#and the first thing alex does is punch him in the face! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

starcrossedxwriter · 8 months

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Wicked Fantasies Part 6 (MBJ x OC)

Warnings: Look… its literally just angst lol you're gonna feel things! Don't say I didn't warn you. NSFW

A/N: This is like 2 weeks later than I promised (SO sorry, y'all!) but I hope you enjoy!

***

“This isn’t so bad,” Michael argued. “She’s just complaining that she hasn’t met me yet and some other shit that isn’t even true. Why’s that a problem?”

Alex shook her head as she scrolled on her phone. Her eyes did not even leave her phone screen as she spoke, her nails furiously tapping across the glass screen. “It’s not what she said that’s the problem. It’s that she’s talking at all… the only things I want to see in the media about the two of you are cute photos from date night, not tell alls from family members. Does she know about your… previous career?”

This was the first time his manager had even directed a question at Raven, who had sat silently since they arrived. She was so angry that she could not even revel in the fact that she was at Michael’s house for the first time, not regulated to her usual place in his bachelor pad. She thought being invited to this intimate part of his life would make her happier. But instead of feeling joy and welcomed, she merely felt like a burden. She was only there out of necessity to fix the crisis her own sister created.

This is why you can never be more, she reminded herself. Paris had started to rip out the weeds of doubt that grew in her soul, siphoning away the power of the notion that they could not be more. It had made her fall deeper in love with him, made her seriously ponder whether his feelings for her stretched into deeper territory.. But this? This reminded her of a sickening fact.

No matter how many trips he charted for her, gifts he showered her with, or kindness he showed, she did not belong here with him in the real world. It was as if every intimate detail of his home and his real life that she saw screamed at her that she was out of place, punching above her weight, and needed to return to where she belonged: the outskirts of his life in the condo where he took one-night stands and flings that meant nothing once the sun rose. Because as soon as their arrangement was done, she would be nothing to him again. And while Paris had made her feel like she could still win in the ring, now she felt as if she was merely being punched right back down where she belonged.

“No. Well… she doesn’t know about the prostitution. But… I always thought she figured out I was a stripper somehow.”

Alex, who previously had been engrossed in her phone, lifted her head in surprise. “You were a stripper too? Would’ve been nice to know before now,” she muttered under her breath.

Raven’s long stiletto nails bit into the palm of her hand as she tried not to let one comment push her right off the cliff she was teetering on. She knew Alex was not intending to be judgmental but that did not stop her from feeling the sting of it. Every choice she made in her life since the moment she came into the world seemed to be a bad one for everyone else. She could not do anything right.

“I was a 19 year old with no skills who needed to pay for college. I wasn’t facing a fucking mountain of options. So I did the best I could with a shitty situation... Sorry my choices as a desperate teenager are making your job so difficult,” Raven snapped.

“I didn’t me-”

“Alex.” Michael’s stern voice cut through the budding tension, stealing the words right out of Alex’s mouth. Michael’s dominance and power seemed to have an effect on everyone, though Raven suspected it was because he was not the type to abuse it. Alex immediately let the rest of her sentence fade away, opting to apologize instead.

Michael’s eyes had not left Raven’s body since they got in the car. He hated how her eyes actively avoided him, he had been unable to look in her beautiful brown eyes for over an hour and that killed him. They were the most expressive part of her, windows into her soul and every feeling she had. She shied away from his comforting touch in the car so he kept his distance but even still, he could see how her entire frame trembled ever so slightly. Her furrowed brow… her silence. God, her silence was so deafeningly loud in his ears. He was not used to it. Even if it was awkward ramblings, she was rarely silent with him. This was a side of her he had never seen. It was not sadness or resignation, he had seen both of those, and she seemed to be able to push through those just fine. No, this was something else and it was red hot and all consuming to the point where he could tell she could not hide it. It was a far cry from the woman who was sound asleep on his shoulder on the plane two hours prior.

“I’m sorry,” Alex raised her hands. “I’m sorry. I’d never judge anyone for doing what they need to. I just need to know what else your sister could say.”

“She has no proof… just speculation. But that’s it. She doesn’t know anything about my life now… we aren’t close.”

At first, she had immediately handed Alex back her phone, uninterested in reading whatever lies her sister decided to spew. However, when Michael summarized it for her, the notions in it were so absurd, she had to read them for herself. She instantly wished she had not.

It was as dramatic as it was false, her sister complaining about how Raven had changed and alienated her own family since her romance with the superstar had begun. She spun a web of tall tales about how Raven never spoke to them anymore, how close they once were and how much the family missed her, how Raven had told them Michael was too busy to meet them. By the time Raven got to the end of the article, she was shaking.

She supposed the silver lining was that the article was more of a personal attack on her character than their relationship, which she was used to from her sister. She just had not expected her sister to drag it into the public eye like this. And while reading her words agitated some of her deepest wounds, they fueled more anger in her than any other emotion. Anger was not an emotion Raven often felt where her family was concerned. Slight frustration, sadness, hurt, guilt? She felt all of those often but she was used to it and often brushed them off. But true anger? That was rare, or rather, it was rare that she let herself feel true anger. And now, it hit her as high, powerful waves crashing against her shores.

“So she’s just lookin’ for her 15 minutes. Fine. But she can’t say anything else, this’s gotta be it.”

“Who cares if she mouths off to the media?” Michael asked. He knew why Alex cared and why he should care. But at that moment, all he could actually care about was minimizing this for Raven’s sake. He knew her well enough to know that the only person she would blame for this was herself, not her idiot sister. And it seemed to him that she blamed herself for far too much where her family was concerned. He did not want to add another unnecessary thing to that list. Nor did he want her to feel the burden of this because she was quite the opposite of a burden to him and he would clean up 100 PR nightmares for her without a second thought. They had taken 10 steps forward in Paris, walls came crumbling down for both of them. If he did not fix this fast, Raven would retreat 15 steps back from him and he could not take that.

“That’s not the point! She’s smoke and TMZ knows where there’s smoke, there’s a fuckin’ fire. And y’all two and this whole situation is a damn forest fire. We don’t need TMZ or a fuckin’ Inspector Gadget head ass Tik Toker to look into Raven’s life or past anymore than they already have. So you need to shut her up now. Is she a fan of his or somethin?”

Raven scoffed. “If wanting to add him to her list of fuck buddies means she’s a fan then sure… she’s a fan.” Her anger meant she could not hide the bitterness in her voice, could not pretend to have a kind word to say about her sister who seemed to take joy in going out of her way to ruin all the good things in her life.

“Well, that shit definitely ain’t happenin’,” Michael stated with a growl.

“I mean, no nigga, I wasn’t gonna suggest you fuck her sister.” Alex rolled her eyes.

“Maybe we s-should just end this. I’m causing more problems than I’m fixing.” Raven’s voice was so quiet, Michael almost did not hear her. It hurt her heart to even consider it but Paris had rubbed her raw, left her and her emotions exposed in ways she had not experienced in a long time. And she had not minded that at first, she savored the closeness and vulnerability with another person. But now, all of her emotions felt dialed up by ten in that vulnerability and that overwhelmed her. She was overwhelmed by the rage she felt at her family for trying to use Michael the way they used her. She thought she couldn’t ruin him but she felt as if she already was. “I’m r-ruining everything…”

Michael’s heart stopped, his head shaking vehemently before any words could even escape his lips. “What? No… why would we do that?”

Raven’s head fell into her hands as she let out a frustrated and strangled sigh that sounded like a sob.

“Ok, let’s all take a breath. I’m sorry, I probably made this seem like a bigger deal than it is. We don’t need to stop or end it if you aren’t ready to. This is still a good plan, no one is ruining anything. We can fix this. We just need to give her what she wants. If you just meet her, take a picture with her, get her tickets to a high profile event or party or whatever she wants, then maybe she’ll settle down and keep her mouth shut.”

“She won’t,” Raven mumbled to no one in particular.

“Everyone has a price and we just need to find hers,” Alex continued texting on her phone.

“She won’t because she’s an attention seeking bitch. She’s never had a real job or ambition or anything going for her and just takes and takes and takes from everyone with no thought. I can give her the fucking world and she’ll come back with her hand still out!” Raven exploded, jumping up from her seat as the words escaped her lips before she could even hope to stop them. She buried her face in her hands and turned away from both of them as she heard them in the space, instantly regretting them. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

Michael sighed and gestured toward the door, Alex walking out of the room with him. He closed the door behind them.

“So I take it there’s some bad blood there?” Alex asked as she leaned on the door.

“Lots of it. You know how family shit is… lots of heavy ass baggage there. Let me talk to her and I’ll call you tonight with a game plan. I think she just feels betrayed and upset and needs to process all that.”

“Understood,” Alex raised her hands in surrender. “Take your time, give her what she needs. Sorry this had to happen as soon as you came back. She seemed really happy when y’all got off the plane, I didn’t mean to ruin it.”

Michael shook his head. “Doing your job isn’t ruining anything. But my guess is the timing of this, on her sister’s part, wasn’t random. Sucks too… the past week was the most relaxed I’ve ever seen her, first time she seemed actually happy.” Michael stared through the glass panels of his office door to watch her. He could see the tension in her shoulders from all the way over here, could tell they were shaking slightly from silent tears.

He turned away to look back at Alex whose eyes were big with shock.

“What?”

“You’re in love with her.”

“Alexxxx…” he dragged out her name, his manager scoffing and dragging him by the arm further away from the door.

“Don’t insult my intelligence, Bakari. I’ve run a couple PR relationships in my time and most fail miserably. Been trying to figure out why this one seems to be working so well… I knew it wasn’t cause you’re that good of an actor, no shade. It’s because you… Michael Bakari Jordan love her. You’re not having to play for the cameras because you’re actually in love with her. Look me in my eyes and tell me I’m wrong.”

Michael sucked his teeth. “I love her.” He admitted. “And I know what you’re gonna say… it can’t work and it’s stupid and I’ll need to end it like we always planned. I know, I got it.”

He started to move past her when her hand grabbed his bicep to stop him.

“I was actually gonna say that I’m happy for you. Been waiting for you to wise up and find someone for real. If she’s what you want, I support it and you 100%. And we can figure out how to spin it.” She jerked her head back toward the office. “Go take care of your girl. Call

me later.”

They shared a hug before Michael disappeared back into the office. Raven sniffled and quickly wiped her tears away before standing up and walking over to him. She tried to put a positive look on her face and tone in her voice as she spoke.

“I’m sorry… that outburst was m-mean and totally unnecessary. And not helpful. She’s right, we need a game plan and everything. Where’s Alex? I want to apologize and then I can fix this.”

He perched on the edge and widened his stance so he could pull her in between his legs. His arm wrapped around her waist as he pulled her into his chest. He did not like how she braced her forearms against his chest to avoid fully melting into his embrace.

“I don’t need you to do anything and Alex doesn’t need an apology. She’s fine. I care more about whether you’re good or not. You’re upset.”

She shook her head. “I’m not upset.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “You just called your sister an attention seeking bitch. Ain’t gon’ hear an argument from me but that’s not like you. You’re pissed, rightfully so. Tell me why though, don’t bottle that shit up.”

Raven stared at him for a moment, her mouth opening and closing a couple times as she tried to find the words to tell him. Tell him that she was near out of relentless hope and optimism, that a not-so-small part of her hated her sister and wished she never had to see her again, that she wanted to cut her and her dad out of her life completely but she wasn’t brave enough to be truly alone so she couldn’t, that a bigger part of her wanted to call TMZ and tell them all about how horrible her family has been to her her entire life, that it cut deeper than she imagined it would to read her sister describe a relationship between them that had always been her dream but she actively denied her. She wanted to tell him that she was tired, that she felt guilty and ashamed for dragging him into this mess, that she didn’t deserve his care and kindness because all she had done was ruin his life.

It was all too much, the avalanche of emotions she felt picked up speed and power with every moment she stood in his presence. And she needed it to stop, needed to throw up some type of blockade so she was not run over and drowned by it. She needed walls again, barriers. And the only way she could think to recreate those was to put both physical and emotional distance between herself and the man in front of her. He was the only person who forced her to exist in her vulnerability, to feel everything and not shy away from it. But that was dangerous. She was not built for it. Once the avalanche hit, she knew she would not get back up. So, she had to get out.

So she did the only thing she could think of, she threw up the walls of a working girl. She knew they would not hold for long, not with his persistence, but they would hold long enough for her to reign it all in again. Long enough for her to lock her feelings back up in their cage where they belonged.

“I’m not angry.” Her tone left no room for argument as she pried herself out of his embrace and walked back to the couch to grab her bag off the floor. “I’m not angry. Kiara’s not a… bad person. She’s just… Kiara’s the Sun and I imagine the Sun would be upset if Pluto tried to steal its spotlight too. She’s the center of my family’s world and she hates it when it seems like I’m trying to take that away. It’s fine. I’ll give her whatever she needs to feel like the Sun again and that I humbled myself back to my position as Pluto. Everyone wins.” She said it in such a matter-of-fact way that, if he didn’t know her, he would have missed the bitterness in her words.

“You don’t need to pretend with me, Rae. You can be upset.”

“Nothing to be upset about. This is just how it is… I’m used to it. She wants something and she knows I’m gonna give it to her. I’ll call her and figure out what she wants and we’ll fix this.”

She started to fiddle on her phone before Michael pried it out of her hand and threw it on his desk.

“I don’t give a fuck about what your sister wants right now… I care about what you need.”

“I don’t really need anything from you or anyone else right now.” Her words clipped and colder than Michael had ever heard her before. “Least of all a damn therapist.”

Her heart broke at the hurt that flashed across his eyes but she decided that was fine. She needed distance and however she achieved that, even if it was by pushing him away, it would work for her. However, before he could respond, her phone started to buzz loudly on the desk.

“Speak of the devil.” Michael handed Raven her phone back, her sister’s name popping up across the screen.

“Hey Kiara.” She put the phone on speaker phone so Michael could hear.

“I’m surprised you didn’t call me all day, I know you saw the article.”

Raven and Michael shared a knowing glance that made Michael’s blood boil. She had done this just to outshine Raven who had been in the media and tabloids multiple times in the last week from their trip. Michael had guessed that but knowing her sister went to such lengths to diminish her sister bothered him far more than he could describe. Was there no one in his girl’s life that allowed her to shine?

“Yea I saw it. I’m sure you also saw that Michael and I weren’t in the country. We just saw it when we landed about an hour ago.”

“Yea I saw you both... Why didn’t you invite me??”

Raven let out a small huff. “Do you even have a passport?”

“No… but I could’ve gotten one. it's not fair that you get to go while I’m stuck here. And with my favorite actor. All my friends sending me clips of your stories and pictures and shit. And I didn’t even know you were gonna be there. And I had to lie and tell them that you invited me but I couldn’t go. You don’t include me in shit and you keep makin’ me look fuckin’ stupid. You probably didn’t think about me once!”

“I mean no, you weren’t the first thing that came to mind when my boyfriend invited me on a trip to Paris. I’m allowed to have and enjoy experiences on my own. Also no one forced you to lie, who would have expected you to be invited on a trip with me and my boyfriend?”

She heard Kiara scoff on the other side of the phone. “‘My boyfriend,’” she mimicked back. “You better enjoy this lil 15 minutes of fame you’re getting from him cause it won’t last. Ain’t like you’re worth his time. He’ll wise up, realize he needs a real woman, a girl like me.”

“Did you want something?” Raven interrupted, turning her head from Michael so he could not see just how deeply her words cut. She would never argue that she was good enough for the man sitting next to her but hearing someone else validate those insecurities hurt.. Her sister certainly knew which wounds to cut into. “Or was your tell all just to ruin my trip?”

“Oh well… None of this would’ve happened if you had gotten me even one of the things I asked for weeks ago. Like damn, I know he’s busy but he don’t even have a real job. He could come out and met me when I asked.”

Michael’s face twisted up in a look of faux offense that would have been a perfect gif, which made the edges of Raven’s lips curl into a small smile as she stifled her laugh. How did he manage to make her smile even when she felt utterly incapable of the action?

“Acting is a real job, Kiara. And I invited you all here to meet him. But no, I wasn’t gonna ask him to get you a Birkin, I don’t even have a Birkin.”

Michael resisted the urge to cut in and ask her if she wanted one. Because he could easily have one at the house by sunset if she did.

“Dad and I can’t afford to jet set out to LA… the hotels, the food, all that shit. We’re barely getting by as it is.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Barely getting by” when they both worked and Raven often paid most of the major bills.

As she was talking, Michael gestured for her to mute the phone. “Tell her I’ll pay for the flights and invite them to Thanksgiving.” At Raven’s wary face, Michael just nodded. “Just trust me.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize the price of the flights was the issue. H-how about we pay for the flights and your hotel and… you could come for Thanksgiving this year? Michael’s family are great cooks so it’ll be nice. And you can meet him?”

“Really?? Thanksgiving at Michael’s house?”

“Yea,” the words were almost painful to get out. Part of her wanted to believe this could be a good thing but the more logical part knew that it would not soften anything between all of them. After all, they were not coming to see her, they were coming to gawk at Michael. “But you can’t talk to the media anymore, Kiara. Seriously, you can meet him and everything but you can’t go give a tell all to TMZ or Page Six or any of them anymore. Understand?”

“Fineeeee. No more media. I’ll tell dad. Send me the flight and hotel information. Make sure to put us up somewhere nice… you know like the Ritz or a five-star hotel. And can you have a car for us while we’re there? We’re gonna wanna sightsee and everything.”

“Of course,” she muttered through gritted teeth.

“Ok. See you then, bye.”

Raven clenched her phone in her hand, resisting the urge to chuck it across the room.

“Damn, sis’s got expensive taste,” Michael muttered.

Raven’s laugh was cold and humorless. “It’s easy to have expensive taste when it’s not your money. You sure about this? Thanksgiving? Here?”

“What? Thanksgiving is the time people spend with family. We can get a nice group shot and they can feel included. And I’ll get her somethin’ expensive and nice… nothin’ crazy. That’s all she seems to want anyway. Hearing how she talks to you… I don’t want ‘em here anymore than you do but this is the best solution. You had plans or somethin’?”

“No, no… I just didn’t… I didn’t even know I was invited to the Jordan Family Thanksgiving dinner,” she chuckled, pulling at the sleeve of her jacket awkwardly.

Michael’s face twisted up in confusion. “Of course you’re invited. Moms would kill me if I didn’t. But yea I guess I should’ve asked if you had plans first. What do you usually do?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing. I order Chinese and I pick a marathon of movies to watch in bed. Same with Christmas except I usually pick a new recipe to try and I always watch the Grinch,” she chuckled.

“You spend Thanksgiving and Christmas alone?”

She shrugged and gestured toward her phone. “If you had to pick between alone and that, which would you choose?” At his silence, she nodded. “Exactly. They never want to see me anyway so I make it easy on everyone.”

“Well, this year’s gonna be different.”

Raven scoffed. “How so?”

Michael closed the distance between them and rested his hands on her hips. “Well, one, you’ll have me, which means your family will be on their best behavior. If they aren’t, two, you have me and my family as a buffer. And three, you have me… and I ain’t gon’ tolerate disrespect like that in my house. You say the word and dinner’s over.”

“You can’t kick people out of your house for me,” she whispered, her eyes avoiding the intense stare in his.

“Who says I can’t? Thought I’d made that clear by now that I’d do anything for you. And when you’re with me, I’m not just gon’ protect you physically… all of you is safe with me.”

Those walls she threw up? Already starting to crash down around her. Why does he do this to me?? And why can’t I resist it? She thought to herself as she looked at him.

“Thank you. But hopefully, they’ll be on their best behavior and then who knows, maybe they’ll see your family and want to turn a new leaf? This could be good?” In her heart, she knew that would not be how this particular story played out but she had to try… had to hope and dream that it could be different. She studied him for a sign that he agreed, and believed her. But he offered her nothing but a peck on the forehead.

“Yea, maybe.”

They stood there for a moment before Raven felt the overwhelming urge to run again. She hated this feeling… the contrasting emotions of wanting to melt into him and run from him at full speed.

“D-do you think Allen would mind taking me home?”

“I thought you were gonna stay with me tonight?”

“Yea but I thought we were going to the condo… you want me to stay the night… here?”

“I just thought after last week…” he stopped himself. “Here is just more comfortable than the condo. Besides, ma asked if you could stay for dinner so she can meet you. Wouldn’t want to disappoint her, would you?” At her continued expression of speculation, Michael added. “She also has been buggin’ the hell outta me to meet you so honestly, you’d be savin’ my ass.”

Raven smiled and nodded. There was not anything but wallowing and frustration waiting for her back at her own apartment. And she had loved falling asleep in Michael’s arms during the last week. She was not ready to fall asleep alone again.

“Just remember that next time you’re punishing me,” she winked at him.

“Deal.”

***

“Bakari!” Donna called over to Michael who was standing outside with his dad overseeing the fried turkey for dinner.

“What’s up, ma?” He jogged over to her as she continued moving around the kitchen. Michael had offered, as he did every year, to have dinner catered but his mother could not dream of not cooking Thanksgiving dinner with her own two hands. Michael never pressed too hard though because he knew no caterer would ever beat his mom and dad’s cooking.

“I think a certain girl needs your attention more than your father and that turkey,” she gestured toward Raven whose hands were filled with neatly folded napkins as she sat each one on each place setting around their giant farm style table.

Michael’s eyes scanned over her body. He could see the tension in her shoulders but she had been tense since they woke up that morning. She had also been quiet all day, simply getting up and heading down to the kitchen to assist his mother. While she was more than happy for the help and it gave the two a chance to chat and bond, Michael knew Raven’s motives were not completely altruistic. She needed the distraction.

“She’s setting the table, what’s wrong?”

His mother lowered her voice. “She’s set and reset that table 5 times now in between asking me if I need help 100 times and apologizing for her family being late.” She gestured toward the pitcher which held a fall sangria for dinner. “Poor girl’s been on her feet helpin’ me all day and she’s a dream but she needs to relax. Pour her a drink, get her outta my kitchen, and make her sit down till dinner, please?”

“Yes ma’am.” He kissed his mom on the cheek before quickly grabbing a glass and pouring a tall drink before walking over to her.

“I think those napkins will be fine wherever you put them, baby girl,” he whispered in her ear, causing Raven to jump slightly.

She clutched her chest, glancing down at the table setting and set of napkins in her hand. “Sorry… was in my own head. Something about it still doesn’t look right still,” she whispered as she started to rearrange the setting in front of her again.

Michael eyed her for a moment before grabbing the things out of her hand and setting them down. He called for his sister to take over setting the table before grabbing Raven’s hand and pulling her behind him into his bedroom upstairs. He closed the door and handed her the glass.

“Drink.” He instructed.

Raven took a sip before lowering the glass again to hand back to him.

“Nope, drink the whole thing and then tell me why you’re so scared.”

“I’m not scared.”

“Yea you are. Tell me why.” Michael wasn’t dumb. Raven had been off since her family landed in LA, more tense, quieter and not herself. He wished he could get the version of her from Paris back but that woman was buried deep beneath the seemingly never-ending bull her family put her through.

Raven took another big gulp of the drink before sitting on the edge of Michael’s bed, her dress riding up her bare thighs slightly. His eyes sparked with lust but he tempered himself. That was not the point of bringing her up here.

“I’m not… scared. That’s not what it is. I just… Well, first, I’m frustrated because they’re late. I explicitly told them 2 so they could meet everyone and chat and mingle and it’s almost 4. I spent over an hour on that damn charcuterie board. And they haven’t called me or texted or anything. And now your mom probably thinks I was raised by inconsiderate ass wolves.”

“Rae, my mom doesn’t care in the slightest. Food wasn’t gonna be done at 2 anyway so they haven’t missed anything or messed up anything. And you know that. So what’s really bothering you? We aren’t leaving this room til you tell me.”

She sucked her teeth in annoyance before sighing. She knew he would make good on his promise not to let her leave until she was honest.

“I’ve lived in LA for years. Did my masters out here, became a published author here, built a life here and you know how many times I’ve asked them to visit? And the first time they come, it's not even to see me. It’s to meet you. They’ve been in LA for 3 whole days… you know they haven’t made an effort to see me once? Never mind the fact that every restaurant they have a reservation to, we booked. Every excursion, you booked and paid for. And it shouldn’t bother me,” she whispered, throwing the entire drink back before wiping the corner of her lips. “It shouldn’t… bother me. Usually it doesn’t bother me. After all, this’s been it, my whole life. But since I met your family… I see how you are with them a-and I spend time with you all and it’s like breathing in rare fresh air? A-and I dunno, it just… the polluted air is a lot harder to breathe in than it used to be.”

Since they returned from Paris, Raven had become a staple in the Jordan household. They still returned to the condo some nights after dates as it was often easier than getting back to his mansion in the hills. Raven had fallen in love with Michael’s family and it seemed his family had taken quite a liking to her as well. His nephew loved to have Raven read to him as she did the best silly voices, and she, his mom, and sister had already gone out without Michael for manis, pedis, and dinner - with his card, of course.

Raven would never forget their first dinner the night they got back from Paris. She had been in such a bad mood but ten minutes at the table with Michael’s entire family had lightened her spirits significantly. His dad was charming and told stories that had Raven’s muscles aching from laughter; his mom so sweet and spent half the dinner asking questions about Raven’s book after having it finished it while they were away; his brother was quiet but he and Michael’s friendship made her heart want to melt; and his sister was witty and made Raven want to be her friend immediately. Everytime Raven spent time with them, they made her feel like part of the family. And she fell into it, despite her efforts to avoid it, with ease, like she had been part of the fabric for years. It caused some guilt to swell as she remembered that the girl they loved so much was a lie and that she and Michael were deceiving them. However, as her own family continued to disappoint her, it was nice to be a part of something so pure and loving.

“Sorry to interrupt,” Michael’s sister poked her head into the room. “But your family’s car just pulled up.”

Raven immediately stood up and handed the wine glass back to Michael. She went over to the full-length mirror in his room to adjust her outfit and ensure she looked perfect before putting on the most forced smile Michael had ever seen grace her lips.

“Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting.”

Michael grabbed her arm to stop her as she tried to walk around him.

“I told myself I’d stay out of it… your family, your rules. But word of advice, if you’ll let me?” When she said nothing, he continued. “People treat you how you allow them. And just because you’ve allowed this disregard for 30 years doesn’t mean you have to allow it now or that you deserve it. It hurts more now because you know you deserve more. And you’ve experienced more. So demand more.”

“And if they don’t give it?” Raven’s voice broke slightly with that question because she knew what his answer would be, what she should have done many years ago but did not have the courage to do.

“Somethin’ isn’t always better than nothin’. Especially when that somethin’ is just dead weight you have to drag around behind you. No one ever got far with dead weight.” He pressed his lips to her forehead, Raven desperately wanting to melt into him and the comfort he provided. He laced his fingers in hers and kissed her hand. “That’s all I’m gonna say. We’re gonna have a good time, promise. You’re with me so you know I gotchu. You ready?”

“Yea, I think so,” she smiled at him before following him out of his room and downstairs.

As they descended the stairs, she was unsurprised to find the deep baritone of her father filling the foyer of Michael’s mansion as he greeted everyone. Raven fixed her face to maintain a smile as she and Michael finally made it to the bottom of the stairs. She could feel her sister’s eyes studying her, taking in her designer dress, the signature red bottoms of her heels, and the diamond necklace and earrings glistening against her skin that Michael had bought her in Paris. It may have been a role, but Raven could not lie, she enjoyed dressing the part of a movie star’s girlfriend more than she thought she would. A petty part of her also did not hate the way her sister’s nose seemed to flare with jealousy at it.

“How y’all doin? I’m Michael?” Michael stepped forward and offered her father and sister a hug.

Raven’s eyes narrowed as her sister tried to linger in the very chaste hug Michael offered. Neither of them acknowledged her as they introduced themselves to Michael and his family, Raven awkwardly teetering on her heels behind him.

“It’s so great to meet you, son. Loved that Tom Clancy movie of yours. Watch it all the time,” her dad boasted as if he was Michael’s greatest fan.

Raven rolled her eyes behind Michael, knowing how much he hated when the first thing out of someone’s mouth when he meets them is their favorite role of his.

“Thank you, thank you. That was a fun one.” Michael reached behind him and pulled Raven to his side. He protectively tucked her under his arm and smiled down at her. “Great girl you have here.”

“Hey dad,” Raven offered, stepping forward to accept the half hug her father offered. She knew it was merely for show but she accepted it anyway. “Kiara,” her tone made her seem far more excited to see both of them than she was. But unlike her family, she was painfully aware of the studious eyes of Michael’s family watching them. And while their foundation had cracks the size of the Grand Canyon in it, she did not want Michael’s family to see them.

Her sister could not even stop eye fucking Michael long enough to give her a hug. She merely nodded in her direction.

Michael, thankfully, ended the awkward silence between the family members by gesturing for everyone to follow him to the kitchen. There, the island was heavily laden with food that his mom deemed ready to serve. Everyone grabbed serving dishes and started helping move things to the table. Seeing an opportunity to grab her father and her sister, Raven pulled them off to the side for a moment while Michael’s family got ready for dinner.

There was an awkward silence as the three of them stood in Michael’s living room before Raven found her voice again. She did not know why she was nervous, this was her family after all.

“Just wanted to see how the trip’s going? A-and ask if y’all had plans tomorrow. Thought maybe, you could come see my apartment? And then maybe we could go hiking to the Hollywood sign, it’s such a nice view of the city. And Michael got us all reservations at a new Japanese spot tomorrow night.”

Kiara turned her nose up at the mere idea. “Hiking?? No. Dad’s taking me shopping tomorrow on Rodeo Drive. It’ll probably take up the whole day, sorry. But dinner with Michael sounds good.”

Raven’s heart deflated a bit. Another outstretched hand pushed away. “Oh… yea of course. Shopping sounds fun. Maybe I could meet you all?”

“That’s ok. We know you’re busy,” her dad interjected, waving his hand to dismiss her suggestion.

“Oh… well, it’s just… you leave Saturday, I wanted to spend some time with y’all before you leave? I tried calling you both, I haven’t seen you all week. I invited you all out here, thought we’d get to at least spend a little time together before you leave.”

“We’re spending time together right now. We’ve been really busy. We came to meet Michael and enjoy the city. That’s what we’ve been doing. Besides, we all know Michael paid for us to come, not you.”

Raven scoffed, already frustrated and they had not been there for more than 5 minutes. She regretted everything about this plan. Her time with Michael’s family, this sanctuary she had found with them in his home, now felt tainted as if their mere presence had poisoned that sweet, fresh air. She knew she should have been more excited to see them, after all, it had been longer than she could remember since she saw them in the flesh. But now, that small part of her that never wanted to see them again only seemed to get larger and larger with every moment she stood in their presence.

Why do you even bother?

“Oh, should I start itemizing everything I’ve paid for in the last decade? Is that the best way to get yall to, you know, actually care to spend time with me? I mean I’ve been asking y’all to come out this way for years. I just thought… since we haven’t really seen each other in a while, this could be a good chance to reconnect. But shopping is more important than me, everything seems to be,” she muttered more to herself than to them. Before her sister could cut in with another smart comment, Raven added. “Can you make sure to thank Michael for this trip you’re enjoying so much? He really went all out of y’all.”

“You don’t need to lecture me on good manners, Raven. I did raise you both,” her father spoke up, clearly annoyed and bored of this conversation.

Raven bit down the retort that she was not sure please and thank you were even phrases in their vocabulary and just nodded.

“Is that all?” her sister asked cooly.

“Yea, yea that’s all.”

Both of them immediately left to return to the dining room where Michael’s family gathered, leaving Raven in the living room. She let out a deep shaky breath as a welcomed face popped out around the corner. However, she cringed slightly, fearful that he heard that entire exchange.

She walked over to him, Michael immediately pulling her into a tight embrace. Her head thudded against his chest. “Please tell me you didn’t hear any of that.”

“Don’t think me lying to you is gonna make you feel any better.” His fingers brushed aside the curls that spilled into her face. .

His hand rubbed soothing circles into her back before he kissed her on the top of her head. This time Raven did not even attempt to shy away, she fully melted into his embrace, at least as much as she could without breaking down.

“Say the word and they’re gone,” he reminded her, leaning back so he could look in her eyes.

Raven could tell he was completely serious, that he would kick both of them out without a second thought or a care. However, she knew that was not a possibility.

“As much as I hate it, we need them, remember?” She sighed. “For once, I do actually need them. So I’m gonna do what I’ve always done.”

“And what’s that?”

She shrugged, pulling herself out of his embrace. “Suffer through it.” She answered simply.

“Anything I can do to help?”

“Keep my glass full,” she answered bluntly. “I can already tell it’s gonna be a long fucking afternoon.”

***

“So Kiara, what do you do?” Donna asked as she sat down from transitioning the dinner dishes out and replacing them with dessert.

Raven did not know how she was going to eat the slice of apple pie Michael cut for her. Everything had been so delicious, she had eaten two plates and would have gotten a third if her sister had not made a backhanded, loud compliment about her food and her figure. While she could count the number of plates she had eaten with ease, the same could not be said for the glasses of sangria.

She had not lied when she said she needed it. Tipsy Raven cared far less about her sister’s consistent jabs to make her feel inferior and puff herself up to Michael nor did she care about how her father objectively ignored her for the entire dinner. He talked of her and around her but not once did he direct a question or comment to her. She could not tell which slight bothered her more, the disrespect or the disregard.

“I was doing hair for a while but I really love to cook so I’m going back to school to be a chef.”

Everyone around the table offered the appropriate congratulations and well wishes while Raven merely smiled and stopped herself from rolling her eyes. Kiara changed career paths about as often as she changed boyfriends, which was damn near monthly. Being a chef was just another way to throw her dad and Raven’s money down the toilet.

“Once I finish school, maybe you can float some clients my way? My dream is to be a personal chef.”

Raven downed her glass before filling it again. She found that drinking was the only way to stop herself from commenting on everything they did that frustrated her. However, that was an incredibly foolish drinking game to play. Because everything they did today seemed to frustrate her, every slight seemed amplified now that it was in the presence of Michael and his family. Each one fueled that anger she often ignored and suppressed. She should have known this was coming, that they would try to ask him for favors. She didn’t even ask him for favors. All they did was take and it was one thing to do that to her, but Michael did not deserve it.

You don’t deserve it either, a small voice that sounded oddly like the man sitting next to her reminded her.

“Maybe finish school first before you start chatting up my man for clients,” Raven teased, keeping her tone light and playful though she knew Kiara could see the lack of amusement in her eyes.

“Well, we all gotta start somewhere right? Can’t all be big time like you, sis?”

Raven smiled, “Well, you can be if you work hard… and don't rely on boyfriends, dad and I for everything,” she added the last part under her breath, however, she knew her sister could hear her. Michael’s hand went to rest of her thigh as if he could sense the change in her demeanor and mood almost immediately.

“Oh we loved Raven’s book,” Donna offered, transitioning the conversation away from her sister. “Such a talented and vivid writer. I probably talked the poor girl’s ear off when we first met about it. Was she always like that?”

Raven’s dad chuckled. “Yea she always had her nose buried in a book or a notebook writing somethin. She used to write these little short stories, got a drawer full of ‘em back at the house.”

“That’s so sweet. I’m not much of a fantasy reader,” Donna admitted. “But she had me hooked from the first chapter. Such a beautiful story.”

“Yea the book was really great,” he added lamely, unable to offer much beyond that because, as Raven knew, he had not read her book. “I always encouraged them both to follow their dreams, great to see her accomplish so much.”

Something about hearing him talk about her passion, her life’s work, the thing she tolled and fought for and had to give up, as if he cared about it at all made all those years of suppressed rage finally boil over. She could suffer through a lot, it was true, but she could not listen to that, listen to him lie and pretend to be supportive or caring when he was nothing of the sort. And now, she did not even care who knew it. This was simply not a piece of fiction she would allow him to sell.

“What was your favorite part of the book, dad?” Raven had not said much throughout dinner, allowing her sister to monopolize most of the conversation. However, it seemed as though Michael was the only person who realized the unfortunate turn their Thanksgiving dinner was about to take. He leaned in closer to her, quietly whispering in her ear but he knew his sweet nothings meant just that at this point: nothing. She was too far gone to hear them or register them. Her body felt as if it was almost vibrating with rage. He wished he could take her outside and give her a few plates to smash but he knew his mom would not appreciate that.

“Oh all of it. Whole thing was great.”

“Huh…” she muttered, taking a long gulp of her drink before reaching for the pitcher to refill it. “Who’s your favorite character?”

“Maybe we should slow down on…” Michael quietly whispered in her ear, subtly trying to beat her to the pitcher but she grabbed it first and poured another large glass. She raised her hand to stop his sentence.

“Didn’t realize there’d be a pop quiz,” he let out a deep chuckle as the tension around the table grew to levels that were impossible to ignore.

“Not a pop quiz. Just tell me one thing about the book you loved so much and encouraged me to write. Favorite plot twist, favorite scene, favorite character… hell, name one character you remember at all?”

“What the fuck, Rae? What’s your problem?”

Raven let out a humorless laugh as she leaned back in her seat. She downed her entire drink in one go, sitting the glass down before folding her arms casually.

“What’s my problem? What’s my problem? Right now, my problem is this fiction you’re spinning as if you give a rat’s ass about my book, my career, or me when if someone put a gun to your head, you wouldn’t be able to tell them the name of my book, let alone anything about it. My problem is the fact that I invited you all here to spend time with me, my boyfriend, and his family, all for you to ignore me for most of dinner. My problem is that you wax poetic about stories I wrote as a kid when, if you had ever bothered to read a single one of them, you would have seen a child writing herself into literally any other world and family to escape the pitiful one she had. I have a lot of problems, too many to list right now. But the common denominator in all of them is you two.”

Everyone’s movements and side conversations halted at her outburst. The silence and her deep breaths were only interrupted by Michael’s brother accidentally dropping his fork against his dinner china, the loud clanging filling everyone’s ears as they stared at Raven and her father.

She was not one to start a scene or draw attention to herself. But she could not let any of this go on for another moment.

“Baby… why don’t we take a break for a minute?” Michael asked, standing to pull her chair out. Raven knew that if she sat there for a minute longer, she’d lose whatever little composure she had left, so she forced herself to heed Michael’s advice. She wiped her lips and immediately threw her napkin down on the table to stand and leave.

“Excuse me.”

However, as she turned around, she heard her father’s voice.

“I didn’t mean to cause an issue. I tried my best with her and Kiara but you know, some kids are just harder to handle than others.”

As soon as those words hit her ears, she exploded. Before she even realized it, she had returned to the table and was leaning over it yelling at her father.

“‘You tried your best??’ YOU TRIED YOUR BEST? You never tried! All you’ve done is give the bare minimum and suffer through my presence like I’m was a fuckin’ pest you couldn’t get rid of!”

“You think you can talk to me that way? I’m still your father! All I’ve ever done is love you and take care of you.”

Raven scoffed, throwing her hands in the air. Michael shifted so he was standing behind her, an arm wrapped around her waist as if to stop her from jumping across the table. It was not that he thought she would actually do anything, baby girl did not seem like the scrapping type. But he prayed his presence would calm her down if nothing else. This was a side of her he had never seen before. He could not lie, it was kinda sexy, seeing her finally stick up for herself and be assertive.

In a part of her brain that felt distant and detached, she could feel Michael’s presence, hear his soft whispers to calm down. And she knew and appreciated what he was trying to do: stop her from doing something she’d ultimately regret. But at that moment, she did not know if she wanted to be stopped.

“All you’ve ever done is give me scraps! Scraps of support, scraps of your attention, but not an ounce of your love or affection. All to punish me for the sin of being born.” She had always bought into her family’s narrative that she was to blame for what happened. But it was as if the small voice that nagged at her her entire life was finally roaring. This was not her fault. No part of it was. “You can’t be mad at God for that shitty situation and you won’t be mad at mom for making her choice. So for 30 years, I’ve endured you hating me because you needed someone to be mad at. When you ignored birthday after birthday and accomplishment after accomplishment and need after need, I persisted in trying to win your love and win your affection. When you threw me out and cut me off after one year of college, I dusted myself off and kept going. When you rebuffed every attempt to reconnect and build a new relationship, I kept reaching out, kept trying. When you ignored me on every holiday and at every visit and everything, I still showed up. And when you ask for everything I have despite not deserving a cent of it, I give it. Every single time. Even after I lost my book deal last year and my career and didn’t know how I was gonna pinch pennies together for rent, I put myself and my needs last to help you two every single fuckin’ time. And you both expect me to be gracious for scraps while I kill myself to give you the Sun, Moon and stars and you take and you take and you take without so much as a thank you.” Every ‘take’ punctured by her hand slamming down on the farm-style dining table. “It’s not enough and I refuse to spend the next 30 years pretending it is. I’m done!”

“God, you’re such an embarrassment,” Kiara muttered.

“Oh fuck you, Kiara!” She cried out. “You miserable, attention-seeking bitch. You can say whatever you want about me but unlike you, I made something of my life and I did it all on my own. Meanwhile, you float through life without a single responsibility or thing to your name that someone else didn’t give you. And you can’t stand the fact that my life, despite both of your best efforts, is better than yours.”

“Wow. Nice to know how you really feel about your family.”

“I’ve never had a family. You both made damn sure of that. You want me out of your lives so bad? Fine. I’m out. Let’s see how far both of you get without taking from me. Get out. Both of you.”

Raven had no authority to kick someone out of a house that was not even hers but she could not hope to care. She knew Michael would not argue with her or lobby for them to stay after she just cussed them out six ways to Sunday in front of his entire family.

“You can’t kick us out!”

“Yes she can,” Michael piped up, speaking for the first time since the blow up began.

The intense stare down continued before her father and sister angrily stood up and stalked to the door.

“And Kiara!” Her sister stopped walking to turn around to her. “Say another word about me or my relationship to the media and I won’t hesitate to tell this entire world what a shitty person and sister you are. See how your friends like that story then.”

Her sister merely glared at her before stomping out of the house behind their father. As soon as she heard the door shut, Raven felt the adrenaline in her system crash and the weight of what just happened set in.

What the fuck did you just do? And in front of Michael’s family?

She let out a shaky breath as a wave of shame hit her. “U-Um… I am… I am s-so so so sorry,” she whispered. She rang her hands together, unable to make eye contact with anyone in the room. She had not felt this embarrassed in a long time. “I-I should go too.” She pulled herself away from Michael and tried to race toward the door, ignoring his calls for her to stay. However, before she could leave the dining room, Michael’s mom stopped her.

She grabbed the young woman’s hands and patted them softly.

“No, no you aren’t. No one leaves my table till dessert is over. You’re gonna sit and finish your pie with family.”

The tears brimming in Raven’s eyes spilled over.

“I-I’m sorry for r-ruining dinner.”

The older woman laughed. “That ain’t the first blow up this family’s seen at a dinner table… won’t be the last. Go on and sit down.”

She steered Raven’s body back into Michael’s arms who pulled back her chair for her to sit. She ate her pie in silence, conversation flowing with ease around her. The Jordans acted as if her meltdown was just par the course, though she knew they were likely just trying to make her feel better. But still, she appreciated it. Within 15 minutes of eating dessert, the mood across the table felt lighter and easier than it had all day. Raven calmed down enough to laugh and joke. By the end of several rounds of drinks and a very rowdy spades game to cap off the evening, Raven’s heart and soul also felt lighter than they had in years.

However, that quickly ended when she and Michael finally retreated to his suite for the evening. She collapsed onto the edge of his bed and kicked off her shoes, her movements sluggish and slow as if the weight of what she had done was finally creeping on her now that she was alone.

“I’m… alone,” she whispered to herself.

“What?” Michael crouched down in front of her, her eyes misting over slightly as she realized the truth.

“I’ve always been alone for the most part… after my grandma died. And I couldn’t keep a relationship going for long ever. It’s always just been… me. But it was ok because even though they were awful, I still had… family a-and there was still hope that it could be something. But now… now I have no one cause they’ll never come around after what I said to them.” She rubbed her eyes with the palm of her hand. “I don’t regret it, I was holding on to something that just wasn’t ever gonna be anything. But the dead weight was… something? Didn’t expect how empty I’d feel without it.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “It’s stupid,” she whispered. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat and stood up to walk to his bathroom. “Give me a minute to get my life together and then we can do what you actually pay me for and not this sad shit.”

Michael watched as she dapped her eyes in the mirror to rid them of tears before she reached behind her and pulled down the zipper of her dress. She looked gorgeous, her body clad in another one of her lingerie sets from Paris. This one was a nude brown that perfectly matched her skin. He knew she was merely trying to use sex to move on and forget, and he would oblige. But he could not do so without saying one thing.

“You have me.” It was not a question, but a firm statement. A matter of fact statement that left no room for arguments or questions.

Raven’s hands paused as she tried to fix her hair for a few minutes. She turned and smiled at him, closing the distance between them.

“Yea I have you… But this’ll end and you’ll find the right girl for you and then…”she shook her head, not wanting to think about that: being alone or being without him. “Thank you… for today.”

She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Usually, Michael initiated their kisses and they were domineering, hurried and passionate. While this moment held the same passion, it was slow and measured, each second inching past them. And Raven used every second to convey what her simple thank you could not. She prayed he felt it and appreciated it, because at that moment, the small action was all she had left to give. She did not have the energy for grand speeches or words.

She broke off their kiss and slid down to her knees, assuming the same position she did almost every time they had sex.

However, tonight, Michael decided he needed something different, that she needed something different. His finger gently lifted her chin so her eyes were on him.

“You take care of me every time we have sex. Let me take care of you for once.”

He did not let her question it as he helped her to her feet and led her to his bed, gently pushing her down. She let out a dramatic huff that made him chuckle.

He stood over her for a moment, his eyes taking in the hills of her breasts, the soft panes of her stomach, her thick plush thighs. He often found himself just staring at her and this moment was no different, moments where he wanted to commit her beauty to memory, burn her image in his brain matter.

“You are fuckin’ gorgeous,” he whispered. “You know how beautiful you are?” he asked as he sucked on the skin of her neck.

She turned her head, giving him more access to the skin of her neck as he sucked and bit. She whimpered slightly as his kisses moved down her body, savoring the taste of her soft supple skin. He took his time, however, this felt completely different than when he teased her. Then, he was purposefully avoiding giving her what she wanted. Now, her moans created the roadmap he followed. His lips and hands lingered where she needed them to, only pausing to shower her with praises. As his kisses continued, Raven lost all control of her senses, of the world around her. Everything else, the pain and emotions of the day faded away as every thought in her mind and every cell in her physical body turned their focus on him.

“I love everything about you. The way you moan, the way you beg me for more, the face you make when I make you cum.”

“Michael, please,” she whimpered.

He paused his ministrations and grasped her chin with a featherlike touch, her eyes focusing on him.

“I’m gonna take care you, I promise. Always. Trust me.” He hoped that the look in his eyes conveyed the truth, that her pleasure was not the only part of her he would take care of. He would worship and care for her mind, body, and spirit.

His fingers hooked into her lace panties and slid them off, settling between her plush thighs for his favorite meal of the day. Her eyes clenched shut as he spelled his adoration and love for her with his tongue on her clit. Michael had always been a generous lover but river always bent toward his pleasure. Every action, while it brought her pleasure, carried the reminder that it was not for her pleasure, it was for his. And she loved it, craved it, got off on it. It was one of the benefits of the arrangement to her.

But it had been so long since she had had sex like this, where the river flowed toward her and only her, where someone was so committed to bringing her mind numbing pleasure and ensuring she knew she was cared for and safe. She knew why he was doing it, after seeing how unsafe she was with her own family. She knew it was not real but she could not close the gates to her heart fast enough and stop herself from feeling it, from enjoying it. Every touch was gentle and sweet and let her know she was safe in his arms, safe in his sanctuary. And even though she knew she could not stay there with him forever, she loved him even more for letting her in from the cold for a moment.

Michael’s eyes never left her face as he devoured her, every moan, groan, and plea for mercy spurred him on. Her thighs clamped around his head as he pushed her farther and farther up her mountain to the peak of desire. He knew Raven’s body almost as well as he knew his own now, increasing his speed and efforts when he felt her legs shake and heard her moans grow louder.

It did not take much longer for Raven to feel the snap of a powerful orgasm crash over her. She let out a continuous stream of praise and lewd words as she road those waves of sweet bliss.

“That’s it, baby. Cum for me. Fuck, you taste so good.” He emerged from between her legs, kissing her deeply.

He wrapped his arm around her waist and used his strength to hoist her farther up onto the bed. He placed her legs on his shoulders and lined himself up with her entrance. Raven offered him a raised eyebrow at the position choice, she could not remember the last time they did missionary on the bed like this. On creative surfaces, like tables? Sure.

“I wanna look you in the eye when I make you cum. Keep your eyes on me, baby,” he whispered, Raven’s heart’s fluttering as she felt him fill her to the brim.

“Fuckkkk,” she cried out as he drove into her deeply. Every stroke felt like heaven, a promised land he was so graciously sending her to. There was a vulnerability to the position that she had not expected, the way he looked at her with every thrust forward and retreat.

“Look at me.” He demanded as her eyes fluttered closed. As soon as her eyes were trained on his, he uttered three words Raven never would have thought to hear from his lips. “I love you.”

Raven was rendered speechless, her moans catching in her throat as she felt her stomach drop 100 stories.

Did he say what I think he said? She thought to herself, her brain trying to cut through layers of pleasure fog to work properly.

“You deserve the entire world, Rae. You deserve someone who’ll give you this world… the sun, the moon, and the stars. And I don’t deserve you, I don’t deserve this. But I’ll spend everything I have, I’ll give everything I am to make sure you got it. I want more than an arrangement and six months with you… I want you, all of you, for as long as you’ll allow me.”

His words directly clashed with the narrative she had in her mind, the seeds of doubt life and her family had sowed. And despite her heart begging her to scream the words back at him, those doubts stopped her. She heard his words but she did not believe them or rather, she could not believe them.

She did love him, she was so in love with him. It was a devastating, beautiful, painful, once-in-a-lifetime sort of love she thought she would only read in the pages of love stories. But she felt it… every devastatingly beautiful moment of it every time she was in his presence, every time she felt his touch, every time he comforted her or looked into her eyes.

But the words, those three precious words, were stuck in her throat. A barrier of fear and doubt, made even heavier by the events of the day, weighed them down. Instead of celebrating that the man she so desperately loved felt the same about her, she could only focus on how that just could not simply be true. The story she had built in her mind that she was not good enough, that she did not deserve him, that he could never love her, a part of her brain clung to it as a lifeline. She had given Michael this grand speech about living and falling but she could not do it herself. Because if she gave in and allowed him to love her, truly love her, and then this was all a lie? That was the crash she did not think she could survive. She could handle her family hurting her. It knocked her down but she could always get back up again. But Michael? He would be her armageddon. If he hurt her, she would not get back up again.

The avalanche was hurling toward her once again, only this time she was standing at the bottom without a barrier or way to outrun it. She was mere feet away from being swept up by it and all the emotion and vulnerability it brought in its wake. The day had just been too much, too heavy. And emotionally, she had not been prepared for any of the twists and turns the day had brought. She suddenly felt overwhelmed, so out of control of everything, particularly her emotions, the one thing she usually had under control.

She felt tears sting the back of her eyes but she knew they were not good tears, the tears Michael usually induced during sex. No, these were entirely different. She quickly realized she needed a break, a moment. And the only thing in this world that she could control in this particular moment was the man above her. He was the catalyst every single time, the cannon blast that started the avalanche, that forced her to feel everything all at once. And she needed that to stop. She needed him to stop.

“Wakanda…” she choked out, her voice as broken and small as she felt.

She did not have a chance to repeat it as Michael immediately stopped his movements in mid stroke, his face stricken and concerned.

“Shit.” He slid out of her without a second thought and braced himself over her, shocked to find tears streaming down her face, her body trembling. He immediately grabbed the blanket that was hanging half off the bed, wrapping her nude form tightly in it. “Hey, hey. You’re ok, you’re ok. You’re having a panic attack. Deep breaths for me.”

Raven curled into a small ball under the blanket, gasping for breath. Michael pressed her hand into his chest.

“Focus on me, baby girl. That’s it. Deep breaths.”

She closed her eyes and focused on the faint thumps of his heart in his chest, the way it rose and fell against her hand as she tried to sync up her breathing to his. He held tightly to her hand as she took long deep breaths. It felt like hours passed before either of them moved, before she felt calm enough to speak, but she knew it had likely only been a few minutes.

“First a concussion,” she wiped her tears. “And now, a panic attack. I must be the worst woman you’ve ever had sex with,” she let out a watery chuckle.

“Or the best?” he offered in a voice so gentle and quiet, it made a new set of tears well up in her eyes. She did not deserve him. “What happened? Did I hurt you?”

She shook her head. “N-no, you d-didn’t. I j-just couldn’t… you can’t look at me l-like that o-or keep doing stuff l-like this. Pretending you love me just to make me feel b-better.” She shook her head rapidly. “I know you feel obligated to be g-gentle and shit when I’m having a bad day. But i-it’s just confusing. I know t-this isn’t real a-and I c-cant take anyone else pretending to love me or care about me when they r-really don’t.”

“I’ve never done anything for you that I didn’t want to do, Raven. I’m not kind and gentle with you because I feel obligated. I’m kind and gentle because I want to be, because you deserve it. Do you find yourself so undeserving of all these things that it is that hard to believe that I’m in love with you? That I do all this shit for you because this is real to me??”

“There’s no way that is true! You don’t love me!” She argued.

“Yes I do!”

Raven wanted to pull her hair out and scream at him. “Stop saying that! W-we are just fantasies to each other, Michael! P-playing a role that the other needs filled and j-just because the fantasy is nice, doesn’t mean I should kid myself into believing it is real. You’ll toss me aside as soon as this agreement is done because everything you feel is based on a fantasy!”

“You aren’t some fantasy to me, Raven!”

“Fine! Not a fantasy! But everything we are is conditional… even you have to admit that. I mean we have a fuckin’ contract! Everything we are is based on me fulfilling those conditions! You can dress me up like a girlfriend but I know what I am when the cameras go away, Michael. I’m the girl you met in a hotel who was paid to fuck you!”

He jumped off the bed and grabbed his phone, thrusting it into her hand. “Robert Pearson. Call him.”

“W-who is that?” she asked, completely bewildered by the change in the conversation.

“He’s one of the top reporters at TMZ. Call him, call him right now and tell him this whole thing is a fuckin’ sham. Hell, want me to start an Instagram live for you so you can tell the whole fucking world? I’ll do it.”

She threw the phone back on the bed and stood up, wrapping the blanket around her like a dress. “I’m not gonna fucking call anyone or do that!”

“But you could! That’s my point! You could call TMZ right now and tell him this whole thing was a sham, sell a fuckin’ tell all and I’d still love you. I’d honestly thank you for it because then I wouldn’t have to pretend I only love you because of some arrangement. I could admit that I love you for you. I love you for your vulnerability, your spirit, the fact that you give and you give and expect nothing in return and don’t even stop giving all of yourself when everyone else would. I love that you talk in fuckin’ sonnets and monologues. I love your relentless optimism and hope. I love your smile, the way you can’t look someone in the eye when they compliment you but it lights up your entire being. I love that you’ve got a wild imagination and you're quirky and funny and…” he threw his hands up in the air. “I. Love. You. I am in love with you. You can keep telling me to stop saying it, you can ignore it, pretend you don’t hear it, you can reject it. But it won’t change it. I love you. No conditions, no expectations. Just you for you. The question is do you love me?” he demanded.

“It’s not that simple!” She tried to move around him but he blocked her way. She needed to get out of her, needed to escape this chaos. “Move, Michael.”

“No! It is that simple. Do you love me? Forget everythin’ else. What you think you do and don’t deserve. Do. You. Love. Me?”

“Of course, I fuckin’ love you!” she cried out. “I fell in love with you the morning I woke up with a concussion and you were sitting in my hospital room. I love you! But t-there’s… no one loves me like that. What you’re claiming to feel… no one feels that for me a-and there’s no way that you, a man who could get any one of the billions of women on this planet, would be the first. There’s no way you would settle for loving me.” She let out a deep sigh. “A-and my heart can’t take it… I can’t take the rejection and pain from people I love who don’t love me back anymore. I c-can’t. Which means I can’t believe that you love me. I’ve taken all I can take a-and if I accept that you love me, then I risk you rejecting o-or hurting me. And when you do, it’ll kill me.” The last word hung in the air as she sank down to the floor by his bed, her head buried in her hands.

Michael settled down on the floor next to her, his hand grasping hers as he intertwined their fingers. There was so much to unpack in her words, so much that he knew he would not be able to convince her of or solve in one night. But there was one thing he knew he could assure her of right then and there.

“There were a hundred ways I could’ve spun what happened between us that first night, hundreds of ways I could’ve dealt with you that would not have led us to this moment. But I chose the road I chose, not so I could have a body to use or fix a crisis. But because you stole my soul the moment you turned around in that hotel room. Loving you isn’t fuckin’ settling, it’s everythin’ I’ve wanted for damn near a decade but didn’t think I could have again. We’ve been standing on the edge of this cliff, waiting for the other to be ready to jump for months now. And I’m ready and you’re holdin’ on for dear fuckin’ life. I’m askin’ you to let go and trust that I won’t hurt you. I know that’s scary… shit I’m scared too. But I’m willing to jump if you are.” His thumb wiped away her falling tears before kissing her on the forehead. “I’m not lookin’ for an answer tonight, love. I know today… this week’s been a lot for you. I didn’t mean to add another thing on top of all the other shit, I just… needed you to know how I felt.”

“Don’t… don’t apologize. I-I j-just got overwhelmed b-by everything. It’s been a day of unexpected emotional confessions,” she chuckled. “I…” she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “I’m really scared. Scared of being hurt, scared of falling even more in love with you a-and another good thing being taken from me. B-But I want this for real with you too. I don’t wanna keep pretending what we have isn’t real when we know it is. If you’re ready to jump, so am I. And we can just be scaredy cats while we fall together?”

He pulled her into his lap and pressed his lips to hers softly. “Not a fan of you callin’ me a scaredy cat,” he teased. “But yea. I meant it when I told you, you’re safe with me. All of you. And I’ll do whatever I gotta do to make sure you believe that shit.”

Her heart fluttered a bit. She knew he meant his words. If there was one thing she had always been with Michael, it was safe. And she adored that about him.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love the way that shit sounds. Say it again.” .

“I love you, I love you, I love you,” her lips tugged upward into a grin as he started peppering her face with kisses and having her repeat the phrase over and over again. He picked them both off the ground and continued kissing her and causing her to giggle as he placed her back in bed.

He settled her under the covers and pulled her tightly into his arms. Their legs were quickly tangled in each other’s as she laid her head on his chest. They laid there in silence for a while before Raven sat up. As much as she enjoyed cuddling in his arms, Raven wanted more. Emboldened by their confessions of love, she pushed herself to her knees and straddled his hips.

“You used your safe word. We ain’t gotta…” she pressed a finger to his lips stopping him.

“I know what I want and need, Bakari,” she whispered, using his nickname, which was only reserved for family and close friends for the first time. Michael was not much of a crier but hearing his nickname on her lips made his heart skip one or two beats, made tears sting the back of his eyes. “And I want you. You showed me how much you loved me… now let me show you.” She gave him a sly smirk before shifting between his legs to taste him.

The pair lost track of how many times they moaned or screamed those three magic words to each other. But by the time they were finished, their bodies a tangled mess of limbs and bodily fluid, Raven knew, in her heart, that his words were true. And so she fell asleep nestled in his warm embrace, feeling true happiness with anther person for the first time in her life.

Tag List: @readinghere2023 @blackerthings @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @physicxal @purplehairgawdess @miyuhpapayuh @rueruesclues @geemamii @certifiedlesbianbaddie @pipsqueak-98 @nyifly22 @destinio1 @twocentaur @gopaperless @musicisme333 @roguekiki @majesticbrownjawn @taurusqueen83 @mysteryuz @miamormilan @itsknor-thedeep @naj-ay444 @mads-grace4 @nayaesworld @kholdkill @msniaimani @nccu-rnc @apenasumlug4r

***

A/N: The babes finally confessed their love for each other!!! Woohoo! How do you think our two lovebirds make the jump from fake romance to a real relationship? Thank you for reading! Drop a comment and let me know what you thought :)

#black writers #michael b jordan #michael b jordan x oc #michael b jordan x reader #mbjordanedit #black panther #michael b jordan fanfic #creed 3 #adonis creed #creed iii

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cha-melodius · 2 months

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Y'all are on TOP of this today lmao, so many early tags. Thanks to @getmehighonmagic, @hgejfmw-hgejhsf, @violetbaudelaire-quagmire, @magicandarchery, @kiwiana-writes (you know people are ahead of schedule when 5 people get in before MJ does), @suseagull04, @leaves-of-laurelin, @eusuntgratie, and @three-drink-amy! Will be diving into snippets a little later; for now, please accept this. Smut feelings were fighting me, so I've returned to the mission side of things.

“He has quite the collection of paramours of varying…” He looks down his nose at Alex. “… caliber.” Alex sneers at him and throws back the rest of his drink rather than punch him in the face; it’s a close call, regardless. After slamming the glass on the bar with a little too much force, he sets to work while Henry looks on, bemused. First he tugs off his tie, which he jams in a pocket, then unbuttons his shirt halfway to his navel, leaving a swath of sternum and chest hair exposed. He pushes a hand through his hair to loosen his curls so that they fall over his forehead, and finally, he lifts a gold chain off a drunk girl who fortuitously stumbles into him on her way to the bar. “What the devil are you doing?” Henry asks as Alex fastens the chain around his own neck. “If I’m gonna be playing your American boy toy, I should look the part, don’t you think?”

As always please consider this an open tag if you want to share, but also no-pressure tagging

@rmd-writes, @welcometololaland, @orchidscript, @dumbpeachjuice, @firenati0n, @cricketnationrise, @inexplicablymine, @indestructibleheart, @loki-is-my-kink-awakening, @justabigoldnerd, @pippinoftheshire, @nicijones, @oxfordslutphase, @lizzie-bennetdarcy, @sparklepocalypse, @14carrotghoul, @tintagel-or-cockleshells, @bigassbowlingballhead, @ninzied, @sherryvalli, @heysweetheart-writes, @maxbegone, @itsmaybitheway, and @wordsofhoneydew

#seven sentence sunday #my wips #sctsblu #rwrb

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m1ssunderstanding · 4 months

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Get Back Rewatch 55 Years On: Days Eleven and Twelve

The Different Beatle Arrivals outside apple are interesting to me.

Ringo: arrives first, in the passenger’s seat, has a chummy remark for his driver, a cheeky grin for the camera, and a kind nod for the scruffs.

John and Yoko: arrive second, in the back of their on-brand, white thing, with no acknowledgement of anyone (and Yoko accidentally goes for the front door then changes directions when she sees John going around the side)

George: drives himself, glances over his shoulder, locks his car door, and goes in. Again, no acknowledgement.

Paul: walks, studiously ignores the camera, bestows a condescending nod at the scruffs. (shouldn’t be sexy. Is. what else is new?)

Everything the scruffs said was perfection. Where are their parents? Who is taking care of them? Do they not go to school?

So glad for the boys that they took a day to hide from the cameras. I hope they all traded meaningful items of clothing and meditated and circle jerked and told each other how brilliant they were. (Oh gosh. Can you all imagine a circle-jerk plus yoko? Her and Paul furiously compete over who can hold John's eye contact?)

Short queens making the beatles look like child-labor supporters.

Look at that cute little impish grin. What do we think? Did George and John actually have a punch-up? George Martin went out of his way on at least two occasions to say that they did, in fact, come to blows. But I didn’t see any evidence on John the next day, and they both seem extremely comfortable joke-fighting here, where I don’t think they would if they’d real-fought a week or so ago. I don’t know, I think it’s very up for debate. But if they did, I actually think it would be a testament to the importance of the John and George dynamic. We always say how it shows how much John must’ve cared about Paul to sprint down the road and jump his fence over a missed recording session. What would it say about how much John must’ve cared about George if he punched him when he said he’d quit?

Either way, their *meaningful* rendition of “You are my sunshine” is heart-melting.

Yoko, the og sad beige mom.

Add juggling to Ringo’s talents in his cabaret/circus act with Paul.

Every old man obsessed with “tough, acerbic Lennon” needs to have “My rock and roll finger is bleeding, my rock and roll finger is hurt” played on a loop in their heads every time they open their mouths until they shut up.

Paul, why are you literally strong-arming Glyn into the studio? This man does not know how to touch another person.

Maybe they kept Magic Alex around just for laughs? It’s good to hear anyway, that they are fully aware they’re being conned.

The way George and Paul just in sync jump into their old choreography.

The way they could really have just gone off and done their own things while Glyn finishes setting up. But the idea just doesn’t occur to them. Why would they want to be anywhere else, doing anything else, with anyone else?

I feel like John right now because I’m like enjoying Paul’s sexy drumming face and then the camera switches and I’m like Oh Yoko you’re so pretty. And is this another *meaningful* cover? I’m going to have to make a list of all these and go through after I’m done with this and see which ones I think actually have a double meaning. “My baby left me” by Crudup. My main evidence here being Yoko’s Jim Halpert expression as John’s singing this at Paul.

How to get Paul to stop messing with your shit. A demonstration by Ringo Starr.

John is Not having Paul reading their bad press for the cameras.

And today, it’s John that needs a little Ringofection. I wonder if it had anything to do with “Aaaaall I want is youuuuuuuuu. Everything has got to be the way you want it toooooooooo.”

George looking at Ringo’s jumping jacks. I agree.

“Richard Rogers has got nothing on this boy. . . . Ah, sometimes, John, I don’t know.” “I just make it up as I go along.” “Oh, is that how you do it?” Again. He’s being silly, but he really does think you’re the smartest boy in the whole wide world, John. I hope you know that. (he definitely does not know that.)

ICONIC. One of my favorite moments of the whole series. Not a glance at each other. Perfectly synchronized.

Any particular significance with Dicky Murdock that anyone knows about?

Another favorite moment. The absolute marshmallow softness. Oh to have footage of Paul teaching John guitar chords on one of their childhood beds.

Not going to say it again, but boy am I thinking it.

Someone needs to make a compilation of all the times someone’s been caught giving John and Paul a WTF look.

#paul mccartney #the beatles #john lennon #mclennon #ringo starr #george harrison #get back

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ncisfranchise-source · 2 months

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When CBS‘ NCIS: Hawai’i resumes its third season this Monday at 10/9c, the “honeymoon” is over for Special Agent Lucy Tara.

Having gone undercover as “newlyweds” with partner Kate Whistler ahead of the island drama’s three-week break, Lucy finds herself very much in the thick of things when her assignment to protect a visiting Russian VIP takes all kinds of turns.

TVLine spoke with Yasmine Al-Bustami about what this season’s fifth episode (of 10) will reveal about Lucy and what sort of punches the eventual season finale will pack. Plus, we get the actress’ thoughts on the Jesus drama The Chosen Season 4 lighting up silver screens.

TVLINE | What is Special Agent Lucy Tara up to this week? Oh, she always gets herself into some trouble, which I feel like she likes — though this time she wasn’t even trying to get into trouble, I will say! She’s detailing this Russian lady who is visiting the island, and she does not want to be on the mission because, on surface-level, it’s just boring. Like, she would rather be doing other things. This lady [Tatiana] would be considered Russian “royalty,” in a way, but she’s very controversial, so when she gets onto the island you see that she does not have fans. She’s met with resistance, and Lucy gets into some trouble with her.

TVLINE | Lucy gets to express some opinions about this lady she’s protecting along the way, which I thought was quite enjoyable. So many opinions. She does not hold back and says it to her face. She definitely lets her know that she is also not a fan.

TVLINE | As Lucy and Tatiana interact, we get a bit more information about Lucy’s family back home. Did you appreciate that aspect of the episode? I loved it. I don’t know if Lucy appreciated it [Laughs], but for me, personally, I love anytime we learn about Lucy’s background and family history because she tries really hard to keep it quiet. She doesn’t really share much or open up too much, even to the people closest to her, unless someone happens to find out something if they do some digging. It’s not like Lucy is willingly sharing this information, so she is taken aback when this lady that she is protecting, Tatiana, all of a sudden is throwing at Lucy every little, small detail about Lucy’s family.

TVLINE | Any “firsts” for you as an actress in this particular episode? Driving in a Humvee! That was a blast. I really tried to be in there when… there’s a stunt that happens… but they said no. But we took it out into the jungle and were driving up on cliffs and everything.

There’s also a fight in the jungle. We’ve done fights before, but I’ve never done it on this kind of a terrain, where it was rainy and muddy and messy. For me, that’s more fun when it’s not a clean fight. I like it to be a little dirty.

TVLINE | What can you tease about anything else going on in the episode, regarding Kai and/or NCIS Elite? Oh, yes! We find out a bit more about NCIS Elite. Obviously, Sam (played by LL Cool J) has been a part of the team and some of us are still trying to figure out what he’s doing on the island, why he’s here, what his whole role is.

TVLINE | Not that we don’t love having him and his $200 Henleys around. [Laughs] Some people have a bit more of a problem with it than Lucy does. Lucy couldn’t care less, she’s like whatever, it’s fine, he’s not bothering me. And then with Kai (Alex Tarrant)…

TVLINE | Were there any outtakes from the “newlyweds” episode, any hijinks that you and Tori [Anderson] got up to that didn’t make it on-camera? I feel like that’s always the case. It’s so funny you ask, because me and Alex, who plays Kai, were talking about that just the other day, saying how we would love to see bloopers because we just did something that was so silly and yet we had to look all cool and everything. We were like, “If people only saw!”

One thing [from the “newlyweds” episode] that I am thinking of specifically…. We had a bunch of outdoor scenes, me and Tors, and usually if we’re outdoors we have our hair up because we’re on a mission or something, but our hair was down and so the wind was all over the place, blowing everything. So having to deal with that became a funny thing.

TVLINE | This week there’s a reference to Lucy and Kate going home to cuddle and watch “reality-TV.” What shows do you think they cue up? Love Is Blind. I feel like I could throw that out there….

TVLINE | Switching topics to The Chosen: Did you feel like that show “blew up” a bit once it started airing on The CW? Were you feeling some extra love, some extra attention? I mean, I was already feeling it beforehand, because the fans of that show are so loving and so warm. It was already an outpouring of love. So, I feel like there was more of that support than anything. The CW allowed the show to get more eyes on it, which opened it up to a broader audience, which I thought was really cool because that creates more types of conversations. They are talking about it not as just a religious show but as a good show, and that was a different kind of conversation to have.

TVLINE | When it started on The CW, I gave the people at my church a heads-up and now about a half-dozen of them are hooked. Every week at coffee hour, it’s like the first topic. Oh man, that’s so cool!

TVLINE | What’s been your biggest takeaway from your experience on The Chosen? Oh my gosh, it’s such a huge experience for me, especially since it’s a different kind of production than NCIS — that alone is really cool. Like, it’s just so indie and on-the-ground and in-the-trenches. I feel like I’ve grown up with it and to see how its grown and what its made of itself, and along with the people, a lot of the people are still the same… It’s just so cool to be part of something like that from the very beginning and not even be thinking, “Oh, hey guys, [when filming] Season 3, beginning of 4, we’re going to start airing on The CW.” Had no idea. Or that we’re going to air Season 4 in theaters. That was just not on anyone’s radar at all. Instead in the very beginning it was like, “Oh, we have this app. You can watch it on the app.”

TVLINE | What are you hearing about the NCIS: Hawai’i finale? What’s the gossip? Ohhhhhh, there’s so much gossip. It’s going to be a two-parter — I love those for sure, just selfishly — and today [Thursday] is our first day filming the last episode. So, there’s a lot of action, there is death….

TVLINE | I just hope nobody gets shot in the forehead like Charlie 1. I know. It was so gruesome. Oh my gosh, we love Linc [Hand]. If there was a way to bring him back….

#ncis hawaii #interview #the chosen

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squarebracketsmileyface · 4 months

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God, why is Jay in sorry it's locked so fucked up, and why does it always make so much more sense for him to have a freak out during sex? My plan for the last chapter of sorry it's locked was pretty much all fluffy, or at least, the bit I'm currently working on was going to be pure fluffy smut, but it just makes more sense for Jay to have a little bit of a freak out >:[

Tho, it's gonna go, like, straight back to fluff with Jay realising he's panicking over nothing lol, so I haven't gone that off track I guess 💀

Why do these characters have minds of their own?

Very slightly nsfw snippet under the cut for context lmao

Like look at this. It just makes sense. The last time someone said those nice, praisy things to him was Alex during aftercare right before he was a twat to Jay the morning after and they didn't see each other again for two years. Of course he was gonna have a freak out >:]

Like, Jay's just gotten off for the first time in two years, after being teased for ages by Tim, so duh endorphins and shit would be high, and pair that with him assuming Tim will do what Alex did, of course he doesn't want it to be over, so Tim just taking a break in the middle to help him regulate before they carry on is definitely gonna make Jay panic lmao. And he doesn't really respond well to feeling panicked lmfao.

Tim: you're good, I'm here for you

Jay: *I should punch this fucker in the face how dare he care about me*

Oh I do love them 💀💀💀

#theyre my stupid weirdly alive babies and i hate them for it :]#jay merrick #tim wright #marble hornets #marble hornets fanfic #mh jam #MH sorry its locked

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dewydovahkiin · 2 years

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I shift, roll, talk, kick, twist, huff and turn in my sleep. I’ll get in straight like a log then wake up like I just fell off a cliff. Spets reaction to a s/o who is a sleep fighter (warrior) (Bonus if one night my toe ends up in their mouth)

Put those grippers away 🤨

Kapkan:

His go-to move is to roll to the other side of the bed well away from you, especially after a few incidents of quite literally tangled limbs and you punching him in the face while you were asleep. Or just move to the couch entirely.

The first few times it happened Maxim swore you were doing it on purpose and shoved you off the bed onto the floor, until he realized that no, you’re just an awful sleeper.

If he feels that you’re about to have an active night he just moves away. His sense of self preservation is high when you’re squaring up with your own pillow in the middle of the night.

Tachanka:

Annoyed old man. Why tf are you upside down with your feet in his face? Why did you kick him in the ribs?

Hauls you up and just traps you in his arms with yours crossed together. Not much Alex can do about your legs other than hope you don’t somehow get him in the nuts. He’s basically got you in a straight jacket hold.

Thinks it’s a little funny when you sleep talk, probably teases you about things you’ve said.

Fuze:

Good luck moving around with him. Shuhrat always ends up on top or somewhat draped over his partner, and he’s heavy. He’s also found this is a good solution to keep you in one place for the majority of the night.

The first time you’ve hit him on accident in your sleep he wakes up shocked and offended. Like Kapkan, he’ll just straight up push you off the bed and go back to sleep himself. He loves you but he’d rather only get beat up during training. At least then it’s a fair fight

Glaz:

Upset because he’s the most cuddly yet he doesn’t want a repeat of getting mauled while you were dead asleep.

Your posture worries him as does your sleep mumbling. Timur thinks you’re having nightmares and you keep having to reassure him you just sleep like you’re possessed.

Literally looks like a hurt dog when if you somehow beat him in your sleep. Rolls over like “:( wtf”

#x reader #r6siege #r6s x reader #rainbow six siege #kapkan x reader #fuze x reader #glaz x reader #tachanka x reader #anon ask

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broifoundher · 2 years

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Hey people! I found another old fic of mine. Again, from before I joined tumblr and yes, this one does have an ending. Ok, well… contains spoilers obviously.

Happy reading!! (or not, if you don’t enjoy…)

DEAD

Angst (title speaks for itself), happy ending

Psst… I tried keeping as much of the original as possible. But I did however make a few —lots of, actually— changes —but nothing to the story, just to the writing— so that it’s easier to understand, because, let’s be honest, I was even more disorganized then than I am today.

At least 2,5k words (I really don’t know, I added a lot of descriptive words…)

Chapter 1 : Dead

You met Alex first. Then she introduced you to her sister.

And from that moment on, the youngest was infatuated with you.

But then you got kidnapped by her aunt.

———

“The alien has fused with her metabolism. It’s like they’ve become one.” Explained Winn.

“Are you sure? Is there any way to reverse it?” Asked Kara, hopeful as always.

“No. Not with the technology we have.” Apologetically explained Winn.

“What about my pod? We can use Krypton’s technology?” Stated Kara.

“Except, that is included in what we have.” Rectified Winn.

(Alarms)

“What’s that?” Asked Kara and the screens immediately lit up, putting up the feed of your holding area.

“She woke up. Not her. But the alien. Again.” Said Winn.

(Another set of alarms)

“She just broke her restraints.” Said Winn. “Oh god, we haven’t found anything to weaken her yet… I mean it! … This is bad… This is terribly bad…” Stated Winn as you started punching the glass. Cracking it despite it being one of the most solid things in the intergalactic market.

“She just broke out of containment.” Stated Kara. “I’m going.”

“Wait! No.” Went Winn, but she was already gone.

Meanwhile, he watched as you ruthlessly killed DEO agents that were once your comrades.

And though a part of him felt sorry for you, another was reluctant to lock down the facility. To at least slow you down before you go wreck the city.

Because the unfortunate truth was they had no idea if they could actually hold you down anymore. And drag your ass back to containment. Maybe they’d even need to kill you? Would they even be able to do it?

…

“(Y/N)! Please, listen to me.” Said Kara as she arrived on scene right as you smashed an agent’s head into the wall, bursting his skull open.

Splattering his blood onto yourself and around. Your face’s muscles didn’t even flinch out of the neutral expression it was wearing. Not even blinking.

Meanwhile, Kara barely contained herself from puking right there and then at the stench and sight of death.

“Please…” She pleaded. “Please come back to me.” She tried controlling her trembling lips. “I know you’re in there, somewhere…” She whispered. “You’ve gotta be!”

You looked at her into her sky blue eyes as you let go of the corpse. Before nonchalantly making your way towards her.

“(Y/N). (Y/N)?” She asked, feeling more scared than hopeful at the look in your eyes. “Please. Can you hear me?” She asked, not realizing she had lifted her hands up and in between the both of you. “Are you there?”

You stopped dead in your track when you heard the uncertain waver in her voice and you focused on the way she suddenly breathed in messily.

“Please. This isn’t you.” She went on, a glint of hope that you had stopped because you had recognized her. “I know the real you. And you’re one of the most amazing people I know.”

She kept on walking forward, gaining bits of confidence in her every step. All the while, you simply observed, unmoving like statue and with a blank expression. Though your head tilted slightly to the side when she had reached proximity.

But then, doors wired open and agents came rushing.

Your head whipped around to them and they, much like the others, were disposed of quite easily and quickly.

You weren’t particularly fast considering her super speed. But to the human body’s reaction speed, it was fast. And the shock kept her frozen in place a second too long. As you cracked and squashed bodies here and there, ruthlessly.

“No! No. No. No.” Screamed Kara, devastated and broken.

And it brought your attention back to her.

You could easily assault her like the other agents. And it wasn’t her Kryptonian biology that was keeping you from doing so. Something else.

“Kara, you have to stop her. It’s not her. (Y/N)’s dead, she’s gone. This alien is only wearing her face. Don’t let him drag her reputation through the dirt and into the dumps.” Said a voice in her ears.

She sniffled as she steeled her resolve. Knowing she had to. Knowing that if she didn’t, you’d kill everyone.

But when she opened her eyes and stared at her best friend’s face, she found her resolve melting immediately as she crumbled into a sobbing mess.

“I can’t. I can’t. Alex…” She cried, shaking her head, on her knees and in the literal growing puddles of your victims’ blood.

She sniffled and hung her head down low. Feeling utterly defeated. She wanted to be strong. She had to be. For the sake of humanity.

“I can’t…”

You stared down at her figure.

“Shit, she’s gonna get herself killed.” Cursed Alex as she watched through the cameras.

“Wait, Alex. If you go, you’ll get killed too.” Stated Winn.

“I don’t care. But I won’t sit around watching my sister die when I could’ve at least been there with her.” She stated and ran with her load of weapons.

Kara hit the floor in frustration. She was supposed to be a hero. To be different like Winn had told her. To be above them all, to be better.

But she couldn’t… She was madly in love with you. And despite you not being you anymore. Looking at you was making her entire body fall numb.

You stopped in front of her and bent down. She didn’t even look up, feeling defeated. So you grabbed her by the hair and pulled her head back to take a look at her face. Which was tear strained.

She was… well, she was a crying mess.

Everyone was supposed to look ugly when they cry.

But you barely got a glimpse of her sky-blue eyes through the slit that were her eyelids. And through her eyelashes.

Your gaze then trailed all the way down her face to her chin and then her neck. To which you stopped at the throat.

You then used your free hand to trail down the tip of your fingers onto the bulge of her throat.

She was expecting you to have snapped her neck already. And the way you were taking your sweet time made her slightly hope that part of you still remained.

But not Alex.

Who hit you using the alien gravitational gun the DEO had gotten after the Cadmus incident.

And your back hit the concrete ceiling as the gravitational force pined you there.

“Are you okay?” She yelled to her sister.

Unable to break free out of the non materialistic force, you glared at the agent.

“Yeah…” Sighed out Kara as she pushed herself up on frail limbs.

“Good. Then finish her.”

“What?” Asked Kara.

“This is the only thing that has proven to be able to hold her. And even then, we have no idea for how long. It’s the logical thing to do.”

“No. I can’t.”

“Kara. If you don’t do it now, the whole world will be damned!”

“But…” She sobbed.

“Kara. It’s not her.” Alex’s heart was breaking as well and even more seeing her little sister in such a wreck. “But you have to listen to me. Do you remember when you nearly pulverized the DEO because you were angry at your mom for lying to you about Astra?”

Kara listened through her sobs.

“It’s not really her!”

Kara yelled in frustration and sadness at her sister’s words as she burned you to death with her laser vision. Until all that remained of you were mere ashes.

So that the alien had no chance of surviving. Whatever it was.

Alex then let go of the gun’s trigger and Kara collapsed to her knees. Hurt, terribly terribly hurt.

Alex let go of the alien gun and padded in the pool of blood to held her sister into her arms.

As she tried to desperately hold her own tears.

While Winn cried in front of the screens.

This had been a terrible experience to the entire group of super friends. A hard, unfortunate and difficult experience. That some had more difficulty to pass over than others.

And Kara was never the same.

She spent days in a bundle of pain as she cried day in and day out. Her family and friends worried about her. But she wouldn’t let any of them in.

Among all of them, only Lena didn’t have the whole story. So it was understandable why she’d be saying the wrong thing unknowingly.

But for her sister to do so. When she knew exactly what happened. She found it unforgivable.

“You have no idea how it feels!” She yelled at her sister. “Alex.” Almost growling her name. “Imagine —losing —Jeremiah, Eliza… Losing me. Can you imagine it?” She hiccuped through her breath. “And then imagine having to kill Maggie.” Added Kara through gritted teeth and trembling lips. “Can’t you see?”

“I…”

They held a memorial and to the public, you were remembered as just one more of the agents that had gotten killed during the ‘attack’.

However, Kara never came. Not even as Supergirl. And to keep appearances for when she’d come back, J’onn was attending to casual Supergirl duties in her stead.

She drowned in her sorrows in her apartment, feeling completely broken.

Going over and over the things you had done together until the point she had to kill you. The possibilities that she could have made that day.

If she had used her super speed and held the trigger for her sister. Maybe Winn could’ve worked some sort of gravitational waves to keep you restrained. Until they’d be able to cure you?

And if that didn’t work, then maybe with Lena’s help?

If only she had thought of it back then. If only someone had.

“It’s my fault…” She sobbed on her own.

———

Chapter 2 : MusicalChapter 2 : Musical

…

In the end, her family was there for her. Friends too. And slowly but surely, she got stronger and better.

———

Barry and Kara were walking around but she stopped following her friend when she noticed you.

“Oh Rao…” Breathed out Kara as she was definitely looking at you. Or at least, someone that looked like you.

“Kara. You okay?” Asked Barry as he came back for his friend.

“I…” She blinked away a few tears. “I don’t know…”

Barry frowned and glanced over to where she was looking.

“One of yours I guess?” He figured as he spotted and didn’t recognize you. “Good or bad guy?”

“Good.” She ended up answering sadly.

“Come on. We gotta go. It’s not really them.”

“Yeah… Yeah, I know…” She said as she kept her eyes on you.

“Kara? Are you crying?”

She sighed and finally ripped her eyes away from you and looked at her friend.

“Sorry, let’s go.” She said but you nudged her elbow.

“Excuse me my lady, but have we met before?”

She froze and didn’t dare look behind.

Meanwhile, Barry attentively glanced back and forth.

“No…” Answered Kara. Without even turning around. “No. Let’s go Barry.”

“Okay…” Breathed out Barry as Kara pulled him by the arm. Leaving you with a brow tilted. As you watched the woman’s back disappear.

…

“Want to tell me what happened there?”

“Nothing.” Answered Kara.

“Yeah, okay…” Said Barry as he let it go.

…

You then blinked awake again and you were suddenly in… the musical.

You looked around in confusion as you wondered where and how you got there.

“Woah. You’re late to the party.” Said the man that had broken into your apartment. “How is it that your mind was taking such a long time to process this world?”

“Am I dreaming?”

“Hm… Ask the others, I don’t feel like repeating myself today. Bye bye now.” He waved and disappeared.

“What the…” You turned on your feet and frowned. “Where’d he go?”

…

“Alright, I’m sorry, but I can’t ignore it any more.” Said Barry. “Hi! Hello.” He said as he waved and came forward to you. “My name’s Barry. What’s yours?”

“Are you stuck here too?” You asked him, feeling his way of talking closer to yours than the others’.

“Wait. What do you mean stuck here?”

“Were you dropped by this well dressed guy with dark hair into this place?”

“Wait, you mean, you’re real?”

“Are these people not real? Because they feel real?”

“No. Omg. Kara, did you hear that? We’re now three to be trapped in this musical.” Said Barry as he turned to face her.

You looked over and met two beautiful blue orbs staring back at you.

“Hi.” You smiled and waved. “Name’s (Y/N). So you’re Kara?”

Her lips started trembling and you retracted your hand.

“Sorry, did I? Did I do something wrong?” You asked Barry.

“I don’t know.” Shrugged the guy.

“Sorry. Yeah. I’m Kara.” She answered and shook your hand.

“Oh okay… Kara.” You shook her hand and your smile fell. “Kara Danvers.”

Her eyes snapped up to you.

“You have a sister, Alex.” You mumbled like it was coming back to you. “… Supergirl.” You added. “Wait… I had a dream about you before…”

“…” Watched Barry.

And you frowned as you tried remembering. “I can’t… Remember… Oh wait… No, I can…” You blinked and stared sadly into her eyes. “You killed me.”

“Oh.” Gulped Barry.

“I did. I’m sorry. I did.” Cried Kara and you wrapped your arms around her.

“Shh, hey. It’s ok.” You said. “But if I’m dead, what am I doing here?”

“Let me answer that question.” Said the Music Master as he appeared sitting on a table. “You are neither from another universe than Supergirl’s nor are you the creation of her own head.”

“?” You frowned. “Just answer the question dude.”

“You’re not actually dead.” Finally dropped the guy. “Don’t get me wrong, your body is. Burned to ashes. But! Not your soul. You see? Where I come from, eh, you wouldn’t even understand… But! The important thing is, I can help you go back to your previous life where you’d get to live with this fine lady who is simultaneously your killer.”

“Wait. If my body doesn’t exist anymore. Does that mean you’ll make me reincarnate into a dog?”

“What? Well, do you want?” Asked the guy.

“What are the options?”

“It honestly just doesn’t work that way.”

“Am I at least going to remember this?”

“Yes.”

“Will I get my old life back?”

“Hmm… Fine okay.”

“What do you get in exchange?”

“You have nothing to worry about that.”

———

Chapter 3 : Coming HomeChapter 3 : Homecoming

The Music Master handed over a necklace to Kara.

In which contained your soul.

So she left Earth-1 and came back bearing the biggest grin she had in a while.

…

“Did she get brain damage?” Asked Winn.

“She’s smiling.”

“Exactly, she hasn’t smiled this earnestly since…” But then Winn stopped himself. “Sorry.”

“What? No. It’s actually fine.” Said Kara. “Here.” She pointed to her new accessory.

“Necklace? Cool.” Replied Winn, confused.

“It’s (Y/N).” Said Kara as she joined her friends and sister.

“Okay, let’s go scan for brain damage effective immediately.” Stated Winn.

Kara let her shoulders down and opened the little bead, letting your soul out.

“Omg, is that a ghost?” Gasped Alex.

“Hi Alex.” You said. “So this is what he meant? I feel bamboozled.” You said as you looked yourself over. “Can I even touch stuff?”

You tried touching the table but went through it.

“Oh. Bummer.” You pouted.

“Come here.” Said Kara with a huge grin and open arms.

You floated all the way to her and she wrapped her arms around your body.

“I can feel it!” You gasped and she squeezed you.

“I love you so much.” She said as she kissed you on the cheek. And you fully materialized.

“Uh. First aliens, now magic. What next?” Said J’onn.

“I’m sure there’s a scientific explanation to this…” Murmured Winn.

“(Y/N)? Like (Y/N)?” Asked Alex as she travelled towards the both of you. “In like (Y/N) without the psycho alien?”

#supergirl imagine #fanfic #fanfiction #kara danvers x reader #supergirl

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she-karev · 1 month

Text

Mama Bear

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: Two of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Canon Season and Episode: Season 19 episode 9

AN: This chapter is set a few days after the first one. I’ll try to post the final chapter tomorrow so bear with me and I hope you enjoy.

Summary: Amber confronts Hunt after Allison bit Lucy again that turns physical. Later Andrew tells her their plans that night that shock her.

Words: 2270

I sling my bag over my shoulder barely able to contain my anger as I exit the resident’s lounge. I slam the door loudly behind me causing some of the staff members to look at me but I ignore them so I can march straight to daycare. I was ready to clock out early happy when while I was changing into my red shirt and jeans, I got a call from the people at daycare who called to tell me to come down to file another incident report…against Allison Hunt.

It’s been a few days since she bit Lucy the first time and I calmed down enough and told myself kids bite and that it won’t happen again. But then it happened again and I never felt like tearing into a three-year-old girl until now. My baby is being bullied and I will be damned if I let it happen again even if it means threatening her parents who are my bosses. Alex and Jo follow me no doubt concerned after I nearly slammed the door off its hinges.

“Hey what’s going on?” Jo asks.

I rant to them, “That little bitch thinks she can ruin my family well she has got another thing coming.”

“Did DeLuca cheat?” Alex asks no doubt in fury, “Do I need to kick his ass for you?”

“No DeLuca is an angel Hunt and Altman’s kid on the other hand was handpicked by the devil to reign chaos in the daycare.” I growl angry as I get in the elevator with Alex and Jo, “Allison bit Lucy again. Two times that little demon has sunk her teeth into my baby, it’s not a coincidence it’s a problem and she is a problem child.”

“Okay I can see why your so angry.” Jo says understanding, “You’re not gonna kill her though, are you? Because I feel the need to report you if you’re planning a baby murder.”

“I’m not crazy of course I’m not gonna kill her. I’m gonna kill her parents.”

“I feel the need to remind you that Altman is the chief now and lashing out at her and punching her husband could cost you, your job.” Alex tells me.

“I don’t care!” Alex winces at my yelling, “Her child is bullying my baby and I am not gonna stand for it even if I lose my job. I am not a resident and she is not my boss right now, I am a mama bear and Altman and her spawn are hunting my cub and I will slash her face off if I see her pointing a gun at my baby.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been more scared of you.” Alex admits fearfully, “And you put a garter snake in my shower while I was using it.”

“You did?” Jo asks, astonished.

“It was a pet of mine I found him in the yard and he escaped.” I explain and turn to Alex, “Just be glad I got to Snakey before he bit off your snake.”

“Snakey?” Jo asks with a chuckle.

“I was six sue me.” The elevator doors open and I march down the hall until I spot Bailey, Hunt and Ben Warren outside the daycare waiting for us. I stand in front of them with an angry frown directed at Hunt who clears his throat. I turn to Bailey and Warren, “His daughter bit yours again too?”

“Yep.” Warren confirms with a calm voice but disappointed frown.

“Look I’m sorry I-I really can’t apologize enough.” Hunt tells us but it doesn’t make me feel better, “Now I will talk to my wife and she will come to you and figure out what to do moving forward.”

I chuckle darkly, “Hiding behind your chief wife that’s classy.”

Alex tries to step in, “Amber why don’t we-”

“Shut up.” I command in a harsh voice and he does so as I turn to Hunt, “Hunt I don’t want to be at work worried over my baby being around your devil spawn child.”

Hunt looks at me offended, “Excuse me I will thank you kindly not to insult my daughter.”

“So long as your daughter doesn’t assault ours again.” I point out, “Now I can’t reprimand your wife but I can reprimand you because you have less power here than my five-month-old. Do something or I will take matters into my own hands.”

Hunt sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose, “I have to pick up my kids and take them home.”

“I’m not done here.” I tell him but he starts to turn and I react by pure rage and grab him by his ear pinching my thumb nail against his scapha causing him to yell out in pain as I bring him back outside leaning down so he can look up at me, “I said I am not done.”

Hunt groans in pain as I keep a hold of his ear, “What are you doing?”

“Taking matters into my own hands.” I coldly inform him.

Bailey tries to step in but Warren stops her, “No, no we should stay out of it those nails look sharp.”

Hunt groans in pain, “They are!”

I press my thumb nail down harder to make my point, “Now listen to me Hunt and listen to me good if your little brat doesn’t stop picking on my daughter not only will I give her full permission to kick her ass when their grown but I’ll be kicking yours and your wife’s right alongside her, do you understand?”

“I think I feel blood.” Hunt informs me and I press my thumb nail harder causing him to groan in pain, “Yes! Yes, I understand!” I let go of him and he rubs his ear after my vice grip looking at me like I could snap at any minute, “I’ll talk to Teddy I will just…Jesus.” He goes inside to pick up his kids and I look to see the others looking at me frightened.

“What? The man needed a lesson on what kind of family he’s messing with.”

“Hey, I am on your side.” Jo looks at Alex surprised, “That’s my niece his daughter bit.”

“Thank you.” I turn to Bailey and Warren, “And unlike the two of you I have an insurmountable rage inside me that can’t be contained.”

“Clearly.” Bailey confirms, “I think I saw your rage bleeding out of Hunt’s ear.” I see Hunt walking his kids out of daycare and I go in to check my daughter out so I can forget this horrible day.

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

The smell of garlic hits me as soon I open the front door carrying Lucy in her car seat. I follow the scent to the kitchen where I find Andrew in full cooking mode wearing a ‘Kiss the Chef’ apron and sauteing the peeled peppers in garlic over the stove. I smile at the sight and get Lucy out of her car seat so I can hold her as we get closer to her dad while he’s cooking.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Andrew smiles at us, “I see you two got out early.”

I hold Lucy against my hip, “Yeah I got a resident to take over so I could spend the night with you guys.” I inhale the sweet aroma deeply moaning in pleasure, “Roasted peppers on olive oil?”

Andrew nods, “Yep, with lots of garlic.”

I kiss his cheek, “You spoil me. I could really use some of your Italian cuisine after the day I had.”

“Well don’t get mad but this isn’t all for us.” I look at him confused, “It’s for the dinner party tonight.”

“What dinner party?”

“At Hunt and Altman’s.” My eyes widened at that information, “She invited us yesterday as a way to apologize for what happened at daycare. Ben and Bailey are coming too. I already got Carina to babysit tonight don’t worry she was actually more than happy to do it.” He notices my shocked face, “Didn’t I tell you about the dinner?”

“Um no but then again we’ve been so busy we’ve barely had time to shower let alone catch up.” I move to sit in a chair by the island, “I guess now would be a bad time to tell you that Allison bit Pru and Lucy again.”

He looks at me shocked as he puts the peppers in a glassware dish, “What? When did this happen?”

“Today I went there before I came here.”

He groans, “Okay it’s fine the dinner might be awkward but we’ll talk and hopefully resolve this with clear eyes and full hearts.”

I clear my throat, “I think I should tell you that I confronted Hunt about Allison and…blood was literally spilled.”

He looks at me scared but treads carefully, “What did you do?”

“Um…” I scratch my head to find the words, “I might have grabbed him by the ear and told him to keep his brat in line or me and our daughter would give him hell in the future.” My husband reacts with wide eyes, “Also there might have been some blood from the pinching his ear.”

“…Well at least you got your point across.” I look at him blankly, “I mean I don’t really know what to say here. On the one hand I’m shocked you would stoop to physical blows but on the other I’m a little turned on by this badass side of you.”

I groan at the unfortunate timing, “Let’s skip it, it’s gonna get bad and I am in no mood for a showdown with the Hunt’s.”

“We’re not gonna skip it.” Andrew stands next to me holding Lucy’s tiny hand, “It would send the wrong message and we should apologize for you manhandling Hunt so we can continue to afford our comfortable lifestyle.”

“I did not manhandle him.” He raises a suspicious eyebrow at me and I break. “Okay fine I did but he asked for it! Their daughter has now bitten our daughter. Twice. It’s a problem and making them your heavenly peppers sends the wrong message.”

“What message?” He asks dumbfounded, “That we’re Italian?”

“No, it sends a message that what their daughter did is okay and it’s not! I made that clear to Hunt. I have to protect my child even if you won’t.” Lucy starts to get fussy.

“Whoa hey of course I want to protect Lucy, I’m just saying physical blows are gonna make this worse not better.”

I scoff, “It started getting worse when their child bit our child for a second time!” Lucy cries in my arms and I rock her to soothe her, “Great and now Hunt and Altman are upsetting her at home. Something needs to be done because short of getting a nanny Hunt and Altman need to fix their problem child. Let’s just stay in and watch Moana for the hundredth time it’ll be better than what ever that dinner will entail.”

Andrew sighs and Lucy calms down, “Look we’ll go we’ll eat the peppers with Altman’s dry chicken and politely talk to them about Allison. Perhaps this feud of ours will be resolved if we talk to them and use our words instead of our fists.”

I stand up and go to the diaper bag to get Lucy’s dragon for her to play with, “You know calling it a feud sounds a little melodramatic.”

“Okay and what would you call it?”

“It’s a war.” Andrew chuckles at that. Lucy is holding her dragon as I sit on the couch with her on my lap, “They declared war on us when they didn’t do squat and let their daughter bite our daughter again. Now we’re the Montagues and Capulets, the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s it’s a war between the DeLuca’s and the Hunts and going over to their territory for false promises of peace is like asking out loud where the trap is and how hard we should step on it.”

Andrew sits next to us and grins at Lucy who’s busy biting her dragon’s arm, “Be honest Lucia who’s more melodramatic, me or your mama?”

“You really don’t want us ganging up on you when she’s a teenager because you don’t stand a chance.” I coldly inform him.

“Amber all I’m saying is that tonight don’t think of it as a dinner table, think of it as a peace table. And I’m sure as mad as Altman is at him, I don’t know if she’ll approve of you making her husband bleed. I mean come on I think this war of ours is at a standstill after the ear assault. It’s just a couple of hours and if it comes down to it, we will leave. Plus, when was the last time you and I had a night out with our adult friends without a baby present?”

I think on it for a moment with Lucy in my lap and come up empty, “Fine we’ll go but if they piss me off, we tag team with Bailey and Warren and go all Rocky and Creed on their Drago.”

“I’m pretty sure Creed died.” Andrew reminds me.

“Because he didn’t tag out with Rocky do you see what we’ll do differently?” Andrew chuckles and kisses me and then Lucy and goes back to the kitchen to his peppers. I exhale at the predicament I got myself in while my daughter is oblivious as she plays with her plush dragon. I grin at her in envy kissing her on top of her soft dark hair, “Your lucky to have parents who are willing to fight in the ring for you baby.”

#greys anatomy #greysanatomyedit #greysedit #grey's anatomy #amber karev #alex karev #jo wilson #andrew deluca #miranda bailey #ben warren #teddy altman #owen hunt #elizabeth gillies #liz gillies #giacomo gianniotti #headcanon #mine

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dripping-chaospart2 · 10 months

Text

UHHH I DONT KNOW IF ANY OF YOU TUMBLR PEOPLE WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME AND MY S/O'S FARMERS (SDV) BUT I HAVE SOME HEADCANONS UNDER THE PICTURES OF THEM APOLOGIES FOR THE TEXT BUT HERE THEY R (MINES THE REDHEAD) @everythingtoonypart2

Ethan and Lee (the farmers, lol, Ethan is the mouse, and Lee is the other one). They definitely have overworked themselves countless times and have ended up with Harvey looking over them. (Ethan doesn't like going to his office bc he hates doctors due to past experiences), but Lee is absolutely SMITTEN with Harvey, and Ethan knows this, so he teases him about it any chance he gets-

Lee does the same thing to Ethan because he knows he's head over heels for Shane. Sometimes, they forget to take a break from farm work and end up going weeks without going into town. They're workaholics-

Also, headcanon that Ethan liked Alex first, but Lee saw how Alex treated Ethan (he was being a huge asshole) and punched him in the face because he made Ethan cry-

#stardew valley #sdv #im hyperfixating again #this game has me in a chokehold #stardew harvey #giggles and runs away #sdv farmer #sdv harvey #sdv headcanons #sdv shane #stardew farmer #stardew shane #stardew valley farmer #goofy little guy #hes so silly

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chaotic-super · 1 year

Text

Back To Krypton - Chapter 18

Alex paces at the foot of the bed, ignoring the group all bunched together atop of it. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“We all do, Alex.” Kara flops back on the bed in a half-reclined position, her head falling onto Lena’s lap where lithe fingers eagerly burrow into her soft blonde tresses, not scratching nor combing, simply resting in the golden locks like each fingertip is being tucked into bed.

The air is thick with apprehension, it’s suffocating. Not a single person in that room has anything but every possibility for what Astra’s people may require of them running through their head and not a single person can fathom of a single way to express their thoughts in a coherent way.

Sometimes, there is no coherent way.

Somehow, little Esme is the only one to have the courage to state the obvious. “They aren’t good people, are they?”

Kelly holds her daughter tight, keeping her arms wrapped around her as tight as she can, unwilling to ever let her daughter go because she fears that if she does, it could be the last time, as rational or irrational as that is.

“We’re still figuring that out.” Kara offers when nobody else speaks. “But I’m going to go find some answers.”

Everybody jumps when Kara sits up, wincing as she does so because Lena’s fingers instinctually latched on and pulled her hair slightly with the motion.

Alex pauses her pacing. “Now? You’re planning on going out there now?”

“We’ve been waiting in here for hours now, waiting for my aunt to come up with some plan or talk to some people we know nothing about. We don’t know what she’s planning, and I need to know. I’m going to talk to her and then I’m coming right back, I promise.” Kara grabs hold of the door handle, holding a hand facing outwards towards Alex when she tries to step closer, probably to try and stop her.

Nobody gets the chance to say anything else then because Kara is already out of the door, not sticking around to hear the others try and probably succeed in telling her that they should all stick together.

That may be true, but some things are better off done alone, it tends to get messy when they go in as a group. Wires get crossed and they won’t get all of their questions answered, there’s too much potential for something to go wrong.

She barely makes it to the end of the hallway back to the living room when a guard steps out in front of her, blocking her path and preventing her from leaving the hallway.

It takes no time for her to recognize the guard as the same one that was in the dining room with Astra, Lena and herself the night they were first brought back here.

“Zin-Ra? That’s your name, right?”

A brisk head nod tells her that she’s right, but it takes no genius to see that the snap of his neck holds anger and distrust. He definitely doesn’t like her.

“I need to speak to General Astra In-Ze.”

Words are spat at her then. “Rrip si ehwor i kehp dhid ukep. Rrip ehwor vahdhan taiium.” (You should speak your own tongue here. You speak like a foreigner.)

“Now that’s the kind of hatred towards diversity that I’d expect from the council. Perhaps you should be trying to raise yourself above their primitive values instead of agreeing with them.” Kara retorts, tone hardened into that which she usually reserves for when she’s wearing her cape.

Zin-Ra steps forward into her space, challenging her to back down, which Kara will never do, her pride will never let her.

The second he realizes that she isn’t intimidated by him, Zin-Ra strikes, setting a firm jab into her ribs and knocking the air out of her lungs. Kara stumbles back from the force of it, caught off guard by it and the audacity of the man to just punch her out of nowhere just to prove his intelligence-lacking point.

She instinctually curls over herself slightly, a hand coming up to wrap around her middle. Zin-Ra takes the opportunity for another sly hit, a cowardly hit if there ever was one. He strikes her across the face once her eyes shift away from him, not being dignified enough to conduct himself in the general rules of a fair fight.

The punch brings Kara back to herself though and just in time too because her eyes flick up as he brings his fist back up again.

She ducks beneath the swinging arm, pushing herself close enough to get her own hit into his stomach and then a knee to his face when he doubles over.

Kara figures that a couple of hits in the same places she got hit would even the score a little, but Zin-Ra doesn’t care about equality. He just wants to win and winning for him seems to include grievous bodily harm at the very minimum.

He rushes at her, grabbing her by her shoulders and slamming her into the wall of the hallway with as much force as he can muster, which given that he is a trained soldier, is quite a lot.

She hits the wall with a loud thud, her body overflowing with the pain from the force of it and falls right to the floor after the impact.

Kara really isn’t used to fighting without her powers, even the sessions she used to have with Alex stopped because the kryptonite room was destroyed along with the DEO months back so this is a new one.

That doesn’t mean that her training from the early days of the DEO has left her. She got a lot of training that she had always thought was pointless but right now, being taught how to fight through her pain is something she’s grateful for and it has her stumbling back to her feet and throwing her entire body weight at the idiot that dared to attack Supergirl.

She knocks him to the floor, dazing him. He clearly wasn’t expecting her to fight back, and it takes a second for him to realize that he’s now flat on his back with Kara straddling him, her fist pounding into his face with a rage that he hadn’t anticipated.

Kara gets half a dozen punches in before she’s being dragged off of him though, two sets of hands grabbing her arms and holding her tight.

Her fist aches, as does most of her body but her knuckles are screaming at her. Her biceps are being pinched in the grips of two other guards and when her fury-induced tunnel vision clears, she can see another guard hunched over Zin-Ra, trying to wake him up by tapping the side of his bloodied face. She must have knocked him unconscious.

“What is going on here?”

Astra storms into view, drawn by the ruckus and the sounds of the guards berating Kara, not that she’s paying them any mind, her eyes now glued to Zin-Ra, in utter disbelief at what just transpired.

The guards fall silent at the entrance of their general.

“I suggest you let go of my niece this instant, we will have to conduct an investigation into this but until then, you have no right to restrain her.” Astra steps over Zin-Ra, who is now being tended to by another man, one who is very clearly a medic of some kind.

The guards not only release her but also take a step back as their general approaches. Astra stops in front of Kara, her hand falling to her niece’s forearm. “Are you alright?”

Kara clears her throat, well aware that she isn’t and from the pain she’s in, worsening now that the adrenaline is wearing off. “I’ll be fine. Can we talk somewhere privately? I was looking for you before Zin-Ra decided that he wanted to get his ass handed to him.”

“Disrespect towards any members of The Rebellion is not tolerated, Kara. You are not to speak of any of my guards or anyone else in such a manner again. I will however listen to your truth of what happened here, and we can discuss anything else you need. Come, we will talk in the library, and I’ll have someone bring me some medical supplies to get you cleaned up.”

Astra tightens her grip on Kara’s forearm, but she knows that it’s just for show, she isn’t pulling her or forcing her to go with her, just merely guiding her and holding a pretence. Kara knows better than to speak until they are away from everyone else, Astra is already going to have a job getting her out of this situation that Zin-Ra created by attacking her. She knows that the other members of The Rebellion are not going to side with her on this.

Astra takes her to the library just as she said, pulling her through the door and sending someone off to get some medical supplies. She is taken up to the desk and placed into one of the chairs while Astra waits by the door for the supplies to be brought to her.

As soon as they are in her hands Astra is right up next to her, dragging a chair beside her own so she can see how badly Kara is injured.

The time alone gave Kara time to think and notice the amount of blood on her knuckles and the tightness of the skin on her face from her own blood drying in place.

She wonders if the others heard the fight, if they are going to be questioned or if they are even safe here after that. She has to keep them safe, she has a duty, and she has to fulfil it.

“Will the others be dragged into this?”

Astra focuses on her face first, wiping away some of the blood so she can see where it’s coming from. She finds the source as the cloth drags over Kara’s split eyebrow and around her rapidly swelling eye.

“I will try to keep them out of it. It helps that they were not present at the time of the fight. What happened Little one?” Astra cups Kara’s cheek, eyes darting over Kara’s visible injuries.

With a deep breath, Kara explains the best she can. “I was coming to find you, to see if you have any updates but he blocked my way through and was mad that I didn’t speak to him in Kryptonese. He insulted me and when I didn’t back down he attacked me, I defended myself.”

“Why didn’t you stop when you had him on the floor?”

“He already got up once and attacked me a second time, I wasn’t going to let there be a third.” Kara tries not to flinch away from any of Astra’s touches. “I knew he didn’t like me from the second he reached for his weapon when I hugged you in the dining room when I was brought back here. I didn’t think he would do anything about it though, that’s on me for not taking it into consideration.”

Astra shakes her head. “It’s not on you. I gave you my word that you would be safe here. I will sort this out, Kara. There will be justice for this. I’m sorry I had to be stern with you out in the hall. I have a pretence I must uphold in front of the other members lest I lose respect and with it, what little control I have.”

“I get it. I would get it if you had to do something about how I spoke about him, but I am glad that it probably won’t come to that, I’m already going to be sore tomorrow, and I don’t need anything else on top of that.” Kara’s arm is wrapped around her ribs, protecting them unconsciously from any more harm.

Astra pulls it out of her way. “I have to see.”

Kara helps lift her shirt enough to show the darkening bruise already forming on one side of her torso from the punch she took. “He has a good punch in him. I’d be more impressed if I wasn’t the one on the receiving end.” Kara laughs a little, trying to ease the tension.

Astra’s own fury is palpitating off her in waves. “He will pay for this. I will be sure of it.”

“He already has.”

“He has not.”

“He was the one who ended up unconscious on the floor.” Kara watches the way Astra’s eyes trail over each injury she finds, even lingering on some of her old scars.

Astra tugs her shirt back down, instead aiming her hands for some sutures for her eyebrow and the bridge of her nose, the only other place her skin broke. “Are there any more injuries?”

Kara shakes her head, “he threw me against the wall, my back is a bit sore, but I doubt that there is anything major there, probably just more bruises. My knuckles will heal in due time too. It’ll all heal, Aunt Astra.”

Kara was already convinced that Astra is on their side, loyal to them as much as she is to The Rebellion, but now she’s sure. There’s no denying the love and care that she is showing her now, the rage that comes with knowing that someone just attacked her family.

“Show me.”

Kara turns in her seat, her movements slow to not jolt the bruises that are setting in now, all adrenaline drained and the pain hitting her full force. He did some damage, that’s undeniable.

Astra once again pulls up her shirt, her fingertips falling to her scarred back. Kara knows that it’s the part of her body with the most residual damage, she has some major scarring from the reign incident and her fall from the top of the building where she was dropped off but in the moment that Astra asked her to turn, she forgot about it.

It doesn’t even enter her mind until she hears the gasp. She pulls at her shirt, dragging it back down and trying to turn back around but Astra’s firm hands stop her and in her injured state, she doesn’t have the strength to fight.

“I did not realize how brutal the battles you have fought in have been to you.” Astra brushes over each scar with the faintest of touches. “Little one…” Her voice trails away, no words enough to express the despair she feels at having her most precious family member sitting before her with every major wound she’s ever had on show before her.

“I know it’s bad. I’m not ashamed of them but I know they aren’t pretty. You’re the only person other than a couple of doctors and Alex that knows that they’re there. What happened tonight will be forgotten soon enough, I have been through worse and probably will do again. I need everything here to go smoothly so I can keep everyone safe.”

Astra finishes looking, gently turning Kara back towards her and enveloping her into a hug. “We’ll keep them safe together, and I’ll keep you safe.”

They both know that it might not be possible, but they both know that she’s going to do whatever she can to make the words as true as she can make them be.

Kara sinks into the embrace, revelling in the feeling she has now that she has someone to protect her, someone she doesn’t feel like she has a duty to protect of her own. She can be completely vulnerable without worrying. It’s something she doesn’t have with anyone else and losing Astra again when the mission is over is going to destroy her all over again. She has to make it last while she can.

“I will do everything in my power to do so,” Astra whispers into her hair and Kara is half convinced that Astra is making the promise to herself.

Kara sniffs as she chokes back tears that are threatening to fall. “Is there any way you can get the others into their own rooms before I head back down there in a little while? I don’t want Esme to see me like this.” She gestures to her swollen eye, well aware that she’s got a nice shiner forming.

“Of course I can. Would you like me to bring Lena up here for the rest of our discussion? I have a feeling that you have some questions for me about my earlier talks with my people.”

“I think that might be best, Lena is probably in a better frame of mind for this than I am.”

Astra takes her hands. “We can talk about this tomorrow, Kara.”

“No, we can’t. I need to know what’s going on and I don’t think that I can wait another day. I need to know everything I can because the apprehension is killing me.”

With a solemn nod, Astra agrees. “There are no faults in your logic. I will escort the others to their own rooms and Lena up here myself. Your partner should be with you at such a time.”

Kara isn’t denying it at this point, Lena and herself are entering the territory where they can’t deny that they are becoming partners. It is no secret between them by now that their feelings have developed and neither have been open to talks on the matter. That’s another thing to add to the to-do list. Tomorrow. Maybe.

“I’d like her to be here.”

“I know. Nobody is permitted to come in here without my say-so, so when you hear the door open again, it will be me. If it’s not, use this.” Astra reaches around to the back of her own pants and beneath her jacket to pull out a small knife.

Kara is shocked by the action, her brain frozen at the implications.

Astra’s strong footsteps echo as she makes her way out without another word, just a small shoulder squeeze and the room suddenly feels freezing.

Even Astra doesn’t trust these people, and she’s their general.

She’s their general but she is very obviously not in total control anymore.

Astra doesn’t think she’s safe here.

Astra just gave her a knife.

Astra is on her side.

This probably isn’t going to end well.

Read the first 17 chapters on A03 here!

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