I loved it!”

You took a few sips of the tea and it almost instantly made your throat feel better. The hot liquid running down your throat made it feel less dry and back to normal. You smiled at the feeling and took more sips.

Cam offered you a few books that he could read to you, and when you picked one, he read it to you while you finished your tea. Before you knew it, you were fast asleep. Cam made sure you were tucked in again and left the ice pack near you just incase you woke up and needed it.

“Feel better, okay? I’ll be here to take more care of you when you wake up. If you ever need me, just call me.”

He whispered. He hoped you heard him in your dreams somewhere.

Maybe he did have a little crush.

————————————————————————-

A/N: HEYY!! It’s Niyah. I’m so terribly sorry to whoever’s request this is. It’s taken me a while to finish but now that I have, i think it’s pretty cute. I hope you all enjoyed 🫶🏽

@annahxredaxted @capitalisticveins @darlin-collins @deviantaj @your-local-mom-whore @soup-scope

Taglist

Masterlist

#redacted asmr #redacted audio #redactedverse #redacted headcanons #redacted camelopardalis #redacted cam #mia makes a statement

[ghostofskywalker]

Plus One

Rick Flag/Fem!Reader

Words: 2,993

Summary: After lying to your friend about dating someone for so long, she practically demands that you bring your “perfect boyfriend” to her wedding, no matter how much you try to get out of it. Thankfully, another of your friends comes to the rescue, but now you wish things were real.

Warnings: some sexual humor and references

Note: this is my entry to @that-sarcastic-writer​’s 1300 follower writing challenge! i really hope you enjoy this :) 

there is a flashback in this fic, and that whole scene is in italics. 

Rick Flag Masterlist

“So what exactly have you told your friend about me?” Rick asked, his voice pulling you out of your daydream. The car shook slightly as he drove down the highway, and he spoke again when it became clear you weren’t really listening. “Is there any story I have to stick to?”

You paused for a moment before shaking your head. “Not really. I only said that we worked together, and I didn’t tell her anything about you in particular.”

“But you said you had a boyfriend.”

“Yes, because I wanted her to stop setting me up with people,” you said. “You have no idea the amount of terrible dates I’ve been on just because June thought they would be ‘good for me,’ so I said I was seeing someone to get her off my back. I didn’t even give her a name because I never expected this would come up again.”

“So why are you dragging me to this wedding and making me drive?”

You scoffed. “First of all, you offered to drive, so don’t twist that on me. And second, if I remember correctly, this whole fake date thing was your idea too.”

“I’m so excited to see you!” June had said into the phone, so loudly that you held the receiver a little farther away from your ear. “And I’m even more excited to meet this perfect boyfriend you’ve been telling me about! You better be bringing him Y/N, because I’m not sure he actually exists and I think I need to see this man with my own two eyes.”

You had been sitting in your office when she called with the details for the wedding, and you were incredibly excited for an excuse to see her again. Originally you were supposed to be a bridesmaid, but the three hour distance between you and June, in addition to the way that your job worked made it clear that you couldn’t handle everything at once. She had understood, but just wanted to make sure you were still coming to the ceremony and reception. “I don’t know June,” you started to say. “We work together, and I don’t know if he’ll be able to take off at the same time.”

She groaned on the other end. “Ugh, your job is once again making my life difficult. Seriously Y/N, I want to meet this man, not only so you can prove he’s real, so I can give him the scary best friend talk.”

The door to your office opened right as you started to respond, and you looked up to see Rick Flag enter and sit down in one of the chairs across from your desk. “I’ll see what I can do. If he can’t make it I’ll let you know before I leave, okay?”

“Fine,” June said. “But you definitely better be there, or I’ll break into the base myself and kidnap you!”

You laughed. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world, don’t worry. Boyfriend or no boyfriend, I’ll be there.” That last sentence felt strange to say in front of Rick, because you knew he was going to ask you about it (and he knew that you didn’t actually have a boyfriend) but right now the goal was to get June off the line.

Once you had hung up the phone, you turned to the man sitting in front of you. If June was your best friend, you considered Rick Flag to be a close second. You didn’t know if he would rank you that high on a list, but out of everyone at work he was the only person you really trusted. On the outside he was surly and guarded, but once you broke down that wall, he became almost an entirely different person. You were also a little in love with him, but he didn’t need to know that.

“What was that about?” Rick asked. “And why didn’t you tell me you had a boyfriend?”

You sighed. “Because technically, I don’t. But I’ve been lying to my best friend for the past month so she would stop trying to set me up on dates with random people.”

Rick laughed. “Seems like a handful.”

“She means well, I promise. Except she’s getting married in two weeks and is now demanding that I bring my nonexistent boyfriend to her wedding so she could meet him.”

“What are you going to do about it?”

Secretly, you were hoping you could drag him along and get him to play the part. He was sweet, he was attractive, and you knew each other well enough that you could probably pull this off. But you would rather eat glass than suggest that to him. “Honestly? I have no idea.”

“I could go with you.” There they were, the words you had wanted to hear, but now it felt weird to accept the proposal.

Instead of jumping over your desk and kissing him right there, you cocked your head to the side. “You’d want to go to a wedding where you don’t know anyone to help me not get caught in a lie?”

“Y/N, we’re friends.” Yeah, you were friends, but the problem was that you wanted more. “I’m sure you would do the same for me if the tables were turned.”

You nodded. “I would.” Your reasoning would definitely be a lot more selfish than he’s implying, but it’s true, you would offer to go to a wedding as his plus one if he needed it, so the statement wasn’t a lie.

“Exactly. I want to help you, and besides, a night away from here and with some free food sounds great.”

“Okay fine, I admit that I was the one who said I would go, but you would have asked me anyway.”

He was right, but you didn’t want to admit that. “I don’t think so.”

“So what would you have done?”

“Honestly? I probably would have made up some excuse about him not getting approved for the time off and then just suffered the torture.”

“Well, now you don’t have to suffer.” He smiled as he spoke, but you weren’t so sure about that. It was going to be just as torturous pretending to be Rick Flag’s girlfriend, especially when you knew that at the end of the night, you had to go back to just being his friend.

June was standing in her front lawn when Rick pulled into the driveway, and she had a huge smile on her face as you got out of the car. “Y/N, you’re here!” she said, rushing over to give you a huge hug. “And you brought the boyfriend I wasn’t sure existed!” That last part was said quietly, and you really hoped Rick didn’t hear it.

You couldn’t tell if he had heard the remark or not, but he smiled at June and held his hand out for her to shake. “I’m Rick.”

“June,” she said, and then turned back to you. “Damn Y/N, how did you get one so hot?”

Well, he definitely heard that remark. In fact, his cheeks were dusted with a tinge of blush, and you really wished you could be anywhere else but here right now. “June-”

Thankfully, you heard someone call June’s name and cut you off, because you honestly didn’t know what you would say at this point. You smiled at June’s sister April standing in the doorway, silently thanking her for getting you out of that line of questioning. “The caterer is on the phone for you,” she called out.

“Okay, I’ll be right there,” June responded, and then turned back to you. “You have the same bedroom you usually stay in, and you’re more than welcome to come to the rehearsal dinner tonight.”

You went to speak, but was once again cut off by April. “June! Hurry up!”

“I’ll be there in a second, relax!”

You laughed. “Go talk to the caterer. We’ll bring in our stuff.”

Once June had disappeared back into the house, you and Rick grabbed your bags and he allowed you to lead him to the room where you two would be staying. “I didn’t even think about it, but there’s only one bed in the room,” you said. Actually, that was a big fucking lie. You had been thinking about it, for the entire drive down, but you didn’t want to give away your true feelings because you were almost positive that he didn’t reciprocate them.

“That’s fine,” he said. “I’ve slept over at your apartment, and it’s not like you snore.”

This was a lot different than him crashing on your couch after a night of bar hopping, but you weren’t going to argue. When you pulled open the door to the room June had come to call “yours” (even though you only visited a few times a year), you dropped your bags and laid down face first on the bed.

It was already too much, this fake dating thing. You could handle June being embarrassing, but just the thought of holding Rick’s hand or kissing him, even if it was just for show, was enough to set your body on fire. This was going to be hell, except with a significant lack of pitchforks and fire, just you and your sexual frustration living a lie you would sell your soul to make real.

You felt him gently touch your arm, and you picked your head up off the bed. “I’m so sorry about June,” you said, before he could even open his mouth.

His laughter was bright, and you hung onto every moment. “It wasn’t that bad,” he said, a smile on his face. “My family would have been much worse.”

“Still, I didn’t think she would be so forward about objectifying you.”

“Y/N, you’re acting like I didn’t know what I was getting into,” he said. “Like you pointed out in the car, I was the one who suggested this, so I was prepared for a few comments. And you’re one of my closest friends, so it’s not hard to pretend to be in love with you.”

His words didn’t even register in your brain until it was too late, and just as you were about to ask him to elaborate, the door came busting open and June came marching in, her hands covering her eyes. “Stop the funny business! Innocent lady walking in!” she said loudly.

“June, nothing was going on,” you said. “You can open your eyes.”

“I was just making sure! Because you’re totally welcome to fuck like rabbits while you’re here, but I just don’t want to see it.”

You loved June, but she was going to be the death of you. “We’re not-”

You weren’t sure what to say, but luckily Rick came to your rescue. “We’re not really at that stage of the relationship yet,” he supplied. “This wedding would be the first really big event we attend.”

Not a single lie had come out of his mouth, but obviously June took the statement a little differently than you did (she believed you two were dating after all, and you knew the truth). “What did you need?” you asked, quickly changing the subject.

She paused for a moment, but then snapped back into wedding mode. “Can you help me and April finish the centerpieces?” she asked. “The wedding planner is going to pick them up at the rehearsal dinner, and we’re a little behind schedule.”

“Do you need me to do anything?” Rick asked.

June smiled, and you knew that she had plans to put him to work too. “How are you with a hot glue gun?”

So that’s how you ended up making floral centerpieces with April and June while Rick glued black and blue bows onto the wedding favors. The two sisters pelted you with all kinds of questions about your “relationship,” and you tried to keep all your stories as close to the truth as you could. Rick acted like the perfect boyfriend the whole time, and it genuinely felt like a punch in the gut. Your feelings for him were only growing, and you couldn’t let yourself get too comfortable in this lie, because it was going to be over before you knew it.

But letting him put his arm around you and kiss you on the cheek was just keeping up your cover, right? And you would have to sleep in the same bed tonight anyway. Nothing that had happened today was making you regret bringing Rick with you, but you sure as hell were regretting the fact that you weren’t together for real.

***

The ceremony was beautiful, and it was held at a park a few minutes away from June’s house. So far the reception was proving to be an enjoyable time as well, except for one big issue. Well, it wasn’t really an issue, but it was painful. Rick had taken the sentiment of “doting boyfriend” and ran with it. He held your hand during the ceremony, let you rest your head on his shoulder when you were trying to hide your tears (weddings could be emotional, damn it), and walked with you everywhere, his hand usually on your lower back. Even now, just sitting at your table, his chair was pulled directly next to yours. But the worst thing by far was the fact that he seemed completely nonchalant about the way that you had woken up that morning.

The spare bedroom at June’s house had a double bed, but it wasn’t particularly large, so you had fantasized about something like this happening, but you never thought it actually would come to pass. When you opened your eyes to the sound of the alarm clock, it had become immediately obvious that you were cuddling with Rick Flag. Or more specifically, he was spooning you. His arm was thrown over your middle, and his fingertips were just ghosting the bare skin of your stomach where your shirt had pulled up during the night.

But as much as you were mortified about crossing some kind of invisible friendship boundary (though, let’s be real, you really wanted to feel his arms around you again), Rick just brushed it off. It was like nothing had changed between you two, and you were genuinely wondering how he managed to be normal about this. And to make matters worse, he had been especially affectionate with you at breakfast, something that you knew was just because June had been watching, but you desperately wished could have been real.

A slow beat started to come from the DJ’s speakers, and Rick took your hand. “You wanna dance with me?”

“I don’t know-”

“You really don’t want to dance with your fake boyfriend?” his voice was soft, but thankfully there was no one else sitting at the table with you yet, so no one heard the truth about your relationship.

“Be quiet!” you hissed, even though you knew your secret was safe. “Someone will hear you!”

“Do you want me to shout it from the rooftops?”

“No!”

“Then dance with me for this one song.” There was a no-nonsense expression on his face, and you knew there was no getting out of this one.

“Fine.” You huffed, but secretly your feelings were a lot more positive.

You allowed him to lead you out on the dance floor, where you began to sway in time with the other couples. At one point he even pulled you closer to him, and the hand that was resting on your waist gently tightened around you for a moment. After looking up at him (and seeing a smile on his face you were sure was completely fake), you really wanted to kiss him.

What you never would have expected was for that to actually happen. You kept moving your head so you were staring at anything but his face, trying to remember that this was only going to be the reality for about twelve more hours, until you felt a gentle tap on your hip. “Are you going to look at me?” Rick asked playfully, with a smile that made you want to melt right there.

This is fake. This is fake. This is fake. Pull yourself together, damn it!

“Why?” you asked, trying to play it cool. “Do you want me to look at you?”

“Well I’d really like to kiss you right now, and it would be way easier if I could see your face.”

You stumbled at his words, but his hands were there to steady you. “No one is paying any attention to us right now,” you said. “We don’t need to keep the act up.”

“Who said this was all an act? Y/N, I’m crazy about you, and I have been ever since we met.” This could not be happening, it had to be either a dream or some elaborate practical joke. Maybe Rick spilled the beans to June and she’s conspiring with him to play a joke on you. “And I can see you don’t really believe me, but trust me, I didn’t just offer to be your fake boyfriend out of friendly obligation.”

You didn’t even care if he had more to say, you just didn’t want to wait another second. When you pressed your lips to his, he immediately kissed back. But since the middle of the dance floor at your best friend’s wedding wasn’t really the place to start making out with him, it was over much too soon for your liking. “You’re serious about this?’ you asked quietly. “About us?”

“More serious than I have ever been about anything,” he said, gently tilting your head so he could kiss you again. “And I knew for sure when I woke up this morning to see you cuddled up to me.”

You would have to thank June and her slightly-too-small bed later, but right now, you just wanted to kiss him again.

- the end -

#lias writing challenge #rick flag #rick flag x reader #rick flag x y/n #rick flag x you #rick flag imagine #rick flag fanfiction

[showfallmediamaintenance]

[Video transcript begin]

[It begins as it always does, camera at upper torso height, the phone tucked into Edgar’s shirt pocket. Edgar’s hand can be seen shakily reaching for the door handle, he turns back to Carter. He’s wearing a plaid dress-ish shirt, a tie, dress shoes, and dark jeans. He beams at Edgar as he turns, giving him a thumbs up.]

Edgar: Carter, are you sure you’re ready?

[Carter giggles.]

Carter: Yeah, but it sounds like you aren’t!

E: Hm, yeah. No. Let’s do this.

[Edgar leans down and grabs his gutted mask. Lifting it up to his face. He clears his throat and grabs Carter’s hand, then turns to the door and opens it. The two walk out into the brightly lit mall together.]

E: Okay, stay close, everything is going to be okay, Carter. Just follow my directions carefully.

C: Yep! Got it, mister Edgar!

[The two continue on, they wave to passing employees to blend in. The scenery of the mall passes by, every worker happily doing their job. At first glance, this looks like a perfect place to work. But once you look closer, it is more and more apparent that this place is not normal. On the left of the recording, there’s a janitor cleaning up a puddle of blood. To the right, there’s a filming of a horror movie happening. Screams echo through the building as the film reaches its climax, Edgar veers off to the side to keep Carter from seeing too much. Up ahead, there’s a large group of employees, one of them has a coffee in hand, they bring it up to their mask, and it pours down the smooth plastic onto the floor, they don’t seem to notice. Edgar tries to veer away again, but he’s called over by the employees.]

??: Ay! You’re one of the mechanics, right?

[Edgar flinches at the comment, but shouts back cheerily.]

E: Yup! What about it? 

??: Nice! Uh, one of the things on a set nearby broke, can ya fix it for us?

E: Ah… Sorry, not right now. I’ve got an urgent repair job to get to.

??: Oh, apologies! Didn’t mean to– who’s that?

E: Wh– huh?

??: Who’s the kid? They don’t look like a mechanic… Not even an apprentice. 

E: Oh, just some kid in a show, don't really care, honestly. He just needed an escort to the bathroom. 

[He nudges Carter, who speaks up in his most whiney voice that he can muster.]

C: I need to go! Come on! 

E: Kids, am I right? I’m never havin’ any.

??: Ha! Yeah, see you later, mechanic. 

E: Mhm!

[The two sprint away from the employee, slowing down after a minute or two.]

E: You’re good, kid! That was really convincing!

C: Thank you, mister! 

[Someone clearing their throat off to the left. The camera slowly turns to face them.]

!: I’ll be taking little Carter here back to his set now, mechanic.

E: Oh, fuck. Uh, Carter, I’m going to pick you up, because we’re going to be doing some really fast running, is that okay?

!: Don’t ignore me, mechanic. Hand him over.

C: Yep. Please. 

[Edgar swiftly picks Carter up in a fireman's carry and makes a break for it. Very obviously being pursued by several employees, the one who stopped him shouting from behind. He runs at full speed through the mall and makes his way back to the offices he had started out at. He sprints towards the window, and skids to a stop. Placing Carter down.]

E: Okay, Carter, I’m going to help you climb down. I’m going to need you to trust me completely here. 

C: Um, actually. I already trust you. So you don’t need to tell me again because I already do.

[The camera stays still for a few seconds, before Edgar continues.]

E: Cover your ears, Carter, this might be loud.

[He turns to the window, and punches it with his left arm. It shatters. He turns back to Carter, who takes a few steps forward, and begins to carefully climb out the window, with help from Edgar. Edgar stops before letting him down fully.]

E: Carter, I’ll be out right behind you, don’t make too much noise, I’ll only be a minute.

[Carter nods, and Edgar lets him fall the short distance to the grass below. Almost immediately, there is a shout from behind him. He turns around to see an employee charging at him with a knife. The turn was fast enough to make his phone fly out of his pocket. The phone lands camera down, but is somehow moved onto a nearby table to show the fight in full detail, a few tiny mechanical legs can be seen darting away as a few spiders escape the scene.]

E: Shit–

[Moments after, he is tackled to the ground, the knife hitting the floor beside his ear. Edgar rolls over to be on top of his attacker, and attempts to stand. The other doing the same.]

[After a few seconds, they charge again, Edgar tries to sidestep it, but the employee is slightly faster on the draw. They grab him by his shirt collar and shove him into a wall, placing the knife at his throat. Edgar coughs on impact, and the employee takes his mask off and tosses it to the side, revealing Edgars face. His expression one of a man determined not to let this be his end, his jaw is clenched, and his eyes are laser focused on the other. The employee pauses for a few seconds. giving Edgar the upper hand. But instead of ducking and weaving like he should've done, he grabs the employee’s mask, tearing it off their face. They scream, and stumble back, hands flying up to cover their face. Edgar stares at the person underneath in shock as they regain control over their mind. He manages to say something after a small while.]

E: Leon!?

[The employee, now re-identified as 'Leon' stares back at Edgar. Frozen in place.]

L: Holy fuck– Where– who– wait, you’re– You’re the guy I kissed at that party! Like, 13 years ago!

E: Yeah I– You don’t even remember my name? Dude, come on!

L: I’ll… give me a minute! I’m a little… it’s a bit fuzzy! Hold on!

[Footsteps approach from down the hallway.]

E: Fuck. No time! Jump out the window, quickly!

L: WHAT?!? ARE YOU CRAZY? ABSOLUTELY THE FUCK NOT!

[Edgar slumps over slightly out of frustration.]

E: Oh for the love of–

[Edgar looks down the hallway, then snatches his mask off the floor. He picks up his phone as well, before grabbing Leon’s arm and shoving him out the window. He follows soon after, yelling on his way down.]

[Transcript end]

#showfall ask blog #showfall media #showfall #encoreverse blog #transcript

[quordleona03]

"family values" ive never seen House but I know enough about it that I am VERY curious about a MASH crossover with it -Queen

Okay @thebreakfastgenie also asked about this one, so let's start with this.

I worked out to my own satisfaction (if no one else's) that Hawkeye Pierce was born in 1922 and he had his 28th birthday in Korea. Francis Mulcahy was born in 1919. The first series of House MD is 2004 - which made it just possible that Hawkeye and Mulcahy, who are in my headcanon still living in New York City, could have encountered Doctor Gregory House - Princeton-Plainsboro is not that far away from New York. And the thought of Hawkeye and House clashing head-on was actually irresistible to me. And still is. I just had to figure out why and how. (I came up with some kind of random idea about getting them to meet due to Francis Mulcahy working for a charity that provides medical care to homeless people and James Wilson having a homeless schizophrenic brother, but it never went anywhere, and the bits I did write are one of the formally Abandoned And Discontinued works I've posted on AO3. To be clear, that House MD/MASH crossover is dead in the water; it has no connection with this one.) In this crossover, it's Cuddy who's met Doctor B. F. Pierce, and of course Lisa Cuddy remembers him:

Cuddy knew him when she saw him, though it had been twenty years. His hair was completely white and his face more deeply lined. He was walking around the anteroom to her office, back and forth, briskly, the cup of coffee her PA had evidently made for him sitting on the low table beside the visitor’s sofa, untouched. His face looked grim.

He stopped when he saw her, and his face changed. “Doctor Cuddy.” He came towards her, hand out, speaking with energy. He was smiling.

“Doctor Pierce.” Cuddy couldn’t tell if he’d recognised her. “It’s good to meet you again.”

Hawkeye and Mulcahy are in New Jersey - day trip from New York - and Francis is meeting one of the many sons of his many brothers for coffee at 11. Hawkeye, who cannot stand this particular nephew, has picked someplace else to be and is meeting up with Francis for lunch at noon - except -

“I’ve lost track of a friend, and I hoped you could help me find him.”

“What?” Cuddy said. She was disconcerted. “You think he’s on the staff here?”

“Oh, no,” Pierce said. “We drove through from New York this morning. Then he had an appointment to meet someone – and so did I – and we were meant to meet up again at noon. He didn’t show, he hasn’t answered his phone, I’m worried he may be in trouble – he’s got a pacemaker, fitted a couple of years ago, and he didn’t look well this morning. He said he was all right – I thought – Well, Doctor Cuddy, I’m afraid I just wanted your help to locate him.”

“You could ask at reception,” Cuddy said. She was almost amused.

“There are three hospitals in this area with emergency rooms that he might have been taken to,” Pierce said. He smiled: quick, wide, and charming. “I’m sure all it would take is three quick phone calls from you.”

“Please, sit down,” Cuddy said. “Can I have your friend’s name?”

“Francis Mulcahy,” Pierce said.

Meanwhile, in A&E:

“Have you been hospitalised before?” Foreman asked the patient.

The man was definitely conscious. But he didn’t react to the question. His hands were twitching, and his head kept turning, from one side to the other, but not quite as if he were looking. Quite abruptly he said something – or Foreman thought he did: it was a thick grunt, but there seemed to be words in it.

“What did you say, sir?”

The man didn’t grunt again. His right hand raised, awkward and twitchy, once, twice, and dropped to his side. He lifted his head and his head twitched again.

“Has he had symptoms like this before?” Foreman asked the nephew.

“I don’t know,” the man s aid. “He’s – he’s always seemed very capable, he’s very independent. We’ve been trying to persuade him to move here, to be near us – for years. He retired. He was a teacher, but he retired about twenty years ago.”

Fifty years after Sins & Virtues, Francis Mulcahy has just become one of House's Patients of the Week, and Greg House and Hawkeye Pierce are about to meet.

“Doctor Cuddy! Doctor Mandinka wants to do an MRI on a grand mal patient with syphilis, and I need you to tell him it’s a complete waste of time.” “You can’t tell him yourself?” Cuddy asked. She glanced apologetically at Pierce, who was eyeing House and Foreman with an impatient and disapproving look.

“He wouldn’t listen to me,” House said.

Foreman sighed. “I think the patient has a brain tumor,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Doctor Pierce,” Cuddy said.

“Oh, were we interrupting something?” House turned to stare full at Pierce. His face changed: eyes widened, mouth tucked down. His voice changed. “Visiting lecturer?”

When I initially came up with this idea of Mulcahy as PoW and Hawkeye as Concerned Partner, it seemed foolproof. House and Hawkeye having a sarcasm marathon! Hawkeye being infuriated by House and then impressed by him! House making assumptions about Doctor B. F. Pierce and meeting Hawkeye full on and being unwillingly impressed by him! Two wisecracking sarcastic doctors for the price of one Patient of the Week! Except that a House MD story about one of the Patients of the Week is always fundamentally about House and/or one of the ducklings. But all of the plot development I was coming up with, was about Hawkeye, who is running full-on into the facts of the law in the US at the time: Mulcahy has a blood relative, his nephew, standing by and claiming the right to make his medical decisions, and all of the paperwork that gives Hawkeye the right to be Francis's medical decision-maker is valid in New York State, not in New Jersey. When I realised I was in the middle of a complicated scene in which Hawkeye is calling the convent to speak to Maria Angelica ("Kathy! It's Hawkeye. You've got to fax me medical power of attorney for Francis, sister trumps nephew, right? Yes, can we deal with how I'm going to hell ANOTHER TIME, you don't want your idiot nephew Gus making medical decisions for Francis, do you?") I realised that I wasn't writing a House MD story but a long-term-relationship story in which Hawkeye was finding House an irritating but useful background character, I realised I needed somehow to think of some way to make the House MD half of the story more interesting that just the various medical tests and misconceptions that House and the ducklings are going through to figure out what is wrong with Francis Mulcahy. And Mulcahy, sadly, is mostly deathly ill throughout the story. But I still count it as a WIP, because I'd still like to write it.

#Hawkeye Pierce #Greg House #house md #M*A*S*H #house/mash crossover #crossover fanfic #my wips #Hawkeye/Mulcahy #hawkcahy #mash 4077 #life under DOMA #Defense of Marriage Act

[callsign-magnolia]

I Hope You Dance // Chapter 35

MATURE CONTENT (18+)

A/N: This is cross posted to my Wattpad, so if this seems familiar that is why!

TW: Mental abuse, emotional abuse, slight physical abuse, death and loss.

Description: When Caila meets Rooster, sparks fly. But, she's already married, to a man who she thought loved her, and won't let her go. Rooster will fight for her, he just has to convince Caila to fight for herself.

Word Count: 8.6k

Chapter 34 | Masterlist

“So? What’d he say?” Jake asked as soon as I stepped out of the admiral’s office, making me sigh. “Because of what I said, he has recommended me for a psych evaluation when we get home. If I’m deemed unfit, I get a medical discharge, if not I can continue service.” I said as I pushed past him. “And what about Buck?” I shrugged. “They are discussing dishonorable discharge. But I don’t know.” I said turning away again. “Magnolia. Stop.” He said as he grabbed my wrist, turning me to him. “Are you okay?” The words made me tear up. “I feel like I’m losing my mind, Jake!” I cried as he pulled me into him. “For a minute, I really thought he was Aaron and I just lost it.” I leaned back, looking up at him. “I had it in my mind to kill him, Jake.” I admitted. He just scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “He deserves it.” I shook my head. “To have his ass kicked, yes. But death, come on Jake. That’s extreme.” He just sighed, knowing I was right. “So, what now?” He asked. “We work and go home.” I said as I made my way back to my room.

~~~

I walked through the airport, bags in hand as Regina followed behind. “Okay, this is where I leave you.” She said, tears in her eyes. “Thanks for bringing me. The last time someone came to the airport with me was when I told Mags I loved her.” She laughed. “She told me how you almost missed your flight for that.” I nodded. “I would’ve happily missed it.” She nodded. “Okay, there are some snacks in your bag. I have all the dog’s things, and all the gifts for Caila and us. Which you didn’t have to get us anything.” I shook my head. “Well, I did and they’re non-refundable.” She just narrowed her eyes at me as David walked up. “Leave the man alone, Gina.” He said as he placed his hands on her shoulders, towering over her like a mountain. “Okay, you have an hour before your flight, so go, get through security and please, call me when you land.” I froze at her words. It was the first time I’ve heard those words from a parent figure. “Bradley? You okay?” I nodded, realizing it had been a minute since she said that. “Yeah. Just the first time I’ve heard that from someone other than Mags. Never really had anyone to drop me at the airport or docks before her.” Regina just smiled at me, pulling me into a hug. “Well, now you have us. So, I’ll tell you the same things I say to Caila. Be careful, don’t do unnecessary hero shit, and take care of yourself.” I nodded, grabbing my duffel.

“Bradley.” She said, catching my wrist as I turned around. “Come home to us, okay?” A few tears welled in my eyes at her words, realizing I had more than just Mags who cared about me. “I’ll try my best.” She nodded, kissing my cheek before David pulled me into a hug. “Make us proud?” I nodded, grabbing his outstretched hand and shaking it. “Of course.” With that I turned for security, getting in line. I shot Mags a text, telling her I was getting on a plane and that I loved her. Realizing this would be one of the last times I would have the freedom to text her whenever I wanted. I sighed, putting my phone back in my pocket and following the line through security. Once on the other side I grabbed my bag, looking up and was shocked to see Regina and David still there. They waved at me and I waved back before walking away, towards my gate.

~~~

It’s now the last two weeks of deployment. I haven’t been able to talk to Bradley at all since he left for his deployment, and it was nerve wracking. The only good thing right now is the fact that Buck is avoiding me like the plaque and the rest of the team is in agreement that if he doesn’t get discharged, they would request his removal from the team. It was nice to know they had my back, but I was ready to be back with the Dagger squad. They were basically family. But for now, I would sit on this ship, doing my day-to-day duties until we got home.

I made my way to the gym to meet Jake. Since I had been told to see a psychiatrist, I had been restricted in most of my duties, basically stuck doing paperwork most of the time. But I still met Jake at four-thirty every morning for a workout. “So, mama told me the other day that both of our families are going to be celebrating Christmas at my parent’s house.” I said as I pulled down on the bar, working my back. “Yeah, mom said they were spending the entire week of Christmas there.” I nodded. “I’m taking a flight out the day we get back. Phoenix is gonna pack me some clothes.” He furrowed his brows. “You’re gonna cut it that close?” I nodded. “I don’t want to be in that house just yet. Not without him.” He sighed and nodded. “But my parents have my dogs, jeep and airstream. So, if you want, you can road trip it back with me.” He laughed. “That actually sounds nice.” I nodded. “I want to celebrate New Years back in San Diego. Phoenix tells me Penny is doing a huge party at the hard deck and I want to go.” He nodded. “I invited Phoenix to spend Christmas with my family.” My eyes widened as I looked at him.

“And?” He shook his head. “She said she felt it was a little fast. She’s spending it with her parents and brother back in San Francisco.” I nodded. “Does that upset you?” He shook his head. “It did a little at first. But I realized we've only been dating for about two months and we’re keeping it quiet. So, I can’t be upset about it.” I nodded. “Have you considered meeting her family first? She knows you love your family, a lot. Plus, you have a big and rambunctious family. It may be overwhelming. So, I say meet hers first. It may encourage her that it’s not all that bad.” He nodded. “Would you have done it first if Rooster’s parents were still here?” I nodded. “Absolutely. Although, he involuntarily met my parents first and looked like he was going to shit himself when he realized my dad was commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command.” Hangman laughed. “I can’t say much, because I had the same reaction. Didn’t help I was in uniform.” I laughed, remember Jake’s face when he met my dad. “Yeah, but he likes you though.” He nodded and we went quiet.

“You’re really struggling knowing he won’t be there, aren’t you?” I nodded. “I am. I was looking forward to spending the holidays with him. I could stand to miss Thanksgiving. But Christmas too?” He sighed and nodded, letting go of his bar. “It sucks. I’m just glad I’ll get to see Nat when we get home.” I smirked. “Ooh, you call her Nat?” He nodded. “She still calls me bagman.” I laughed loudly at his words. “She’ll never stop, and you know it.” He nodded. “So, we’ll fly out to Georgia then drive back?” I nodded. “You up for it?” I asked. He turned to me, nodding. “Why not?” I smiled at him. “It’ll be nice to have someone to travel with. I’ve done it alone enough.” He nodded. “Does this mean I get control of the music?” I chuckled, pulling on the bar again for the last time. “As long as I don’t hear slow ride too many times.” I said before walking away. “It’s a good song!” He yelled out as he threw out his arms.

The rest of the ride home was mundane for me. Same thing every day, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. But Hangman got the opportunity to run a few exercises with the team, minus Buck. He has been grounded until further notice. So, the relief I felt when we docked was immense. I was ready to get off this ship, to fly home to my parents. A small part of me wanted to go to the house, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not without him. He was supposed to meet me on this very dock and yet, he shipped out from this port a little over two weeks ago. Soon, Hangman and I walked off searching the crowd for Phoenix. “JAKE!” We whipped around and his grin widened. Phoenix sprinted for him in jeans and a fitted blouse, but he still looked at her as if she was the most gorgeous woman in the world. This must be what people see when they look at Rooster and I. Everyone tells me he looks at me that way, but I return it.

“Oh, Magnolia.” Phoenix said as she came over, pulling me into a hug. “I got all the stuff you would need.” She said as she fished something out of her pocket. She handed me a key and I gasped when I saw it. It had a picture of me and Rooster on it, our noses brushing as we both grinned at each other. It was obviously taken at the Hard Deck, the planes hanging from the ceiling around us being a dead giveaway. “He had it made. He said he wanted it to be special wince it was your first place together.” A few tears welled in my eyes, the back of my hand gently wiping them away. Phoenix pulled me into another hug and a sob hit me. “I miss him, Phoenix.” I cried as she rubbed my back. “I know, but before you know it April will come, and he’ll be home.” I nodded, letting go and wiping my face clean. “You guys have five hours till your flight. Want to get some lunch at the Hard Deck, see everyone before you leave?” I looked to Hangman who nodded. “Alright, let’s go.” She took hangman’s hand, pulling him along to her car where we put our stuff in the trunk and got in. “When I get back, we are getting you a new car.” Jake said as he got in the passenger seat. She gave him a confused look, “We are not getting rid of my mustang.” She said, gently resting her hand on the dash. “Baby, this car is on it’s last leg.” “Sh! Don’t talk bad about her.” Phoenix snapped, making me laugh.

The rest of the ride was easy conversation, making me feel a little better. When we arrived at the Hard Deck, I smiled at the sight of Penny behind the bar. But I was startled by all the loud cheers, people coming up and greeting us. “Hey.” Bob said as he pulled me into a hug. “Good to see you in one piece.” I chuckled, squeezing back. “I’m just glad to be home.” He nodded. “You going back to Montana for Christmas?” I asked as we walked to the bar. “Yeah, spend as much time with my family as I can. Never know when we’ll get shipped out.” I nodded, accepting the vodka soda from Penny. “You’re right. I’m just ready to get home. There will be so much going on, I won’t have time to think about missing Rooster.” It was true, a house full means no time to be sad. We sat with the rest of the team, eating lunch and having a drink or two before I went into the bathroom and changed into some holy jeans, black heeled boots, a cream-colored sweater and a tan coat that I carried. “Why the heavy clothing?” jake asked as I walked back over. “It’ll be a whole twenty-nine degrees when we land in Georgia.” His eyes widened. “I know. It’s a record low. Winters in Georgia usually aren’t that cold in December. Those are January temps.”

Not long after that, we were leaving. Exchanging hugs, kisses and goodbyes before Phoenix drove us to the airport. We got out, grabbing our bags and walking in towards security. “So, we’ll see you when we get home?” Phoenix nodded as I hugged her. “I come back the day after Christmas.” I nodded. “We leave two days after.” She nodded. “I have to ask. Don’t let him do anything stupid, and don’t kill him.” I laughed. “He’s his mama’s problem when we get there. Then I guess I will let him live through our road trip.” She nodded. “Much appreciated.” I hugged her again and kissed her cheek. “I will give y’all a few minutes. I’m gonna go ahead and get in line for security.” They nodded and I got in line. It was slow moving, but it moved and finally I stepped through the scanner and grabbed my stuff. I walked over to the Starbucks grabbing Jake and myself a coffee while I waited on him. After a few minutes I saw him weaving through the crowd, the Longhorns hat being a dead giveaway. “Here.” I said, holding out the coffee. “Ooh, thank you.” He said with a smile. He was feeling pretty good after all the beers he had. “So, who’s picking us up at the airport?” I pulled out my phone, looking back through the text messages.

“Um, Laura.” He nodded. “I’ll be terrorized the entire way to the house.” I nodded as we made our way to our gate. “Are you excited to be going home?” I shrugged. “My parents moved last month. So, this isn’t even the house I grew up in. But none the less, I am excited. Apparently, this new house is huge.” He chuckled. “How big are we talking?” I smirked at him as we sat down at our gate. “Seven thousand square feet.” His eyes went wide as he leaned away slightly. “Holy shit.” I nodded. “It has six bedrooms and a four-bedroom lodge on the back of the property. We’ll be staying in the actual house. I think Kimberly and Amber are taking the lodge so the kids can have their own spaces.” He nodded. “Pays to be Regina Motley, doesn’t it?” I nodded. “Sure does.” I said as I sipped on my coffee. “So, you didn’t grow up in this huge house?” I shook my head. “The house I grew up in was in the suburbs. It was nice, four bedrooms, I had my own bathroom. We had a pool and a little yard, but it wasn’t anything extreme.” He nodded and went to open his mouth but was interrupted by our flight being called. We were in group A and so we got up, lining up to board. Once we took our seats, he turned to me. “I think this will be the best Christmas we’ve had in a long time.” I chuckled. “You think?” He nodded. “Oh yeah.”

The flight was long, and we had a short lay over in Colorado. But as much as I hated it, I had never been happier to be standing in the crowded Hartsfield-Jackson airport. I groaned as we pushed through the crowd, me keeping a tight hold on Jake’s sweatshirt as we walked. We managed to make it to get our bags as my phone buzzed. I pulled it out, looking at the text. “Laura says she’s parked outside at stall three.” He nodded, looking around. “It’s clear across the airport, Jake.” He groaned. “Couldn’t she pick us up closer?” I shook my head, hiking my floral duffel over my shoulder. “It’s nine o’clock at night. Stall three is the easiest exit.” He nodded, but still huffed as he hiked his own bag over his shoulder. We made our way through the airport, fighting the crowd. It was so bad to the point that Jake looped my arm through his because people kept knocking into me. After twenty minutes, we finally made it to stall three, where someone ran straight into me, knocking me on my ass and causing all the contents in my purse to spill. “Hey!” Jake snapped as I started gathering everything to put back in my purse. “Hey! I think you owe her an apology!” He said as he grabbed the man, yanking out his headphone. “Jake.” I hissed, stuffing my wallet back in my purse. “I didn’t see her man!” The guy responded, a little shocked. “You still did it, you still need to apologize!”

“I’m sorry!” I quickly stood, hiking my purse up on my shoulder again. “You’re forgiven. Lieutenant.” I called and he straightened slightly. “We should go.” He held the man’s gaze for a second before turning on his heel and grabbing my bag. “What the hell was that?” I asked as I chased him out the doors. “He knocked you over.” I nodded. “Yeah, I know. My ass is sore. I mean, why did you act that way?” I said as I grabbed the strap of my bag, stopping him. “He was an ass.” “He was too caught up in his phone to see me. You didn’t have to be so aggressive.” He sighed, looking for Laura’s car. “It’s just been an overwhelming day. We went home, saw Phoenix. I left her again. We sat on a crowded plane for hours only to get off in a crowded airport.” I gave him a sad smile, gently taking my bag from him. “Overwhelmed, huh?” He sighed and nodded. I looked over and saw Laura getting out of my mom’s escalade. “Comin’ or what?” She called and Jake laughed. “Oh, we’re coming.” He called, rushing over. I followed closely behind, ready to just get home. Jake set his bag in the trunk and hugged Laura tightly, [picking her up and making her laugh. Once he put her down, he took my bag, giving me the opportunity to hug her. “Oh god, we missed you.” She said and I giggled. “I missed y’all too!” I said before I let go. “Surely Bradley kept it interesting.” She nodded. “The kids adored him, he had fun on the duck hunt, he even joined us in the kitchen.”

I raised a brow as we got in the car, me taking the passenger seat as Jake spread out in the back. “He cooked? I know he liked joining me in the kitchen, but at your house?” She nodded. “Said it was something he did with his mom every year.” She said as she started the car, pulling away from the curb. Tears welled in my eyes. “He had fun?” She nodded. “If his smile was anything to go by.” I giggled, thinking about him joining my mom in the kitchen. “He really enjoyed himself, Caila. I promise. Then, we all said our goodbyes and your mom and dad took him to the airport.” I sighed, tears falling down my cheeks. “He should be here.” She nodded, grabbing my hand. “I know. But he’ll be back before you know it. Every time Jake comes home, it feels like he wasn’t gone long enough.” I looked back, Jake’s hat was pulled over his face, shielding himself from the bright Atlanta streetlights and flipping his middle finger up at her. We laughed as she merged onto the freeway, and I leaned my head back. “Get some rest. It’s about forty-five minutes.” I shook my head. “No, I’m not gonna sleep on you lor.” She chuckled. “Hey, I got a nap today. Jameson and I fell asleep in the bed, JJ between us. We all slept for two hours. It was absolutely magical.” I smiled at her, thinking back to when Rooster and I fell asleep, JJ between us. “Okay, but wake me up as soon as we get there?” She nodded and my head turned, watching the city go by before I dozed off.

“Caila.” I sat straight up as Laura whispered my name. “We’re here.” I blinked rapidly, letting my contacts adjust to the low light as we pulled up to a gate. Laura leaned out the window, punching in a code before the large black gates opened. “Much for the dramatics, mom?” I muttered and Laura giggled. “They were your dad’s idea.” I rolled my eyes, amusingly at her words. We rolled up the long driveway. It wasn’t near as long as Laura and Jameson’s but still far enough that you couldn’t see the house from the road. We rolled down the driveway, passing where the gravel breaks off to lead to the lodge. Finally, we stopped at the house rolling up outside the tall wooden home. Christmas lights shining brightly along the roof, and porch and windows. Add snow and it would look like a winter wonderland. We all got out, Jake and I a little groggy. Grabbed our bags as the wind almost blew us away, rushing for the front door. I swung the door open as we got on the porch, trying to get out of the bitter cold. “Jesus. I don’t ever recall it being that cold in Georgia.” I said as we all got inside.

“UNCLE JAKE!” Tiny voices yelled, and Levi and Owen rushed Jake, Isabella slowly following. He dropped to his knees, catching them all as they tackled him to the floor. I smiled at the sight. This is the Jake that the team doesn’t know yet, the one that is gentle and fun. It was hard to remember this side of him while we were on the mission. Tensions were high and he was being a royal ass, but seeing him with his nieces and nephews, it reminded me. Suddenly, I heard high pitched whines and cries, and claws clicking on the floor. “Hi, girls!” I called as Dahlia sprinted for me. Standing on her back legs and towering over me. She couldn’t hold in her excitement, doing a little dance on her back legs as I pet her. Sadie propped her little feet on me, and I managed to reach down and pet her too. As I was petting them, a little hand pulled on my coat. I looked down to see Anita, one hand gripping my coat, the other with her thumb in her mouth. I smiled at the blonde headed girl, shooing the dogs away and crouching down to her and holding out my hands. She quietly walked into my arms, leaning her head on my chest. “Hi, baby.” I said as I kissed her head. “I missed you.” I said and she nodded. “Miss you too.” I chuckled, running my hand through her curls. “JJ call you auntie Mags?” I nodded at her question as she pulled her thumb from her mouth, reaching up to play with the small necklace Rooster got me. “Can I call you that?” I smiled at her. “If you want to.” “Can we call you auntie Mags too?” The boys yelled, rushing me and I held out my arm. Holding them back so they didn’t run their sister over. “Yes, you may call me auntie Mags as well.” They cheered, tackling me. Anita stepped back, her smile growing wide as she rushed Jake. “Uncle Jakey!”

He picked her up, squeezing her little body into a hug. “There’s my girl!” He said as she buried her face in his shoulder. I swooped up the boys, tossing one each over my shoulder. “No!” They screamed as I stomped over to the couch, Michael and Matt separating. “Body slam!” I screamed, slamming them down onto the plush couch, their giggles echoing around us. “Again!” I held my hands up. “Let me say hi to everyone first. Then I will do one more before mom and dad load you up and take you to the lodge for bed. Deal?” They nodded, giving me high fives before I ruffled their hair. Quickly everyone stood, pulling me into a hug before Kimberly and Amber gripped my hands. “Okay, Bradley. Total stud.” I laughed as they giggled. “I know, right? I don’t know how I landed him.” Kimberly scoffed. “You’re a sexy navy pilot! How could you not land him?” I giggled at their words before I heard pots and pans clanking in the kitchen. “I’ll see you guys before you leave.” I said, turning for the kitchen. I walked in seeing mom, dad, and Jameson with JJ strapped to his chest. “Hi.” Everyone’s head turned to me before my mom squealed, rushing me. “Oh! You’re home!” She said, pulling my body into her for a bone crushing hug. “I’m home, mama.”

She pulled away, her hands resting on my cheeks. “I have missed your beautiful face. Oh! Still as beautiful as a magnolia in bloom!” She cried, kissing my forehead. “Alright, Gina. Don’t hog her.” My dad said as he came up. Mom stepped aside and daddy pulled me into a hug. “Hi, sweetie.” I hugged him back. I loved my dad, but I still found it hard to forgive him. “Hi, daddy.” As if sensing my unease, Jameson walked over, JJ out of the carrier and in his arms. “Hey, sis.” Jameson said as he hugged me gently. “Wanna hold him?” I smiled, nodding enthusiastically. He placed the still small babe in my arms, a few little cries escaped him, but he quickly calmed as I held him close, bouncing softly. I admired his soft features, my mind flashing to a different baby. Dark haired, blue eyed and tears welled in my own. I quickly wiped them away as I walked out into the quiet hallway, away from the noise. “You know, I was supposed to have a baby first. You would’ve had a little cousin to play with, not much older than you are now. But he’s not here… and that’s okay.” I choked out.

I held him for a few more minutes before Jake came over. “Can I hold him now?” He asked, rubbing his hands together. “Here.” I said, gently placing JJ in his arms. He stared at the baby before looking up at me. “You okay?” I nodded, watching the baby stretch in his arms. “I heard what you said, Caila.” I nodded, brushing my fingers through JJ’s hair. “I’m okay, jake. Really.” He nodded, turning and walking back into the living room. I turned back into the kitchen just as my mom came through the door. “Come on. I already put your bag in your room.” She said, motioning me to follow her. She took me upstairs, turning left down the long hallway and stopping at the door at the end of the hall. She opened the door and I was greeted by a large room, king size bed, two dog beds in the floor for Dahlia and Sadie and a fireplace. “This is your room. I’ll let you get dressed and you can come back downstairs.” I nodded as she shut the door. I quickly change into some pajamas, which are soft pants and one of Rooster’s shirts. I quickly walked back to the staircase, stopping on the catwalk to admire the tree. It was humongous, towering over everything and I knew good and well mama had professionals bring it in.

I went downstairs to see Kimberly wrangling her kids while Amber just stood there, smirking with a sleeping Isabella in her arms. “We don’t wanna go!” Levi cried and Owen nodded. “Boys.” I called and they turned to me. “Remember, it’s not too late for Santa to put you on the naughty list and give your gifts to other children.” They both went quiet, sucking in their lips. “Now, one more body slam and then you will quietly get in the car for your mom, and you will get in bed when you get to the lodge.” They cheered and I swooped them up one more time, body slamming them on the couch, and just like they promised, they went and got in the car. “You are a life saver!” Kimberly said before pulling me into a hug. “I try.” I said as I flipped my hair. Soon everyone left and it went quiet. Jake was on the couch still holding JJ, His parents next to him holding a quiet conversation with him. Jameson was on the couch, Laura’s head in his lap while my parents were sitting by each other.

I took the opportunity to look around at the Christmas decorations. They were everywhere, wreaths with homemade bows, garland lining the mantle above the fireplace and the banister on the staircase and the catwalk. It was a lot but tasteful, the homemade ornaments we did on tour with mom solidifying that for me. Of course, the nice ones were on the front and the homemade ones on the back and sides. “Caila? Sweetie?” I turned to my mom, her glasses on her nose as she smiled at me. “Wanna join us?” I bit my bottom lip, shaking my head. “I’m tired, so I think I’m just gonna go to bed.” She gave me a small smile, nodding. I said goodnight and called the dogs to follow me. We went into the room, and I lit the fireplace to warm the large space. Dahlia and Sadie laid in their beds by the fireplace as I pulled the armchair closer. “Time to work on the TBR pile, girls.” I said as I grabbed the book I asked Phoenix to pack. I slid my glasses on, cracking the book open. I read for two hours before I finally got sleepy, so I put the fire out, and crawled into bed. Dahlia got up, ambling over and crawling into the bed. Sadie whined as she put her feet up on the bed, so I picked her up and set her in the bed, letting her get settled behind me. Rooster’s scent wafted off his shirt and into my nostrils and with Dahlia’s back pressed against mine, I could almost convince myself that Rooster was there in my sleepy state.

The next few days were spent me wrapping the gits I had delivered to my parent’s house, and my mother dragging me all over creation with her. “Mom, I’m not up for dress shopping.” I whined as she straightened my hair. “You always love dress shopping.” I hummed, sitting back in the chair she dragged up to the bathroom. “I’m sorry if I’m not feeling super festive this year.” She shook her head, dragging the flat iron down my hair. “Don’t apologize, sweetie. I know you miss him. It’s always harder around the holidays without them.” I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes. “Remember those Christmases when your father was gone?” I giggled, remembering how special mom tried to make those years. “Yeah.” She smiled t me through the mirror as she finished my hair. “You always prefer dress shopping with a little makeup.” I nodded. “I’m wearing my glasses though.” I retorted and she smiled. “Whatever you want.” She walked out, going downstairs as I got dressed. It was the day before Christmas Eve and it was even colder, the high only being eighteen today. So, I pulled on a black sweater dress, black knee-high boots with stockings underneath, and an olive coat. I grabbed a toboggan and some gloves before going downstairs. “I will never get used to seeing you in something other than your uniform.” Jake quipped as I passed him. “Why? Reminds you I’m a woman?” He laughed. “Something like that.” He said as we walked into the kitchen to meet my mom.

“Ready to go?” She nodded, handing me a tumbler full of coffee. “Ooh, thanks.” I cheered. “Okay, car is running and warm. Let’s go.” With those words, we walked out into the cold wind. I got into the passenger seat as Laura got in the back. “You mom and sisters not coming?” She shook her head. “They got to go shopping before they came.” I nodded. “So, what’s this big party about?” I rolled my eyes as mom laughed, pulling around to leave the driveway. “The Kleinman’s throw a big party every year. We’ve been going since we settled in the area.” She nodded. “You don’t seem to like it.” Laura said and I scoffed. “Mrs. Kleinman is the head of the Atlanta social scene. A grade A socialite. She only knows how to gossip and stir the pot.” Mom tsked, shaking her head. “She’s not that bad.” I looked at her like she was crazy. “You realize I will be a social pariah and the main subject of all gossip.” She sighed. “I am a divorcee who is now dating the man she cheated on her husband with. Not to mention they all think I threw him under the bus for murder.” It was true. The Atlanta social scene stood behind Aaron, believing him over me. “Don’t let them get to you.” She said as she patted my leg. “Yeah, because it’s just that easy.” I snapped. I felt a little bad, but sometimes my mom thinks it’s so easy to just not let things affect me.

We arrived at the store, and we all split up, wandering through the shop to find the dresses we wanted. Mom found a satin red, V-neck, A-line gown that looked gorgeous on her. She always could pull off red, it always made me pale. Laura found a gold dress; it almost matched her hair. It had a scoop neck and a flowy skirt, with pockets which she made sure we knew about. It took me awhile to find one. I kept drifting towards the emerald green ones, since Bradley loved the color on me, but then, a gorgeous navy one caught my attention. It was a velvet, off the shoulder, mermaid dress. “Would you like to try it on?” One of the associates asked. I looked to him, and back to the dress. “You know what? I would, please.” He smiled, grabbing the dress and hauling it to the dressing room. “Mama!” I called and she rushed over. “Find one?” She asked and I nodded. I went in, changing into the dress and having the associate help zip me up. Soon, I stepped out and my mother gasped. “Oh my god.” My eyebrows shot up at her words. “No-you look beautiful!” I stepped up on the pedestal, looking in the mirror as my mom pulled the skirt out so it flowed. “It’s perfect.” I said as I smiled at myself in the mirror.

It really was perfect. I felt prettier than I had in months. Being on a ship in tans or a flight suit will do that to you. I finished my hair and touched up my makeup before walking out of my bathroom and into the bedroom. I grabbed the gold heels my mom loaned me and put on the necklace Rooster got me. I moved the gold balls he got me to my second holes and chose to put some elegant gold dangles in the front. With that I grabbed the navy and gold clutch, making my way out the door. I went down the stairs where everyone was gathered. “You look beautiful, sweetheart.” My dad said as he helped me down the last few steps. “Thank you, daddy.” I muttered, looking around. “You don’t look happy.” I sighed, turning to him, my curls falling over my shoulder. “Do I have to go?” He chuckled. “No. But you have to tell your mother.” I sighed. I knew her answer already. ‘It’s Christmas eve! We should spend the day together.’ As if we haven’t all been glued together all day! As soon as I got up this morning, everyone gathered for breakfast and we spent the day baking cookies, prepping food, shoving last minute presents under the tree before we took off, riding around the property just having fun. “I know what they’ll say.” He nodded, kissing my head. “Yeah, but you’ve always been one to stir up trouble.” I raised a brow at him, and he winked at me. “I think Jake would be a great person to help you with that.”

I looked over at Jake who had Anita in his arms. She was hanging upside down, giggling hysterically. At my father’s words, I walked over to him. “Hey.” I said and he smiled at me. “You look nice.” He said and I chuckled. “You do too in your navy suit.” He groaned. “If I had known your dress would match my suit, I would’ve gotten a plaid one.” I laughed at his words, watching as he gently set Anita down before she took his hand. “Stick with me tonight?” I asked and he raised a brow. “Scared?” He said jokingly, but his grin dropped when he didn’t answer. “Can we stir up some trouble?” I chuckled, holding my fist out. “Hell yeah.” I said and he bumped my fist. “Hell yeah!” Anita echoed and my face paled as Kimberly’s head whipped around to us, eyes narrowed. I quickly crouched down to Anita, smiling at her. “Hey, Anita.” She turned to me; her smile wide since she learned a new word. “Let’s not use that word again. It’s a not so nice word.” She looked at me confused. “Then why do you say them?” I pursed my lips. “I really shouldn’t be. But that’s an adult word.” She still looked confused. “Then why do you say it?” She repeated her question before walking over to her mom. I stood, crossing my arms over my chest. “Did she just call me a kid?” Jake laughed, holding his stomach as he did. “She sure did.” I huffed. “Sassy britches.” At that my mom said it was time to go, so we all climbed into as few vehicles as possible. Jake and I were riding with my parents, Jameson, Laura and JJ. Jameson and Jake took the third row with JJ so Laura and I would have to deal with our dresses less.

Upon arrival Jake and Jameson rushed out of the car, crawling over us. “If you had just let me get out first, you wouldn’t have had to crawl.” I said as Jake helped me out. “Bradshaw would kill me if he knew I let you touch a door handle.” He said, making me giggle as I stepped out. The temps keep dropping even more and I pulled the shawl over my shoulders as the wind blew. “Let’s get inside.” I looped my arm through Jake’s, hauling him up the steps and into the large house. I handed my shawl off to the door man as Jake handed his coat over as well. With that I looked to him. “Ready to be associated with the biggest scandal in the Atlanta social scene?” I asked and he smirked. “I am more than ready.” With that we stepped out of the foyer and into the drawing room. “So why is this party so fancy?” He questioned. “The Kleinman’s are some of the richest people in the social scene. One of the oldest families as well. They were settled here in 1798 and are one of the founding families of Atlanta. To be in with them, is the equivalent of being in with royalty.” He scoffed as we walked across the room. “And your mother is in with them because?” I sighed. “My mom donates a lot to various charities. When I was younger Mrs. Kleinman made the offer to match end of year donations to any charity of my mom’s choosing, so long as she comes to her party.” He raised a brow in confusion. “People hear Regina Motley will be here and do everything they can for an invitation. Mom gets money for charity and Mrs. Kleinman rises in society.” He chuckled. “So, it’s a popularity contest?” I nodded, waving to a few familiar faces.

“What do they do anyway?” He asked and I nodded towards Mr. Kleinman who was talking with a few partners. “Take a guess.” He looked and laughed. “Ah. Politician.” I nodded as we stopped, surveying the room. “Ah, Caila! So good to see you home for the holidays, dear.” Mrs. Kleinman said as she rushed over. “Hello Mrs. Kleinman.” She pulled me into a hug, letting go quickly. “Patricia, dear. Please.” She waved me off. “And who is this dashing man?” Jake gave her a megawatt smile and I swear a blush crept up her neck. “A friend and fellow pilot. Jake Seresin. Laura’s younger brother as well.” She grinned, shaking Jake’s hand. “So nice to meet you, Jake.” He nodded. “The pleasure is mine.” She smiled at him before turning to me. “I want you to know, even though everyone else here thinks ill of you. I know you did what was right.” I took a deep breath, smiling at her. “Thank you, Mrs. Kleinman.” She smiled at me before walking away. “Prepare for backhanded comments about my divorce, all night.” He rubbed his hands together with a grin. “Bring it on.” With that we wandered around, me introducing him to people, women falling for his Texas charm.

“I’m gonna go grab a drink. Want another one?” I nodded, handing him the champagne glass. He left me standing by the glowing fireplace, the warmth flooding my skin and keeping the chill off. The Kleinman’s house was old, built in 1846, and never seemed to have an update on the insulation. The rest of the room was quite cold but standing by the fire reminded me of being wrapped in Bradley’s arms. He was always so warm, and I missed being with him. “Miss Motley.” The sneer sounded from behind me. My entire body froze at the voice, my heart pounded in my chest and my hands clenched the fabric of my dress. Please, no. Why is she here? “I’m shocked to find you showing your face here.” I whipped around, facing Martha. “I think I’m more inclined to show my face than you are. This is the first year I’ve seen you at this party.” She looked so smug. “Well, when your son makes national headlines because of his ex-wife, people tend to want to invite you these things.” I bit my lip to hold back my laugh. “So they want to be around you to get information on mine and your sons divorce. Tell me, when was the last time they spoke to you about anything other than the divorce, or the hearings, or the arguments, even the murder?” She narrowed her eyes at me and I grinned.

Suddenly Jake came back, handing me a glass of champagne with a smile. “Got the first glasses of the refills.” I nodded in thanks before turning back to Martha, seeing her husband Hank now standing at her side. “Caila.” He nodded to me and I gave him a tight lipped smile. Hank knew Aaron was in the wrong, he was just too scared of his wife to say anything against her opinion. “Already tired of the other one, I see.” She stated, sipping a glass of wine and raising her eyebrows at Jake. “Mm, not at all. Bradley is a thousand times more interesting than Aaron ever was.” She glared at me, her eyes raking over my body. “I don’t see what my boy ever saw in you. Especially before you lost all that weight.” She was trying so hard to get under my skin, and I wouldn’t let her. “I did lose the weight, only to do my dream job, and by doing that job I landed the man of my dreams.” Her anger flared, ever the hothead. “My son was too good for you.” She said as she leaned closer to me. “You’re son was a piece of shit who tried to kill me.” She narrowed her eyes before leaning back into her husband. “My son would never do that. That accident was your own fault. You deprived us of a grandchild!” I didn’t even think, I just tossed my champagne on her, drawing a loud gasp from her lips. Everyone stared as I took a step closer, Jake gripping my arm as my parents rushed over. “Never. Ever. Bring up my baby. Got it?” She stared at me in fear before nodding frantically.

With that I excused myself, ripping my arm away from Jake and pushing past my mom and Mrs. Kleinman and making my way out to the back balcony. I huffed as I flung the doors open, pacing along the balcony. It was a whopping ten degrees but I was fuming, leaving the cold to burn up against my skin. “You’ll get sick out here.” I turned to find Jameson, handing me his suit jacket. “Sorry. I was just so pissed.” I grumbled as I slipped on the jacket. “What’d she say?” He questioned. I leaned on the railing, taking a deep breath to keep the tears at bay. “She brought up the baby. She said I deprived them of a grandchild.” I said as a few tears slipped. He sighed pulling my head to his shoulder. “I’m sorry, sis. She never should’ve mentioned the baby.” He rubbed my back as I calmed myself, not wanting to ruin my makeup. “Do you want to go back in? You’re shakin’ like a leaf.” I nodded, allowing him to lead me back in.

I found out after that, Mr. and Mrs. Wilder were asked to leave, and aside from the whispers around us, it was a fairly uneventful evening after that. As we were leaving I stopped the Kleinman’s, halting them by their grand staircase. “I want to extend my most sincere apologies, Mr. and Mrs. Kleinman. That wasn’t-“ Mr. Kleinman stopped me, raising his hand. “What you did…” He paused, a stern look on his face, which made my heart race. “Was the best thing to happen at our annual Christmas Eve party in decades!” He yelled out. A hearty laugh echoing around us, making me choke out my own laugh. “Do not apologize, my dear.” He said as he took my hand, clasping it in both of his. “We never should’ve invited them anyway.” I smiled at him. “And next year, we expect to see this boyfriend of yours. We’ve only seen pictures, but he seems quite taken with you.” I smiled at Mrs. Kleinman’s words. “So long as neither of us are deployed next year, I will bring him.” She nodded and with that we left. It was after eleven at night, the kids were all asleep in the cars, snoring lightly as we took them home. Kimberly, Michael and Amber and Matt, went ahead and went to the lodge for the night, deciding to come down in the morning to open gifts.

As we walked inside, I made my way upstairs to my room to change. I slipped off the dress, trading it for a black shirt of Rooster’s and the Christmas pajama pants mom got me this year. They had little airstreams with Christmas trees and snowflakes on them. Suddenly there was a knock on my door, as I turned, it opened to reveal my mother. “We’re gonna watch Christmas with the Kranks. Wanna join?” I nodded, slipping on my glasses and going downstairs, the dogs hot on my heels. As I sat down, Laura handed me a mug of hot chocolate. That’s when I realized that everyone staying in the main house was here, except my dad. “Where’s daddy?” I asked as my mom sat next to me. “He went to bed early. He said he was exhausted.” I hummed into my mug. “Mm, the old scrooge.” Mom smacked my thigh at my words. We all sat there, enjoying the movie, until JJ woke up. Then I snatched him up, cuddling him as he slept in my arms on the couch. But soon, it was time to go to sleep. Santa would be dropping off presents and filling the vast amount if stocking hanging on the mantle above the fireplace. We all retreated to our rooms, the dogs laying in bed with me as the fire burned dimly and I scrolled through pictures of Rooster and I. Dahlia groaned from her spot behind me and I sighed as well. “I know. I miss him too.”

I’m not sure when I drifted off to sleep but I know I was suddenly awakened by my mother shaking me excitedly. I looked at the clock and saw it said four a.m. “Mom! I’ve been asleep for barely two hours!” Her smile was so wide, almost as if her cheeks would rip. “I know! But Santa came!” I furrowed my brows. “Mom, I am three months shy of thirty. I’m sorry if I never told you, but I know you and daddy were Santa.” She shoved my shoulder, standing straight. “Just come on! The kids are excited! You can come up here and sleep the day away until dinner if you want too afterwards.” That was odd for my mom, she usually liked me to be up all day on Christmas. Granted, as we got older we wouldn’t wake up to open gifts till ten, sometimes eleven in the morning. “Fine! Only if you’ll leave me alone after!” I huffed, tossing the covers off me and standing. I slipped on my house shoes and my glasses, following my mother downstairs. The dogs rushed in ahead of me and I rubbed my temples, finding the full living room quite loud for four a.m.

“Okay!” Mom yelled as she clapped her hands. “So, Caila gets to open the first gift!” I furrowed my brows, confused. “No, the kids are so excited. Let them go first.” All the kids cheered in agreement when my mom shook her head. “No. You open yours first.” I sighed but agreed, finding no reason good enough to argue. “Okay, which one should I open first?” I asked as I motioned to the overflowing mountain of presents. “Oh, your first present is out on the porch.” I was utterly confused, making a face at her that made her gleam with excitement. “The porch?” She nodded. “And you might want to let him in. My weather app says it’s about four degrees outside.” I stopped for a moment, staring at her. He? Did she say ‘He’? I turned on my heel, sprinting for the front door as tears gathered in my eyes. He’s here. He’s actually here. I thought as a sob escaped my throat. As fast as I could I threw the door open, ready to launch myself into his awaiting arms.

“Hey, Magnolia!” My face fell seeing it was only Maverick. “You don’t look so happy to see me.” I shook my head, pulling him into a hug. “No, sorry. It’s just-“ “I wasn’t who you were hoping to see out here.” I shook my head, a shiver rushing through me as the wind blew around us. “I was hoping for Rooster. You know, some big Christmas miracle.” I said as more tears welled up in my eyes. He nodded, looking up at the dark sky. “Have you looked under the tree?” I furrowed my brows in confusion. “What?” He just laughed. “Under, you know, under the tree.” I was still so confused. I would’ve seen my boyfriend sitting under the Christmas tree. “He’s not here, Mav.” He put a finger up. “He wasn’t here. Santa had to turn around and get him.” I furrowed my brows at him. Rooster was somewhere in the Indian ocean. Not in my house. Unless? I stared at Maverick until it clicked in my head. I turned around, sprinting back inside and down the hall, skidding to a stop in the living room entry way.

Taglist:

@mak-32 @dhwanishah09 @rosiahills22

#rooster #rooster top gun #rooster fanfic #bradley rooster bradshaw #robert bob floyd #bradley bradshaw #bob floyd #natasha trace #top gun maverick #jake hangman seresin #hangman #i hope you dance #jake seresin #phoenix #pete maverick mitchell

[storiesofsvu]

Habits of the Heart Ch 9

Warnings: Language

If you thought Sonny was keeping an overbearing eye on you, he was keeping even more of one on Casey, nothing to the point of stalking or getting into arguments with her or anything. He wanted to simply make sure that she wasn’t running around behind your back, he took to popping up at her office unexpected, carefully watching her interactions with other people. He obviously never caught her doing anything that could be considered troublesome, because she simply wasn’t doing it. He thought for sure he’d caught her one night. He’d been walking back from the bodega when he spotted her through a restaurant window sitting at a table with someone he didn’t know, it certainly looked like a date. Sonny was nearly pulling out his cell phone for proof when you practically bounded back to the table from the bathroom, giving Casey a sweet kiss on the cheek as you settled into a seat beside her. 

The air at work was tense between the two of you, but there were no more blowouts at the precinct so Benson kept her nose out of it. You still worked more than well together on your cases and neither of you asked for a switch up of partners so she figured it was a one time thing. Currently you were in an interview room with Casey, going over a story with a victim, explaining how testifying would work and the like. Carisi had his eye on the three of you, the blinds were tilted half shut to keep some privacy but from his desk he had a direct line of sight through the open jar of the door. 

Standing, you thanked the vic for her time, giving her one of your business cards, telling her to call if she needed anything. You didn’t bother shutting the door all the way as you turned back to Casey.

“She’s good…doubt you’ll have an issue with her flaking come trial.” You mentioned as she started to pack up her things, she smiled softly at you as she stood.

“That’s because she had a great detective helping her through it..” Knowing the blinds were shut and the squad room was practically empty she moved closer to you, pulling you into a gentle kiss. You smiled against her lips, hands loosely wrapping around her waist, eyes glimmer when you pulled back. Casey left a small kiss on the tip of your nose, causing you to let out a little giggle, a warm grin on your cheeks.

“It’s…not too early to tell you that I love you, is it?” You asked and she beamed at that, her eyes sparkling with love back at you.

“No..definitely not..”

You shared another soft kiss,

“I love you too.” Her fingers gently moved a strand of loose hair behind your ear, tracing down your jawline before she dropped it from your body as her phone pinged, she checked the message quickly, “I’ve got to get going.” She gave you another quick kiss before she moved from the room. 

It may have only been around a month of you being back together, but given the circumstances, things were moving faster than normal. You’d truly forgiven her for her mistakes, letting your last set of walls down as you let her in again. You spent most of your free time with each other, easily falling back into old routines. You were usually able to coax her out of her office and into your apartment for the late nights of work instead, the promises of delicious take out that was usually followed by a string of orgasms definitely gave you the upper hand. When you’d joked that she was spending more time at your apartment than her own, she cocked a brow asking if you were trying to discreetly ask her to move in, sparking that conversation. 

Sonny watched as the two of you grew closer, and he certainly noticed that despite the tension in the partnership that you were the most genuinely happy he’d ever seen you. There was almost always a soft smile on your face, you laughed more often at Fin’s ridiculous jokes, somehow you’d gotten even better with talking to vic’s. When you were practically humming as you dropped back into your desk chair, happily watching Casey head to the elevator, he knew what he needed to do. Your face scrunched in confusion as he jumped from his desk, hearing the elevator ding,

“Counsellor!” He called out, you groaned, rolling your eyes. Carisi barely made it into the elevator before the doors shut, trapping Casey alone inside with him.

“Something I can help you with detective?” Her attention was mainly directed on replying to an email on her phone.

“Yeah..uh…about Y/N..” Casey rolled her eyes, 

“You’re not here to yell at me about it are you?”

“No! I just..she’s really, really happy now, and I don’t wanna see her end up spiralling down again.” She cocked an eyebrow, waiting for the man to continue, “My sister Gina, she’s gotten back together with her ex about five times and every time he cheats on her again. I keep tryin’ to tell her that once a cheater, he’s always goin’ be a cheater, but she never listens.” She let out a sigh, 

“Carisi…I’m sure what you know about my personal life and my relationship with Y/N is limited, especially after you freaked out on her about it. I love her, and I swear to you I’m not going to hurt her. I was being completely manipulated and gaslighted by my mentally unstable ex, he had me completely convinced that she no longer cared for me. I spent nights bawling my face off thinking that my fiancee didn’t actually love me, didn’t want to marry me. Charlie took advantage of that and slid his psychotic self into the emptiness that I was drowning in. It wasn’t a drunken mistake or an ongoing affair, it was an emotional disaster for everyone involved. I’m not a bad person. She’s so happy because she’s in love, and you’re going to have to either accept that, or your not one of her supporters anymore.” She was unbelievably thankful when the elevator dinged, hitting the main floor.

“I just really care about her..” Sonny softly admitted as she moved to leave, stopping to turn back to face him.

“So do I…”

#casey novak #casey novak x reader #habits of the heart #law and order #svu #law and order svu #law and order special victims unit

[saintchrollo]

ten million jenny: spring, day 26 (sidebar)

remember how there was that lewd voice on the other end of the phone? anyways, he had a call to make the next day.

calendar | spring, day 25 | spring, day 26

The phone rings, and interrupts Kurapika’s midday energy drink he shared with a measly plate of soggy fries. Recognizing the familiar number, Kurapika immediately answers it, cutting the factory tone off. 

“Hello,” He states, dry and monotonous. “What do you want?”

“You never seem excited to hear from me,” Hisoka laments on the other end of the line. “Even when all I do is help you. You don’t ever want to know how I’m doing.” 

“It’s information I don’t care about,” Kurapika responds. 

Hisoka lets out a sad hum. “Why don’t you ask me, just today?” 

Kurapika’s jaw clenches. Twitches with annoyance. “How are you doing today?” 

“I’m absolutely heartbroken. You can see it shattered all over the floor. The man I love loves someone else,” Hisoka mourns over the line. 

The tension unwinds from Kurapika’s jaw, but not the annoyance, which was steadily building. “What does this have to do with me?” 

There’s a pitiful sigh that crackles through the receiver. “You don’t have any care in my personal life, do you? It’s such a shame. My beloved, your nemesis, has taken up a lover. I’m shocked you haven’t seen the bounties that have been posted about.” 

“I took it they were fake,” Kurapika says. 

“I spoke with her on the phone yesterday,” Hisoka says. “S— University, D— Building, office 216. Classes end—”

“On the eighth, I know,” Kurapika finishes. 

There’s a hum of interest. “Look at us, finishing each other’s sentences. We make quite the team, you know. Her name is Dr. J—, I’m sure you’ll be able to locate her. You’re quite the smart cookie.” 

Kurapika hangs up without giving Hisoka any more time to get under his skin. He’s heard the name before, and not just from the sketchy bounties he’s seen posted in dirty commons. But classes end on the eighth. And he does have many missed calls to return. 

The calls from Leorio are less this week than they have been. It’s finals season, as Leorio had explained in his last voice message, followed by a rather sad, So I guess I’ll free up your voicemail storage for the next few weeks. 

The phone rings. Out of all the people Kurapika calls (very few), Leorio always answers the quickest. Out of breath, but quick. It’s worrying that it takes three rings before he answers. 

“Hey, Kurpiaka! How are you doing!  It’s so good to hear from you!” Leorio answers with.

“I’ve been working,” Kurapika responds. “How are classes?” 

“Stressful,” Leorio admits. “But you know, nothing I didn’t sign up for! You been taking care of yourself? Eating? Sleeping? Drinking water?” 

“I’m eating right now,” Kurapika says, and quickly deviates the conversation before he can be inquisitioned about what he’s eating. “What do you know about a Dr. J—. I heard she teaches at your university.” 

There’s a self pitying laugh on the other end. “Yeah, I had to take one of her classes my first year and almost failed it. I ended up having to throw a pity party in her office.” 

Kurapika pinches the bridge of his nose. “Leorio...” 

“It was Library Sciences! It was an intro class! It got put on the back burner compared to my other classes and helpign you out with the Thing! I was taking O-Chem at the same time!” Leorio defends himself. 

“I don’t know what that is,” Kurapika states, but dismisses it entirely. The ‘Thing’ must have been the Troupe. “Does she have a boyfriend? Do you remember?” 

“She was super rude if we tried to ask any questions about her personal life,” Leorio recalls. “Why? Don’t tell me you’re interested in her!” 

“I don’t have time for that right now, and she’s not my type anyways,” Kurapika says. Talking to Leorio is both rejuvinating and draining all at the same time. “Well, she does have a boyfriend. Guess who it is.” 

“Why do you ask me questions to things you already know?” Leorio bemoans. “I have no clue. She’s a humanities professor. I can ask some of my friends who take her classes but—”

“It’s Chrollo,” Kurapika states, hand clenching as anger burns inside of him. How unfair that the worst always get normal lives. 

Leorio is silent on the other end for a good moment. “Are you shitting me?” 

“Why would I do that, Leorio?” 

“You wouldn’t! It just seems so wild!” 

“Will you ask your... Friends if that’s true?” Kurapika asks. “I doubt he’s going by his real name, but I know you’ll figure it out.” 

“Yeah! Yeah, of course. Yeah of course. No problem at all.” 

“Thank you, Leorio. Good luck with finals.” 

Kurapika hangs up before Leorio can get another word in, or convince him to stay on the phone for longer. Neither of them needed distractions now, anyways. 

#tmj posting #ophelia.fic