#I. really need to write these things down they need some stern rearrangement

[crazyyluvr]

Ahhhh that Jason fic was so good! I loved how you write him so stern and caring!

I was wondering if you could do another Jason fic where reader is sort of working herself weary, maybe she feels like she has something to prove especially with how powerful everyone is so she’s been volunteering for watches and missions and helping hedge and just everything she can around the ship and she starts to crack a bit so everyone tries to get her to take a break but she’s super stubborn and no one can except Jason on like his third try she finally gives in and rests?

(Like when he told Hazel to eat in your last fic, sort of that vibe it makes me weak in the knees!)

pairing: jason x gf!ares!reader

summary: Jason notices you're overworking yourself again, and despite him and everyone on the Argo II trying to tell you to take a break, you never really sit your ass down until he finally convinces you to do so.

genre: angst/comfort

wc: 2.6k

warning/s: cursing, fem reader, she/her pronouns, overworking, jason being stern, stubborn reader, mmm godly father issues, breakdown

note: thank you for your request anon!! i hope it's fine that i made this one kind of a continuation of this oneshot, but it can be read seperately. enjoy!

oneshot under the cut :: not edited

Jason always admired your hard work and determination.

Sure, you were constantly aggressive about it and telling everyone to fuck off if they complimented you on that, he still considered it one of the countless things that he loved about you.

But of course, there were times where that hard work and determination would lead to something unmanageable, like your tendency to overwork yourself.

You were an expert at hiding it, but Jason knew that beneath your tough and angry exterior, you always felt like you weren't giving enough despite giving a little too much already. You were a daughter of Ares, and your godly lineage didn't grant you much except for anger issues.

You weren't as good with weapons as your siblings. You definitely weren't as good at anything as Clarisse, your half-sister and your dad's favorite kid. Actually, all your other brothers and sisters had at least some sign that Ares acknowledged their existence. You on the other hand got nothing except that you could reach your boiling point seven times faster than the average person.

They have to thank Jason for being there to calm you down, because they all don't just feel like, but they know that if he wasn't with them, the ship would have sunk two days in the water or air.

They never really expected you to be the type to give all — and I mean, all your energy into whatever you need to do.

Replacing the ripped sails after a battle with some pirates? Step back. If not, you'd just push any one of them out of the way and grab the new sails from them and replace it on your own. Frank was a constant victim, despite being the burliest of them.

A large tentacle wrapped around the ship? They don't dare to think about chopping it into pieces before you came in, sword weaving through the monster like it was made of clay. Percy steps out from below decks to give the monster a little chat but slips on the blood it left in its wake.

Zeus/Jupiter decided to fuck around with them and send a lightning bolt striking almost right beside Percy? You'd immediately push him into the nearest demigod's arms and put out the fire yourself before the water boy could even process what was happening.

Even the simplest tasks around the Argo II, like cleaning the stables, rearranging the medbay, cleaning up the kitchen either after a meal or after the ship was constantly swaying and made a mess of fallen plates and food, you'd curse someone out just for trying to grab a broom or open their mouth to tell you that they can do it instead.

Jason was no exception to this treatment, and he didn't expect to be; he just wanted to make sure that you knew your limits as well as he did.

"You're low on medical equipment," Hedge grunted, stepping into the small dining room one afternoon while everyone was eating lunch. "I'm gonna go restock it."

Today was a slow day for the eight demigods, and they were grateful for it. All they had to do was the usual chores before they could chill anywhere on the ship.

Which is why no one was surprised you were the one who wanted to break the mundane routine. "I'll go with you," you huffed, standing up with your plate in your hands, maneuvering around the short half goat man to put the dirty dish in the sink. "I'll make sure your stupid fur brains doesn't get the wrong shit."

"Us satyrs are damn good healers, mind you!" Hedge bleated angrily.

You rolled your eyes. "Yeah with colored leaves and rituals and shit."

Before Hedge could retaliate, Annabeth stepped into the conversation. "You should rest today. I can go with Hedge and help him pick out the right items."

"No need, Brains," You shot her down. "I can do this. Are you suggesting otherwise?" Your voice raised threateningly, making Annabeth raise her hands in surrender.

"No, but I —"

"Good." You turned back to Hedge. "Let's go before you get more dirt on floor I just mopped, old man."

You left the room without waiting for the satyr to follow. Hedge muttered colorful insults under his breath, moving to exit the dining as well before Jason stopped him by asking, "Coach, can you watch over her? She's been working constantly these past few weeks, and she hasn't really caught a break."

Hedge rose an eyebrow. "Can't you do that yourself? Aren't you her boyfriend or something?"

"I tried, but it's hard to convince her," Jason sighed, leaning back in his chair exhaustedly. "Just — look out for her, yeah? And don't tell her I told you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Hedge waved him off. "It'll be my head."

The coach left without another word.

"I'm worried about her," Percy confessed, Frank and Piper nodding in agreement. "I tried asking her if she needed help yesterday, and she almost bit my head off."

"And you would've thought that she'd learn by now to stop herself when she starts to overwork again," Leo commented.

Hazel sighed. "If she doesn't give herself time to recharge, she's going to shut down."

Jason simply played around with his leftover food, deep in thought. "Yeah..."

—————

Thank the gods you returned without any issues besides the usual profanities exchanged between you and Hedge. He left soon after that, claiming that he had "business elsewhere," and said that they should get going on their journey without him.

They left the day after that. They knew he'd make his way back to camp eventually.

The streak of calm continued, even as the Argo II departed from the sea and launched into the air. There weren't as much monsters that showed up to annoy them like flies hovering in their ears.

You and Jason were on watch that night. Thankfully, there wasn't much of a threat in the clouds, so Jason just sat down on a random crate while you paced around, playing with the straps of your leather breastplate.

"Hey, you can sit down for a while," Jason said, watching you go to and from the large wooden post in the middle.

You scowled at him in response. "We're supposed to be on watch. If we relax, we fall asleep. If we fall asleep, monsters attack. If monsters attack, the others could get swept up in that shit knowing how stupid they are."

Your concern for your other crewmates was evident despite how much you tried to hide it by insulting their abilities.

"Sweetheart, its okay," Jason said, still trying to convince you. He wasn't feeling all that tired, which is why he could cover for the both of you. You, on the other hand, looked like you were going insane, the dark half-circles under your eyes apparent even in the weak and diluted moonlight. "You can for now. I promise I'll wake —"

"I can't rest!" Your voice cracked slightly as you whipped around to face him, your eyes wide with a wildness that caught Jason off guard and made him stand up in concern. "I... I just can't..."

You tried to walk away, but your knees collapsed from below you. "Woah careful!"

In a flash, your boyfriend was by your side, barely being able to catch you before you could fully crumple to the ground. "Easy, easy..."

He tried to put your arm around his shoulders so he could lead you to sit down on another crate, but you pushed yourself away from him. Being unable to support yourself, you fell down on your ass.

"What are you doing?" Jason asked, moving to approach you, but you put up your hand to stop him.

"Fuck off, I don't need help," you said, trying to sound angry, but all Jason could hear was your exhaustion.

"Hey, stop being stubborn," Jason frowned, stepping towards you and putting your arm around his shoulders successfully this time, despite your protests and your struggles to get out of his iron grip.

"Fine, just — just put me down there," You gestured to the crate he was sitting on previously. He was originally going to bring you down to your room, but judging from the glance you gave him from the corner of your eye, you could still snap his arm in half if you wanted to.

And so, he obliged, making sure that your feet barely touched the ground as he basically carried you to your destination. He gently set you on the crate, making sure to stand close in front of you so that you wouldn't try to bolt.

"Explain," he said, crossing his arms and peering down at you. You turned your head away from his gaze, and he realized how vulnerable you looked: your eyes were darting around in a desperate attempt to stay alert, but they constantly glazed over, unfocused. Your hands were now fiddling with the strings of your hoodie, their movements slow and groggy. Your upper body was even swaying.

"I..." You started, but sighed and looked up at him. "It's stupid."

Jason's brows furrowed even more at your dismissal. "You almost collapsed from exhaustion. There has to be at least a valid reason for you to compromise your health like that."

You wanted to clamp your jaw shut, but Jason's intense glare made you open your mouth and speak. "You want to know? Fine, I'll tell you. Everyone relies on me — besides Twitchy Fingers — to do what is needed to keep this ship afloat by making sure it doesn't get completely destroyed by the Tartarus-spawn. Every time someone tries to do my job for me, I don't want them to because what if they fuck up and something bad happens? That's gonna be my fuck-up too. I —" You looked away again. "I just can't relax knowing that some bad shit might happen and it'll be my fault."

"I think you're underestimating how well the rest of us can do," Jason said lightly, chuckling a little as he tried to make lift the atmosphere up a little. It didn't work. "We can't do as well as you, of course, but we can manage."

"Oh please, I know damn well how good the rest of you are," You hissed, catching Jason off guard with the anger behind your words. "You all got your own skill sets that your godly parents planted in you that you got to fucking nurture. Even Annabeth, who doesn't have any actual powers, is more of a smartass than all of us combined."

Jason opened his mouth to retaliate, to say that you're downgrading yourself too much, but you didn't let him speak as your voice rose. "And what in the Tartarus did I get from my shitty dad? Fuckin' — fuckin' anger issues, that's what I got. Everything I'm good at — my fighting, my speed, everything — I did that. Ares gave me none of that. That was all me.

"And the moment I thought he'd actually look at me, that he'd acknowledge that I was his kid besides when he claimed me seven months after I came into camp," Your voice got louder still, cracking a little as your eyes got mistier, "is to pay a little visit to Frank in his Roman counterpart."

You stood up now, your body fueled with anger and frustration and other emotions that can't be described. "You wanna know the real reason why I work myself to the brink of exhaustion every time I do what I do, Jason?" Your smile looked maniacal. The few tears that escaped the confines of your lashes didn't really help. "It's because I don't fucking deserve to stand among you. I don't deserve to be on this quest. I don't deserve to be called a 'hero' when we return home as your godly parents shower you with love and attention while mine just thinks 'oh, my kid survived? I had a kid involved?'"

Your body was shaking, but you were done. You fell back down on the crate, holding your head in your hands.

Jason blinked, processing your breakdown. His own chest was contracting painfully as the weight of your words settled in his brain and his heart.

You were feeling this the entire time? Why didn't you say anything?

Your body flinched as you tried to contain a sob, snapping Jason back to reality.

He sat down beside you and wrapped his arm around your waist, pulling you close to him. "Oh sweetheart," he sighed sympathetically. "It's okay to cry. Cry as hard as you need."

Jason expected you to push him off of you again, to tell him to not be stupid and to try and bottle your emotions up again. He hoped you wouldn't.

And you didn't. Instead. you took your face out of your hands and planted it on his shoulder, your own shoulder shaking terribly from your suppressed sobs. "Let it out," he cooed, and you didn't hesitate to drown your sobs on the fabric of his t-shirt, subconsciously moving even closer to his body.

He wrapped both his arms around you as he fixed his position, his upper body now almost fully facing you to give you more comforting hug.

He stroked the back of your head and whispered sweet nothings into your ear as you let all your pent-up anger, frustration, disappointment, and just overall sadness. He even planted light kisses over the parts of you that he could reach; your neck, cheek, temple, crown.

It took you a little while for your sobs to turn into little hiccups, but eventually, you were able to calm down. Jason didn't mind that his shoulder was soaked from your tears. He didn't mind that his spine was stiff from being in a slightly uncomfortable position for a period of time. He didn't mind that you were feeling weak and stupid.

Because even after all that, he still saw you as the strongest and most powerful person he knew.

"What about we go back to my room and rest?" Jason suggested softly. You lifted your head in protest, but Jason pushed it back down to his chest. "I'm sure Hazel and Frank are having trouble sleeping from the good nap they had earlier. They can cover for us."

"I don't want to burden them," You said weakly.

Jason immediately shook his head. "You're a burden to no one on this ship, okay? They won't mind. And besides, it's not weak to ask for a little help once in a while. No one thinks you're weak."

You looked up at him. "You sure?"

Jason nodded, smiling softly. "Absolutely. From what I can see, you're the strongest person here."

You raise an eyebrow. "You sure there's no bias there?"

"Yes I'm 100% sure," Jason said seriously, before breaking into a smile when a breathy laugh escaped your lips. You don't do it often, but Jason loved your laughs. They were always genuine, and Jason would do anything to make you laugh again.

"So, what do you say? Let's go to my dorm," Jason said, supporting you when he felt you moving to stand up.

"You better not do anything weird to me, Grace," you threatened, but there was no heat behind your words.

Jason smiled softly, leading you back below decks. "Never."

He left you in the dorm before he went to convince Hazel and Frank to cover their shift, promising that he'll make up for it. They didn't care. They were just happy that you were finally resting.

Once the blonde boy returned, he found that you were already curled up under the sheets, face relaxed and breaths coming out of you evenly. His eyes softened fondly at your peaceful and stress-free features.

He flipped the light switches, blanketing his room in darkness as he navigated under the sheets to join you. He gathered you up in his arms and curled against you, sighing in content.

"Good night, sweetheart," he whispered against your head, placing a small kiss on the back of it as he felt sleep slowly invade his vision. "I love you."

#jason grace #jason grace x reader #hoo #heroes of olympus #heroes of olympus x reader #percyverse #leo valdez #hazel levesque #frank zhang #percy jackson #annabeth chase #piper mclean #coach hedge

[b4kuch1n]

young airborns hangin out

#jjba #jojo no kimyou na bouken #higashikata josuke #jolyne kujo #jolyne cujoh #bubble knight au #'aaaaaa' 'aaaaaaa' 'hell yeah buddy' #jolyne grows up wanting to be a knight as well #which. of course clashes with jotaros view of the system #but he still tries to use his influence in the Guild to erase her mishaps from the records #so she would have a chance at enlisting #(josuke got in without a single scratch so like. the air templar at least goes easy on new recruits) #also this demonstrated move is. heavily caesar-ly #I have. some ideas of who he is in this one #(a fucking legend that is) #as well as some ideas around joestars with dual magic tendency #e.g. josuke with both air and heart magic #or jotaro with a not very healthy combo of air and water #I. really need to write these things down they need some stern rearrangement #(I kinda wanna make a side blog for this AU tbh) #(idk I just. wanna keep all of this) #(hm)

[cyborg-franky]

Can I have something fluffy with gn reader x Law please? <3

I WENT ABIT MAD ON THIS. Law is like my best boy. I even have Law tats haha. so writing him after so long I was very nervous. I hope you like.

Law x GN reader SFW Fluff/Angst Words: 1,558 Not proof read oops

You had always wanted to go to sea, being a pirate wasn’t exactly what you had been thinking when it came to visions of the wide-open sea, beautiful sunsets and amazing adventures. But adventures you got regardless of the unforeseen career option. Your only real complaint apart from the dangers of the job was the fact that you felt lonely, being a Straw Hat pirate was great, you loved your crew but there was no one you felt a deep connection with, not the type you’d always longed for, someone to hold your hand, share a bed with.

That was until you’d met the surgeon of death, you didn’t think someone as harsh as him would have been your type. The way he always seemed pissed off and irritated at even being around your crew, the fact he just needed your captains help and had formed a hasty alliance that every moment of every day you thought he deeply regretted the choice, that much was always clear on his face.

You were shocked he didn’t have wrinkles with how much his brows were permanently furrowed, even when the man ate at dinner with you all, the way his stern expression never left his face. Whenever you’d glance at him you always thought he would be so much more handsome if he smiled.

Just like everyone that you’d come across during this new life of yours, Law was no exception, scars of a tragic past remained on his soul. You couldn’t blame him for that and at least he wasn’t ever nasty or ill willed towards anyone. He seemed to even get along with some of the crew. The less intense members.

Thinking back to the first night you really made progress with the heart pirate you recalled how it changed the way you thought about him. It had been late into the evening, everyone settling down to their own devices.

You knocked on Chopper’s office door, opening it before you got an answer, often the small medic had issues rushing from his chair and to the door to open it so you always just stepped in. “Chopper can you look at this for me?” you asked closing the door.

“The Doctor went to bed an hour ago.”

You gripped the doorknob, that deep voice certainly didn’t belong to the sweet fluffy reindeer, you took a breath, why didn’t you just wait for a response like a nice normal and polite person? You had never been in a room alone with Law until now. Taking a breath and telling yourself that your hand wasn’t going to get any better by just going to bed.

“Oh, sorry” cradling your sore hand close to your chest your eyes darted around everywhere you could to avoid looking at him.

He was sat at the doctor’s desk, a medical textbook open, a pot of coffee at his side. His normal irritated expression however wasn’t present, his brows relaxed, his whole posture in fact looked lazy, his long legs stretched under the table, he looked comfortable in the chair, like he was on his own ship.

“I can look at it.”

“Huh?”

He turned to face you, cocking his head to the side to give you his full attention, his gaze rested on your chest, or rather the aching hand you clutched there, feeling your own beating heart as he nodded for you to come forward.

“Are you sure?” You looked at the comfy stool next to his desk, inching towards it.

Your hesitation made him laugh, actually laugh, it was such a nice sound you decided, deep but smooth, you’d never heard him make any show of amusement, he hadn’t even cracked a smile in all the time you had known him. But here he was, the very person who had the reputation of being a twisted individual, a current warlord for gods sake, the surgeon of DEATH in fact, smirking at you as you nervously sat down where he’d gestured.

“I am still a doctor you know” another chuckle as he straightened up in his seat.

“I know I don’t look like one, but my father was a doctor, I learned a great deal from him, it’s not just my devil fruit that affords me my gifts” Law explained and crossed his arms over his chest waiting for you to go on.

“Sorry, I know you shouldn’t believer every rumor that floats out at sea, if I believed everything the papers or drunks in bars said I’d think my captain was the devil but I’ve seen that man with chopsticks up his nose, I’ve seen him sleeping like a baby, he’s no devil” You knew your nerves had turned into rambling, feeling your palms sweat at being so close with the other captain but his soft chuckle, under his breath, trying to be discreet. But you’d heard it, such a nice sound you mused feeling a little more at ease around him now.

“So?”

“Well, my hand hurts, ever since I climbed down from the crows nest about three hours ago, I think I got it tangled in the ropes as I slipped a little” You explained. Law nodded his head before he held his tattooed hands out.

You held your hand out for him, he gently took it in both of his, long nimble fingers moved over your digits, feeling different parts, he was surprisingly gentle, his hands warm and welcoming. You couldn’t help but stare as he expertly examined your aching hand. You felt your gaze drift from his hands, up his arms and towards his face. His expression was like nothing you’d ever seen on the warlord. Soft. The way his tired eyes looked over your hand, he seemed happy to help, in his true element.

If not for whatever plagued him in his past, would he have been happy just being a village doctor? He seemed at peace right now. You allowed yourself to smile, your heart beating faster for an entirely different reason then when you’d set foot into the doctor’s office.

His grey eyes met yours when he pressed a certain painful part of your hand and you yelped. He clicked his tongue pressed a little harder, flexing your hand in his grasp. You bit your lip and focused on where your hands met.

“Sprain”

“H-huh?”

“You sprained your hand” He pulled his hands away and you hated how your heart dropped at the loss of contact.

“Oh..”

Law pushed his chair out and stood up, walking around the doctor’s office and looking for things, opening a few draws. You did your best to stifle any laughter from watching the very tall man try navigating his way around storage designed for a very small reindeer. It was comical.

“Avoid using it wherever you can for starters” he explained pulling out a small box and returning to the desk. “Ice will help it; you should have come to me sooner about it but” yeah, he was a doctor alright you mused as he took your hand once more. “Ice for twenty minutes every two to three hours will help with the swelling, I’m going to bandage it up right now, a compression will help support your hand while it heals, I suggest elevating it as much as possible.”

You nodded along while watching him work on your hand, he did so much damage to people, you’d seen some of the things he was capable of, he was terrifyingly powerful. But the way he held your hand still, being firm but gentle was a side you didn’t think someone who’d swapped out people’s body parts and rearranged souls for what seemed like fun could ever be capable of.

“Come to me tomorrow morning and I can re-do it if needs be” you wished he’d hold your hand longer, but he moved to get something else, a little cup which held two pills.

“For the pain”

“Thank you” You watched him pour you a glass of water and handed it you, aiming for your good hand. You gulped the medication he’d given you and drinking the water to chase it down you let out a sigh.

Law simply nodded in response to your gratitude, saying nothing more as he got comfortable in his seat once more, taking a swig of his black coffee, no wounder the man never slept, you stood from your seat and excused yourself with a small ‘goodnight’ closing the door.

Walking along the deck, just the sound of waves lapping against the ship to keep you company. You turned the corner and pressed yourself against the wall, your newly bandaged hand laid over your heart as you stared out to sea, watching the moon shimmer across the dark surface of water. You felt your lip tremble.

The feeling you’d wanted all your life, the tight feeling in your chest, the fluttering of butterflies, all-encompassing feeling and desire to be by someone’s side. You were in love. You were in love with Trafalgar Law of all people, and you knew this wouldn’t end well for you.

You bit your lip, slowly sinking to your knees on the wooden deck of the ship. You could feel tears prick your eyes. This was going to hurt, worse then never knowing what it was like to long for someone.

#one piece reader insert #one piece x reader #law x reader #trafalgar law x reader #angst #fluff #sfw #gn reader #nb reader #one piece law x reader

[littlefreya]

The Crystal Ship - Part 1

Summary: Henry is the most dangerous crime lord in England, he has everything he wants and women throw themselves at his feet, but what really gets him off is what’s hard to get.

Pairing: AU! Mafia Boss!Henry Cavill x OFC (Ash)

Word count: 4.8K

Warnings: Smutty Smut, MaleDom Vibes, Stripping, Bad language, Sexual innuendo, dry humping, bodily fluids.

A/N: I’ve been wanting to write this for a while and I only hope you guys will like it. As usual, I am nervous. It was supposed to be a one-shot but ended up being longer than I expected so I am dividing it into two parts for now. Many thanks to @agniavateira my sweet beta and helpful muse. Cover designed by me.

Please leave feedback  💖🥺 and more importantly, enjoy.

Title: The Crystal Ship

The sweet, smoky scent made his nose curl in repulsion. It was thick in the air, like a fruit that was too ripe, mere moments before rot sets in. Henry dreaded coming to the Imperial, even though it was the only safe ground to conduct business without having to deal with the district attorney's snout or any unwelcome eavesdropping. The club felt musty, drenched with bodily fluids and not in a good way. The men who frequented this place were foul animals; being amongst them made him feel as if their filth was rubbing onto him. 

Sitting at the bar, he downed his whiskey, hissing while the fiery liquid hit the back of his throat. The bartender stood behind the counter, polishing some glasses and looking at the large man as he brooded on the sleek black marble of the counter.     

Plastic neon lights flickered magenta and turquoise on the slick surface. An offensive contrast to the gloom that played inside Henry’s head. Life lacked vividness when everything was handed over on a golden tray. Money, beautiful women, fast cars. 

The women of the club were especially keen on throwing themselves at his feet, thirsty for his attention and money which he was never willing to give.

“Please fuck me, Henry.” “Please let me suck your cock.”

As any man, he was flattered, though if he wanted to see a woman naked, he wouldn’t need to pay for it. Still, they circled him, desperately whining at his feet whenever he stepped into the club.

All except for her. 

Big, almond-shaped eyes the colour of fertile light brown earth with a touch of green. Sitting on a barstool in the opposite direction. She was one of the girls working the club, no doubt. He didn’t imagine she was a gangster wearing fishnet stockings and a tight corset.

New girl, he gathered. He had never seen her pretty face before tonight. It was apparent she could sense his glance. Her body shifted uncomfortably, her irises focused on the straw of her tall glass of orange juice yet she never bothered looking back. Not even a smile on her nude lips. 

Henry scoffed as a spike of interest surged through his mind. He spotted the long-haired beauty earlier as he sat through an infuriating meeting. Her big hazel eyes cut into his attention abruptly, focusing on his glare for a wisp before she swung away. 

Treating him as if he was a nobody.

She chose to ignore him, much to his contempt. 

Girl likes to play tough? Well, I happen to like bending things in my hands.

-----------

Ash felt her hand prickle as she waited on the bar stool. Sipping on an orange juice, she watched as an ageing rich couple made out on a red vinyl booth while a curvy girl danced on their table. Candy-Apple, the girl who she was paired with for the night, disappeared to one of the VIP rooms with a customer. Instructed her to wait and not to take any customers alone, being still a trainee. 

The Imperial had some strict dos and don’ts. 

Little did Candy know, Ash had the miraculous gift of getting herself into sticky situations and for reasons she couldn’t explain, tonight felt like one of those nights. 

Taking another sip, she exhaled nervously, the corset tight around her ribs, further pushing her already strangled lungs. It was her very first shift and she seemed to have fallen on a busy night. The customers were not too pushy, though. No one has smeared himself onto her while holding a pitcher of beer and smelling of peanuts on their breath. Candy promised that the owners won't touch the girls and don’t let anyone else touch them either. The Imperial might be a “gentlemen’s” club, but it was one of the safest joints for girls to work at in London.

It didn’t do anything to calm the anxiety that waited at the door as she felt the presence of the tall stranger who kept his eyes on her for the last couple of hours. 

She “bumped” into him earlier as she walked around the ground floor. Broad shoulders and a face that looked as if it was put together from all the best parts found in heaven. He sat with three other men, looking like the superior one in the group. Fury burned in his eyes, yet his posture was composed which only made him look more frightening. It was a mistake to gander, she knew it deep in her heart, but he was an impressive specimen of a man. She couldn’t look away, not soon enough before their eyes met.

Now he was sitting a few meters away. A spiced drink sits in his glass, a ghost of a smile loomed over his face while his fingers were pressed to his temple in some sort of dark intrigue. He stared with the confidence of a man who knew he could have everything and it seemed like she fell on his aim.

Feeling uncomfortable, Ash broke her gaze and slipped off from her seat, wishing to find a place where she could hide from his hungry curiosity. This man had trouble written all over his arrogant posture and if she learnt anything about herself, it was that she was a magnet for chaos. She turned on her stilettos and crouched down for a second to rearrange the fishnet stockings around her thighs before straightening up moving on.

In the most natural order of things, the stranger was there to stand in her way. 

Broad and mysterious, the man towered above her with a small smile edging his mouth. Up close, she noticed his copper-brown curls and eyes like smooth steel. They shone like sharp knives through the club’s neon lighting. His jaw was cut marble, defined lines soared across his high cheekbones and even his lips had the perfect cupid’s bow. 

Ash registered him carefully and her heart murmured. No man should be this good looking; he was beautiful in manners that seemed unearthly.

“May I buy your precious time, love?” 

His voice hung low and deep, smooth like a chocolate truffle that melted on one’s tongue. 

The scent of danger filled Ash’s nostrils; it smelled like peated scotch, aftershave, and heady musk. Judging by his cool-grey tailored suit, it was quite clear that he was a businessman from the underworld kind.  

He burnt hot, and a part of her was immediately drawn to the flame. Yet despite the thrill, he seemed much more perilous than any of the other criminals who lurked around the club. This man could easily fuck up some poor girl’s life. 

In the dark cold cavern of the club, with his shadow casting over her face, the stranger seemed more like Hades than just the ordinary mobster.   

“Maybe some other night”, she forced herself to refuse, doing her best to sound polite yet stern while offering an apologetic smile in the hope that he would accept her refusal and let her go. 

She knew right away that wouldn’t please him. It was clear as vodka; he wasn’t a man who took no for an answer. The thought alone made her nerves shiver as if someone was sliding ice on her skin.

Henry ran his knuckle across the dimple of his chin. The signet ring on his pinky finger flickered on her hazel eyes in blinding silver. He took her in with a deep inhale. No, not even a drop of appreciation on her pretty face but he did detect a tinge of fear.

Interesting he mused, a small grin stretching his defined lips. The little dark-haired woman was either completely oblivious to who he was, or she was one of them ladies who had principles. 

Whichever it was, it spiked his intrigue and made for a curious turn of events in a very boring night.

“Isn’t that what you do, darling? Dance for money?”

He asked as he waved two £50 bills between his long fingers as an offering. His accent was posh and not a fake one either. She imagined he grew up wealthy. How does a man who presumingly, could achieve everything in life wound up into a place like this, she wondered. Not that the Imperial club was anything sort of sleazy. It was owned by the largest underworld family and had a taste of an old cabaret. Male celebrities often visited the club aside from gangsters and corrupt politicians.  

“It’s my first night I’m not really...”

Henry reached into his pocket, drawing six more £50 bills and offered it to her. The steel in his eyes softened for a moment, yet the peril still hovered on his face. 

He was a man trying to appear harmless and the risk never seemed so alluring.

Chewing on her cheek, she stared at the money. It was enough to stock the fridge for at least a month but it wasn’t as even half as seductive as her stranger’s haunting charm. 

Fuck it.

Taking a deep breath, her slender fingers reached toward the hand that held the cash. She snatched the money from between his digits and tucked it in her garter belt. Henry beamed, pleased that she agreed. Two large dimples creased his cheeks as if this man needed any more attractive features.

Ash wrapped her fingers around his wrist and led him through the depths of the club while her heart thundered in her chest. For some reason, it felt as if she was walking freely into a trap. 

And yet, excitement boiled in her blood. 

The cracks between their silent contract were filled by the beats of the monotonous music. They passed by the abundance of half-naked women who were coaxing different men around the bar, touching and smiling sweetly, serving them with nothing but the illusion that they are wanted, when in fact they were needed for nothing but a paycheck. 

Henry followed the petite woman, anticipation coating his veins and spiralling a small grin on his face. He guessed that without her heels she’d be at the height of his shoulder, this pretty little thing with raven black hair. He was intrigued by the way she bravely withstood him, almost to the point of irritation. It seemed as if his spell was useless on her as she carried herself carelessly, unlike the many women who threw themselves at his feet, begging to be fucked.   

There was something provoking in her, to the extent of him willing to break another one of his own rules and get a sense of what she felt from the inside. 

Her fingertips pressed on his wrist, sensing the pulse within. His heart ran strong and confident but she imagined it would only be a matter of time until she’d have him a complete mess. 

They all have the same weakness, no matter how much power they have. 

The large spacious club narrowed into a slim corridor while teal and magenta-coloured lights danced diagonally across a mirrored tunnel. Their own reflections appeared several times, accompanying them as they arrived in an open room, guarded by a huge, square-shaped bodyguard with a shaved head, chewing on the dead skin of his thumb.

Henry eyed him carefully, giving him a small nod before following her into the room. The interior was dark, with a black ceiling and a black shiny floor, embellished with white LEDs that reflected on her red stiletto heels. An onyx leather couch waited in the middle next to a small edge table holding plenty of bottled hard liqueur.   

“Make yourself comfortable.” She gestured toward the seat and shut the door behind her, taking a deep breath as she felt a slight increase in her heartbeat. In the confinement of the small space, the brooding man had the energy of a lion, hazing her senses and making her feel like nothing more but a fluffy little rabbit. 

The leather squeaked beneath his weight as he shifted slightly, wide thighs spread open while he glanced at her rear. She turned to tinker with the stereo system, selecting a tune to dance to. 

Browsing through the selection of beverages, Henry decided to treat himself to a bottle of smoked whiskey. He unturned a clean lowball on the table, the sharp hiss making her flinch and then slump her shoulders at the sound of thick liquid being poured. The odour of spiced ashes filled the room, mixing with his musk and her sweet perfume.  

“Should I pour you one as well, pet?” 

“I would rather not drink on the job,” she replied and pressed play. Soft synth tunes played through the speakers and Ash turned to him slowly, giving him a seductive glance. 

“Depeche Mode, really?” He crooked an eyebrow and smiled with amusement before pressing the glass to his lips and eyeing her carefully.

“I thought this song is fitting for my first VIP client” she answered, and made sensual steps towards him, already feeling captive by the daggers on his eyes. Henry took another sip of the amber-gold drink and placed his glass aside, pressing his fingers against his temple while examining the woman who was running her hands over her corset.

“You’re my first too.” 

“Bullshit,” she mocked, entering into the space between his knees. 

Henry tilted his head, a small warning glare crossing his chiselled face. “Mind your tongue, sweetheart. You’re a lady, act like one.”   

She bit her tongue, avoiding the small tremor that flapped from her chest all the way up to her throat like a tiny caged bird. The dominance and authority in his voice made her shiver, making her feel as if she was owned by more than just his money. She wondered what made a handsome man like him even bother paying for something he could get for free from any woman he wanted.

“Fuck,” she provoked, keeping the fear on her breath tucked well behind a sweet sultry smile. She took joy in the dissatisfaction that danced on his face as she cursed. “You know how this works, then?”

“You take off your clothes and dance on my lap like a good girl?” 

“I can touch you, you don’t touch me.” she warned, and slowly fell to her knees between his thick thighs, following the hollowed drop in the melody. Henry stared down at her with a pleased look on his face, his eyes hued with wanton as she rolled the laces of her corset between her fingers and unwrapped herself like the sweetest present. 

It wasn’t her first time giving a lap dance. She worked in strip clubs outside of London, but those were much smaller clubs that held no more than 40 guests. And none of her customers looked like Big Handsome Boss. 

“That seems unfair,” he answered as she spread her corset open. Her perked nipples teased through the loosened fabric while she gave him a pouty look and pulled at the laces delicately until she was free of the confinement of her bodice. 

Henry shifted in his seat uncomfortably while she revealed her body to him. Small breasts glowed heavenly in the LED lighting, skin pure and smooth like honey. He was forced to reach a hand to adjust the huge bulge that pooled with arousal while her fingers began stalking up to his knees like two big spiders. 

Big boy, she noted, trying to deny the small electric tingle that ran mischievously between her legs.  

“Many things in life are unfair, Mister…”

“Henry.”

“Henry,” she answered, her French-manicured nails scratching his thighs, eliciting a low growl from him that made her spine crawl. “Not that I imagine that a man like you would know.”

He let out a small chuckle, she wasn’t far from being right. The hardest thing in his life right now was the fact that a beautiful nymph was dancing between his thighs and he wasn’t allowed to touch her. Yet.

The little vixen clutched his thighs tightly and pushed herself up steadily, spine curving, her breasts displayed an inch from his lips. She climbed to his lap and straddled his waist, pressing her panty-clad crotch against his caged erection. A rogue moan escaped her lips as she felt the mass of his bulge between her legs, much to the large man’s delight.

It appeared she wasn’t all immune to his spell. Her breath was shaking in her throat as she pressed her hands against his chest, feeling the hard pecs under the soft cotton of his grey shirt. Henry was sturdy and large. She couldn’t help but wonder what he hid beneath his well-tailored outfit. His biceps were bigger than her head as he kept his arms folded; those thighs beneath her ass felt thicker than logs.  

Her lustful gaze swayed to meet the sky in his eyes up close, detecting a slight imperfection in one of them: an earthly taint of brown. He gave her a slanted grin, descending to feast on the sight of her half-naked form with a flick of his tongue across his lip. 

Red flags waved at the back of her mind. This man was the epitome of danger, drenched with dark lust and sinister grins. The fact that he was a sweet, sugary treat for a starving girl made for a sinful mixture, causing both distress and stickiness between her thighs.

Henry placed both his hands on the armrests, fingers digging into the onyx leather to hold himself from grabbing her slim waist and grinding her onto his cock. Her mound felt fiery hot onto the fabric of his trousers, and the slow tidal sway of her hips did nothing but engorge him even more.        

“What’s your name, little minx?” He asked, his breath heavy and sweet with whiskey against her neck. 

She hummed in response, closing her eyes and throwing her head back while her hands held onto his broad shoulders. The dark waterfalls of her hair streamed down behind her. Her torso stretched, bare breasts a delicious sight while she danced on his groin, increasing the friction that ran like smouldering heat. 

“It’s… Lilith…” she answered, licking her lips as she felt the blood vibrating between them.

Henry groaned, enjoying the brush of her body against his. She moved in sensual waves- slow yet hard, like a storm inching an ocean. Her voice hummed softly in his ear, her almond-shaped eyes tricking him into believing he was desired, needed. 

And perhaps he was, as her lips swelled red with passion and she danced on his cock with as much urgency to please herself as to please him.

“Your real name, pet.”   

Ash closed her eyes and shook her head. “I am not allowed to tell you.”

“Fair enough,” he growled. He felt her increase the pace, pushing harder onto him. His self-control was vastly challenged. His breath became fervent fumes. He felt the moistness beneath his hands as he clutched tightly on the soft leather as if his life were dependent on it. The pulse in his organ became as rageful as a volcano.

“You look like you’re enjoying this as much as I am,” he murmured, letting his lips inch dangerously close against her neck. “I wonder if this sort of thing would happen with anyone else, or I’m special.”

Goosebumps spread through her skin, her nape felt a cold shiver. Ash swallowed hard. If this was a thriller film this was the point where she was supposed to turn back and save her skin, yet all she fancied was to push her cunt against menacing Henry and mewl as tinders of joy licked between her legs.

“Is that a problem, if I am?” She dared.   

Unable to control his body’s natural instincts, Henry broke and bucked his hips roughly into her mound, giving in to her grind, growling as the collision created sparks of fire that increased the flame between them. 

“Not at all,” he grunted, feeling droplets of sweat forming on his brow. “Only that I paid you.” 

“Doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy myself.”

And tendrils of pleasure were indeed within her grasp. Ash felt a tremble in her thighs. He was large and hard, demanding to be let inside her. She’d be lying if she didn’t want the same, imagining just how large a man of his size was. 

She wondered how he’d fuck her, would he be as slow and rough as their carnal dance, or would he throw her on the bed and wreck her till she cried. 

The dark gaze in his eyes made her lean toward the latter and darn if he didn’t look at her as if she was the most intoxicating woman on earth. Feeling the flush ride from her cheeks down to her chest, she turned around, pushing her ass against his cock instead. She wanted to come so badly, the throb between her legs mingled with the fear that tingled in her chest. She wanted to remind herself she was protected by the owners of the club and the man standing right outside, yet Henry made her doubt herself. 

And for some reason, it only made her more excited.

“Touch me!” She demanded in a voice tainted with desperation.

There was no need to ask more than once. Her handsome stranger groaned the most beautiful melodies in her ear and reached his aching hands to squeeze her breasts. They moaned together as the much-needed bond had formed. Henry’s thumbs circled her nipples while his fingers kneaded on the fat of her flesh. She knew this was a mistake, he would leave his violet fingerprints all over her skin yet her judgment was clouded by the pleasure his touch elicited on her desperate flesh.

“Lilith.” Henry gasped, allowing himself to nuzzle the girl’s hair as she seemed completely lost to her own desires. “Do you fuck your boss?”

“I’m not a prostitute.” she answered breathlessly as one of his hands climbed up to her neck and held her jaw, drawing her head back onto his shoulder. His hips bucked harder against her ass, the pounding in his cock was nothing but white-hot fury. He held her tightly while she dug her nails into his thighs. 

“Not what... I asked…” he gasped, his voice breaking between grunts.

“No.” 

Ash felt his cock twitch beneath her and his moans chanted repeatedly, becoming louder and louder. The pulsating need inside her was unbearable yet it wasn’t enough, not for her. She needed to feel something inside her throbbing cunt yet she feared breaking the rules. Henry pushed against her ass with vigour, emitting inarticulate sounds until he clutched her tightly and gasped with pleasure. 

For a few seconds, the room felt like the most radiant thing on earth.  

Ash breathed out as his hot mess was sticky against her ass. Slight disappointment danced in her chest as she didn’t share his climax and her heart was still in rageful turmoil, furious for not being let to feel the much-needed pleasure. Yet a part of her was relieved that their contract has expired. 

She might have managed to avoid trouble for once. 

“Good.” Henry breathed out, panting heavily as he tried to adjust his lungs. His hands still covered her breasts, sensing the dampness of her skin against his sweaty palms 

“Because I am your boss, darling.”  

Her mind still fuzzy, Ash let out a confused chuckle which quickly died as the man beneath her didn’t join in her laughter. The rigidness on his breath sounded dead serious and the signet ring on his pinky finger suddenly felt cold against the softness of her breast.   

“Cavill.” she called out, panic pitching her voice higher. “Henry Cavill…?”

“Mhmm.” he hummed with approval, an arrogant smile spread from the corners of his lips as he noticed the obvious shift in her mood. Still seated on his lap, she let out a trembling wheeze as her heart sank to her gut.

“You are not joking, are you?”

“No,” his voice rumbled, vibrating low and thick against her prickling spine. 

Ash felt the sweat turn cold on her skin. Giving a small turn, she was unable to determine whether she should get up or remain seated on his groin. She could see the shit-eating grin on Henry’s sharp jaw from the corner of her eye and decided to gather her shaky feet to stand, nearly losing her balance as her heels suddenly despised her.

“Mr. Cavill, I’m so sorry,” she dropped her gaze to the floor, her hands covering her breasts nervously out of the misled thought she offended him. If he felt threatening before, now she felt pure terror making her blood sting. The Cavills were the most notorious organized crime family in the United Kingdom. Their web spun across each district, and they owned half of the police force in London.

She just made a filthy mess out of the trousers of a man who kills much more important people than her.

It was very much clear to her that it would take little to no effort to make a no one like Ashleigh Carr disappear. 

The room began to feel as if it was depleted of air all of a sudden.

“Considering you just made me come all over my pants, you can call me Henry, or sir.” he corrected her in his deep voice while his piercing steel eyes focused on the obvious stain on his crotch. 

Ash blinked, terrified as Henry reached for the phone at the back of his trousers. A muscle strained in his jaw while he scrolled through the device and then placed it against his ear. She opened her mouth to apologize once again, yet was silenced by Henry holding up his index finger gesturing “wait”.

“Sean, I will need a clean suit brought to the Imperial, ASAP. Make it a dark one.”

The crime lord ended the call with a friendly yet authoritative “Cheers,” before lifting his gaze to the slender girl who still stood at the same spot with eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights. Never in his life had he had a naked girl look at him with so much fear on her face. 

It was an interesting new aspect. 

Reaching down between his knees, Henry fished for her flimsy corset and pulled his heavy body upward. His long legs stretched as he stepped toward the horrified girl. Giving her a smile, he handed her the piece of garment. 

She snatched it from his hand with slight hesitation while he stared down at her, his head tilting as if to further study the features of her face. She was too afraid to break eye contact, strapping the corset back around her body without saying another word.

“Lilith…” Henry called, his spiced breath hot on her face.

“Ash...Ashleigh,” she admitted.

“Ashleigh,” Henry pronounced her name softly in his low voice, giving a small dreamlike smirk as if it was the most beautiful name he ever heard. His tongue licked over his bottom lip while he drank the sight of her in. 

“I’d like to fuck you.”

Ash stared at the man in front of her with surprise, lust still blooming between her thighs, her skin tingling with the imprint of his touch. Inside, she seared with passion and he was undoubtedly the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen with his kissable lips and crystal blue eyes.

But she detested the idea of being a whore. She never slept with a customer, nor was she willing to sleep with her boss. 

Even if it cost her life. 

“As I said, not a prostitute.”

“I have no intention of paying you,” he answered with a dry chuckle.

“You just did,” she answered and then took a deep breath, choosing not to say more. She still valued her life after all, no matter how pitiful it is. 

Henry gave her a slanted smirk and began circling her like a predator stalking his prey. Careful eyes followed him, her breath measured with every step he took. 

There was a spirit in her, warm and feisty. Defiant despite the fear that sparkled as clear as water in her beautiful eyes. In the cold, secluded room of his sinful club, he finally felt the thing he chased after for years. Passion. Desire. 

And it was booming in his heart.

“I find you interesting, Ashleigh,” he replied and shoved his hand into the pocket of his jacket, drawing out a sharp silver card.

“But I am not one to beg, nor do I take pleasure in pressuring women to sleep with me.”

The card gleamed like a knife as he held it between his digits while waiting for her to accept it. 

“This is my driver’s number, just in case you decide you do want to spend your night with me.”

*

Read Part 2

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#Henry Cavill #AU!Henry Cavill #mob!henry cavill #MobBoss!Henry Cavill #henrycavill #henry cavill x ofc #henry cavill x reader

[hey-there-juliet]

Random Drabble Day (2/23)

Summary: First off, let me just say that this is more like a one-shot than a drabble because I'm a wordy bitch and I cannot control myself 😅

That said, I always had a hard time imagining Julie writing some of the Perfect Harmony's lyrics about herself, so I thought why not make this just another song that Luke and Julie wrote together? This is set somewhere between Finally Free and Edge of Great, in that week when Ray was stress-eating. This is supposed to fit back into the show at the end, so it might seem like a cliffhanger, but it's not.

Quick shout out to @jamestkirkish for betaing this for me! I love you and you are amazing! Any remaining mistakes are my own. And to the fabulous Sloan, for helping me out with Luke's handwriting! Enjoy 🧡

Fandom: Julie and the Phantoms

Relationship: Juke 💜

in the great scheme of life and ghosts

No matter how many times Luke insisted that she had been snooping through his things, Julie knew for a fact that she had done no such thing. In reality, she had simply been cleaning the studio when she came across it.

For three ghosts who didn't eat and could barely even touch anything most of the time, the boys sure knew how to make a mess. Every morning Julie would walk into the studio to find the chairs or coffee table rearranged, at least one of the rugs was always askew, and the clothes... the clothes were everywhere, and the worst part was: they reeked. 

And so every morning before leaving for school Julie would shoot them a stern look and tell them to pick up after themselves. Which they did - when she got back home, things were mostly in their rightful place. Still, every weekend Julie would make sure to take a moment away from homework and rehearsal to tidy the place up to perfection, just like her mom liked it. She'd dust off the furniture, water the plants, sweep the floor, and even vacuum the whole place. One Saturday when she was home alone (her dad photographing a wedding, and Carlos at a friend's house), she even went through the trouble of washing all of the guys' old clothes. 

Somehow, and she didn't even want to think about how that worked, the clothes didn't stink when they were actually wearing them, but at any other moment when they made no contact with their skin? Yeah... not good. So she washed them all (three times, using every trick and product she had). She washed them a fourth time for good measure and, by the time she was finished, any traces of twenty-five year old mold was gone, and so was the smell.

So no, she was not snooping - no matter what Luke said - when she came across the crumpled paper ball between the couch and the low cabinet, just behind a big vase her mom had gotten from tía Victoria.

Julie sighed, making a mental note to tell Luke to put his discarded ideas in the bin (again) if he didn't want them anymore, when one scribbled and wrinkled word caught her attention: Perfect Ha-

She bit her lip, staring down at the teasing word. Perfect what? Was it lyrics? Maybe half formed ideas? Doodles? Julie knew Luke liked to doodle in the margins of his notebook whenever he got stuck trying to come up with the next best piece of lyric or melody. She also knew she should probably just leave it alone, put it with his stuff to ask him later if he wanted to keep it, or put it in the garbage. Except the more she glanced down at that damn word, the stronger she felt it pull her towards uncovering whatever else the crumpled paper ball was hiding. 

In the end, the pull was too strong. She'd just take a quick look, make sure it wasn't anything important before she threw it away. And, she reasoned with herself, trying to squish the guilt that was making itself known in the pit of her stomach: Luke had gotten rid of it, so he clearly didn't care much for whatever was in there. 

Not able to resist any longer, Julie carefully unfolded the paper, slowly making her way towards the piano and using its surface as a table to help smooth the page over.

Luke's (horrendous) handwriting covered it with the bare bones of a song, random lines were scribbled in the margins with a couple of doodles for company, and even a little note from their bassist - ‘Reggie was here ;)’.

It took her a minute before the chicken scratches became words, and then Julie's breath left her in a rush, as the guilty feeling in her stomach turned into butterflies and flew away with her imagination. 

It was a song, parts of one, anyway, and - more importantly - it was a love song.

Unprompted, her own words came back to her, "Wow, Luke! I didn't know you were such a romantic." Quickly followed by Alex's short reply, "He's not."

She knew now who Unsaid Emily was really about, but these new words were clearly about a different kind of love. The romantic kind, and Julie couldn't help letting herself believe - just for a moment - that the song might be about her.

Before she could let herself be carried away in a daydream, there was a - now familiar - shift in the air, a sound almost like static, the only thing letting her know of a ghost's appearance. Without a thought, she crumpled the page again and shoved the paper ball in her pocket for later inspection. 

"Hey, Julie!" Reggie's cheerful greeting sounded across the studio from where he had poofed in, and soon - with his "help," bless him - Julie was finished with her weekend clean up. 

As if summoned by the end of her chores, Luke poofed in, ready to rehearse. Alex soon followed; and by the time Julie retired for the night, the song had been almost forgotten where it hid inside her pocket. 

Almost.

***

After getting ready for the night, Julie settled on her bed with the wrinkled page and her dreambox. She read over the words again and again, imagining they were about her.

Step into my world, 

Bittersweet love story about a girl 

Shook me to the core 

Voice like an angel, 

I've never heard before, 

- 

You and me together, it's more than chemistry 

- 

Love me as I am 

I hold your music 

Here inside my hands 

- 

You are my brightest burning star 

- 

We create Perfect Harmony.

And unless Luke had been singing with another girl, there didn't seem to be many options on who it could be about, right?

From the beginning, Julie had felt something connecting her to him; to all of them, in different ways. But Luke had been the one to give her a little piece of his soul right after meeting her when he let her use Bright to earn back her spot in the music program. Seeing his passion reflecting back on her, the way he treated music like she used to, made her miss it more than anything for the first time in almost a year. It made her miss the way it felt to use music to connect with her mom.

After they spent a whole weekend finishing each other's songs and working on new ones, getting to know each other's inner workings - the part of them that bled out feelings into paper to create beautiful melodies, Julie knew she was a goner. Finding out he'd been the one to write the words that shaped her taste in rock certainly didn't help. Like he'd been helping her find her way to music long before they even met.

Her crush on him had been inevitable from the start, and while falling for him was probably one of the worst things she could’ve done, it was too late to stop it. She'd been free falling for a while, and hopefully she'd land in his arms soon enough. Reading over his words again gave Julie a warm fluttering in her stomach that made her think he was more than ready to catch her once she reached the ground. 

Carefully folding the piece of paper, she put it inside her dreambox, then placed the box back on the shelf.

***

The following week went by without any hiccups. Every once in a while, Julie would remember Luke's song and a familiar warmth would fill her up, leaving a soft smile on her lips and glazed eyes staring off at nothing. Just as often, Flynn would have to shake her out of her daydreams.

She didn't think much would come of it until her dad decided to throw the band a party so he could film them and post their video on YouTube. Which was fine. Amazing, even. It was most certainly great! Until Luke came to the school, staring at her with his stupid, beautiful, awed eyes, and with his soft, perfect smile, saying things that made her combust and melt, all at the same time.

"I think you make me a better writer." 

    "I think we make each other better."

Calling Nick 'Luke' was bad enough, but slipping into a complete musical sequence as she danced with him? "Goner" didn't even begin to describe her. 

Like the other times they'd written together, the lyrics flowed through her, finishing the song he'd started with the same ease as one would take a breath.

Julie knew that whatever was going on between her and Luke couldn't happen or, if it did, it couldn't last. In fact, in the great scheme of life and ghosts, she didn't know much, but what she did know was that - be it in life or in death - love was constant. 

He didn't need to have a heartbeat or to be able to touch her for her to love him. He was just as real to her as the next person, and whether it would hurt in the long run or not, it didn't matter. 

She knew Flynn was only looking out for her, but that ship had sailed, and Julie was already so lost in his ocean eyes that avoiding eye contact wasn't going to bring it back. She would entertain her though, even knowing it wouldn't work. Just like the tide, eventually he'd pull her right back in.

She could love him just as he was, for however long they had together, and especially after that.

-

End notes: I hope you guys enjoyed it! And, if you'll notice, at the beginning it kind of gives off the impression that Luke eventually finds out about the song and Julie tells him how she found it. Which may or may not lead you to believe that they're in a relationship. I guess it all depends on interpretation though ;)

Oh, also! Shout out to the chaos squad folks that guessed right! You guys are no fun :( /j lmao

#RDD #23 by 23 challenge #fanfic #mine #jatp #jatp fic #julie and the phantoms #julie molina #luke patterson #juke #jukebox #julie x luke #fic recs

[lucyhalearchive]

Goodbye (N.R.)

Will I ever write a happy Natasha fic? Probably not. I’ve been gone for a while because I got into my dream school, and I’ve been moving in, buying supplies, and just a few other things. 

I’ve also been saving a few drafts of fics so that way if I am busy this semester, I can still post for you guys. We’re really close to 100, too!!

Thank you so much, everyone <3

Warnings: descriptive injury, mentions of disassociation, depression, blood, death??? (I put quotes because this may or may not end on a cliff hanger).

Word Count: 1.6k 

Summary: You need to tell Natasha goodbye before leaving

You wake up to the same white ceiling with the same brown trimming, and you wonder if it will ever be different one day; when you open your eyes, it’ll be a brown, wooden ceiling instead of the dotted popcorn currently resting there. You refuse to push yourself out of bed, so instead you turn to your side to make eye contact with your alarm clock missing: Natasha. A group of you were out on another scouting mission trying to find another stolen piece of technology, and you had been bunking with her whenever you decided to settle down from traveling. 

You ponder on the idea of just staying in your bed until someone realizes that you’re not present. Then again, would they? You begin to dwell on the swarming negativity that planted itself in your mind. Would your team notice your absence, and would they even care? Would they come out and look for you? Would they mourn you?

You sit up in the bed hurriedly, trying to push the thoughts away. Usually when you spiral like this, you can quite literally shake them off of your skin, but you know they will come back later to bite you in the ass. The breeze pushes past the small, shortened curtains on the windows on either side of a wooden door that leads out into the neighborhood street, and you start to pull the light brown sheet closer to you when you see Steve run past where you reside. 

“Time to get up. We have to get moving.” He says in passing, hand hitting against the doorframe, and it causes you to flinch. Maybe they did notice after all. The second your legs swing over the bed and hit the floor, everything seems to move in slow motion; almost as if you’re walking through sludge. You believe that if Steve were to run by again, his voice would become distorted. 

Walking out into the field nearby, a place you all were using for meetups, sparing, and anything that could be useful in your current situation, you bask and relish in the softness that the air holds. The sun still hits your skin and warms it like a blanket fresh from the dryer, but the wind cools you down immediately after. In the distance, you can see Steve and Sam talking while pointing over the horizon as Natasha simply stands closer to a cliff, seemingly deep in thought. 

“Good. You’re here. We’re heading out in about five minutes, so get ready.” Sam fills you in the rest of the way, but your mind keeps wandering to the dangers that have stumbled upon you; how you’ve kept yourself alive. Alive for your mother. Alive for the cat Bucky is currently watching over. Alive for Natasha. Speaking of which, you give Sam a curt nod and head over to her. 

“You alright?” You question, placing yourself right beside Natasha, staring out onto the horizon. Sheep graze, never stopping, and birds circle the sky looking for any stragglers. Natasha takes a deep breath before turning her body to you slightly, never taking her eyes off the sheep. 

“I’ve just been thinking about the future recently, but the past still finds its way in there.” She pulls her hands behind her back and lays one arm on top of the other, a military stance, almost. 

“Our future?” You ask, full of hope because you often thought of what life would be like if you knew that Natasha would be there forever, in every waking moment. She shakes her head. 

“What my life would be like if I went back and changed the past.” She finishes, finally looking at you. She slips her hand over your left cheek, and her thumb glides over the surface. You know of her past. You know that she wishes a million choices could be reversed or changed. You know how horribly it pains and haunts her sometimes, and you wish you could fix it. You put your hand over hers and smile; a sad grin flashes over her face, and you wonder what she’s planning. 

“Let’s move.” Sam shouts out from his position, and before Natasha even begins to move to meet up with them, she places a long kiss on your forehead. Almost as if she is savoring the kiss. 

You give one last look to the long fall from the cliff to the plains beneath, and a familiar urge bubbles up from your chest. However, you four don’t have to worry about traveling far because a group, or a small army, really, shows themselves as they push above the hill, and Steve clenches his jaw. 

“I hear that you four are trying to find this.” The thief reveals Tony’s device that you still had no idea what it was. It’s a small, spherical device that lights up when touched. 

“We don’t want any trouble. We just want the device.” Sam steps forward slightly in front of Steve, much to his displeasure. Natasha copies his movements and places herself in front of you. 

“Yes, a device that I intend to keep safe and away from you.” The accent slips through to your ears, and he sends his followers after you all. Usually, you’re calm in moments such as these, and not long ago, you were begging Steve to let you go out on missions such as these. Now, your body is tensing at the sight of the large army barreling towards just the four of you, but you know that you could all fend them off easily. 

As you quickly snap the wrist of some poor soldier who tried to sneak up behind you, your eyes shift to your friends, checking in on them. Steve and Sam are holding their own, but also helping each other out, and Natasha is effortlessly taking down a few soldiers. Nonetheless, you notice a few of them preparing to team up on her, so you rush over, pushing yourself in front of Natasha. 

Again, everything around you became distorted, walking through sludge. The piercing, burning pain of a sharp, metal spear pushes through your skin and onto the ground beneath, holding your body in place; you don’t let out a scream, just a grunt of displeasure. Every alarm bell that is supposed to be ringing is silent, and your life plays in front of your face despite Steve standing in front of you asking questions. 

You can see his younger self flash beside him, and you wonder if you’re going crazy. If you were, would you even realize it? Would anyone even know? You remember the first day you met Steve all those years ago at one of Tony’s parties. You had a bet on who would get drunk first, but the bastard didn’t tell you that he couldn’t really get drunk. You were swaying and slurring while he was standing upright. 

You start to believe that the burning sensation rising in your back and stomach will never end. You cna faintly hear Sam and Steve arguing over if they should remove the spear at all from you or the ground, but you could care less. Your eyes shift to Natasha, and the rest of the world becomes blurry. Maybe it’s because of the blood loss, but you can see her just fine. You’re trying to memorize the way her hair sits on her forehead after a battle. The way her eyebrows are creasing as she tries to decipher what you’re thinking. The way the sunset creates a glow on her face. 

I should’ve stayed inside. 

Steve grabs your face as your head begins to lull backwards, now looking at the sky, and your eyes fight to stay open. When you meet his eyeline, you try to reach out to place and hand on his shoulder, and maybe get out a few words of sentiment. 

“Save it. You’re going to be just fine. We’re going to take the spear out of the ground and lay you down, okay?” You try to nod back, but everything is moving too slow for you. The wind no longer helps cool you down, but it feels freezing. 

“Are you serious? That’s going to cause serious bleeding, and we’re already losing too much!” Natasha interjects which causes a fight between her and Sam. Steve tries to ignore them. As the sun hits Steve’s blonde hair, you laugh. He looks up after sitting you on the ground, spear at and angle. It hurts a little more, but at least you aren’t trying to keep yourself up. 

“What’s so funny?” He raises an eyebrow before looking away from your eyes to plan what to do next. 

“You were always the golden boy, Rogers.” You mention while raising a hand to point out the golden hue the sun gave him. Should you really be cracking jokes now?  Natasha looks away from Sam to sit by your side. She pushes your hair away from your head and stares at you. 

“Don’t close your eyes. We’re going to get you home. We need to get you home.” Her voice falters towards the end, but you don’t mention it. It would only make her more upset. She continuously strokes your hair, and it removes your thoughts from Sam and Steve working to remove the spear without causing too much blood loss. 

“Do you think Bucky is taking care of my cat?” You ponder aloud, and she laughs sadly. 

“I think Bucky stole her by now.” She leans her forehead down to meet yours, noses brushing. 

“Natasha, if I make it out of here-” You try to start, but her head snaps back as she looks at you in bewilderment. She takes both of your hands in hers. 

“Which you will.” She quickly interjects, but it doesn’t give you hope; you give her a stern look. 

“I want to marry you.” You flatly state. You have wanted to ask her for a while, but fear got the better of you. It is now or never. Literally. She stays quiet, seemingly debating with herself again, and you finally slip out of consciousness. 

---

I rearranged my room today, so I am beyond tired. I hope you loved it <3

Again, thank you all for the support! I can not believe how far we’ve come. Another thing before I go: if I were to write a series, what would you like to see? Let me know!

-Lucy 

#natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff #marvel #hurt/comfort

[nyxdelanuit]

How Close is Too Close (Mammon x Reader)

Part 2 to How Far is Too Far

I did it, I wrote the fluff @miiyaatsumu

You laid in Mammon’s bed as he rearranged some things in his room. Neither of you had thought ahead to bring any of your belongings, so you were dressed in whatever of Mammon’s he thought would fit you.

  You laid in Mammon’s bed as he rearranged some things in his room. Neither of you had thought ahead to bring any of your belongings, so you were dressed in whatever of Mammon’s he thought would fit you.

 “What if they don’t let me stay?” Your voice barely cut through the silence, but you knew Mammon heard.

 "They have ta, how can I protect ya if you're so far away." His voice was soft, but he wouldn't turn to face you. He was scared too. "If they really don't let ya stay, I'll just have ta come with ya. You're such a weak lil human, ya need the Great Mammon to protect ya." A bit of his ego finally bled into his voice, and he stopped fiddling with his possessions long enough to slip into bed next to you. "You're still tremblin', so the Great Mammon is gonna do ya a favor and hold ya. So you better get some sleep." A ghost of a smile lit your face as he let you nuzzle into his chest.

You were decidedly colder when you awoke. Your swollen eyes protested their opening, so you simply laid, buried in the sheets that smelled of rich amber and Mammon. Consciousness brought with it the awareness of two hushed voices, near enough that you could hear.

 “And what is your excuse for her not being in her own bed?” The only other voice in the house that could be that stern was Satan, but you could tell it was Lucifer by the overwhelming disappointment laced in his tone. You wanted to protest, tell Lucifer that you couldn’t bear sleeping by yourself for a moment longer, but Mammon cut in first.

 “I brought ‘em here. Lucifer, I- I messed it up. When I went to get ‘em, the pact mark was hurting em. It only stopped when I was holding her. I couldn’t risk it. It’s my fault, I think I missed her so much that it was hurtin’ her.” You cracked your eyes open far enough to see the anger on Lucifer’s face melt into something softer.

 You were lucky that Asmo had hidden away part of your wardrobe before you had left, or maybe that had just been an excuse for him to buy more during his weekly Majolish sprees. Still, you were dressed nicely enough to show your face in front of Diavolo.

 It was intimidating standing in front of him and Barbatos while they were talking about you. Even worse when they were discussing how to punish Mammon for breaking the rules to go get you.

 “You left without permission from me or Lucifer, not to mention you weren’t even called-” Diavolo was uncharacteristically serious, but you couldn’t help but cut in.

 "I was calling him. I don't know how to summon my pacts, but I wanted him to come." Your voice was shakier than you had intended, but the vaulted ceiling amplified it to be much louder than you expected. Mammon shifted uncomfortably next to you.

 “It’s my fault, my pact was hurting her for bein’ so far from me. I was bein’ greedy.” Mammon looked to the ground, resembling a kicked puppy, and all you wanted to do was reassure him. It wasn’t his fault, not entirely. You had missed them all just as much. Before you could act on those feelings, Beel stood next to his brother, placing a hand on his shoulder.

 “We’ve all felt it. Me and Belphie especially. She hasn’t been eating enough,”

 “Or sleeping well,” Belphie blurted out, rubbing his drowsy eyes at Beel’s side.

 “We’ve all felt her pull at the pacts. Mammon was the only one bull-headed enough to do something about it.” Satan sighed, appalled he had to side with his scummy brother. The brothers gathered around you one-by-one, until only Lucifer stood aside.

 “Please don’t make me leave.” Your voice was thick with unshed tears, and that was the final straw for Lucifer. He took measured steps to your side, brushing a tear off of your cheek.

 “It would look particularly bad on our part if anything were to happen to a transfer student after they left our realm.” He conceded, looking to Diavolo. All the poise seemed to deflate from Diavolo.

 “You did want to unite the realms, my lord.” Barbatos and Diavolo seemed to have a conversation between themselves with no words, but after a few moments of silence, he spoke again. “This union will only strengthen our path to that goal.” Barbatos finished, to which Diavolo let out a great guffaw.

 "Then so be it, if your brothers are willing to take her under your protection, then she is welcome to stay." He cheered, and the brothers wasted no time in smiling and pulling you into their grasp in celebration—all except for Lucifer, who turned his worried gaze to you and Mammon.

 “Union…” The whispered word fell from Lucifer’s lips, lost among his brother’s voices. Lucifer knew Barbatos would never use his words so lightly.

 You felt yourself come alive that night, spirits lifted by the brother's presence. Diavolo had told you not to worry about your previous life now, they would take care of all of that for you. So now, you just needed to adjust to your future.

 After the exciting night you had catching up with the brothers and soaking in their presence, it felt a bit odd to stand in the doorway of your room. It looked exactly as you left it except for the messy sheets on your bed. Belphie must have used it as an emergency nap place.

 “Hey…” Mammon’s voice floated in from behind you, “Just wanted to make sure ya didn’t need anything… ya know cause it’s my job to take care of ya.” He scratched at his neck, the faint blush creeping up over his cheeks. “Sorry ‘bout your bed, I didn’t think ta fix it up when I left.”

 Oh… Oh… Mammon had been sleeping in your bed. You let him into your room, closing the door behind him. He flopped down on your bed, and you scurried over to fill the empty space. The sheets did carry his scent, and you hoped it wasn't too weird of you to be burying your face into them.

 “Mammon… why’d you come get me?” He scoffed, staring up at the ceiling.

 “You heard me. It was my fault, so I had ta make up for my mess. Besides, I’m your first man, and ya called, so I came.”

 “Why’d you miss me so much?” His eyes drifted to yours, but he didn’t move.

 “I don’t know. You’re just a puny lil human, I shoulda just let you live your life in the human realm…” You could see the pout on his lips, but you weren’t content with his answer.

 “Mammoney,” you whined, and he finally pulled you in to rest against his side. “I missed you so much, it felt like I was suffocating.” You spoke hushed whispers into his chest, trailing your fingers over where you remembered the white lines to be.

 “I missed you too, my human.” It was easier for him to confess into your hair, away from your prying eyes. Soft sighs fell from his lips as your touches lingered, and he was quick to reciprocate by drawing circles and nonsensical shapes into your back.

 “Don’t leave me again.”

 “Never. You’re mine now. One of my treasures. No one is getting their grubby hands on ya, or they’ll have to deal with the Great Mammon.”

 “No one? Not even one of your brothers?” You had meant it to be a joke, but Mammon stopped tracing shapes on your back to hold you closer.

 “Not even them.”

 “Not even for all the grimm in the Devildom?”

 “Don’t push it, human.” His voice was strained, and you angled to look up at him.

 “Answer the question, Mammon.”

 “Fine,” he looked away with a blush, “Not for all the grimm in the world. Just don’t leave again.”

 "I love you, Mammon." You hadn't meant to say it, not really. But the way he was desperately holding you close while trying to make sure you couldn't see his face, plus his admission, you couldn't hold it back. He crushed you to his chest, pulling you on top of him.

 "Is that what this is? Is that why I couldn't get ya outta my head? Why I couldn't sleep unless I was in your bed. Even then, it hurt. I missed you so bad when ya were gone." You could feel him shake under your touch, and you pressed up off of his chest to look in his eyes.

 “I thought maybe it’d be better with ya here… but it still hurt. Thinkin ya would spend all your time with someone else. But ya love me? Really?” Tears slipped from his eyes like the diamonds he coveted, and you let them fall in favor of winding your arms around his neck.

 “I love my first man, the one who brought me home. How couldn’t I? Remember what happened before I left?”

 “I told ya not to leave,”

 “I didn’t want to,”

 “And you kissed me…” his fingers traced his lips.

 “And you kissed me too… but then you didn’t say anything. And I had to leave… I- I thought that meant you didn’t want me.” As soon as the words left your mouth, Mammon’s was on yours. It was soft and desperate and tasted salty from his tears.

 "I always wanted ya. I'm greedy like that. I always want you next ta me, lookin' at me, hell, even making fun of me. If that meant ya weren't leaving my side, I'd be okay with you makin' fun of me too." You brought a hand to his face, tracing his lips.

 “Looks like you’re lucky then, cause you’re stuck with me now, Mammoney.” You giggled as you pressed kisses to his throat.

 “You’re the lucky one, my lil human, having the Great Mammon by your side.” He ran his fingers down your sides, increasing the giggles pouring from you. “Now you’re never gettin’ away from me. You’re my human, and I’m your Mammon.” He pressed a chase kiss to your lips. “A deal is a deal, sealed with a kiss.” He smirked at you as you blushed.

 “Do you seal a lot of deals this way?”

 “Only the important ones.”

 “I’m not sure… it didn’t feel like a deal-sealing kiss.”

 “Oi, don’t make me do it again.” He placed another kiss to your lips anyways, spreading out to pepper your face with kisses now that he could. The two of you laid in bed until the early morning hours, Mammon taking his time getting comfortable with you.

 He spent his time running his hands down your arms, laying kisses on your intertwined hands, writing his name in your palm. You found out he blushed from the shoulders up if you kissed his cheek, or when your fingers drew the familiar white lines on his bare chest, or if you whispered ‘I love you,’ in his ear. His new favorite sound was the content sigh you let out as you laid on his chest with your ear over his thrumming heart, or the way you tried to hold back your laughter as his fingers hit a ticklish spot on your side.

 But his favorite moment by far is when you finally decided to give in to sleep, curling in on your side. He thought he was meant to leave, but you pulled his arm over your waist. You fit perfectly against him, legs tangled, laying just right so that he could lay kisses across your shoulders. For once, he was grateful for his sin; no one would dare steal away his treasure while they laid in bed with him. He could be as greedy as he wanted, now that he had you.TAGLIST:

@say-my-name-assbut @animefandomally @gokm1023 @verdandi24-blog @moonsaye @zbops @beatific-drabbles

#mammon x reader #mammon x mc #obey me x reader #obey me x mc #nyx writes

[jaskiers-sweetkiss]

Sunset Swerve - Part 9

Pairing: Luke x OC

Word Count: 5.7k

Warnings: discussion of death, mentions of drunk driving and car crash, light swearing

A/N: omg okay it’s finally here!! This part took me longer to get out because I wanted to finish the next one before I posted it. So, for the first (and probably last) time ever with this fic you’ll be able to read the next part immediately after this one!! There are some Jordan/Julie moments in here that I’ve been waiting for for a while so I’m really excited for you to finally be able to read them! Also, oops, not me finding more ways to add Talia Mar songs into this story. The lyrics are from her song Selfish and I would totally recommend checking it out, I just felt like the lyrics really fit Luke and Jordan’s relationship! Anyway, enough from me. Send me a message/drop a comment if you want to be added to the taglist and as always let me know what you think!

Part 8  Masterlist 

___

The atmosphere in the Molina’s living room was conflicting. Though in the back of her head she knew it was unreasonable, Jordan had expected them to poof into the living room after leaving the cafe to find Julie being scolded by her father. Instead, they were met with Carlos lurking around the house with his iPad while Tia repeatedly tried to convince him that ghosts weren’t real (rude). Meanwhile, the four ghosts sat on the couch silently, the mood surrounding them somber as they considered what could be happening between Julie and her father. Jordan wasn’t sure what the standard punishment was for sneaking out after being grounded missing school and lying these days, but she was certain it couldn’t be good. Julie was probably being grounded for life and forced to quit the band.

“Typical adult,” Reggie whined, puling the other three from their thoughts. “Remember when we were kids and they never believed what we said?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure that was just a you thing,” Alex said skeptically before proudly adding, “I was always pretty trustworthy.”

“Yeah, me too,” Jordan added, staring at the boy strangely.

“Shouldn’t we be more worried about Julie?” Luke interrupted. “Her dad just busted her, okay? He’s probably making her quit the band”

“Woah, when did Luke become the voice of reason?” Jordan teased, trying to ease the guilt she felt.

Luke rolled his eyes but Alex and Reggie cracked a smile at her joke, making her feel a little better.

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about Julie right now,” Reggie spoke, a glimmer in his eyes that made Jordan worried about what he was about to do. “But, we can still help Carlos. Adults not believing children ends tonight.”

“Showtime,” he whispered to himself before leaning back and turning off the lamp behind him.

Tia gasped and Carlos perked up.

“‘Ghosts aren’t real,’ huh? How do you explain that?” Carlos asked and Tia shook her head.

“Lightbulbs burn out all the time Carlos.”

“Ooh, wrong answer Tia!” Reggie exclaimed hopping up from the couch and heading towards the window while the others looked on disapprovingly.

“Explain this,” he challenged, fluttering the blinds open and closed.

Luke, Jordan, and Alex all wished, each of them expressing equal parts disapproval and disbelief at the dark-haired ghost’s actions but none of them doing anything to stop it.

It took Tia calling him a demon for Reggie to stop, but it seemed he wasn’t quite done yet.

“Wait, I gotta get it on video!” Carlos explained and Reggie perked up again.

“Yeah, you do!” He agreed, now moving to stand in front of the basket of laundry on the coffee table. “Time for an old classic.”

Before anyone realized what he was doing, Reggie had taken ahold of the white sheet in the basket, throwing it over his upper body. The result was frantic screams from Tia as she dragged herself and Carlos out of the room.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Alex asked sternly as Reggie plopped down in the armchair, sheet discarded.

“Yeah, I do. I’ve defended every kid who’s never been believed,” Reggie answered with pride and conviction before adding, “Some might even say I’m a superhero.”

“Or the first person to be killed twice,” Jordan scoffed and Reggie’s eyes went wide as he realized what she was implying.

“We should probably get out of here before Julie finds out, huh?” He said, jumping up from his seat and running out of the living room.

Luke, Jordan, and Alex all exchanged exasperated looks before quickly following after him.

In hindsight, they probably shouldn’t have chosen the studio as their hiding spot but in their defense, they were sure that Julie was going to be detained for a lot longer than she was. It was only about ten minutes after Reggie’s haunting that they were found.

“You four,” Julie exclaimed, storming into the garage. “Are in so much trouble. Explain yourselves.”

She was immediately met with a barrage of shouting from the ghost, all of them thrilled to see her so soon and not paying attention to her words.

“Julie! You’re back!”

“How’d it go with your dad?”

“Did he make you quit the band?”

“Are you grounded for life?”

“Nuh-uh, stop speaking,” Julie commanded, face still stern as she crossed her arms over her chest. “I just watched my aunt run from my house screaming about ghosts. What did you do?”

Luke, Alex, and Jordan turned to stare at Reggie who was staring back at them with eyes wide. The three ghosts looked between each other, making a silent decision before turning back to Julie.

“It was Reggie.” Alex and Jordan said simultaneously and Luke gapped at them.

“Guys!” Reggie yelped, betrayed.

“Sorry Reg,” Jordan shrugged. “I’m much more afraid of her than you.”

“Reggie?” Julie whined, staring at the wide-eyed bassist.

“I just wanted to defend Carlos! Ta kept saying ghosts weren’t real but he was trying so hard to be a ghost hunter!”

“Aw, Reg,” Julie cooed, dropping her arms and stern facade. “That’s actually really sweet.”

“How does he do that?” Jordan whispered to Alex as they watched Reggie weasel out of trouble.

Alex just shrugged.

“You’re off the hook this time,” Julie sighed, addressing all the ghosts again. “But please stop scaring my family.”

They all nodded quickly in agreement.

“So, Julie, how’d it go with your dad?” Luke asked tentatively.

“I’m still in the band,” She started and the ghosts cheered excitedly. “But, we talked and I have to rearrange my priorities a little. School has to come first or he said he’ll pull the plug.”

“Wow,” Jordan said, shocked. “I would’ve been murdered for something like that.”

“Yeah, your dad is the coolest,” Reggie added and Jordan rolled her eyes with a smirk, they all knew how much the boy loved Ray.

“Yeah, he is,” Julie said softly, nodding slightly as she smiled to herself. “I gotta get back up to the house. School tomorrow.”

The ghosts all nodded understandingly, sending her off with big smiles and enthusiastic waves.

___

The next few days passed in a bit of a blur, though Jordan could distinctly remember feeling like some moments were never-ending. It seemed every passing day brought Julie and Luke closer together and Jordan felt as though she was being torn in two. On one hand, Julie was now one of her closest friends and she couldn’t help but be happy for the girl as she knew about her crush on Luke, but on the other hand, she really couldn’t help those flare-ups of negative emotions she couldn’t identify every time they were near each other. Then there were the moments that passed by too fast which had increasingly and alarmingly begun to include Luke.

She’d started using her free time to write after a rehearsal one afternoon. Jordan and Luke were sitting knee to knee with their guitars in their laps despite the practice having ended. They had been quietly working on some new melodies when Julie called Luke away to “ask him about something”. Luke had, of course, jumped up and followed her out of the garage immediately. It had been one of those moments that had ended all too soon, and the silence and emptiness that followed had felt like an eternity. Her swirling mixture of unidentifiable emotions had left her feeling quite angsty so she turned to the best outlet she knew: songwriting.

She knew the guys were nearly out of their minds curious as to what she was working on with all the time she’d been spending at the piano or strumming her guitar, trying to figure out melodies and chord structures. Reggie had essentially told her as much one afternoon before Alex had hit his shoulder and told him to give her her privacy. The drummer was extremely preceptive and sometimes Jordan wondered if he had a better understanding of what she was feeling that she did.

Still, she should’ve known it wouldn’t be long before one of them got too nosey and she should’ve done a better job keeping track of her stuff.

“Hey, has anyone seen my notebook?” She asked, walking into the garage the day after Luke and Julie’s ‘talk’.

She’d spent the morning wandering around Hollywood searching for her old haunts in an attempt to clear her mind but instead she was left with more writing fodder.

“Uh, I think I saw it over by the couch?” Reggie answered hesitantly, not looking up from the ‘old’ iPod Julie had gifted him (though technology like that hardly seemed old to any of them).

The boy hadn’t been wrong, per se. When Jordan turned to look towards the couch she did see her notebook, however, she found it in Luke’s hands. As his eyes scanned the pages her stomach plummeted and without even thinking she was marching over to the boy.

“Woah, Moss, What’s this?” He asked, pausing at a page before reading off the lyrics,

“I’m selfish, I’m selfish, I’m selfish

when it comes to you.

I can’t help it, can’t help it

crazy things that I do.”

“Give it back.”

“When I need you I come back to you.

I’m selfish, I’m selfish

when it comes to you.”

“I’m serious, Patterson,” she said sternly, grabbing the top of the notebook but not pulling for fear of ripping any of the pages. “You don’t see me poking around in your notebook.”

“You don’t see me leaving my notebook lying around,” he responded cheekily, letting go of the notebook. “Who’s it about?”

“None of your business.” She answered, face hardened as she glared at the boy, hugging the journal to her chest.

“I think it’s about me,” he smirked, leaning back on the couch.

“I think you’re a dumbass,” Jordan snarked back, refusing to give him the satisfaction as she spun on her heels, taking a few steps before poofing up to the nook she’d carved out for herself in the loft.

The next day was the exact opposite of the ones preceding them. Before, Jordan was using any excuse she could come up with to spend time with Luke- making edits to songs, working on melodies, hell she even stayed up all night reading her book while the guys were out so that she could pass it on to him the next day with the idea that once he started reading they could talk about it. However now, she stayed as far away as possible. Or at least she tried.

She poofed up to her spot in the loft after a band practice of pointedly ignoring Luke. She spent the afternoon and evening there, entirely uninterrupted. She’d tried to immerse herself into the next book in her series, hoping a new quest might suck her in and help her forget her thoughts for a while. Instead, they persisted and she put down her book, trading it for her notebook and guitar and spending the rest of the day strumming and humming softly as she worked out the lyrics and melodies. The song still plagued her, despite the anger she was feeling towards the boy.

She’d made it until after Julie had gone to bed before anyone interrupted her solitude.

“C’mon Moss!” Luke called from the garage floor. “We’re going exploring.”

Jordan didn’t miss a beat, not even bothering to look up from her notebook where she had just scribbled down a new chord.

“And why would I want to go anywhere with you?” She spat back, picturing the hurt look on the ghost boy’s face. She had expected it to bring her some sort of satisfaction as being snide had always done in the past, but this time it also brought a little pang in her chest.

“Look, I’m sorry alright?” Luke called up, sounding like he’d rather be saying anything else. “I shouldn’t have gone through your notebook, it was a dick move.”

Jordan blamed the pang in her chest for why she gave in so quickly, poofing down to join the guys.

“Fine.” She conceded, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms over her chest, refusing to look Luke in the eyes. “Where are we even going?”

When she did finally turn to look at the brunet, she had to look away immediately. His eyes were too full of raw and unhidden emotions that she was too afraid to search through for fear of what she’d find.

___

“Guys!” Reggie exclaimed, poofing into the garage a couple of mornings later.

Jordan had returned to her spot on the couch, notebook placed protectively beside her but her book open on her lap as she read. Luke was seated a couple of seats away, reading his own book, and Alex was sat across from him making a friendship bracelet like Julie had taught him.

“You’ll never believe what Ray just told me!” Reggie continued, and Jordan looked up, quirking an eyebrow at the boy. “Okay, well, he told Julie but I was there!”

Jordan nodded, satisfied with his correction.

“We’ve got a gig!”

While Luke and Alex hadn’t even looked up before, Reggie had all their attention now. Each of them tossing aside whatever they were working on and jumping off the furniture, bounding towards the boy and bombarding him with questions.

“Where?”

“When?”

“How?”

Reggie beamed, bouncing on the balls of his feet slightly before dramatically shushing them.

“The gig is here.” The statement caused the other three ghosts to erupt into chatter once again but Reggie held his hands up to quiet them.

“Ray said they could host a garage party and we can perform tonight!” Reggie explained further and the studio was once again filled with screams until he was able to quiet them down again. “He felt really bad about potentially messing things up with that manager from the open mic night that he and some of his buddies are gonna film us for YouTube!”

“What’s a YouTube?” Luke asked finally after the garage fell silent, each of the three ghosts in varying stages of confusion.

Jordan was pretty sure Julie and Flynn had shown her YouTube but she couldn’t remember if that was the one where all the fangirls went to post all kinds of stuff or if it was the one with all the different video genres that people upload. Or was it the one Flynn called the worst part of the internet, where people just talk shit about everyone and everything for no reason?

“YouTube,” Reggie began, clearly enjoying getting to be the one teaching them for once. “Is a website where you can make and upload your own videos. People post all kinds of stuff, playing video games, tutorials, and music videos.”

“We’re gonna record a music video? Like on MTV?” Luke gasped, eyes wide as he stared at his bandmate.

“Yes, dude! And Julie says if we get enough views we could go big!”

Luke gaped at the other three ghosts, opening and closing his mouth like he was going to say something but then changing his mind before he just poofed away altogether.

“Where’d you think he’s going?” Reggie asked and Alex shrugged.

Jordan tilted her head slightly, trying to think through Luke’s thought process. She rolled her eyes when she figured it out before poofing away herself.

“Where do you think she’s going?” Reggie asked, sounding more alarmed this time but Alex just sighed, shaking his head slightly as he collapsed back into his chair.

___

Jordan reappeared in the hallway of Julie’s school, poofing in right next to Luke and causing both him and Julie to jump in surprise.

“Sorry, my Patterson Idiocy Meter was going off,” Jordan smirked and Julie, “It lets me know when he’s doing something especially stupid.”

Julie gave a small chuckle at that while Luke stuck his tongue out at Jordan, who just gave him a false smile in return.

“Anyway,” Luke said dramatically, rerouting the conversation and turning back to Julie. “I was thinking, you should just ditch school today and come rehearse with us.”

“Something especially stupid like that,” Jordan said, smacking his shoulder with the back of her hand.

“No, I can’t,” Julie said firmly. “I promised dad school first.”

“Right, you were at school first, and now you’re leaving to go rehearse,” Luke grinned at his own cleverness and Jordan rolled her eyes.

“Stop trying to persuade her to do bad things!” Jordan huffed exasperatedly and Julie gave her a small smile of thanks.

“I really can’t,” Julie repeated. “Plus I promised Nick I’d be his dance partner…”

Jordan wiggled her brows at that, knowing about Julie’s feelings about the blond-haired boy.

“…and he’s heading this way,” she finished, pretending to hang up the phone in favor of talking to the boy.

“Well don’t you look sharp?” Luke teased despite the boy not being able to hear him and Jordan huffed irritably, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Uh-oh! I think somebody’s got a crush on Julie,” he continued and Julie glared at him and Jordan just about dragged him away by his ear.

Luke continued to mock the boy, mimicking his movements and expressions until he walked off. If Jordan hadn’t been trying to push down the feelings that were making her pissed at him, she might’ve even laughed.

“Well, he’s just too cute!” Luke gasped to Julie once Nick was gone and Julie rolled her eyes.

“Boundaries,” she reminded him. “I’ll see you after school.”

“Fine!” Luke called after her as she began to walk to her class. “Guess we’ll just have to carry you tonight, just like we always do!”

“Shut up, Luke,” Jordan rolled her eyes before calling down the hall at her friend. “Good luck Julie! You’ll be great!”

“Yeah, kill it on the dance floor!” Luke called, doing a small shuffle of his own in the middle of the hallway.

“Dork,” Jordan muttered under her breath but Luke still heard it, snapping his head around to give her a faux insulted look which earned him another eye roll.

“C’mon, we’ve gotta get rehearsing,” Luke spoke, but Jordan waved him off.

“Go ahead, I’ll be right there.”

Luke frowned slightly but poofed away anyway, leaving Jordan alone in the now empty hallway.

She wandered down the same way Julie had gone, deciding that she wanted to watch her dance. She hoped supporting her friend would give her the opportunity to stop thinking about a certain brown-haired ghost in any capacity.

____

She was right, it had helped. Of course, any tranquility she had found sitting on the gym bleachers was immediately destroyed the moment she reappeared in the studio. She had clearly arrived in the middle of something, but she wasn’t quite sure what.

Reggie was going on about “never forgetting your first ghost,” whatever that meant, and then Luke started talking about how talented of a drummer Alex was.

“I wouldn’t let all that stuff get in between you and what you love,” Luke finished saying when Reggie pipped up again.

“I don’t know, man,” he pondered. “Sometimes a little fire can make things better on stage. Like you and Julie.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Luke stuttered out, looking around nervously.

“C’mon, everyone can see the way you look at her when you sing,” Reggie continued, piling it on and for some reason, Jordan thought she might vomit. “You guys ooze chemistry.”

Luke’s eyes kept flitting around the studio, refusing to look at any of them until he made direct eye contact with Jordan who frowned, looking away as she swallowed thickly. Of course, everyone had noticed the chemistry between him and Julie. She’d half hoped she was imagining it but clearly it was real.

“Please never say ooze again, but you have to agree he’s right,” Alex shrugged, standing up from his drum set.

“No, no.” Luke denied, and Jordan eyed her shoelaces, not wanting to catch his eyes, afraid of what she might find. “I have chemistry with everyone I sing with.”

Alex and Reggie must’ve been giving him looks of disbelief because he huffed in that way a child does when they don’t get their way.

“Seriously, watch.”

Jordan watched his feet as he took a step towards her.

“You’d better take that step back,” she growled, hoping she sounded as menacing as she planned to and not like the kicked puppy her heart was making her feel like. She didn’t think she’d be able to take it. Looking in his eyes and feeling like he’d set her on fire but knowing it was all just to prove a point, that it wasn’t real for him.

Luke huffed again, and she watched his feet turn around walking in Reggie’s direction now as he began to sing.

“I believe, I believe that we’re just one dream away from who we’re meant to be,” knowing his back was turned to her, she looked up, watching as he inched closer and closer to a wide-eyed Reggie. “That we’re standing on the edge of… great.”

“Wow,” Alex remarked, “I see chemistry.”

“Yeah, that was pretty hot,” Reggie admitted, voice cracking as he spoke.

Then Luke kissed two of his fingers before placing them on Reggie’s lips. Jordan couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her at the bewildered expression on the boy’s face and Luke whirled around to grin at her. She rolled her eyes in response, trying to ignore the smile and the feeling that something was flapping around in her stomach that it brought.

“Girls, amiright?” Reggie croaked out.

“Yeah,” Luke chuckled and Alex quickly chimed in.

“No,” he said definitively with a light chuckle.

Jordan barked out a laugh at that, poofing over to the drummer to give him a high five before poofing back to the front of the band setup. The three guitarists slipped their instruments back over their heads and all of a sudden they were rehearsing. Jordan was grateful for the distraction, music was always the best outlet for unwanted emotions.

They rehearsed like that until Julie got home from school, the four of them taking their music seriously while also goofing around. At some point, Jordan had relocated her amp to Reggie’s side of the setup, the two ghosts doing increasingly ridiculous and dramatic stunts with each take through the song. Julie walked into the garage just in time to watch Jordan and Reggie perform a run-through while attempting to backbend as far as they could while still maintaining the integrity of their sound.

“What on earth are you guys doing?” She asked, staring at the two ghosts as if they’d lost their minds.

“Julie! Thank goodness you’re here!” Jordan exclaimed dramatically, “Luke’s been singing your part and…” she widened her eyes, drawing her hand back and forth in front of her neck to silently convey that it wasn’t good.

“Hey! I take offense to that!” Luke exclaimed and Jordan rolled her eyes.

“That was the point,” she sassed, smirking at the boy who pouted in response.

Julie just shook her head exasperatedly at the pair.

“Let’s start practicing before these two can get into it fully,” she suggested to the group and Jordan looked down at her feet embarrassedly before poofing herself and her equipment back to the other side of the setup.

“Girl, where are you going?” Julie asked, her look of bewilderment barely concealing her grin. “This is our song, I want you next to me.”

Jordan didn’t even try to conceal her own grin at the offer, poofing back up by the girl.

They practiced that way for about another hour before they had the song to a place they were happy with. Luke was a bit stressed when Julie called the rehearsal. He wanted to run the song more but the rest of the band shut him down, reassuring him that they would be fine.

Jordan had started to pull out her small makeup stash to get started on her look for the performance when Julie invited her up to the house, asking for help picking out an outfit and suggesting that they get ready together. Jordan readily agreed, shouldering her backpack of clothes and scooping up her makeup as she followed the girl to her room.

She set her belongings down off to the side before joining Julie as the girl opened up the chest across from her bed.

“What’s that?” Jordan asked as Julie began to dig through the clothes.

“Oh, it’s my mom’s trunk with a bunch of her old clothes,” Julie explained, pulling out a piece of fabric. “I try to wear something of her’s when I perform, it’s as close as I can get to having her there with me.”

Jordan nodded, leaning back against Julie’s bed frame as she sat on the floor. It was an incredibly sweet and sentimental gesture and Jordan suddenly found herself with a lump in her throat and an overwhelming bout of homesickness as she fiddled with the small, silver pendant necklace she never took off. Her own mother had given it to her on her last Christmas.

“That’s beautiful,” she said softly, referring to the sentiment and the white shirt Julie was holding in front of her.

Julie made her way over to her dresser, rifling through pants as Jordan remained on the floor, nearly entirely lost in her thoughts.

“We all lost our parents too soon,” Jordan sighed deeply, voicing her thoughts as she leaned her head back against Julie’s mattress. “Reggie’s spent all their time bickering and left hardly any time for their child, Alex’s basically disowned him, and Luke ran away. I was the only one with a decent relationship with my parents and then they...”

She squeezed her eyes shut and sighed, unable to finish the sentence. Nearly twenty-five and a half years later and the wound was still as fresh as it had been on day one.

“It can be hard to talk about trauma,” Julie acknowledged sympathetically, sliding down onto the floor next to her, outfit forgotten on the bed. “Can I ask when they passed?”

“H-how did you know?” Jordan stuttered out, looking at the girl next to her in confusion. She knew she’d never said it. She was still barely able to think it.

“Grief recognizes grief, I guess,” Julie shrugged. “My mom and I were really close but after she died, I couldn’t even hear her name without crying for months, let alone talk about her. It took even longer to be able to look at pictures. You say you had a good relationship with your parents but I’ve never heard you talk about them.”  

Jordan nodded thoughtfully at that. She closed her eyes, swallowing thickly before opening her mouth to speak.

“It was about five months before… before I died,” she answered, eyes clenched shut to stop the tears as images from that night swam behind her eyelids. “It was a car accident. Drunk driver, you know?”

She could still see the flashing lights in her driveway, the faces of the police officers blurred by her tears as they told her the news.

“I’m so sorry,” Julie said, and Jordan knew by the thickness of her voice that she was fighting back tears as well.

“Luke said there was a time where you were the closest thing to family he had. I assumed he was talking about when he ran away but was it because of what happened to your parents?”

Jordan nodded slightly, looking down at her hands in her lap.

“After their… after the funeral, I ran.” She explained, voice cracking. “I was less than a year away from turning eighteen, I figured I was better off waiting it out than any of the other options.

“Luke, uh… Luke sorta took me in. He’d been living in their practice studio- your garage- since he ran away and offered to let me stay with him. I would’ve turned him down but I didn’t exactly have anywhere else to go. I guess He was all I had. None of the guys knew, pretty sure they still don’t, so don’t like…”

“Mention it.” Julie filled in, staring at the ghost with a look of caring and understanding that she hadn’t felt in ages. “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

Jordan nodded, giving the girl a watery smile of thanks as she wiped the tears from her cheek with the back of her hand.

“Never thought I’d be back living in that studio but it’s better now. We have each other,” Jordan added, trying to lighten the mood. “And we have you.”

“Do you wanna cross over?” Julie asked curiously. “Figure out your unfinished business?”

“I do. When Alex first told us about it, it was all I wanted. A way to see my parents again,” Jordan sighed contemplatively. “But not just yet. I like to think they’re with your mom right now, and they’re all watching over us. I think they’d be proud.

“All my parents ever wanted was for me to do what I loved- to play music- and I’m doing that now, just never in the way I thought I would.”

“I’m glad I can help you achieve that,” Julie said sincerely, reaching over to cover Jordan’s hand with her own, forgetting that it would just phase through it.

“Me too,” Jordan smiled, wiping the fallen tears from her cheeks as she stood up, “We should probably stop crying and start getting ready, huh?”

Julie laughed, pulling herself off the floor as well.

“I have an idea for the song if you’re interested,” Julie said, changing the subject as they moved around her bedroom.

___

Jordan thought maybe after years of performing, the pre-concert nerves would fade away but as she stood in the garage bouncing uncontrollably she started to think they never would. She shook her hands out in front of her as Flynn began their introduction, the doors sliding open to reveal the crowd of high schoolers.

When Julie took a seat at the piano, Jordan felt someone grab her hand. She looked over to see Alex smiling at her reassuringly and Reggie holding his other hand. She smiled gratefully at the two boys, delighted by the fact that they had picked up the pre-show ritual. She turned back to see Luke looking at them all curiously, looking slightly upset that he was being left out of something. Jordan smiled at him, reaching out her spare hand which he took eagerly.

The four ghosts stood in silence, listening to Julie sing.

“Like a rubber ball, we come bouncing back. We all gotta second act inside of us,”

Jordan squeezed the boys’ hands briefly before they were all poofing to their spots on the makeshift “stage.”

Julie immediately jumped back to where she was playing her guitar, singing the first part of the chorus to her before moving to give Reggie and Alex some attention. As the ghosts joined in on the backup vocals Jordan noticed Luke give Julie his signature head nod, signaling that he wanted her to come sing with him and Jordan immediately flashed back to Reggie and Alex’s comments about the pair’s chemistry. She was grateful for the presence of mind to remember that they were being filmed so she fought the urge to roll her eyes and plastered a smile onto her face.

She angled herself away from him slightly as she picked up the second verse.

“We all make mistakes. They’re just stepping stones to take us where we wanna go. It’s never straight, no,” she sang to the audience, basking in the cheers and letting her negative feelings fade out only for them to come right back as she caught another head nod out of the corner of her eyes as he and Julie joined the vocals.

“Sometimes we gotta lean, lean on someone else,” Jordan sang to Julie, doing her best to ignore Luke and the unreasonable and boiling anger she was feeling. “To get a little help, until we find a way.”

Julie broke off when they hit the chorus again, making her way in front of the piano to interact a little with her classmates in the crowd. As they sang, Jordan and Reggie switched spots, the bassist joining Luke at his mic and Jordan singing to Alex from Reggie’s mic.

“Cause we’re standing on the edge of great,” Julie sang from the front as Reggie and Jordan returned to their own mics to sing the backups.

“On the edge of great.”

“Great.”

“On the edge of great.”

“Great.”

“On the edge of great.”

“Cause we’re standing on the edge of,” Julie sent Jordan a quick smile before stepping up onto the piano bench.

“Shout, shout. C’mon and let it out, out. Don’t gotta hide it, let your colors blind their eyes. Be who you are don’t compromise and shout, shout. C’mon and let it out, out.”

“What doesn’t kill you makes you feel alive.”

As Julie took on the chorus by herself, Luke stepped up beside where she crouched on the piano. Jordan tried to ignore the puppy dog eyes he gave her as he played his guitar solo, her stomach sinking as Julie smiled back at him. She focused her attention on Julie, drawing on her pride for her friend as she slid over to Reggie.

“Something big, something crazy, our best is yet unknown. That this moment is ours to own,” she sang with Reggie as they all joined back in, for the rest of the final chorus.

As the chorus came to an end Jordan stepped forward, sliding next to Julie on the piano bench, her guitar disappearing along with the guys. She played out the rest of the song, sharing the piano with Julie as they sang together.

“Running from the past, tripping on the now. What is lost can be found, it’s obvious.”

They shared a friendly smile before she disappeared. Reappearing in the garage as the crowd erupted into cheers. She watched proudly as Julie took her bows before catching Luke’s eyes. She frowned at the scrutinizing look he was giving her. It was like he thought she had wronged him somehow. What was his deal?

Part 10

___

JATP Taglist: @meangirlsx @morganayennefertyrell

Sunset Swerve Taglist: @oopsiedoopsie23 @angryknightstatesmantrash @onlygetaway @deni-gonzalez @advicefromnixxxx @brooke0297 @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @cordeliascrown

#jatp #julie and the phantoms #jatp fic #luke patterson #luke patterson fic #luke patterson x oc #luke jatp #jatp luke #reggie peters #jatp reggie #alex mercer #jatp alex #julie molina #sunset curve #edge of great #sunset swerve

[2018shawn]

Baby M

Request: Can you write about y/n waking Shawn up in the middle of the night because she’s uncomfortable due to being 8 months pregnant?

A/N: hi, I hope u all enjoy, dad!Shawn makes me feel week ahahah quite short so I'm sorry if it’s crappy!!! like/reblog/message me if you enjoyed any feedback is really appreciated 🥰

Ice cream. All you wanted was ice cream. But thanks to the continuous growing bun in your oven (or baby bump, to put it normally), you’d consumed every last little spoonful of Ben and Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs left in your house. You were glad you checked the important matter of ice cream quantity before you’d headed to bed, otherwise you’d be attempting to waddle down to the kitchen any minute now, which would be an absolute waste and a torturous challenge in itself to get back up the stairs.

You picked up your phone, the screen automatically illuminating the room and almost blinding you as you checked the time. 2:54am. 14 minutes after you’d last checked. Sighing, you pushed yourself up in bed, letting your back fall against the plush velvet headboard. You stared down at your blossoming bump, a smile creeping on your lips as you notice and begin to feel the tiny movements happening inside of you. “Oh, I’m sorry, did I wake you?” You sarcastically giggled, your hands stroking over the bare skin of your stomach, receiving a solid kick in return to your sarcasm. This baby already had the reactions of Shawn, who would instantly scowl at you for your sarcastic attitude in any given situation.

The pains hurt, but it had grown to become bearable. You were once told that pregnancy would be one of the happiest, greatest moments of your life – you however, thought that waking over a carpet of nails would be even greater. 8 months had passed – the first, approximately, three months being bearable, the rest were just a downward spiral from there. With constant visits to the emergency department, because Shawn wanted it for his own piece of mind just as much as you, and countless phone calls to your midwife, it left Shawn feeling absolutely useless over this period of time; even going as far as to say, ‘I wish we were seahorses, because then I’d be able to do it, and you could carry on living your best life’.

What else hurt at this moment in time, was how peacefully asleep Shawn was next to you. His wild hair a was contrast to the pleated white pillows, his light snores filling the sound of the room along with your groans and moans. More than anything, you wanted to wake him, share your pain and restlessness and you also know that Shawn would want that too. ‘Your pain is my pain’ he’d often told you, and you solemnly swore you’d always come to him with anything.

Deciding he’d had too much of a busy day to be woken at what was now 3:01am, you shuffled uncomfortably on your bum until your legs were hung over the edge of the bed, your body now upright and head floppy. “Baby M, you’ve tired me out before you’re even here”, you had to laugh again, hand still caressing your bulging bump. Baby M had become an ongoing nickname between you and Shawn, when you decided you weren’t going to find out the sex of the baby, you settled for Baby M, short for Mendes, and it stuck ever since.

You felt Shawn shift behind you, and your movements came to an immediate halt, determined not to wake him. Breathing a sigh of relief when you heard his faint snores again, you managed to stand yourself up from the bed, your ankle instantly feeling like a balloon that’s been blown up with too much air.

“Y/N?” Shawn’s voice was groggy, and you rolled your eyes at thinking you’d get away without waking him. No matter how many times you got up for a pee during the night, he’d always be awake with you. He did what he would normally do and click the bedside lamp on, knowing how clumsy you are, even before you were pregnant you’d usually send yourself flying over a slipper you’d left in the middle of the floor or the jumper you’d ripped off yourself because you over heated in bed.

“Sorry bub, I’m just going for a pee. My bladder is a trampoline, apparently” You declared, not exactly lying. You’d only been just over an hour ago, long gone were the days of you sleeping the whole night through without waking up once.

“Okay, well hurry, wnt-a-duddle” He mumbled, barely audible as he sunk his head back into the plush pillow. Luckily, you’d mastered Shawn’s sleepy lingo and just about made out “I want a cuddle”.

You did your business, with a struggle of course, before returning back to your sleepy boyfriend who was laid across the majority of the bed with open arms as a welcoming for your return. “I swear I’ve grown since I woke up like, an hour ago. I actually just had to use all my energy to push myself off the toilet” You groaned, switching the en-suite bathroom light off behind you. Shawn chuckled at your theory, throwing the covers back to leave an empty space on the bed for you to return to. “I’m seriously gonna squish you to death if I come over there and lay on you,” you raised your eyebrows, arms tucked over each other in front of your chest as you looked down at the bed.

“What a good way to go” he smiled, reaching over and tugging one of your arms from their stern position. Reluctantly and slowly, you crawled over the bed, resting as close to him as you could. Your head lowered down to rest on his chest, his arm wrapped firmly around you with his fingers drawing patterns on the bare skin of your shoulder.

A sudden shooting pain through your stomach caused you to flinch, groaning automatically for when felt like the 1035th time. “Remind me why I let you trick me into sleeping with you that night after the Grammy’s?” Shawn became immediately concerned at your uncomfort, attacking you with a million and one questions about the type of pains you were having and how long they’d been happening, because he’d been reading up about things like this as the due date got inevitably closer. It took a good 10 minutes for him to finally settle back down, with you reassuring him it was just because you fell asleep in a funny position and now baby was apparently awake, meaning he or she was attending a gymnastics lesson in your womb.

“And because I looked incredibly sexy and you kept telling me all night you couldn’t wait to get me home… hardly think it was a trick darling.” He smiled, answering your previous question before kissing your temple as his other hand came up to your bump, rubbing gently across the surface. “Is there anything I can do?” He began wriggling, doing some sort of weird manoeuvre to shuffle down the bed so his head became level with your stomach. You rearranged your positioning, so he was in between your legs, and not for the reason you’d normally think, arms propped up over your thighs. “Baby M, you need to stop bugging your mama” He tapped your belly delicately with his pointer finger, as if he was knocking on the door to your womb.

“Yeah, sure, that’s gonna work” You rolled your eyes, still however grateful for the gesture. “And in terms of anything you can do… can you produce ice cream from that incredible talented body of yours?”

He laughed, shaking his head and you stuck your bottom lip out. “I know it’s been a long…” looking at his watch for the reference of time, “8 hours since you last ate any, but I’d also like our baby to live of something other than dairy when he arrives.”

“Well, Einstein, when she arrives, she’s gonna be living off milk so that statement doesn’t really stand” You looked down at him as he peppered kisses across your stomach, fingers stroking the skin of your hips.

He rolled his eyes as he crawled up from his position, backing up until his legs fell off the foot of the bed and he could stand up straight. You watched as he slumped off to the bathroom, taking a little longer than what he normally would if he was going for a pee. He shortly returned, heading for the wardrobe where he pulled out a pair of sweats and his baggiest jumper. “What the hell are you doing?” You questioned, eyes furrowing at your apparently very awake boyfriend. Instead of an instant reply, he sauntered back over to your, leaning down and pressing a loving kiss to your lips, the taste of fresh toothpaste making your tongue tingle.

“Going to get you ice cream.”

#Shawn mendes #Shawn Mendes fic #Shawn mendes blurb #Shawn mendes imagine #dad!shawn #dad!shawnmendes #Shawn x reader #Shawn mendes fluff

[khoicesbyk]

Beloved.

A/N: I'm officially obsessed with Wolf Bride and what does one do when she's obsessed with a certain book? She writes an AU about it! 😁 So, Talley Ho! *in my Sherlock Holmes voice*

Rated: Mature. | Contains sexual content and strong language. (You know? The usual from me. 😁) | Bolded and/or italicized words are conversations and thoughts of the characters. | Main Characters: Roman (LI) and Naia Evans (MC) | All Characters and names: (except MC and certain original characters, created by me) are property of Pixelberry.

Current Word Count: 3,040 words. (more or less. I stop counting after editing and re-editing. 🤷🏾‍♀️)

Song And Story Inspiration: On My Mind/Burn/Love Me Like You Do-Ellie Goulding | | | | | |

Tag List: @choiceslady @shewillreadyou @bebepac @queenjilian @txemrn @pixie88 @lucy-268 @hopefulmoonobject @choicesficwriterscreations

This series is rated Mature. It is NOT reading material that is safe for those under 18. Reader discretion is STRONGLY advised!

This series may contain spoilers. If you wish not to see spoilers, please do not read any further.

(Also this series is a slight deviation of the original story. In the original story, the werewolf hunter is a woman. But in this series the hunter is a man.)

If you’d like to be added to my tag list. Just reblog or dm me and I will gladly add you! 😁😘

Missing a chapter or want to read a chapter again? I got you covered! Click ——> Here

Chapter 8.) Love Me Like You Do.

You're the light, you're the night. You're the color of my blood. You're the cure, you're the pain. You're the only thing I wanna touch. Never knew that it could mean so much, so much.

You're the fear, I don't care. 'Cause I've never been so high. Follow me through the dark. Let me take you past our satellites. You can see the world you brought to life, to life.

It had been a week since her first dream about Trent.

And Naia was sleeping in Roman’s arms, dreaming about Trent again. They were running through the woods together with reckless abandon. They were wolves. Bounding through the woods on all fours. And when Naia reached the edge of the woods she looked back to see if he was still behind her, but she saw nothing but darkness. She didn’t know where he was. She frantically looked around for him but he was gone. When she called out to him he never responded.

That’s when she woke up gasping for air and in a cold sweat. Something that hadn’t happened since coming to Hunt’s Peak. She had just sat up and was getting her head out of the fog it was in, when she felt Roman’s hand on her shoulder.

“Are you alright Beloved?” He asks.

“Huh? Yeah. I-I’m okay.” She replied trying to downplay how and what she was feeling.

“Your heart is racing. Are you sure that you’re okay?” He asked.

“Yes. It was just a nightmare. I promise I’ll be fine.” She replies.

Roman knew something was wrong but he decided not to press the issue.

“You should rest Beloved.”

“I will. No need to worry.”

She grabbed Gino from off the floor and snuggled him close as Roman’s arms wrapped around her.

“Not so tight!”

Roman raised his head.

“You’ll squish Gino.”

He groaned.

“I do not understand why you are so attached to that thing.”

“Well if you didn’t want me to have him…you shouldn’t have given him to me.”

She snickered as he rolled his eyes. She settled in his arms and was soon fast asleep.

So love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do.

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do.

Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do.

What are you waiting for?

The next morning Naia was with Layla helping her with laundry for the Pack.

“Thank you so much for the help. It would’ve taken me hours to get all this done.” Layla told her.

“No problem. I’m surprised that the Pack believes in washing machines.”

“You do NOT want to know how hard it was or how long it took me to convince them.”

The two shared a laugh as they folded blankets. When Naia reached for one another blanket, Layla cautioned her.

“You might want to be careful with that one.”

“Why?” Naia asks.

“Because that one is Roman’s.” Layla replies.

“Ohhhhhh.”

“Yeah. He rarely lets me wash it.”

“Why? It’s just a blanket.”

“It was his mother’s. It never leaves the den unless he allows it.”

“He told me about her. Sounds like he really loved her.”

“Yeah he did and still does. Roman is the quintessential mama’s boy.”

Naia laughed.  

“Just don’t tell him I said that.”

“Don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”

“Good. Because he’d be pretty pissed at me if he knew I said that about him.”

“Even if it’s true?” Naia asked.

“Especially because it’s true!” Layla replies.

The two shared another laugh.

“Tell me about his mother. All I know is that her name is Delia.”

Layla went quiet as she considered how to answer.

“Ms. Delia was a joy to be around. She was fair and stern and always loving. Even after she married and mated with Roman’s father, she continued on to be a school teacher. She cared for the Pack. Maybe even more than Xander ever did. She was as protective as she was funny. She’s one of the reasons why I’m loyal to them as well.”

“Did she welcome you?” Naia asks.

“Oh yeah. She welcomed anyone to the Pack. Even though some Pack members thought it was a mistake.” Layla replies.

“Why would they think that welcoming others is a mistake?” She asks.

“Because the Pack is an old guard. And many believe in its old and kinda outdated ways. Many of the werewolves, especially some of the elders only look at humans like us as a means to an end. But to some like Callum and Roman, humans are and always will be welcomed and loved. Just like Ms. Delia taught them.” Layla replies.

“How was she with Roman?” Naia asks.

“She loved Roman and his siblings. But, many whispered that she always favored him because he’s the oldest and her firstborn. She always knew how to tame her son. And when she died, it nearly killed him. He was closed off for a while. And as of late, he’s just been so absorbed in his role as Alpha.” Layla replied.

“I wish I had the chance to meet her.”

“She would’ve loved you.”

“You think so?” Naia asks.

“Yup. She was always a sweet woman. Even though she lived amongst the Pack.” Layla replies.

“What was his father like?” She asked.

“When you think of Xander, think of an older, stuffier and scarier version of Roman.” Layla replies.

“Yikes! Yikes! And triple yikes!”

“Yeah…compared to his father and especially how he ran the Pack, Roman is an angel.”

“Sheesh! I’m kinda sorry I asked. “

Once they were finished with the laundry, they stopped by the furniture store to pick up a few things for the den. Then went to the local boutique for themselves.

“I love this boutique so much. I just wish I could fit in the clothes.” Layla said in a wistful tone.

“I’m sure they’ve got something in here for you.”

“You see this?” Layla asks, pointing to her very pregnant belly. “Ain’t nothing in here fitting all of this.”

Naia rolled her eyes and chuckled.

“Buuuuuuut that doesn’t mean that we can’t find something for you.”

“You just want to live vicariously through me, don’t you?” Naia asked.

“Maaaaaaaybe.” Layla replied innocently.

“Uh huh…”

After picking out a few outfits that she really liked, Naia turned her attention to the lingerie in the boutique. Using Layla’s critical eye, she narrowed her choices down to two colors red and purple.

“Well you can’t go wrong with red. It’s a classic color for a reason. But then again I really like the purple one.”

Naia tried on both and showed Layla.

“Well damn Miss America! Who knew you could twirl like that?” She teased.

Naia rolled her eyes good naturedly.

“So…which one should I get?” Naia asked her.

“Split the difference and get both. Especially if you want to make Roman drool.” Layla replied.

“Oh no honey! Never buy lingerie for a man. Always do it for yourself. But you are right I think I’m gonna get both.”

“Of course I’m right! Now go pay for them so we can go get some food. We’re starving!”

After paying for her new clothes and getting food, Naia and Layla were back at the den rearranging and organizing the kitchen. With the Pack out on a hunt, Naia took the initiative to freshen the room she was given. She figured she’d deal with Roman and his opinion later. She had just finished redecorating the bedroom when he walked in.

“What did you do?” He asks.

“Made this more of a bedroom and less of a cold, sterile cave with a bed in it.” She replies.

He gives her a lopsided look.

“What? Gino likes it.”

“Gino can’t speak.”

“He still likes it.”

“Gino is a toy.”

“Well I say he likes it!” She huffed.

He shakes his head and smirks at her. She could feel his victory through their bond.

“How was the hunt?” She asked after clearing her throat.

“It was highly successful. How was your day in town?” He asks.

“Good. We got the laundry done and did a little shopping. Well I shopped, Layla watched.” She replies.

“What did you buy?” He asks.

“A little gift for myself.” She replies.

He raises an expectant eyebrow.

“If you must know, I bought lingerie.”

“Hmmmm I see.”

She watched Roman as he took a look at what she had done around the room. When his eyes fell on his mother’s blanket laying on the bed, his gaze softened. He sat down and held the blanket in his hands. She sat down next to him.

“Layla told me that it was your mother’s.”

“It was. She made it herself.”

“She was a quilter?” She asks.

“Yes. She was also a school teacher.” He replies.

“Layla told me that.”

“What else did Layla tell you?” He asks.

“That you really loved her and that you miss her.” She replies.

“She’s right. Mother was an angel. There isn’t a day where I don’t miss her.”

“I’m sure she’s proud of you Roman. Wherever she is.”

He smiled softly at her.

“Gino was right. What you’ve done is…nice.”

She chuckled softly before laying her head on his shoulder.

“If you don’t like it, I can always change it.”

“No. I want this to be as much of a home for you as possible. And if changing things around and adding things does that for you, I won’t protest.”

Fading in, fading out. On the edge of paradise. Every inch of your skin is a holy grail I've got to find. Only you can set my heart on fire, on fire. Yeah, I'll let you set the pace. 'Cause I'm not thinking straight. My head's spinning around I can't see clear no more. What are you waiting for?

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (like you do) Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do What are you waiting for?

She felt their bond swell as they sat together. She secretly loved seeing him be vulnerable with her. After a few moments, he put the blanket down.

“Will you come with me?” He asks her. “There’s something I want to show you.”

“Sure. Where are we going?” She replies.

“You’ll see.”

He led her along the north side of the woods towards a field.

“I don’t see anything.”

“Just watch Beloved.”

Beside her Roman had transformed into his wolf form. After hearing him let out a commanding and slightly startling howl, she watched as a pack of actual wolves came through the tall grass. She counted at least 7 adult wolves as Roman changed back into his human form.

As they approached she hid behind Roman.

“Yipe!”

“They won’t harm you Beloved.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not take the chance of finding out.”

She watched him as he knelt down to greet the Alpha of the pack. The wolves greeted him like they were greeting an old friend. Roman nodded to the alpha to meet Naia.

“I promise you, you’re safe Beloved. Come meet Kuvo.”

Naia knelt beside him and held out her palm for Kuvo to sniff. After sniffing her palm, Kuvo walked around sniffing the rest of her before headbutting her shoulder affectionately.

“Hi Kuvo.” She said as he nuzzled her. Kuvo looked to his pack then the adults took off. Leaving the pups behind.

“Where are they going?” She asks.

“To hunt.” He replies.

“So we’re babysitting?”

“Yes. I thought you’d like to see what Gino would look like if he was real.”

“Look at you. Jealous of a toy.”

He rolled his eyes as they walked to where the pups were playing. As they got closer the pups ran to Roman, nearly tackling him when he sat down.

“You’re covered in pups. You know that right?” She said as she snickered. She sat down close to him and one of the smaller pups ran up to her.

“Hi there little one! You are absolutely adorable.” She said as she nuzzled the pup in her arms. She rubbed behind the pup’s ears as she watched the other pups climb all over Roman.

“You look natural Beloved.”

She blushed.

“Thank you.”

He nodded to the pups and they went from climbing all over him to swarming Naia.

He watched as she giggled and pups yipped.

“Oh my God! I should’ve been born an octopus because I clearly don’t have enough arms!” She said as she giggled and tried to pet and pick up as many pups as she could. When she finally got up and tried to walk away, the pups followed behind her.

“I feel like a mother!” She giggled.  

“You look like one.”

Just then an adult wolf came out of the field. The pups ran straight to the wolf and led the wolf to them.

“Who’s that?” She asks.

“That’s their mother, Oma.” He replied.

He knelt in front of her then allowed her to nuzzle and lick him. When Oma turned to Naia, she was holding one of the pups. Oma cautiously walked towards Naia, who had her hand stretched out to her. Oma sniffed her hand then licked her palm. While the pup ran off to play with its siblings, Oma laid down next to Naia with her head in her lap.

“Hello Oma. Your pups are the cutest little things.” She said to Oma as they watched the pups play. She rubbed behind Oma’s ears Roman sat down on the other side of Oma.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.”

“Why did you bring me here?” She asks.

“Because I wanted you to see why I protect these lands. These wolves are some of the most endangered in the country. And not just from SEP  but poachers as well. It is my duty to protect them. And it’s getting increasingly difficult to do so.” He replies.

“Why is that?” She asks.

“Because if SEP gets their hands on this land, they’ll tear it all down to build mines. Which will drive Kuvo and his pack further away from here and right into the hands of poachers.” He replies. His tone hid a calm fury.

“They’d turn all of this into mines? What kind of mines?” She asks.

“Coal.” He replies.

Naia shuddered at his words.

“I hope you see why I must fight against these evils. I am Alpha. It is my job to protect and defend.”

“I do understand why you fight so hard.”

“I hope you will be at my side as I fight for this land.”

“As your mate you mean.”

Roman smirked.

“Yes. I would love for you to be my mate. But only if you want to be.”

Naia snuggled Oma as she considered his words. In the distance a howl was heard and returned by Oma and the pups.

“What’s going on?” She asks.

“It’s Kuvo. The hunt is over and was a success.” He replies as he looks out to the distance. Oma rises and goes with the pups to meet Kuvo and the other wolves. They watched as the wolves shared the kill.

“That’s a huge deer!” She exclaimed.

“Indeed. This is what it means to be an alpha. Kuvo excels at his duty as alpha.”

“So do you. Don’t ever forget that.”

Roman smiled softly at her. He noticed that she was shivering.

“Are you cold?” He asks.

“Just a little bit.” She whispered.

She felt his arms wrap around her. He was trying to use his body heat to keep her warm.

“Thank you Roman. I feel better.”

“Good. Now come. It’s getting late and you should rest.”

“But I’m not—“ she said before letting out a giant yawn.

“You were saying?” He teased.

She huffed then smirked.

“I do miss Gino. He’s probably lonely without me.”

“Yes…I’m sure that a toy is very lonely.”

She snickered as they began to walk back to the den. As she crawled into bed, she saw Roman getting ready to leave.

“You’re leaving?” She asked.

“Yes. Do not worry I will be back.” He told her.

She felt her heart start to ache. She didn’t want to be away from him.

“Don’t go.”

“I must Beloved.”

“Stay with me.”

He sat across from her as she clung to Gino.

“Beloved…”

“Roman please…”

He could feel her yearning for him. To soothe her ache, he kissed her. She needed him. She was desperate for him. Her body wanted him. As the kiss deepened, she pulled him on top of her. Their limbs tangled with each other as the kiss intensified.

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (like you do) Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (yeah) Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do What are you waiting for?

I'll let you set the pace. 'Cause I'm not thinking straight. My head's spinning around I can't see clear no more. What are you waiting for?

Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (like you do). Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (yeah). Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do. What are you waiting for? Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (like you do). Love me like you do, lo-lo-love me like you do (oh). Touch me like you do, to-to-touch me like you do What are you waiting for?

Roman had to force himself to stop kissing her.

“As much as I hate to stop, I must.”

“Okay…” she pouted.

“Get some rest Beloved. I will see you when you wake up.”

With a kiss to her forehead, Roman left and Naia was soon fast asleep.

She was soon dreaming again. She was dreaming about Trent again. She was dreaming about being in his arms. And being with him. She felt her heart tell her that Trent is her mate, the same way Roman is her mate. And when she woke up, she needed to know why. So she made it her mission to figure out what was going on with her heart.

#choices #pixelberry #choices stories you play #khoicesbyk #choices fanfiction #fanfic #wolf bride #alpha wolf

[moonah-rose]

Consequences

Follow-up to What She Needs, because who doesn’t love make-up fluff.

*

She wakes to the sound of eggs sizzling on a frying pan, the greasy smell of bacon wafting over her. Her stomach rumbles but she’s not ready to get up just yet, snuggled into the sofa beneath the shirt that’s been laid over her.

It’s not a bad position to wake up in but it leaves her a little disoriented.

What time is it? If she’s on the couch then it must be the afternoon but...they wouldn’t be having fried eggs and bacon this late - not that either of them gave a fork about eating routines, it just wasn’t usual. She doesn’t recall practicing walking or swimming earlier, her hair isn’t damp, her calf muscles aren’t cramping...

Ten seconds is all it takes for the time to rearrange itself properly in her head, for the barrage of memories to slot in place like a magical jigsaw and recall why she’s waking up alone, on the sofa, in the morning. And why she shouldn’t be calling the nearby chef over for a good morning kiss. He doesn’t deserve one...not yet. So she stays quiet, pretending to stir and mumble to show she’s awake, but keeping her eyes and mouth shut.

At least he left a nice, warm indent for her to lay in for as long as she wants to stay there and let him wait on her.

She barely remembers the nightmare that forced her to seek out Michael’s comfort, it’s been dissolved by the peaceful sleep and sanctuary she slept through until a minute ago. When her mind attempts to recall it, against her will, all she catches are the worst sensations of fear and loneliness, absence of all hope, her skin crawling as if covered in dung beetles. Again. Eleanor inhales, letting the scents and sounds of the beach house return her to the present.

Michael places her mug on the coffee table. Fork, she’s gonna have to give in and sit up now. She’s prepared to wait until she hears him move back to the kitchen. Then his fingers stroke some of her hair from her face, then brush against her cheek. Forking...

“Y’know I could bite your hand right now.” She murmurs, eyes still closed.

“It’d be worth it.” Michael tells her, softly; “Plus Janet would just grow it back.”

“Ugh, gross.” Eleanor wrinkles her nose; “You’re like a lizard.”

“Oh so it’s fine when you call me a...” She opens her eyes in time to see him bite his tongue as he kneels beside the couch; “Never mind.”

Indeed. She’s glad to see he’s smart enough not to dig his hole even deeper than it already is.

He gives her a humble smile; “How you feeling?”

“Still annoyed with you. I’ll update you when that changes, bud.” Eleanor pushes herself up and yawns.

“I figured that. I meant after...Last night...”

Oh.

“You can just say ‘nightmares’, man, it’s not a forbidden word.” She accepts the coffee when he passes it to her; “And I’m okay...Don’t even remember it. Just is what it is.” And it sucks; “It’s not like you can take them away or anything.”

“I could. I mean...” he takes a breath, “I could always...take the memories away...It’s crossed my mind more than once.”

She takes a sip of her drink, studying the conflict on his face.

“...Could you do it without erasing our time together?”

Michael shakes his head.

She shrugs; “Then it’s not an option, dummy.” Her eyes harden when he dares to look touched by that; “And don’t assume that means I like you again!”

They don’t say another word to each other until she’s nearly finished her breakfast, sat the kitchen island, stomach ravenous after eating nothing but Janet-delivered snacks with her drink instead of dinner the previous night. Michael sits opposite, slowly making his way through his hash browns, eyes cast downwards, almost unnaturally quiet.

He nudges a couple of baked beans with his knife, looking pensive. He takes a deep breath.

“I’m sorry.”

Eleanor glances up, still chewing her eggs. Wow, was that really so hard? To be fair, she’s hardly one to talk. It was hardly a word she was used to saying in life, unless it was something along the lines of ‘Oh I’m sorry you can’t handle how hot I am’ or ‘Sorry...not sorry, psyche!’. 

Michael puts down his knife; “I don’t think of you...Of any of you guys as cockroaches, not really. Humans have always astounded me with how...resilient you guys are. You’re like rubber, everything that hits you just bounces off...I’m sure there’s some kinda great intellectual saying with that analogy...” He waves his hands; “Anyway...Truth is, I’m never been good with handling anyone being better than me...It took me two hundred years of being an apprentice until I got my own neighbourhood. Do you know that’s the longest any demon was in training for? Most fly solo after the first fifty years or so! And even before that, no matter how good I thought I was at torturing, there was always another demon wo was better and getting more praise...I was never strong enough to compete so I would take it out on...” His jaw clenches with shame.

Eleanor swallows the last of her food. She keeps watching, not saying a word, letting him get out everything he’s been clearly rehearsing in his head as he cooked.

“Having someone be better at my old job was one thing...But when there’s someone better at being what I truly have always wanted to be...and never will. Someone who also gets to spend more time with the woman I love...Who knows how to be a better...person,” Michael reaches to sip his own coffee; “The truth is...I’m the one who feels like an insect between the two of you. I feel...scared...” he clears his throat; “Scared that I’ll always fall short of the rest of you...I don’t have anything that compares to your strength or Chidi’s wisdom. Fork, I don’t have Tahani’s confidence...even Jason seems to understand some lessons more than me, with those inane stories he tells which always seem to somehow be on point!”

It’s true, every nonsensical ramble about the DJ’s life seemed to neatly tie in to some ethical thought experiment. He had a talent for it. That and firing spit balls around the chalkboard. 

Michael manages a smile, his cheeks turning pink to match his shirt; “You’re not small and gross to me. You’re...magnificent. And gigantic. Like...mammoths.”

Eleanor snorts.

“That the best you can do?”

“Oh c’mon!” Michael scoffs; “Mammoths are awesome! They....Oh, I forgot, you haven’t seen one. Would you like to? I can get Janet to-.”

“No, no....Well, maybe later, I’m sure Jason would love to ride one, but...” She sighs and slides off her stall.

It’s impossible for her to resist those puppy dog eyes anymore. She moves around the island and shifts her butt onto his lap, throwing her arms around his neck. He blinks, stunned, as she moves in close. One of her hands unhooks to run her fingers across his soft, white hair, smiling as her nose touches his. Michael dares to put his hands on her middle, holding her tight and secure.

She presses her lips to his, lightly at first, before cupping his jaw and moving her tongue to massage her demon boyfriend’s, sharing the taste of bacon between them. It’s been over a week since they’ve had a chance to hold each other and kiss, properly, like this. Having to hold off on the good stuff out of keeping to her newfound principles and to teach him a lesson was not easy. 

But totally worth it.

Eleanor hums as she pulls back, holding onto his shoulders; “Apology accepted. And as for that whole, ‘having nothing that compares to us’ schtick...You know that’s bullshirt, right?” 

Michael looks puzzled. What a dingus. Eleanor touches his face, thumb stroking across his cheekbone. 

“You care, dude. That’s your virtue. It’s why I’m so in love with you, even when you drive me crazy. None of us taught you that...It was right there, locked away inside of you, but you brought it out and you cared for me when I needed to....And you kept on doing it, even when you could’ve stopped...You tried to sacrifice yourself to save me and my friends....You keep putting your neck on the line for us...Don’t ever think that’s worthless, okay? We’re all super grateful to have the most caring, if a little immature and arrogant, demon on our team.”

There’s a wetness growing on his blue eyes, making them shine behind his glasses. She should really add ‘sappy’ to that list. Eleanor kisses his cheek as one tear leaks.

“Maybe that’s why you sucked at torturing. You only went so far to prove your worth. Your heart was never really in it?” She wonders.

He shrugs; “Possibly...Mostly because I don’t have a heart.”

She slaps his chest, lightly; “Y’know what I mean. Do I have to make you one like you’re the forking Tin Man just so you get the point?”

“...Yeah, okay.” He seems excited to have another trinket for his collection.

“Well, I ain’t crafting shirt that’s more complex than another paperclip bracelet, so ask Janet for one.” Eleanor smiles, leaning in to hug him tight around the neck. He squeezes her back, no doubt feeling the same relief as she had, to be back in each others arms without a worry for the weekend.

He hesitates before asking the next question.

“Am I allowed back in the bed tonight?” He says, sheepishly.

“Well....I suppose it will save me the walk if I have another bad dream.” She slips off of his lap; “...Only on one condition of course. You apologise to Chidi.”

His face falls, like a little kid who just had his candy snatched away.

“What, today? He’s not even here! How am I gonna...Can’t I just repeat what I said to you to him?”

“No, that’s cheating.” Her voice turns stern, ‘tutor’ mode activated; “You gotta think of a way to say sorry to him in a way he’d appreciate.”

Michael sighs and taps his fingers on the surface.

“I...I suppose I could...write him an essay on Consequentialism, drawling parallels it to this whole situation?” He suggests, looking to her for the go ahead.

“That’s....actually brilliant. He’d love that! Go for it.” Why are the two men she’s closest to in this afterlife the biggest dorks?

And, worse, she’s pretty much one herself now.

Michael grins, perking up from her approval; “Oh, great! I’ll get right on it and...Then what, do you want me to go back and read it to him?”

“No, just say it to Janet and she can repeat it to him back at my house.” Eleanor waves off; “...But you gotta have her disguise herself as Chidi while you’re reading it, so it feels like you’re saying it to him.”

“That’s gonna be disturbing as well as awkward.” He shifts, frowning.

Eleanor kisses his head before whispering; “That’s consequences, baby. Now get to writing. I’mma gonna go ask speedboating with Janet on those waves until you’re done. Then we can have the couples getaway this is supposed to be.”

As he gets up to put the dishes in the sink, she makes sure to give his butt a good slap, just to add in that incentive. She adores the startled, giddy look on his face that it always leaves him with. Damn it’s tough to stay mad at someone so cute.

After changing out of her PJs and into her bathing suit, sunglasses resting on her head, she goes to head out the patio doors.

“Hey, babe...” Michael stops her, having finished washing up. She turns to see his smile; “...Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me yet. Chidi’s gotta accept your apology so don’t half-ash it.”

“I wasn’t just saying thanks for that...” He stares at her, adoringly; “....I mean for everything, Eleanor. Thank you.”

She tilts her head to the side. Then a smile.

A quick skip towards him, leaning up on her toes, hands on his shoulders to reach that mouth of his again. Fork, it’s more effort to reach him when he’s upright. She gives him another kiss, a little motivation, something to remind him of what he misses out on when acting like a deck.

“You’re very welcome...Now make your hot girlfriend proud by doing your homework.” She smirks, one hand stroking down his chest; “Then come fork me into the sand, ‘cause I’m horny as Here - and if you don’t, I’m gonna get Janet to make me a clone of Jason Statham to spend this weekend with.”

If that doesn’t force the dumb demon to get his ash into gear then nothing will.

#idk if this turned out like i intended this morning #kinda forgot throughout work #but wanted to finish it #hellstrop fanfic #established relationship #npl au #fluff

[hazelrainartappreciation]

Memories-Fragment 1

~A new writing series I’m starting; a collection of short drabbles and ficlets based on my headcanons for Hazel and Gretchen. Today’s installment is a short story based on how, drawing from the original fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, their father is a woodcutter (here he works for a lumber company) and how Hazel tries to get a job there too to help his family..

--Hugo didn't bother looking up when he heard the soft knock at his office door, being too focused on his mountain of paperwork and fighting off the remains of a hangover from the night before. Instead he called a short, “Yeah? Come in.”

The door swung open, and it was only when he could sense the figure standing silently for some time he sighed and looked up. His eyebrow raised at the tall, deep brown-haired young man in his office, hands clasped behind his back, looking awkwardly at a withering plant sitting on a cabinet as he awaited acknowledgment.

“Hazel? Did your dad send you for something?” asked Hugo.

The teen turned his attention to him, “No, I came here on my own. I have a question, actually...”

Hugo leaned back in his chair and gestured for Hazel to sit, which he accepted then cleared his throat, “Gretchen and I have been helping here for a long time. We know the job well, and I feel it's time I joined as an official employee. If there's a position open, I'll take it.”

He felt his eye twitch, and it took several moments for Hugo to digest and think of an appropriate response to this. He wasn't sure what his expression revealed, but Hazel stared back at him with an unnerving amount of calm confidence in his green-flecked eyes for someone so young. At length he leaned forward and folded his hands on the desk, lips pursed into a thin line.

“Does your dad know you were planning this?”

“I was going to tell him after.”

“Remind me how old you are.”

“I'm fourteen.”

“I should think that would end this conversation.”

“You've never had an issue with us lending a hand before.”Hazel replied coolly.

“Kid...listen...” Hugo removed his glasses and pinched his brow-ridge, squeezing his eyes shut, “Your dad just kinda dragged you two along one day and well, it's hard to say no to Barrett Rainart when he's insistent. I never made a fuss after we had a chat and I made it clear if anything happened to you two, it was his choice to bring you along and my hands were clean of it. But now,” he glanced back up, “Now you're telling me you want to be an official employee. That's a whole different ballgame. There's rules, and accountability. Logging is a dangerous job, and that's not counting the goddamn Grimm. I cannot hire a fourteen year old, even if you have probably more hours under your belt than some of my guys.”

Hazel clenched his jaw, having had a feeling something like this would happen. His hands balled into fists in his lap before he relaxed them and took a slow, deep breath.

All he wanted was to help the family. Money had been tight, especially after their father had been injured and was at first out of work, then was forced to work reduced shifts. A lot of days they had very little to eat. Gretchen, in her unwavering optimism and tenacity, had taken to gathering as many wild fruits and plants as she could and selling the extras in the nearby town, even teaching herself to make baskets to accompany them and sell separately. She never made much, but oftentimes it was the difference between going to bed hungry or having at least some food in them.

Hazel, having no artistic or creative talents, had tried to gain employment at a bunch of places in town, however he found himself facing the same issue as here; no one wanted to hire someone so young, even if he was already as tall as some adults. In desperation, he opted to try and follow in his father's footsteps, having learned a great deal from the times they had accompanied him over the years. It had been a two-fold plan on Barrett's part; the kids wouldn't be alone all day, and could learn a good work ethic as well as be, essentially, his assistants. It had worked, and the twins had become unofficially 'adopted' by the rest of the employees...including the foreman seated across from him now.

As his thoughts wandered, Hazel had been staring at his lap, but now he looked back up with that stoic determination that ran in his family, “What would I have to do to prove I'm strong enough to do this?”

“Look, it's not a matter of strength, well I mean, yeah okay some of it is-for the brother's sake you're fourteen you're just starting to grow some facial hair!-it's also a lot of red tape nonsense that I'm gonna be honest, I don't feel like dealing with, not to mention I can't in good conscious . So Hazel, I'm sorry, you're a great kid, really you are but I just...I can't.”

Swallowing hard and fighting back the tears of frustration, Hazel slowly repeated, “What must I do?”

Mumbling and swearing under his breath, Hugo rubbed his face and grabbed a bottle of water and a couple stomach-soothing pills, downing them before resting his elbows on his huge desk...and an idea formed. It was stupid, but maybe...

Sitting back up, Hugo smiled slyly, lacing his fingers together and calmly resting his chin on them, “Alright. You want in that bad? I've got a little test for you. See this desk? This thing is solid oak. Whenever I need to rearrange this office it takes two grown men to move it, but, if you can do it yourself, I'll hire you.”

“Do I have your word?” asked Hazel.

Hugo nodded, “Aye kid, you do,” he stood and moved a bunch of items off the top, “Now come on, let's see if you're strong enough.”

Standing himself, Hazel stretched his arms, then his back and rolled his shoulders before moving to grasp the edges of the desk. Hugo stood a short distance away, trying to hide his smug grin; there was no way in hell he'd be able to move it. Bracing and locking his legs, Hazel took several slow breaths then tightened his grip, digging his feet into the floor for leverage as he tried to hoist the furniture piece. For a few moments nothing happened, and Hugo was about to tell him that was that-

And then to his astonishment and dismay, the legs nearest Hazel lifted off the floor, not by much, but enough he was able to pivot the desk around several inches, where he let it fall back to the floor with a deep thud. The teen gave another quick stretch, then turned to face Hugo, one eyebrow raising in expectancy.

“What? You only moved it a little. I meant if you could actually change it's location.” grumbled Hugo, planting his hands on his hips.

“If I remember correctly,” retorted Hazel as he crossed his arms, “All you said was if I moved it, not how far I could. You did give your word.”

At length, lips pursed before shaking his head and walking to his desk's new spot, Hugo slapped the papers he had been holding upon it. Pulling his chair around, he sat and pulled an employment form from a drawer, sliding it and a pen across the surface toward Hazel.

“Your dad is gonna wring my neck...”

Hazel locked the front door behind him as he arrived home later that evening, his copy of the employment agreement in hand. The first thing he saw was Gretchen at the kitchen table with a small pile of reeds and other supplies in front of her as she worked on another basket. Looking up she grinned, though he could see the tiredness in her face.

“Hey you. Was wondering when you'd get back,” her eyes caught the paper, “What's that?”

Hazel carefully unfolded it to show her, “My employment contract.”

“Who the heck hired you?!”

“Father's company.”

Gretchen gaped at him, then clenched the fibers in her hands a little tighter, “He...you did talk to him about it right?”

“About what?” came a deep voice from their living room.

The twins locked eyes, both knowing how this was going to go and having a brief, silent conversation as they often did, their expressions and gestures saying all that was needed; Gretchen's brows knitted as her eyes flicked from the living room back to her brother, 'He's going to be angry.' Hazel's gaze dropped to the floor, his shoulders sagging, 'I know,' then he gave her a soft, brave smile, 'I'll be okay'. She rested one hand over her heart briefly, then stood and gave him a nod and touched her lips before climbing the ladder to their loft bedroom, 'I love you, good luck, we'll talk later'.

Hazel covered his heart for a moment as well, watching her vanish into the dark of the loft. Hearing their father clear his throat and ask for him to come in, he drew a breath and entered, still holding the paperwork. His father sat in his large armchair, a glass of amber-colored liquid in one hand and a book in the the other, the latter of which he set down to turn his attention to his son, expression coldly stern.

“Now. What's going on?”

#rwby #rwby hazel #fanfiction #rwby headcanon #rwby gretchen #*there's more to you [Hazel] #*i miss you [gretchen]

[watchmegetobsessed]

Different - Adam Sackler (pt. 2)

given the fact how fast im writing this story, i thought i wouldn’t waste time and just bring you the second part as soon as possible!

series summary: Hannah lets you move in with her and Adam as you are her second cousin and in need of a place to live. Your relationship with Adam starts rocky, but things soon seem to be taking a turn.

pairing: Adam Sackler x Reader

word count: 5.4k

PART 1

masterlist

Standing on the pavement you wave as you watch Hannah leave with her parents in the car for her big adventure in Iowa. Life is going to be so much different without her in the apartment, but you’re happy she is taking a step forward in her life.

It’s been three weeks since that night when she and Adam had that big fight and you fell asleep with him on the couch. Neither of you spoke about it, pretending like it never happened. As far as you know, you are the only one who knew about it given the fact that Adam was asleep. Or so you thought.

Things just fell back into normal after that, Hannah and Adam made up the next day, they had an argument about something else a few days later, and balance has been brought to the universe. Then came the big news that she got accepted to grad school and you could almost cut the tension in the apartment, even though they weren’t arguing anymore. There wasn’t any shouting, accusations, fighting, just silent nerves eating both of them up, but neither of them wanted to admit it. They didn’t talk about it.

When the car disappears from your sight you go back up, finding Adam sitting on the couch with a glass of milk in his hands.

“Oh, you’re up,” you say. You thought he was still asleep since he didn’t come down to say goodbye to Hannah.

“Yeah, just woke up. Hannah’s gone?”

“She just left,” you nod heading for the fridge and grabbing a bottled water from it.

You watch him from behind, he just sits there, staring out the window and you wish you could hear his thoughts. Hannah has told you about her concerns regarding her leaving and how it’ll sit with Adam, though he has told her several times that everything is going to be okay, you just feel like there’s been a lot he hasn’t told her about.

“I’m gonna go for a run,” he announces standing up and then he disappears in their… his room, walking out a few minutes later in his running shorts and nothing else. Without a word he just leaves the apartment and you stand there in the kitchen, feeling uncertain how this situation will turn out to be.

The first week following Hannah’s departure is rather weird. Mostly because it’s unusual to be at home with only Adam around. Out of the three of you Hannah was definitely the most bubbly and vibrant person, she talks way more than you or Adam, so silence became the third person in the apartment once she left.

You don’t see Adam too much, he has a lot of work with his show and the castings he has been going to, he usually gets home pretty late and is still asleep when you leave for work, leaving very little time for the two of you to actually meet.

But when you do, it’s weird. He constantly seems uninterested in everything, stays in his own little world, seemingly shutting everything and everyone out. At first you feel like it’s because of Hannah, you tell yourself that he just needs time to adjust to this whole new situation. But as time goes by you start to feel like it’s actually you. That he is avoiding you and trying to shut you out, but you have no idea why and it’s starting to really bug you, because you are almost entirely sure you didn’t do anything to have him act like this towards you.

One Monday evening it’s a lucky time, you both are at home, Adam is in his room with the door closed and you hear him shuffling around, like he is rearranging the room or something. You hesitate for a while whether you should try to talk to him or just let him distance himself in peace. Your curiosity is too strong to just let it be, so walking up to his room you knock on the door firmly.

“Yes?” he calls out and opening the door you peek inside before walking in.

“Hey,” you greet him with a faint smile. The room is kind of a mess, it seems like he is rearranging his dresser, all of his clothes sitting on the floor, two of the drawers are on the bed, each of them half full. “What are you doing?”

“Just moving some of Hannah’s shit so I have more space.”

“Oh,” you nod taking another look around. “I was thinking about ordering food, do you want to join?”

Exhaling sharply he puts his hands on his hips as he looks at you from across the room.

“No thanks,” he shakes his head and you lick your lips in defeat as you slowly nod. As you are about to walk out you decide that you’re not missing the chance to actually ask him about his behavior so you stop with the doorknob in your hand as you turn back to him.

“Adam, did I do something that upset you?”

“Huh?” he tilts his head.

“I just feel like you’ve been kind cold with me lately, and I was wondering if I did something that made you so… distant.”

He stares at you for a few moments before licking his lips and turning away, as if he doesn’t know what to say and you just stand there, waiting for him to tell you anything.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” he then finally speaks up, but you are almost entirely sure he is not telling the truth. Staring at him you give him a few more seconds to change his mind and tell you the real reason, but he doesn’t. He just looks right back at you, and the feeling that you are unwanted here just grows with each passing moment.

“Alright then,” you shortly say before finally walking out and shutting the door closed.

You don’t order anything, your appetite is gone the moment you get to your own room and tears start dwelling in the corner of your eyes.

 “I just honestly don’t understand what his problem is all of a sudden, everything seemed cool before, I don’t know what changed,” you sigh when two days later you are sitting in a bar with Ella. She is visiting family in the city and the two of you wanted to have a long night of just chatting and catching up on each other’s life. You just told her about the whole Adam story, except that small little detail that you woke up cuddled up to his side that evening you two watched a movie together. She doesn’t have to know about that.

“You said it yourself before, the guy is a weirdo, why are you surprised that he is acting weird?” she asks, stirring the straw around in her drink.

“Because he hasn’t been that weird lately.”

“The guy just had to go into a long distance relationship, I’m sure it’s hard on him.”

“Yeah, but I feel like it’s against me and has nothing to do with Hannah. I mean, as far as I know, distance has been nice for them, haven’t heard them argue on the phone since she left and it’s a personal record for them.”

“Because people in long distance relationships don’t like to waste their time on useless stuff like fighting on the phone. They value the time they get to spend together even if it’s not in person.”

“But still, it just feels… It doesn’t feel right, that’s it.”

“I’ll tell you what you need to do,” she snorts and you eye her curiously, wanting to hear her way of solving the problem. “Let’s get two more tequilas and get shit faced so you forget about his weird ass.”

You just roll your eyes at her, but don’t say no when she orders two more rounds. You feel like you could definitely use just one night when you don’t think about Adam. He has been constantly occupying your thoughts on a daily basis and it’s pretty tiring, to say the least.

It’s been so long since the last time you and Ella had a great night out together, so you might go a little overboard with the drinks. An hour later you definitely feel drunk, head dizzy, words blur together in your mouth. Ella had the same amount, but she always took it better so she is enjoying the show you are putting up.

The two of you move over to the dance floor, just casually enjoying yourselves, some guy buys a drink for Ella and she shares it with you, though you probably should have said no to it. But you are no longer in the right state of mind to decide what to do.

Nearing midnight you really reach the point where you lose control over yourself. Ella drags you back to the table, sitting you down and gets you some water that you start sipping on, but you are not really present anymore in your mind.

“Shit, Y/N, how am I gonna bring you home?” she panics, the situation sobering her up pretty fast as you just sit there, eyelids threatening to close shortly as you lose focus with your eyes. You don’t just see double, everything is one big mass.

You mumble something back, but she can’t understand it and she realizes she doesn’t even know where you live. She tries to come up with a plan, but she has to realize she is not enough on her own to get you home. Fishing your phone out of your purse she grabs your thumb and opens it with your fingertip and goes straight to your contacts, looking for one particular name, hoping you have the number.

“Bingo,” she sighs in relief finding the contact name Adam S. and she doesn’t hesitate before dialing the number.

It takes a few rings until he finally answers.

“Y/N?”

“Hey, this is Ella, Y/N’s friend. I have a little situation here.”

“Okay?”

“Y/N is pretty wasted and I need help to take her home, since, um, I don’t even know where her home is.”

The line is silent for a few seconds before Adam speaks up in a stern voice.

“How bad is she?”

Turning to you Ella checks in on you, lifting your head up, but your eyes are closed and you just slur something under your breath.

“Pretty bad. I don’t think she can even stand up.”

“Shit. Alright, text me the address, I’m leaving now.”

Adam quickly gets dressed and leaves to the address Ella texts her from your phone. While waiting for him to arrive she tries her best to keep you in one piece, but it’s harder than she thought. Apparently, a completely drunk girl is just what also drunk guys want, so Ella has to face quite a few men who tries to hit on the two of you. She is outraged that people want to take advantage of someone who is truly not able to make decisions for herself.

When Adam finally arrives Ella is shouting at some random dude, who has tried to drag you away from her, but all you could do is giggle and you almost fell from the chair.

“Hey, ass rat. Why don’t you get the fuck out of here?” Adam snaps pulling the guy back who at first seems mad that someone dared to call him out, but seeing how much bigger Adam was than him, he realizes it’s better to just disappear.

“Thank God! They are like disgusting vultures!” Ella whines as Adam squats down next to you, taking a good look at you.

“Hey Kid, how are you feeling?” he asks tilting his head to the side.

You frown, turning your head in his direction and it takes some time for you to recognize him, but when you do, your whole face lights up.

“Adam! What’re ya doin’ here?” you gasp throwing your arms around his neck and hugging him, that definitely surprises him.

“Oh, okay. Hey, why don’t we get going? You’ll feel so much better at home.”

He talks smoothly, like he is talking to a little child and in some sense you are one at the moment. Curling an arm behind you and holding your hand with the other he slowly stands you up and starts walking you towards the exit as Ella follows the two of you right behind, carrying your purse.

He goes up to a cab waiting near the bar and gently, carefully sits you inside, shutting the door on you.

“Thanks, I’ll take care of her. You good on your own?” he asks taking your purse from Ella.

“Yeah, I’ll just get a cab for myself too. Thanks for helping.”

Ella takes one last look at you, sitting inside the car, already kind of dozed out before she parts ways. Adam gets into the car and tells the driver the address. As the car starts moving you immediately lean onto him, nuzzling your head into his shoulder and he freezes for a second.

“You’re comfy,” you mumble under your breath, making yourself comfortable on him. He hesitates, doesn’t know what to do, but then just puts his arm around you and keeps you at his side, gently rubbing your arm on the way home.

He can barely drag you up to the apartment once you arrive, you keep talking nonsense as you basically hang on him.

“Okay, just a few more steps,” he sighs, opening the door to your room and the two of you finally make it to your bed. You immediately collapse onto it, letting out a satisfied moan that has Adam gulping hard.

Your dress has ridden up on your thighs, revealing way more than what he has seen of you before, and your cleavage is also pretty gifting to his eyes at the moment.

“Mm, Adam?”

“Yes?” he asks as he tries his best to control his thoughts as he is taking your boots off.

“Why do you hate me?” you sigh, eyes closed, arms spread out to the sides.

He freezes, one hand wrapped around your ankle, the other one holding your boot.

“I… I don’t hate you, Y/N.” “Yes you do,” you mumble nodding.

“I definitely don’t.  Why do you think I hate you?” He finally finishes with your boots and you reach for the bottom of your dress and start pulling it up. “Oh, maybe that can stay,” he quickly grabs your hands stopping you.

“I can’t sleep in this,” you whine, moving around and trying to free your hand from his hold. “Adam!”

“Jesus, okay! Can you change without help?” he asks finally letting you go.

“Mm,” you hum to yourself pushing yourself up. Stepping to your dresser he grabs a shirt and shorts he has seen you wear at home before and lays them to the edge of the bed before turning around to give you privacy.

He hears you shuffling around as he stands there, arms crossed on his chest, aimlessly looking around when he realizes he can see your reflection in the small mirror set on your dresser. His lips part seeing you in only your bra and lacy thong, throwing your dress to the side before reaching for the clothes he gave you.

He tells himself to just look away, but he can’t. His eyes just wouldn’t obey as he watches your body, how your breasts curve in your bra, the way your collarbones run along your shoulders, and the dip of your back that curves into your ass. Adam takes a deep breath when he feels himself hardening and quickly takes a small step to the side so you fall out of his sight finally.

“I’m done!” you announce and when he turns around you are lying on bed finally clothed.

“Do you feel like throwing up?” he asks sitting to the edge of the bed as you get under your covers, making yourself comfortable.

“Nah,” you sighs shaking your head with a grimace.

“Okay, then tell me why you think I hate you,” Adam says getting back to the original topic.

“Because… You’re weird.”

“I’m always weird.”

“But… You’re weird…er. To me. You ignore me. I don’t like that.”

“I’m not ignoring you, I just fetched you up from a bar. If I was ignoring you, I would have let you do whatever you want.”

“But you didn’t,” you sigh closing your eyes and Adam is afraid you’re gonna fall asleep so he selfishly shakes your leg to wake you up. “Stop!” you growl.

“I don’t hate you, Y/N. I’m just…”

He doesn’t even know why he is talking to you about it right now, when you are not clear. This is definitely not how he wanted to talk to you, to be exact, he didn’t think he would ever talk to you about it, because his thoughts have been killing him and he was just hoping it would all go away, but it didn’t.

“Do you hate me?” he finds himself asking.

“No. I think you are… great. I like you,” you smile to yourself, letting your head sink into the pillow again. “You are my favorite person here.”

“I am?” he asks surprised.

“Yeah. I don’t know many people though,” you chuckle to yourself turning to your side. “But you’re cool.”

Adam sits there in silence, taking your words in and he feels an odd warmness in his chest. Glancing over at you he watches your face relax and he thinks you have fallen asleep already. He thinks you’re cool too, he just doesn’t know if it would be appropriate to tell you.

Taking one last look at you he decides it’s time to let you sleep this all off. Standing up he is about to head out when you stop him.

“Adam?”

Turning back he sees that your eyes are barely open, but they are focused on him.

“Yes?”

“Can you stay?”

“Stay?”

You just nod your head flipping the covers as you scoot over to make him space. He just stands there, torn over what he should do. Every little bit of him wants to get into bed with you, but he still has that small little voice in the back of his mind that’s warning him that he is crossing a line.

“Please,” you pout your lips at him and it’s the last straw for him.

Sighing he kicks his shoes off and he crawls into bed next to you. The moment he pulls the covers over him you immediately cuddle to his side, making yourself comfortable pressed up against him. He has to take a few deep breaths before he can relax, putting an arm around your shoulders.

He just lies there, listening to your even breathing while staring up at the ceiling.

He’s been trying to behave for so long, but his feelings towards you are getting out of control and he feels like he doesn’t want to control them anymore. He is definitely losing his mind and it’s all because of you.

 Your head feels like it’s getting hammered by trolls. You haven’t even opened your eyes but you already grimace at how hangover you’re feeling. You really shouldn’t have drunk so much, you’re gonna kill Ella for this the next time you see her.

“Fuck,” you groan rolling to your back and just as you realize how oddly shaped your pillow is under your head, it starts speaking.

“You good?”

Your eyes pop open and you see that Adam is lying next to you, an arm under your head, his hair messily covering his forehead.

“I… My head hurts,” you mumble, totally confused about what he is doing here, in your bed.

“I’ll get you something for that,” he sighs pushing himself up and scratching the back of his neck he walks out of the room and you hear him shuffle around outside. You quickly check if you have clothes on and you luckily do, though your dress you had on last night is gone and you don’t remember getting changed. To be exact, you don’t really remember anything after the third round of tequila. It all melts into a mass in your head, maybe you were dancing, you remember a guy came up to you, but have no idea what happened with him. Then Adam bringing you up to the apartment and that’s the end for you. Panic starts to set in when he appears with a glass of water and two Advils in his hand.

“Here,” he softly says as you take everything from him and chug the pills down with the water.

“Thanks,” you say, voice sounding throaty. “I, uhh—I’m gonna take a shower,” you quietly mumble slowly crawling out of bed. You just need some time to figure out what had happened last night that ended with Adam sleeping in your bed and you just can’t think when he is standing right in front of you.

The hot water feels like heaven on your skin and you take your time standing under the shower, trying to recall as much from last night as possible. It’s like trying to watch a damaged videotape, bits and parts are missing, other parts are just too grained and it’s so annoying. But by the time you wrap your towel around yourself you know a little more about last night than what you did in the morning.

You remember talking to Adam in your room, he gave you the clothes and then you changed on your own, luckily. You recall telling him that you like him, but you don’t know what he replied to that, maybe he didn’t even say anything.

When you walk out Adam is on the couch, reading a book. You plan on asking him what really happened last night, but you decide it’s better to get dressed at first. So a few minutes later you emerge from your room wearing a hoodie and yoga pants as you go over to the armchair and sit down, anxiously fidgeting with the hem of your hoodie.

“You okay, Kid?” he asks narrowing his eyes at you.

“Adam… What did we exactly talk about last night?”

He stares at you for a few seconds before closing the book and putting it aside and pushing himself up.

“Um, a few things.”

“But what exactly?”

“You… told me that you thought I hated you. Which I asked you about and you said that it’s because I act weird to you. I didn’t realize that, so I’m sorry about that.”

You quietly nod, taking everything he says in as he continues.

“Then I asked if you hated me. And you said… You said you liked me and that I’m your favorite person here, though you added that you don’t know many people in the city,” he chuckles lightly and you feel your cheeks burning.

“Way to brag about being socially awkward,” you mumble under your breath.

“S’okay. I think it’s cute.”

You raise your eyebrows at his words, didn’t expect to hear that for sure. But now you don’t know what to think about this whole situation. Just a few days ago Adam was totally ignoring your existence, barely talking to you and now he tells you it’s cute that you suck at socializing? And he spent the night in your bed?

You want to ask him what this all means, does this change anything? What will happen now? But you’re too afraid to speak up. Instead, you just decide to see it yourself. Worst case scenario he goes back to ignoring you.

But he doesn’t. It’s like you are going on a rollercoaster when it comes to Adam, sometimes it’s bad, really bad for no actual reason and then you are suddenly going up and at a blink of an eye he is all pleasant and nice to you. You just wish you could predict these tracks and not just go through them blindly.

The upcoming days are… amazing. That’s all you can say about them. You and Adam start hanging out on a daily basis, doing as many things together as possible, cooking together, watching movies on the evenings, having breakfast together before you both leave in the morning, it’s been quite the change and you don’t mind it.

However it has also brought a constant anxiety into your life, because your liking towards Adam has been growing wildly, but you often have to remind yourself that he is still in a relationship with Hannah, no matter that it’s been weeks since she left to Iowa. It feels so inappropriate when you find yourself zoned out on him, thinking about things that should never cross your mind about someone else’s boyfriend, but it’s so hard to control yourself.

Being good friends with Adam is an awesome and wholesome thing, but it’s really messing with your head and you decide you should do something before you fall too deep.

“Where you heading all dolled up?” he asks one evening when you are doing your makeup in the bathroom, already wearing a deep blue, flowy dress but you’re still barefoot.

Adam stands in the doorway, leaning against the frame as he watches you carefully applying mascara, fascinated by your delicate movements.

“Um… I uh…” You’re not sure if you should tell him, but then you tell yourself it’s stupid, he is your friend. “I have a date tonight.”

“A date?” he seems genuinely surprised and maybe a little offended? You’re not sure about that though. “I thought you don’t date.”

“Yeah, but…”

You’re not sure how to answer that. You really don’t date, or to be exact, you don’t want to, but you figured it would be a good way to distract yourself from your thoughts about Adam. It’s not really the best thing for your anxiety, but sometimes you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone and who knows? Maybe something nice will turn out of it.

“This guy from work asked me out and I thought maybe I could give it a go.”

“Why do you torture yourself?”

“It’s not torture,” you roll your eyes sighing and packing up your makeup stuff into your little bag before walking past him and going back to your room. He follows you and while you get around, gathering everything you need he flops down to your bed, playing with your furry pillow.

“You said it yourself that you hate the whole dating shit. Then why do you want to do it now? Why don’t you stay home? We could order food and watch something.”

“Let’s do that tomorrow. I can’t cancel on Tyler now.”

“Tyler, huh?”

“What?” you huff at his weird tone. He just holds up his hands in defend, like he has nothing against the whole situation when in real life, it’s eating him up on the inside.

He doesn’t like the idea of it at all. Thinking about you with some random dude, it has him shivering on the inside. What if he is a dick to you? What if he says something rude and hurts you? There are so many problems he could list if he was asked why you shouldn’t go out tonight.

“I’m just worried that you’ll just worsen your whole perspective about dating with tonight,” he shrugs his shoulders, trying to sound as innocent as possible.

“That’s nice of you, but I’m still going.”

You grab your jacket and purse, then quickly step into your shoes and head for the front door, ready to leave. Adam follows you out of your room, still not satisfied with the fact that you are going on a date.

“Call me if you need help,” he offers and you give him a puzzled look.

“Help with what?”

“If he turns out to be a complete douche and I don’t know, maybe he starts harassing you.”

“We work at the same place, if he would want to harm someone he wouldn’t have asked me out, because he would have to face me every day until one of us quits.”

“Okay, but still. Anything could happen.”

“Alright, thanks. I’ll see you later,” you flash a smile at him before walking out and shutting the door closed behind you.

Adam stands there for a couple more minutes, as if he is waiting for you to come back and say that you were just joking, you’re not actually going. But you don’t return and he is left with his irked nerves, not knowing what is happening with you.

He can barely stop himself from calling or texting you to see if you are doing alright, he tries everything to keep him busy, he even starts cleaning, but when he gets bored with everything he just sits on the couch, staring at the TV, waiting to hear the click of the door opening.

It’s past ten when you finally arrive back home, Adam basically jumps to his feet when he hears the door opening and you look at him surprised.

“What?” you ask confused as you shut the door closed and head into your room, Adam follows you right behind.

“So how was it?” He tries his best to sound neutral, like he is not dying to know how it all went down, deep down hoping that you’d say it was a disaster.

“It was… okay, I guess,” you shrug.

It wasn’t as bad as you expected, you knew Tyler is a nice guy, he took you to dinner and then you just walked around for a while, talking, before he walked you home. It was definitely not the date that is going to make you change your mind, but you could… make it through and that’s all that matters for now.

“Okay? That doesn’t sound too good.”

“Adam, what do you want to hear?” you sigh, a little too tired for this conversation right now. “I didn’t like the talking, I felt awkward, but it also wasn’t bad enough to make me want to cry, so yes, it was okay,” you explain hanging your jacket into your wardrobe.

“So does this mean you are seeing him again?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?”

“That I don’t know! He hasn’t asked me out for a second date, so I don’t know and I’d love it if you stopped interrogating me about it,” you say giving him a look.

“I’m not interrogating you, I’m just curious.”

“Well, stop it.”

“Why, is it against the laws to want to know what happened?” he asks, sounding clearly hurt, but you feel like he is doing this for nothing. He doesn’t have the right to act like this.

“It’s not, but my dating life is not exactly your business, Adam. And I don’t mean it in a hurtful way, but this is the truth,” you start, reaching a point where you feel like you just can’t take it anymore. You’ve stayed silent for way too long. “Yes, we are friends, but it’s weird to share these kind of stuff with you. If I didn’t know that you are still dating Hannah, I would think you have other intentions, trying to make me not meet men. But you are still with her and I’m sure this is not what I think it is, right?”

There’s a hidden meaning behind what you are saying and you hope he is taking it in the right way. The two of you have been dancing on thin ice lately and you definitely don’t want to cross any dangerous lines. These feelings you’ve been battling are getting out of hands and the way he acts is definitely not helping, whatever his reasoning is behind it all.

“Yeah,” he finally nods. “You’re right, I’m sorry,” he mumbles before wandering out of your room.

For a moment you regret what you said, maybe you should have communicated in a nicer way, but then you realize it had to be done for your own sake.

The only thing that bugs you is that you’re afraid he is now going to go back to the cold, dour Adam you already know so well, but surprisingly, it doesn’t happen. He is just the same in the morning, smiley and bubble like before and you are kind of relieved to know he didn’t take your words too hard, but something in the back of your mind is telling you that the situation is about to take a concerning turning point soon.

-

general/forever taglist for Adam Driver

i do separate taglists for different people, but not for different works of mine! if you ask to be on my Adam taglist, you’ll be tagged in all of my Adam fics!

@superdriver​ @siren-queen03​

if you’d like to be taken off or added to the list, please let me know!

#adam #driver #adam driver #adam sackler #sackler #hbo girls #adam sackler imagine #adam sackler imagines #adam sackler au #adam sackler fanfiction #adam sackler fiction #adam sackler fanfic #adam sackler story #adam sackler x you #adam sackler x y/n #adam sackler x reader #adam driver imagine #adam driver fanfiction

[thiswasinevitableid]

Study Buddies (Sternclay)

I got several requests for this prompt as a meet ugly for Sternclay: you caught me doing something a few weeks ago but didn’t report me and now you’re trying to blackmail me into secretly tutoring you even though you and your friends have always been assholes, no I don’t ‘owe’ you.” Fill is SFW

“I saw that.”

Stern freezes, hand still on the now-shut back door, “saw me putting out the garbage?”

“Nope” his coworker Barclay rumbles, “saw you taking the leftover pastries and giving them to the homeless guys who hang out in that plaza.”

“A few of them were from that batch you baked three hours ago, they were barely old, going to waste was ridiculous.”

“Yeah, but you know Haye’s rule about that.”

“Yes, and I think it’s ridiculous too.” He crosses his arms, staring up at Barclay and daring him to tell him it isn’t.

“I agree. But you still got caught.”

“By you, not by him, now move so I can start wiping down the tables.”

“What, uh, makes you think I’ll keep my mouth shut?”

Stern turns, startled, “are you trying to fucking blackmail me?”

“No, uh, I mean-” Barclay’s gaze darts to the front of the coffee shop, where his friends make several encouraging motions.

“Of course” he groans, “Christ, Barclay, I didn’t think you’d stoop this low.”

“Look” the larger man takes a step, bringing him into Stern’s space, “I have a massive midterm paper due in a few weeks, and I need help. Big time.”

From this distance Stern can smell laundry detergent and burnt sugar, see a pleading tint in those deep brown eyes. He wants to punch him in his aggravating, handsome face.

“You owe me, Stern.”

“Like hell I do.”

“I’ve covered your ass more times than I can count when you’ve run late because of your internship.”

“And I’ve covered your ass all those times you were late because you were giving your friends rides.” He jabs his finger into Barclay’s chest and his hand is instantly enclosed in one of Barclay’s own

“I don’t want to tell Hayes anything, Stern, but I really, really don’t want to fail this fucking class.”

“Fine. I’ll help with your essay.”

“Not just mine, my friends need help too.”

“Oh no, no chance, deals’ off.” Stern pulls his hand away, “I can tolerate you, but they” he points to the group still sitting at the table, “have been nothing but awful and rude to me”

“They’re not-”

“They are too that bad, at least to me.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. It wouldn’t be those guys, it’d be some friends of mine from the LGBT center on campus.”

“Fine. But if one of those ones shows their face, I leave. Shake on it.”

Barclay talks his hand again, shakes it, and tells him to be at the LGBT center at 7 p.m tomorrow. 

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

Stern arrives at five til, finds Barclay sitting on a beanbag chair near a low table with four other people. One, a blonde girl in a green dress, pops up and walks over to him. 

“Hi, can I help you?”

“I’m here for him.” He points to Barclay.

“Oh! You’re the essay guy.”

“Yep, that’s me.” He smiles as politely as he can muster and joins her at the table. 

“Glad you came.” Barclay smiles at him.

“I didn’t have a choice.” He glares and the smile disappears.

“Everyone, this is Stern-”

“Joseph. Most people call me Joseph.”

“-and he’s gonna help with the midterm essay for our comp class.”

“Sweet!” The other girl at the table, black hair streaked with red, raises her hands triumphantly. 

“Do all five of you need help?” Stern looks around.

“Nope, just me, Duck” she points to a stocky guy in a Yosemite’ shirt, “and Barclay. Indrid and this cutie aren’t in that class.” She kisses the blonde’s cheek. That makes Indrid the guy with messily dyed silver hair and sketchbook, who’s currently laying with his head in Duck’s lap.

“Alright, that’s not too bad. Does someone have the assignment?”

Duck pulls it up on his laptop so Stern can read it. 

“Okay, so, it’s time to start outlining how you want to approach your topic.”

“Uhhhh.” Barclay looks at this friends, who shake their heads.

“None of you have a topic yet.”

“Nope.”

“When is this due?”

“Three weeks from yesterday.”

“And it’s worth how much?”

“45% of our final grade.”

Stern allows himself a few moments of vicarious stress, then gets to work. By the time the center closes, they all have topics selected, and Stern has instructions to come back on Monday.

He does just that, comes back Wednesday too. By Friday, he’s learned that he and Duck actually share a chem lecture and that Aubrey has many classes in the same building he does, as she always waves to him when they cross paths. On Friday night, he arrives to help them flesh out their outlines. 

“Colors?” Aubrey says as she braids pieces of twine while studying her notes for her midterm. 

“What?”

“Your pride colors; I’m making bracelets for everyone because it helps me focus.”

“Oh, um, trans pride ones. Please.”

“Good, already got those out.” She slides a pink, blue, and white bracelet across the table to Duck.

Barclay arrives with cookies, and they settle into their usual working rhythm, Stern bouncing between the three to see what they have and offering editorial advice. He’s sitting shoulder to shoulder with Barclay, enjoying the contact more than he cares to admit. 

“This is a little clunky here, I think I see your point but it’s getting lost.”

Barclay taps the table, then deletes and re-writes the section. 

“That’s way better.”

“What can I say, got a good teacher.” Barclay smiles at him, subdued yet charming, and Stern’s heart flips several times before he whacks it into submission. 

A week later, he turns up at the center to find the room rearranged and a larger group present. There’s a screen hung up on the far wall and Dani is tinkering with a laptop and projector. 

“I think I missed a memo.” He says to Duck as the other man is pouring two cups of soda. 

“Yeah, we decided to have a movie night and watch Dracula’s Daughter because Aubrey insists it’s a gay classic.”

“It’s quite good. I’ll, um, I’ll just head out then.”

“Y’know you can stay right? You ain’t just essay help, you’re our friend.” Duck gives him a look stuck between reassurance and concern.

“I guess I can, since I have tonight blocked off.” He goes in search of a seat and finds the only free spot is, of course, directly next to Barclay. 

Dani dims the lights and the move starts. There’s a rustle near his lap.

“Popcorn?” Barclay whispers. 

“Sure, thanks.”

As the movie plays on, their hands keep going for popcorn at the same instant and bumping each other. A few weeks ago this would have annoyed him to no end. Now he just wants to hold his hand. Barclay is different around these friends; gentler, funnier, his generosity given plentiful outlets. He’s been different at work too, less inclined to needle Stern and more interested in talking with him as they clean than in enabling his friends to stay late and make a mess. Stern’s noticed said friends do their fair share of shit-talking Barclay, the larger man seemingly so used to it he doesn’t react. But more and more Stern sees the flashes of exhaustion and hurt on his face. 

“You're not their servant, Barclay.”

“I know, I’m just being helpful.”

“That was half your cut of the tips they scammed off you.”

“It’s fine, Stern.”

“But”

“It’s fine.”

The group opts to watch Frankenstein meets the Wolfman next, and Barclay adjusts so his hand is flat on the ground on the other side of Stern. Stern leans to the side, resting against him, and lets himself pretend he could feel this safe and wanted all the time. 

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

“Stern, wait up!” Barclay catches up to him as he walks home. It’s Wednesday night, meaning everyone’s essays are finally finished. When Aubrey asked if Stern was going to keep hanging out with them, he said he’d have to see about his schedule, and ignored the fact she knew he was lying. 

“What was that line about your schedule? You could still make time to hang out with us.”

“I’ll come back when you all need help on your finals.”

“....do you seriously think that’s all we care about? All I care about? Stern, they really like you, and it seemed like you were getting along with everyone.”

“I was, and I do like them. But I can’t keep being around you.”

“What the fuck does that mean?” Barclay steps in front of him, barring his path. 

“It means that I like you too, but am well aware of how you really feel about me. You act kind, you talk to me like I actually matter, like we’re actually friends, but deep down I know you still think I’m uptight and nerdy and deserve to be mocked for it.”

“I don’t, I swear” Barclay puts his hands on Stern’s shoulders, voice earnest, “I like you a lot, I’m so fucking glad we started hanging out more, I, I really care about you.”

“Care about me? How the fuck am I supposed to believe that when you still won’t even call me by my name!” He hisses, not wanting to wake the nearby apartments. 

“I...I was just using it like a nickname. I didn’t know it bothered you. I’m, uh, I’m sorry.” He looks genuinely chagrined and the fire in Stern’s chest flickers out. He stares at the ground, not knowing what else to do.

“Joseph?”

He looks up in time to see Barclay bend forward, bringing their lips millimeters apart.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Do you” he exhales so intensely a nearby moth gets blown off course, “do you really want to?”

“Haven’t been able to think about anything else all night, babe. All week too.”

Stern closes the distance, Barclay’s hands gripping his arms when he does. The kiss is the sweetest thing he’s ever tasted and he lifts his hands up to Barclays cheeks, stroking them in a plea for more. 

Barclay obliges, slides his hands onto his back and pushes him forward, sighing soft and shaky when the kiss deepens. When it ends Stern stays put, rests his head on Barclay’s shoulder as he hugs him, shuddering with want.

“I gotcha babe, don’t worry.” Barclay pets his fingers through Sterns hair.

“Not worried your friends will see us?”

“Fuck ‘em. They were guys I knew in high school who knew how to manipulate me and I can do better. Like you, for starters. Plus Dani thinks their dicks too.”

“Knew there was a reason I liked her.”

“Now, if those friends saw us, we’d know because we’d hear Aubrey yelling ‘called it’ from a mile away.”

“Not that I’m opposed to sidewalk hugging, but it’s getting kind of cold.”

“C’mon” Barclay kisses his forehead, “let’s get you home.”

“Feel like joining me for some ‘coffee?’” Stern makes air quotes as Barclay takes his hand.

“Hell yeah I do. Can think of a lot of places I’d like to put cream.” 

“Not just yet, big guy, though I appreciate the enthusiasm.” Stern pauses his walking to kiss him, “tonight I think you and I have a make-out date on my couch.”

Another kiss, full of promise and the barest hint of heat, “sounds good to me, Joseph.”

#agent stern/barclay #sternclay #meet ugly #college AU #prompt fill

[jihyosforehead]

Some dayeon fluff pls your writing is phenomenal

IM SO SORRY ive sat on this for months 🥴😬💞 pls 4give 💖 based on this one tiktok i saw on my timeline one time and cant find bc i accidentally refreshed 😢😞

UPDATE: I FOUND THE DAMN TIKTOK LOL 

...

“Ask your partner if they have anything they want to talk about.”

Nayeon’s spent the last hour or so scrolling through her twitter feed, there’s a few cute puppy videos here and there, a few new memes she found funny enough to blow air out her nose and her personal favourite, “Ask your partner if they have anything they want to confess.” 

Nayeon can’t help herself. This quarantine has kept her inside for longer than she’d imagined. So. She’s bored and she’s bothered her friends enough with her need to be entertained. And Dahyun was due to walk in at any moment from picking up the mail from the downstairs lobby. 

It seemed relatively simple. Ask your partner if they have anything they want to talk about. A forced confession. 

Dahyun was hardly on social media and gets most, if not all, her memes from Nayeon and then occasionally Chaeyoung. (“How have you not heard of grumpy cat? Or the doge meme at least?”) Dahyun lived under a rock, basically. Nayeon was fairly certain Dahyun wouldn’t know about this. 

The door made a tiny beeping noise, and was then followed by a soft click. 

“Do you have anything you want to tell me?” Nayeon blurts out, catching Dahyun just as she’s about to slip her feet into fluffy pink slippers. Nayeon watches her girlfriend expectantly, she narrows her eyes trying to school her expression to something serious. Dahyun slowly lowers one foot into her slippers and then straightens up to tilt her head curiously at Nayeon’s question. 

 “What?” 

“Is there anything you want to talk about?” Nayeon tries again. This time more firm, but she manages to successfully bite back a smile. 

Dahyun shuffles her feet into her slippers as if regaining her footing. She opens her mouth and closes it. Opens once more and lets out a long “uHHhhh-” Dahyun searches for words that don’t seem to come and then looks at the small pile of letters in her hand, then at Nayeon again. 

Nayeon studies Dahyun carefully; she was shuffling back and forth and on both feet and had rearranged the post in her hands for the third time. She was momentarily distracted by a mustard yellow envelope that looked interesting.

“Is there something you want to tell me?” 

“So, uh -” Dahyun sighs, deeply embarrassed, “so, you- I, - uh, I guess you found the cutlery?” She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, Nayeon watches her cheeks pink under the fluorescent lighting. 

“What?”

“The-the cutlery? You found it?”

It’s Nayeon’s turn to flounder now. What had Dahyun done to the cutlery? Had she broken it? Thrown it away? What was so monumental about the cutlery, that had her girlfriend looking like she was about to run out the door she had just come in from? Nayeon’s eyes snap back to Dahyun again.

“Y-yes. The cutlery. I found it.” 

Nayeon rubs her temple. Why had she said that? Technically, no, it’s not a lie. As far as she knew, the cutlery was in the left hand drawer next to the sink. She pictured their kitchen in her head and mentally tried to recall the last time she’d opened it. At lunch? No. She had a snack about two hours ago and needed a spoon but couldn’t find any, so she’d had to wash a new one. And that’s all her knowledge about any kitchen-related utensils they owned. 

“I’m really sorry, baby,” Dahyun steps closer and huffs a loud sigh. She runs a hand through her already mussed hair, “I just, I just- you- look,” she raises her hand in a placating gesture. “I’ll be better. I promise. I’ll put them away. I just really hated doing that part.”

“Dahyun, angel, what are you talking about?”

Dahyun visibly perks up at the pet name.

“Nayeonnie, I just really hate putting the cutlery away.” Nayeon just stares dumbly, clearly confused. “Like, I know the drawer is right next to the- ” Dahyun sighs, resigned. 

Nayeon allows herself to be pulled up by the wrist and guided into the kitchen. She watches Dahyun gently tug the dishwasher door open with a sheepish smile and- 

“Ohhhhh my godddd.” 

Nayeon rubs the spot between her eyebrows exasperatedly. Huh. So she wasn’t imagining things after all. She wasn’t insane - okay - that part was debatable (sometimes), but she knew she wasn’t losing it. It, being her marbles, she notes while staring at a wide-eyed Dahyun. Dahyun, who was, at the very least, two full shades pinker than usual. Nayeon stares in disbelief. 

“-look I’m really sorry! I’ll-I’ll put them away now. Right now! I’ll wash up and I’ll put them away next time, I promise!” Dahyun says, voice frantic. She then turns around to hurriedly yank four spoons, two forks and a butterknife from the cutlery basket and waves them in Nayeon’s face. Nayeon’s unable to control the disgusted expression she makes at the visibly dirty utensils. “I-I”ll-I’ll wash these now! I’ll wash these now so we’ll have a few for the rest of the week and tomorrow when we turn the dishwasher on I’ll put them all away,” Dahyun manages to say in one breath. She sniffs.

Her cheeks are flushed red, and her voice has begun to waver, giving away her nerves. And she’s looking at Nayeon with her big, doe-like, guilty brown eyes. All honey. There’s a tiny crinkle between furrowed eyebrows. Nayeon can’t help but feel deeply fond exasperation creep up her spine and rush all the way down to the ends of her fingertips. Her heart squeezes tightly. Uncomfortably. Feels Dahyun wriggle her into yet another spot she didn’t know she had. God. This girl. This idiot. This Idiot! Making her feel things all the time! How was it possible to love such a monumental, wholesome dumbass? How?  

“Is your-” Nayeon clears her throat. “Is your ‘thing’ you needed to tell me-” she does air quotes to emphasise  her point, “-that you don’t put the cutlery away?” 

Dahyun doesn’t meet her eyes and instead chooses to find the floorboards interesting. She pointedly avoids Nayeon’s gaze. Nayeon struggles to bite back a laugh. 

Then, very quietly, in the tiniest voice:

“Yes.” 

Nayeon brings her hands to her cheeks to quell the urge to scream. This girl. This GIRL!!! Was so cute! How could one person be THIS cute! Nayeon chooses to sigh very deeply and bite her lip. She thinks she manages to look stern. 

“I thought I was imagining things,” Nayeon tells her, “no wonder there’s never any cutlery in the drawers!” 

Dahyun rubs the back of her neck sheepishly. “I’m really sorry, babe. I’ll put them away next time.” 

Nayeon watches pink flush Dahyun’s face again and trail down her neck. She finds her hand on the spot where Dahyun’s neck meets her shoulders and gently tugs. 

“I’m not upset, I promise,” she murmurs into dark hair. She feels Dahyun huff a relieved sigh and shuffle herself closer. 

“You sure?” 

“Baby. It’s just cutlery.” Nayeon pulls back, her hand still resting on the nape of Dahyun’s neck. She rubs the skin there, feels Dahyun shiver slightly. “I’m not mad at you,” Nayeon says again. “And anyway. If you had told me you hated that part, the easiest part,” she teases, and draws Dahyun back to her body naturally, “I would have done it instead.”

She punctuates her words with a kiss on the crown of Dahyun’s head. She feels Dahyun smile into her shoulder with how hard she’s grinning. She drops another kiss for good measure. 

...

“You are so dumb,” Dahyun whines, and slaps Nayeon’s shoulder with their heavy throw pillow.

“Look, it’s not my fault you’re an idiot.” My idiot, Nayeon thinks, happily.

Dahyun buries her face in Nayeon’s side and whines again. “I can’t believe you put that on Twitter.” 

“You let me post it!” 

“Only because no one looks at your tweets but me!” 

“I have over five thousand followers.” 

“They’re bots.”

So. 

Nayeon might’ve posted a voice-recording of Dahyun’s Confession. On Twitter. And it might have gone viral. And this is why Dahyun is smacking Nayeon's shoulder repeatedly with a pillow on a Tuesday night. Nayeon supposes this is her reward for fame. 

#dayeon #dahyun #nayeon #twice #twice hcs #twice headcannons #twice scenarios #twice imagines #ask #anon #UMMM HEHE #sorry LMAO guess who needed a literal pandemic to start writing again #anyways whats good #hope u are all well and keeping safe #and like dayeon - social distancing !!

[miss-tc-nova]

The Cat’s Meow - Jumin Han x Fem!Reader Pt 14

Okay okay, I am SO sorry for the soap opera last chapter, but it was either that or write a messy divorce and I wasn’t feeling that. But the drama’s not over yet.

Part 14: Are You Afraid of Me

               The following weeks after the wedding disaster, I can’t even leave my house. There are news reporters and paparazzi literally camping outside my yard. There’s also body guards from C&R stationed around my home, which is probably the only thing from keeping the cameras out of my window. That doesn’t stop the random few who attempt to approach under the guise of delivery people. At one point, Sarah Choi and her sister pound on my door demanding my head, or something like that. It’s not like I answered the door for them. My face is all over the news and people are calling me all sorts of terrible names. Even death threats came through, which I assume is another reason the guards are here.

               For a while, only Zen is allowed into my home, based solely on the fact that he has a key. He’s the only reason I haven’t starved yet. I know he’s never liked my home due to Mako, but he puts up with it and I really appreciate it. After those initial weeks, when people begin to give up on interviews, Luciel, Yoosung, and Jaehee reenter my life. Yoosung keeps me updated on the clinic; thankfully, they’re managing to get through my absence. Eventually, I become yesterday’s news and Jaehee tells me she has to take the guards away, for which I thank her. I venture out and return to work, but for a while, work and home are the only places I go. Occasionally, someone will come in under the guise of a client but really just wants to interview me. Yoosung definitely gets his practice in on those days, dealing with the client and most of the work on the animal. It takes a lot for Corine not to cuss people out when they use their animal to try to get to me though.

               I’m reading over random news feed online when I hear my phone buzz noiselessly. It’s been two solid months since I last had a call from Jumin, and three total since the wedding incident. Fresh wounds in my heart tear open at the sight of his smiling face on the screen. Reaching over lifelessly, I press the reject button.

               Suddenly, there’s a knock on the front door. Zen’s supposed to be stopping by today. I sigh and go to answer the door. I instantly regret doing so when I come face to face with not Zen. Without a word, he takes my wrist and pulls me out the door. It slams behind me but he pulls me down the steps and to a waiting car.

               “Let go of me! Jumin! Let go!” I scream, struggling uselessly against his grip. My heart is pounding in my ears and thoughts of Dark Jumin are racing through my head. “Jumin! Let go!”

               Uncharacteristically rough, Jumin opens the car door and shoves me inside before sliding in after me. I reach for the opposite door, only to find it child locked, meaning I’m trapped in here.

               “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?! This is kidnapping! Let me out!” I can’t even roll down the windows. Glaring out the window, Jumin won’t answer me. Tears build up in my eyes and I start to seriously panic inside. “Take me home right now! Jumin Han, you won’t get away with this!” The closer we get to his house, the more my words turn to begging. “Please. Let me go. I wanna go home.”

               Without a change of expression, Jumin pulls me up to his pent house. I stand in the middle of the room, trembling, with a soaking face.

               “Why are you doing this? Please. I want to go home,” I cry.

               Finally, Jumin’s stern expression breaks. “I need you to stay here.” When I sniffle, he pulls the handkerchief from his pocket and gently dabs at my face. I’m honestly afraid to resist. “Please don’t cry, my love.” My heart stammers and his words have created more tears. There’s a genuine fear in my heart that I may have just been kidnapped.

               “_____, listen to me. Elizabeth the 3rd went missing.” I peek up at him but it doesn’t really slow my crying. “There are people trying to destroy and hurt members of the RFA. I have reason to believe they kidnapped my cat and I fear that you’ll be next. You have to stay here, where I can see you, where you’re safe.”

               “No! I don’t want to be here! I’ll go somewhere else! I-I’ll go to Luciel’s! Please don’t make me stay here!”

               There’s pain across his face. “I’m trying to keep you safe, ______. Why can’t you understand that?”

               “I understand but I don’t want to be here! Aren’t you listening to me?!”

               “What did I do to make you hate me?” The words are like a slap in the face. His face holds a mix of anger and hurt. “I’m trying to protect you. The least you could do is say thank you!” I fear the anger that rises in him and shrink beneath him. His eyes drop to my arm. “I’m sorry. I must’ve handled you too roughly.” I notice the large bruise forming and pull my arm closer to my chest in a weak attempt to conceal it from him. Ignoring me, he gestures to his home. “Make yourself at home. Use anything you need or rearrange it if you prefer. If there’s anything you need, please tell the chief of security. I’ve told him to provide anything you request.” He pauses, taking me in. “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Please, just stay here.”

               Without another word, he simply walks back out the door he brought me in. I run after him but the door is locked. My knees give way.

               After some time, I gather myself and call Luciel.

               “Hello?”

               I sniffle “Luciel, listen to me. I need you to go to my house and get Mako.”

               “Huh? What are you talking about? Are you okay?”

               “I don’t know. It’s Jumin. I’m trapped in his house.”

               “What?! Wh-Oh no…It’s Elizabeth isn’t it?”

               “He said something about someone might have kidnapped her but he came to my house and forced me into his car and now I’m stuck in his house.” I resist the crying again. “I-I need you to take care of Mako for a while for me, please.”

               “Okay. Just leave your fluffy friend to me. He’ll love me almost as much as he does you when you come get him.”

               “Thanks Luciel.”

               There’s a moment’s pause. “Listen, _____. There’s a very real possibility that Elly was kidnapped by some people trying to get at the RFA. And because you’re friends with all of us and you were so important to Jumin, there’s a high chance they’d come after you too. I know you probably don’t want to hear it, but Jumin’s home is probably the safest place you could be right now.”

               “But I…I don’t want to be around him right now,” I mumble.

               “I know. But you’re safe there. You know he’ll do everything in his power to keep you safe,” he tries to reason. “We’re doing everything we can to fix this, so please just be patient. We’ll get you out of there as soon as we can.”

               I have no choice but to relent. Jumin’s been irrational throughout our entire relationship, but Luciel hasn’t given me any reason to doubt him.

               “Okay,” I sigh.

               “Don’t worry, _____. Everything will be okay.” He turns on his silly demeanor. “God Seven is on the job!”

               I sniffle but feel calmer having talked to someone else. “Alright.”

               After bidding Luciel goodbye, I spend the time without Jumin going over every inch of his home that I haven’t explored before; even if Luciel says this is for my own good, I’m not about to let Jumin get another one over on me. I want a backup plan in case things go downhill. Alas, being very high off the ground with guards at the only door does not make finding escape routes easy. However, as I pass through the kitchen for the third time, I notice the knife holder full of shiny silver blades on the counter.

               No! Stop it. It will not come to that.

               And then the kidnapper returns come sunset. “I’m back. I hope you’ve been finding everything to your liking.” From my spot on the sofa, I simply glare at him. “What would you like for dinner?” No response. “You’re making being a good host very difficult,” he huffs, wandering into his bedroom.

               He makes another attempt to share dinner with me but I ignore it and he eats alone. I can tell it bothers him but there seems to be less anger and more of a wounded expression. I’m sure my stubbornness is only one on a list of several problems he has right now. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about his cat. That still doesn’t give him the right to treat me the way he did.

               Jumin sits on the other end of the couch with a heavy sigh; I scoot as far as I can to the other end. His silver eyes slight. “Would you stop acting like a victim,” he growls.

               Purely insulted at his lack of a grasp on the situation, I snap back, “And how is someone who’s been kidnapped supposed to act?!”

               His fists tighten. “What was I supposed to do? Let them come for you?! At least I’m trying to keep you safe! For all I know, my cat is dead!”

               “This wouldn’t be a problem if you just moved on!”

               “That’s rich coming from the woman who confessed she loved me after ruining my wedding!”

               “You ruined your own damn wedding! I was in support of your marriage, you ass!”

               “If you were in support of me marrying another woman, you shouldn’t have come!”

               “You personally wrote the invitation asking me to come!”

               “BECAUSE I STILL LOVED YOU!”

               Off the sofa, I round the furniture to put some distance between us. Jumin gets to his feet, clearly seething.

               “Why are you even doing this?! You confessed! Why are you still fighting when I know you love me?!”

               “I already told you; it won’t work! So just leave me alone!”

               I start for the hallway when he catches my arm. Immediately, all my defiance vanishes when I’m faced with a man who, not only has me locked in his home, but is clearly larger and stronger than I am.

               “No! For once you’re going to give me some straight answers!” the man snarls, looming over me. “Why do you have to be so frustrating when all I’ve ever wanted to do is take care of you?!” Words caught in my throat, I fumble in trying to pry his hand off me.

               Jumin has grabbed me before, on multiple occasions. As it’s always when he’s upset, it’s firm, but never painful. I’ve always known he never intended to harm me but this is entirely different. His grip is digging into my muscles and this is the first time he’s ever shaken me, sending my fear sky rocketing.

               “Answer me!”

               Fueled by terror, I lash out at him, my free hand making contact across his face. I scramble towards the kitchen the instant I’m free. Reaching across the counter, I grab a knife from the holder and point it at him. Immediately, Jumin takes a step back, a nice red mark forming on his cheek.

               “_____, put the knife down,” he says cautiously.

               “What’s wrong, Jumin?!” I snap, inching towards him. “I thought you were upset with me! I THOUGHT YOU WANTED ANSWERS!”

               Holding hands up, the heir eases back with each of my steps towards him. “We’re both rational adults. Put the knife down and we can talk about this.”

               “There’s nothing rational about you when you’re angry!”

               “I’m not currently the one holding a knife,” he retorts. That short stint of bravery goes out the window when the one actually holding the knife continues to get closer. “Put it down, _____.”

               “NO! You think you get to put your hands on me whenever you want?! Grab me?! Shake me?! Pull me around?! Then you better be fuckin’ prepared for a fight!”

               “I don’t want-”

               “SHUT UP! IT’S MY TURN!” He flinches as I scream at him. “That first night we had drinks, you did the same thing! You kept me trapped here all night against my will! And since then, any time you get upset, you push me around and bully people AND I’M GETTING SICK OF IT!”

               Jumin’s back hits a wall and he freezes. His entire body presses against the wall as much as possible and all the color drains from his face.

               “YOU DO NOT CONTROL MY LIFE! YOU DO NOT PUSH ME AROUND! AND YOU SURE AS HELL DO NOT PUT YOUR HANDS ON ME!” My fist clenches around the front of his shirt and I raise the knife above my head. “ARE YOU AFRAID OF ME YET?!”

               Eyes locked onto the knife and trembling, Jumin doesn’t say a word. I study him, full of anger and pain and even if I’m ashamed of myself for this, I know I’ve got my point across. The tears break through and the knife clatters to the floor.

               “Because that’s how I feel every time you’re angry…” I mutter, letting go of him.

               “Wh-What?” he stammers.

               My knees give way. Head hanging forward, I’m so sick of crying lately. In shocked silence, Jumin slides to the floor. Not a word passes between us for some time and I wonder when he’ll regain the courage to have me thrown out.

               “Do you…really feel so terrified around me?”

               Rubbing at a bleary eye, I peek up at him. He’s wearing a look of pain and that sorrow from earlier makes a reappearance.

               “When you get mad,” I mutter. His face falls into his hands and he shudders. “I love you, Jumin. But I’m afraid. Sometimes I’m afraid I’m going to ruin your life. And sometimes I’m afraid of you.”

               I’ve done a lot of crying over the last few months and, as a vet, I’ve seen a lot of people cry. But the last thing I ever thought I’d see is Jumin cry. I hate it. I wanted him to break and understand just exactly how I felt, but I hate this. There were other things I could have done…Zen was right.

               Crawling forward, I slip my hands around his face, making him look at me. “Before we can do anything or make any decisions, I need you to understand how I feel.”

               He barely manages a whisper. “I’m sorry.”

               Pushing my way onto his lap, I hold him against me and spill everything. The worries, the fears, weaknesses, reasoning; all of it comes out as I try desperately to explain why I’ve been afraid of acknowledging his feelings. He fully believed that I never cared about his status, but in reality, it was a key factor in me keeping my distance.

               “And I knew I should’ve stopped talking to you, stopped encouraging you, but I’m so weak for you,” I say, my fingers making another pass through his hair. “And now we’re in this mess where I can’t even get out of bed without tearing my own heart out and we’re in the news for scandals and the person I care about most is a complete mess and…And I’m so sorry.” I let my forehead fall against the top of his head, trying to keep together.

               Jumin leans back, eyes flickering over my barely composed face. To my surprise, he starts to chuckle. His warm thumb brushes across my cheek. “We’re a shipwreck, aren’t we.”

               “It’s train wreck, Jumin,” I giggle, returning the gesture. “And yes, we definitely are.”

               He heaves a sigh. “I never want you to be afraid of me. I’ll…I guess I could look into anger management? I don’t really know what to do about this but I know I want to fix it.”

               I brush his hair back. “I don’t know if it’s anger management so much as you need to trust that I can take care of myself. Just because I have a bruise doesn’t mean I’m a damsel in distress. Sometimes it just means I’m clumsy.” I nuzzle my nose against his. “Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I can scare off most guys on my own.”

               I hear the skittering and glance to see him push the knife away. “Yeah, I kind of learned that one.” We both fall to laughter. “I’ll work on it. I promise, I’ll try.”

               “Thank you.”

               “Now it’s your turn.” My brows pop. “You ignored both our feelings in an attempt to protect my career?”

               My shoulders droop. “Jumin, I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel to survive while you fly out to Paris just to avoid going to dinner with your dad. I have student loans I may never be able to pay off and you buy entire islands for the RFA to go vacation on…You’d be the laughing stock of the upper class for going out with me. Besides, I heard your father; I know he doesn’t approve of me.”

               “I’m a grown man who had a cat-themed birthday party. As long as it’s for you, I don’t care what anybody else thinks. As for my father, as a womanizer, I don’t think he gets any say in whatever relationship I choose. Even if he could do anything to hold it over my head, I’d give up everything for you.” I press a fist against my mouth. “I would give up my company, my money, my life as the C&R heir to be with you. I’d grab a suitcase of clothes and move in with you right now if you want. A life with you is far more valuable than any of that.”

               I shake my head. “Jumin, you could have the pick of all the women in the world. Your assistant is beautiful, the last woman you had a crush on was like a goddess, even the snooty woman you were engaged to was pretty. So why would you pick me? They’ve got the credentials and the looks; so why would you pick me over them?”

               A hand slips into my hair, pressing my forehead to his. “First of all, you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met and nothing can convince me otherwise: not Serah Choi, not Assistant Kang, and not Rika, no one. And second, I’m new to this whole loving another person thing, but even I know looks and financial stability aren’t everything in a relationship.”

               “Is this where you get all cheesy and tell me how great I am?” I grumble, leaning back.

               “Hmhm. Well it was supposed to be. But I suppose we’d be here all night listing all the things I love about you. Let’s just say I love everything about you, except maybe how idiotically selfless you can be.” Hands against my face, he kneads my cheeks in an attempt to tease me. “Guess I’ll have to punish you by spoiling you nonstop.”

               “Don’t you dare!” I hiss.

               The smirk slowly fades. “I’d do anything for you, _____. Please don’t leave me again.”

               My fists clench at the fabric on his shoulders. Since I met this man, I’ve wanted nothing more than to be with him, but I’ve spent equally as long trying to protect him from the consequences of that relationship. Now he’s swept them all off the table, begging me to stay.

               “Okay.”

               Instantly, he’s got me in a crushing hug. “Thank god.”

               Giving in to everything I’ve dreamt of, I pull away so I can get at his lips. The fire ignites in my chest and I know I’ll never get enough. But Jumin quickly takes the reigns and slows my desperate attempt to make up for lost time. Each kiss is almost-torturously slow; he does so purposefully, trying to convey just what this means to him, showing me that he means every word he said earlier. The pace also gives me a chance to memorize the feel of his lips against mine; smooth with a slight chill, tempting me to taste. Within moments, every worry, fear, and even the desperation at the start of this make out is quelled to safe, fully-content, blissful love.

               Breaking this kiss, Jumin looks to me, pure joy in his eyes. “I love you.”

               I don’t know if I could ever be happier. “I love you too.”

               “Are you crying again?”

               “Shut up.”

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