#a little shorter this time but y’all will love the next chapter

[redstarwriting]

the clash | vi. (with someone you shouldn’t’ve)

hobie brown x goth!reader

word count: 2.2k

genre: enemies to lovers

warnings: language, insults, hobie hating you (sort of), you hating hobie, angry hobie, death, there’s a murder, SORT OF GRAPHIC death scene, injuries, ANGST, a plot twist!, sort of allusions to s*icide

a/n: ok y’all. this one’s a lil shorter, but this is where it starts getting whacky. the way i’m writing this is sort of like if i was writing a comic book, so this is a WHOLE ASS PLOTLINE that i could see being illustrated in my brain. i hope you enjoy, bc it’s about to get WILD. don’t worry tho the fluff will come bc i’m soft(ish)

previous chapter: v. ever fallen in love

now reading: vi. (with someone you shouldn’t’ve)

next chapter: vii. i wanna be sedated

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First thing’s first, Hobie needs to find out where the Prowler of your world might be. He could always call Miles and ask him where his Uncle Aaron lived, but that seems a little… insensitive. If there’s anything he knows about the Prowler, he knows that he’s a thief. So, Hobie snatches your police dispatcher and listens for some burglaries being reported. Getting any type of assistance from the police pains him to his very core, but he’s not about to wake you up and let you know what he’s about to do. He crouches on the railing of your balcony and stares out at your city. He hears calls about someone robbing a Bloodega, not the Prowler. Some kids snuck into a club, also not what he needs. “Come on, pigs,” he mumbles, “give me somethin’ useful here.”

That’s when his ears perk up.

“Reports of someone lurking around of Oscorp Labs, suspicions that it might be the Prowler. Units on standby for Spider-Goth, do not engage with the Prowler.”

Do not engage? What the hell? Isn’t he a villain? Hobie quickly understands what’s going on.

He works with the cops.

Fuck this assshole.

He leaps off your balcony, webbing his way through your city. It may not be his style, necessarily, but it’s a nice place. He can see why you like it so much. He’s actually been webbing through it more than he ever expected to with how much he visits you. He knows deep down that he’s visiting so much only to see you, but outwardly he likes to pretend it’s just to see Shadow. He knows more about your world than Miles, Pav, or Gwen’s which is interesting considering he’s known you only about 3 and a half months. Luckily, you live only a short web swing away from Oscorp, so he can’t get too lost in his thoughts about you and can end this guy faster. He lands on the top of the building and glances around. He notices a perfectly cut hole in the glass a few floors down, so he crawls down and through into the building. It’s dark. He tries to stay as quiet as he possibly can because he knows that’s how you would do it, but damn. He just isn’t good at stealth. And this is factual apparently, because he gets the feeling someone is watching him and just barely jumps out of the way from what looks like a whip covered in spikes. He lands on the ground in a crouched position when he hears a somewhat familiar sounding voice. “Who the hell are you?”

“Can ask you the same question, mate,” Hobie says, “The answer will make this whole thing so much easier.”

“You one of that freak’s friends?”

“Something like that,” Hobie responds. “I take it you’re the Prowler?”

“The one and only,” he says, and Hobie rolls his eyes under his mask. “Mate, do I have some news for you,” he snorts, and the Prowler flicks his wrist. His whip makes some mechanical noise and green and purple light starts shining through it in little places where the metal isn’t completely welded together. Hobie motions to it. “Bet you’re proud a’ that. What are you? A cybergoth? cyborgoth?”

“I’ll ask this one more time. Who are you?”

“Name’s Spider-Man, also known as Spider-Punk,” Hobie says, and the Prowler groans. “There’s another one? You’ve got to be kidding.”

“There’s a lot more than just me and them, mate,” Hobie crouches down, ready to leap out of the way if need be. “Why are you here? Where’s my insect at?”

Hobie doesn’t like the way he called you his. “They’re not yours,” he hisses at him. The Prowler is quiet for a moment before laughing. “Oh. I see. Didn’t know they had a boyfriend,” he says, before whipping towards Hobie. He jumps out of the way in time, but almost doesn’t because boyfriend? Excuse me? “Not their boyfriend!” he yells, landing on the ceiling and glaring down at the Prowler. “No? Then why are you here? I figured it was because of how badly I beat them. Their screams were so entertaining.” Hobie hates this man. He clenches his jaw. “Nowhere near as entertainin’ as yours’ll be, dickhead,” he grunts, jumping down and shooting a web at the Prowlers legs. Luckily, the Prowler wasn’t expecting that, and Hobie is able to yank his legs out from underneath him. He falls hard, and Hobie smirks. “Oh sorry, did that hurt?” Hobie says, and the Prowler growls, standing up faster than Hobie anticipated. “I’ll kill you.”

“Not if I kill you first, mate,” Hobie says, anger seeping out of his words. “A spider that willingly kills, huh? Is that why you came to find me?” he chuckles, “I feel like you and I could be good friends,” the Prowler’s chuckle turns into a laugh, and it pisses Hobie off even more. “I’d rather die than be friends with someone like you,” Hobie shoots another web at him, but this time the prowler dodges it. He flicks his wrist, and Hobie feels the whip make contact with his side. He grunts in pain. This must be what got you earlier today. “That can be arranged. You’re even worse than your little partner,” the Prowler says, and Hobie can hear the smirk. He wants to punch that fucking smirk off his stupid face. Hobie stands again, grabbing his guitar. If it’s a fight to the death this fucker wants, it’s a fight he’ll get. And Hobie will not be dying tonight. “Oh, what are you gonna do? Power chord me out of existence?”

“More like beat your ass until you kick it,” Hobie growls, “but if ya want me to do it with style, I’ll play ya a song over your dead body.”

“Bold of you to assume I’ll be the one dying tonight,” the Prowler says and uses his whip again. Hobie jumps out of the way, and his eyes widen as he dodges two bullets in midair. He lands on the ground and sees that the Prowler’s gauntlets are guns as well. He scoffs. “How much that suit cost ya?”

“Would have cost a lot if I didn’t steal it or invent it myself, but I did,” Hobie dodges two more bullets, but lands directly on the Prowlers whip, causing him to slip and fall. “Luckily my agreement with the police got me the state-of-the-art tech that I needed,” the Prowler confesses. “Fuck,” Hobie grunts, jumping up as quickly as he can. “I’m gonna love telling Spider-Goth I took down their boyfriend.”

“Not their boyfriend!” Hobie yells, jumping out of the way of his whip, and more bullets.

“I find that very hard to believe.”

“Look, how ‘bout we settle this without any gadgets, eh? See who wins then?” Hobie says, and the Prowler scoffs. “If you can’t beat me at my best, you can’t beat me at my worst.”

“Actually, yeah I can. Dunno if you’re realizin’, but I’m still alive and breathin’,” Hobie says, jumping out of the way of his whip yet again. This time, though, Hobie was prepared. He webs the whip and yanks it as hard as he can. The Prowler is airborne as Hobie swings him to the other side of the room. He lands with a thud, and Hobie webs over to him, doing a flip to land a kick directly to the face. The Prowler manages to get his whip wrapped around Hobie’s ankle and flings him back across the room. He crashes into some glass wall and groans. “As much as I fuck with your ‘fuck the establishment attitude,’ Spider-Goth ain’t gonna be too happy with me if I destroy another buildin’,” Hobie says, shaking his head, hearing some glass fall down next to him. Then, the alarms start blaring. ‘Great, probably broke somethin’ important,’ he thinks before noticing a piece of glass stuck in his arm. ‘Gotta make this quick,’ he thinks, grunting as he pulls the glass out of his arm. “Like I give a fuck what makes them mad,” the Prowler says, running towards Hobie. He leaps out of the way, webbing his leg again and causing him to slip and fall. Hobie then delivers a blow to the side of his face with his guitar, but thanks to his armor, it just hurts him more than anything.

Then Hobie hears hissing. He leaps up onto the ceiling just before a mechanical snake was about to sink its stupid metal fangs into him. “Made yourself friends ‘cause ya ain’t got any? I’d be gutted for you if ya weren’t such a dick,” Hobie says, webbing the snake and jumping off of the ceiling. He does a flip in midair, swinging the snake with him and throwing it at the Prowler. He dodges just in time, but Hobie is able to deliver another blow to him. This time, Hobie goes for his leg. And he hears a crack. Just as he wanted. The Prowler shrieks out in pain. 

Hobie lands next to him and bends down. “Hope that hurt, fucker,” he spits, striking his other leg in the same fashion. He dodges the mechanical snake again, grabbing it and using his strength to break it in one squeeze. He throws it to the side and dodges more bullets from the Prowler’s gauntlets. Unsurprisingly, Hobie goes for both arms next. He stops when the man is rendered completely useless, rolling the Prowler over on his back. “I win,” Hobie says, and even he is taken aback at how menacing his voice sounds. The Prowler grunts, “You sure you’re a good guy?” Hobie ignores him and stands beside his head. “I do what I want. Any last words?”

The Prowler is silent for a moment before speaking. “Tell them that their boyfriend would have been able to save–”

Hobie doesn’t let him finish.

In fact, Hobie has trouble stopping even after he knows the deed is done. He didn’t even give Osborn this kind of disrespect. But this guy is different. All Hobie has to do is think about the state of your back, how you still blame yourself for what this motherfucker did to someone you cared so much about, and he’s swinging his guitar again.

He only stops when there’s nothing left to hit.

He breathes heavily, observing what he’s done in the flashing red lights as the alarm blares in the background. He walks back to the window, glancing back at what he’s done before leaping out and webbing away as fast as possible. He hopes no one saw him. Doesn’t want anyone confusing you for him.

He lands on your balcony and sees Shadow waiting for him inside the doors. He opens them and hears the cat meow at him. He leans down, giving him a few scratches, before opening a portal to his world. He goes home, falling on his bed. He groans, feeling the injuries he got for the first time. The adrenaline was keeping him going that entire fight. He gets up, and begins mending his injuries. Halfway through the last set of stitches he has to give himself, he gets a call on his watch from Miguel. He rolls his eyes, ready to get yelled at for, ‘interfering with the fate of the multiverse, yaddah yaddah yaddah blah blah blah boring boring boring.’

“Yeah, what d’ya want?” he answers, finishing up his stitches. “Get to Spider Society immediately.”

“I’m a little busy here, mate can it–”

“NO! It can’t wait, Hobie! Get here now!” Miguel screams, hanging up. Hobie groans. He was supposed to go back to your world so when you wake up, he would be there and explain why he did what he did. He could just go back… but then Miguel might show up in your world. And he sure as hell doesn’t want that. Sighing, he opens a portal to earth-2099, walking through and ending up in Miguel’s multi-screened research room. “Do you know what you did.”

“Killed a bloody villain, what of it?” Hobie asks, already annoyed. Miguel pounds his fist on the desk. “You interfered with (Y/n)’s timeline, Hobart!”

“I was protecting them!”

“YOU CREATED AN ANOMALY!” Miguel screams, and Hobie frowns. “How did I–”

“You killed a villain not a part of your own world, a villain who played a role in a major canon event of (Y/n)’s and now–”

“Would you come off it with the fuckin’ canon events?! Whatever it is will be resolved in one way or another!”

“Hobie you don’t understand–”

“He hurt them! Was I just supposed to stand around and let it happen?!”

“YES! We’re Spider-People it’s part of the job,” Miguel screams, and Hobie rolls his eyes. “I thought you hated them anyways, why did you want to protect them so bad?!” Miguel asks, and Hobie freezes. That… is actually a good question. He sees your injuries in his mind again and his frown deepens. Why did he want to protect you? Surely, he doesn’t… like you? No, he wouldn’t have done what he just did for a just a friend, though he would have still hunted the Prowler down. But the thought of him hurting you drove him to do unspeakable things… which he did. Is it… does he like you romantically?

His eyes widen. It would make sense if he felt that way. He was around you 24/7. These past two days were torture. He likes the way you challenge him. He likes the way you look, he likes the way you speak, he likes– “Hobie. Answer me.” His thoughts get cut off by Miguel, and he swallows hard. “I… I actually can’t answer that right now,” he says, and Miguel frustratedly runs his hand through his hair. “Hobie. What you just did…”

“Is bad, I know–”

“It’s not just bad. It’s detrimental.”

“What do you–”

“Do you know who you killed?” Miguel asks, and Hobie scoffs. “Obviously. I killed the Prowler, probably some variant of Aaron Davis or–”

“The Prowler on Earth-666 is not Aaron Davis,” Miguel says, frowning at him. “Did I kill Miles? You know his voice did sound kind of familiar…” Hobie asks, feeling a little worse about the way he handled the situation. “No. It wasn’t Miles, either.” Hobie looks up at Miguel, who takes a deep breath. “The Prowler on Earth-666 was Hobart Brown.”

Hobie feels like he just got hit with a pound of bricks. This is too much for him to process in one night. “I… what?”

“You just killed yourself.” Hobie shakes his head. “I–”

“He sounded familiar because he was you. Just without the English accent,” Miguel says. “Did (Y/n) know?” he asks, less concerned with the fact that he technically killed himself, and more concerned with the fact that he did all of those things to you. Miguel shakes his head no. “They didn’t. They were never supposed to know,” Miguel affirms, and Hobie lets out a shaky breath. He unclenches the fists he didn’t realize he formed. He feels the indents his nails made on his palms, but he doesn’t care. He was genuinely scared for a minute there. How would you react towards him if you know he was the one torturing you for so long? He nods. “Good.”

“There’s something else I need to tell you, Hobie,” Miguel says, and Hobie looks at him. “You changed a canon event. So far, the world seems stable… but you’re not going to like what will happen next,” Miguel says, turning away from him. Hobie jumps up to the platform Miguel is standing on. “Will (Y/n) be okay?” he sounds a little too frantic, and Miguel glances over at him. “You care too much for them.”

“Bollocks,” Hobie retorts, and Miguel sighs. “I knew you would like them,” he mumbles before pulling up information on your Earth onto the monitors. Hobie sees the Venom symbiote pop up and frowns. You haven’t had to deal with that yet. “The Venom symbiote was meant to bond to Hobart Brown on (Y/n)’s Earth. Now, the symbiote is going to bond to (Y/n), which is bad. This symbiote is unlike the other Venoms. It’s angrier. Deadlier. He would have been the worst enemy they ever had to face. I’ve been mentoring them as a secret way to help them train to be able to defeat him because… well…”

“Cause what?”

“Hobie Brown with the Venom symbiote would have been unstoppable,” Miguel says, turning to Hobie and delivering information that makes a chill run down his spine.

“Hobart Brown was meant to kill (Y/n) (L/n).”

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#hobie brown x reader #hobie brown x y/n #hobie brown x you #hobie x reader #spiderpunk x reader #spiderverse x reader #hobie brown #hobie #spiderpunk #spiderverse #theclashofthespiderverse

[vminizzle]

SERIES || Hope - jjk

Part 6 : unusual night

pairing : husband!jungkook x f.reader

genre : angst, ?smut?, fluff,

warnings : mention of blood, mention of needle, mention of cramps, teasing, making out, marking, pet names, dry humping, nipple play.

words count : 2.5k

A/N : hello guys *saying breathlessly because it’s very hot here I’m suffocating*. I hope y’all spending a nice day! I was supposed to post this way earlier so sorry I’m late. It’s shorter than the last chapter sorry. I hope you’ll find this chapter not too boring! REMINDER : POOR ENGLISH. Take care everyone 🧡 - sunny

FEEDBACKS ARE WELCOMED ☄️

SERIES MASTERLIST

M RATED

"gosh!" you muttered, stomping into the kitchen making Jungkook looked at you curiously.

"morning." you pecked his forehead quickly making your husband smile.

"g’morning darling. I made pancakes." he pointed to the plate placed at the other side of the kitchen counter.

"ah thanks love." you said walking to the fridge.

Jungkook stood up from his chair, coming to you.

"still your period cramps?" he asked resting his hands on your tummy as he laid a soft kiss on the back of your neck.

"yes but I’m not on my period." you sighed heavily, tuning around to face your confused husband.

"well, I just have cramps, nothing else." you tried to explain.

"wait. If I understood, it means that’s not bloody down there?" he tilted his head to the side cutely making you chuckle.

"correct!"

"ahhhh." he nodded with a little pout.

"But weren’t you supposed to be on your period since last week?" he questioned.

"That’s right but guess it’s late again. Since my miscarriage, my period weird." you complained, closing your eyes as you let your head fall on his chest tiredly.

"'m tired."

Jungkook pulled you closer to him, hand caressing your back up and down gently.

"why don’t your rest today?"

"Kook, I have to work." you reminded him.

"Well, you could had rested if you worked at the company with me." he huffed making you sigh.

"Oh, I’ve noticed you’ve been tired easily these times." he pointed out, taking your hand in his, guiding you to the table.

He sat back on his chair, pulling you down to sit on his lap, your back resting on his chest.

"I know."

"why don’t you go to the doctor?" he suggested getting no reply from you.

"Maybe, low iron?" he thought for a moment.

"You should take a blood sample." he continued making you open your eyes.

"I don’t-"

"I know, you don’t like it but you will have to." he caressed the back of your hand with his thumb softly.

He grabbed his fork, feeding you a bite of the pancake he made making you hummed.

"I will think about it." you replied a few seconds after making Jungkook nod.

You fixed you husband’s tie, before kissing him softly, his hands on your hips.

"You’ll get late, go now." you laughed as he kept on kissing you.

"I don’t want to go." he groaned finally pulling away.

"Well, you have to." you repeated his words as you pinched his cheek, before grabbing his bag handing it to him.

"fine, fine. But one last kiss pretty please." he grinned.

—

y/n : I just finished at work. I think I’ll take your advice and go to the doctor.

jungkook : that’s good to know. When are you going?

y/n : In a few minutes. 15 minutes or so?

jungkook : I’ll come with you. 

y/n : Koo don’t, I can go alone. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you update. Keep working. I don’t want to disturb you.

jungkook : i know you don’t like taking blood sample so I’m not letting you go alone. You never disturb me.

y/n : I love you :(

jungkook : I love you more. I’ll be there asap. I’ll come pick you up.

y/n : I can drive.

jungkook : I know you can but you can get tired. I’ll drive. NO BUTS. See you in a few minutes.

You sighed putting your phone in your handbag.

"this man." you shook your head, a little smile on your lips.

—

"Are you ok, Mrs Jeon?" the doctor asked confused as you were staring into the void, standing next to the chair he asked you sit on

Jungkook discreetly gestured to the doctor to wait a minute.

"hey." he called softly.

"I’m here, hm? Don’t be scared."

"I’m not scared." you denied, even if you knew you were.

Jungkook smiled before grabbing hand.

"C’mon sit." he looked at you ,making you gulp before nodding.

You sat on the cold chair, taking a deep breath.

"ok, we’re good now?" the man asked as you nod hesitantly.

You shivered, heart picking up the pace as you saw him grabbing a needle.

"Are you ready, Mrs Jeon?" he took a hold of your arm tightly.

"N-No." you shook your head, retracting your arm.

Jungkook put his hand on your shoulder.

"you can hold my hand." he whispered as you nod slowly.

"Is it ok now?" the doctor asked patiently, smiling encouragingly.

"yes." you gulped.

"ok now, we will take a deep breath." he instructed considering how scared you were.

"I’ll count to 3." 

You looked over at your husband, this one sending you a cute smile to reassure you.

"1." you took a deep breath nervously.

"2." your vision became blur, as your eyes got teary.

"3." you closed your eyes, squeezing Jungkook’s hand tightly as you felt the slight penetration of the needle in the flesh of your arm.

"Here we go." the doctor said after a few seconds making you wipe the sliding tear away as you felt the little sting when the needle went out.

"good job, Mrs Jeon."  the tall man smiled with a thumb up.

"You did well, my love.” Jungkook murmured leaving a gentle kiss on your hand.

"Thank you.” you sniffed.

"I’ll send the blood sample to the laboratory. We will get the results within a week. You’ll come back to me so we can talk about it." he explained.

"What I’m asking you to do Mrs Jeon, is to rest, stay hydrated, and don’t skip meals." you just nodded.

"Thank you Doctor Kang, thank you for your patience." you lowered your head feeling embarrassed.

"Mrs Jeon, I’m doing my job. Take care of yourself. See you soon." he shook hands with you and Jungkook.

—

"See! I was sure you’d do well!" your husband cheered making you pout.

"You’re making fun of me." you punched him in his arm, a gasp escaping from his mouth.

"I would never!" he said offended.

"Just so you know, I’m proud of you!"

"I love you babe. Thank you for coming with me."

"I love you even more. Don’t thank me, I’m your husband. I’ll always be there for you. Remember that." he smiled taking you in his embrace, pecking your forehead.

—

"Next week, well I mean tomorrow it’s-"

"I know what you’re gonna say." Jungkook put his hand in front of your face interrupting you.

"The most beautiful time of the year." he chanted making your laugh.

"I love Christmas season!" you jumped on the bed excited, the sheets welcoming your body fresh from the warm shower you just took.

"baby, you hair is still wet." Jungkook approached the bed with a towel.

"Sit down.” he ordered gently.

“I’ll dry them."

You obeyed, facing him as he put the towel over your head.

You played with the strings of his great sweatpants as he finished on drying your hair.

Jungkook looked down at your hands, fingers pulling slightly on the sweatpants’ strings.

 "aren’t you tired?" he lifted your face.

"A little."

"Let’s sleep then." he walked away to the bathroom, coming back after a moment and turned off the lights.

"Good night." he whispered, taking you in his arms, resting your head on his bare chest.

"Night babe." you kissed his neck quickly.

—

[ 11:47 pm ]

You turned on your side agitated.

You tried your best to sleep but you couldn’t because your mind was wandering somewhere else.

You tried to count until the numbers you didn’t even know how to pronounce, tried to create those "teenagers scenarios" thing to fall asleep but nothing worked.

[ 1:03 am ]

"fuck it. I’ll go insane." you whisper-yelled as you sat up angrily.

You put your hands over your face feeling frustrated and embarrassed.

"not now." you whined quietly, looking to the side, your husband sleeping deeply.

You stood up, rushing to the bathroom.

"C’mon y/n.” you looked at yourself in the mirror.

"It’s not time to be horny." you splashed cold water on your face.

"that fucking grey sweatpants." you huffed,  wiping your face with a towel.

You sighed as you came back next to your husband.

"where were you?" you heard him mumbled sleepily.

"bathroom." you laid down, caressing his soft messy hair making him hummed.

"Can’t sleep?" he asked eyes still closed.

"I’ve noticed you kept on moving."

"sorry if I woke you up.”

"tell me."

"huh?"

"tell me what’s the matter?" he opened his eyes slowly, rubbing them as he sat up.

"no no don’t sit-" you sighed.

"I have no problem, don’t worry."

"Liar. Tell me now." he asked sternly.

"Koo-"

"y/n." he stared down at you.

You sat up, gulping.

"So?"

"I swear, I have no problem." you played with your fingers nervously.

"darling, look at me. I know there is something wrong, I can feel it. So tell me, maybe I can help." he grabbed your hands delicately.

“well, it’s .. hm.. I-"

"Why are you so hesitant?" he chuckled confused, shifting a bit so he could face you, the blanket sliding on the side revealing your enemy aka the grey sweatpants.

Your eyes dropped down, the warm trousers doing justice to what you wanted at the moment.

Jungkook stared at you, following your gaze before letting a breathy laugh pass by his lips.

"ah that’s why." he smirked.

"wh- what?" you looked back at him again panicked.

"You’re horny, aren’t you?" he teased.

"Shut up!" you turned away feeling embarrassed again.

"aw baby, you could had just asked." he laughed.

"Jungkook, that’s not funny!" you huffed throwing a pillow at him.

"Don’t be shy." he cooed.

“I’m not shy!"

"Ask me then." he smirked, watching as you turned around to face him again.

"what?"

"Ask me what you want." he said again.

“Tell me, what you want." he approached his face closer to yours making you gulp.

"Tell me what you want to do.” he cupped your cheek

"Tell me, what you want me to do to you, for you. You know I’ll do anything for you princess.”

His lips ghosting over yours.

fuck, the nickname.

“Cats got your tongue, honey?” he joked, hands sliding down your sides.

"I just.. I ..”

“I’m listening to you."

"It’s late. You should sleep."

Jungkook laughed pulling you on him, making you straddle his muscular thighs.

"huh huh don’t back away. C’mon, be a good girl and tell me what you want."

He stroked your bare thighs slowly, goosebumps raising after the soft touches of his fingertips dancing over the smooth skin, you could felt this -really familiar- exciting feeling in your lower stomach.

Jungkook bent a little forward, his lips caressed the sensitive spot of your neck making you shiver at the delicate contact.

He kissed your neck before talking again.

"C’mon." his mouth got higher, a light kiss being left behind your ear.

"tell me." he whispered into your ear, biting lightly on the earlobe.

"now."

"I want to.. I want to ride you. And then I want you to fuck me hard, real hard into the mattress until I cry and beg you to stop." you moaned at the feeling of his cold hands sneaking under your oversized shirt.

You heard him cursed under his breath as you felt his growing erection pressing under your thigh.

"you’re so hot and .. unpredictable fuck." he groaned.

You’re not this bold usually. Well, you’ve never been this bold, but guess you were too lost to mind what was going out of your mouth.

He grabbed you by the back of your neck, pulling you in a heated kiss. Lips crashing together as you sat just above his boner.

You sucked on his bottom lip earning a low moan from him.

You started moving your hips slowly, grinding on him.

Jungkook pushed you down on his hard on making you whimpered softly.

Peppering wet little kisses on his neck, you sucked on his sweet spot, tongue grazing over the now-red skin.

Jungkook slid your shirt up your head, discarding the clothing on the side.

"fuck." he groaned, eyes staring directly at your bare chest.

The sight of your perky buds alone enough could make him cum.

He bent down, his lips enveloping your hard nipple, sucking gently on it.

“Jungkook.” you moaned loudly, hands flying to his hair.

He parted away a little, looking at your face, mouth ajar, eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed.

You were just so hot.

He darted his tongue out, licking on the erected bud making you whine, his hand went up to cup your other breast, thumb flicking the sensitive nipple.

Pulling on his black locks, your pressed your hips down harder on him feeling his confined hard cock through the sweatpants.

You arched your back at the painful yet weirdly pleasurable feeling of his teeth around your hard nipple, pulling on it gently.

You suddenly gasped, both you and Jungkook looking toward the door.

"What was that?" you looked back at him.

“I don’t know." he replied hearing another noise coming from downstairs.

He pushed you gently to the side off his lap as he got out the bed.

"wait. what are you doing?" you asked as you put your shirt back quickly, jumping out the bed walking to him.

"Wait here, I’m gonna check-"

“what? no!" you whisper-yelled making him chuckle.

"I’ll come back. Don’t be scared."

"stop it, I’m not scared." you whined annoyed.

"What if there is someone downstairs? a robber? or worst!" you widened your eyes, grabbing on his bicep shaking his body.

"I can fight." he flexed his arm proudly.

"don’t joke around idiot, I’m serious." you murmured worried.

"don’t worry."

"I’m coming with you." you pursed your lips when he opened the door.

“Stay here." he repeated.

"No."

You rushed to your wardrobe searching for something making Jungkook stared at you curiously.

"what are you doing?" he whispered.

“here it is." you showed the baseball bat.

“hey, it’s mine." he pointed at the object speechless.

"not anymore. you gave it to me when we were in college dummy. you don’t remember?!" you looked at him offended. 

"ahh yea yea right, sorry. But what are you gonna do with that?" he bit on his bottom lip to not laugh at you.

"fight." you pushed the door wide open quietly making Jungkook bit back a grin.

You both walked in the dark corridor toward the stairs.

"Be careful." you whispered holding Jungkook’s hand while going downstairs slowly.

You were standing behind the wall, faint noises coming from the living room.

Jungkook gestured you to stay behind him as he approached the light switch.

“Who’s there?!" he said loudly.

No noises.

Your grip on the baseball bat tightened, as Jungkook turned the light on. 

A loud gasp escaped your mouth, as you stared in horror…

—

A/N : i hope it wasn’t boring 😭 thanks for reading guys! Sorry for the late update. I’m working on so many things at the same time. Love y’all ~

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE REMOVED / ADDED TO THE TAGLIST

TAGLIST : @btssevenx @starstruckfangirls @riworlds @babycandy111 @chimmisbae @borahaexoxo @bxcndd @tokiodori @jungkooksseuphoria @manuosorioh @axa-00 @kissme-ornot @delasmooth @cartiluv3r @lalita-7 @ohyeahjk @starlight-1010 @burnahtsw @kookietkk @0funsite0 @kleirielk @sheylamc @scjayy

#bts #jeon jungkook #bts jungkook #bts series #bts fanfiction #bts fanfic #bts scenarios #bts imagines #bts x reader #bts smut #bts suggestive #bts fluff #bts angst #jungkook series #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fanfiction #jungkook imagines #jungkook scenarios #jungkook x reader #jungkook smut #jungkook fluff #jungkook angst #jungkook suggestive #jungguk smut #bts hard hours #bts hard thoughts #jungkook hard hours #jungkook hard thoughts

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 28: Achilles Heel

* Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

* Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

* Warnings: language, angst

* Word count: 1,867ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all

Author's note: Okay, I lied. One more because I have an uneven number queued. Then I’ll follow the rules. Scouts honor lol. 🤓 Things are starting to ramp up, Kayce and Stella are finally coming back to some kind of normalcy. It’s been rough, but we’ll get there. Also, this is shorter than normal, but it worked well for splitting these events up. I hope y’all don’t mind, I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well!

“What! You told me you ran into him!” Ryan cried out.

“Okay I bent the truth! I’m sorry. I knew if I told you that 30 minutes ago, you would have burnt the whole state of Montana to the ground!” She defended herself.

All the men moved closer to her instinctually. Rip started in on her hard. “Why the fuck didn’t you tell me when I picked you up?!”

“Because I wanted to tell everyone all at once, Rip!” Was he even listening?

He came back at her even angrier. “Bullshit! Were you gonna say anything at all?!”

“Yes! My god! I’m here aren’t I?”

Kayce targeted her next. “You’re only here because your brother and I made sure you’d come talk to my dad.”

John interrupted. “All of you quit!” He locked in on Stella. “What did he want?”

“I asked him and he said something about liking my property, yadda yadda, and got insulted when I asked who he was again and told me I work for a ranch that has started to annoy people. Then read me like an open book almost to every little detail about my life.” Stella crossed her arms and shook her leg. The memory of Malcolm’s unnaturally blue eyes staring into hers as he recited her information sent a chill up her spine.

“I told him I wasn’t interested in anything he had to offer. He said I was a soft spot for people here, which I beg to differ,” she focused on the floor, “but whatever. Then he said he would be seein’ me real soon. Whatever that means.” She looked back up at John and shrugged.

“So long story short, what I wanted to say was, I’m not sure Jenkins is our culprit for those cows being dead. Somethin’ about Malcolm and his brother doesn’t sit straight with me. He was fishin’ for somethin’, but I don’t know what.” Her cheeks were flushed by the time she was finished. Stella felt like she was on trial. Especially with the way everyone just looked at her angrily and didn’t say anything. “You can choose to believe me, or not, but I’m tellin’ you right now somethin’ ain’t right.”

“Damn it.” John looked to his son. “Kayce, what did you find out from Jenkins?”

Kayce watched Stella, who focused on John. She turned her body to face the patriarch, trying to pretend she was anywhere but in the room with them. He announced. “Wasn’t Jenkins.”

Rip mumbled a cuss to himself. That meant they were dealing with a different player; and that player was bigger, and seemingly interested in Stella.

“How do we know it wasn’t him?” John asked.

“I looked him in the eye and it wasn’t him.” Kayce made direct eye contact with his dad.

“I can also attest that he wouldn’t know the first thing about cows or how to kill them.” Stella added.

She finally locked eyes with Kayce. He looked tired. “You okay?” Everyone could tell there was something deeper behind her question. Even though it seemed like she wanted to be out of any room Kayce was in.

“It went fine.”

Stella scowled at him for ignoring her actual question.

“Let me talk to my son please.” John excused the three of them. Stella wasn’t sure what was going on, but if it meant she could escape, she’d take it.

Kayce stayed behind to talk to his father. At first they talked about something Kayce had done in war that had changed him forever. His heart raced just reliving the memory. If he could go back and have it happen differently, he would in a heartbeat. Kayce wanted to leave, but John stopped him.

“What’s going on with you and Stella?”

Kayce sighed. “Nothing dad.”

“Her looking like she was about to claw her way out of the window to get away when you went in on her says otherwise.” John leaned back against his desk smugly. He was almost certain he knew what was coming.

“There is nothing going on between Stella and I. Nothing.” He tried to be stern in his answer to get his dad to stop asking. He was confused as to what was going on himself. He had fucked up. Simple as that.

John stayed quiet and examined his son. Kayce’s face was flushed, and his voice let John know he was confused. If he didn’t know any better, he would say Kayce looked like he was going to panic. He looked like he was in love. That’s how he had looked when he found Evelyn.

Kayce couldn’t take the silence any longer. “Okay fine! We slept together. So what?”

‘Ah. There it was.’ John thought to himself as he breathed out a chuckle. This wasn’t when or how he thought this conversation would come up, but he knew it would cross him one day. “And when was that?”

Kayce looked down. “A few days ago.” He refused to tell his father that it was more than once.

“And you just got back from visiting with Monica? Now I understand why she wanted to leave so badly.” John worked out. He watched as his son squirmed. “How did things go with Monica, by the way? Especially with this new,” there was no real way for him to say this delicately, “development.”

“I don’t wanna talk about it dad.”

“But you’re gonna have to sooner or later.”

“She wants a divorce.”

“What for?”

“A lot of things.”

John crossed his arms. “What are you gonna do, son? Because that woman out there has stood behind you through thick and thin. Even after you broke her, she still made sure you were okay. Didn’t like that you ignored her actual question, but she still did it.”

Kayce got frustrated and slammed his hand against the door. “I don’t know! On one hand Monica is my wife, the mother of my son, the lov—,” he stopped himself. He didn’t know if he was choked up, or if he couldn’t actually bring himself to say it.

“— But?” John interrupted.

“I don’t know, dad. I just — I don’t know.”

Making it to the door, Stella started to pick up her pace. She thought she was home free when her feet hit the porch. She would have been if Rip’s rough hand didn’t grab her elbow. Her shoulders sagged. “Listen I know you’re both angry I didn’t tell you right away, but can one more person not be mad at me today?” She looked down at the floor of the porch. “I have Ryan double mad at me, you, probably Mr. Dutton. Kayce and I are weird right now…,” she trailed off. The list could go if she thought about it hard enough.

“Yeah we noticed.” Ryan informed her crossing his arms.

Stella pulled her lips in. She hoped she had hidden it better than that. ‘Great.’

“Was it really that noticeable?”

Ryan scoffed. “You looked like you wanted to be anywhere but where Kayce was.”

“You didn’t wanna be around him the other night. You were upset about somethin’.” Rip started to put two and two together out loud for Ryan. He didn’t want to be the one to spill the beans. “Somethin’ about you broke your own heart.”

“I was really hoping that you wouldn’t have remembered that.”

“What happened between you two?” Ryan asked. Stella remained quiet with her lips pulled in. “C’mon Stell. You gotta lay it out there at some point.”

She looked out along the dark horizon line and wished she could shrink herself. It was embarrassing enough to have the thoughts run through her own head, let alone say them out loud. Especially to her brother and a man she considered a brother.

“I thought something might have changed between us, but it didn’t. I was just a hopelessly hopeless romantic caught up in my own delusion.” She moved her hands in a ‘giving up’ motion. Her voice came out more quietly than before. “It doesn’t matter.” She stepped toward the stairs. “Can we be done here? Please?”

Kayce came out of the house looking flustered. His gaze landed on Stella and both of them seemed to stop breathing. “Can I talk to you?”

Stella breathed in. “I mean, no,” she blew the breath out, “but you’re gonna keep tryin’ until I let you. So I guess.” She crossed her arms and looked at the other two men. “Can you guys give us a minute? I’ll be right behind you.”

Ryan stepped forward and Rip reached out to stop him from getting too close. He threatened the man responsible for hurting his sister. “You hurt her even more, and everything else you’re going through will be the least of your worries.” Rip grabbed his shoulder to direct him to the horses.

Stella watched them trot off. Ryan gave her one last look and she nodded to him. It was quiet behind her, and she was half expecting Kayce to be gone when she turned around. Holding her head as high as she could, she pivoted around to face him. She fixed her glasses and sniffed. “Well, let’s have it.”

Kayce got a good look at her face. She looked humiliated. He had hurt her badly. He was afraid it was past the point of repair. “I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, me too Kayce.” She looked down, sullen.

“I shouldn’t have come onto you like that. We shouldn’t have done it at all. I ruined a perfectly good friendship.”

“Yeah I know it was a mistake. Is that all you wanted to say? Because I could live without the embarrassment of hearing, let's just pretend this never happened.”

“No. I wanted to tell you Monica and I decided to co-parent, but we can’t go back to each other.”

“Okay that’s great, but now I feel dirty. Like I was just a distraction, which I mean I was. A distraction for you at my expense. I just don’t know if I can get past that.”

Unbeknownst to the two of them, John had snuck out onto his porch to hear how this would play out.

Kayce started, “I understand, but—,” and Stella interrupted him.

“— Do you really have any grounds to stand on to place a ‘but’ in there? I was blinded by the feelings I’ve had for you since we were kids and somehow, whether you realized it or not, you used it to your advantage.” Her eyes stung. “I thought I was always safe with you.” She said in a small voice. “And to find out I wasn’t, hurts. I let you past everything I had put up.” John tilted his head to the side. She had a point. “So I’m gonna go. I just wanna be left alone.” She spun around to make her way down to the bunkhouse.

Kayce stood there defeated. He knew he’d fucked up big time. If she ever talked to him again, he would be surprised. He heard footsteps on the porch. He turned and saw his dad.

“So how are you gonna make this right, son?”

“I’m gonna respect her and leave her be. I’ve already done enough damage.” He walked off and hopped in his truck.

#yellowstone #kayce dutton #yellowstonetv #luke grimes #ian bohen #ryan #kayce dutton fan fiction #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone fanfiction #kayce dutton fanfic

[jeankluv]

Snow on the beach || Trafalgar Law x fem!reader

Words: 2k

Warnings: doffy 😩, Kidd being a shit

Notes: hello it’s been awhile since I posted here, but soon enough I will be back with more chapters and more stories. Just wait a little bit more. This chapter was shorter than it usually is, I hope y’all don’t mind but SOON we will have Law and y/n back and their dating era will began 🥰

Previous chapter || Materialist || Next Chapter

Chapter XI: 5 days for the trip

Law leaned against the large window of the room they had given him. That day he was the first he was able to rest since he had left with Doflamingo. When she told him that she needed his services as a doctor, she didn't think it would be to treat him, she thought it would be for experimentation with some of his damn drugs or something like that.

But when Doflamingo gave him the report he had to read, he was in for a big surprise. He was sick and didn't have much time left. Shortly afterward he heard Doflamingo tell Clover that he needed to settle all matters before he died. Law couldn't deny it, when he was aware that Doflamingo would die he felt that at last he could be free, he could return home and he wouldn't have to worry again that Cora-san or now you could be in danger.

Law turned his head and looked at the phone resting on the table. He knew that he should call Cora-san, so as not to worry him and so that he knew that everything was fine. But he just couldn't do it, he was afraid that Cora-san would ask him questions and that he would end up finding out where she really was.

Then someone knocked on the door, Law took large strides towards it, opening it and finding Baby5 and Buffalo smiling at him on the other side. Law rolled his eyes as soon as he saw her, he didn't want to see any of the family and he had made it clear that if it wasn't for medical things he didn't want to have to see any of those people.

“Always so rude Law.” Baby5 spoked.

Law snorted and leaned against the door frame, his face serious. "What do you want?"

“Doffy is searching for you.” Buffalo spoke this time.

“Okay, I will be there soon. Now leave.” He said and closed the door on their face.

Law walked over to his bed and sat on it. Not more than an hour ago, he had been with Doflamingo checking his vitals, what did he want now?

He checked his phone once again, he wanted to call… maybe after meeting up with Doflamingo he would. Yeah, he would.

He stood from the bed and started going to the reunion room. When he opened the door he saw Doflamingo, pale and with Trebol by his side, checking some papers.

“What did you want?” Law said in the coldest tone.

“Oh here you are Law…” Doflamingo said, leaving the papers on the side. “I need your help on something.”

“No. Our agreement was for me to help you with your health. I’m not going to help you with anything else.”

Doflamingo smiled, but he knew it was not a happy smile. He hated that smile. “You know what I can do Law. So be good and don’t make your loved ones suffer.”

Law clenched his fists, he hated it. He hated that place. The people in front of him. He hated every minute he had to spend there.

“So you agree, yes?” Law didn’t respond but Doflamingo already knew his answer. He smiled and hung a bunch of papers to Law. “I know you are intelligent Law, I need you to create those drugs within four days, not more days and then, our journey may end here.”

Law took the papers and left the room without saying a word. Fucking Doflamingo he thought. He threw the papers on the table and himself on the bed, he wanted to go home. And maybe this could be the opportunity. He knew he couldn’t trust Doflamingo’s word, because he could leave him alone now but appear in his life once again anytime.

He reached over to the nightstand and dialed the house number. He wanted to hear Cora-san's voice, know that everything was okay there and ask about you. The phone rang three times before it was picked up on the other end.

“Hello?” Law breath stopped for a moment when he heard your voice on the other side. He sat on the bed and he swallowed to moisten his dry throat again.

“Hi…” Law could hear a sigh of joy on the other side and a smile appeared on his face.

“Law!” It wasn’t a question but an affirmation, you knew his voice too well and the relief you felt with a simple hi was unimaginable. “I can’t believe it’s you. How are you? Are you okay? Are they treating you well? Do you need something? Are you in danger and that’s why you are calling?”

Law laughed hearing you talking so fast. “My peachie calm down, I’m okay, everything is okay.” You didn’t respond. “Y/n you still there?”

“Yeah… sorry but you just…”

“I just what?”

“Call me yours…” Law felt his cheeks burn, did he do that? Oh god he was so He was so caught up in listening so worried and talking so fast that he didn't really think before.

“Oh… I mean… I…” He sighed, he was really bad with feelings and everything that had to do with relationships.

“It’s okay Law. It just caught me off guard but… I liked it. Although first you should invite me on a date.” Law smirked, hell he would do that. Once he was back home he was going to take you to his favorite place and ask you to be your boyfriend.

“I will. Just wait a little bit more.”

“You know… in five days, the group will be going on a trip for a couple of days… I would like for you to be there… if it’s possible.”

Law through his head to the back, five days… Doflamingo asked him to have the drug ready in 4 days. If everything went right he would be able to go back for the trip, he would make sure everything went right.

“I will try.” He heard you humed on the other side with a happy tone. “So everything is okay around there?”

“Eh…” You doubted. “Yeah! Everything is great, perfect.”

“Mhm… You don't sound very sure.”

“I’m just tired, don't worry.”

“Okay, I will believe you but you know you can tell me everything you want and I will be there for you.”

“I know and you know the same goes to you right?” He smiled hearing your tone. “Talk to me Law because I’m here for you. So don’t push me away. I’m here.”

“I know…” Fuck he was so down for you. “I need to leave, I have to start working in one thing so I can go back as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Take care… I… yeah take care.” And you hang out without waiting for his reply.

Law looked at his phone and smiled. He wished he could see your first in that instant because it was so red.

You put down the phone and started cursing, almost telling him “I love you” when the only thing you had shared was a kiss before he left, almost three weeks ago. You looked around the room, Bepo was asleep by the fireplace and the house was silent. Corazon, he had asked you for the favor of bringing him some packages that had arrived at his house. Since you had nothing better to do, you agreed and that's when Law called home and you picked up.

You had felt a weight lift off of you when you heard his voice and when he then told you everything was fine.

When he asked you if everything was okay, you honestly wanted to tell him about Kidd but that would only make him worry. You never thought you would meet the boy you had been hanging out with and with whom you had spent a night in that place. In some way you were trying to forget your past and destiny seemed to want the opposite.

—2 days ago—

You swallowed dryly, you felt like the air in your lungs had disappeared. What was Eustass Kidd doing in a place like that? The urge to vomit rose to your throat when you remembered a certain person.

“Hello sir.” He greeted Corazon.

You wanted to laugh, sir? Since when was he so polite?

“Oh!” You looked at him and there he was looking right at you, Corazon’s big body wasn’t covering you and Kidd could see you perfectly. “I know you! You hooked one time!” You wanted to throw yourself into the water and drown in that instant. “Yeah your name was…?” He started to think. “Jessica?”

“It’s y/n.”

“That’s right y/n, Anna’s shy friend.” You wanted to drown and drown and drown.

“Well Kidd, we will be heading out.” Corazon entered the conversation when he noticed your pale face.

“Oh sure.” He smirked. “And y/n!” He said when you were turning to leave. “If you want to repeat what we did that night you know where to find me.” And he winked at you.

You were dizzy and sick, and the ride in the car was not helping to get that sickness away. How could you have a crush like him? Disgusting.

“So… Was he your boyfriend?” Corazon finally spoke.

“Nah… he was just a stupid boy I had a crush on.” Corazon nodded. “Bad decisions.”

“And from those bad decisions we learn right?”

“I guess you are right?”

—Present day—

You went outside with Bepo and started playing with him, you don't know for how long. But then Bepo stood next to you and started barking. When you turned to see who was barking you found Kidd walking towards where you were with his arms raised as if asking for mercy.

“Don’t worry I’m not here to harm anyone.” He joked.

“Bepo… It’s okay.” You said as you pet his head. “What do you want Kidd?”

“We didn’t talk much the other day.”

“And why would you want to talk? You literally didn’t know my name.”

“Listen that’s a…”

“You are a fuck boy, I know…” You looked to the sea. “My stupid old self didn’t realize it sooner.”

He let a laugh out. “Okay yeah… I’m a slut if you wanted to call it that way but listen…” He holds your hand. “I’m so-”

“Don’t touch me. And don’t be sorry.” You step one foot away. “I’m not going to hook up with you again. I have a boyfriend.”

Law wasn’t your boyfriend but he would be.

“Oh… and where is the boyfriend at?”

“He is out of town but he will come back soon.”

“Y/n are you sure you’re just not being tough on me? I like tough girls.”

Disgusting. “Kidd leave me alone. Or I will inform the police.”

He rolled his eyes. “Agh! Never mind, you are not even that hot. Your friend Anna was a way better option than you.”

You felt a stab in your stomach. You had always thought Anna was absolutely beautiful but being told that way left you broken. But you held it together and tried not to flinch as you watched Kidd disappear as you entered what had once been your old house. You knelt next to Bepo and hid your face in his fur, your eyes stung but you weren't going to cry, no.

You spent a while longer on the beach with Bepo until you heard Corazo's car being parked in front of the porch of his house. You greeted him from afar and returned home to eat. You told Corazon about the call with Law and how he would probably come sooner than expected. Corazon was surprised but also greatly relieved to know that Law could be home again.

You said goodbye to Corazon around five in the afternoon, you had agreed to go buy some things for the trip with Robin and Nami. As you left the house you could see that Kidd was there, as he had the lights on. You still didn't understand, like a spoiled child, how he had ended up here.

But the truth was that you didn't care much and the only thing you hoped was that he would leave town as soon as possible and never have to see him again.

5 days, in 5 days it was possible that you would see Law again... Now that you thought about it coldly, how you were going to behave after seeing each other in person again, after the last time you kissed under the snow. God, your cheeks felt hot just thinking about it.

Final note: shorter chapter than I usually make but I felt like I needed to tell somethings before going to the chapter(s) of the trip. I hope everyone is enjoying this silly story of mine. Leave a comment and a like. Thank you ❤️

Tag list: @smolracoon25 @phsycochan @punem699 @norasincubi @myeahnaise

#law x reader #trafalgar d law x reader #trafalgar law x reader #trafalgar law x y/n #one piece x reader #law x you #trafalgar law x you

[ram-bam-writes]

Reluctancy pt. 2 [Kyle Garrick x NB Reader]

A/N: A bit shorter than last time, but we get to the good stuffs next chapter ehehe >:3

Summary: Deciding to trust the strange Captain for now, Garrick decides to take things to the rest of his team. After a thorough interrogation, he and the 141 learn of the Adders’ mishap and what it means for the state of innocent people. And they need to act fast… even if it means fighting alongside the percieved enemy.

CW: Mentions of blood/injuries/scars (non-explicit), mentions of biochemical warfare, some cursing, interrogation (light), no beta we die like soap, etc

Word Count: 2182

[Pt.1] [Pt.2]

It’s a strange thing, you think, to need his help. You’ve been the Captain for the Adders for years now, something of a family business, and you’d never needed anybody’s help before. The Adders worked as a pack of themselves, but hardly engaged with anyone else. You were in and out with your operations, stealing intel when you could and planning attacks as needed.

And for years, you’d been on the radar of most anti-terrorist organizations. With the state of the world, and the fact that your team is comprised of just about every demographic known to man and held no loyalty to any region, you’d been blacklisted by most countries. 

And you accepted that.

Mostly because no one could find the Adders. Your team had been careful. It was easy, too. With no matching demographics, you and a group of your soldiers could be near each other with little to no suspicion. And it was easy to talk politics when none of you looked the same. To the untrained eyes, it seemed like you were discussing cultural differences. There was no connections.

The only identifier was you. 

You knew everyone on your team by heart. You loved each and every one of them, ensuring the best care was given. And when one was injured just a little too much for your liking, you gave them a quick out and a place to go. How could you not? The Adders weren’t bad. They just weren’t… legal. You were… vigilantes. When world leaders said no, you said why not. 

If only you could persuade the 141 of that. 

“So let me get this straight,” Ghost growls, eyes narrowed behind his mask. “Your team went rogue and you want our help to get ‘em back?”

You purse your lips. Why did they insist that your team went rogue? You didn’t say that, even if it was the truth. Why was Garrick so adamant about that being the truth? And why did he need to tell everyone?

“No. They got taken,” you argue, voice firm.

But you’re met with silence. Garrick, after collecting the photos from a secure file on your USB, had taken you to an interrogation room beneath the barracks. After getting everyone else involved — irritating you to no end — you’d been strapped to the chair and left at their mercy.

“Y’know, I really don’t trust that.” Was Soap always so passive aggressive? Or was Ghost rubbing off on him… “Gaz, why’d you bring ‘em, brother? You know the Adders ain’t a friendly group.”

Gas, currently leaning against the corner of the room with his arms crossed and signature blue hat covering his eyes, offers a low rumble of a hum. “Did I not tie them to this chair?”

“That’s not the point, mate, and you know it,” Ghost growls. “You should’ve killed this snake when you got the chance.”

At this point, you are content to glare at the empty space on the wall. Part of the reason you never wanted them involved was their backgrounds. Having to figure out a way to get each of them to trust you was a hassle you aren’t looking forward to. 

“Can we focus?” You seethe, finally glaring at the Captain of the 141. “My team is gettin’ their asses sold by the Cartel and none of y’all wanna fix this? I know where they are. This can’t be that hard to take!”

Price, keeping an eye from afar, takes a drag from his cigar. He stares at you for a long moment. “Why are you in such a rush? Does your little team not have the capacity to handle themselves?”

“That’s the look of-a irritated leader, Captain,” Garrick comments, eyes flickering from under his hat. He looks… angry? “Their team is goin’ against ‘em.”

May the gods above help your patience. “Will you shut up about the Adders? Of course I’m irritated. None of you are taking this seriously!”

“Y’could always just tell us, lad.” Soap leans closer, his eyes dangerously dark. “Tell us why the rush.”

…

…

…

You sigh. They needed to know, it seemed.

“They got themselves access to a biochemical weapon known as the CMACC. Chemically Modified Arsenic-Cadmium Compound. The CMACC was designed by a military facility in Northern France.”

All four of the men sit up a little, eyeing each other cautiously.

“The operation the Adders went on was to retrieve the CMACC, abduct the scientist responsible, and destroy any and all trace of scientific notes about it.” Garrick’s tone is low. “That didn’t go to plan, did it?”

“I lost all contact with the Adders shortly after receiving the notification that they’d collected it. Five hours later, Mexican news outlets had their hands on a mysterious outbreak in a remote city. Arsenic and Cadmium contact.” 

Your eyes lower. You hadn’t meant for this to happen. You wanted the weapon destroyed, not used. Not mass produced. So when one of your retired soldiers gave you insight to their plans of straight up terrorism, you knew you needed to react. The 141 is your only hope at this point. If you aren’t careful, you won’t be able to protect anybody. 

“So why now?” You blink up at Price’s voice. “Why come to us now?”

“The Adders want to use the CMACC as way to… threaten the people. If they don’t give up information on the Cartel…” Soap finishes for you. “They’ll set ‘em off… Fuckin’ hell… It’s Shadow all over again.”

You bite your lips at that. You’d worked with Shadow Co really closely in the past, up until a recent mishap had you questioning your f— your coworker. Had you really become another Shadow Co? No… Maybe your Adders did. But you hadn’t.

“I don’t know why my Adders turned,” You admit. “I don’t know why they went rogue. They’re better than that, I know it.”

Price leans forward tone quieting as he asks, “Then why do you think it’s them?”

“An old friend sent me intel. And if that wasn’t enough, I woke up on the streets with nothing but a snake-shaped brand in the middle of my arm,” you bitterly say, teeth gritting. “Bruises on every inch of my skin and blood in my mouth…”

Garrick takes several quick steps over, lifting up your sleeves and removing the bandage he’d put on. Sure enough, the 141 earns the sight of sickly skin, and a set of knife carvings in the shape of an adder. And right along the center was a large, deep X. 

They left the Adders.

Garrick hadn’t said anything at the time. But he’d seen it, and he tried not to let it get in his head. He doesn’t trust it. But the bitter tone you hold and the gloss in your eyes tugs at his heartstrings more than he’ll ever admit.

“They aren’t lying, either,” Garrick says to the team. “Couldn’t even walk on their own.”

“Thanks,” you mutter bitterly. But, in all fairness, you don’t see the way his deep brown eyes glimmer. You miss the subtle glance he gives you, and then Price, the moment you lower your gaze.

Price nods slowly and brings his hands up to his beard. At this point, a new danger has appeared. It’s not just the classic Cartel crash or an arms deal. This is a weapon that can cause far too much damage for anyone’s liking. 

“Alright,” Price’s gruff voice rings out, adjusting his position to fold his arms across his chest. “We’ll head out. On two conditions, Captain.”

You nod quietly from your seat. At this point, you’re desperate for help. You’ve got no where else to go, and no one else who will listen. It doesn’t help that Soap and Ghost are talking amongst themselves, eyes unamused and filled with a deep and unwarranted look of displeasure. 

Price takes a dangerous step closer. One of his large hands rests firmly against your shoulders, his hat covering the tops of his eyes in a threatening way.

“A: You’re attached at the hip to Sergeant Garrick.” Though he tries, Price silence Garrick with a firm look. “And B: You turn yourself in the moment this all is over.”

You swallow. None of what your team did was bad. Not until now. But… you lead them. You’re the common denominator, as unfortunate and unfair as it is. 

You have no choice. “Yes, Sir.”

“Aye, “But don’t expect me to go easy on them.” Garrick says, taking in a deep breath and looking around at the rest of the 141.

“Kill them if they get outta hand,” Price seethes, walking out the door. “No sweat off my back.”

With that, the rest trail out behind the Captain. And you’re left in the dark room with your thoughts while they, presumably, gear up.

———

“Move.”

You might actually explode. 

After a lot of convincing, Price had eventually given you access to the armory to suit up. It wasn’t fancy, nor was it organized, but it’d work. Gaz delivered your uniform back to you, which had still been in his room. You promptly discarded the Adder patch, and Ghost fitted you with a bulletproof tac vest and a thigh holster. 

They didn’t let you fill it.

Gaz had kept an eye on you, just as Price has ordered. His dark gaze always stayed on your hands, watching for the slightest hint of movement that you might try to sabotage them. After, your bicep was held by the annoyed Sergeant, dragging you to the helicopter that Nik had prepared. 

Which is what lead you to this moment. Being squished up against the Sergeant, who has his eyes locked firmly on you. He pushes at your legs, attempting to scoot you away further. Instead, you get pinned to the metal wall of the helo, which elicits a low growl out of you. 

There’s a moment of regret when Gaz’ hand comes out to pin you against the edge of the airborne vehicle, grip all too tight. 

“I said move,” he seethes, eyes searching your entire body. For what, you aren’t sure, but you’re aware that they drag up and down your entire form before releasing you. “Snake…”

Maybe if the bitter taste your old team left in your mouth wasn’t so fresh, that insult wouldn’t have stung so much. What would it take for them to realize you’re trying to fix this. You didn’t want this! You never did. But there’s not much to do. Nothing but sit and take the insults. Lords know they’re all waiting for any excuse to end your life they can get their hands on. 

You keep yourself crimped up against the wall, not daring to make the Sergeant any more irritated than he already is. So you resort to just… watching the scene. The way that Garrick fiddles with a patch in his hands, one you can’t quite make out but assume is his 141 patch, and the way his eyes seem lost in thought.

He looks conflicted, in a way. He prolly doesn’t want to do this. In a way, you don’t blame him — Any of them. After what happened with Shadow Company, you almost expected to be shot on sight. And if they knew, they might think the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree. But that apple had rolled far, far away, right?

At least, you thought.

Shadow Company had been good at one point. Maybe morally ambiguous, but… they meant to protect people. 

So did the Adders.

And look where that lead to.

Maybe the apple was still attached to the tree...

“We’re ‘ere…” Soap’s voice echos through the comms device around your neck. “Get ‘em ready, lad.” Gaz nods, grasping your arm with a vice grip. “You think I’m lettin’ them go?”

A loud roar of a laugh leaves the Scotsman, his eyes shimmering as he punches the Sergeant’s shoulder. It’s an endearing sight to you, if a bit painful. It reminds you of some of your own soldiers, the ways they’d tease and taunt and just… exist. Like normal people. Not soldiers, not bloody fields, not knocking on deaths door at every corner. Just… people.

You miss them.

If it weren’t for Gaz shaking you up and yanking you out of the helicopter in front of everyone else, you probably would have cried. But Gaz doesn’t waste any time, dragging your body roughly through the golden fields of Tecate, Mexico and towards the safe house on a nearby hill. 

The warehouse is nothing fancy, but that’s sort of the point. It’s meant to be secluded, dark, and unnoticeable. And the inside isn’t any better. Dingy furniture, processed and canned rations, dust and grime on every inch of the wall, and the foul scent of mold fills the environment. The Sergeant doesn’t ease his grip on you when you sniffle, blinking back tears that threaten to spill at his roughness.

You’re tossed to the floor of a secluded room and locked inside. For now, it seems this is how you’ll be. Not even the pain in your wrists from the all too tight zip-ties can distract you from it all. Tied up and left to think of your old team, the parallels to your father, and the way Gaz or the rest of the 141 didn’t even pay you any mind. You really don’t exist to them outside of the label ‘Terrorist,’ no matter what you do.

What a bitter pill to swallow.

#kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle garrick x reader #kyle gaz x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle garrick #gaz x reader #gaz garrick

[justkending]

Finding Memories. Chapter 8.

Series Summary: Waking up with little to no memory of her past, and being saved by a group of individuals who call themselves heroes, sends a long time captive for a whirlwind trying to find some form of grounding in this world she quickly learns runs on chaos. But she’s not the only one trying to figure out her forgotten backstory. Bucky Barnes, along with the other Avengers, can’t help but sense that there is a lot more to the whole situation than a diagnosis of amnesia. Her background slowly starts to come forward in pieces of her past and hidden information discovered. Who is she? And why was she in the room they were meant to destroy?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader 

Word Count: 2700+

TW: Torture, cussing, and blood. 

A/N: Sorry for this being so late. I had a majority of it written, but wasn’t sure how to wrap this chapter up. It’s also a little shorter than my other chapters, but it’s got some good things in it to make up for the length. Anyway! Thank you all for the support and continued sweet comments! I love hearing what y’all get from it:) xoxoxo

Chapter 8:

"Did you see that?" Y/N asked, hoping the answer would be no.

Wanda looked at her arms, then back at her, then back to Nat all with her mouth still open in shock.

"I think she saw," Nat chuckled, impressed with the hit Y/N had done to put her across the room. She stood up pretty easily as all the hit really did was push her a little hard. She managed to slide across the mat due to the power though.

Wanda seemed to snap out of it some and walked up with a scoff.

"No, I'm clearly in shock at her new haircut," Wanda sassed, getting up close. "Very cute by the way," she added casually before going back to the scene she just witnessed. "I would need to be blind to not have seen that," she sassed again with a snap. "What the hell was that?"

Y/N was looking down at her arms in fear almost. But it was fear having to do with not knowing how the hell she just did something like that.

Then it was as if the realization of her action came down on her fast.

"Oh, God! Nat, are you ok?" she asked in a hurried concern. Her hands came up to check on Nat, but she stopped herself quickly and brought them back to her, holding them close to her body. She wasn't sure what would happen after seeing what she had just done. "I didn't mean- I mean I-," she began stuttering.

"Hey, it's ok," Nat reassured, looking at her in the eyes to show her unphased expression. "I've taken much harder hits, and that was still nothing more than an intense shove."

"Intense shove is one way to put it," Wanda sent the thought to Nat telepathically. "Do you know how you did that?"

Y/N was looking at the floor now and trying to replay the scenario. She closed her eyes tightly as she pieced together what could have triggered it.

"I-I," she stammered but stopped and took a deep breath, standing up a little straighter. "Nat and I were just trying to reenact parts of the attack from the other night to try and trigger something that happened."

Wanda's eyebrows shot up some at that, but she pushed the voices of Steve and Bruce to the side as she continued to listen.

"I would just like it on record that I was not actually physically fighting her," Nat threw her hands up in defense.

"It's true," Y/N nodded, still trying to center herself some. "But we had exhausted all of our other ideas, and the repetitive motions on the punching bag weren't giving us the reactions we were hoping for." She paused to try to think of how to explain her next thought. "When we actually started sparring, my muscle memory kicked in enough for me to hold my own somewhat, but..." She cringed at the thought. "When she went for her last move, I didn't see her... I saw a man raising a fist at me. It was like I wasn't even in this room..."

"Was it a memory?" Wanda asked, knowing that the last time something was triggered in her, she had seen the man connected to the Starry Night painting.

"I'm not sure, but it seemed too real to just be a made-up sight," she nodded. "All I know is when I went to block the hit, something in me felt like it was... I don't know the word for it."

"Familiar?" Nat said for her.

"Yeah, but all of it was like a door opened and something just burst out of me," she scrunched her nose not sure if that made any sense. "I truly don't know a better way to explain it."

Wanda had taken everything she said and nodded along, already slightly a step ahead of the two.

Then it looked like a new fear began to settle in.

"You guys can't tell anyone," Y/N looked at the two. "Not yet at least. I don't even know what that was. I don't want them to be scared of me," she shook her head, drawing her hands closer to her chest.

"I can promise you right now, that's not going to scare them. We've all seen much stranger and crazier things. This is just a normal Tuesday," Nat shrugged. "But don't worry. This stays between us three until you're ready. Right, Wanda?" She turned to their friend.

She nodded dramatically before going on. "I think we should try to figure this out more before we try and explain this to anyone else."

"Wait," Y/N paused after they agreed. "What about my case though? This could help solve pieces of it and-"

"Y/N, you let us worry about that part," Nat put her hands on her shoulders to ground her. "I'm a pretty good spy. I'll see if this plays as an answer to anything we have questions for, and I'll let you know. Then you can decide if you want this getting out yet or not."

"But what about Bucky?" she asked.

"What about Bucky?" Wanda pushed on. The want to smirk was hard to push down, but she accomplished it.

"He's been trying to figure this out ever since he saved me and brought me here. I don't know how I feel about lying to him about this," she said, truly upset with the thought of it.

"Y/N, you're not going to be lying to him," Nat shook her head. "You'll just be waiting until you're comfortable to let him know. It's like stretching out the truth."

Y/N wasn't sure if that had actually eased her worry, but she decided it was best to just wait a little longer and then let Bucky in on it all.

"We'll try and figure this out soon though so you don't feel that weight for long," Wanda smiled kindly. "Now, the first question is, do you think what you just did could have been what happened to the woman at the museum? Maybe something triggered your survival instincts then too and you had a reaction like this," she motioned to her arms and the mat.

"Possibly," she shrugged. "I can't really remember much, but after that," she looked back at the room, replaying her hit to Nat, "I felt a similar fear. I wouldn't be shocked if that was my reaction then too."

"Makes sense," Wanda nodded.

The three stood in silence, quietly each processing their thoughts and theories behind it all.

Then a knock at the door sounded, and through the glass wall, they all saw Bucky with a confused look on his face.

"Shit," Nat mumbled.

He let himself in and slowly walked into the room with all three women staring at him with weird looks.

"Hey..." he dragged out, looking more at the two redheads with an analyzing look. "I was just looking for Y/N 'cause I hadn't seen her yet this morning."

"You found her," Nat smiled, playing it off casually. "We were just showing her some self-defense moves."

"Uh huh," Bucky nodded slowly, not fully buying it, but then he turned back to Y/N in hopes to see a tell in her eyes. "How are you doing?" His more serious demeanor dropped when talking to her.

"I'm better," she answered simply. "I think learning a few of the moves Nat's shown me has eased my nerves some."

He didn't feel like she was lying, and to an extent, she wasn't. But something felt off between the three women.

"I'm glad to hear," he smiled softly at her, then quickly noticed her new look. "You cut your hair," he stated, looking at the short hairstyle she had opted for. "It looks nice."

"Thank you. I felt it was time for a change," she touched the ends of it.

"I think it's fitting," he smiled a little more before turning slightly back to the other two girls. "If you guys are wrapping things up, do you mind if I steal you away?" he asked, looking at Y/N for confirmation.

"I think we can call it a day for now," she nodded back. "You still available to help me even this out?" she asked Natasha as she pushed her hair away from her face.

They hadn't discussed meeting up for that, but Nat took the hint as a way to meet up again later.

"Yeah, just text me and I'll meet you in your room with a pair of shears," she winked.

Y/N nodded and Bucky and she began to walk out.

"Oh, Y/N!" she shouted back, getting them to turn back. "Nice work today. You're a lot tougher than you give yourself credit for," she smiled. "In more ways than one."

The comment was simple, but Y/N felt a sense of pride start to overtake her anxiety. Yes, the discovery of the new power was intimidating and terrifying to an extent, but she'd also learned that she was capable of taking care of herself if the situation called for it.

"Thank you guys, for helping me out," she nodded with a genuine smile, and a piece of Bucky was happy to see her coming out the other end stronger and more confident.

_________________________________

Bucky ended up taking her to Bruce after they left the training room. The Doctor had asked if he could do another blood sample since a substantial amount of time had passed for her blood to be less affected by all the drugs and chemicals her captors had initially used on her.

It was quick and easy. Surprisingly, Y/N wasn't phased by the needle this time around, and then they were back to their normal day.

"So, self-defense practice?" he said slowly, carefully easing into the topic. "Was that Nat or Wanda's idea?"

In their leisurely walk through the halls of the compound, Y/N snapped out of her gaze down at the floor while walking.

"Huh?" Her concentration was somewhere else and she hadn't heard his question.

"The training," he repeated softly. "Was it Nat's idea?" He figured it would be Nat more than Wanda.

"Oh, um," she shook her head, looking back down. "I was the one who actually came to her."

Bucky was slightly shocked by that because he figured that kind of activity would be traumatic to an extent. But then again, he had found her with the upper hand during the attack in the bathroom when he finished his round with his own opponent.

He processed the information quietly.

"Bucky," she stopped in her step and looked down at her hands. He halted in his steps quickly after and turned to her with a concerned look. "Something happened in that bathroom. I'm not sure what and I'm not sure how I feel about figuring it out. But, I know that I need to step out of my comfort zone in order for us to make any significant breakthroughs."

He stared at her impressed with the courage she was showing. She had seen and been through hell, and then some... But not even two full weeks of escaping it, she was already ready to go up against it again even if it meant she could get hurt in the process. Mentally, physically, and emotionally.

"You know, the best part about being here is that we have a team of experts that can do a majority of the heavy lifting when it comes to your case," he turned and stepped a step closer to her. "You don't have to do something you aren't ready for it you're not to that point yet."

She looked up seeing those steal blues looking at her in comfort.

"I know. But the biggest clues we can get are one's that start with me," she replied. A sense of desperation in her voice.

He looked at her for a second and then nodded.

"Well, in that case, let me know what you need from me and I'll do my best to provide," he nodded, placing his hands in his pockets.

"You've done more than just providing for me, Bucky. And for that I'm truly grateful," she smiled. "But can I ask you a question?" He furrowed an eyebrow but nodded her on. "Will you be able to handle seeing me hurt?" His confused look deepened. "Because this isn't going to be a painless ride for me, and I know I can handle that, whether I want to or not, but can you handle that?"

Her question was unanticipated, to say the least. But realizing over these last few weeks, though subtle and hidden behind her shy and quiet demeanor, her fight for justice had really started peaking through. And it wasn't that Bucky wasn't happy to see it, he was worried the type of plan she was hinting at was a lot more extreme than she realized.

He knew what having triggers that could send you back into the mind of someone you don't want to revisit is like.

"Truthfully? No. I don't think seeing you in pain or hurt in any way will be something I can handle," he shook his head. "But it's not my thoughts that matter in this decision. It's your life and your choice on how you want to go about this. Not mine."

If there was one thing that Bucky knew about situations like their own, it was that having a say in the choices you make was valuable beyond measure.

He noticed the grin on her lips showing relief only grew with his answer.

"Thank you," she said graciously.

"You got it," he nodded turning back to start walking again, but five feet forward, his phone began ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and checked the caller ID, and his sense of bliss disappeared. "Give me one second," he told Y/N answering the phone and taking a few steps away from her. "What's going on?"

"The second assailant woke up and she's talking," Steve answered.

He turned back to Y/N who was looking at some of the paintings on the wall as she waited. "And the first?"

"Still radio silent. But the second one acts as if she doesn't know what happened. Saying that she didn't want to do anything she did," he replied.

"The same one that was in the wall at the end of the night?" Bucky said softly.

"Yes... Buck," Steve sighed. "I think there's something bigger here at play."

Bucky dropped his head and scratched his beard thinking about what to do next. Did he take Y/N with him after she just made this declaration to help in getting them further in this investigation? Or did he wait just a little longer and see what this former assailant, turned victim, confessed to?

He knew he should have gone with the first option, but maybe it was best he heard the news first and then relayed it to her. The woman was still pretty banged up and seeing someone that you put in that state, especially when you didn't mean to, could for sure trigger the things Bucky had hoped to keep at bay.

"Ok, I'll be down there in five minutes. I'm walking Y/N back to her room," he explained.

"You found her? Where was she at?" Steve asked.

"Interesting answer to that that I will explain when I get to the med bay," Bucky hummed. "I'll be there soon."

They hung up the phone and Bucky turned back to Y/N who was walking back toward him.

"Everything ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, Steve just needs me to meet him in the lab," he answered.

She yawned with a head nod and attempted to blink away the exhaustion in her eyes.

"I think I'm going to take a shower and a quick nap anyway," she crossed her arms around her body and he could see the fatigue in how her body relaxed.

"Take care of yourself and get some rest," he nodded in agreement. "Do you want me to walk you to your room?"

"It's the opposite way of where you're going," she shook her head. "No need to worry about me, but thank you."

She sent him a small smile and started walking back to her room. Even though she declined his offer to walk her back, he still watched her until she was out of sight.

If you would like to be tagged in this series, please send an ask here.Thank you:)

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#bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes #finding memories #bucky barnes series #bucky barnes x reader insert #justkending #marvel series #marvel #marvel fanfic #bucky barnes x reader series #mcu #mcu series #bucky barnes fanfic #mcu fanfic #enhanced reader #reader insert

[delphi-dreamin]

I Just Wanna Be (The Girl You Like)

[Stream 4]

A members-only stream goes awry...

Characters: MC!Delphi, Lucifer, Mephistopheles (mentioned)

Relationship: Delphi x Lucifer (mutual pining)

Word Count: 1697

Warnings: Some anal play, praise kink, general angst~

Notes: Hey all! Still on vacation, but I got this little interlude chapter finished and thought I'd stick to schedule with it! I hope you like it! It's shorter than usual, but the next chapter should be up to the normal length.

Previous | Next

“Fucking Mephisto!” Delphi rages, slamming her door. “Fucking Mephisto and his fucking newspaper! It’s almost nothing more than a gossip rag, but everybody treats it like it’s the end-all-be-all for news in this god forsaken place! Fuck!”

Delphi shoves her thumb in her mouth as blood begins to seep from it. She hadn’t meant to cut herself on the latch to her box. But the metal had been getting rough recently and she just hadn’t had the time to sand it down. She can feel Satan’s pact mark on her thigh pulsing and burning as she makes her way to the bathroom for a bandage.

After the bleeding is stopped, she sets up her ring light and camera across from her chair like usual, then grabs a few toys from her box and lays them out on her table. She tries to settle into her chair the way she usually does, but the irritation burning in her stomach and on her leg makes it hard to find a comfortable position. So she decides to try something different.

“Hi, my loves. I’m glad y'all could join me on such short notice,” she sighs into the camera. She stands in front of it in her bra and panties, chair behind her in frame. “I’m so mad I can’t get comfortable today, so I thought I’d try something with y’all. I want y’all to walk me through what you want to see tonight. How do you want me to sit in the chair? Which toys do you want me to use? How fast and how hard do you want me to go? I want y’all to walk me through it, okay?”

There are only a few members on tonight, but the chat goes bananas. She knows Asmo is having a hell of a time moderating this, but she needs to not be in charge right now. There’s no real consensus in the chat for the first few moments, then out of nowhere, it all goes silent.

BigBadWolf has entered the chat

“Well, well,” Delphi says. “That didn’t take long. Hello, Wolf. I didn’t know if I’d see you again.”

Bigbadwolf: I tried to stay away. But I got the notification that you were online and had to see you.

Delphi scoffs, “Oh really? What happened to you?”

Bigbadwolf: Long day at school. What about you, little one? You seem angry.

“How very astute,” she huffs. “Long day at school.”

Bigbadwolf: If you don’t want me here, I can leave.

“No, by all means, stay,” Delphi sighs. She crosses her arms. “At least get in one more show before you leave.”

Bigbadwolf: All right. If you’re sure. What are we doing this evening?

“Guided masturbation, basically,” she explains, her hands moving to her hips. “You guys calling the shots. Because I had a shit day and I need to blow off steam and not make decisions.”

Bigbadwolf: Perfectly understandable. May I see your collection, little one?

Grinning, Delphi wheels her table around so that it’s in frame. There are a couple new toys on it, but a few old favorites as well. He clearly notices the newer ones.

Bigbadwolf: The plug.

It’s a black steel anal plug with a large red gem making up the base. It had been a birthday present to herself, but she hadn’t wanted to use it on the stream until she was more comfortable with it. Delphi feels her face heating up as she looks from the little plug to the bottle of lube beside it.

Bigbadwolf: On your knees in the chair, darling. Let us see.

Delphi smiles and nods, reaching back to undo the clasp of her bra. She lets it fall to the floor, her underwear following soon after. Making eye contact with the camera, she climbs into the chair, her knees spread. She leans forward, one hand on the back rim of the chair, and reaches back with the other to spread herself open for the camera. She teases like that for a few moments, gently teasing her hole before reaching over to her table for the lube and the plug.

She coats her fingers and the plug, then begins slowly teasing herself open.

Lucifer groans watching her slowly stretch herself around the black metal. She whimpers and moans as the toy slips into her ass, pumping it in and out a few times before nestling the wide gem in place between her cheeks. She arches her back, showing off the glittering gem for a few moments before turning to make eye-contact with the camera again.

“Now what, loves?” she asks, her voice a husky whisper.

“Fuck,” Lucifer breathes.

Bigbadwolf: You are stunning, little one.

Bigbadwolf: I think you know which toy I’d like to see you use tonight, if that’s all right.

“Of course it is, darling Wolf,” Delphi replies, smiling into the camera. She reaches over to her table and grabs both of their favorite toy, bringing it into frame and to her lips. “This is the one, isn’t it, love?”

Bigbadwolf: You know it is, little tease.

Delphi finds herself laughing, unable to contain the bubbly feeling in her chest. “So I’m a tease? I thought you liked that, Wolf.”

She can practically hear the growl in the back of his throat when he responds.

Bigbadwolf: Did I say that?

“You didn’t have to,” she breathes, running her tongue up the underside of the dildo’s tip. “Where do you want it?”

Bigbadwolf: Between those pretty lips, darling.

Delphi has to stop herself from whining as she takes the toy between her lips. The tip is pointed, widening out to a thick shaft that she can barely open enough for. It makes her jaw ache and burn, but she’s happy to put on a show for her channel members.

Lucifer sighs, shifting into his demon form. He watches, entranced, as the exchange student bobs her head on the toy. Every now and then, he catches a flash of silver as she rakes her tongue over the flat tip.

Bigbadwolf: Did you ever find out who that toy was based off of?

She releases it with a wet pop, grinning and panting into the camera. She shakes her head, replying, “No, I haven’t figured it out yet. My channel manager won’t tell me. He says I have to figure it out on my own.”

Bigbadwolf: Poor thing.

“I know!” Delphi exclaims. “I have to be a damn detective!”

Lucifer chuckles, draping his wings over the arms of his chair in an attempt to get more comfortable. He sheds his outer layers, loosening his shirt collar and then undoing his slacks.

Bigbadwolf: I’m sure you can figure it out, dear Oracle. I’m told that you’re rather brilliant.

He watches as her face goes cherry red under the soft white light of her streaming setup, grinning a wolfish grin. She likes being praised, does she? He can do that.

Bigbadwolf: What’s the matter, little one? Not used to being told you’re brilliant?

Eyes wide and blush deepening, she sputters, “N-no! It’s not- I’m fine! It’s nothing!”

Bigbadwolf: Do you enjoy being praised, little Oracle?

“Wolf, please-“

Bigbadwolf: Flustered looks lovely on you, darling.

Bigbadwolf: Now, be a good girl and spread those pretty legs, hm?

Delphi hopes that the involuntary whine that rips from her throat isn’t picked up by her mic as she leans back in her chair and drops her knees open. The heat in her cheeks is almost painful as she peeks up at the camera from beneath her lashes. The throb between her legs is almost as bad as the burn in her face, as is the searing heat in Asmo’s pact mark.

“How’s this?” she breathes.

Bigbadwolf: Absolutely stunning, darling. You look so lovely spread out like that.

Bigbadwolf: Now, I want you to show me how well you can take that toy of yours.

She whimpers, but nods, lining the dildo’s pointed tip with her soaked entrance.

Something Lucifer hadn’t been expecting when he fell were the physical changes to his body between his human and demon forms. His wings and horns he knew about. What he hadn’t known about was the way his fingers would lengthen into talon-like claws, black tipped and dangerous. He hadn’t been expecting the wicked fangs, and indeed bit the inside of his cheek and his tongue several time before getting used to them.

The one he was most surprised about, though, he allows to spring free from his slacks. Milky beads of precum form on his pointed tip and he groans as he spreads it down his thick shaft in time with her. Millimeter by millimeter, inch by inch, he moves his fist at the same pace as the exchange student on his screen, imagining it was actually his cock she was sinking onto and not the silicone reproduction that Asmodeus had somehow gifted her.

When he finds out how the little shit managed it, there will be hell to pay. But for now he watches as she takes the thing down to the base, sweat covering her in a thin sheen as she pants, open-mouthed, her violet eyes glazed over with magenta.

Bigbadwolf: That’s it, lamb. You did so well.

Bigbadwolf: I'll bet you feel as amazing as you look, don’t you?

“W-Wolf!” she exclaims and he sees her shift and clench around the toy. Lucifer chuckles. That red tinge in her cheeks makes her look so much prettier.

Bigbadwolf: You should get used to being praised, little one.

“It’s not that I’m not used to it,” Delphi protests.

Bigbadwolf: Oh? Then what is it, lamb?

She shakes her head, clenching her jaw hard. Then the stream goes dark and Lucifer is left baffled. What just happened?

OracleDelphi: It’s not that I’m not used to it.

Bigbadwolf: What’s wrong, Oracle?

OracleDelphi: You’re leaving me.

OracleDelphi: You always leave the sweetest comments and you take over the chat when I do streams like this so I never have to do anything weird.

OracleDelphi: You’ve been with me since my channel started. You know me as well as my housemates do.

OracleDelphi: And now you’re leaving.

Bigbadwolf is typing…

OracleDelphi is offline

Taglist: @sassykattery @bite-sized-devil @sparkbeast20 @attic-club-sandwich @kyungjoon-do @flemmingbamse @consolationblog @rensphilia

#obey me #mc!delphi #obey me lucifer #obey me x oc #obey me lucifer x oc #obey me smut #obey me lucifer smut

[coffeeandritalin]

TGCF First Read Reactions - Ch. 2

I am absolutely in love with the entire interaction between Xie Lian and Ling Wen at the chapter’s opening. The. Entire. Thing. Is. Gold. But a few highlights…

Ling Wen: “Congratulations for placing first on the list of ‘Heaven’s Officials most anticipated to be demoted and banished to the mortal realm.’

I like you already… Is it too early to like you already?

Xie Lian: “… if you’re congratulating me, then it should still be a position worth being happy about?”

Ling Wen: “Yes, if you’re first, you can get one hundred merits.”

I don’t care if it’s too early. I’ve decided I like you (Ling Wen).

Xie Lian: “Next time, if there is another list like this, by all means, please put me on it.”

Listen here, you little sh**. I like you too.

Ling Wen: “Do you know who is in second place?”

Xie Lian: “… I alone ought to be able to take the top three places.”

Ok. You know what, you snarky little sh**? I change my mind. I love you.

Ling Wen: “That clock was even older than you. Nevertheless, it had a lively and vivacious character… However, when it fell down, it smashed into a passing Heavenly Official.”

Xie Lian: “This……Then, are they okay now?”

Ling Wen: “No, they’re still being repaired……”

Xie Lian: “I am referring to the Heavenly Official who was hit.”

I like where this woman’s priorities are. It’s official. I love her too.

- - -

“Place your bets, no take-backs! Come bet how long our Royal Highness the Crown Prince can persevere before he’ll have to descend once more!”

Ouch.

Xie Lian: “Excuse me, may I ask how I should address you, distinguished one?”

The moment he said those words, the other party became silent.

Rewinding to react: lolz. Ouch. Poor Mu Qing is trying so hard and putting on so many airs, and Xie Lian doesn’t even know who he’s talking to the whole time X-D.

He (Xie Lian) didn’t have much, but he could definitely still lose a lot of face.

I mean…. I don’t want to go through whatever this dude has gone through to reach this level…. But I aspire to reach this level of ‘no f***s given’

Xie Lian had just said the words ‘still okay’ when he heard a voice roar, “Who the f*ck dismantled my golden palace!? Come out!”

Lolz at this man’s luck.

Mu Qing laughed twice. “Haha.”

The person who came coldly said, “You were the one who tore it down? Alright, wait for it.”

This person clearly gets lots of cardio jumping to conclusions.

Also, there’s clearly some sh** going on between you two. Y’all good?

Oh. This chapter was so much shorter. Okay then. Moving along!

#tgcf #tgcf novel #tgcf first read

[kyuyua]

Sunrise After Sunset 🌅 Progress Update: In the works

So it’s been two years since I’ve updated Sunrise After Sunset over on Ao3 (and Wattpad) and besides answering some comments the few times I check my inbox and that one ask that kicked my brain into gear a bit, I haven’t been saying much about what my plans exactly are for working on SAS? That’s mostly because I’m paranoid and if I say things out loud I’m less likely to do them, but y’all deserve a bit of relief.

To start, nope, haven’t written anything since I went on that unannounced hiatus that faithful August 2020. SAS has been sitting in my docs collecting dust while I’ve been hopping around fandoms as usual. I get the most motivation to actually want to write something when I’m into the thing I’m writing for at the moment, and by the time school started that year I was both busy and getting into a new fandom, which was bad news for my motivation. Didn’t help that I was stuck on how to write the next chapter.

Still, like I’ve always said, I absolutely love the idea for SAS and refuse to give up on it. It just took me until I got back into One Piece wholeheartedly to start looking into it again. At the moment, I’m going to have to re-familiarize myself with One Piece and all it’s intricacies, as well as my stupid jumbled notes that I wrote in a NOTEBOOK LIKE AN IDIOT LIKE WHY ME WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT—

(sigh) Yeah no, don’t let its pristine condition fool you—the mess in there is another reason I didn’t try to pick up SAS again faster…

But anyway, once I do all that stuff, it’ll still be a while until I update new content! I plan to rewrite everything and do some major editing since there were things I’m not happy with now and even some things I disliked when I was writing the fic. It’s gonna be a lot of work, and I’m extremely lazy (if the past two years have said anything) but for SAS I’m (maybe, just a little bit) willing to work for it :’)

After the revision stuff I’m going to prepare a shit ton of chapters before publishing for y’all because you guys DESERVE new content, holy god I’m so sorry. That you’re all still waiting patiently even though I’m the most suckiest asshole of an author on the planet makes me want to work even harder for y’all to finally put your waiting to rest. If it was your plan to guilt trip me all along it’s definitely working—god I love y’all ;-;-;-; It’ll take longer to get anything out but it gives you guys a lot more content to read through in a shorter amount of time than if I were to write every chapter before publishing them like I’ve been doing.

Once I start going through the process I’ll update SAS’s status in the summary as well as make a short progress post here on Tumblr. I don’t know how many of you are even reading this essay but to those of you who are here this is all for you. I originally started writing this fic because I wanted to see the idea out on a screen with words and words to its name. It was just a little project for me, but now I have all of you to share it with and I’m so sorry for keeping so much of it away from you all for so long. You’ll have to wait a bit longer before any true updates are made to the fic, but hopefully it won’t be as long this time :))

I can’t give an exact date or even an estimate of when I’ll start publishing new chapters because I’m horrible at both keeping promises and time management. Feel free to shout at me in my asks or in the comments to make sure I’m actually being productive!!! I’ll probably be caught red-handed but that sort of thing helps me get off my ass the best—is that weird? I plan to start a new discord server specifically for SAS and any future fics I may or may not have, so be on the look out for that update post!!!

Thank you guys so much for your patience. I really don’t deserve you. Know I love and appreciate you all so so so much ^^ ❤️

#sunrise after sunset #sas #my fic #sas progress update #progress update #one piece #op #time travel fix it #lawlu #zosan #please scream at me I welcome it with open arms #any ideas you guys have are also welcome #my brain is only so big (as in not very)

[aubzikins]

Fate's Hand Chapter 13: Discussion

***This chapter is going to be a shorter one. But its the needed conversation for the guys and Nia.***

We head downstairs holding hands as Hyunjin pulls my hand up to his lips, softly kissing my hand and smiling at me. When we reach the dining area, Felix looks up at me and smiles. I’m sure he heard everything and it’s kind of hot that he heard it and was smiling about it.

Breakfast was simple but delicious. Felix had made some rice on top of the eggs and sausage that Changbin had started cooking more of. Everyone was awake now and it warmed my heart seeing them all smile when they saw me.

“Hey Noona, you wanted a family meeting?” I.N. asks.

“Well, I asked if we could have a sit down and talk about things.” I say.

“So yeah, family meeting then…” I.N. smiles.

I feel my face blush and I smile back trying to calm my nerves. “Um…” I started to panic a little with trying to discuss this.

Chan sits next to me with his hand on my lower back and Changbin grabs my hand, “You want me to talk about it?” he asks.

We were supposed to have a family meeting to discuss the events of the past 24 hours and I was nervous. To the point that I couldn’t even think straight.

“Nia has accepted myself, Hyunjin, Felix and Channie as her boyfriends. We all really like her and wanted to see if we could try and make this work. She has expressed that if more of us would like to date her as well, she'd be open to the idea.” Changbin says and then looks at me. I nod in agreement.

“When did this all happen?” Seungmin asks.

“Yesterday…” I say nervously.

“Was it intended?” asks I.N.

“No, I didn’t even know y’all were gonna be here when I arrived in Japan…” I look at I.N. a little hurt.

“I didn’t mean to say it in an accusatory manner, Noona…” he says as he bows his head in apology.

“To be fair I didn’t think any of y’all thought of me in any other way than a friend that you messaged from time to time. The fact that y’all showed up to spend time with me and what not, surprised me.” I continue to say.

“I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that all of us seemed to like you after the first night we met. You treated us like normal human beings and you protected our Channie…” says Han with a smile.

“That kind of makes me sad in a way, you guys deserve the world, and I can’t provide that to you. So, the least I can do is be here for y’all. I wish I could do so much more…” I say and look down to my lap.

“You being you is what you can do for us Nia. We have always wanted you to be yourself. That’s what made me fall for you…” Felix says as he smiles.

Chan lifts my chin and looks at me, “I love the fact that you are you. You are a genuinely kind and lovely person and that is rare nowadays.” He smiles and kisses my cheek.

“Are you willing to date all of us?” Lee Know asks out of nowhere.

“If that’s what y’all want… then yes.” I say as I turn to look at Lee Know.

“That’s not what I asked you, Nia. Are YOU willing to date all of US?” Lee Know asks again.

“… I care about all of you and would love to get to know you guys even more. I would be willing to date all of you as long as it wouldn’t cause issues for you guys.” I say.

“Are you beyond sure?” Han asks.

“Yes, I am beyond sure.” I respond.

“Okay then would you be willing to include Minho and I as boyfriends?” Han asks with a smile.

“Yes, I would love to have both of you as boyfriends.” I say and then turn to look at Seungmin and I.N. “Are you two okay with all of this?” I ask.

“I am okay with it, but I would like to spend more time with you before I ask to be your boyfriend. Is that okay?” Seungmin asks.

“Yes of course, I would never want you to feel forced into anything that you were not ready for or that you didn’t want.” I told him.

“I didn’t say I didn’t want it, Nia. I just want more time.” Seungmin says smiling.

“Okay,” I nod.

“I also would like a bit more time with you before I make a decision. So, dinner, tonight?” I.N. says with a smirk.

“Jeongin! That’s one way to ask a girl out!” I say giggling. Everyone starts laughing as well. “I guess we need to set some ground rules?”

“Yes, Rules. Okay. I think that some rules that would work for this would be simple: No Jealousy, No Interference, No Fighting, No Monopolizing Nia’s time, and what Nia says goes.” Chan says sternly.

“Um… I do have one condition…” I say shyly. The guys turn and look at me. “No more than 3 of you at a time.”

The guys all stared at me in shock. Chan clears his throat and looks at me while adjusting the collar of his shirt. “Alrighty, we can work with that, I am sure.” The rest of the guys nod.

Everyone sits there for a minute in silence. I decided to stand up and smile at everyone. “On that note, I am going to go for a swim. We didn’t have anything scheduled for today. So, Pool day?” I ask.

“I am down for a swim” Chan smirks.

I smiled again at the guys and then went to my room to change. I need time to process. This has been an interesting morning so far.

#fanfic #stray kids #fanfic newbie

[sweetest-honeybee]

Down to Dust

Chapter 2

Fic Summary: Grian will have to keep the dragon egg secure for the Watchers. But, they’re not the only ones who want it. On a completely unrelated note, Mumbo will have to deal with a version of himself thats only amplified by his No Killing mindset.

Chapter Summary: Mumbo steals the dragon egg. Grian is a little pissed.

Word Count: 1462

TW: Vague threats

Notes: I’m aware that the farms that Mumbo built were in the Nether and the End but for the sake of this fic, they’re both going to be over world farms

Enjoy!

———————

Grian was sluggish the next morning. He was out much later than he intended, busy experimenting with The Wither and dripstone with his Boatem-mates. It was a success thankfully, and then he went to get more skulls for hours afterwards. He dragged himself out of the portal and to his bed, not hardly bothering to check if Scar did end up moving the egg again. He wouldn’t be surprised, it was out in the open.

Rubbing his eyes, he slipped out of bed and into his day clothes. Slowly, he made his way down the stairs with a yawn. However, his exhaustion was short lived as he saw that the egg was indeed not in its original place. He groaned and grumbled to himself while he looked around for it. If Scar was feeling particularly mischievous, he probably moved it somewhere else entirely. Revenge, he supposed, but even after the previous successful attempts at finding the egg, Scar hardly had an interest in doing anything more than leaving it a few blocks away.

So, Grian searched in nearby nooks. He was surprised at how far the egg might’ve gone and quickly became impatient. If it wasn’t inside, it was likely outside, then. But, with a quick search nearby, he found that it was not. He scratched at his head in confusion, then glanced at Scar’s wagon where the terraformer was detailing a second wagon behind it. Grian decided to pay Scar a visit.

He flew over and landed on the cylinder full of honey whereas Scar was just below him on the main deck. Somehow, he managed to startle his friend into dropping a bee’s nest, the bees escaping immediately from the floor’s impact.

“Aw, I just got them in there!” Scar complained. He then saw Grian’s sour expression. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Where’s the egg, Scar,” Grian asked flatly. “It was left out in the open and now it’s gone.”

This brought Scar some surprise. “It was? Huh, if I knew, I probably would’ve moved it again.”

The builder hopped down from the honey container with a thud. “You’re the only one who tries to touch the egg all the time. Who else could it have been?”

The other fiddled with his cufflinks. “Well, I haven't had it or touched it since I left yesterday if that’s what you’re asking. I was with you guys and The Withers, remember?”

Grian tapped at his chin. “But I was gone for hours trying to get more skulls. It was an easy opportunity, no?”

Scar shrugged. “I’m not all that bright when it comes to that. I wouldn’t have thought much about it. Besides, I’ve been working on my wagon as you can see.” He waved his hands in all directions. “If it wasn’t me then it was probably the one person in this area who didn't help with The Withers.”

The two looked over to Mumbo’s van. The mustached man in question tending to his potato vending machine and deflating at what they assumed was a lack of diamonds.

Grian hardly needed to think about it at all. “That...would make a lot of sense.”

“Exactly so go bother him, then.” Scar made a shooing motion at Grian. “I’m busy.”

The avian laughed. “Oh I’m not done with you, yet. This interrogation isn’t over.” This only made Scar shrink away from him.

He definitely seemed guilty, Grian thought. And, of course, Scar was a terrible liar just digging himself a hole. But, after their conversation yesterday, Mumbo was a definite suspect all things considered. “I’ll go talk to him. But I’ll be back.” He smirked just to tease the other into at least a little bit of fear. He pulled the strings of his rockets and left.

The avian landed harshly to scare Mumbo and much to his satisfaction, did just that. Mumbo dropped the bundle of potatoes in his arms, each landing with a small thump over his feet.

“I should do that more often,” Grian noted aloud. He clapped his hands together while the redstoner bent over to pick up the potatoes. “So, my mustached friend, you wanna tell me where my egg went?”

Mumbo paused, then continued. “It was with you, I thought,” he replied simply.

“Yeah because I told you. What happened to it after I left? You were the only one in the village during The Withers and you had all the time in the world to hide it.” Grian hardly waited to accuse him.

The other stood and feigned confusion. “So you’re saying I have it? Why would I have it?”

The builder crossed his arms. “Didn’t you say you wanted to babysit the egg?”

Mumbo stammered. “I-I mean I did but-”

“Right, so when people babysit, the child goes back to the parent afterwards. Give me my egg.” Grian held out his hand expectantly.

“I wasn’t being serious about it! Could Scar not have taken it?” he questioned.

“Well, it was one of you so fess up or I’ll do something about it myself.”

Mumbo snorted and held out his arms. “Go on then, I don’t have the egg.”

Grian squinted at him with suspicion but shrugged. “Okay. Then I’ll be back tomorrow. Unless you wanna hand over the egg before then.” Mumbo shook his head. “Alright, I’m gonna go bother Scar again.”

As he left, Mumbo let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. Of course Grian already connected the dots to yesterday. Mumbo of all people should know that. After saying that he’d be a good babysitter the egg goes missing. He rubbed a hand down his face with a groan. Well, Grian wouldn’t be getting the egg for a while anyways. After the tree war and…several other wars, he could honestly take whatever the builder had in mind.

Curious as to see how the egg was doing, he visited the vault. All seemed well, the egg was still nestled in the pillow. He walked over to it. Nothing seemed out of place. He grinned to himself. Hopefully he could do something with the egg. But, if Grian was going to try to look around for the egg, a vault is exactly what he’d look for.

Mumbo pondered over that thought for a few seconds. Then, an idea struck him. He could take the egg with him everywhere, really. He had farms he planned to build, the egg could just stay with him while he worked on those. Yes, it was a foolproof plan. Grian wouldn’t ever even think to try killing Mumbo for the egg, it was a reckless attempt.

Removing the egg from the pillow, he immediately went to the surface to gather materials for his farms. He’d need enough for days worth of work at least to keep Grian off of his tail and let the builder do as he pleased while he was gone. Grian would likely look around for hours before giving up. This brought a smirk to Mumbo’s face and, if he were being honest with himself, it was hilarious to even think about.

He concluded his search for materials within minutes. While doing so, he had already planned out where everything would be. It was only a matter of going there and doing the rest. So, he set off to do just that.

When he arrived, he sat the egg down by a chest he placed beforehand. He would keep it in his inventory but the last thing he wanted to happen was to die and lose the egg in a series of hoppers, droppers, dispensers, and chests- or, if he was particularly unlucky, having it blown to pieces by a creeper the second it dropped from his inventory. Mambo shuddered at the thought. He only wanted to keep the egg for a little while, not destroy it entirely. Then, he’d have to explain that to Grian which he decided was something he’d be terrified to do.

Shoving those thoughts aside, he began his work. Occasionally he glanced back at the egg to make sure it was still unharmed. Not but minutes later, he fell into a rhythm while placing his redstone and hardly noticed the hours flying by around him. He only noticed the time changing when a pink and orange hue lined the sky’s west.

Mumbo stepped back to the chest to admire his work. Well over half an industrial sized farm finished and thankfully the egg was never displaced. He picked it up and held it in his arms.

“I think it looks pretty good so far, yeah?” he asked, as if the egg could answer. The redstoner turned his gaze down to the egg. “I do wonder if you’ve got anything inside of you.”

He shrugged and placed a bed nearby in a torch-spammed thicket. The sky was growing darker and darker and he didn’t want to have to fight zombies and skeletons.

#long post #hermitcraft #down to dust fic #grian #goodtimeswithscar #mumbo jumbo #a little shorter this time but y’all will love the next chapter

[keep-the-wolves-close]

Steady Heart

Chapter 18: What Comes Naturally

* Pairing: Slow-burn Kayce Dutton x OFC Stella Daniels

* Rating: M? (Still figuring out the rating system) (might eventually be M anyhow)

* Warnings: language, Kayce and Stella shenanigans, Ryan being an idiot

* Word count: 3,788ish

I would love to give credits to @dameronscopilot and @deanscroissant for being sounding boards for me during this whole process, giving outsider insight, being cheerleaders, and allowing me to screech at them about things that have happened during the writing process. I seriously couldn't have gotten this far without y'all

Author's note: Welcome to season two everyone! Off with a bang! I just finished getting more chapters queued, so I wanted to treat you all to another chapter early! I hope everyone is enjoying so far! I hope you love this chapter as well! As always feel free to scream with me, as long as you don’t mind me rambling this dang story in reply, in my ask box. I’d love to hear from y’all!

Stella jumped and opened her eyes wide as she felt a hand on her forearm. The silhouette next to her was Kayce shaped. He knelt down on the balls of his feet next to her bunk, which was beneath his. As she realized it was him, she relaxed a bit and blinked hard at him. She rubbed her eyes. Kayce had his finger over his lips in a shushing gesture. Her face scrunched at him. He motioned toward the outside and handed her glasses to her.

She put them on and followed Kayce out the door. On the way out, she grabbed her boots. She opted to put them on outside of the bunkhouse. Her brother would definitely have woken up from the sound of her boots hitting the floor. The two of them had just snuck back into the bunkhouse and gone to bed four hours ago. It was now 4:30 in the morning and Stella was very confused.

Stella stage whispered as she tried to catch up to Kayce’s six foot stature. “Kayce, wait! My legs are shorter than yours!”

“Well you better get a move on then,” he taunted smoothly as he sped up to get into the barn. Stella grumbled to herself about him being a ‘stupid long legged ass bitch.’ When she finally caught up to him, he already had Tank ready and Abigail half done.

“What are you doing?” She asked flatly.

He answered as if it was obvious. “What’s it look like? I’m getting our horses ready for the day.”

“I can see that, but why exactly?”

“Do you always ask this many questions in the morning?”

“It was two questions, first of all, and second, typically no. When I just laid down to sleep only four hours ago and I’m rudely woken up, however? Yes.” She watched amused as Kayce remembered every little detail of what she did with her saddle. He was so focused she was shocked he remembered he was in the conversation.

“So again, why are you getting my horse ready? My job here doesn’t always require her to be saddled.”

“Because there’s a bunch of bulls hiding out in a thicket.” He paused and patted Abigail’s shoulder. “And we’re gonna get ‘em out.”

Stella blinked while her brain took a second to catch up. “Wait, just you and I? Because I’m not doubting us as a team, but that’s a little much for two people and that many bulls. I’m selectively reckless, not stupid.”

Kayce huffed out a laugh. “No, sweets. All of the bunkhouse, and some of Travis’s crew. But I knew you would want to come along too.”

She squinted at him and made a hmm noise. She wasn’t shocked that with all this time apart, Kayce still knew her like the back of his hand. Of course she wanted to be in the middle of the action. She looked away and said quietly, “thank you.” She didn’t want to tell him out right that he was correct in his assumption.

Kayce laughed because he knew he was right. “I still know you, sugar.”

“You know Ryan is going to object loudly, right?” She overlooked his previous statement.

“Which is exactly why,” he pointed at Stella, “we have our horses ready to go before anyone else does. Gonna beat ‘em to the punch.”

“Okay that’s actually a great idea.”

“See? I do have those every once and a while.” They shared a laugh and brought their horses out to the round pen.

Kayce looked at Stella from over the top of his horse. She was unaware of his observation of her. Even in the middle of some scheme of theirs, she was content. Happy to go wherever the plan took them. She trusted him. He might even dare say she fully trusted him. Especially after his confession the night before. ‘Maybe it just hasn’t hit her yet. Once it does? She’ll leave. Just like Monica.’ The pessimistic voice in his head mocked him. He shook his head to get the thoughts away.

He continued studying her. A calm washed over him. He hadn’t understood how she did that to him when they were teenagers, and he still didn’t quite grasp it. Her brown hair was down for a change, which made her seem so much softer. She looked over at him and settled her glasses and smiled. By god if that didn’t stop him short for a second. ‘Oh hell.’ He had to remind himself to breathe.

She laughed quietly. “What? Is the bed head real right now?”

“No, just thinking.”

“Dear lord, that’s a dangerous thing.”

“C’mon, let’s go. Everyone should be starting to wake up.”

They made their way back into the bunkhouse. Lloyd and Rip were fully awake and ready to go to the barn. Everyone else slowly came to life. They were either getting out of their bunks, or milling about in the kitchen, making coffee as they tried to get their brains running.

Rip and Lloyd watched the duo come in. The men silently glanced at each other and then back to the two troublemakers. They gave off the air that they were up to something. They both wandered into the kitchen, not saying anything to anyone. Kayce grabbed two mugs and made coffee for the both of them.

Stella grabbed the mug from his hands and took a deep breath in above the steam. He remembered just how she liked her coffee. She sighed gratefully. “Oh Kayce,” the way she said his name almost stopped his heart. “You’re an angel. Thank you.”

Colby witnessed the domestic act and pulled his eyebrows together. He tapped Ryan on the shoulder and nodded to the pair. They decided to join the group in the kitchen.

“What are you two up to?” Ryan immediately accused. His eyes were barely open.

“Well damn. Good morning to you too, sweet brother of mine.” Rip chuckled into his coffee cup from the background.

“Yes, hi, good morning. Now what are you two up to?” Ryan was unamused at his sister’s potential antics this early.

“Nothing, you paranoid helicopter mom. I’m getting coffee before I go help y’all chase those bulls outta whatever thicket they got themselves hidden in.”

“Oh hell no. Absolutely not.” Rip and Lloyd decided now was the perfect time to leave and let the children sort it out amongst themselves.

“And why not? An angry cow, especially one with a calf, does just about the same amount of damage and I’ve rounded them up with y’all plenty of times. I fail to see the difference.”

Colby objected along with his best friend. “We don’t need to be concerned about you while we’re trying to worry about the bulls and dogs, Stella.”

Kayce balked at Colby’s condescension. “I don’t remember her needing to ask your fuckin’ permission, Colby.” He focused back on Ryan. “How about I keep an eye on your sister, and you all worry about the rest?”

“How ‘bout I don’t need anyone to watch out for me while rounding up. That’s what my mare is for. Thank you.”

This wasn’t going the way he’d planned. Kayce guarded her and put himself between Stella and the rest of the agitated group. “Your sister is just as good at rounding as the rest of us are. I say she goes.”

Jake interjected, “I mean she does make for one hell of a wrangler. Especially with that horse of hers.” The agreement with the opposing opinion started a loud debate. It was so distracting that Stella tugged on the back of Kayce’s shirt to let him know she was leaving and disappeared from the crowd while they made all that racket.

Kayce started quietly, “Hey,” they didn’t stop hollering so he yelled, “Hey!” The group got eerily silent and stared at the usually soft spoken man. “You all do realize she already left, right?” He smiled at the thought of her getting the drop on everyone. He might even say he was proud.

They all scrambled to make their way outside to find Stella first. They found her sitting off to the side, ready to go on Abigail. She held the reins of Kayce’s horse in her hand too. Lloyd and Rip were on their horses already as well, sitting next to her, not hiding their look of pride.

Stella said, “She’s ready to go herd the hell out of some bulls. And I’ll be damned if I listen to the opinion of several men whose asses aren’t washed, and refuse her the right.” Kayce laughed loudly as he walked toward Tank, who Stella still had a hold of for him.

Ryan accused, “You helped her plan this shit, didn’t you Kayce?”

The pair sat on their horses, and looked smug at the group not saying anything. Stella shrugged noncommittally at her brother’s accusation. Just like old times. They heard a gravelly chuckle and laughter from off to the left. It was John and Travis.

John made his word final. “Did you expect any less from either of them? She’s coming with us. Now drop it.”

Stella and Kayce found the thicket the bulls were hidden in. They both sat there in silence. Every now and again they eyed each other and made a motion, but no words were actually being spoken between them. They heard the rumble of hooves from everyone else coming. John came up on Kayce’s left and Rip and Travis were on Stella’s right.

“They’re in here,” Kayce told the group.

“You seen ‘em?” John asked.

Stella leaned forward and looked at John like he had lost his mind. “Can’t you smell them?”

“We’ll get these horses gored in that thick shit.” Lloyd added.

“Well I'm not leaving $100,000 worth of bulls in that thicket. Send in the dogs.” Rip let out a whistle command to the dogs. The working dogs followed with excited yips and barks. They all could hear the displeasure from the bulls at their hideout being invaded.

“Hey, Travis, why don't you come on over, bring a horse. We'll go for a ride, maybe chase some cows.” Travis complained in a mocking fashion to John.

“You've horse traded me enough, Travis. Time I horse traded you.”

Travis chuckled, “Oh, you think that's funny?” Lloyd and Stella laughed at Travis’s discomfort. There were more disgruntled noises coming from the thicket. Stella and Kayce looked at each other, and silently made a plan of attack.

“Boy, if this don't pucker your red eye, I guess nothing will, huh?” Stella cringed at Lloyd’s description of the task at hand. ‘I definitely could have lived without that.’

Ryan called everyone to action. “Here we go.”

“All right. Nobody be a hero. Turn ‘em together.” John directed.

“Let's go, boys.” Stella called out to everyone else as she kicked Abigail off. She was probably the only one excited for the task. All the men seemed to be a little apprehensive. Even Kayce seemed like he wasn’t as excited as before. She zigged in front of him to his left, and he zagged to her right. Rip, Lloyd and Jake encircled the herd toward the back to push them forward. Kayce and Stella weaved in from the sides and worked them back toward the front of the thicket.

“All right, let's split up.” Someone directed off to Stella’s right. There was so much noise, so many shouts in different directions, and bulls coming at her hot with rage, it was hard to keep up with who was yelling at who.

Stella rolled up toward the back and joined Rip. Her presence captured his attention long enough for him to be able to look her over, and then he nodded forward. They would try and push them ahead.

“Push 'em out this way, Stella-belle.” Rip directed her. She circled them off and began pushing them forward to Kayce and Ryan.

“Hurry up! Here they come!” Jake hollered.

“Go, go, go, go!” Ryan yelled at Stella as he brought up the rear behind her. Once they were out, he galloped by her to help grab the few stragglers that made a wide turn as they came out of the trees. Stella slowed to a trot and waited for Kayce to meet her. He fell into pace next to her and they started to make their way to the rest of the group to help keep the bulls in check and continuing onward.

The dogs barked from the thicket still. That caused Kayce to slow down which made Stella turn Abigail around to face him. Her eyebrows pinched together as she tilted her head at him. He motioned back to the trees. The group behind them had gridlocked the cattle to make a quick count. John came up behind Stella, and he was about to ask her what they were doing. He didn’t have time to because the friends heard one of the dogs yelp and they were off faster than a wildfire took off in dry grass.

“Kayce–”

“–Stella!” John and Ryan shouted at the same time.

“Kayce go right, I got left!” Stella aimed for where the dog was cornered. Kayce came in and wanted to push the bull away from her and the dog.

That was the plan until the bull came at Stella and Abigail full speed ahead and ready to rumble. Abigail put her head low between her knees and kept track of the bull better than Stella could have. The mare jumped right and then left and faked the bull out. It pushed him further toward the exit, but not far enough. He worked on turning around to whip back at the bay roan and her rider. Kayce slotted himself between the bull and Stella.

“Go Stella, I’ll push it out!”

Kayce yelled at the bull behind her. “Yah! Get out of there!”

The brown and white dog stuck to Abigail’s side and Stella directed them back and out the side of the thicket. She could see Ryan in the distance and he looked much paler than normal. He visibly relaxed when he saw her. The brown and white dog ran off and placed itself by the waiting group. John galloped to a place near Stella. He scrutinized her with a look that said, ‘we’ll talk about this later,’ and they waited for Kayce.

They watched as he and the bull busted through the trees. Rip galloped up by John in case Kayce needed help. Kayce reined the bull in. The black and white dog nipped efficiently at its heels. It hopped and bucked. Its drool flopped wildly through the air in strings. With a few final tugs from Kayce, the bull curved off in the correct direction to the rest of the herd. They all let go of the breath they had been holding. Rip turned around and met the rest of the group. Stella caught up to Kayce.

“You okay, cowboy?”

“Yeah, I’m good. You?”

“Had my short life pass in front of me when that bull was coming for me, but I’m good.” She laughed it off. They cantered away to join the rest of the wranglers.

Lloyd loped up to John. “Goddamn boss, that was awful reckless.”

“It's only reckless if you can't see it through.” John wiped his nose and gathered himself. “Hell of a morning, huh?” He patted Lloyd on the shoulder and cantered away.

They finally got all the bulls into the pen. Now they had to get them separated. Stella and Abigail jumped in and started pushing one of the bulls toward the chute. Ryan loped around to the opposite side to bottleneck the bull. Kayce brought up the rear, continuing to push it forward.

The bull got angry at the close proximity of the horses. It lunged toward Stella. Abigail snorted hard and dropped her head low. Practically laying on the ground. She dared the bull to come closer. The mare jumped right and then quickly left. Each time getting closer to the bull. The mare snapped her teeth, trying to bite the bulls shoulder. He felt the pressure and lunged again, but backed off and spun toward the chute.

Once the bull was in, Stella trotted off by the fence line to wait for another bull. She heard John call out her name. She sighed and turned Abigail to trot over to John. Kayce watched closely from a distance. “Yessir?”

“Come here.” He wagged his finger. When he felt she was close enough he launched into her in front of everyone. “What the hell did you think you were doing this morning?!”

Her face fell flat. Unamused at him yelling at her like she was 18 again. She waited for him to be done like a mother waits for her toddler to be finished with a tantrum. Her eyebrows tightened and raised. “I was thinking a dog was gonna get gored all to hell. Kayce thought so too. I don’t see you hollering at him.”

“Yeah well, I took a chance letting you come out with us this morning.”

Stella exploded in fury. “And what exactly did you lose John?!” She yelled back. “Absolutely nothing! You got every single one of your $100,000 worth of bulls out of that thicket, in one piece, and both of the cow dogs are alive! Seems like a small victory to me.”

“What you and Kayce did was stupid —,”

“— don’t you dare get me started on stupid, John.” She pinned him up with a look. He glanced behind her and everyone tried their best to make it look like they weren’t able to hear what was going on. She took a deep breath and tried to calmly respond. “You act like I haven’t been helping with this herd since forever. Since I knew how. I knew the risks, and your son and I had a plan. I was as safe as safe can be. We done here?”

Rather than waiting for him to snap back at her, she nudged Abigail into a trot. She took a place next to her brother. He side eyed her for a few minutes before she got annoyed and glared at him.

“You wanna talk about it?” He asked gently.

“No. He’s just being his usual impossible self. Nothing of what Kayce or myself did was out of the ordinary for any of us.” She huffed and pushed Abigail off. She had to get back into work. She jumped in next to Rip to work on getting the next bull taken care of.

Kayce sidled up beside her. Stella locked eyes with him as he silently asked her what happened. Her eyes rolled so hard, she was surprised she didn’t tumble into another dimension.

“He was yelling at me like I was 17 again about that thing this morning with that bull.”

Kayce rolled his eyes back at her. “You were completely safe.”

“That’s what I told him! I also think it’s rude he yelled at me, but not at you. No offense.”

Kayce chuckled. “None taken.”

“Why is your dad pointing over here?”

Kayce looked puzzled in his dad’s direction. “I guess I’ll go find out.”

Stella watched from afar as John directed a tough looking cowboy to Kayce. He must have been a day worker coming to look for some work before he moved on to somewhere else. She glanced over at Rip, who had also stopped to watch. Switching back to Kayce, her eyebrows pulled together. ‘What in the world is going on?’ Stella wasn’t quite sure, but she could feel that something was shifting.

Kayce’s shoulders were tense, but he straightened his back and held himself in a facade of confidence. Once he was done talking to the day worker, he turned and saw his audience of Rip and Stella. Kayce ignored Rip and came back over to Stella.

“Who’s that?”

“He goes by Cowboy. Lookin’ for day work.” Kayce explained.

“Why’d your dad have you talk to him?”

Kayce sighed. “Your guess is as good as mine, Stell.” The dinner bell rang in the distance.

“Thanks Gator!” Stella smiled and grabbed the plate he was handing to her.

He smiled at her. “You’re welcome Miss Stella.”

She went to take a seat next to her brother. Things were quiet while everyone was stuffing their faces. If there’s one thing Mr. Dutton got right, it was the person he hired to feed his employees. Gator was a fabulous cook.

Avery looked to the new worker. Not only was she intrigued, but she wanted to break the ice. “What's your name?”

“Cowboy.” He replied simply. Stella chuckled to herself at his gruff monosyllabic answer. It seemed to be a constant quirk in every cowboy she’d ever met.

Colby cut in. “Your name's Cowboy. Shit. We're all cowboys.”

Cowboy laughed but lacked amusement. “Ha. The hell you are.” He pointed to Jimmy. “And you… you ride a horse like a teenager fucks, bouncing up and down with your eyes wide, stunned you're doing it at all.”

“Only cowboy thing I’ve seen you do is clean your plate.” Ryan said as he stood. Stella let out a sigh as her brother continued to open his stupid mouth. “Stand up and tell me I can't cowboy.”

Stella reached for Ryan’s arm. “Ryan, sit the fuck down! What’re you doin’ other than making yourself look stupid?” He pulled his arm free.

Cowboy corrected her brother. “I didn't say you can't. I said he can't.” He pointed to Colby and then Jimmy. “And he sure as hell can't. And you don't want me standing up, boy. I'll beat you like a rented mule.”

“Ryan, come on! Sit down!” Stella pleaded with her brother as she saw Rip wipe his mouth angrily and start to stand up herself.

“There's one rule on this ranch, Cowboy.” Rip came over to place himself between Ryan and Cowboy. “If you wanna fight somebody, you fight me. I guess you forgot that rule, Ryan. Go sit down.”

Ryan sat down with his tail between his legs. Stella glared at him. “Serves you right, dipshit.”

He glared back at her. “Oh get off your high horse, little miss perfect.”

“Not perfect, but also not looking for a random fight with a literal stranger you just met today. Don’t be dumb.” Stella stood. She was over her brother and didn’t feel like dealing with his 12 year old brain right now.

The men watched as she walked off. She walked past Walker and slowed her pace just a smidge to listen to his singing. She wasn’t exactly a huge fan of his, but she would give credit where it was due and he could sing one hell of a lick.

Jimmy scarfed down the rest of his food and sprinted after her. “Stella!”

She spun around to face him as she walked backwards. “What?”

“Will you hold on?” Jimmy panted, trying to keep up with her angry strides. Stella halted her reversed steps. Jimmy finally caught up. “Is everything okay?”

She pointed back to the tables. “Oh you mean about that?” She scoffed. “Yeah, I just didn’t want to bear witness to my brother getting too big for his britches anymore. Because he obviously wasn’t taking my advice.”

“The one time you actually try to stay out of trouble.”

“Hey,” she dragged out. “That’s mean. Trouble just finds me.”

“Are you going home?”

“I mean, is there another reason I should stay? I haven’t properly been home in like a week.” Stella watched him.

“I just wanna be sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine Jimmy.”

“Are you sure?” He looked around to make sure no one was nearby and softened his voice. “You left a man to hang.”

Stella crossed her arms. “That man, if I can even call him that, is threatening our home. Kayce’s home. Back in the day when we were kids, the Yellowstone and its employees were not to be fucked with. It appears that people have lost that memo over the years and they think we’ve gotten soft. They need to be reminded.”

“I mean I would’ve expected that from Kayce, but you?”

“We came up with the idea.”

“When? You didn’t talk the night before and certainly didn’t talk in the moment then.”

“Oh, but Jimmy, we did. More than enough to know what the other wanted.” She sighed heavily. “Threaten my best friend’s home, my home?” She smirked, and Jimmy got a chance to witness the offbeat look she was known for. “Rip and Lloyd are crazy and will take you out before you can think twice, don’t get me wrong. But Kayce and I are reckless apart and teamed up? Unhinged. We will put you down at the most unexpected time.” His mouth dropped open. “I’m a lot more violent when I have to be than people realize, Jimmy. I just hide it well.”

“Uh, yeah. I’m,” he couldn’t figure out how to end his sentence.

“So I’m okay. I’m gonna go home and shower and then I’ll come back to hang out or something. Sound good?”

He nodded at her dazed and watched her go off to do her thing, slightly more afraid of her now.

#yellowstone #kayce dutton #yellowstonetv #luke grimes #ian bohen #ryan #kayce dutton fan fiction #yellowstone fanfic #yellowstone fanfiction #kayce dutton fanfic

[dbnightingale24]

The Idea Of Marrying Me

Ransom One Shot

~~

Okay, so this is part 2 to ‘A Disaster From The Start’. I’m making it known now that there will be a part 3 and it’ll be the final part (so don’t yell at me too much). I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I really did try to make this shorter and by doing so, I made this longer. I really don’t know why my brain is like this. Once again, @maroonsunrise83​ made and amazing moodboard and I love her to bits!! (Thank you!!) So, here we go and I hope you all enjoy it!

Word Count: 32,912 (I’m honestly so sorry, y’all)

Warnings: Smut (so much smut), MINORS DNI, arguing, public sex, public fingering, drinking, swearing, cheating, Daddy kink, heartbreak, angst, drama, crying (the fucking crying, holy shit), unprotected sex, family drama, lying, degradation kink, anal sex (slight), so on and so forth, I’m sure I missed something.

Song(s) That Inspired This Chapter:

Tears Dry On Their Own - Amy Winehouse

Back To Black - Amy Winehouse

You Know I’m No Good- Amy Winehouse

Love Is A Losing Game - Amy Winehouse

He Can Only Hold Her - Amy Winehouse

Too Little To Late - JoJo

Break The Man - Tears For Fears

Breaking The Girl - Red Hot Chili Peppers

I Don’t Wanna - Aaliyah 

All I Need - Aaliyah 

Only One - Ariana Grande

Dead Horse - Hayley Williams

Run The Road - Santigold

Fall To Pieces - Avril Lavigne

Summary: After taking some much needed time away from Ransom, you truly believe that you’re ready to head home, new fiancé in hand, and handle whatever he throws your way. What happens when he forces you to realize that you haven’t moved on as much as you think you have?

I do not consent to gave any of my works/stories posted elsewhere.

~~

You sit in the bridal suite, looking down at the ring on your finger. It’s felt heavy since the day it was placed on your finger. It feels too heavy. How had you even gotten yourself into this situation? How is it that you always find yourself in the wrong situation?

“Babe, what is the problem with going back home? We’ve been together for 2 years and I’ve never seen where you grew up. It’s not even like it’s far from us,” your fiance, Ryan, questioned with a small chuckle as he drove you both to your childhood home.

“I just don’t liked going,” you sighed, looking out the window; a small sense of happiness coming over you as started to recognize the scenery around you.

You hadn’t been home for 5 years. It was the best move for you, even though it hurt like hell, its what you kept telling yourself. Ransom had finally promised everything you ever wanted from him, but it was just too late. Too much had happened, and there was too much pain. He begged for hours, only leaving when you were both too tired to cry any longer. You didn’t see him again until your graduation, where he surprised you with a bouquet of your favorite flowers: peonies.

After your parents took you out to dinner, Ransom picked you up and took you out to a movie, then for a walk, in which you two talked about everything except what was wrong. The night ended with you against his bedroom wall and him deep inside of you, decorating your neck and chest with hungry and desperate kisses.

You snuck out of his house the next morning and made your way back home, making sure everything you truly wanted was packed before leaving and driving to your new apartment. You hadn’t bothered to tell Ransom that you were moving or that you’d changed your number. You just couldn’t bear it. You forced yourself to block him on social media and did your best to not ask about him.

A clean break.

The crying didn’t stop for at least a year, but when it finally did, you were happy because it finally became easier to mask the pain.

You were finally able to get your mom to leave your father and you were the one to represent her in court. As much as it pained your father, he wasn’t surprised and he was more than fair with dividing up everything between them. Of course it didn’t surprise you or your brother when they started sleeping with each other a few months later. No, you both weren’t supposed to know, but it wasn’t hard to put two and two together.

In the time that you and your mother spent together, she’d tell you about Ransom even though you begged her not to.

“Mom, just stop,” you huffed, closing your laptop and gathering your files. “I’m just not strong enough. I’m not even strong enough to hear this.”

“But babygirl-”

“No mom, he did this. I hate that it’s hurting him and that he’s miserable, but how do you think I feel? He did this to me! For fucks sake, I don’t even go home now because I’m terrified of running into him!” you sighed, forcing yourself to hold back your tears. “He cheated on me, twice. He had everything he wanted...no mom. Just no.”

“Love always finds a way,” she smiled softly before getting up. “See you on Friday?”

“Yeah,” you said and cleared your throat. “I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetie.”

That night you decided to torture yourself and look at the photos you two took in the Hamptons, because it was all you had left. You told yourself a million times that you would delete them, but every time you thought you had the strength to do it, you just ended up in tears. However, you knew you needed to stop and you told yourself that you were gonna put yourself back out there. So after seeing your mom that Friday, you went out with a group of work colleagues and decided to at least try and have fun.

Insert Ryan.

He’d been trying to get your attention for some time, but you never paid much mind to him. It’s not like there was something wrong with him; he just wasn’t Ransom.

At least that’s what it was like at first.

You let him take you back to your apartment that night, and even let him kiss you goodnight. That was the limit, because you refused to let yourself move too fast or end up in another ‘friends with benefits’ relationship.

Ryan was patient and took it at the pace you wanted. In the beginning, Ryan was sweet and kind. He was considerate, passionate, compassionate, fun, and funny. God, he was so funny. You finally gave in after 6 months of friendship. He was a welcomed distraction from your heartache and maybe that’s why you ignored all the warning signs.

Sometime after 3 months of being together, between him meeting your parents, your brother (and his now family), and your friends, you noticed a shift in his attitude. He became more easily irritated, he lied about where he was going and who he was going with, and he became manipulative. Both Sam and your mother told you before it even got to that point that something was off, but you didn’t listen. You figured that after everything with Ransom, you’d spot any issues at the first sign.

You should’ve listened.

“No! I wanna know where the fuck you’re going!” you yelled at Ryan as he got dressed.

“I fucking told you, Y/N. I’m going-”

“Out is not a fucking place, Ryan!”

“So you’re gonna start questioning me because your last boyfriend fucked you over? Haven’t I always been good to you? Patient with you? After all the waiting I did to show you how much I want you and this is how you tell me you love me?” he scoffed, putting his jacket on.

You’d told him about your previous boyfriend (purposely leaving out his name), and you’d regretted it ever since because he used it against you every chance he could. “I’m not going to keep doing this with you, I swear to God. If you can’t be up front with me, I’m fucking done. You’re not going to make me feel like I’m being unreasonable when you’re the one whose changed!”

“Y/N, if you really wanna end this because you’re paranoid, there’s nothing I can do or say to stop you. I’ve-”

“You act like I haven’t seen the napkins with phone numbers on them and the fucking lipstick on your shirts!”

“I always come home you, Y/N. If I was out having all this sex with other women, I’d be pretty exhausted and just stay there, don’t ya think? I swear to Christ-”

“Even if you’re not sleeping with them, you’re fucking entertaining them!”

“I can’t stop women from being attracted to me just like you can’t stop the guys at the office from hitting on you.”

“Funny how I never let the guys at work get as close as you let these women get to you.”

“Do whatever you want, Y/N. I’m done arguing about this. I’ll be home tonight and I hope you’ll be here when I get back,” he shrugged before walking out of the apartment, slamming the door shut behind him.

That night, like so many other nights, you cried to yourself about not being able to just leave. You wanted to call Ransom and beg him to come and get you. You wanted him to hold you and take you away.

Back to the Hamptons.

However, you weren’t about to be the girlfriend who kept taking back her cheating boyfriend all because she loved him. You refused to be your mother. So you stayed, and just slept in the other bedroom. It took a few days of that, with you only going back to the master bedroom after he came in apologizing and promising to be better at keeping his distance from other women. You knew it was all horseshit but what else could you do?

Yeah, leaving was always an option, but leave him and do what? You’d left Ransom to try and find someone better and ended up with Ryan. You felt like if you left Ryan, you would just find a shittier version of just him and Ransom. Knowing your luck, he’d probably be a fucking serial killer. So, you stuck around and waited for him to end it, because you figured it would happen sooner or later.

Only it never did.

Ryan swore he loved you and wanted nothing more than to spend forever with you, and you just chalked it up to him telling you what he thought you wanted to hear....until he proposed to you one night after a nice night out to dinner. You wanted to say no and you meant to say no, but ‘yes’ came out instead. It didn’t help that everyone you were close to didn’t seem all that excited about it. Yes, they told you congrats and that they couldn’t wait to see you walk down the aisle, but it was very obvious that they were only saying it to be polite. You should’ve pumped the breaks then, but once again you didn’t because you were just waiting for everything to work itself out.

Months went by and Ryan was still doing the same bullshit, all while still telling you how he couldn’t wait to marry you. He was still staying out, entertaining the attention of women in the office, and telling you half truths.

One night you got so fed up that you almost did call it off. Almost.

You lit a cigarette at the kitchen table as you turned your attention to the stove clock. 1am and he still wasn’t home or responding to your texts or calls. You looked down at the diamond engagement ring on your finger and scowled. The damn thing wasn’t even your style.

“Oh hey, y-you’re up,” Ryan smiled awkwardly, but his smile was soon replaced by a scowl when he saw the cigarette in your hand. “Y/N, it’s late and I don’t-”

“Where were you?” you interrupted before taking a drag from your cigarette. You weren’t in the mood to entertain his little mind games.

“I went out with Tyler and James. You already knew that-”

“No, I knew you were going to dinner with them. It’s 1 in the fucking morning. How long does it take you to eat dinner?”

“We decided to hangout afterwards, what’s the big fucking deal?”

“Okay, if you’re not gonna be honest with me-”

“I’m being fucking honest!” he snapped as if you were in the wrong. “Why the fuck are you even marrying me if you don’t believe me?!”

“That’s a really good fucking question,” you scoffed before taking another drag of your cigarette then exhaling. “Why did you propose if you’re desperate for the attention of other women?”

“Baby-”

“In fact, why don’t you just call this whole thing off? Why don’t we just-”

“Don’t say that, baby” he cooed softly, making his way over to you. “I don’t want anyone else’s attention but yours. I just want you. I only love you,” he stated almost desperately.

It’s not like you really believed anything he was saying, and you were still so angry with yourself. Was it really all that bad to admit that you’d been in two failed relationships back to back? Were you that afraid that you’d go running back to Ransom so quickly? You were so much better and stronger than that, but you stayed anyway.

The pain quickly unraveled into something less dangerous, more like an irritation: maybe that’s what made it so easy. That pain never stopped with Ransom, it was as constant and debilitating as a migraine. You never deleted the pictures at the Hamptons, or his number, and you never stopped missing or loving him. Whereas with Ryan, you kind of just accepted the situation for what it was. Besides, it’s not like you were getting any younger.

Your mother offered to throw a celebration for the both of you at the mansion (which your father gave her in the divorce), and Ryan was all too eager to say yes.

“This is where you grew up?” Ryan wondered aloud in pure disbelief as he pulled into the elegant driveway filled with fine masonry. .

“It’s just a house, babe. Relax,” you sighed, unbuckling your seat belt.

“Hey, what’s going on? We’ve been doing really good lately and this was really nice of your mom to do. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” you lied with a faux smile. “A lot has happened here and it’s been a long time since I’ve been home.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine, don’t worry,” he smiled before getting out of the car and grabbing the bags.

You took a deep breath and looked over the place you once called home. The memory you had of that place was of you driving away, tears streaming down your face as you attempted to rid yourself of Ransom once and for all. You convinced yourself you were doing the right thing. In fact, you were still trying to convince yourself that you had done the right thing. In that moment, you found yourself comparing Ryan to Ransom. The Christmas that you’d gone to check on your mother after everything had happened at your father’s Christmas party, Ransom sensed your hesitation and offered to take you back to his place. He’d given a fuck about you and your happiness

‘He also cheated on you twice, Y/N. Snap out of it,’ you scolded yourself mentally.

You took a deep breath before getting yourself out of the car. You probably weren’t even going to see Ransom, so why the hell were you so scared? Even if you did, it wouldn’t matter because you were sure he’d moved on by then and you very clearly had, too. You were getting married after all.

‘Yeah, just keep telling yourself that, dumbass,’ you scoffed mentally.

“You’re here!” your mother squealed, opening the door before you even had a chance to even knock on the door.

“Hi Ma,” you smiled, wrapping her in a hug.

“What took you two so long? It’s only a 40 minute drive!”

“Someone was dragging her feet,” Ryan teased, nudging you softly.

“I bet she was,” your mother scowled before stepping aside to let you both in.

“Your home is lovely,” Ryan complimented, looking around at the high ceilings and all of the pictures and paintings that adorned the walls.

“You’re too kind! I’m still so jealous of your parent’s summer home! It’s gorgeous!”

“It’s nothing compared to this,” he laughed softly “but thank you. They should be here later in the evening.”

“That’s perfect! Everyone should be here by then!”

“Everyone? Ma, who did you invite? I told you I don’t want a big to-do-”

“Your brother, some of your friends, Harlan, a few family members-”

“Ma!”

“Stop! It’ll be fun!” she scolded. “Now, take Ryan up to your bedroom so you two can get settled.”

“Fine,” you mumbled heading towards the stairs.

“Sunshine!” your father called, right before your foot hit the first step.

“Hey dad,” you smiled softly, turning to face him.

You and your father’s relationship was on a steady road to recovery, and while it had a long way to go, you two had made steady progress since your parents divorce.

“It’s good to see you! How was the drive?” he asked, engulfing you in a hug.

“Good...long.”

“It’s been so long since you’ve been here. I’m happy you’re home, even if it is only for a few days. I’ll let you two get settled, but maybe can do breakfast tomorrow? I know tonight is gonna be crazy.”

“I’d like that,” you smiled, nodding in agreement before facing the stairs again and starting the trip up them.

The minute you and Ryan got into your room, the questions started. “Why are you so miserable about being here? Things are very clearly fine between your parents and they’re both extremely excited about all of this. What’s going on?”

“I’d really rather just not talk about it right now. There’s just a lot of weight that comes with being here. It wasn’t always this happy and welcoming. I just need some time to-”

“Babe, that may have been the case then, but that’s not case now,” he interrupted, very obviously annoyed with you. “They’re doing something insanely kind for us, so the least you could do is fix your attitude. I’m going downstairs and I suggest you get it together soon and join me down there,” he finished, dropping the bags before practically stomping out of your room.

You sighed and pulled out packet of cigarettes, quickly pulling out and lighting one up before opening the glass door and sitting in the doorway of the terrace. Why couldn’t you get it together?

“You know, Ransom cried in this room for hours when you left him,” your mother said softly, standing in the doorway of your room.

“Not right now, Ma. Please.”

“He cried for hours and slept on the bed, hoping you’d come back.”

“Why do you keep pushing Ransom on me?! He cheated on me and broke my heart! Leaving the way I did was the only way I’d really free myself of him!”

“It was cruel, babygirl.”

“Jesus, just let it go! It’s over!”

“I know why you left and I’m proud of you, because you’re smarter and stronger than I ever was. You didn’t want to become me and marry someone like your father. Ransom was young and stupid though. He had his own demons and he didn’t know how to deal with them. You and him weren’t the same as your father and I. However, you and Ryan?” she scoffed. “Stay with him and you’ll end up just like your father and I. I keep telling you that boy is awful.”

“I really can’t hear this right now. I just can’t,” you sobbed softly, taking another drag from your cigarette.

“Listen, I’m your mother and I love you. I truly just want what’s best for you. If you truly believe that Ryan is what’s best for you and that you’re over Ransom, then so be it. You know yourself better than anyone else, but I would advise you to really think all of this through. You saw everything I went through...do better than I did,” she stated earnestly before exiting the room, closing the door gently behind her.

You stayed out on the terrace and cried for what felt like forever before finally deciding that you’ve had enough. You needed to get ready for the party your parents had thrown together. You’d wanted to wear your sheer black dress, but you knew it would get under your mother’s skin and she would make a thing of it. Since she was the one putting everything together, the least you could do was look like you wanted to be there.

It hadn’t dawned on you that you were wearing an outfit that Ransom once told you he thought you looked beautiful in. You spent so much time getting ready; changing was just going to be an added inconvenience and take more time. You turned on your straightener, impatiently waiting for it to warm, and forced yourself to look at your reflection in the mirror.

You were truly angry and irritated with the person looking back at you. You didn’t want any of this, so why were you letting it happen? When did you become someone who just accepted the things they hated instead of standing up for yourself? Wasn’t that the whole point of leaving Ransom? Forcing yourself out of a situation that was no good for you because of how miserable it made you?

‘No, you leaving Ransom is what turned you into this. One man broke your heart, so you chose to surrender to fear instead of fighting it, because you’re too afraid of being hurt again. Too afraid of really living life without him. Don’t start playing dumb now,’ you mentally chided yourself.

You sighed in frustration and slammed your fist down on the dresser of your vanity. You just wanted to go home and hide.

You wanted Ransom.

“I heard someone is being a difficult little bitch,” a familiar voice mused from your bedroom doorway.

“SAM!” you squealed, getting up and running over to her before engulfing her in a hug. “What the fuck took you so long?!”

“Work bullshit,” she laughed, squeezing you back just as tight. “What’s going on babygirl?”

“There’s no fucking time to talk about it because of this fucking party.”

“Well, looks like you’re about to do your hair and makeup, so I’ll do it for you while I listen to you tell me all about what’s been going on,” she smiled, leading you both back over to your vanity and sitting you down.

You spilled your heart out to Sam about everything that had been going on between you and Ryan, both before and after the proposal. You told her about your feelings for Ransom that refused to go away, even after so much time had passed, and what your mother said. You forced yourself not to cry the entire time.

You would’ve felt awful if you’d have ruined her amazing makeup job, on top of everything else.

“I mean...your mother does have a point,” she sighed, grabbing a piece of your hair, combing it out before clamping the straightener closed and slowly pulling it down.

“For fucks sake! Not you too!”

“Just hear me out, babe. Now, I haven’t done anything with Ransom since long before you two hooked up, but even then I knew that he was destined to always be an asshole. He could be a Hall of Fame asshole, babe, but I was just looking for a good time and so was he. However, things were different from the start with you two. Ransom never had the same girl twice, and if he did, he waited at least two months before sweet talking her up again. Wasn’t it only a week with you? Maybe two. No, I still don’t believe he deserves you, but I know he loves you. He had to lose you to realize-”

“Sam-”

“Hear me out,”she repeated. “Now, he had to lose you before he really understood something he never really wanted to: you’re truly the love of his life. Something about you made that made man want to try and eventually change.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you left, he got his shit together. He started a business, stopped bar hopping as much, seemed to clean up his act...I mean, he still treats people like shit, but he’s barely ever at clubs. I have it on good authority that when he is out, he’s not sneaking off to do shady shit.”

“And how do you know?”

“He and Shawn are friends now,” she shrugged as if it were no big deal.

“I’m sorry, back the fuck up. Shawn, your husband, is friends with Ransom?”

“They get along well enough and Shawn doesn’t care that much that Ransom and I hooked up. He just says that the past is the past and I’m with him now, so why should he care?”

“Why didn’t you-”

“Because you didn’t wanna know. You didn’t wanna hear anything about it and I knew you were trying to move on, so I just didn’t say anything. Just like I never said anything to him when he asked about you. I was doing what was best for you because I love you. Now, that being said, I think you need to leave the both of them alone and just find someone new.”

“Sam-”

“No Y/N, neither one of them are good enough for you. You just need to start fresh.”

“No, I don’t need to-”

“Has there ever been a time in your life when you’re not stubborn? When you’re not putting yourself through unnecessary pain?”

“Yeah, when I finally fucking left Ransom, which you and my mom say was a mistake.”

“I didn’t say it was a mistake, babe,” she sighed, placing your grandmother’s blue diamond encrusted butterfly pin into your hair. “I was so proud of you being strong enough to leave, but its been how many years now? And you’re still hung up on Ransom? He’s still hung up on you?”

“What does that even mean?”

“He hasn’t been serious about anyone since you, babe. He hasn’t been and doesn’t care to be-”

“Hey, is it okay for a gentleman to enter?” Ryan questioned, softly knocking before making his way in with a tepid smile on his lips.

“Depends, have you seen any fucking gentlemen?” Sam muttered quietly as she straightened the last bit of your hair.

“Stop it,” you giggled softly, nudging her before turning your attention to Ryan. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everyone is just waiting to see the bride to be,” he beamed, shifting his weight from one foot to another.

‘Oh, he’s fucking wasted,’ you thought to yourself. “I’ll be down in a moment.”

“I was thinking we’d go down together,” he smiled hopefully.

“That sounds good to me,” Sam beamed, before turning her attention towards you and dipping down. “Think about what I said,” she whispered before kissing your cheek softly. “I’ll see you both downstairs!” she smiled before quickly exiting the room, softly closing the door behind her.

“Are you done with your little attitude?” Ryan questioned, irritation flickering in his eyes.

“Lets just get through the night, okay?” you huffed, getting up and smoothing out your dress, trying to ignore all of your anxiety and silent rage. ‘You’ve gotta get it together, Y/N,’ you told yourself.

“What the fuck is your deal? Y/N, I’m telling you that if you don’t-”

“And I’m warning you,” you countered harshly, grabbing your clutch, “this isn’t the night to piss me the fuck off. You be on your best behavior and I will be, too. Fuck with me, and I’ll embarrass the hell out of you,” you finished darkly. The sudden change in his demeanor let you know that turned him on. ‘Of course his toxic ass is turned on by that.’ “Lets go,” you muttered before he could act on what he wanted.

You both made your way down the grand staircase, faux smiles on your faces, and were met with cheers and applause. As people made their way over to you two, you did your best to hide all traces of irritation and longing.

Longing for him, as always.

As you made your way into the kitchen, trying to find a bottle of the good whiskey that your father always hid in there, you felt a chill run down your spine.

‘What the fuck is that all about? There’s no way...no. Nope. No. He wouldn’t do that,’ you think to yourself, quickly pouring a generous amount in your glass.

“Y/N! Darling, it’s so good to see you!” Harlan smiled, greeting you with a hug. “You look beautiful as ever.”

“Always the gentleman,” you laughed softly, returning his warm hug. You’d missed him so much.

“I’ve met Ryan, he seems like a nice boy,” Harlan beamed, but his eyes told you that he wasn’t falling for the ‘nice guy’ act. “Are you happy?”

“Yeah...yeah, I am,” you lied, trying to convince both him and yourself.

“Then that’s all that matters,” he nodded, giving you a knowing look. That man could always read you like a book. “I’ve gotta get back to your mother though, I promised her that I’d play a round of ‘Go’ with her.”

“Kick her ass,” you laughed.

“Oh, I plan on it,” he smirked, only causing you laugh harder, before he made his way out of the kitchen.

As the night went on (and you got more and more buzzed), you couldn’t shake the feeling that something was...off. You’d searched for him desperately, but there were no signs of him. Even if you had located him at the dumb little party, what the hell were you going to do? Nothing, because there was nothing you could do without making a scene, and you wouldn’t do that to your family.

“Why the hell have you been avoiding me all night?! This is our celebration party and you’ve barely been by my side!” Ryan whispered harshly. He roughly pulled you into what was once your father’s old study, but had been turned into your mother’s lounge area.

“Back off, Ryan,” you warned, yanking your arm free and taking a sip of your drink. “You aren’t the only person I know at this fucking get together. I have to make my-”

“Get together?! This is a party to celebrate our engagement! This is a party about us and you’re-”

“Who cares, Ryan? Honestly, who the fuck cares? We’ve been engaged 6 months. This is just a reason to drag my ass back to this place,” you scoffed.

“Are you gonna keep being a bitch the whole night or-”

“Is everything okay in here?” an all too familiar deep voice asked, stepping into the room.

‘Fuck, keep it together, Y/N. Keep it the fuck together,’ you repeat internally as you tried to keep calm. “Everything’s fine,” you smiled as sweetly as you could, before turning to meet Ransom’s heated gaze. His eyes were burning with anger. Had he been listening the whole time? “We were actually just-”

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Ryan interrupted, plastic smile on his face, sauntering over and holding out his hand “I’m Ryan West. You are?”

Ransom looked at the outstretched hand before looking Ryan over. “Hugh,” he responded flatly as you did your best to stifle your chuckle, completely ignoring the outstretched hand, before returning his gaze to you. “Are you okay?” he asked again, his voice still sturdy and tough; his eyes were soft, showing genuine concern.

“I’m fine, Ransom. Thank you,” you smiled with a slight nod.

“Alright, your father’s looking for you.”

“Okay, we’ll make our way-”

“Just her,” Ransom snapped, anger returning to his eyes as he looked to Ryan.

“Where is he?” you asked, desperately trying to break the little confrontation that you were sure Ryan wasn’t even aware of.

“We’re out back, I’ll take you,” he responded, motioning with his hand for you to follow him, though his gaze was still burning holes into Ryan.

“Ransom,” you called softly, bringing him back to you.

“Yeah, lets go,” he muttered before leading the way to the back deck, leaving Ryan dumbfounded.

“Where’s my father?” you sighed, once you looked around the back deck and saw no one.

“I don’t know,” Ransom shrugged, placing a cigarette between his lips “probably making out with your mother, those two can’t keep their hands off of each other,” he smirked before lighting up.

“Jesus, Ransom!”

“Listen, it didn’t sound like things were going so great in there, so I thought I’d get you out,” he exhaled, finally looking at you.

“Thanks,” you muttered, grabbing his pack of cigarettes and grabbing your own.

“You used to only smoke when you were drunk.”

“Well, I have had a few drinks.”

“I’ve been out drinking with you, darlin’. I know for a fact that you’re not drunk.”

“Ransom-”

“You left me for him? You made a great improvement,” he chuckled before taking another drag of his cigarette.

“I didn’t leave you for him. I left you then met him. There’s a fucking difference,” you corrected harshly, finally looking him over.

He had a full beard, he’d grown out his hair, and his sweater was hugging his muscles in all the right ways. He looked older, but not old. He looked mature and a bit exhausted. Just being next to him had you thinking all the wrong things.

‘Do not do this, snap out of it!’ you chided yourself. “Why are you even here Ransom?”

“I had some business with your father,” he stated simply, looking you over and a small smirk played on his lips. “Nice dress.”

“Piss off,” you snapped. “Of course you have business with-”

“It’s not that kind of business. I don’t do any of that anymore.”

“What other business could you have?”

“He helps me manage my money, Y/N. That’s it. Whatever destructive things he does at this point have nothing to do with me.”

“Well, why would you come here of all nights? I’m more than positive-”

“I wasn’t supposed to be here this long,” he interrupted, taking another drag of his cigarette “but then...”

“But then what?”

“I saw you coming down that grand staircase,” he sighed and you could tell he wanted to end the conversation, but you weren’t ready to let him off the hook so easy.

“And?”

“All the feelings of anger and rage I had towards you just melted away. You looked gorgeous and grown up. You seemed different and yet the same.  I just wanted to make sure you were okay, because then I’d be able to force myself to leave you alone, but...”

“But what?”

“I know you, Y/N. For better or worse, I fucking know you and I could tell the instant I saw your eyes that you’re not happy. You haven’t been genuinely happy in a long time.”

“Ransom-”

“How could you just fucking leave? Like it was nothing? You left only to find him? Jesus, I know I’m a piece of shit, but for fucks sake-”

“Stop it, Ransom,” you warned, ashing your cigarette.

“Why? It’s just us right now. No need to lie, no need to pretend-”

“Because my mother is in the middle of throwing Ryan and I an engagement party! Because we had our shot and you fucked it up! You don’t get to be mad at me right now!”

“You didn’t have to-”

“Yes I did! You wouldn’t have let me leave and I didn’t want you to! It was best for the both of us!”

“Is that the only way you can sleep at night? Selling yourself on that bullshit?” Ransom scoffed, ashing his own cigarette.

“I can’t do this tonight, Ransom. I can’t and I won’t,” you sniffled, wiping away the few tears that dared to leave your eyes. “I’m going back inside-”

“For what?!”

“Because my fiance is in there, Ransom! Because in 2 months, I’ll be his wife and this...you can’t keep sucking me in!”

“You’re not even happy with him, but you’re gonna marry him?!”

“Goodnight, Ransom,” you sighed before turning and making your way back inside.

“You know it isn’t gonna work with him,” he whispered hotly, following closely behind you.

“Stop it!” you harshly responded, rounding the corner and searching for Sam.

“It’s not gonna work because you don’t love him, not like you love me!”

“I don’t love you!”

“Bullshit! I may be a piece of shit, but at least I’m honest!”

“That’s enough!” you snapped, whipping around so fast you almost slapped him across the face with your hair. “We’re not doing this! You need to move on, because I clearly have!” Ransom’s demeanor quickly changed and a smug, shit eating grin came to his face. “What?!”

“You’ve moved on?”

“Obviously!”

“So, you don’t love or miss me at all?” he questioned, cocking an eyebrow as he slowly started to make his way over to you.

“N-no,” you stuttered, backing away from him.

“So, if I touched right now...?”

“It wouldn’t mean a thing,” you lied confidently, as your back hit the wall. All you wanted was for him to touch you.

“So being this close does nothing for you?” he whispered hotly into your ear. “Cause I gotta tell ya, Princess, being this close and not doing anything is driving me insane.”

“Ransom,” you breathlessly moaned, though, it was supposed to be a warning call.

“Missed hearing all the sounds you make for me when I’m deep inside of you, Princess,” he husked as his hand gently caressed the side of your face.

“Fuck...stop it, Ransom,” you weakly protested, your breathing starting to become heavy.

“I miss you, baby.”

“Ransom...please,” you begged softly, not really sure if you were telling him to stop or to keep going.

“Lets just go. Get the fuck out of here and-”

“Everything okay here?” your dad questioned, causing both and Ransom to to jump.

“Everything is fine,” you quickly responded, clearing your throat, smoothing out your dress.

“Y/N-”

“There you three are! I went out back but couldn’t find anyone,” Ryan smiled making his way over to you. You didn’t miss the quiet scowl that left Ransom’s lips. “Everything okay?”

“Everything is apparently fine,” your father responded, cutting his eyes at both you and Ransom.

“I think it’s starting to wind down, so I figured you’d wanna start saying goodbye,” Ryan smiled, but his eyes held so much confusion.

“I’ll get back out there then,” you smiled , quickly getting yourself away from Ransom and making your way to the living area.

You only got out a few goodbyes before Ransom decided to...well, be Ransom.

“Hey, everyone!” he called from the middle of the grand staircase, big smile on his face. You already knew this wasn’t going to be good. “I feel so terrible because I didn’t bring a gift and I didn’t even know about the engagement! So, tomorrow, I’ll be closing my restaurant on Boston Post Rd early so we can do an engagement dinner for the lovely couple! It’ll start at 7!” he beamed with a faux smile.

“That’s so kind of you!” you beamed, smile just as fake as his, “but I just wouldn’t feel right-”

“We’d love that so much! Thank you, Hugh!” Ryan enthusiastically cheered, as you face palmed yourself.

In that moment, you truly could’ve strangled Ryan. You did your best to mask your utter rage and made eye contact with Sam.

‘He owns a fucking restaurant?!’ you mouthed to her.

‘Three’ she mouthed with a nod.

“I guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow,” Harlan smiled brightly, wrapping you in a tight hug.

“I guess so,” you laughed incredulously, hugging him back just as tightly.

“Are you okay?” he whispered sincerely.

“Who the hell knows?” you responded before pulling away. “Tomorrow at 7?”

“I’ll see you at 7,” he smiled weakly before letting go, making his way to your mother.

That night you let Ryan fuck you senseless. It wasn’t even that you enjoyed the feeling of his skin on yours; it was you needing relief from everything Ransom made you feel earlier. In the end, Ryan brought you off, but it wasn’t what you needed. Ryan was a good fuck, sure, but that’s all he’d ever be. You couldn’t ever get to the level of satisfaction that Ransom brought you, but that wasn’t his fault.

Every time you and Ryan fucked, you found yourself comparing him to Ransom. Not necessarily on purpose, but you couldn’t help it. Size difference aside, the skill wasn’t there. Nor the passion, and that was the main thing. You wanted so badly to make love to him, but it just wasn’t there. Every time you two were together it felt like a college hookup. Just something for fun and to take your mind off whatever was stressing you out.

It was all consuming with Ransom. You didn’t just want the sex, you needed him. Every part of him. Every part of making love to him felt intimate and soul stirring. Every time he filled you with his love, you felt like you two were one. Every time he was deep inside of you, it made you forget that anyone else even existed. Ransom always took his time with you, worshiped every part of you, and made sure to tell you just how much he truly and deeply loved you- no matter how filthy and dirty the sex was. Then, when all was said and done, he’d just hold you and press soft kisses into your hair. He’d ask you about your day or just stroke your back until you fell asleep.

Being intimate with Ransom always felt like you were finally coming home. Whereas with Ryan, he was ready to leave as soon as it was over. There was no care, no cuddling, no sweet talking...he’d just get up and tell you he had work to do or that he was gonna go and, “see the guys”.

By sunrise the next day, you were more than ready to go to breakfast with your father and get far away from Ryan.

“Sweetheart,” your father started as the waiter placed your two coffees down. “Are you happy?”

“That’s a complicated question,” you sighed, taking a sip of your coffee and leaning back into your seat.

“It’s really not.”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to be honest with me.”

“No, you really don’t,” you scoffed, taking out your pack of cigarettes.

“Sunshine, we’ve been through enough bullshit that I think we can both handle anything at this point.”

“What’s going with you and mom?” you asked, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between your lips, waiting for the light Spring breeze to pass before lighting up.

“We’re...trying to see if there’s any way for us to get back to where we were. She understandably has her reservations. So we’re just going at a pace that works for her.”

“Men really make no sense,” you chuckled, taking a drag from your cigarette, then exhaling. “You all will have everything you want, then throw it away. Simply because you can.”

“That’s not what happened with your mother, Y/N. I did love her and I saw how much I was hurting her, but...”

“But?”

“Remember when you were younger and you couldn’t resist doing dangerous, dumb shit? Like climbing to the very top of trees or jumping off the roof of the shed into the pool?”

“Yeah?” you laughed softly, remembering how much your mother would scream at you whenever she caught you in the act.

“Remember how much we told you to stop? How much your mother would cry when you’d hurt yourself, and how much I would I worry?”

“Yeah.”

“You still did it though, because you got a thrill out of it. It was a high for you and you loved it, no matter how much it hurt us. That’s what it was for me. I met your mother when I was a kid and had nothing. We struggled and then I started to do better. When that happened, the only thing I wanted to do was something good for your mother, because she’d stood by me through everything. Then the attention started coming in, and that’s something I’d never had before, and I liked it. It wasn’t bad at first, but somehow it started to spiral. After you were born, I told myself that I’d stop because I didn’t want you to hate me like your brother did. I was fine with it at first, because I was truly happy to have all of you. John and I were getting along, your mother was actually happy to have me around, and you thought the world of me.”

“So what happened?”

“I missed it. The attention, the partying, the drugs...I missed the thrill of it. I wasn’t proud of it and I could see that I was hurting your mother, but it was fun and I was a selfish fuck. It took my daughter representing my now ex-wife for me to realize how much I truly fucked up. You and John hating me...it’s what I deserve-”

“We don’t hate you, dad,” you sighed, taking one final drag of your cigarette before putting it out.

“I know...you know what I mean. Anyway, that’s a very long winded answer to your question,” he smiled softly.

“Thank you for being honest with me,” you smiled with a slight nod before taking a sip of your coffee.

“Now, what’s going on with you and Ransom?”

“Nothing,” you sighed, running your hand through your hair.

“I thought we weren’t bullshitting each other, sweetie.”

“I’m telling you the truth,” you scoffed. “It’s been over between us for years.”

“Didn’t look like it was over last night.”

“That was just Ransom being Ransom.”

“I don’t know what you did to him, but he changed after you left.”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” you scowled, as the waiter made his way back over to take your orders. You felt your father’s gaze on you and you knew what was coming next.

“Sunshine, do you love him?” he asked as soon as the waiter was out of ear shot.

You contemplated having another cigarette before answering, but opted for playing with your lighter instead. “I always love him. Like a fucking fool.”

“And Ryan?”

“What about him? I’m marrying him aren’t I?”

“Do you love him?”

“I don’t know...yes? Sometimes? “

“So, you know you love Ransom, but you’re basically in like with Ryan?”

“Dad please, it’s...I can’t be with Ransom, okay? Too much has happened there...I don’t want to end up like you and mom,” you huffed as your food arrived.

“You aren’t happy, Sunshine. You smoke like a chimney, drink like a fish, cry when you think no one is looking, and you’re more angry than not. You weren’t always like this. At least not when you were sneaking around with Ransom.”

“Too bad Ransom cheated on me. Twice.”

“He was a child-”

“Don’t okay? Just fucking don’t. He wasn’t a child-”

“Y/N, not everyone is you. There’s no excuse for what he did and I’m still angry at him for what he did, but I get it. If you’re still this in love with him and not sure about Ryan-”

“This is for the best. What’s wrong between Ryan and I is on me,” you lied, stabbing at your eggs with your fork like they stole something precious from you. “I need to let go and move on completely. Getting married will help me do that.”

“You know you the best,” your father scoffed as he poured syrup onto his waffles. “If you truly believe that this is what’s best, then I’ll be more than happy to walk you down the aisle, alongside your mother, and give you away, but you need to be sure this is what you truly want. Trust me, I would know,” he warned.

The rest of breakfast went off without a hiccup and was mainly spent talking about the arrangements for your wedding. Your parents were footing the bill, despite you begging them not to, and your father was insisting on you having the wedding closer to home. You told him that it made no sense to change venues so close to the wedding date, but he promised that he could make anything happen. After he pushed, for the 5th time, you promised him that you would discuss it with Ryan.

Too bad that turned out to be a pain in the ass.

“I don’t know, maybe we should ask Hugh how he feels about it tonight,” he humorlessly laughed as he buttoned his pants.

“You’re the one who accepted his invite.”

“Because he needs to be put in his fucking place!”

“Sure babe, sure,” you laughed as you tied your hair up in a bright red ribbon.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

“You aren’t gonna be the one to put Drysdale in his place. I’m not even being a bitch, it’s just a fact.”

“What makes you so sure?”

“Ransom loves conflict, he thrives off drama, and he lives to piss off and offend others. He fucks with whomever and whatever he wants, and he’ll make sure to humiliate whomever gets in his way. That’s his territory, so just stand down.”

“Oh? Did he fuck you?”

“My father would have killed him,” you lied with a chuckle. No need to add more drama to an already stressful day.

“So there’s nothing for me to worry about?”

“Not as far as I know,” you shrugged, giving a fake smile.

The drive to the restaurant was filled with wedding talk, work talk, and petty arguments about Ransom.

“Then lets just fucking go back to my parent’s place!” you snapped as he pulled into the parking lot.

“And let him win? No!”

“Let him win what? What are you even talking about?”

“This is clearly some ego thing with him! The restaurant is called ‘Sunshine’! Isn’t that what your father calls you?!”

“Exactly. It’s what my father calls me. I don’t know why Ransom named his restaurant that, probably because it sounds like the name of a porn star,” you shrugged, grabbing your purse and looking yourself over in the mirror.

“Whatever, I’m gonna put this asshole in his place tonight.”

“Whatever you say, babe.. Whatever you say.”

As you made your way inside, you can’t help but marvel at the masterpiece in front of you. Ransom really created a beautiful castle subtly filled with all of the things you loved. The warm colored walls, the pictures of friends and family (though you could tell that some of them were photo shopped), even the cutlery plates were your favorite style. You were torn between feeling overwhelmed with love and happiness at the gesture and feeling angry and resentful about it.

The center pieces on each table were beautiful; translucent frosted rose vases, filled with peonies. The fact that he still remembered- after all of the time and drama that passed- had you fighting back tears.

‘He had his chance and he fucked up! Why is he always fucking with my head?!’ you thought to yourself as the hostess seated you and Ryan at the head table, along with both of your families.

Ryan’s mother greeted you with a faux smile on her lips and a scowl in her eyes, as per usual, while his father looked happier to see you than usual.

“So Y/N, you’ve lived quite a life out here!” Mrs. West beamed as the waiter filled her wine glass with Merlot.

“I guess so,” you shrugged uncomfortably. You hated talking about money and hated people knowing that your parents have a ton of it. It made you feel like you fell into that role of ‘poor little rich girl’ cliche, which is the last thing you wanted.

You didn’t need or want anyone’s judgment or pity. As if on cue, Ransom showed up.

‘Always saving me. Always breaking me,’ you told yourself mentally.

“How is everyone?” he asked looking around the table, but his gaze settled on you, and you knew he could tell how uncomfortable you were.

“We’re all wonderful,” Ryan’s mother smirked, drinking him in. You couldn’t help but shake your head and chuckle.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he smiled down at her with his boyish grin that always made women feral over him. You knew he was having fun at Ryan’s expense, and the part of you that was still petty was enjoying every bit of it.

“Hugh, if you could just get the bill now I can settle-”

“It’s a gift,” Ransom smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “Besides, I can afford it. No big deal,” he shrugged before turning his attention back to the table. “Just wanted to let everyone know that changes were made for tonight’s menu in honor of the bride and groom to be. If anyone needs me, I’ll be in my office,” he smiled at you before turning to leave.

“Why don’t you join us?” your mother chimed in, causing you to choke on your wine.

“Yeah, since you put all of this together, it’s only right that you join us. Besides, this is for friends and family,” Ryan smirked.

Ransom looked to you before he spoke and saw how uncomfortable you were, and whatever smart ass comment was about to leave his mouth stopped. “I’d love to, but unfortunately, I have a lot of work to get to.”

“Sounds like it would do you some good to have me pay the bill,” Ryan chuckled, taking a sip of his scotch.

In Ransom’s defense, he really had to tried to be decent, but they’re some things you just can’t change.

“Besides this one, I have two other restaurants that I own and manage, all three have just been voted in the top 5 best places to eat in Massachusetts. In fact, in order to put this dinner together for you two lovebirds last minute, I had to shut down a photo shoot that’s been planned for weeks and now have get it done before the end of next week so it makes the deadline for all the travel magazines and blogs. Just minor stuff, you know. So no, I don’t need you to pay for anything. What I need is for you to be more grateful and a little more fucking polite, while you sit here and drink my best scotch for free,” Ransom growled.

You just wanted the ground to swallow you whole as both you and Sam made eye contact, looking at each other with pure panic and dread.

“Auntie Y/N!” your niece, Sydney, called as she ran over to you.

“Oh thank God,” you mumbled before getting up and meeting her halfway. “Lovebug! How are you?!” you exclaimed, picking her up and showering her with kisses.

“I’m better today! Sorry we didn’t come to your party last night,” she sighed mournfully.

“That’s okay, peanut, you’re all here now,” you smiled at the sad 4 year old, who then instantly brightened up. “You wanna know a secret?” you whispered.

“Mhm,” she nodded furiously.

“You’re my favorite person here,” you smirked as she giggled, “but shhh!”

All she did was nod and hold a finger over her lips. Your niece truly was your most favorite person in the world.

“Hey sis,” your brother John smiled, engulfing you in a hug. “What the fuck is going on over there?” he whispered in your ear, and you knew he was referring to an angry Ransom and Ryan.

“Later. Much later,” you muttered before greeting Ashley, who couldn’t wait to hug you. “You all take a seat and order what you want, it’s very much on the house,” you mumbled to her with a soft smile.

“Why do I have a feeling that this being paid for by Ransom is part of the problem?”

“Because you’re not just pretty, you’re really smart too,” you smiled and Ashley couldn’t help but laugh.

You helped them all get get seated as close to the front of the table as possible, before Ransom stalked off to his office. You jumped a little in your seat when he slammed the door shut. You felt the eyes of Sam and your family on you, but you just kept your attention on the menu in front of you, which happened to be filled with all of your favorite meals and deserts.

‘Always the charmer,’ you thought to yourself while a small smile played on your lips.

“We’re talking about this later,” Ryan whispered to you, as the waiters came around to take everyone’s orders.

“No, we’re not,” you snapped back in a hushed tone.

“Something went on between you two-”

“Ryan, you were a complete dick to him. That whole exchange could’ve been avoided if you’d stop believing that the world owes you something. Your obsession with status and money is truly remarkable,” you huffed.

“Y/N, you’re one to talk-”

“So Ryan, how have things been at the firm?” John interjected, once he noticed how fired up you were getting.

“Things are amazing! Your sister is kicking so much ass-”

“That’s a bad word!” Sydney sassed and gave her a small smile and a wink.

“You’re right, I’m very sorry,” Ryan smiled at her as she held her angry scowl at him. “You’re aunt is doing amazing at work.”

“Of course she is, she’s the best,” Sydney nodded matter-of-factly.

“That’s amazing, sunshine,” your father beamed at you.

“Yeah, she may even make partner before the wedding,” Ryan grumbled as you rolled your eyes. He hated that you made more money than him.

“Really?! Sis, that’s awesome!”

“It’s really not a big deal. I’ve been told I love to argue, so it finally turned into something that puts food on the table,” you smirked, remembering when Ransom poked fun at you.

“Yeah, but with partner, you’ll making-”

“Can we table the money talk for a while? It really doesn’t matter,” you chuckled uncomfortably.

“Of course it doesn’t matter, you have it,” Ryan muttered.

“And so do you, so drop it,” you snapped, your irritation reaching its boiling point.

“Have you two talked about changing venues at all?” your mother questioned, wanting to change the souring mood as quickly as possible.

“We still haven’t decided,” Ryan smiled towards her.

“The wedding is 2 months out! The quicker you decide, the quicker we can make the arrangements!”

“I just don’t see why we need to change the venue,” you huffed as your plate of lamb and potatoes were placed in front of you.

You couldn’t help but smile at the fact that Ransom had placed your order for you.

“You’re already so far, sweetie. We just want one thing that’s closer to home,” your mother smiled sympathetically.

That made you feel a little bad.

“What venue are you two so dead set upon?” you asked her with a small smile.

“The 228 In Sterling!”

“That place is gorgeous.”

“It’s simple enough and I know you love simplicity! It’s a farm and-”

“A farm?” Ryan’s mother interjected. “I thought that we all agreed that a simple venue was the way to go.”

“If my daughter isn’t comfortable, I don’t want her-”

“I want everyone to be happy and comfortable,” Mrs. West quickly interjected. “I just want it to be in a civilized manner.”

“There’s nothing uncivilized about a barn wedding. Especially when you’re spending-”

“I need to take this call,” you smiled, happy that a spam call finally came in handy. “It’s the office, so it may take some time.”

“Of course,” Ryan scowled, “we’ll be here waiting for you.”

“I’ll be as quick as I can,” you smiled before you rushed off with your little purse. You pressed ignore on your phone then pressed it to your ear, “Erin! How is everything going with the Wilkes case?” you asked loudly.

You went to duck into the coat check room, but the coat check girl was still  there.

“Hey, can you leave for like...30 minutes?” you asked as kindly as you could, pulling out your pack of cigarettes and taking one.

“Um...I really can’t. I know this party is for you, but Mr. Drysdale-”

“If he gives you a hard time, just tell him it was all my fault.”

“Miss Y/L/N, I-”

“Listen...?”

“Diana.”

“Diana,” you smiled, lighting a cigarette, “I’m having a really fucked day and none of it is your fault, but I really just need a few minutes to escape. If you’re really that afraid of Ransom, send him in here and I’ll talk to him.”

“You can’t smoke in-”

“Diana, really fucking terrible day,” you smiled, but your aggravation was starting to show.

“Let me just go and get Mr. Drysdale,” she smiled frantically before she practically ran out.

You took maybe two drags from your cigarette before Ransom burst in and slammed the door shut behind him. “What the fuck, princess?”

“You have your employees that afraid of you?”

“Only when I’m stressed the fuck out. What the hell is going on?”

“Why are you stressed?”

“Y/N, what’s the problem?”

“I’m just done for the day. It’s been argument after argument and I just can’t fucking do it anymore. I’m done.”

“How the fuck is what happened between that little prick and me my fault? He started it!”

“When did I say it was your fault? I’m well aware that Ryan is an asshole, I know that little outburst was his fault.”

“Oh,” he states softly. “Then why are you with him?”

“Ransom, I’m tired and I don’t feel like doing this right now,” you sighed before taking another drag from your cigarette.

“There’s no smoking in here.”

“Oh seriously? Fuck off!”

“Go smoke outside.”

“Ransom, if I walk outside that door, I’ll just fucking run away. I’ll run until my feet bleed and my legs give out,” you muttered, running a frustrated hand through your hair.

“Then explain it to me. Explain all of this to me, because I just don’t fucking get it. This isn’t you.”

“As if you know me.”

“I’ve known you since the first time I laid eyes on you.”

“Ransom, just stop. Fucking stop. Why are you even doing this?”

“I wanted to see what I was missing. What the fucking appeal of him is, if he ever treats you right...if you actually love him.”

“Stop it.”

“You don’t. He’s just a good time for you.”

“Go away,” you snap, fighting back tears.

“Then stop fucking smoking in my coat check area.”

“Why are you being such a dick?!”

“Because you’re being a bitch.”

“Fuck you,” you scoffed and threw your cigarette down, stomping it. “Just send me the bill for this little shit show and I’ll cover it.”

“I don’t fucking need you to cover it,” he snapped.

“Yeah whatever, fuck you,” you muttered as you bent over to pick up the bludgeoned cigarette.

You should’ve read the room. You should’ve seen the signs and noticed his mood, but you didn’t. The minute you bent over, Ransom’s hand was sliding under the bottom of your dress. You couldn’t stop the moan that left your mouth and you honestly didn’t want to. You wanted him.

You needed him.

“You had to fucking look like this tonight?” he growled as he hooked two fingers onto your panties and slowly started pulling them down.

“Ransom...don’t,” you warned with a quiet whimper.

“You come back here, looking fucking gorgeous as ever, and you’re telling me not to fucking touch you?”

“Ransom-”

“He’s not who you fucking want, princess,” he husked as he stroked your soaked lips with two fingers. “He doesn’t make you feel good like I do, does he?”

“Please,” you groaned, losing your resolve.

“No, you’re gonna fucking tell me the truth,” he grunted before sliding his two fingers inside of you.

“Oh fuck!” you whimper as quietly as you can.

“Does he get you off like I do?”

“No,” you moaned, leaning against the desk top, gripping it tight.

“He doesn’t even make you feel good?”

“No!”

“Quiet princess, you don’t wanna get caught do you?” When you didn’t answer him, you could tell that he knew he had you. “Don’t get quiet on me on me now, baby.”

“Ransom please!” you begged quietly, your release building up.

“You need to be fucked like a little slut, don’t you?”

“Yes...yes please!”

“Been so long since someone has treated you the way you deserve to be treated, hasn’t it?”

“You have no fucking idea,” you confessed with a silent sob.

“That’s okay,” he quipped, removing his two fingers despite your protest, before unbuttoning and unzipping his pants: “I’m gonna make you feel so good.”

“Ransom...fuck!” you mewled, suddenly remembering how wrong all of it truly was as he thrust himself inside of you. “We can’t do this!”

“Why not? What’s the problem?” he grunted, fucking into you as if he’d been alone in the world for thousands of years. “We both want this-”

“Ransom...oh my fuck! I’m with someone else!”

“Someone who can’t even satisfy you,” he chuckled before pulling the red ribbon in your hair loose, letting your hair fall freely. “You don’t even love him, do you?”

“I do!”

“Not like you love me,” he retorted, picking up his pace.

You knew that lying to him when he had you in such a position was pointless. “Ransom-”

“No princess, I need you to tell me the truth. I need to fucking hear it,” he almost begged as he fucked faster, more intensely.

“Please don’t make me-”

“You don’t love him like you love me, do you?”

“No!” you confessed breathlessly as you came hard on his cock.

“That’s my girl, such a good girl for Daddy,” he moaned, as he pulled you upright, pushing his cock even deeper inside.

“Shit!” you squealed, covering your mouth almost instantly.

“Oh, I think you want him to catch us,” Ransom husked against the shell of your ear before nipping on it. “You want him to catch us so he can finally see the right way to fuck you. Is that it?” You couldn’t stop yourself from clenching around him. “God, I missed how fucking filthy you can be,” he chuckled as he started fondling your beasts over your dress. “Fuck, I’ve missed this perfect little cunt so much!”

“Ransom...I’m so close!” you whimpered, wrapping an arm around his neck, your back pressing against his chest.

“Do it, baby!” Ransom whispered hotly against your ear. “Fucking cum for me!”

“Oh God!” you sobbed quietly, your orgasm washing over you so hard your legs almost gave out.

Ransom let you get yourself together before his own movements started to become erratic. “Where do you want it, princess?”

In that moment, you truly appreciated Ransom, because he knew. He knew you just needed a release; besides getting you to admit that you did still love him, it had been filthy and a good way to get rid of stress. He also knew that for him to cum inside you would be entirely too intimate for you. He knew you couldn’t handle that.

Not on top of everything else.

“My mouth,” you moaned softly. “Please...m-my mouth.”

“Gonna need you to get on your knees pretty fucking quick, baby,” he groaned, pulling out of you.

You were on your knees almost instantly, looking up at him with your mouth open wide.

“Shit, you look so good on your knees for me,” he moaned as you got your mouth around him. You started to massage his cock with your tongue as you sucked on him, “You’re so good at this, baby. So fucking good at pleasing me,” he grunted, grabbing a fistful of your hair as he lulled his head back and started breathing heavy. Once you started massaging his balls, Ransom legs almost gave out. “Shit!” he breathlessly moaned, his release quickly filling your mouth.

You took your time cleaning him up as an act of kindness. You made sure you got every last drop out before releasing him, wiping the sides of your mouth, and getting up.

“How do you feel?” he asked as he tucked himself back into his pants.

“I need to get back,” you said breathlessly. “Where’s my ribbon?”

“It doesn’t matter, do you feel any better?”

“Ransom, I just cheated on my fucking fiancee. I feel like a piece of shit because I am a piece of shit.”

“Princess, I’m pretty sure he cheated on you a few times.”

“That actually doesn’t make me feel better. Give me my panties,” you demanded.

“I’m keeping these as a souvenir,” he chuckled with a devilish grin.

The fact that it turned you on made you feel a brand new type of rage...and desire. “Fuck you!”

“You just did.”

You slapped him hard before storming out of the coat check area. Before walking back into the dinning area you took a deep breath and smoothed your hands down over your dress. You cleared your throat before walking back in the dining room to your seat.

“Jesus, that took forever,” Ryan mumbled as he kissed your cheek. “Where’s your ribbon?” he asked when he noticed your hair down.

“Oh, I decided to take it out when I was outside and dropped it at some point,” you lied with a small smile.

“That sucks, my mother likes your hair better when it’s up. I do too,” he faintly smiled before returning his attention back to a conversation between your father and his.

You tried to focus on the food in front of you, but how could you? What had you just done? It barely took Ransom a full 24 hours to get between your legs and get you to confess how you really felt about him. You really were weak whenever you were around him.

Just one touch...

As you continued to drown yourself in self hate and true disbelief at how easily you cracked, you felt a pair of eyes on you. You looked over at the table next to yours; Sam’s eyes are glued to you, one eyebrow raised.

She knew. Of course she knew. She knew you better than you knew yourself.

A few moments later, you felt your phone buzz and you already knew who it was.

Other Half: Tell me you didn’t.

Y/N: Please don’t make me hate myself more than I already do.

Other Half: WHY?!

Y/N: Because I’m fucking pathetic, and should’ve stayed far the fuck away from here.

Other Half: Stop it, it’s not the end of the world. It’s a one and done thing, right?

Y/N: Absolutely. I’m staying far the fuck away from him for the rest of the time I’m here.

Other Half: Then just...leave it at that. It’s not like Ryan’s squeaky clean and this is the first time you’ve ever done anything out of line.

Y/N: It’s still not right.

Other Half: It’s just Ransom, babe. Just think of it as a form of release and move on.

Y/N: You know he’s much more than ‘just Ransom’ to me.

Other Half: That’s why I said to move on, love.

You put your phone down and took a giant sip of wine, letting the events of the day and Sam’s words roll around in your head. You were so lost in thought that you hadn’t noticed that Ransom had started going from table to table asking everyone about their meals.

“Everything was amazing,” Ryan’s mother beamed at him, causing you jump a little as you went for another sip of wine.

“Y/N, you’ve barely eaten. Big meal earlier?” Ransom smirked with a cocked eyebrow and you choked on your wine.

“It was great, I just don’t have much of an appetite right now,” you sputtered, shooting a glare Sam’s way as she tried to stifle her chuckle.

“Ya know, you should cater the wedding,” Ryan’s mother smiled at him. She really was smitten with him.

“We have a caterer, mother,” Ryan all but growled through gritted teeth. “Besides, with three restaurants to run, I’m sure he wouldn’t have time for our little wedding, especially on such short notice.”

“It’s all up to Y/N,” Ransom smiled at you sincerely. “She knows there’s nothing I wouldn’t do for her.”

“Thank you Ransom,” you smiled as sweetly as you while trying to silence all of the voices in your head telling you to run.

“I’ll let you all get back to it,” he smiled at the table before walking over to Sam’s.

You could feel Ryan’s glare on the side of your face, but you were just too tired to care. You didn’t even want to come back home, but he insisted. He was just going to have to deal with the consequences at this point.

As the night bore on, you got drunk. The list of reasons was long and growing: you were mad at and ashamed with yourself, you were angry with Ryan, you were angry with and missed Ransom, your parents and future in-laws wouldn’t shut the fuck up about wedding venues, and your shoes were too tight and hurt. By the time the night finally came to an end, both sides were happy to tell you that they’d agreed on a venue closer to your parents mansion; the reception could be held there.

Made sense, because when did anyone ever give a shit about what you wanted?

“I’m getting you two a car service,” Ransom said as he saw you stumbling past the coat check while Ryan started to look a little rough around the edges.

“No thanks, Hugh,” Ryan smiled sarcastically. “I’m fine to get my fiancee and myself home safe.”

“You had 6 glasses of scotch. You’re not driving either of you anywhere,” Ransom warned with a low growl.

“Guys, stop it,” you slurred, finally giving in and taking your shoes off.

“What is all this? Some big show for her? A final play to win her love? She’s with me, Hugh,” Ryan scoffed, pushing Ransom.

Oh, he was more drunk than anyone originally thought.

“Why are you picking a fight?!” you hissed at Ryan, quickly getting in between the both of them. “You’ve done nothing but be an asshole-”

“And you’re just eating it up!” he snapped at you. “You haven’t seen the way he’s been looking at you all night? The way he was looking at you last night?”

“Ryan, we’re both drunk. It’s been a long day and we both just need to sleep it off,” you sighed, too tired to keep going back and forth. You were also mortified that all of this was happening in front of your friends and family.

“You can sit here and pretend he’s not trying to get in your fucking pants if you want, but I’m tired of it!”

“Watch it,” Ransom warned.

“Everyone just needs to calm down,” John snapped, getting in between you and Ryan.

“She’s my fiancee, Hugh. She’ll never be yours and you need to accept that or we’re gonna have a real fucking problem on our hands,” Ryan growled.

Ransom just chuckled humorlessly and you knew he was doing all he could to not beat Ryan into a pulp. “The car will be here to pick you two up in 5 minutes. Enjoy the rest of your night,” he dryly quipped before he stormed off towards his office, slamming the door shut.

If looks could kill, Ryan would’ve been dead in an instant. Between your father, John, Sam, his parents, your mother, and you it was a wonder that he was still even standing.

The minute you two got into the car, Ryan went off. You just closed your eyes and clenched your fists. You couldn’t have another argument in front of a total stranger.

“Are you even listening to me?!” he snapped at you, slamming his hand down on the empty seat between you two.

All you did was open your eyes and glare at him in a way that made him cower slightly. He didn’t say a word for the rest of the drive.

When you two finally arrived at your parents mansion, all of the fun parts of your buzz wore off and all you were left with was rage. “Ma’am, are you gonna be okay with him?” the driver asked once Ryan was stumbling out the car and  up the steps like a baby.

“I’ll be fine,” you huffed, your angry gaze following him.

“Mr. Drysdale will want me to-”

“Mr. Drysdale? Hugh Ransom Drysdale?”

“Yes ma’am, I’m his personal driver,” the man smiled weakly.

You let out an incredulous laugh, doing your best to contain the new wave of anger that washed over you. “Please let Mr. Drysdale know that I am perfectly fine and he needs to stay out of situations that don’t pertain to him. I know I sound like a bitch right now but my anger isn’t directed at you. I’m just sick of people today,” you huffed, feeling bad about the sharpness in your tone.

“Believe me, I understand,” he chuckled, “I’ll be sure to pass your message along to Mr. Drysdale,” he nodded before pulling off.

You quickly stormed up the steps and slammed the door shut behind you once you made your way inside. You could hear raised voices from your father’s old study and stormed ahead towards it.

“Where’s Sydney?” you asked Ashley as soon as you reached your destination.

“She’s sleeping, thank God,” she muttered, taking a sip of her whiskey.

“Good,” was all you said before storming to the center of the room, getting between your father and Ryan. “Are you fucking stupid?!” you screamed at Ryan. “I really wanna fuckin’ know! Are you fucking stupid?!”

“Y/N-”

“My four year old fucking niece was there, you idiot! Have you lost your mind?! To speak to me and Ransom like that in front of a fucking child?! It’s one thing if its a room full of adults, but a child?!”

“Sis-”

“Do I sound like I’m finished speaking?!” you snapped at John and he quickly went quiet. “If you ever speak to me or anyone else like that in front of her again, I swear to God that I will leave your ass on the spot! Am I fucking clear?!”

“Baby-”

“AM I CLEAR?!” you yelled at him with more force than you knew you had.

“Yes,” he responded softly, looking at his feet. “Can we just talk about this while we’re getting ready for bed?”

“You must be high as a fucking kite if you think you’re getting anywhere near me tonight. You’re sleeping in the fucking guest room, which is more than you deserve,” you bite before storming out of the room and up the steps.

The minute you get to your room, you close it as softly as you can so you don’t wake Sydney, before starting to pace as a weak attempt to calm your nerves.

“Hey psycho, I see you still need to get your anger in check,” John laughed softly as he made his way into your room.

“I could slap the shit out of him, I swear to God,” you grumbled through grit teeth.

“You need to calm down.”

“What the fuck do you think I’m trying to do, John?” you hissed at him.

“Yes, Ryan did everything wrong tonight, and dad had to hold me back from hitting him a few times, but Ransom was making advances towards you, sis. You had to notice that.”

“Who fucking cares, John? Honestly, who gives a shit? He doesn’t know my history with him and at the end of the fucking day, Ryan’s gaudy ass ring is on my finger! Who cares?!”

“You did disappear for a bit.”

“Ryan goes off for a bit more often than not. Now he knows how it fucking feels.”

“Come again?” John questioned, clenching his fists.

Too tired, angry, and drunk to lie, you just tell the truth. “He’s a fucking cheater, John! He cheats on me and then makes me think that I’m being paranoid and crazy when I know I’m not! He throws my past traumas in my face and tells me that it’s not fair that I project all that shit onto him! It’s not like he’s some fucking saint that I’m fucking over! This is the first and only time he has felt an ounce of what he always makes me feel!”

“I’m gonna fucking kill him,” your brother huffed, marching towards your door.

“No, because it’s been fucking resolved. We’ve been doing better, with the exception of tonight-”

“Y/N, this isn’t you. You don’t settle.”

“Clearly, I fucking do,” you mumbled as you made your way over to the drinking cart in your room. “I left Ransom and found Ryan. I’ll fucking leave Ryan and end up with someone worse.”

“You don’t know that.”

“John...please just don’t, okay? I’m gonna fucking deal with Ransom tomorrow and-”

“Like you dealt with him today?”

“Oh fuck off,” you scoffed, taking a sip of your whiskey.

“Everyone who knows the history between you and Ransom knows what you did.”

“Do you all want gold stars?”

“You can’t keep going back and forth, Y/N.”

“What the fuck does that even mean? I haven’t seen or spoken to Ransom in years. All of this has just been a lot and I needed the release. It means nothing.”

“Do you truly believe that?”

“Yes. I’m not the same person I was in college. Not entirely the same person. Yes, I do still love him, but too much has happened, John. Too much time has passed and we just aren’t in the same place we were in before. It’s over,” you sighed, wiping away the few tears that spilled out.

“I just want you to be happy, Y/N. If there’s anyone who deserves it, it’s you. Just make sure you’re making the right choice,” he sighed in defeat. “I’m going to bed though. I’m tired, I’m angry, I’m buzzed, my daughter cried for 2 hours because of that little display at Ransom’s restaurant, and my wife and sister are furious. I need to fucking sleep,” he laughed to himself.

“Sleep tight,” you smiled softly as he kissed your forehead.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” you stated softly before he left your room.

You showered repeatedly that night, trying scrub the day off of you. You knew it was useless because the memories weren’t going anywhere. You’d given yourself to Ransom, and no matter how much you tried to look at it as just a release, it was so much more than that. You’d told Ransom you loved him and that you loved him more than you loved Ryan. You told him that you didn’t love Ryan in the way that you loved him.

Why couldn’t you tell him no? Why did you always have to fall apart for him? Ransom had hurt you so deeply and it still hurt, so why couldn’t you just turn off your feelings? Why couldn’t you stop loving him?

Those questions and more wracked your brain as you tried to get some sleep, but you couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or so at a time. By the time the sun was up the next day, so were you; sitting up in your bed and smoking a cigarette. You looked out at your terrace, dreading what you were about to do next.

You at least had to try though.

You got out of bed before anyone was even awake and grabbed the keys to your father’s 2019 Aston Martin Rapide before rushing out, speeding to Ransom’s house.

“Open up!” you screamed, banging on his door, not caring whose peace you disturbed in the process. “I know you’re home! Open the fuck up!”

“Jesus Y/N,” Ransom answered groggily as he opened the door “what the-”

“What the hell do you want from me?!” you snapped, pushing your way past him and making your way into his house. You did your best to ignore the fact that he was shirtless and focused on your goal. “What the fuck was yesterday?!”

“I didn’t do anything you didn’t want me to do,” he yawned with a shrug.

You couldn’t stop yourself from slapping him on the chest. “You didn’t need to throw that fucking dinner, you could’ve told me no, you didn’t need to get your personal driver to drive us back to my parents, and you didn’t need to bait Ryan!”

“He started-”

“No Ransom, you knew what the fuck you were doing! You knew that he would eventually react and lose his shit, but you fucking did it anyway! What do you want from me?!”

Ransom sighed and was thoughtful before he spoke. “You just fucking left, Y/N. No warning, no text, no call, no fucking letter...you just fucking left!”

“What was I supposed to do, Ransom?! I told you that I’m done with you and you bought us a fucking house in the Hamptons! You were never gonna just let me leave! You would’ve always tried to find a way to suck me back in until you got your shit together!”

“Princess, I know-”

“No, you really don’t fucking know,” you sobbed. “I loved you. I loved you more than I’ve ever loved anyone and I defended you! I defended us! Just for you to turn around and betray me twice! I would have loved you until my dying day and you just...” you trailed off as the tears started to flow freely. “I gave you my heart and soul blindly, twice, believing that you truly wanted me. Wanted us...you don’t get to do this to me, Ransom. You don’t get to rock my world again and turn everything on its head. You don’t think I wanted a future for us? You don’t think I thought about our wedding time and time again? I didn’t do this and it’s not fucking fair!” you cried, stomping your foot like a petulant child.

“Baby...I know and I’m so fucking sorry,” he sniffled as he made his way over to you slowly.

“No!” you snapped, backing away from him. “I was weak yesterday and fuck, I’ll probably always be weak to you, but I’m going to put up a fight against you when I can! Don’t touch me and don’t get close to me, Ransom!”

“If you could just-”

“No, this is done. Leave me alone, Ransom. Moving on from you has been one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do and I refuse to let you push me back,” you sniffed as you cried.

“I never meant to hurt you. I never wanted to do this to us-”

“But you fucking did, so let me go,” you breathed as you dried your eyes, before turning and storming out of his house and speeding off in your father’s car.

When you finally got back to your parent’s place, you stayed in your father’s car and cried for what felt like hours. Most of what you had yelled at Ransom for he deserved, but what happened the day before...that was on you. Even though you knew that, you couldn’t bring yourself to come to terms with it.

Not just yet.

“Where did you go?” Ryan asked softly as you made your way back inside.

“For a drive,” you responded bitterly as you hung your father’s keys back up on the key rack.

“Baby-”

“I’m not ready to talk about it, Ryan and I’m nowhere near ready to hear you out. I just want to go home,” you sighed, knowing that you’d never actually be home unless you were with Ransom. “So, just pack up your stuff so we can go. Your car is out front, so I’m assuming Ransom had someone drop it off.”

“Can we just-”

“Not right now, Ryan.”`

You both said bye to your parents and brother, with Ryan apologizing profusely to everyone, and started on your journey back home. The car ride was tense and filled with a painful silence. Each time Ryan tried to place his hand on your lap, you just moved it away from him. When you two finally got back to the apartment you two shared, you went straight to the master bedroom and slammed the door shut. You got under the covers and cried until you fell asleep. Crying seemed to be the only thing that brought you any kind of comfort.

When you woke up, there were a ton of missed calls and texts from Sam and your mother, but you just text them both telling them that you didn’t have the energy to talk about your feelings.

You got up and made your way to the kitchen, finding Ryan on the sofa, mindlessly flipping through channels.

“You’re up,” he smiled weakly.

“Please leave me alone,” you sighed, continuing your trek to the kitchen.

“Just here me out, babe. Please,” he begged desperately, trailing behind you.

“What?” you huffed, not even bothering to look at him as grabbed the bottle of Buffalo Trace’s 1993 O.F.C. Vintages your father had gifted the both of you as an engagement gift.

“Whatever did or didn’t happen between you and Hugh...I shouldn’t have acted the way I did this past weekend and I’m truly sorry. All of the times I’ve made you feel like shit...you didn’t deserve that. I guess I just got scared because for the first time, I felt an actual fear of losing you. I get it though, everyone just needs to have their fun sometimes and I truly get it. I understand and I’m not mad, I just really want us to get past this. You forgive me and I forgive you,” he smiled at you sincerely.

You stood there completely dumbfounded at what he’d just said. He basically admitted to cheating on you, while also telling you that its fine if you did cheat on him, because you got it out of your system. You opened your mouth to speak, but nothing would come out. The best you could do was look at him, utterly confused, before storming off.

You got drunk off your ass that night.

For the next two weeks, you tried to just forget everything that had happened. Ryan’s heartfelt and well meaning confession, you cheating, both of yours and his parents basically taking over the wedding, and Ransom.

You always tried to forget about Ransom.

You were getting by, for the most part, until Ransom rocked your world yet again.

Shithead: I need to see you.

Y/N: Ransom, how the fuck did you get my number?!

Shithead: Oh, so you changed your number and kept mine?

Y/N: Ransom, leave me alone.

Shithead: We need to talk, Princess.

Y/N: We already talked.

Shithead: No, you came to my house at 6:30am and screamed at me. We didn’t actually talk.

Y/N: There’s nothing to left to say.

Shithead: So you get to say your peace and I have no say?

Y/N: Ransom, leave me alone.

Shithead: You at least owe me this.

Y/N: Fine. When and where?

Shithead: I want a week with you.

Y/N: You’ve lost your fucking mind if you think I’m spending a week with you.

Shithead: It’s gonna take longer than a day for us to work all this shit out, Sweetheart.

Y/N: Ransom, I’m not spending a week with you so fucking forget it.

Shithead: Ya know, Ryan’s mother has been begging me, almost every day, to cater your wedding. Maybe I’ll tell her yes.

Y/N: Why do you have to be an asshole all the time?

Shithead: To make sure I get what I want.

Y/N: Fine. One week and that’s it. Where?

Shithead: Our house.

Y/N: What the fuck are you even talking about?

Shithead: You know, it honestly does hurt how quickly you forgot about that.

‘There’s no fucking way he’s talking about the house in the Hamptons’ you thought to yourself. Y/N: You don’t mean that house in the Hamptons.

Shithead: That’s exactly what I’m talking about.

Y/N: Ransom...why would you still have that house?

Shithead: Because it’s ours.

You felt your swell and break at the same time and it took all you had to not breakdown and cry at your work desk.

Y/N: Fine, when are we doing this?

Shithead: This Saturday.

Y/N: I’ll meet you there.

You shut your phone in your desk as you tried to avoid a complete and total meltdown. That week went by faster than it had any right to, and by the time Saturday came, both you and Ryan were at your wits end.

“But why does he want you to represent him?” Ryan asked for what felt like the hundredth time.

“I don’t know, Ryan. I guess he just trusts me,” you sighed as you threw a travel bag into your backseat.

“There’s nothing going on?”

“Ryan, I don’t want to have this talk anymore so I’m not going to,” you huffed as you slammed the door shut. “Besides, you’re the one who said that everyone just needs to have their fun, right?”

“Baby-”

“There’s nothing to worry about, okay? I’ll be back before you know it.”

“You’re gonna be in the Hamptons?”

“Yeah, he has a place out there and I guess that’s where he goes to relieve stress,” shrugged as you got into your car and started it.

“Let me know when you get there. I love you,” he smiled weakly, and you could see the fear in his eyes.

“Love you too,” you smiled before driving off.

The entire drive, you felt every possible emotion possible. There were a few times you almost turned around and almost text Ransom that he could cater the damn wedding, but you in the end knew you two needed it. Maybe closure would finally help you move on and just maybe you’d find the courage to leave Ryan.

Maybe you’d find the courage to be yourself again.

When you pulled up to the house, your heart began to race as you fought back tears. That house had held so many promises for you two and so many memories. Though a small part of you was happy he chose to have the talk there. It gave you a little hope that you’d be strong enough, seeing as this house also represented what he threw away.

Ransom was standing in the doorway, smug grin on his face, as you grabbed your bag.

“Lets get this over with,” you muttered, pushing past him and making your way inside.

“Happy to see you too,” he chuckled, closing the door behind him.

The first two days were brutal. Doors were slammed, feelings were hurt, yelling was the only tone either of you had, tears wouldn’t stop flowing, and hearts were shattered.

“I told you that I’d try and that there would be a few bumps!” Ransom yelled at you as he followed you into the kitchen. “I was fucking trying, Y/N-”

“Jesus Christ! I fucking told you that I didn’t want to be your crash test dummy!” you shouted back as you grabbed a bottle of wine. “But you don’t fucking listen! You don’t think about anyone but yourself-”

“I don’t think about anyone but myself?! Jesus, it must be nice up there on that fucking high horse you put yourself on! You fucking left, Y/N! You just fucking vanished!”

“I told you why I left!”

“Horse shit!” he retorted, grabbing a bottle of whiskey and a glass. “You fucking left because it was the easy way out for you! You left because you’re a fucking coward!”

“I’m the coward?! You’re the one who let us crash and burn because you were afraid to change! Afraid of not being the shit bird they all knew you are! So don’t fucking-”

“I stayed!” he yelled, slamming his glass down on the counter top. “I stayed, I fucking changed, and got my shit together! What the fuck did you do, Y/N? Huh? Become a successful lawyer which isn’t even what you want to do, fucking meet Ryan and commit to that piece of shit?! Agree to marry him because you’re too much of a coward to leave and trust yourself to make a better choice for yourself? Too afraid to trust me again? Yeah, you’re doin’ real fuckin’ great for yourself,” he scoffed, taking a long drink from his glass. “I may be a real fucking piece of shit, but fuck all if I haven’t fucking tried to get this shit right! If I haven’t tried to be better for you! Don’t talk to me about being a fucking coward when you’ve let yourself become this,” he motioned towards you.

You just stood there and cried because he had you. There wasn’t a word that he said that wasn’t true, but he could also go fuck himself since he had a major roll into turning you into a shell of yourself. You went upstairs to the bedroom you’d been staying in and settled yourself in the middle of the bed. You curled your knees upward before hugging your legs to your chest and taking a huge gulp from the wine bottle.

There was soft knock at the door before Ransom opened it and slowly made his way in. All you did was glare at him as your tears continued to flow. “I’m sorry,” he sighed before sitting at the edge of the bed.

“I fucking hate you,” you cried before taking another swig from the wine bottle.

“Stop it, don’t say that. I know it’s my fault, okay? I did all of it.”

“Then why did you fucking say it?”

“Because I’m fucking mad at you, Y/N. I’m fucking furious with you, because that was the worst day of my life. I woke up one day and you were gone. No one would tell me anything, you changed your number, you blocked me on everything...you just left and it fucking hurt.”

“I had to leave, Ransom,” you sighed, wiping your eyes.

“I know that too. I guess I’m mainly just angry with myself,” he huffed before taking a sip from the whiskey bottle. “You were everything and I just...” he trailed off as his own tears started to come.

“I shouldn’t have just left like that,” you mumbled. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s not like I gave you much of a choice.”

“I always had a choice and a part of me just wanted to hurt you and the other part of me...”

“The other part of you?”

“I saw us turning into my parents and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be my mother. Loving you with all I had just for you to continue to throw it away? I knew that if I stayed, I would’ve taken you back and you wouldn’t have changed.”

“Yes I would-”

“No you wouldn’t have,” you scoffed before taking another drink from the bottle. “If there’s no consequence what’s your incentive to change?”

“My incentive is that I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“You did it the first time and you felt bad then, too. You still cheated again, Ransom.”

“I also loved you and that meant everything to me. Your love meant everything to me.”

“Love clearly wasn’t enough,” you smiled at him meagerly.

You two spent the rest of that night drinking in silence, but not leaving each other’s side. At some point you both fell asleep, and when you woke up Ransom had cuddled you close. You knew you should’ve pulled away and ended the trip early, but you felt so happy and content in his arms. You hadn’t felt like that since the last time you and Ransom were happy and deeply in love in what felt like eons ago.

You decided that the third day would be pleasant one. Plus, your throat really was starting hurt from all of the screaming. Change was needed.

“So, a restaurant huh?” you asked as he made breakfast for the both of you.

“Someone once told me I had potential and that I’m a pretty good cook,” he smirked at you over his shoulder. “So, I decided to open up a restaurant. I knew how to manage it and run things, I hired some of the best cooks around and decided to give it a shot. I didn’t fuck it up so I decided to open up two more for the hell of it,” he chuckled. “Besides, I knew I couldn’t win you back with an ‘I’m sorry’ and bouquet of flowers. I had to really get my shit together.”

“Are they all named after me?” you teased, ignoring the happiness that was bursting from your heart.

“No,” he laughed, “but they’re all styled in a way you’d like and all of your favorites that I’ve made for you are on each menu.”

“I’m proud of you, Ransom.”

“Yeah?”

“Mhm, you’ve done well for yourself and you did it on your own. You did all this despite what your family thought of you and I’m proud of you. I always knew you could do anything.”

“That means a lot coming from you,” he smiled as he walked over to the table with plates in hand.

“You remembered!” you squealed with delight as he set down a plate of Eggs Benedict with a side of potatoes.

“Of course I remembered,” he chuckled. “It’s your favorite.”

“Because I’m so high maintenance,” you mused, remembering back to the first time he made it for you.

He’d called you high maintenance and said you had an expensive palate. In return, you told him not to fuck up your breakfast.

“Yeah, you’re one of the most low maintenance, high maintenance women I’ve ever known,” he laughed.

“How many women have you made swoon over breakfast at this house?”

“None. No one’s been here except you. No one even knows about this house besides you. I come here alone sometimes and just think, but it’s been here empty for the most part.”

“Why don’t you get rid of it?”

“Because it’s our home. You had to come back eventually, and when you did, I would’ve tried my best to get you back out here. The week I spent out here with you was the best week of my life. I wasn’t about to give it up so easily,” he smiled sheepishly.

“What do you wanna do today? I don’t feel like arguing today,” you questioned as you cut into your brunch, trying to ignore everything you were feeling.

“Well, the weather’s nice so we can go out on the boat if you want, or we can go out and shop-”

“What do you want to do?”

“I wanna stay in with you and watch movies, talk, and just...I want us to get along.”

“Then that’s what we’ll do,” you smiled.

You both spent the rest of the day laughing and talking, like the first two days of hell hadn’t happened. When it came time for a movie, he let you choose, but he did give you a hard time.

“Of course you chose ‘Roman Holiday’,” he teased as you pulled it up on one of your streaming accounts.

“You told me to choose my favorite movie, so I don’t know why you’re giving me a hard time,” you laughed as he came in with the wine and popcorn.

“You probably watch this every weekend.”

“I wish,” you huffed as the movie started. “Maybe I’d be in a better mood.”

“What? Ryan doesn’t like to indulge in the things you like?”

“Ryan is picky about indulging in the things I like.”

“Why are you even with him?”

“He wasn’t always like this, Ransom. Maybe it’ll change after we’re married,” you shrugged with a sigh before reaching for your glass of wine.

“He’s a fucking leach, babe. Nothing but another Joni.”

“Stop it, no he isn’t. He has money. His family has money.”

“Not like we do.”

“Ransom-”

“Think about it, princess. Your family is paying for the wedding, the venue change, you make more money than him-”

“How do you know so much?”

“He got my number from your father and sent me an apology text. He explained how he’s just feeling overwhelmed and a bunch of other bullshit,” Ransom scoffed, grabbing his own glass of wine.

“Still-”

“Is he encouraging you not to sign a prenuptial?” he asked, finally meeting your gaze. Your silence told him everything. “He’s marrying you for money and security.”

“Is that how got my number?” you questioned, returning your gaze to the screen. “My father gave it to you?”

“Sorta, I got into his phone and took it,” he chuckled before shoveling popcorn into his mouth.

“Ransom!”

“What? It’s not my fault your father’s password is so easy,” he laughed.

“What is it?”

“Oh? I thought I did something wrong.”

“I’m nosey, Ransom. What is it?” you chuckled

“Their anniversary. Your mom and dad’s.”

“That’s kind of sweet?” you giggled.

“You know they’re gonna wind up back together, right?”

“Yeah, I fuckin’ know,” you sighed “but they’re the adults here, right?”

“You’re finally getting it,” Ransom teased as you kicked him playfully.

You two went through three bottles of wine during ‘Roman Holiday’, and by the time he was ready to put on the second movie, you were feeling free.

“The second movie is your choice,” you smiled with a slight giggle.

“Oh, you’re drunk,” Ransom laughed.

“I’m a little buzzed, but I am not drunk,” you corrected with a head nod. “I just need to eat something besides popcorn.”

“Let me see what I have in the fridge-”

“Lets order something,” you interrupted, grabbing his forearm as he went to get up. “I want you to stay right here with me.”

“Why’s that?” he questioned, his gaze softening as he looked you over.

“Life’s better when you’re by my side,” you confessed softly.

In one swift move, Ransom was on you and you didn’t stop him. As his lips kissed their way down to your neck, his hands wrestled with buttons on your shorts before getting them loose and pulling them down.

“Ransom,” you moaned breathlessly.

“I love you,” he whispered hotly against your neck as one of his hands slipped down into your panties, quickly finding your most sensitive bundle of nerves.

“I love you!” you mewled, arching your back a little as your nails dug into his flesh.

“I just wanna make you feel good,” he husked as he picked up his pace. “I just wanna make you happy!”

“I just need to feel you, baby,” you moaned, unbuttoning his jeans and forcing them down as much as you could.

“Are you sure you want this?” he asked, pushing himself up to meet your gaze.

“You’re all I ever want,” you responded truthfully, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear.

“So fucking beautiful, baby,” he groaned as he thrust himself inside of you.

“Fuck!”

“Missed having you beneath me like this! Missed you so much, Princess! Dreamt of this for so long!”

“I’ve needed you so much,” you sobbed, wrapping a leg around his waist. “You’re all I ever think about!”

“I haven’t loved anyone since I’ve loved you,” he panted, fucking into you faster. “Just want you...just need you.”

“Baby, I’m so fucking close!” you cried as your toes started to curl.

“Do you know how hard it was for me to not cum deep inside this perfect pussy?” Ransom asked as he picked up his pace. “You looked so fucking good and I just...fuck! You’re mine!” he growled as he tightened his grip on you.

“Ransom! I need you to destroy me in the way that only you can!”

“Holy shit! I need to let go inside of you! Please!” he desperately begged.

“Do it, please! Just...just wanna feel whole again,” you mewled as felt yourself reaching your peak.

“Y/N!” he yelled as he spilled his hot seed deep inside of you.

“Fuck!” you cried with a gasp, cumming hard as your leg tightened around his waist.

Ransom had one arm around your waist and pulled you up with him, so that you were straddling him. He pulled your shirt off and threw it across the living area before kissing all over your chest, as you quickly undid the buttons on his shirt before practically ripping it off of him.

You were well aware of the crime that you were committing, but you didn’t care. You weren’t even going to blame the alcohol, because at the end of the day, the fact of the matter was that you loved Ransom and he loved you. You’d worry about the guilt and shame you’d feel later. For the time being, you just wanted Ransom and to feel whole again.

“I’m so fucking sorry,” he husked, looking up at you as he started to come to life again. “You don’t even know-”

“Don’t wanna think about that right now, baby,” you moaned looking down at him as you started to grind your hips against his. Your hair falling in front of your face. “I just want right now with you. Us, right now...that’s all that matters,” you breathed before dipping down to kiss him deeply.

As your tongues fought for dominance, one of Ransom’s hands traveled between you two and found the sensitive bud that always had you coming apart for him.

“Fuck,” you sighed, breaking away and leaning your head against his.

“Missed making you feel good, baby,” he groaned, picking up his pace. “God, I love you so fucking much. I’m gonna love you all over this fucking house.”

“Please!” you whimpered, feeling your release coming on again.

“What does my good girl need?”

“T-to..to cum! Please!”

“I don’t think so baby, not yet,” he teased, a devilish grin on his face.

“Please!”

“Will you be my good girl tonight?”

“I swear I will,” you whined before biting your lower lip.

“You’re so fucking sexy,” he grunted looking up at you, loving the beautiful mess you’d become. “Ride me, baby. Ride me and cum hard on this cock.”

“Shit!” you hissed, placing your hands on each side of shoulders as you started to ride him.

“So good for me,” he husked, doing his best to fight off another release.

“Always wanna be good for...you,” you whimpered, your grip on him tightening. “Shit!”

“Come apart for me, baby,” he encouraged softly before taking one of your nipples into his mouth, licking and sucking on it hard.

“Fuck Ransom!” you screamed, lulling your head back as your orgasm washed over you hard.

Ransom released your nipple with a ‘pop’ before chuckling darkly. “And we’re just getting started.”

Ransom did love you in every part of that house that night, promising you that he’d treat you right, never leave you, and that he’d love you forever. Your only response being that you wanted to be with him, but that you didn’t want to think at the moment. You just wanted to be in the moment with him.

The night ended with you two 69-ing in the master bedroom, you both finding your release together since neither of you wanted to give up dominance.

“What can I do to earn your trust?” Ransom sighed as you laid down next to him.

“I don’t know. I honestly don’t,” you mumbled, not ready to start discussing reality so quickly.

“You know I’m sorry-”

“Ransom please,” you huffed, turning on your side to face him. “I just...I don’t know what any of this means, okay? I just know that I love you and when I’m with you, I’m lighter. The world isn’t as scary as it actually is, I’m not stressed, I’m genuinely happy, and everything makes sense.”

“So then-”

“Because you hurt me, Ransom. You broke my heart twice that doesn’t just go away because we yelled at each other for 2 days and fucked a whole bunch on the 3rd. Plus, I’m supposed to be getting married in a month and I need to-”

“You can’t still be considering marrying that douche bag!”

“Ransom!” you huffed with a frustrated sigh. “Why are we doing this now? This can wait till tomorrow. All of it can wait till tomorrow.”

“Cause you’ll have time to come up with argument tomorrow and I can never win when you’re at your best,” he muttered, pulling you close to him and kissing your forehead.

“You never win either way.”

“Fuck off,” he laughed. “I do love you, Y/N.”

“I know baby and I love you,” you smiled before kissing his chest. “Lets just rest for now. I’m sure we’ll be able to argue about this after we sleep.”

“I don’t want to argue, Princess.”

“Me neither, but we will.”

When you woke up the next morning, Ransom was on the phone with what sounded like his actual lawyer, so you grabbed one of his white button up shirts and put it on, before quickly going into the other room and grabbing your phone.

‘3 texts from Sam, 2 missed calls from mom, 1 text from John, 3 missed calls from work, and 2 texts from Ashley. Nothing from Ryan, what a shock,’ you thought to yourself as you made your way back to the main bedroom.

You weren’t even sure why you were so upset, because it’s not like you were being a saint. You were well aware of the type of man Ryan was, but for a moment he seemed like he actually gave a shit about whether or not your relationship would make it.

‘Probably worried about the money going away,’ your inner voice scoffed.

“What’s wrong Princess?” Ransom asked as soon as he got off the phone, noticing how you plopped down on the bed.

“Nothing,” you lied with a faux smile.

“You know better than to lie to me, sweetheart,” he taunted before getting in next to you. “It’s about Ryan, isn’t it?”

“He hasn’t text or called and I don’t know why it’s bothering me.”

“Because you love him,” Ransom responded bitterly. “Fuck, I really did a number on you, didn’t I?”

“I thought I was being smart, discovered I wasn’t, and yet here I am. Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with me?!” you groaned, covering your face with your hands. “Why can’t any of this shit be simple?”

“Because I keep complicating things even when I don’t mean to,” he chuckled softly as he wrapped an arm around and pulled you close. “I know I can’t change or take back what I did and how much I hurt you, but I truly wish I could. I know I don’t deserve to be the one you choose, but I really hope you do.”

“Ransom-”

“However,” he continued gently “even if you don’t pick me, don’t fucking choose him either, Princess. He’s a piece of shit and a leach. You say you don’t wanna end up like your parents, then don’t choose him, baby,” he mumbled against your cheek as one of his hands started to massage your breast.

“Ransom,” you sighed “we need to clean up downstairs-”

“We can do that after. You don’t wanna start your day with me filling you up?” he questioned hotly against your ear, as his hands traveled down between your legs.

“Fuck!”

“I’ve loved watching you walk around in my clothes. You look so fucking sexy when you’re nothing but my shirt,” he praised as he rubbed your clit faster.

“Ransom please,” you mewled, gripping the sheets as you threw your head back.

“Be a good girl and cum for Daddy,” he demanded roughly and you followed orders instantly. “Get on your hands and knees for me, baby. I want you to face that mirror and watch me fuck you. I want you to see just how fucking beautiful you look when you explode for me.”

Ransom’s filthy words had you dripping and forgetting about what the hell you’d been so stressed about before. The minute you were in the position he wanted, he thrust himself into you.

“Never get tired of this fucking pussy,” he grunted as fucked into you relentlessly. “Never get tired of hearing the sounds you make for me.”

“You’re so fucking good to me, Daddy,” you whimpered, dropping your head as you felt the knot in your core tighten.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, someone isn’t being a good girl,” Ransom taunted, grabbing a fist full of your hair and forcing your attention on the mirror in front of you. “You’re gonna miss the best part if you don’t listen,” he growled lowly as he bent down to whisper in your ear “and you don’t want that do you?”

“No,” you sobbed, feeling your release coming on.

“No who?” he questioned, slapping your ass hard.

“No D-Daddy!”

“That’s my good little slut.”

“Please let me cum, please,” you begged, his words and roughness making you clench around him.

“The way this cunt is squeezing me...we’re both gonna cum, shit!”

“Please cum with me!”

“You better keep your eyes on the fucking mirror,” he grunted, sitting upright as his movements became erratic. “Fuck! Cum for me, baby! Cum for me right now, Princess!”

“Shit!” you screamed, cumming hard as you felt him spill into you, forcing yourself to keep your gaze on the mirror in your blissed out state.

“See how fucking beautiful you look when you let me fill this pussy?” he moaned, riding out both of your highs.

“Yes baby, fuck!” you groaned as he pulled out of you.

“Fuck, I love having you like this,” he moaned. You watched him watch the mixture of your juices run down your thigh and drip on to the bed and you could feel yourself getting worked up again.

Ryan could never.

“Get your pretty little ass cleaned up before I keep you in this bed all day.”

“Maybe I want you to, Daddy,” you moaned arching your back.

“Y/N, I’m not gonna warn you again,” he growled.

“Fine,” you giggled, getting up “you can make it up to me tonight.”

“I’ll make it up to you in 2 hours,” he smirked.

You quickly cleaned yourself up and got dressed in your clothes, stuffed your phone in your pocket, before going downstairs and cleaning up the mess you two made the night before. You’d just put the clothes upstairs in the master bedroom when you heard a knock on the door. You were a little confused but thought nothing of it as you made your way to the front door.

“Hello, how may we h-help...Ryan?” you questioned as you stumbled a little. What the fuck?

“Hey babe!” he smiled brightly “I though I’d surprise you and Hugh!”

“Why?” you wondered aloud before you could stop yourself.

“I missed you and I figured I could make things right with Hugh by taking everyone out for lunch.”

“Ryan, we’re working-”

“I’m sure you both could use a break,” Ryan interrupted as he made his way inside. “This place is fucking gorgeous!”

“I know,” you muttered, closing the door behind you.

You knew you had no reason to be, but you were angry. Furious. The Hamptons was you and Ransom’s alone, and Ryan was ruining it.

“How did you even find us?”

“I asked Steve to look up a house in the Hamptons registered to Hugh Ransom Drysdale. He found the address within an hour.”

“Good old Steve,” you scowled, remembering how much you really couldn’t stand his cop friends.

“Okay, so I was thinking that maybe we’d...Ryan,” Ransom stopped short on the stairs, his entire demeanor changing instantly. He clenched his fists and his jawline tightened. “What are you doing here?”

“Wanted to take everyone out for lunch and I was hoping you and I could start over,” he smiled, hopeful.

“As great as that sounds, we both have a lot of work to do.”

“I’m sure you two have time for a break.”

“How did you even find my house?”

“One of his cop buddies looked it up for him,” you muttered, as you started picking at your fingers.

Ransom’s phone started ringing and he looked from you to Ryan before looking down at it. “Fuck, I have to take this,” he muttered before storming into the kitchen then making his to his backyard, slamming the door shut.

“He seems pissed,” Ryan scoffed.

“Yeah, and I don’t blame him. This is kinda fucked up, Ryan.”

“I’m just trying to do a good thing-”

“Ryan, you had someone look up his address, you come over unannounced, you’re basically trying to force a friendship on him that he doesn’t want-”

“I’m trying to make amends!”

“He doesn’t like you, Ryan! He doesn’t like you and he has every reason not to!”

“Babe, I’m trying to make things right. Besides, if he’s important enough to get you take a week off from planning our wedding, I should make the effort to make things right, shouldn’t I?”

“This isn’t how you go about doing it,” you muttered, grabbing your phone as it buzzed for the millionth time.

Shithead: This is our home, what the fuck is he doing here?!

Shithead: He can’t fucking be here, Princess. He just can’t be.

Shithead: Get him out of here.

Shithead: Listen, I know none of this is your fault, Princess. I’m sorry, but he just can’t fucking be here. He has to go.

“Fuck,” you muttered, putting your phone back into your pocket. “Let me go and talk to him. Just sit down and watch TV or something.”

“Baby, I didn’t mean to-”

“Yeah, I know, Ryan. I know,” you huffed as you made your way into the kitchen.

Ransom was pacing in the kitchen and you could tell he was doing all he could not to destroy everything in his path. “Who the fuck does he think he is?!” Ransom hissed as quietly as he could. “Who just shows up to someone’s house like this?! This is our house!”

“Ransom, it’s not like I told him to come here!”

“I know you didn’t,” he sighed, wrapping his arms around you.

“Ransom stop, he’s right out there,” you warned softly, weakly pushing him off of you.

“He’s in our house.”

And I’m his fiancee,” you countered with a sigh. Only you would get yourself in a situation like this.

“I want him gone.”

“Ransom, he’s not going anywhere until he takes us out for food.”

“Fine, but if he’s getting what he wants, I wanna get what I want,” he propositioned with a devilish grin.

“You just had me!”

“Yeah, and my fucking plan was to get you on that boat, talk a little then have you ride my face,” he whispered against your neck before biting it as his hands worked on undoing your shorts.

“Fuck,” you moaned softly. “We can’t! What if he catches us?”

“Just keep quiet. I know my good girl can be quiet for me, right?” he questioned as he got on his knees and pulled your shorts down. “Daddy just wants a taste,” he mumbled before diving between your legs.

A quiet gasp escaped your lips as you arched your back. If your past actions weren’t going to send you to hell, you were sure that this would do the trick. What made it worse was that you got off on it. A part of you wanted Ryan to catch you and Ransom because you wanted to hurt him. He’d hurt you so many times that if you could just make him feel an ounce of pain that he inflicted onto you, it would bring you so much more satisfaction than it should.

The other part of you just wanted to be with Ransom, and if Ryan caught you two, it would’ve made the breakup all that much easier. You knew Ryan would never really confess to cheating on you (he loved giving half truths), but you could deal with him hating you as long as you finally got to be Ransom’s again.

“Shit!” you cried softly as Ransom slipped two fingers inside of you. You kicked off one of your sandals and stepped out of the right pant leg of your shorts, before hooking that leg over Ransom’s shoulder. “So fucking close, baby,” you whimpered quietly.

All Ransom did was pick up the pace with both his tongue and fingers, using his other hand to grip you tight. You squeezed his hair tight and pulled him closer to you, and when you felt his nails dig into your thighs, you knew he was doing best to keep quiet.

“Fuck!” you breathed out as you came hard all over his tongue, your free hand gripping his shoulder extremely hard.

Ransom stayed in-between your legs, cleaning you up at a leisurely pace, as you slowly came down from your high. You relished every moment of his desperate desire to please you.

“I’ll go out first,” you exhaled softly with a small chuckle as Ransom kissed his way back up your body as he brought your shorts up with him.

“You sure you can stand?” he laughed before kissing your lips.

“Shut up,” you giggled, playfully pushing him off. “Just be nice for lunch and we can get back to where we were. Talking,” you pointed teasingly, before turning to walk away.

“Just,” Ransom called softly as he grabbed your wrist “just don’t change your mind. Don’t make a decision,” he pleaded softly.

That pulled on your heartstrings much more than you would’ve liked.

Ryan made reservations at ‘Si Si Mediterranean Restaurant’ and you all got there just in time. He wanted to take the boat there, but Ransom came up with a bullshit reason as to why you all couldn’t. Something to do with the engine or rudder. You couldn’t bring yourself to focus because you were consumed with guilt. Your fiancee had gotten you and your ex-boyfriend lunch reservations to try and make things right, and the entire time you were just waiting for him to leave so you and Ransom could get back to figuring out what you two were and what you two would do.

Because, at the end of the day, that’s all it was: you and Ransom, selfishly trying to find a way to work things out, to be together again. You were silly to think that you could spend a week with Ransom and believe that nothing would happen between you two. In all honesty, you always knew you’d fall easily for him again, but lying to yourself had become one of your new favorite things.

“I hope you don’t mind, Ransom,” Ryan smiled once you all were seated, “I’m not sure what kind of food you like, but I know Y/N love Mediterranean food.”

“I’ve been to a lot of outings with her family,” Ransom smiled condescendingly, “I know all of her favorite places in Marlborough and in general.”

“I could tell by the menu you put together for our little dinner party,” Ryan smiled as he squeezed your hand gently.

The second the waiter came by. You asked for a Si Si Tai and slipped him a $200 tip to keep them coming.

The entire time Ransom and Ryan basically kept comparing dick sizes, you kept your sunglasses on and eyes on the water, trying to imagine you were anywhere else. Trying to imagine a better version of yourself, that you hadn’t let yourself become someone who was okay with sneaking and lying.

A cheater.

You found it funny that the one thing you’d left Ransom for was the one thing you were willing to commit with him.

“Babe, you okay?” Ryan asked you, pulling you out of your thoughts, looking at you with concern in his eyes.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” you lied with a faux smile. “Why, what’s up?”

“The waiter asked you for your order...like 3 times,” he smiled sheepishly.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” you laughed, quickly glancing at the menu. It’s not even like you were all that hungry. “I’ll take the lamb burger,” you smiled up at the waiter.

“Funny. Ransom said that’s what you’d want,” Ryan chuckled humorlessly to himself as the waiter walked away.

“What can I say? The man knows me,” you mused before taking a big sip of your Si Si Tai.

“Yeah, how do you two know each other? I mean, I know he works with your father but-”

“Harlan, his grandfather, introduced my dad to the whole family, and he and Ransom really to hit it off,” feeling the slightest bit of anger at the memory of how you first met Ransom.

“What do you-”

“Y/N’s father used to be a real piece of shit, and so was I. I guess, in a way, I still am,” Ransom interrupted as you shifted uncomfortably in your seat. Ransom sensed your anger and uneasiness and continued. “Her father decided that he liked me because I could get him all of the things he wanted, whether he should’ve had them or not.”

“And you two still became friends?” Ryan scoffed, taking a sip of his scotch, clearly enjoying being the cause of friction between you and Ransom.

“Well, we had a really long talk one night and it helped both of us see things in a different light,” Ransom smirked as he took a sip of his whiskey. “Things changed from then on.”

You smiled to yourself, remembering the night Ransom was talking about, taking note of that’s when your feelings towards him began to change. “Can we talk about something else? Remembering how my dad used to be a flaming pile of trash isn’t something I really wanna do today.”

“You’re right babe, I’m sorry,” Ryan smiled regretfully as Ransom rolled his eyes. “What do you wanna talk about?”

“The Patriots lineup is looking pretty promising for this season,” you smirked before taking a small sip of your drink.

“Babe, you know I hate it when-”

“You really think they have a chance?” Ransom laughed. “After last season, with the way they played against the Chiefs...”

“It was a rough year, but it wasn’t completely terrible. They’ll bounce back!”

“Whatever you say, Princess,” Ransom laughed before downing his whiskey while he signaled for another.

The rest of brunch went off without a hitch, but that didn’t mean there weren’t uncomfortable moments. Ryan felt out of place, which in turn made you feel a little bad for him. He was trying so hard though. He really wanted you to see, to know he was trying.

After he settled the bill, Ryan drove everyone back to Ransom’s. Ransom was quick to get out of the car, telling you that he’d set up a work space for you two before quickly going inside, barely waving goodbye to Ryan.

“I don’t know how much work he thinks you’ll get done like this,” Ryan chuckled softly as he looked you over. “I know that me coming here threw a wrench in the works, but I needed to see for myself.”

“See what?”

“That everything was okay. That we’re okay.”

“Ryan-”

“Listen, I know I haven’t been the best boyfriend or fiancee, but we’ve been doing better. I’m trying my best to be and do better.”

“What’s your point?”

“I know you don’t believe that he has an angle, but please just trust me: I know he does and I know he won’t treat you right.”

“Stop it-”

“Baby, please just-”

“What was any of this supposed to prove, Ryan? What was the purpose?”

“That I fucking love you and you love me!” he snapped before stomping his foot.

“Why is it that you only care now? Why does it took someone else coming along for you to realize that you love me so much?”

“Because I never had a reason to worry! I’ve always known how much I love you, why do you think I waited for you? I’ve always known you were the one for me and then when I finally got you, I just got comfortable and careless. And I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry. I won’t take you for granted ever again. I love you and I can’t wait till we’re married,” he smiled weakly, tears welled in both corners of his eyes.

“I have to get inside,” you muttered as you turned to walk away.

“Just please,” he begged softly, grabbing your wrist, “don’t forget what I’ve said. Don’t fall for him, it’s all just a game to him. You’re just a prize to him and he’ll never love you like I do. No one will,” he finished softly, giving you a small kiss on the cheek as he let go of your wrist.

All you did was nod before turning and going into the house. Ransom was standing in the living area with a cigarette lit and you knew you couldn’t talk to him just yet.

“I need a minute,” was all you said before going into the kitchen, grabbing a bottle of wine, and making your way out back.

You sat by the pool and let the events of the day, the ghosts of past words spoken, roll around in your head. It was only 4pm and you were exhausted.

You knew that Ransom truly loved you, but he’d truly loved you before and he still shattered your heart. Ryan really had been trying to do better, but Ransom telling you that he was only in it for the money had you seeing things differently.

Ryan had always been obsessed with money and status.

As you continued to drink and wallow in self pity, ‘Run the Road’ started playing and you couldn’t help but laugh. The first time you’d heard the song was five years ago while you and Ransom were out clubbing in the Hamptons. It was the second night that you two had spent in the Hamptons, and Ransom was extremely possessive over you. He practically growled at every guy that approached you on the dance floor while he loved seeing how much they all hated him for having you.

“You’re all mine aren’t you?” he whispered hotly in your ear that night, as you swayed your hips to the music, your back ironed against his chest.

“Mhm, all yours Ransom,” you drunkenly giggled as you wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Can any of these guys fuck you?”

“No, only you,” you moaned as his hands traveled up and over your clothed breasts.

“That’s right,” he chuckled, as one of his hands snaked up and around your neck. “You’re my good girl. Look and see how jealous they all are,” he demanded softly.

You giggled a little when you bothered to remember that you two were in public and looked around at all the guys with lust and envy in their eyes. “You like showing me off, huh?”

“I love showing you off, Princess. Get to do it for a fucking week,” he chuckled as he gripped your hip and pulled you impossibly closer to him and you felt just how much he loved it. “I’ll never get tired of this pretty little cunt. I’ll never get tired of you,” he husked against the shell of your ear before nipping at it.

“Keep this up and we’ll give them a real show,” you moaned, your excitement building.

“They don’t deserve a show,” he muttered as he took notice of all the guys that were watching the two of you. “If one more of those fuckers tries to dance with you though, I’ll break their fuckin’ neck,” he growled.

“Lets get you off the dance floor,” you giggled, reluctantly freeing yourself from his hold while you turned to face him.

The memory made you laugh and smile because you remembered what came after; it also broke your heart. Ransom was extremely possessive and protective over you before he had the balls to finally tell you how he truly felt. Meanwhile, only a few short weeks ago, Ryan basically told you that he’s fine with you cheating because people need to have their fun.

“I half expected to find you with a cigarette,” Ransom commented softly, breaking you out of your thoughts as he took a seat next to you.

“Give it some time,” you sniffled softly, with a sad chuckle as you wiped your eyes with the back of your hand.

“Princess-”

“Ransom please don’t. Please.”

“You can’t go back to him.”

“I should just go home.”

“Please don’t. Not yet.”

“Ransom, we can’t do this. I can’t do this! What the fuck is wrong with me?!” you exclaimed, finally letting your tears flow freely. “When did I become this selfish? This much of a coward? This isn’t fair to either of you and I’m just trying to pretend-”

“I’m the one who asked you here, I’m the one who kissed you, and I’m the one who is selfishly begging you to stay. I know how much you love me and I keep hoping that it’ll just be enough to...”

When you saw Ransom’s own tears starting to fall, it made you feel even worse. “I don’t want to hurt you and I don’t want to give you false hope.”

“Then just stay with me!”

“Ransom...if he’s trying, I have to try, too.”

“No, you really fucking don’t. He’s a piece of shit and fuck...just stay here with me. We can start over and we can make it work this time. I know we can.”

“I love you so much. God, I love you so much it fucking hurts,” you smiled weakly as you took his face in your hand.

All Ransom did was pull you pull close and hold you tight as you both cried. It felt like you were leaving him all over again.

At some point, you fell asleep and Ransom must have carried you back to the master bedroom, because when you woke up you were alone in the dark. You slowly crept out of the bed and tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to disturb Ransom since you didn’t know what he was doing. You saw the TV light illuminating the living area and you took a deep breath before making your way in.

You were about to ask him to talk when you noticed your phone on the coffee table in front of him. “I didn’t go through your phone,” Ransom stated softly, as if he were reading your mind, but his eyes never left the screen. “Ryan wouldn’t stop calling and texting you, so I brought your phone down here with me and text him from my phone telling him that you were asleep.”

“Thank you,” you stated softly, starting to fumble with your fingers. “I’m gonna start packing and-”

“Please don’t,” Ransom begged softly, still not looking at you.

“It’s better if I do.”

“No, it really isn’t.”

“Ransom-”

“Y/N, I’ve come to terms with the fact that you’re not gonna choose me and it’s what I deserve, that’s fine. I have to accept that, but I’m losing you all over again and I’m just not there yet. I’m...” he cleared his throat before finally turning to meet your gaze, eyes puffy and red. “Just stay for the rest of the week, please? If this is the last time I can be with you, truly be with you, just let me have it, please?”

How were you supposed to say no to him? It’s not even like you wanted to go back anyway. You said nothing as you sat down next to Ransom and he pulled you close. Both of your hearts were breaking all over again, so why not stay with the one person who truly understood what you were going through?

For the rest of the night, Ransom just held you and pressed soft kisses into your hair and kept telling you how much he loved you, while he quietly sobbed. In return, you just sobbed into his chest and held him as tight as you could, wishing you were strong enough to trust him again.

The rest of the week was spent arguing, crying, making love, and pretending. Pretending that life as a couple went on after the week was over. Pretending that the wedding plans your mother was always calling to tell you about (you left her in charge after the venue change because you truly didn’t care anymore), were for your and Ransom’s wedding. Pretending that whenever you spoke to Ryan and told him ‘I love you’, you were just saying it to someone who was an on and off again friend.

Pretending that you two weren’t the people you actually were, and that things hadn’t gotten fucked up all those years ago.

When Friday came, you were determined to stay in bed, trying to hold off Saturday for as long as possible.

“No, we’re getting up and doing things,” Ransom chuckled, as he peppered kisses up and down your cheek and neck.

“No, because that will make the day go faster and tomorrow will get here-”

“Tomorrow can fuck off. I’m not spending today in bed and moping with you. We’re going on the boat,” he quipped before getting up and putting on the pair of boxers you practically ripped out of him the night before.

“And if I refuse to drive it?” you huffed, sitting up and crossing your arms.

“Won’t matter, because I got a boating license,” he smirked as you laughed and flipped him off.

Nonetheless, you reluctantly got out of bed and took a shower before slipping into one of Ransom’s favorite sundresses, and slipping your phone into your pocket.

“You remember what happened the last time you wore that dress,” Ransom smirked as you came down the steps.

“You will behave and treat me like a lady, Mr.Drysdale,” you taunted with a coy finger wag.

“We both know you prefer it when I treat you like the little slut you are.”

“Are you trying to end up back in the bedroom?”

“You started it, not me,” he laughed as grabbed a bottle of wine and a picnic basket. “You ready, Princess?”

You just giggled and nodded.

The ride to the marina was light and free. You forced yourself to put the next day off as much as you could. You just wanted to be with Ransom, in the moment.

“Alright, I have to ask because it’s been bothering me,” you sighed, settling into the boat’s center council as Ransom dropped anchor in the middle of the ocean. “I know your restaurants are successful, and you have money in stocks and blah blah blah, but-”

“How am I able to afford this house out here and my house in Marlborough?” he chuckled as the low growl of the engine slowly faded. He made his way over to you.

“Mhm,” you nodded as you poured both glasses of wine.

“I became a stripper after you left me,” he sighed heavily as you choked on your wine. “I couldn’t fucking help it, I’m so sorry, baby,” your hysterical reaction made him laugh so hard he almost fell over.

“You’re such a shithead!” you laughed, cleaning up any spilled wine droplets that landed on the wood panels.

“And you love it,” he smiled before kissing you. “No, in all honesty, Harlan gave me half of Walt’s inheritance,” he smirked, taking a drink himself.

“What?!”

“Well, after the last time I fucked up, I knew I had to make serious changes. Without going into detail, I told Harlan about my plan to open up a restaurant and wanting to branch off on my own. I didn’t go to him for money, because I needed to do this on my own to show both you and myself that I was capable of doing it. I just wanted to bounce ideas off him and get his feedback. When I finally got to work on the restaurant, he told me he was impressed and proud of me for doing something on my own. He was also pissed off at Walt, and has been for a while, because he won’t do anything on his own. He waits for whatever Harlan feeds him then wants to try and force his ideas on him instead of just creating something on his own. So, he told me that he wants to put his money to better use, so he gave me half of Walt’s inheritance,” Ransom finished with a shrug before downing the rest of his wine. He poured himself another glass.

“Why Hugh Ransom Drysdale, you little shit!” you laughed and smiled. “But how did you get him to give it to you early? It’s an inheritance.”

“I asked him for it upfront, because I wanted the mansion before I’d have to go into a fucking bidding war. I explained that all of my money was going into the restaurant and that I really wanted to make an offer. He was hesitant at first, but he saw how dedicated I really was and how seriously I was taking it, and gave me the money. Pissed Walt off and made Harlan proud at the same time,” he chuckled.

“I’m really proud of you, babe,” you smiled softly.

“Yeah? You wanna show me how proud you are?” He smiled devilishly.

“As much as I would love that,” you giggled, “we’re not as alone as we were the last time we did this.” you nodded towards the young adults laughing and going by on their jet skis and own yachts.

“They’re just a bunch of spoiled little fuck heads.”

“You were once one of those spoiled little fuck heads,” you laughed.

“Oh, I’m an old fuck head now?”

“Older, baby. You don’t fuck like an old man at all.”

“Then put my ego at ease right now,” he smirked as he put his wine glass down and slowly made his way over to you.

“Ransom, people will most definitely see!”

“It’s not like you give a fuck and you know I don’t,” he husked as one of his hands sneaked under your dress and started to rub your clit teasingly. “No panties? Oh Princess, you’re fucking begging to be fucked out in the open. You want everyone to know who this pussy belongs to, don’t you?” he teased.

“Yes,” you moaned, arching your back a little. “Fuck, Ransom!” you cried as he slid two fingers inside of you.

“Such a good little slut for me,” he groaned before dipping down and kissing you deeply.

“Take that inside!” one of the boys on a passing boat yelled.

“Can I join?!” another girl yelled.

“I fucking hate young people,” Ransom mumbled against your lips as he used his free hand to flip them off and you started laughing. “I’m gonna kill them. I’m going to kill all of them.”

“I thought you didn’t mind being watched,” you laughed, trying to catch your breath.

“I don’t give a fuck who watches, but be grateful you get to see at all and shut the fuck up,” he huffed, sitting up and pulling his fingers out of you.

“Oh sweetie,” you moaned with a soft laugh.

“Fuck, I am becoming a grumpy old man,” he groaned as you laughed harder.

“Oh baby, I have a surprise for you tonight that won’t have you feeling old at all. I won’t let you.”

“Does it involve me being deep inside that tight little asshole?”

“If you play your cards right,” you smirked before taking his two fingers into your mouth and sucking and licking them clean.

“Shit!” he groaned, palming himself over his shorts “keep this up and I’ll show every one of those little shits how to fuck!”

“Patience, my love,” you laughed after you finished cleaning off his fingers. “Lets go back home and get ready for tonight.”

“No, because I made your favorite for lunch and I-”

“You made me a Cuban melt?! I fucking love you!” you exclaimed, tackling him with a hug.

“I love you too, Princess,” he laughed, wrapping you in a hug that was just as tight.

“See? I want a love just like that!” a girl exclaimed as another boat went by.

Lunch went so well that neither of you wanted to head back, but you really wanted to take Ransom out. Yeah, it would be noisy and rowdy, but it would be worth it in the end.

“What should I wear for tonight?” he called from the bedroom as you put your makeup on in the bathroom.

“Fun casual,” you smirked as you touched up your lip liner.

“What the fuck did you do?”

“Just trust me,” you laughed, finishing up and making your way out of the bathroom.

“You look like that and expect me to want to go out?”

“Lets go, my little horn ball.”

“I fucking love you, did you know that?”

“I had a feeling,” you smirked as the car service pulled up. “Lets go, baby.”

The first stop was the first place he took you out for dinner, The Palm in the East Hamptons, and he was happily shocked. You both talked about your future plans as if you were going to be together when they happened. He took your hand in his often and kissed the top of it as much as you’d let him, before it was time to move on to the next place.

“You’re so fucking funny, did you know that?” he laughed as the car pulled up to MARS. The bar that changed everything for the both of you.

“I just wanted to see you smile, baby,” you laughed as you both made your way out of the car.

“You found the perfect way to do that,” he grinned.

You both spent the night pretending that you both weren’t as old as you actually were, dancing and drinking, ignoring the voices in your head that kept telling you that it would all be over in a few hours. All that mattered in that moment was Ransom and how you both made each other feel complete.

“I wanna take you home,” Ransom slurred slightly in your ear, as you continued to grind your hips against his as you two danced to whatever Ariana Grande song had been remixed.

“Home sounds nice,” you giggled, turning around in his hold and looking up at him as you wrapped your arms around his neck. “Our home.”

“That’s right, baby. Our home,” he smiled sincerely.

The minute you two got inside, Ransom was all over you, pulling your dress off as you furiously worked to unbutton his shirt. You both were toeing off your shoes instantly as you did your best to unbutton and unzip his pants. In one swift move, he was hoisting you up as you wrapped your legs around him, carrying you to the bedroom.

Ransom loved you repeatedly that night and it felt like heaven. At one point, you couldn’t help but start to cry, because you knew the fairy tale would be over soon. Ransom just kissed them away as he continued to thrust into you relentlessly.

“Just be here with me right now. Tomorrow can wait till just then,” he moaned with a weak smile.

You tried to fight off sleep, but Ransom held you close and whispered sweet nothings in your ear. You were fast asleep within’ minutes.

When you awoke the next morning, Ransom was awake and watching you, stroking the side of your face softly as the gentle Spring breeze kissed the room.

“I don’t mean to be creepy, I just wanted to enjoy this moment for as long as possible,” he smiled softly, though his puffy red eyes let you know that he’d been crying.

“No, you’re fine. This is nice...everything has been so nice,” you whispered, trying to fight back your own tears. “I should get up and pack,” you sniffled after you cleared your throat.

“I packed your things while you were sleeping, please just stay here with me for a bit. If this is it, I just want us to...lets just live in this for a little bit longer.”

“We can do that,” you nodded as a lone tear escaped your eye.

“You’re so beautiful when you’re asleep. You’re so peaceful.”

“That’s only when I fall asleep next to you,” you chuckled softly.

“Waking up next to you every day would be perfect,” he smiled, cupping your face in his hand as you kissed his wrist softly. “What do you think our wedding would’ve been like?”

“We would’ve eloped in Paris,” you laughed as he used to his thumb to wipe away another one of your tears.

“Paris, huh?”

“Mhm, we have to make something about it at least a little romantic. No annoying families, no unwanted guests, no big to-do...just us in Paris. Saying ‘I Do’ and living happily ever after.”

“I like that a lot.”

“I thought you would.”

“Y/N, please don’t go. We can do this...make this work.”

“Ransom, please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

“If it’s so hard, you should just stay!”

“I can’t. I just can’t,” you sobbed, leaning into his touch.

Ransom said nothing. He just pulled you closer as he kissed you deeply, the pain in his heart evident by his grip on you.

“You are perfect to me...for me. I love you,” he whispered against your lips.

You and Ransom loved each other with all that you each had, leaving each other spent, as your lonely, quiet sobs and moans filled the room. After all was said and done, you forced yourself out of Ransom’s hold and got dressed. Ransom wordlessly watched you as he tried to keep his crying to a minimum. You gave him one final kiss before grabbing your bag and leaving.

As you sat in your car, you contemplated going back inside and just staying with him. You knew you couldn’t. For as much as you loved Ransom, you’d loved him that much before and it hadn’t been enough.

The entire drive back to your apartment you cried as if the most precious person in your world had been taken from you; because as far as you were concerned, he had.

From that day on, you did your best to force yourself into a roll that you just didn’t fit in to. You fake laughed and smiled as everyone in the office counted down to your wedding. You pretended to be happy every time your mother(s) told you about changes they’d made in designs and color schemes. You pretended it didn’t matter when they took out peonies from the bridal bouquet, because it didn’t matter to you anymore. None of it mattered.

When Ryan made love to you, you always pretended to be somewhere else, with someone else. When he showed you houses he was interested in, you barely offered any feedback. When he gave a heartfelt speech at the rehearsal dinner, you just smiled and nodded along with everyone else, because that’s what you were supposed to do. The tears you cried were real, however. No, you weren’t crying over Ryan’s words, but because everything was all wrong. Ryan was never supposed to be your husband. It was never supposed to get as far as it did; you just didn’t have the strength or courage to stop your life from taking the turn it did.

Which is why you’re currently sitting in the bridal suite, looking for a fire escape before the heat consumes you, but what choice do you have? At this point, you truly feel as if you don’t deserve Ransom, and Ryan is just...he’s just okay. There are much worse men that you could’ve settled for at the end of the day. You keep trying to force yourself to come to terms with your choice all while the last bit of fight within you keeps screaming: run for the hills, as fast as you can.

‘Run to Ransom,’ you tell yourself mentally.

Why can’t anything ever be simple? Why can’t love ever be kind to you?

Ransom’s P.O.V.

There’s a different kind of pain you feel when you know you’re about to lose the love of your life to entitled piece of shit. Then again, I guess I’m an entitled piece of shit; takes one to know one and all of that. That’s really the reason I treated Y/N like shit. I knew that I loved you and that I’d eventually get my shit together. I just expected you to wait.

Because that’s what I wanted, and I always get my way.

At least, I did before you came along and changed everything. In my defense (as if I actually have one), how was I supposed to know that you’d be all consuming and soul stirring? Yeah, I knew what I felt for you was more than lust, but I’d never been in love before. Love is for fools, but God what a fucking fool I am.

I took you for granted, but I swore that if you took me back (again), I’d never do it again. I finally got it. I finally understood why everyone searched for love so desperately. Out of all the drugs I’ve ever done, love was definitely the most addictive and consuming.

But then you left.

Just vanished into thin air. I told myself I had a reason to be angry. A reason to be hurt. In reality, I was only ever angry with myself because I pushed you to it. It took time, but I used that pain to do better for you. To be better for you. The only problem? You never came back. I kept waiting and asking, but no one would tell me anything other than that you were happy, and that I needed to leave you alone. Something inside of me told me that you weren’t. I wish I could explain it, and maybe it was just me selfishly hoping that you weren’t. Maybe I was trying to make it easier to get you to come back to me, even though I knew you wouldn’t.

I tried to move on, focus on other things and other women, but none of them were you. It all felt hallow.

Then, it was as if God was finally listening, because I found out that you were coming home. The only problem was you were engaged. I couldn’t believe it and I had to see it for myself. I set up a fake meeting with your father, just so I could see you. I needed to see for myself that you were happy and okay. I told myself that if you were happy, I’d force myself to be strong enough and move on; that seeing you one last time would be the end of it. The moment I saw you coming down that grand staircase, I fell in love with you all over again. It was the single most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen, and I truly believe God took more time making you than He did anyone else.

Even for as gorgeous as you looked, I saw the truth behind the smile you wore that night. It almost seemed overly rehearsed, and your eyes looked like you were on auto-pilot. So I decided to stay close by, but out of sight: I needed to find out what exactly was doing this to you, making you so unhappy. Then I heard how he spoke to you. How he yelled at you, spoke down to you, and dismissed your feelings. I didn’t mean to barge in on you two, but all of the raised voices sounded as if things were about to get violent. I would’ve murdered him on the spot if he would’ve laid a finger on you.

The way you looked at me that night though...it was everything, because you couldn’t just be angry. No, there was a hint of longing, of happiness. Love even dared to give a hint of itself away.

I truly hadn’t meant to bring up the past when I got you alone that night, but it had been so long and I had so many questions. So many grievances.

As if I had any right.

You lied and told me you didn’t love me, which I of course coerced out of you because I never know when to stop, but it pissed me off nonetheless. How could you try to lie to me like I wouldn’t be able to tell? Jesus, I know I hurt you, but telling me you don’t love me anymore? That was below the belt.

In all my rage, anger, and self-pity, I announced that stupid dinner party for you two because maybe there was something I was missing. Maybe he really was good for you, and I just witnessed you two having a bad night. The scowl on your face the next day let me know that was bullshit. He treated you like shit the entire time you two were there and it made my blood boil. I told you I was sorry and I meant it. I was trying to show you that I’d changed, and I was pretending that I didn’t understand why you wouldn’t even look my way. I was selfish, I was angry, and I was hurt. So when Diana told me that you were smoking in the coat check room, of course I had to barge in and make a fuss. However, the way you looked in that dress...how was I supposed to stop myself?

It was like the first time all over again. You were just as needy and desperate as I was, unable to control myself just like you had no control; an infinitely satisfying, irresistible, intoxicating chaos. You felt like home because you were home, to and for me. Everything that I had been looking for with other women finally made sense when I was with you, like you are an answer to the questions inside my heart.

I knew I pushed too far when I made you admit that you loved me more than you love him, but I needed to hear it. After you gave me what I needed with that confession, I tried to give you what you needed: a quick and easy release, no strings attached.

The only problem? I’m a selfish fuck.

There’s no way I could let you go after you finally admitted that you still loved me, so in my infinite wisdom, had to push and get you to come to our place in the Hamptons. Just when I thought I had you again, he came along and took you away. Well, he had you at least attempting it again, which meant that there was a chance that things could still workout the way we both really wanted them to.

However, you never cracked. You didn’t text or call me asking me to come and get you, you never showed up at my door and asked me to whisk you away. You didn’t even come by the restaurant. I kept holding my breath and hoping for the best until last night when I finally caved.

“You can’t let her marry him, Sam!” I exclaimed as soon as she answered the phone.

“Ransom, she’s in the other room! I can’t do this right now because she’s barely holding it together-”

“Which is why you need to convince her to call it off!”

“So what? She can marry you?”

“Sam, I know you hate me and don’t want her with me, but we’re on the same fucking page. You know just as well as I do that he’s no good for her!”

Sam let out a heavy sigh before responding. “I know you’re right, Ransom, but I’ve talked to her about it multiple times. She’s dead set on this because she feels like she has to do it. I don’t know what’s not computing in her head, especially after the week she spent with you-”

“She told you about that?”

“She tells me every thing, Ransom. Of course I know about the week she spent with you.”

“What did she say about that weekend?”

“Ransom-”

“Even you have to admit that I’m not the same man I was before, Samantha. You know that all I want for her is the best and that I truly do love her. I’m trying to look out for her and-”

“Ransom, I know! I fucking know but I’m torn! Neither one of you are actually worth her time, but in telling you what she cried to me about...I just know it won’t be good,” she finished with a sigh.

Sam was right. Here I am, sitting in my bed, cigarette lit, as I contemplate fucking up your life or not.

You may end up hating me, but sometimes love is selfish and confusing. I’ve accepted that you won’t choose me, but I love you too much to let you go and watch you destroy yourself.

I’ve gotta put a stop to this.

Y/N’s P.O.V.

‘You’ve come this far, you just have to go through with it,’ you think to yourself as you try to get yourself ready to walk down the isle. ‘This will work. It has to work.’

“God, you look so gorgeous,” an all too familiar deep voice practically whispered from the doorway.

“Ransom, what are you doing here?!” you snap quietly, quickly turning your attention to him. “You can’t be here!”

“You can’t marry him, princess. You just...don’t pick me, fine, but you know that marrying him won’t do you any good.”

“Everyone’s already here and everything’s been paid for-”

“Stop making excuses!” Ransom interjects, forcing himself to keep his composure. “You know you don’t want this! You don’t want him! Look at all of this shit! You don’t even like more than half of the people here!” he almost shouts as he makes his way over to you. “Y/N-”

“Ransom, please don’t make this harder than it already is-”

“It shouldn’t have to be hard! Baby, please don’t do this!” Ransom begs as he gets on his knees and your tears start to fall. “We can leave right now and you do whatever you want, be with whoever you want, but I can’t watch you do this to yourself. I can’t let you destroy yourself because of what I did,” Ransom pleads as his own tears start to fall.

“I can’t just-”

“Sunshine, it’s...oh God,” your father mutters as you both turn your gaze to the doorway and see both him and your mother standing there. “Son-”

“Don’t let her do this,” Ransom demands, his tears falling freely as he stands up. “You know just as well as I do that this marriage is going to kill her. It’s going to take whatever light is left in her and destroy it! I know this is my fault but-”

“The choice is Y/N’s,” your mother interrupts softly, trying to hold back her own tears. “If she says this is for the best...”

“But we all know this isn’t!” Ransom interrupts harshly. “She knows it isn’t, don’t you?” he asks as his gaze goes back to you.

You look from him to your parents before taking a deep breath. “I’ll be fine, Ransom. I’m not yours to worry about. We had our chance and now it’s time for me to move on-”

“This isn’t even about me, Y/N! I just...I love you so much and I can’t just-”

“My mind is made up,” you sniffle out before drying your eye with the back pf your hand. “I love you. Thank you, but I’ll be fine,” you smile meekly before giving him a soft kiss on the cheek, walking over to your parents.

“Y/N-”

“I have to let you go, Ransom. I just have to,” you sob mournfully as you adjust your posture and look straight ahead.

Why do you have to be so stubborn? Why can’t you just forgive and take him back?

‘Remember what happened the last time you did that? The only thing you can do is move forward and hope for the best’ you mentally tell yourself as you start to walk down the isle.

The heat of everyone’s gaze has you wishing you were anywhere else. Ryan flashes you a smile and you feel sick. All of it feels wrong. Your mother went with roses, which you hate because everyone has roses. The bridesmaid dresses are cream colored and you just want to set them all on fire, because who the fuck decided that was okay?

‘Probably Ryan’s mom,’ you scoff mentally.

The venue is loud and stupid, you don’t like half the people there, you hate the dress you’re in, and you’re not head over heels for the man that’s in front of you. It isn’t the man you want.

‘You’re already here, there’s nothing else to do but hope for the best. Love, genuine deep and soul consuming love, will come...I hope,’ you repeat to yourself mentally as the priest starts on his little speech about love and the sanctity of marriage.

As the priest goes on, you start to think about your future and all of the big moments that are to come, and Ryan was by your side in none of them. It was only Ransom.

It’s always Ransom.

At some point, you found yourself muttering ‘I do’, though you didn’t really feel like you were. Your heart isn’t committing to anything, and your brain sure as shit isn’t following in line with any of it.

‘Why are you doing this? There’s literally no reason for any of this. He loves the idea of marrying you, but he doesn’t actually love you. You know better than to fall for this! Just fucking run!’ you mentally yell yourself.

“If there’s anyone here who can find reason as to why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace,” the priest happily declares.

The room is silent but you can feel Ransom’s gaze on you. You know what’s coming without even looking his way.

‘Always saving me....always breaking me,’ you chuckle internally.

“Fuck it, I’m not good enough for her but neither is this piece of shit,” Ransom huffs as he lights a cigarette. “Besides the fact she spent almost a week fucking me, she doesn’t love him. Not enough to make this sham of a marriage work. Her heart belongs to me just like mine belongs to her. That’s just how it’ll always be,” he shrugs before taking a long drag from his smoke.

“That’s bullshit! There’s no way...right, babe?” Ryan questions as his incensed gaze lands on you.

With hundreds of eyes on you, it’s time for you to make a choice. Do you go back to what you know or do you branch off into another adventure? Do you take the safe bet or do you follow your heart?

Ransom and the rest of your guests are desperately waiting to find out.

Taglist: @fuckingbye​, @maroonsunrise83​, @whxre4cevans​

, @sweetflowerdreams​, 

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[titan-fodder]

Find a Way Chapter 1

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Rating: M (mature, mdni)

Count: ~6.5k

Tags/Warnings: being a broke college student, medical talk, swearing, general cutesy back-and-forth

A/N: This is only the beginning, y’all. Big ol’ thanks to @whats-her-quirk who started reading this for me several months ago and still gets excited when I talk about it now. Love you, friendo. Anyway, enjoy~

Rice. Toilet paper. Phone charger. Dog food.

 That’s all you need. That’s all you’re here for. That’s all you can afford. 

 After grabbing a handbasket, you make your way through the grocery store. It isn’t crowded at all, nearly nine PM on a Tuesday evening, so there’s no need to push yourself against any shelves to allow other customers by, no waiting for someone to move out of the way so that you can grab something they’re blocking. It’s lovely. It’s why you like to come so late in the day.

 You grab the bag of white rice first—cheap, easy to cook, goes with just about everything. The electronics are on the other side of the store, and you keep your sights set on that far back wall, not allowing yourself to peer at anything else along the way lest you get tempted. Once you’re crouched in front of a row of different chargers, you grimace at the prices. 

 Ten bucks for a cord? Good god. 

 For the second time that day, you curse the little dog causing terror in your apartment. Getting a new phone charger wouldn’t be necessary if Remy hadn’t chewed up your old one, but no, of course he had to go for one of your absolute necessities. Why couldn't he have gnawed on one of the hardback books he used to love so much? Little fucker is lucky you love him as much as you do—enough to keep him. Enough to spend money on decent food rather than the shitty stuff most people feed their pets.

 Unfortunately, said decent food is on the highest shelf on the pet aisle, leaving you glaring up at the bag as if it’s at fault for being placed up there. 

 It seems like all you’ve done today is pout. Through your lecture. Through your lab. Through your commute home when that creepy dude wouldn’t stop staring at you. And, now again, you're huffing and swearing as you put your basket down and move to climb up on the bottom shelf to reach. 

 It’s because it’s a smaller bag. Small kibble for small dogs. They can’t put the seventy pound bags up here, you remind yourself. That’s just a disaster waiting to happen. 

 You snort at the image of a fallen shelf surrounded by mass amounts of dog food, about to hoist yourself up when a deep voice calls out. 

 “Need some help?”

 You drop back to the flat of your foot, turning to look in the direction of the speaker with wide eyes, hoping you’re not about to get reprimanded by a store employee.

 You’re met with the sight of a very tall man with sandy hair that he has to flick out of his face. He’s in a t-shirt, jeans, and Nikes, no apron in sight, so he’s definitely not an employee.

 He definitely is hot, though. 

 “Uh, yeah,” you nod, stepping back from the shelf. “If you don’t mind.”

 He doesn’t respond, just paces over and reaches the bag you were aiming for without issue, not much shorter than the shelves themselves. 

 “This one? Salmon and sweet potato?”

 “Yeah—yes,” you correct, your mother’s voice ringing in your ear: don’t say yeah. It’s yes. Yes, ma’am. Yes, sir.

 The stranger hands you the bag, and you flash him a grateful smile, murmuring your thanks as you retrieve your basket from the ground.

 “Not a problem.”

 Neither of you move for a few extremely awkward seconds, but you finally turn to walk away, telling the man to, “Have a good night,” from over your shoulder.

 The last thing you grab is the toilet paper, sighing wistfully at the extra soft rolls you used to buy while palming a pack of what will probably feel like fucking sandpaper. Desperate times call for desperate measures, though, and damn, have you been desperate as of late.

 There’s only one register open at the front of the store, the cashier—a teenage boy—looking bored out of his mind until you walk up and set your things down on the conveyor belt. 

 “This all?” He asks, scanning the four items without even looking.

 “Yeah, that’s it.”

 The total on the pin pad makes you cringe. $31.41

 You only have thirty on you, your debit card sitting uselessly at your apartment with five dollars in your account that’s keeping you from overdrawing.

 Muttering a quiet, “Damn,” you set the two bills on the counter, then continue to dig in your wallet in hopes of finding some quarters knowing damn well you spent your last four on a vending machine snack yesterday. 

 “Uh…” You glance at the bags and weigh your options. You need to be able to charge your phone, need to be able to feed your dog, and definitely need to be able to wipe your ass, which leaves, “Could you, uh, take the rice off?” You still have a few cans of soup in your pantry if you recall correctly. That’ll last you through the week.

 The cashier frowns, looks genuinely sorry for you, but does as he’s told only to be stopped by the same voice you heard on the pet aisle. 

 “Hey, I’ve got it.”

 This time when you turn to look at him, your expression is one of absolute incredulity. “No, it’s fine, you do not have to do that.”

 “It’s not a big deal,” he counters, walking forward and holding up a fifty pound bag of dog food as if it’s nothing. “Just put it all together.”

 The young boy glances between the two of you, obviously unsure of what to do.

 “I’d really rather you didn’t—”

 “And, I’d really like to make sure you eat tonight.”

 The way your mouth drops open must amuse him because the man breaks into a satisfied smile and pulls a metal AMEX card from his wallet. Left both shocked and irritated, all you can do is watch as the stranger shoves the card into the pin pad. He pockets the receipt once it’s handed to him, then hoists the large bag of dog food over one shoulder and slides behind you to make his way out of the store.

 “Wha—Wait!” You call, grabbing your bags and hurrying after him. “Wait, you can’t just—” You stop when you catch up to him, met with a pair of light green eyes when he looks down at you. “That was—I have food, okay!”

 “Well, now you have more,” he replies dryly.

 You know you should be thanking him. Again. He just did you a huge favor. 

 That doesn’t make it any less humiliating, though. Some random dude buying your groceries because you couldn’t cover them. God, you don’t think you’ve ever been so embarrassed. You would have been fine. You would have found a way.  

 Only the first few rows of parking spaces are taken up, the rest of the lot completely barren save for stray shopping carts and discarded plastic bags blowing in the breeze. The tall lights illuminate it well, much better than the street lights that line your walk back home, but you’ve never had any problems before, so you aren’t terribly worried about it. 

 You’re struggling to keep up with the man’s stride, his long legs carrying him much faster than yours do, and you feel a lot like a small child chasing after something which only serves to annoy you further. You have half a mind to keep arguing, to ask just who the hell he thinks he is, if he makes a habit of doing this, but the this you’re referring to is just a good fucking deed, just being a good person, even if it is mildly infuriating. 

 “Fine, fine, shi—” You stop and take in a deep breath, and the man in front of you slows down as well. You think it’s so that he can hear you better, but it turns out it’s just because he’s made it to his car—an ugly as fuck Mercedez wagon that makes you bite back a scoff. Okay, it makes sense. This dude just has money. Thirty bucks must not mean anything to him. 

 “Thank you,” you finally tell him, deflating in the face of defeat and once again remembering your manners. “I… Appreciate it.”

 He opens the back of the SUV and tosses his bag of food inside, then turns when the door is shut again. 

 “Like I said. It’s not a big deal.”

 I can see that, you almost say. Instead you force a tight-lipped smile, unsure of what else to do. 

 Tilting his head just slightly, the man looks at you for a moment, almost as if examining you. You want to be offended all over again, but this isn’t some kind of once over, his eyes never even leaving your face. A couple blinks later, he holds out a hand and introduces himself as, “Miche.”

 After shifting a bag over to your already full arm, you shake his extended hand and offer him your name and a, “Nice to meet you.”

 “Likewise.”

 His grip is firm and encompassing, long fingers curling around your palm and squeezing. More noticeable is how warm his hand is, almost radiating heat. It’s strangely comforting, cuts right through your irritation.

 Miche looks to be quite a bit older than you, at least a decade. There are faint lines at the corners of his eyes that hint at years spent smiling, and you think you see a bit of gray hair at his temples, but it could just be the parking lot lighting. None of it detracts from how attractive he is, extremely well built with a well kept yet rogish beard, and you’re finding it difficult to hold his light gaze. 

 “Well, anyway,” you transition. “I’ve gotta get home, but yeah, thanks again.”

 He nods, and you turn, walking away from him a little too quickly as you make your way to the sidewalk that will lead you to your apartment complex a block away. 

 That was without a doubt one of the weirdest encounters you’ve ever had, a mixture of mortification and flattery (mostly the former) that you’re ready to forget. 

 It was nothing more than a blip on your calendar, though, something you can easily look past, but that doesn’t stop you from telling Remy about it when he greets you at the door, your pitch high and stupid as you recount the tale as if your dog is a child capable of understanding you.

 “Can you believe that?” You ask, pouring food into his little bowl. “Can you believe a stranger would do that?”

 He chows down, snorting the whole time as you sit cross-legged on the ground next to him. He’s been stressed lately, probably because you’ve been stressed, which means he hasn’t been eating much. Tonight, though, as you pet him and talk, he doesn’t leave a single morsel. It’s probably because he was actually hungry, but it could be that your demeanor is just a little brighter than it has been the past few days. 

 You wind down for the night, putting up the few groceries you acquired then changing into pajamas. Brush teeth, straighten blankets, turn on Cosmos. You crawl into bed once you’ve completed your routine, plugging the new charger into your phone and cutting your eyes at Remy where he’s curled up at your side.

 “Eat this, and you’ll be finding a new place to live, got it?”

 His curved tail thumps on the bed twice, and he stares up at you with big brown eyes, too god damn cute for his own good. 

 “Who am I kidding? I could never kick you out. Even if you are the worst roommate I’ve ever had.”

 You snuggle up with the little mutt as Neil Degrasse Tyson explains the theory of the universe, and before you know it, the world fades to black.

 ~

 The afternoon shift at the bar is slow, just the few regular alcoholics patrons sitting on the stools nursing drinks for hours while watching whatever game is playing on the television above your head. Things don't pick up until around half past seven. You and Reiner have to start moving a tad quicker, and then it's all left to him when eight o'clock rolls around. 

 Porco is already tuning his guitar up on the small stage, eyebrows furrowed as he twists each little peg. He has a capo clipped on the end of the head for whenever he needs it, and it makes him look like he spends much more time playing in dive bars than the once a week schedule he agreed to. 

 Reiner takes your bar blade when you hand it to him for safekeeping then winks at you and nods to the stage, sending you off as he does every Friday night.

 You've been working at Marley's for a couple years now. The money isn't great, just barely keeps you afloat (though ‘treading water’ might be a little more accurate of a description), but the hours are flexible, and you get along with your coworkers wonderfully. 

 The redhead on stage—now tuning your guitar—is actually who recommended it to you, said that they were short staffed and looking for another bartender, preferably a cute female (he had wriggled his eyebrows at that), and that he knew most of the people who worked there. “They’re all idiots, so you’ll fit in just fine.”

 Plus, it's close enough to longboard to, so that's pretty helpful given your current no-car situation. You were pretty strategic when picking an apartment, made sure it was close to campus as well as some kind of grocery store, so getting the job at Marley’s tied it all together. Some days, mostly when it’s raining, you still have to shell out a few bucks for the bus, but it isn’t all that often, and if you’re lucky enough and your bar shifts match up with someone else’s, they’ll just pick you up on the way. 

 The stage area is always a little warm for some reason, so you tie your flannel around your waist as you step up onto the slightly raised platform, taking your guitar from Porco once you’re seated on the stool next to him. 

 Your sets are never long, just a few songs, usually covers unless you’re feeling especially full of angst and want to pour your heart out with an original. That, thankfully, is not on the agenda for tonight, just some modern indie plus a Fleetwood Mac song.

 You and Porco have been doing this for a little over a year now. You had met him during undergrad at a party and originally did not get along with him very well, but eventually you both got started on music and found that you shared some interests including but not limited to playing. You jammed together a few times, enjoyed it, and just never really stopped. What started out as casual playing in dorm rooms or the campus courtyard turned into playing coffeeshops for pocket change, and now you're both here singing to other poor college students and a handful of middle-aged men and women attempting to drown their sorrows. Perfect audience. 

 Porco uses his stage voice to introduce the two of you, all low and smoky and fake, but it turns a few heads, so you're not about to complain. His singing voice is similar, a surprise when you had first heard it and oddly complementary to your higher octave. Most of the time you just go back and forth, taking turns with verses and choruses, but it's easy to harmonize with each other when the song calls for it. 

 All in all, you and Porco make a good team and usually bring in about forty bucks that he lets you keep nine times out of ten. You argue with him about it but lose every time, reminded of the fact that he has two roommates and that they all make enough money to feel mostly stable. 

 "I mean, we don't really know the definition of a fucking savings account, but I'd say we're still doin' a shit ton better than you are right now."

 And, he has a point. 

 You get through one song, then a second and a third. Some fifty-year-old dude with a beer belly shouts at you to play Freebird but only gets a middle finger in return. It's a set like any other, ending with Dreams and earning a sparse and scattered applause after Porco thanks the crowd the same way he always does. 

 "Alright, thanks for listening. Please buy us shots," with his mouth up against his microphone so that he's barely understandable.

 You take both guitars to stash in the staff lounge until closing, and Porco grabs the shoebox the two of you use to collect tips, an extra piece of cardboard taped to one side and scribbled on with Sharpie. 

 Help our personal fight against starvation. (We are in college and tired of ramen.)

 After tucking the instruments away safely, you join Reiner behind the bar once again just in time for Porco to plop down on a stool on the other side. 

 "You guys sounded good tonight," Rei comments while rinsing out a couple of rocks glasses and setting them upside down on the drying mat. 

 Porco sucks his teeth. "Man, we always sound good, shut up."

 Reiner's eye roll is unconvincing when paired with his little grin, and he makes quick work of getting the redhead his preferred drink without Porco even having to ask for it. 

 It's routine for a while. Rounds of shots and too-sweet mixed drinks for the group of girls at a table by the counter. The regulars all flagging you down and getting huffy when you can't attend to them immediately, as if they're entitled to your undivided attention just because they spend more time here than you do. You break a glass when it slips out of your hand. Some asshole lectures you about how this can't be considered a real bar if the only IPAs you carry are Karbach Hopadilla and India Pale Ale. 

 "Sir, I don't order the booze, I just sell it," you brush him off. "But, if you go down to Ash street—you know, the one that's popular for being lined with different bars, I'm sure you'll be able to find all the IPAs your little heart desires."

 The khaki wearing motherfucker cuts his eyes at you and sneers before returning to a group of guys who all look exactly the same as him. Fuck, you're so over college boys. 

 "Hey," Reiner starts, slapping a hand on your shoulder. "I'm gonna go change the Budweiser keg. Need anything while I'm back there?" 

 "Nah, thanks, though."

 The blond nods then shoulders his way through the swinging doors that lead to the back. Porco is on his phone hunched over and chewing on the straw of his drink. He doesn't seem to need anything at the present time. In fact, pretty much everyone looks to be taken care of for now which is good considering the new figure who leans up against the end of the counter. 

 You actually do a double take when you first see him, only taking note of his height at first, but the glimpse you caught of his face has you turning all the way and tilting your head in confusion. 

 Though he is familiar to you, he is not familiar to Marley's. You know all the regulars by name and drink, and the college kids may as well be a single entity, their faces all blurring together but still belonging in the cheap, dingy bar. 

 Miche does not belong here, though—not with his nice tie and button up and certainly not with his fucking Mercedes you assume is parked outside. 

 Still, you stride over, twirling your bar blade and cocking a hip out once you're in speaking distance. 

 "You lost or something?" 

 Miche's mouth curls up at the corners, and he doesn't look surprised to see you, probably noticed you whenever he came in. 

 "Nope. I'm exactly where I wanna be."

 You raise an eyebrow. "In a badly lit bar with only two IPAs and a bunch of sad college kids?" 

 "Yeah," he chuckles. "That guy was really rude, by the way. I was about to say something, but you, uh, seemed to have it covered."

 "Oh, believe me, I've dealt with way worse. That was nothing."

 He doesn't seem pleased with this information but doesn't say anything on it, choosing instead to ask, "What whiskey do you have here?"

 "Uh, Johnny Walker, Wild Turkey, Dewars, Jameson, and Crown," you list, slapping your bar blade against your palm with every brand. "Nothin' too fancy."

 Miche only contemplates for a moment before making his request, "Can I get Wild Turkey on the rocks?"

 "Yeah, for sure. Single or double?"  

 "Double. Please."

 You twirl around to the metal shelves, searching for just a moment before finding the right bottle and pulling it. Glass, ice, a generous pour, then you're placing it on a coaster in front of him. 

 "Thanks." 

 Someone further down the bar waves to get your attention, and you slip away from Miche to help them. They ask for an annoyingly complicated shot but buy one for you as well which makes up for it. You knock it back, grimacing at the taste but enjoying the warm feeling that quickly settles in your stomach. 

 As you try to stay busy, you find yourself gravitating back toward Miche. He isn't watching you or calling you over, simply sitting on his phone while nursing his drink, finger curled around his straw to hold it out of the way as he sips from the rim of the glass. Why do so many men do that? You've never understood. 

 "Did you get home okay the other night?" He suddenly questions right as Reiner walks out from the back. He must hear because he raises an eyebrow and smirks as he passes you, but you wave him away with intentions of clarifying later. 

 "Yeah, I live, like, a block away from the store. I walk back and forth all the time."

 "That late at night?" 

 You scoff, grabbing a few clean glasses to put away just to make it look like you're doing something other than running your mouth. 

 "It wasn't that late. And, the neighborhood's safe enough. I mean, I haven't had any problems so far." 

 That may have had something to do with your ex-boyfriend walking with you everywhere, but that's not the point here. 

 Miche stares at you as he takes another sip of whiskey, not even making a face at the taste which is oddly attractive to your stupid brain. 

 "I thought about offering a ride, but…"

 "I would have thought you were a literal serial killer, so I'm glad you didn't."

 He snorts into his drink and nods as if to agree. 

 "Besides, you'd already done more than enough for me."

 You swear internally when Rei passes by once again, a suggestive little, "Mmm," hummed just loud enough for you to hear.

 You swat him with your dish towel and briefly consider tripping him, but with your luck, you'd end up actually hurting him, and then the bar would be short staffed again. 

 Plus, you can see why he's amused. Miche is even hotter tonight than he was on Tuesday. His dress shirt is a very light blue, purple tie making his eyes shine vibrantly even in the shit lighting. Shaggy hair is pushed from his handsome face, beard shaved a little closer and accentuating the angle of his jaw. 

 Stupid hot is how your friend Sasha would describe him, and she wouldn't be wrong. 

 "So, for real, how'd you end up here tonight?" 

 The idea that he could be stalking you flashes through your mind, but honestly, you don't know if you'd be flattered or creeped out if that was the case. 

 Miche shrugs very broad shoulders and twirls his glass a bit, answering, "My coworkers always go to the same bar, and I'm not really up for hanging out with them right now. Still wanted a drink, though, and this was the closest low-key bar I could find."

 "Rough day?" 

 "Yeah," he nods. "Just… Kinda shitty."

 You click your tongue and glance away to make sure nobody needs you, then lean your elbows on the counter to get a little closer to him. 

 "As a bartender, it's part of my job to ask if you wanna talk about it."

 "Is it really?" He asks with a frown that makes you laugh. 

 "I mean, it's not in my fucking contract, but it's kind of an unspoken truth."

 Miche laughs quietly again, and you fight your own. He has a nice smile—a little lopsided but showing off perfect teeth. 

 "Haven't had a bartender give me their utmost attention since I was in school—" you somehow doubt that, "—and that was usually just because they were trying to—" he stops himself and shakes his head. "Nevermind."

 You can guess where that thought was going. Usually just because they were trying to fuck me. No brainer. 

 "Right," you grin before getting the conversation back on track. "So anyway, what's eatin' ya'?"

 His lips push out in a little pout, gaze falling back to his glass, but he still tells you, "I had to break a baby's collarbone today."

 Your world stills for a second as you stop everything you're doing, not even trying to hide the look of shock on your face. 

 "Excuse me?" What in the fuck— "What do you do?" 

 "I'm a doctor." 

 He doesn't elaborate, and it takes you a second to catch on since breaking bones seems a little counterproductive to healing people, but you happen to recall a particular anatomy lecture where you learned about birth complications, that in some cases, newborns get stuck in the birth canal or are simply too large to pass through, and many times that results in a fractured clavicle.

 "You deliver babies," you state once it becomes clear to you.

 Miche nods, swallowing a rather large gulp and finally making a face at the burn. "That I do."

 "Are you, like, a surgeon or…?"

 "Well, yeah. C-sections, hysterectomies, stuff like that, but I spend most of my time doing routine exams and consults."

 You nod slowly, not sure if you're extremely aroused or extremely disturbed. On one hand, the surgeon thing is hot. He must be smart. Very smart. On the other hand, as someone with a vagina, you're feeling strangely vulnerable knowing that he looks at them for a living. 

 "Yeah, that's the expression I usually get," he comments, and you shake yourself out of your muddled thoughts and school your features so that you don't look so dumbstruck. 

 "Sorry, just processing," you tell him. "Can I ask how you got into it? I mean, most women prefer female doctors for that kind of thing."

 "Yeah," he breathes. "A lot of them do but not all."

 "Men are rougher sometimes," as if he doesn't already know. "I had a guy doctor once, and let me tell you, the way he shoved that speculum in was not very pleasant. Just, like, not enough lube, and too much force and…" You click your tongue, realizing you've rambled. "You don't need to know about that, so I'm just gonna—" 

 You turn away, cheeks painfully hot as you whisper to yourself, "Why? Why did you fucking tell him that, you weirdo."

 A few other guests need tending to, so you take care of them, mostly ignoring Reiner when he asks, "Who is that dude?" 

 "No one."

 "I've never seen him here before. He's hot."

 "And, you're nosy."

 "So, he is someone?" 

 "I'll tell you about it later, just shut up."

 He shows a satisfied smile but walks away to lean over the bar between Porco and his brother. You hadn't even noticed Marcel walk in. Must have happened when you were busy gawking at Miche. 

 Miche, whose glass is empty. You pour him another, sliding it over and muttering, "On the house. For having to hear me tell you too much personal information."

 "It's not a big deal," he laughs, and you remember those words coming out of his mouth a few nights ago. Maybe nothing is a big deal to him. Maybe that's what it's like to feel absolutely secure in life, like he can just let everything roll off his back. You wonder what that must be like. 

 "Okay, then consider it a thank you for serving female-kind or whatever," you wave. 

 Miche doesn't argue, but he does roll his eyes as he lifts the new glass to his mouth. You grab his empty and put it in the sink, then return to wipe away the small puddle of condensation on the counter in front of him. 

 "So, what do you do?" He asks curiously. 

 You grin sheepishly then hold your hands out to motion to the rest of the bar. "You're lookin' at it." 

 "Nothing else?"

 You're mildly offended by his prying because there's nothing wrong with being a server; it's a perfectly valid lifestyle choice. However, you have a feeling he doesn't mean for it to come off as judgmental. 

 Of course, that doesn't stop you from snapping, "Oh, I'm sorry. Not all of us can be fancy obstetricians."

 Eyes growing, Miche waves a hand defensively and begins to apologize only for you to smirk. "Chill, I'm just messing with you." When he relaxes again, you tell him, "I'm actually a student at Sina."

 "No shit?" 

 "None at all."

 Sina College of Medicine is one of the highest ranked schools in the country. You're still in shock that you got in despite attending for half a year already. Unfortunately, with prestige comes ridiculous fucking tuition, and your parents can only help so much—hence the playing the bar for money and having hot strangers buy your groceries. You are not living luxuriously by any means, but one day—one day—it'll be worth it. 

 "Do you know what you wanna go into?" 

 You answer, "Neuro," immediately because that's been the plan since you learned what a brain was as a toddler. 

 "Any particular reason?" Miche presses. 

 You shrug, eyes flicking to the woman a few seats down who's leaning over and snapping at you. 

 "Brains are cool and still very much a mystery, and I wanna learn as much as I can about them during my time here on Earth." 

 "Plan on being a surgeon or—"

 You hold a finger up to stop him, "One moment please," then dart off to help the lady who's now glaring at you like she's about to scold you. 

 "What can I get for you?" 

 All she orders is a bottled beer which is a relief, but she still mutters, "Finally," as she takes it from you. In her defense, you're a little off your game tonight. Wonder why.

 "No surgery for me," you sigh when you're across from Miche again. 

 "Squeamish?" He smirks. 

 You shake your head. "Not really, no, but I don't think I could handle the pressure that comes with tinkering with the organ that makes a person a person, you know?" 

 He snickers, repeating, "Tinkering," before taking a drink. "I can respect that. Know your limits."

You do know them. For the most part. You know them well enough to realize you’ve been approaching your breaking point for a long time. Between school, work, and fucking financials, you’re about ready to drop, and now, talking to Miche who seems to have the stability you desperately wish you had, you’re feeling a little unhinged, a little dizzy.

Then again, that could have something to do with the fact that all you’ve had to eat today is a basket of French fries from the kitchen and three shots bought for you by patrons. If Reiner found out he’d kill you, but if your boss, Theo, caught you stealing food, he’d fire you. You can sneak fries, but that’s about it.

The med school conversation continues for a little while—what year you’re in, how you’re liking it, etc. Miche’s expression is one of complete understanding when you complain about how little sleep you’re getting and how most of your instructors are “a little dickish”.

“Yeah, you should get used to that. There are a lot of doctors out there who have god complexes.”

“Do you have one?” You ask with a smile. “I mean, you're pretty much the bringer of life.”

“Yeah, but I am also the bearer of bad news and the breaker of infant collarbones.”

“For the record, I have a friend who had her collarbone broken at birth because she was a fat fucking baby, and she lives a completely normal life. You know, aside from the not being able to move her right arm at all.”

Miche chokes on his whiskey, coughing a couple times, and you know it probably burns like hell, but the way he looks at you in both fear and disbelief is a little hilarious, especially since, “I’m kidding. She’s totally fine.”

“That was mean,” he croaks in a hoarse voice. “Just mean.”

“Hey, I have to make my own fun. Sometimes it just so happens to be at other people’s expense.”

He cuts his eyes at you, but there’s no venom in the narrowed gaze. You give him another shot as well as a glass of water just for putting up with you, then flash him the smile Reiner always tells you is dangerous. “If you can get me all tingly with that look, how do you think it affects straight men?”

It’s nearing ten, so the bar is only getting busier. Talking with Miche becomes harder and harder as you run around behind the counter. You spare him a few words here and there, talking about bars, babies, and music. Your face heats horribly when he says he enjoyed the acoustic set you and Porco played. You didn’t think he’d been around for that, but here he is telling you that, “You have a nice voice. Both of you do,” in his own deep tambor, and there you are across from him, kicking yourself for getting all giddy and soft like you always do whenever a strong male character praises you in any way whatsoever. 

“Thanks. We’ve been playing together for a few years now.”

“Boyfriend?” Miche asks, and you snort while shaking your head. 

“No, we’re, uh… Not each other’s type.”

Looking over your shoulder, you see Porco standing on the bottom rung of his stool, leaning over the bar top while trying and failing to grab a beer that Reiner is holding out of his reach. The redhead swears rudely only to resort to begging, and when Rei finally hands the drink over, Porco glares while the other just grins and winks.

“Ah,” Miche grunts in realization. 

“Yeah, they’re great. Some of my best friends.”

You’ve never met a couple that fights as much as Porco and Reiner do, but they always come out on the other side, and that’s what really matters, you think. If you’ve learned anything from them it’s that if every fight you have leaves your relationship weaker instead of stronger, something is wrong. 

You don’t really want to dwell on that, though, not with a full bar. Not with a very handsome Miche sitting in front of you. He’s patient as you run back and forth, on his phone until you slide back over to him and pick up where you left off even if it’s just for a minute or two. 

It gets more crowded and much louder, and eventually talking is no longer an option. You open tabs and get refills, pour shots and mix drinks, and then you twist around to check and make sure Miche is still doing okay only to find he isn’t there any more. Instead, Reiner is wiping down the counter to get it ready for another guest, and you can’t fight the feeling of disappointment that rises in your chest.

However, it’s quickly pushed aside when the other bartender turns and looks at you with high eyebrows and a mischievous smile. Reiner paces over to you, holding folded dollar bills between his index and middle fingers, and his voice is almost melodic when he announces, “This was left for you.”

You pluck the bills from him and begin walking toward the register only to stop when you unfold the cash, finding a five, a twenty, and a fifty. Miche's drinks, including the ones he wasn’t supposed to pay for, only amount to $23. 72. You were planning on adding it all to the spill tab, so you’d been keeping track the whole time, but now…

“It’s for both of us,” you tell Reiner, but he just laughs in your face.

“Uh, no, it’s not.”

You yelp when he frisbees a fresh coaster at you, the cardboard hitting you right in the throat before falling to the ground, and when you bend to pick it up you find that there’s something scribbled on it. 

Inked in all capital letters just under the red Stella Artois logo is a short note. It starts with your name, then: 

THANKS FOR BRIGHTENING A BAD DAY. - MICHE 

“So,” Reiner starts, sliding up behind you to peer at the coaster over your shoulder. “You gonna tell me who he is?”

He stops you when you go to drop the largest bill into your shared tip jar, slapping your hand away with a harsh, “No,” that sounds upsettingly similar to the way you say it to Remy whenever you catch him eating something he shouldn’t be. 

“He left it for you, so keep it,” Rei bites, lifting his chin while peering over his nose in an expression that may as well read ‘try it’.

You groan, knowing you’re fighting a losing battle, and slip the fifty into your pocket. “Fine, fine, Jesus Christ.”

“Okay, now for real, how long have you been fucking that dude?”

“I’m not fucking him—I don’t know him!”

“What?” 

He looks legitimately confused, and you have just enough time to tell him about meeting Miche in the grocery store a few nights ago, but you can’t go too far into detail—not with the obnoxious group of frat boys that are circling the bar like vultures, asking for both drinks and phone numbers at an alarming rate. You and Reiner break apart to get back to work, and you do your best to treat the rest of the night like every other you’ve spent here.

Except it’s not like the others. Something was very different about tonight, and that something is about to keep you fed for the next couple of weeks.

#miche zacharias x reader #mike zacharias x reader #aot x reader #aot fanfic #mels find a way

[findmeontheisle]

chasing the ocean: part 7

author’s note: so i’ve decided to try to make the chapters longer so this whole series won’t be fifty thousand parts long, but if y’all prefer the shorter chapters let me know and i’ll fix it! also i’ve noticed that i have some people who come back to read and i appreciate that more than yall could ever know but i feel bad that i update so irregularly so this is the reminder that-

TAG LIST IS OPEN

word count: 2,676

warnings: lots of cursing

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“lass, i swear if you knock on the door one more time, i’m going to take my hook and-“

grinning brightly at harry, i take advantage of him finally opening the door and let myself into his room before he can complete his threat or slam the door shut to go back to sleep.

“gooood morning, harry! i’m so happy to see you’re awake, but you did miss breakfast though. that’s gonna throw the schedule for the day off a little bit, but it’s okay. we can work around that and get you a snack in between things.”

he’s still standing at the doorway in a tired and grumpy haze as i happily plop myself onto his unmade bed. looking around, i see his bag in the corner is half unpacked and his boots are tossed near the end of the bed. there is a towel on the ground near the open bathroom door and i can see his clothes from yesterday in a pile on the tile floor. the silver hook that he loves so much is on the bedside table and i finally see the gift i left him last night sitting on the chest at the end of the bed.

i gasp and look at him excitedly, “oh good, you got the speaker. i forgot to leave instructions with it, but i was really hoping that you would figure it out since it’s kinda similar to your last one.”

harry finally shuts the door and rubs his face with his hands. he crosses the room to his bag and leans down to grab some clothes. i quickly avert my eyes to the ceiling, already used to him abruptly changing the clothes from our time sharing the attic at auradon.

“aye, i did. so you’re the one who left it there?”

i nod, even though he’s still busy changing and not looking at me, and admit, “yeah, i felt bad that yours broke and i knew i had one still. finding a cd of ocean noises took a minute, but i got a friend who went to the music shop for me.”

i hear some more rustling noises and harry mutters a quiet, “done.” finally lowering my eyes from the ceiling, i see him wearing his usual colors and fingerless leather gloves. he walks to the bathroom and starts brushing his teeth so i keep talking.

“i know it’s not exactly like the isle’s waves, but it still has seagull noises so that felt like a plus side.”

he doesn’t make a response and i honestly didn’t expect one. bored, i look around again and notice an empty plate sitting on the chest next to the speaker. i look from the plate to harry before standing up.

crossing the room, i lean against the doorway to the bathroom. harry’s eyes look at me in the mirror so i stare at his reflection with narrowed eyes.

“how did you get food if you didn’t come to breakfast?”

even though he’s still brushing his teeth, i can see his lips twist into a smirk for a second. he finally spits out his toothpaste into the sink before wiping the back of his hand across his mouth.

“well, i got it from the kitchen.”

he brushes past me and goes back into his room. picking up his boots, he sits on the edge of his bed and starts lacing them up.

i scrunch my nose and grit my teeth as i sigh, “ya know, i told the cooks and servants to not give you any food. they were supposed to escort you to the dining room once you left your room.”

harry chuckles and sits up from tying his boots. his blue eyes are lit up and i can see the grin that he’s trying to suppress.

“don’t worry, lass, they didn’t give me a crumb.”

i huff and roll my eyes, mad at myself for always underestimating the instincts instilled in vk’s from the isle. without even asking, i already know that harry had managed to sneak out of his room and into the kitchen to steal a plate of food.

shrugging, i push off of the doorframe i was still leaning against, “whatever, at least we don’t have to stop for snacks now.”

harry stands up and loops his hook into his belt loop like usual. we leave his room and as we walk down the hallway towards the front corridor, i don’t even have to look to know that he has a huge grin spread across his face.

he throws his arm over my shoulder and teasingly tugs my cheek, “oh c’mon, princess, ye gotta admit it. i’m pretty impressive. no need to look so sour that i outsmarted ye.”

i huff out a laugh and brush his arm off of me as i nod sarcastically, “oh my gosh, harry, i’m not mad. i’m just still in disbelief that i get the blessing of being in your presence.”

he winks at me and leans in closer to my face, “i know, lass, it’s gotta be difficult to control yourself when you’re near an irresistible lad like myself.”

without missing a beat, i lean in as well so that there’s barely an inch between our faces suddenly and we’ve both stopped walking by now. i smile up at him and let my hand rest on his chest for a second.

“oh, it’s nearly impossible, hook.”

with that, i turn on my heel and keep walking down the hall, biting my lip to hold in my laughs. i can hear harry chuckling as he follows me.

“if you hate me this much, you can just say it next time, princess.”

so, me and harry’s day out has pretty much just been one train wreck after another.

once we had left the castle, i had taken him down to the stables so he could choose a horse to ride into town since cars are only allowed on the outskirts of the town and i knew he wouldn’t want to walk the whole way. but it didn’t occur to me that harry hook had never ridden a horse before and more specifically, never ridden maximus before.

it had taken thirty minutes of the giant white horse neighing angrily and harry using every curse that he knew, which is an impressive amount considering he grew up on a pirate ship, before i finally accepted defeat and called for the limo driver to take us to the edge of the town.

from there, i led him through the town so we could reach the town square, which is always bustling with the cart vendors and townspeople milling about at this time of day.

this quickly proved to be a terrible decision.

the walk took about twenty-five minutes, which was plenty of time for harry to start complaining. the complaints ranged from the walk, to his feet hurting, to how hot it was, and then never seemed to stop until we reached the square.

the complaints only stopped because i lost him almost immediately. i knew it would be busy in the square, but i hadn’t been expecting this many people today. it’s just a fucking sunday, after all. i had taken almost four steps into the square and turned around to ask harry which vendor he was interested in looking at, only to see that the crowds of people had already gotten between us.

this led to me panicking and instantly calling out his name, which made people recognize me. typically, i can peacefully go to the town square and greet everyone and have a nice outing. today, though, was not that because despite everyone being used to my presence and not treating me like a novelty, they all treated me like a friend. a friend who had been gone to auradon for four and a half months who they needed to catch up with.

it took an hour and a half for me to get out of the crowd and away from people long enough for me to ask the guards nearby if they had seen a dude holding a hook with a black vest. conveniently, they had and pointed me to the alleyway they saw him walk down, which made sense considering he grew up on the isle and alleyways are what he’s familiar with.

i finally found him leaned against the wall of the alley as he fiddled with something in his hand. once i got closer, i very quickly realized that his isle instincts had kicked in and he had stolen someone’s wallet while he was in the crowd. this is common in vk’s who get exposed to situations where they are unmonitored and unsure of what to do since it’s all they’ve known for most of their life.

after sternly reminding him that stealing is bad and unnecessary now, we went back to the guards that had pointed me to him and returned the wallet. when they asked where harry got the wallet from with squinted eyes and their hands resting on their handcuffs, i quickly lied and said that i had found it on the ground next to the alleyway.

shouting thanks over my shoulder, i dragged harry away and kept a firm grip on his wrist as i led him through the square and back towards the limo.

halfway back to the limo, though, harry started complaining that he was hungry.

i was beyond frustrated and my patience was completely gone, but i could also feel my stomach growling. so, i took a left turn and went to the closest bakery i could think of without thinking any further about it.

and that is how we ended up standing in the middle of Tink’s Sweet Treats. the small blonde girl at the front desk was staring at us in confusion. i smiled at her nervously and held a hand up, “hey bella, sorry. can you just give us a second to decide what we want?”

she smiles and nods at me, “yeah sure, take your time, y/n. i can get my mom to come up here if ya want-“

i quickly shake my head, my smile immediately feeling a lot more forced and i’m grinding my teeth for a second as i try to sound as polite as possible, “oh no, no need. we’re in a bit of a rush so i can’t really stay to talk.”

bella nods and looks between me and harry for a second before pointing over her shoulder, “okay, i gotta go to the back to check on some stuff that’s in the oven. call me when you’re ready.”

i force myself to hold the smile until she’s shut the door to the kitchen behind her. letting out a breath of relief, i am seconds from telling harry that it was an honest mistake but he cuts me off before i can start.

his voice is barely contained in a hushed yell and his accent is extremely prominent now that he’s mad.

“ye fucking brought me to tinker bell’s fucking bakery of all places.”

squeezing my eyes shut, i try my best to stay quiet as i hiss at him, “i didn’t realize it, okay? you were jabbering away and complaining so i was trying to get you something to eat so you would shut up and here we are. besides, as long as her mom stays in the back, bella’s not gonna recognize you so we’ll just get our food and go.”

harry’s face is redder than i’ve ever seen and it’s almost comical how high his voice gets, but i’m too stressed from the situation to laugh.

“that’s her fucking daughter?!”

i nod timidly and i’m about to try to calm him down, but his hands pull his hook from his belt loop and he holds it in my face.

“ye let me walk into tinker bell’s fucking bakery and didn’t think to tell me to hide me fucking hook?”

my eyes widen and i push the hook down quickly, “well, don’t just sit there and wave it around, dumbass.”

“where am i supposed to fucking put it then, princess, do enlighten.”

caught off guard by the question, i look at him incredulously and shrug, “i don’t know, you don’t have pockets?”

he looks at me like i’ve grown two heads and he shakes the hook that i’m still holding onto as he whisper shouts, “you think this hook is gonna fit in a pocket?”

i shake the hook as well and glare at him, “well, not with that attitude.”

he squints his eyes at me and retorts, “that doesn’t even make any fucking sense.”

i’m about to continue our whispered argument when i hear the door opening. my eyes widen and i turn quickly, me and harry attempting to pull the hook behind each of our own backs, which causes us to get pulled closer together until our shoulders are squeezed together.

bella looks between us for a second and seems absolutely confused at how close we’re standing to each other as she slowly asks, “uh, am i interrupting something?”

“no.”

“yes.”

harry and i glare at each other, but i turn back to bella with a giant fake smile, “we actually just decided what we want.”

bella blinks before timidly smiling and stepping forward to the case holding all of the various food that is prepared. she slides the glass door open on her side and looks at me expectantly, “okay, what can i get for you?”

i look from harry to the menu quickly and barely manage to blurt out, “uh, yeah, we want the…”

scanning the list of items quickly, i try to rule out everything that i think harry would hate before i just pick randomly.

“a dozen of the fairy dusted cupcakes please.”

harry’s head instantly turns to continue to glare at me, but i ignore him completely as i finally let go of the hook and step up to hand her the royal credit card. she rings it up quickly and the second she has the cupcakes boxed, i thank her and me and harry are instantly on our way out of the store.

we walk a couple of blocks before i finally let myself start giggling. harry tries to ignore me, but after i have to stop due to the laughter causing me to double over, he finally looks at me and huffs, “what are you are laughing about?”

i’m bent over and i have to hand him the cupcakes so i don’t drop them in the middle of my laughing fit. once i can breathe a little during the giggles, i wipe my tears and look up at him, “i-i… i tried to make you put the hook in your fucking pocket.”

saying it out loud causes me to fall into another laughter fit, but this time harry cracks a grin and chuckles. he holds his hook back out the way he had in the bakery and his voice is high pitched as he mimics me, “i don’t know, you don’t have pockets?”

his accent and the memory causes me to actually fall onto the ground as i wheeze. soon, he is crouched next to me and we’re both breathless. we fall into a cycle of laughing till we can’t breathe until one of us mimics the other in the argument and then we start laughing all over again.

i have no clue how long we laughed but we finally managed to both be standing and wiping our tears. harry picks up his hook from the ground and i pick up the box of cupcakes.

we walk back towards the limo in a comfortable silence. when the limo is finally in sight, i sigh in relief that the shitshow of taking harry on an adventure is finally over.

harry snorts as we’re climbing in and i glance at him with a smile on my face as i wait for him to tell me what he was thinking about. he looks me in my eyes and grins.

“these better be some damn good cupcakes, princess.”

i literally got on my knees to beg harry to come to dinner in the dining room with my parents since i knew they would be expecting him. even after i begged, i had to agree to him bringing his hook, him getting to choose one of the activities for tomorrow, and he demanded that i tell my parents that this is an informal dinner before he finally broke and agreed to go.

which is how i ended up sitting next to harry across from my parents while the servants brought out pizza to us all. despite harry’s request for informal, my parents insisted on letting our chef, gustavo, make our pizza because he would’ve passed out if he found out that we ate some frozen pizzas because his number one priority is making sure that everyone in the castle enjoys the best of the best.

i smile warmly at the servants and thank them before quietly telling them that they can go home early since i was planning on cleaning up. they nodded at me gratefully and once the door shut behind them, it was just my parents, harry, and me in the dining room fit to serve about 50 people.

we all shared a look, uncertain how informal we were planning for this to be. my parents are used to giving a speech and hosting a toast before a meal with a guest and i’ve gotten used to eating at a picnic table in the front garden of auradon with carlos, jane, evie, and sometimes doug.

my parents were already out of their comfort zone, considering they usually wear the tailored outfits that the royal stylists select and heavy crowns. currently, we are all sat in our pajamas and staring at the pizza in the center of the table.

harry shrugs as he sets his hook next to his plate and grabs two slices of the pepperoni pizza. i let out a sigh of relief now that someone else had made the first move. leaning on my elbow to reach for the pizza, i see my mom send me a look for a second before she must have realized her mistake. she slowly copies my movement and i can see how conflicted she feels internally at the completely normal gesture.

we all eat a couple bites of our pizzas, my parents occasionally making remarks about how good the food is and how comfortable they are in their pajamas. mom even mentions having matching pajamas made for all of us to wear at the end of the week before we go back to auradon. my cheeks were a blazing red as i tried to subtly shake my head at her, but her and dad start discussing potential patterns. harry and i remain silent until my dad turns to harry.

“so, harvey-“

“harry.” my mom is practically glaring at my dad for still getting his name wrong.

“gesundheit.”

i laugh and quickly cover my mouth with my hand so i don’t accidentally spit out my food.

“anyways, what all did you two do today?”

me and harry glance at each other and my face instantly flushes at the thought of how bad today went. seeing my red face, harry smirks and prompts me, “yeah, lass, tell yer parents what we did today.”

i stare at my plate and purse my lips before shrugging, “oh, you know, we went to the town and got some cupcakes.”

mom perks up at this and she looks at me with interest, “oh really, where did you take him to get cupcakes?”

harry almost chokes on his pizza as he laughs and i kick his leg under the table. my cheeks are practically on fire and i’m trying desperately hard to make my smile look a little less forced.

harry coughs and then turns to me with a large grin as he leans on his hand expectantly, “aye, what was the name of that bakery? i just can’t remember it.”

my eye almost twitches, but i simply just sink into my chair and mumble, “tink’s sweet treats.”

dad sits up in his chair, leaning his elbows on the table, “wait, what was it?”

i repeat myself at almost the same volume, too embarrassed to say it any louder.

mom tilts her head and smiles apologetically, “i’m sorry, i didn’t hear you.”

sighing, i drop my head into my hands as i exclaim, “tink’s sweet treats.”

silence.

when i finally peak at my parents through my fingers, i can see them frozen in their places. my dad is clearly unsure of if he’s allowed to laugh and my mom looks like she’s rethinking her life and how she ended up with a daughter like me.

harry finally breaks the silence as he throws his head back cackling. dad looks relieved and falls into laughter with him. mom looks like she’s fighting a smile, but i can hear her giggle break through.

rolling my eyes, i join the laughter and point at harry, “you guys should have seen his face when he realized that he had his hook in the store with him.”

harry’s face is red and i’ve never seen him laugh this hard as he points at me as well and exclaims, “she tried to make me put it in me pocket!”

dad slaps the table and isn’t even making any noise as he silently laughs, tears brimming in his eyes.

conversation flowed pretty easily from that point on as harry told them about our day and my parents laughed with us.

once the pizza was mostly gone and the sun had set a long time ago, dad sighed and asked, “so, any game plan for tomorrow?”

i shrug and lean back in my chair, “honestly, i haven’t thought about it yet. harry wants to choose one of the activities, but aside from that, i got nothing planned.”

mom sits up in her seat, her eyes wide in excitement as she grabs her husband’s arm and shakes it. dad jumps at the unexpected action. she turns in her seat to look at him and she squeals out, “oh my gosh, they should go to the snuggly duckling.”

dad’s eyes get just as wide and he grins brightly. they fall into a conversation with each other as if harry and i aren’t at the table with them.

harry turns to me and quietly asks, “what the hell is the snuggly duckling?”

i giggle at the way his accent sounds saying those words before i wink at him, “it’s a surprise for tomorrow, but i think you’re gonna like it.”

he stares at me with a completely blank face as he deadpans, “if i get bit by a goose or some bird tomorrow, i’ll use me hook to gut ye like a fish.”

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// tag list: @kitkatgaming @reblogserpent @marichat4lyf @thomaslefteyebrow @newtshairdryer

#captain hook #carlos de vil #descendants #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #harry hook fic #harry hook x reader #harry hook #thomas doherty #roommates au #and they were roommates #rapunzel daughter

[tchallasbabymama]

Alright y’all, I’ve been doing some thinking…

As Troubled Waters comes to a close, I've started mapping out my next steps. I’ll definitely need more time to focus on my non-fanfic writing because ya girl is trying to make that her main source of income in the next few years. That being said, I ain’t stopping, just slowing down. Writing Troubled Waters has taken up a lot of my time, and even though I truly wouldn’t have it any other way, I doubt I’ll be writing a long series like this again any time soon (for free lol.)

But, that’s not to say I’m gonna stop writing fanfic!

Like I said, I ain’t going nowhere!

Today, I ended up stumbling into two really good ideas for shorter stories, so here’s what the next few months are gonna look like:

I still owe y’all the oneshots you requested last summer. I haven’t forgotten; I just haven’t had the time and/or the inspiration because all my creative juices have been flowing to Troubled Waters and my novella that I’m self-publishing.

That being said, after TW ends, I’m gonna take a little break sort of like I did in the middle of the series. Not sure how long the break will be, or (knowing me) if it’ll really be a true break or not…

But, when I come back, here’s what you can look forward to (let me know if you want to be tagged in any of these):

The Nakia x Okoye oneshot that I’ve been working on for ages.

Still unnamed Ménage à Trois sequel. It’ll probably only be about 5 chapters, but big tings are coming for our favorite throuple!

A little something I’m currently calling “How Ramonda Got Her Groove Back” inspired by a convo I literally just had with @impremenior and @griot-of-wakanda . They really got my wheels turning and the inspiration just poured in, so that’s definitely gonna be coming soon. Not sure how long it’ll be, but at the very least we’re looking at a 3 part story.

A story set in the Troubled Waters universe focusing on Amita and M'Baku's relationship.

A story following Shuri from the “All For Us” universe where she goes to the University of Lagos. Not sure of the plot on this one yet, but I know I want to see what our favorite princess is up to.

Star-Lord T’Challa oneshot that I’ve also been working on for ages.

Killmonger gangbang fic that someone requested like a year ago.

Just felt like sharing my thought process with y'all!

Love always,

Cece

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fanfiction #support black writers #cece’s ramblings