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#because she did seem to be genuinely worried about them in hell's chicken. in her own way
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rapidly oscillating between "outis is a wifeguy who misses her wife so so so so bad" and "outis is divorced as hell, broken ass marriage, first lesbian divorcees in the city" based on whatever feels right at the time
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thesolferino · 3 years
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Hell On Earth
⤷ dream x f!reader.
⤷ genre: fluff
⤷ word count: 3.2k
⤷ requested: yes, by this lovely anon!
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— summary: you barge into clay’s office to complain about his broken air conditioner, unaware that he’s streaming.
Florida was hell.
You liked to say it as a joke, during October when the rest of the world was freezing, during December when the insane temperatures finally went back under control, and the sun granted you its blessing of a refreshing gust of wind every now and then. You liked to say it as a joke, mostly, but God, did you mean it whenever summer would creep around the corner and you’d get reminded of why you told your boyfriend so often that the devil must’ve left hell, came down to America, and bought himself a nice penthouse in Florida.
It lived up to its title of the hottest state in the US, by far, considering the hellish temperatures that constantly made you dizzy whenever June rolled around. You had great air conditioning in your apartment, though, and as soon as the sun started burning skin, plants, water, and everything in its way, you and your college roommate would lounge at your place as the air conditioner blew cold wind and thank the lord (and the person who invented AC, bless his heart) for providing you with at least one blessing during these trying times.
So, of course that as soon as summer came about, your air conditioning conveniently broke.
Your roommate was out of the apartment within two days, flying to her family in Wisconsin, bidding you farewell as she left you to cook like a raw chicken in your shared apartment. Thankfully, you had a boyfriend - and what a boyfriend he was.
You don’t like to brag, but at these moments, you feel grateful to the universe and whoever else is looking over you for providing you with a rich boyfriend, with quite a big, echo-y house, and air conditioning made of pure heaven. As soon as your roommate packed your bags, you packed yours too, - if one backpack filled with makeup, your laptop, meds, underwear and hopes that he’d let you steal all of his clothes could count as “bags” - locked the apartment and left, ready to leave the AC on snowman temperature for two days minimum and ignore all his complaints.
Bad luck seemed to follow you everywhere, though, because you were there for merely three days when the air conditioning started stuttering.
You were sprawled on the cold sheets of his bed, listening to the low hum of the AC as you scrolled through your phone, his white T-shirt sticking to your back, the cold air cooling the sheen of sweat that covered your body, leaving goosebumps all over. One of your fingers started lazily petting Patches’ stomach, and you could faintly hear Clay talking in the background, the sounds coming from his office.
“Thank you for the gifted subs! Um, yeah, it’s really hot here, I can barely, like, breathe in here. I have the AC on at highest, but all it’s doing is giving me a headache. Even-even my water bottle is completely hot.” You heard him rant and chuckled, turning on your side and continuing to scroll through random videos.
You sort of tuned out his talking, knowing he’d most likely be cooped up in that office for hours before your shared dinner, and started watching random YouTube videos, ignoring your surroundings as you shoved your earbuds in your ears. 
The longer the videos lasted, the more you felt like you were suffocating. The heat crawled up on you slowly, sneakily, almost unnoticeable yet undeniably there, hand made up of pure fire gripping at your throat tighter and tighter. It started off seamlessly, with you rolling around, trying to find a new cold spot on the sheets, to pulling at the shirt, trying to create cold air to soothe you, to wiping the sweat that basically covered your entire forehead, when your eyes finally peeled away from your phone and you realised you were basically choking in the heat, feeling like you’re breathing fire. 
You lift your head off the bed way too quickly, head pounding, and look at the one thing meant to save you from this madness - just to see it leaking water down the wall, barely coughing out any air. Your head miserably falls back down on the bed, hands rubbing at your face, dangerously close to both crying and screaming in distress. After a few moments of self-wallowing, you get up and make your way over to your boyfriend’s office, being met with nothing but silence as you walked to it, happy he ended the stream so you could complain and wail to him, possibly cool down using the AC in his office. 
You slam the door open, seeing him hunched over in his gaming chair, Minecraft open as usual, and as soon as he takes one headphone off, turns around and sends a surprised but oddly panicked gaze your way, you start ranting.
“Babe, you won’t believe what just happened.” you said, rubbing a hand over your face again, eyes closing as you feel the coldness - in comparison to the living hell that was his bedroom right now - of the room wash over you. You don’t even let him speak before you continue.
“The fucking AC in your bedroom just broke. It’s leaking right now.”
Clay looks like he wants to say fifteen words at once, and the first one that comes out is: “What?”
“I swear. I was watching something on my phone, and I realised it’s crazy hot, so I looked up and realised it’s broken. Why does this happen to me!” you complained, and he tried pulling his headphones off for a second but instead pulled the cord out of the computer entirely, letting you hear everything that goes on in his headphones.
It’s silent for a second or two, before you hear a familiar voice.
“Dream.” you hear a British man with an awfully posh accent speak, and your eyes meet Clay’s in pure horror and realisation, when you slap a hand over your mouth. He looks as equally terrified as you, but also disappointed, because oh, that’s why he looked so panicked when you stormed in.
Then you hear another voice, equally British, but higher pitched. They laugh. “Is that Drista?”
Clay seems to snap back into reality, turning around towards the computer and adjusting his mic before speaking. “No- it’s- Tommy she said babe, why would Drista call me babe?”
“You’re so stupid, he was trying to help you.” You hear his long-time friend, Sapnap, deadpan, and you can practically feel all of them freaking out, while you stand in the doorway in horror, cheeks heating up despite the fully working AC.
Another laugh. “No, I wasn’t, I was genuinely asking. Why- Sapnap, why would I be helping Dream?” 
“Dream, you are so stupid.” you hear George laugh into his mic and your boyfriend immediately starts stuttering, trying to defend himself.
“How-how am I stupid?! She’s the one who walked in, what was I supposed to do?” you lean against the doorway as he defends himself, head buried in one of your hands.
“Mute!” you hear Sapnap borderline yell, almost mad. 
“Wait- I don’t get what’s going on- Does Big D have a girlfriend?” you hear the British boy, Tommy, ask, and all of them go silent for a few seconds before a loud, screeching laugh breaks out through the speakers, and when Clay turns around to look at you, all you can do is mouth an apology as you almost break out into laughter at how ridiculous the whole thing is.
“Oh my God, chat is going crazy right now.” George says while Tommy is laughing his lungs out in the background, still.
“Did you actually- did she actually- oh my GOD, Dream has a girlfriend! I can’t believe this!” Tommy keeps on laughing, coughing between sentences. “Dream stans, I am so sorry, this must be just a terrible, terrible day for you all.” 
“You’re probably already trending on Twitter, dude.” Sapnap adds, sounding more worried than your own boyfriend did at the moment.
“It was bound to happen at some point, I guess.” he huffs out, turning around to look at you every so often, gesturing for you to close the door and come in, which you did, guilt weighing you down as you moved.
“Are you serious? Can I- Can I speak to your girlfriend, Dream?” you can practically hear the grin in the boy’s voice and Clay doesn’t even turn to you before replying.
“No, you can’t.” 
“Oh, come on! You let me speak to your mum but not your girlfriend? Just for a little bit, please? I just- I just wanna see which lucky woman managed to get the attention of the Minecraft God, Dream himself. That’s it.” Tommy asks and you don’t even have it in you to laugh because of the anxiety that eats away at you, but then Clay sighs. 
“...Fine, I guess.” he looks up at you. “D’you wanna speak to Tommy?” 
You’re not quite sure what the expected answer is, but you shrug, gaze darting from his eyes to the computer, and then back to him. “Um… I don’t mind, I guess.” 
You hear him sigh and plug the headphones back into the computer, handing them to you. “Alright, she said yes. Here you go.” he stands up out of the chair and lets you sit, placing the way too big headphones on your head as your heart races, standing closely by your side as you roll the chair further towards the desk and microphone.
“Um… hello?” you shyly speak, and you hear something like groans of mixed annoyance, confusion and nervousness coming from George and Sapnap as Tommy starts laughing immediately, greeting you loudly. 
“HELLO, DREAM’S GIRLFRIEND!” you hear him yell in response as your shaky hands land on the keyboard, moving his character left and right. 
“Is the AC really broken?” Sapnap asks and you hear George laugh in response, considering how unimportant that information is right now. You know both of them, obviously - you’ve talked to them more than a few times, joining in on their jokes when Clay talks to them on speaker, growing as close as one can with their boyfriend’s friends.
“Yeah, it is. The AC in here is really good, though. Maybe I should stay and just take over the Dream channel.” You joke and they laugh.
“Yeah, I mean it would probably be better. A woman owning the Dream channel would make it so much better. The views would skyrocket.” Tommy says and you see his character walk up to you before he randomly laughs again.
“I can’t believe- I can’t believe Dream actually has a girlfriend. Is he, like, paying you to do this, or are you really…” he trails off and you giggle at his question, switching tools in the hotbar as you try to figure out how to play the game again.
“No, he’s not. We are dating, yes.” you confirm with a nod, and you feel Clay’s elbow sink into the chair, almost trying to listen.
“Say 1 if he’s keeping you hostage.” he says and you laugh again, shaking your head.
“No, he’s not- he’s not keeping me hostage.” you reply and you hear Clay go “WHAT?” right behind you.
“Well, of course, of course, I mean, who could ever pass up dating the great Dream. With all those subscribers, and Twitch primes, and Minecraft skills. Did- did his Minecraft skills get you?” Tommy asked, but before you could even respond, Sapnap jumped into the conversation.
“Oh yes, absolutely. She loves it. Yes, Dream, speedrun faster!” he sarcastically replies and for a few moments the whole call is blown into loud laughter, screeching and yells before it quiets down.
“Yes, what Sapnap said. I was so impressed, he just blew me away, with um… with his, um, Manhunt skills? I dunno, I don’t play Minecraft.” you hear him laugh at “Manhunt skills” behind you as the rest of the boys start laughing too.
“Dream’s girlfriend doesn’t play Minecraft?! What?! Dream- how could he allow this, seriously…” Tommy argued dramatically, his character staring at yours - or rather Clay’s.
“I can’t imagine if we were both Minecraft players, that would be a nightmare.” you replied.
“Why?” you heard George laugh through the headphones.
“Who do you think peels him away from the damn computer? If I was just like him we would never get out of the house, probably.” you argued.
“Dreamfriend, what is Dream like, you know, in real life?” Tommy spoke up and you heard George giggle again.
“Dreamfriend?” you repeated, a grin forming on your face at his stupidity, finally deciding to move the character around and switch back to the sword in the hotbar.
“Yes! Dream’s girlfriend, Dreamfriend, Dreamgirl, Girldream, whatever you like.” Tommy said and you laughed.
“Dream girl… if I wanted to get clout off Dream I’d use that, that’s genius.” 
“Thanks, I know I’m a genius, everyone tells me so.” Tommy claims and you shake your head, checking your boyfriend’s inventory to see if there’s anything interesting in there.
“Alright, I’m gonna check on the AC, I’ll be back in a second.” Clay says to you, before lowering himself to the mic so the boys could hear him. “Tommy, don’t do anything stupid, okay?”
“Oh you know it, big man! I’d never!” Tommy yells back, despite Clay being unable to hear him, and he leaves the office with one last, quick kiss to your temple.
“Is he gone?” Tommy asks, and you nod and hum, despite him not being able to see you.
“Okay, so you don’t play Minecraft, right?” he asks.
“No, I don’t.” you reply.
“So there’s this really cool thing, right. If you just go in and type /op tommyinnit, there’s this thing that’s gonna-” Tommy doesn’t get to finish his sentence before he’s cut off by Sapnap, whose character suddenly appears in front of you.
“No, no, no, no, don’t trust him, you should-” Sapnap cuts in, but Tommy still loudly protests in the background.
“BE NICE TO OUR GUEST, SAPNAP! Let her do what she wants! She is Dream’s girlfriend after all, the most powerful woman.” Tommy claims and you laugh, sort of blushing from all the attention. You don’t even dare to check the chat or the donations that come in from Twitch, because it must be blowing up by now. As if he can hear your thoughts, George speaks too.
“Oh my God, Dream’s already trending on, like, five different spots on Twitter.” he says, and you instinctively grab your phone to check, before you can even think about it.
“What?” you and Sapnap both say in sync.
“Yeah, ‘Dream’ is trending #2 worldwide, and ‘Dream girlfriend’ is #4.” he lets out a shocked laugh.
“Oh my God…” you mutter out in both excitement, nervousness and dread as you open Twitter and confirm that George is indeed correct. You don’t even dare to press on either of the trends, simply turning off your phone with a sigh and moving back to stream.
“Wow, you’re famous now! How does it feel?” Tommy asks and you let out a quite dry laugh.
“Amazing. I can feel my value as a person increasing as we speak.” you respond sarcastically and hear George quietly laugh in the background.
Just then, you hear the door to the office opening again, but you ignore it because Tommy starts speaking.
“Okay, well, I’m sure that must be very fun and exciting for you, but I really will need you to type in /op tommyinn-” 
“No! I’m not listening to you, Tommy! I’m not about to type in some stupid command and get yelled at!” you cut in, but he keeps on whining.
“Come on, we know Big D would never yell at his… beloved girlfriend! Listen, just do it, I promise he will not be mad.” he argues.
“What does /op even mean?” you ask out loud, and suddenly Clay is yelling behind you. 
“Who is asking you to op them? Give me the headset!” he says, one hand already tugging at the headphones as you laugh while Tommy panics.
“Well, it was fun talking to you guys, but I have to go. Bye!” you bid them farewell and heard George and Sapnap say goodbye as well while Tommy yelled, and you took off the headphones and passed them to Clay who immediately put them on and adjusted them, plopping back into the chair. You left, moving to the living room to process everything that happened and abandon your phone for the next few hours because you were not ready for that type of attention in the slightest.
You laid in front of the TV, watching random shows on Netflix and grabbing a few snacks from the kitchen while you could still clearly hear him yelling and streaming, wondering how he’s still going as if nothing happened. The temptation to check what people were saying was overwhelming to the point your hands were itching to grab your phone and open all social media - before you even realised it, you were on the trending page again, thumb tapping on the “Dream girlfriend” tab. 
You braced yourself for the worst, but that’s not what came at you - sure, there were a couple of tweets telling people to lay off you, and delusional shippers getting ratioed, but they were mostly positive, lighthearted jokes, from single people making jokes about how a Minecraft YouTuber can get bitches but they can’t, to people calling you cute/funny. One hate comment obviously stings more than a million positive comments make you happy, but they were mostly misogynists calling you annoying for the roughly five sentences you spoke on stream or shippers disappointed that their favorite YouTuber isn’t gay, so you didn’t really let it get to you. 
When the house finally quieted down the sun was lowering itself into darkness and melting into a pot of blinding orange and golden honey, and you heard Clay’s footsteps when he finally turned off the stream, stepping into the living room a few seconds after you heard him. He sat down on the couch next to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you close to him, sitting there in silence with you.
“So… that was something.” he finally broke the silence and you nodded.
“It really was.” 
Another beat of silence passes.
“I’m sorry, baby, but I really need you to stop breaking all these ACs.”
“I’M NOT THE ONE BREAKING THEM-”
“Sorry, but I’m noticing a pattern here.” he wheezed, obviously just trying to get you riled up as you pulled away so his hand gets ripped off your shoulder.
“Shut up. You better have called someone to repair that damn thing, cause there is no way we’re sleeping in there without an AC.” you huffed, and he shuffled closer to you, arm wrapping itself around your shoulders once again.
“I did, they’re coming by tomorrow.” he assured.
“Tomorrow?” you asked, looking at him in disbelief. “How are we gonna sleep tonight?”
“Who says we have to sleep?” the glint in his eye and the stupid grin plastered on his face tells you everything you need to know, and you roll your eyes.
“If we fuck, I’ll actually die of overheating. Absolutely not.”
“Well in that case, I need to get that AC fixed as soon as possible.”
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suganovakawa · 3 years
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જ — rumor has it!
# 17 ༉‧ yes or no
smau masterlist
✧ 。 synopsis : though hajime has reassured you time and time again that you two attending different schools would be plenty manageable in your guys’ relationship, your imagination is left to wander when he slowly begins to ghost you.
જ — a/n : it’s finally here! sorry to keep you waiting :,)
— if you could, could you check out this google form for just a few moments of your time? it’s a surprise, but please choose five characters from that list. it would really help a lot!
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out of all the places hajime could’ve taken you, you were not expecting an empty parking lot. previously, it belonged to a local grocery store a couple of years back, before it went out of business.
was it necessarily a bad place? of course not. nobody seemed to be around, so if you wanted to yell at him? you’d be able to without so much as batting an eyelash.
that seemed to be the least of iwaizumi’s worries as he turned off the car when he parked in a spot in the middle of the lot, his jaw clenched tightly as both of you sat in silence. not even the hum of the engine was there to alleviate the awkward tension.
“are we talking here, or are we talking outside?” you mustered the courage to speak first, watching as he jumped slightly at the sound of your own nervousness.
“it doesn’t matter. it’s up to you.” his voice seemed almost squeaky as he looked straightforward and out the windshield.
it was obvious the two of you were procrastinating on what was to come. you didn’t want to hear the truth, and hajime was afraid of facing the reality of the situation. the cat had to be let out of the bag one way or another. you had come this far already, there was no way in hell you would chicken out—not when the truth was sitting right next to you, right in the driver’s seat.
“hajime, just—just tell me what happened. please. pretending like it’s not going to hurt will just make both of our lives a living hell. i already know nothing will make this situation any better.” you couldn’t even look at him. your hands were rested on your lap, your fingers clenched tightly into fists. your palms were sweaty, and your stomach was running a mile a minute. what you were going through may not have even held a candle to what iwa was going through.
but iwaizumi isn’t the victim here. you are.
“where do you want me to start?” his voice was faint, weak—unlike anything you had ever heard before.
it was obvious he wasn’t going to confess to anything without a push in that direction.
you wanted to yell at him in frustration; it was going to bubble out of your throat any minute. but that wouldn’t help both of your situations.
well, it might help yours.
“did you do it?” if he was going to act stupid, might as well push him into a corner about it. enough was enough, your lack of patience outweighed any nervousness you once had. “just admit it, hajime. who is she?”
“were you the one who had karasuno go to the—”
“answer my question.”
he looked to you then—he turned pale at the angry look in your eyes. “stop acting like you have nothing to share. i know you better than that. we wouldn’t be here in the first place. you’re guilty of something, and i’ve been thrown into the loop of it, whether i wanted to be in it or not.”
it was then he started shaking. he wasn’t crying, no. this was fear, unyielding terror he held within the very marrow of his bones, eating him from the inside out. you were so close. so very close to getting the answer. this was either a yes or no, it had to be.
“i didn’t,” he finally mustered, leaning forward to grip the steering wheel with an iron grip. “y/n, you have to understand. i didn’t, i didn’t, i didn’t...”
“then who is she, hajime?” you couldn’t tell if he was lying or not, and it was eating at you. “who is the girl? why does she have my number? how does she have my number? what did she get out of exploiting whatever the two of you had, huh? i don’t get it.” so many questions, yet so few answers. “i genuinely don’t understand. i need your help in understanding. please.”
his hold around the steering wheel loosened, until he leaned back into his seat. you were getting more annoyed by the second, but you had said everything you needed to say.
“i didn’t do anything with her,” he repeated, swallowing a lump in his throat. in a matter of seconds, everything began to spill from his tongue. “she’s a family friend who moved to seijoh this year. i don’t know why she moved, when she had been attending shiratorizawa before now. my family asked me to show her around and whatnot, and i agreed to it because i know her, and she was new around school.”
he hesitated before continuing. “it was fine at first, then she asked for tutoring lessons, after school meetings, and all that. i kept saying no until she became so pushy that both her parents and mine told me to at least tutor her. so i did.”
that’s it? you were almost speechless at all this, all this frustration and fear in your system as he became silence once more. “tutoring lessons?” you asked, almost unbelieving of the words that had come out of your own mouth. “i don’t care about tutoring lessons, hajime. why couldn’t you have just told me?”
“because i slowly began to like the tutoring sessions, alright?” he shut you up with one sentence as soon as you started raising your voice. iwa's words hit you harder than expected, you backed up into your own seat as soon as he took a deep breath.
“i didn’t think i would start looking forward to them, but after a couple weeks, i began getting too comfortable. she became more down to earth than i thought she would be, and we became closer.” he buried his face in his hands, as if that would help him atone for his mistakes. “it had nothing to do with you. don’t think i got tired of you, because i would never, and i mean that. please—”
“would you have actually done anything with her if i never found out?” hajime’s eyes widened as your voice cracked, your arms wrapping around your own stomach in discomfort.
“y/n—”
“would you?”
“no.” not even a moment of hesitation. “i would never.”
“how can you be so sure?” you were angry, frustrated, confused—so many thoughts, so many questions... you were at a complete loss of words, yet too many were threatening to spill out all at once. “you were already comfortable with being able to see her more than you were able to see me. how can you say so easily that the thought of doing anything else with her never crossed your mind?”
“because i love you, not her.” his hand reached up to touch yours, but you moved away from him, as far away as you could in the passenger seat. he placed his hand back down into his pockets before continuing. “i’m not sure if you remember, but there was one night where you thought i was unwell, because i wasn’t texting like my usual self.”
you nodded silently to acknowledge your memory of that day. “that’s because it wasn’t me. that was her. i must’ve left my phone unlocked while i had left the dining room to turn on my car and she took it. by the time i dropped her off at home, you began messaging me about being bored of our relationship, because of how she had texted you. i was terrified that it had come to this, that i was too ashamed of myself to admit to what had been going on.”
“and the other ten minutes?”
“she forgot her homework at my house.”
you almost hated how his explanation fit perfectly into the entire situation. that would explain how she got your number. “i just... i don’t get why you had to hide all of this from me. don’t you trust me? have our years of being together not account for anything? do you really think i would care about tutoring lessons?”
“they weren’t supposed to be lessons. they turned from fifteen minute meetups to a scheduled hour almost everyday. i didn’t realize just how normal it had become for me until both you and oikawa began ignoring me.” you could tell he was having difficulty confessing to everything, but you weren’t going to stop until he coughed out every remaining detail out of him.
“...and the cafe?”
“i wanted to end everything, i swear. end the lessons, end anything that began to develop a deeper relationship.” iwaizumi shook his head at the thought and leaned his head against the headrest, staring up at the roof of his vehicle. “i wanted to do it without having to drag you into this mess, so that it would never happen again. then i saw karasuno walking out as soon as i was about to say something.”
“what did you do after they left?” that also lined up perfectly with what both sugawara and nishinoya told you that day.
“i still did it. i told her that our meetings were over and that i was no longer going to affiliate with her outside of school, or anywhere in general. i stood up and left before she could say anything.” he glanced in your direction and sat straight once more, his hands fidgety and his foot tapping lightly near the pedals. “that was that. i didn’t even drive her home. i drove back to my house and blocked her number. after thinking about my mistakes, i called you. then everything unfolded to now.” you were still trying to process everything that was just let out, and hajime slumped into his seat. “that’s it. that’s all that happened. you can even check my phone if you want.”
you didn’t want to see his phone. currently, you didn’t know what you wanted. part of you was thinking about getting out of his car and walking home. surely he didn’t think that just telling you the truth would be the answer to all of your problems?
“why are you sorry, hajime?” after more silence had filled the air, you pierced it with a needle. “that you got caught? that i found out? that you made a mistake? why?”
“because i let something so stupid drag out this far.”
“be honest with me.” you interrupted him before he could continue. “did you grow feelings for her at one point?”
“feelings?”
“you’re not naive. you know what i’m asking you.”
he hesitated, which was all the answer you needed. his silence was louder than any other response he could have given you. you were just heartbroken that absolutely none of this was your fault.
iwaizumi noticed your shift in emotion, and his voice cracked under the pressure of the situation, and you could tell he was trying his hardest to keep everything in. “i shouldn’t have let it come to this, and i know apologizing won’t change anything. but you have to believe that i never did a thing with her. and i don’t have feelings for her. none. the closest i ever got to her was accidentally touching the same pencil as her.” his tone became more desperate, he was losing whatever restraint he had left. “i swear, you don’t have to forgive me now, but please let me make it up to you eventually. i promise—”
“hajime, please drive me home.”
“what?”
“i said, please drive me home.” this really wasn’t a yes or no situation. everything about this was anything but yes or no.
he was unfaithful, but he wasn’t. he cheated... but did he really?
depends on your standpoint of cheating, isn’t it?
“thank you for telling me everything. i trust you enough to believe that what you said was the truth, but i just want to go home now. please.”
he didn’t respond to your monotone response, he knew that was the end of this conversation. with a heavy heart he started his engine and drove out of the empty parking lot, the space between you figuratively wider the longer you two remained in the same car together. the road stretched far ahead, you let your thoughts spin into an endless frenzy all the way back home. the noise in your head refused to subside as hajime parked in your driveway, changing the stick shift to park and unlocking the door.
you reached for the door handle to open it, but hesitated. was this really the end of you two? you didn’t know if it was or not—you didn’t know if you wanted it to be over. you still loved him. that feeling wouldn’t go away overnight. and while hajime made an extremely stupid mistake, you knew he loved you as well. but this was something that couldn’t be ignored. you couldn’t just pretend this never happened. you were better than that.
“i don’t know what’s going to happen yet,” you said truthfully, gathering the courage to turn around and look hajime in the eye. “i just want to think about it for now. that’s all.”
“take your time. i’ll always wait for you.” he sounded broken, but you had made up your mind. with only a simple nod to say goodbye, you opened the door without turning back, rushing back into your house before watching hajime drive away with a sharp pain in your chest.
what the hell are you gonna do now?
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football-writing · 3 years
Text
Jack Grealish - real smooth
Note: I haven't seen the david and liza vid that this request was based on, and I have the attention span of fresh gravy so I didn't watch it either lmao. But I had a bit of an idea in mind for this more like Mason's fifa forfeit vid with Chunkz (let's be honest that vid was hilarious I still watch it sometimes for laughs lmao) anyway I hope that's okay. Also this features other players too bc why not
Warnings: contains some curse words probably, slight mentions of sexy times at the end, also I have no idea how waxing actually works as my only knowledge comes from that Mason vid so,, this is probably not accurate sorry xoxo
Hope you enjoy babes x
It wasn't unusual for Jack to invite some of his friends over whenever he had a day off. In fact, his days off were usually spend either with you or with his friends, most often opting for eating out with you before getting back and playing fifa with the boys for well past midnight. Today was no different. You had occupied yourself with a book and and cup of tea in your shared bedroom, while Jack was downstairs with his friends playing fifa. Their yelling and laughter could be heard even from behind the closed bedroom door. Not that it bothered you too much: as long as they were having fun and cleaning up after themselves once they left, it was fine by you.
However, it surprised you to hear footsteps coming up to the stairs, then down the hallway to your room. They had everything they needed downstairs, and never before had they bothered you upstairs, so why would they now?
A knock sounded on your bedroom door and you yelled out a quick 'yeah' as you closed your book and sat up on the bed, curious as to what it was they needed.
"Hey angel." Jack said as his head popped through the door before making his way into your bedroom, sitting down defeatedly onto the edge of your bed. He had a slight pout on his face, and bit his bottom lip nervously as he looked at you.
"What's wrong, baby? Please tell me you didn't break anything down there." You said, a stern look plastered on your face.
"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just- uhm." He hesitated as he looked down, playing with the hem of his shirt instead of maintaining eye contact with you. Worry took over your features. What was he up to now?
"We were playing fifa forfeit, right. And Ben said I had to wax my legs if I lost-"
"Oh my god, Jack!" A releaved sigh left her lips. It was never gonna be anything serious with these boys anyway. She should've known better. "Did you lose, though? Please tell me you did."
He only nodded in response, and she let out a squeel as she fell back on the bed.
"That's hilarious, I was worried there for a second, but this is great."
"Don't get too excited. The boys asked if I'd ask you if you had any wax. But I just came up here to chat for a bit and then I'll go back down saying you didn't."
"Now, why would you do that?" She said as she looked at him with raised brows, challenging him.
"You know, I actually do have some strips left, I'd be more than happy to wax your legs. Besides, a bet is a bet, Jack. You can't just back down now." She smiled thriumphantly and he groaned in response.
"Why won't you just have my back with this?"
"Oh, I can wax your back too, no problem."
"Not what I meant sweetheart."
"I know." She smiled cheekily as she leaned forward to kiss his cheek, before telling him she'd be downstairs in a bit with all the necessities to wax his legs.
"Hey boys!" She hollered as she rushed down the stairs with her wax kit, the boys looking up at her. Jack was already sitting on the chaise longue with his legs up. His shorts ridden up a bit more than usual to expose his muscular thighs. The others sitting next to him on the couch, ready for the action that was about to unfold.
"Ready, babe?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him as she sat down her kit.
"Oh I sure am!" Ben replied with a big boyish smile on his face.
"I'm sure you are, Ben." She chuckled as she ruffled his hair. He'd usually have it gelled back whenever he had a game, but kept it natural and curly when he came around theirs. It was her favourite look of his, perhaps partly because she could mess with his hair more easily.
"I remember when I had this done, hurts like hell. Good luck bro!" Mason interjected, patting Jack's shoulder in mock-sympathy.
"Yeah, I cannot wait to see you cry like a baby. I love you for coming up with this, Ben."
"Babe!" He whined. "You're supposed to support me here."
"Well I am supporting you, I'm the one waxing you. Trust me, you do not want to have this done by someone who has no idea what they're doing." You said as you warmed up a few strips of wax between your hands.
"Seconded." Declan replied with a serious face. Everyone looked at him in confusion; he had never told them about getting waxed before, but it sounded like an intriguing story.
"I'm not even gonna ask, mate." Jack said. Horror stories would not make this experience any more bearable for him. It left Dec pretending to be upset, eager to tell the - no doubt ridiculous - story.
"Alright, I'm gonna get these on." You interrupted their banter, tearing the strip to reveal the sticky substance underneath.
She put the strips on his leg as the boys chatted away. Just as she was putting the fourth strip on, Jack swatted her hand away.
"You have to put all those on?" He questioned her.
"Well the forfeit did say 'legs'. As in, both legs. Completely." Declan argued.
"I did say that. But that's a bit too harsh innit?"
"Yeah, there's already three strips on now, let's see how he gets through those first." Mason offered.
"Will hurt like hell with that much hair." Declan hit Jack's leg for emphasis.
"No doubt." You laughed as you smoothed out the strips once more.
"Ready, Jack?" You asked as you hold the edge of one of the strips, ready to pull it off.
"Wait, wait I gotta film this!" Declan was quick to exclaim as he took out his phone, much to Jack's dismay, who had his hands in front of his face as he waits for the inevitable pain of ripping off the strips.
"Alright, 3. 2. 1!" The boys count down in unison as you rip off the first strip.
"Jesus, Y/N!" An array of curses leave Jack's mouth as he yelps, gripping his leg in pain, his eyes wide with shock. Clearly he had underestimated how much this was really going to hurt, which has all of you rolling over with laughter. Mason is gripping his stomach as he's sitting on the floor, barely able to breathe between his giggles. You're trying to ease Jack's mind and soothingly rub the sensitive skin on his leg, but you're shaking too much from the laughter leaving your lips.
"Oh my lord, and look at the hair that's come off!" Declan hollers as he takes a step closer to properly film the strip that was, indeed, covered in Jack's leg hair. You held it up for the camera as you shrieked at the sheer amount of hair. It's like a lion's mane got glued on the strip.
"Jeez, Jack, you hairy lad." Declan laughs, which earns a grumble from dissatisfied boy. You're pretty sure if Dec wasn't responsible for filming the whole ordeal, he'd be on the ground just as Mason was.
"Oi, what are you crying for, mate? I'm the one in pain here." Jack points a finger accusingly at Ben, and when you turn around you see he has tears in his eyes, breathing coming out in desperate gasps as he shakes his head no, signalling he can't take any more of this banter. It seemed like everyone had at least slightly calmed down, but looking at Ben made everyone burst out in laughter yet again. Mason had tears streaming down his face now too, and you're sure he might piss his pants if he laughs any louder. It even makes Jack chuckle.
"Just get it over with, alright. I don't wanna be in pain any longer." Jack asks you nonetheless, guiding your hand to one of the other strips.
"It can't be that bad." Ben's voice is higher than usual from his earlier laughing fit, but he's wiping the tears from his eyes as he seems to have calmed down considerably. Mason can only nod in confirmation, still unable to form words without giggling.
"I have no problem waxing you lot too, babes." You smile up cheekily at them, which results in loud protests from the boys.
"Now that I would love to see." Jack replies, before looking down at his leg and rubbing the spot that was now rid of any hairs. "Perhaps this would be funnier if there weren't two other strips on me leg." He sighed in despair, staring at his leg with sad eyes. It made you chuckle, but seeing Jack's stern look dericted at you, you quickly focused on the task at hand.
"Alright, next one Jack."
"Lord have mercy."
The next strips don't have any other effect than the first one. It sends all of you rolling on the floor laughing, and Jack with tears in his eyes and red skin on his leg. Dec leaves the room at one point because he genuinely can't breathe, and Mason has to sprint to the bathroom, like you predicted. Meanwhile your hands get shakier and shakier from laughing, and you can barely see what you're doing due to the tears prickling at the corner of your eyes. Jack's decided to rip the last strip off himself, and you're shrieking with laughter as he pulls at it but chickens out from the pain, resulting in it only coming off halfway. When it is finally off, and all the hairy strips are disposed of, everyone slowly but certainly calms down. You're getting some lotion from upstairs to soothe the stinging, and when Ben orders pizza, it all seems long gone.
Yet when you're watching tv, and Mason steals a sneaky glance at Dec, the both can't help but try - and fail - to surpress their giggles.
It's how the rest of the night continued until the three other boys finally left in the late hours of the night.
"I'll clean, love. Get in bed and I'll see you in a bit, yeah?" Jack's offering once they're gone, and you're accepting gratefully as you kiss his cheek. The night was fun, but the laughing fits had you beyond tired.
So when Jack slips into bed next to you, you're already in bed with your eyes closed, dozing off.
"Hey, babe."
"Hm?" You mumble as you open your eyes at Jack's whisper.
"Wanna feel my leg?" He asks, but he's already draping his freshly waxed leg over your legs, wiggling his eyebrows at you.
You've known the guy long enough to know that he won't stop bothering you if you decline, and the request makes you think of the many times you've asked him to feel your legs after - finally - shaving them again.
So you decide to humour him and softly carress his smooth leg.
"Feels pretty good, huh?" His voice cocky as he questions you.
"Sure, real smooth Jack."
"Wanna have sex with a sexy smooth beast like that?"
You snort loudly at his inappropriate request, shoving his leg off of you in a joking manner.
"Oh come on, don't tell me I went through all that for nothing!" He exclaims in agony.
"No, you went through all that because you suck at Fifa." You deadpan as you grin at him.
His eyes are darker as he watches you intently, and the knowing smirk on your face makes you apprehensive of what he's up to now. He's moving closer, hovering over you and effectively trapping you as his muscular arms hold himself up on either side of you. And next thing you know, he's placing a soft kiss on the corner of your mouth, before trailing down to your jaw. A gasp involuntarily leaves your lips as he nibbles at your earlobe.
"You know with how soft my leg is and all." He starts to whisper in your ear. His voice is husky and smooth - and normally you know what it means. But you have no clue where he's going with this sentence. "Would you mind if I-" And he's pausing again for dramatic effect as his lips graze over your hot skin. "Slitherin." He finally whispers in your ear, accentuating the 's'.
And just like that, you're back rolling over with laughter just like you had been that very afternoon.
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juletheghoul · 3 years
Text
Oblivius Chapter 4
Am I insane for posting another chapter? Yes. Am I doing it anyway? Yes. Should you message me about how you feel about Spills & Francis? YES!
(Got a song you want added to the playlist? send it to me!)
I've gotten so much love over this series and I cannot tell you how happy it makes me that you guys love these two idiots as much as I do. <3
(Feo means ugly in Spanish but it can be used as a term of endearment between [male] friends)
Likes & reblogs are appreciated
Frankie Morales x F!Reader
Pairing: Frankie x F!Reader
Word Count: 2.2K
Warnings: Angst, yearning, 18+ language, alcohol (Spills gets wasted)(Please let me know if I forget anything)
Masterlist Series Masterlist Part 3 Part 5 Playlist
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Age: 17
“No Francis I don’t wanna watch this - I’m gonna get scared.” It was late, you were both sitting in his cozy living-room, a big shit-eating grin on his face.
“Why, are you chicken? It’s just The Shining, it's not even scary.” He put it on and despite your protests, he settled and let the movie play, You gave him a pout.
“Okay if you really don’t want to I’ll change it you big baby.” He rolled his eyes to grab the remote but you stopped him.
“Promise you’ll walk me home?” You knew it was one of his favourites. He smiled wide.
“Of course! If it’s too much I'll change it.” He gave you most of the blanket that was draped over his legs and you sat very close to him. He was taller than you remembered him being, having gone through a growth spurt over the summer and he towered over you now. All knees and elbows.
When the room scene came on you burrowed your face into his neck and he wrapped an arm around you, you were so pretty. Your hair smelled so good and he buried his nose into the messy bun you wore. You practically clawed at him, trying to get closer - he made you feel safe.
“Is it still scary?” You spoke into his neck.
“Yes - don’t look yet, just a little longer.”
----------------------------------------------
**Present Day**
Pope was holding up a shot-glass full of something and there were shots lined up for the three of you when you walked in.
“Catfish, I never thought it would happen for you feo, but I’m glad it did. Claudia, he’s lucky to have you.” He raised his shot glass and a chorus of ‘To Frankie and Claudia’ rang out before everyone tipped the liquor back.
The burn in the back of your throat couldn’t just be from the tequila, you’d swallowed a lump. You’d forced back the tears stinging your eyes when he dipped her back to kiss her. With her laughing and grabbing his neck they were the picture of romance and the smile you had plastered to your face must have looked manic. Popes eyes caught yours then and his eyebrows raised, a question in his features that you couldn’t quite read but he looked away and left you with your thoughts.
-
You got very drunk. Fall-down drunk. Forget about everything drunk.
“Spills, I think you should stop - you’re going to feel like hell tomorrow.” He was softly taking the shot out of your hand and you tried to fight him but his grip was iron.
“St-op t-telling me wh-what to do Francisco.” You tried to take it back but it seemed like the floor was coming up to say hi. An iron grip around your middle stopped you from losing a couple of teeth.
“Jesus Spills, okay - that’s enough. I’m cutting you off.” He held onto you and you wanted nothing more than to turn around and kiss him but you also wanted to throw up. Decisions decisions.
“I-think-imgonnabesick…” you brought your hand up to your mouth and part of you expected him to let go but he didn’t.
“Take a deep breath, it’s okay, Pope can you get me some water?” He was holding onto you, rubbing soothing circles onto your back and you tried to focus on his hands on you as the whole room spun dangerously. A few minutes later he was holding a cold glass of water to your lips. “Drink the whole thing, I'm going to hold it because if you spill it I'll kill you.” You chugged it down and he put it on the table.
“When did you get so strong, Francis?” Your words were slurred and you felt his chest rumbling with laughter at your question. “You smell so good.” You said it lower- more to yourself, but he heard and the laughing stopped.
“Oh no! Are you okay Spills?” Claudia was there now, her hands pulling your hair away from your face and before you could succumb to the urge to tell her never to call you that Frankie spoke up.
“She’s okay, just need to get her home. You’re okay right, Spills?” His voice was lower, so soothing you could fall asleep to it.
“Hey Frankie, you and Claudia should stay, tell me where she lives and I’ll get her home.” It was Pope, Frankie must have trusted him immensely because before you knew it he was putting you into the front seat of Pope's rental and buckling you in. Claudia was tying your hair back and putting your purse into your lap.
“Be careful please - this is her address, just make sure she gets in and lays face down. There should be a bucket somewhere in her bathroom - water and some aspirin on her night table.” Frankie was talking as you closed your eyes. When you opened them you were parked in front of your place.
“Hey honey, come on let's get you inside. I’m just going to look for your keys, okay?” Pope was taking your purse out of your lap. You nodded vaguely.
He helped you in and guided you to your bed. You could feel him taking off your shoes and throwing the blanket over you.
-----
Someone is driving an ice-pick into my skull.
The light was intense and you swore out loud when you cracked an eye open. You stretched and felt a piece of paper beside you on the bed.
“I locked your door - keys are in your mailbox. Drink the water - take the ibuprofen. Let Catfish know you’re okay when you wake up- he was worried. - Pope”
You groaned.
[Francis]: Spills, are you okay?
[Francis]: Can you answer me please?
[Francis]: Don’t tell me you’re still asleep? What, are you a teenager? Getting drunk and sleeping until 4pm????
[Francis]: Sorry Spills, just worried - can you please let me know you’re okay before I show up?
You could see the three little dots signalling that he was in the middle of typing another message and you quickly called him to stop him.
“Jesus, it’s about fucking time.” He sounded worried and relieved and it pulled on your heart strings in a way you both loved and hated.
“Stop yelling Francisco, I am begging you.” You threw your arm over your eyes to block out the light as you lay there, in yesterday's clothes. You didn’t even want to know what you looked like right now.
“Feeling all that tequila aren’t you? I haven’t seen you that drunk for a long time.” You could hear the faint smile in his voice.
“Yes yes I know - so fucking embarrasing. Did I do.. Or say anything..?” You were trying to ask him without asking him.
“You almost threw up, but if you’re asking me if you started table-dancing you’re good.” He laughed and you sighed with palpable relief. All you needed was for him to tell you that you’d confessed your love or told Claudia to fuck off.
“Thank god. That would have been all I needed. Can you tell Pope I said thanks? Okay, I'm going to go shower for a million years now.” You wanted to hang up, your head was pounding and you needed a few hours of silence and about a gallon of water.
“Okay - see you in a few hours.” You didn’t want to deal with both of them together, not with how you felt right now.
“No Francis I don’t want to entertain, I already embarrassed myself enough yesterday.”
“It’s just me coming and I’ve seen you much worse. I haven’t been home in a long time so, take a shower and do what you have to do and I'll be there at seven.” He hung up and you could have thrown your phone across the room.
Fuck.
---
The knock at the door at exactly seven didn’t surprise you.
What did surprise you was how nervous you were that he would be coming over.
You were literally attached at the hip at one point, he’s seen you at your worst.
“You’re looking much better than you did last night, Spills.” He laughed as he walked past you and into your home.
“Oh god.” You groaned as he laughed, why had you been nervous? You watched him as he set down the bags of what looked to be way too much food on your kitchen counter. Grabbing napkins and forks - completely at ease within your space. “What did you bring?” moved to peak into the bags.
“Chinese - “ He looked to see your eyes wide and the big toothy smile you were giving him and laughed. “Did you think I’d forget you always get Chinese when you’re hungover?” He laughed as he took out what looked to be all your favourites.
“You’re a lifesaver Francis, truly.” You were practically bouncing on the balls of your feet as you served yourself.
“I know, I’m practically a saint.” He walked over to your couch and plopped down, an egg-roll in his mouth as he turned on your TV and looked for something to watch. This was it - this was how it was supposed to be.
This was easy.
He had come over in comfy clothes and seeing him on your couch in sweats and a soft flannel was almost too much. His hair had gotten longer than he had worn it before he went away and it looked so soft; practically begged for your fingers.
“Are you still a baby about horror movies?” He asked without looking at you, you saw that he had put on some cheesy zombie movie. A big smile on his face.
“No, I’m okay, as long as you check every single corner of this place before you leave.”
“God I love horror movies, Claudia hates them so we never end up watching.” He sighed. Her name cut through the air like a knife. An ice cube casually dropped into your shirt.
“That’s too bad.” You quickly shoved food into your mouth, stopping yourself from saying anything you’d regret but he knew you too well. He looked at you then, eyes narrowing a fraction.
“Do you like her?” He asked, point blank and your eyes widened at him.
Fuck, don’t make me answer this right now.
“Yeah, she’s great.” To your credit, you tried. You really tried to sound genuine.
“Why don’t you like her Spills?” He sighed heavily, putting his plate down onto your coffee table to face you properly.
“What are you talking about? I said she was great!” You could feel the flush creeping up your neck and licking at your face at the lie. She was great, that wasn’t a lie - you just didn’t like her.
“Seriously? You’re going to act like I can’t tell you’re lying through your teeth? Just tell me! I’m going to marry this girl. I have to know why you don’t like her.” He had a little frown on his face and you could see that he was worried, but what would he have to be worried about? Worried you’d picked up on something he’d missed maybe?
“I just don’t know her, Francis, that’s all. There’s nothing wrong with her, you know I'm just weird. She seems really nice and I’m sure I’ll like her once I get to know her better.” You smiled at him sadly, you didn’t want to talk about her anymore.
He smiled back at you and picked up his plate, happy with your explanation.
---
It always seemed to happen this way, ever since you’d been teenagers. He’d put on something scary and you would end up with your face buried into his chest.
“Oh god - that is disgusting!” You shut your eyes as he laughed, his chest rumbling underneath you at a particularly gruesome scene. You felt his hand rubbing your arm, and it was such a comfort that you sighed lightly. The words bubbled up without your permission.
“I missed this.” You felt him rest his chin on the crown of your head.
“Me too Spills, I always missed this while I was away, missed you.” He spoke into your hair, you could feel his breath ghosting along your scalp and your heart raced, you wanted nothing more than to turn and kiss him. His hand stilled, and you felt his heart beating under your ear. You wanted to do it, your whole body seemed to tense with want and you turned slightly to look at him through your lashes. He was already staring at you, his mouth was so close.
His phone rang, snapping him out of his trance and you moved away from him reluctantly.
“Hey babe, what’s up?” He smiled apologetically. “Just take a deep breath, it’ll be okay. I’m on my way.” He hung up and gave you a look that said I’m sorry. “Gotta go, wedding emergency.” He sighed heavily as he got up, taking both your plates to the kitchen with him.
You wanted him to stay, you wanted to grab him and sit him back down on the couch and straddle him. Grab the soft material of the flannel while you kissed him but you didn’t. Instead you smiled and thanked him for coming and for the food.
He made his way through the apartment before he left, opening every door.
“Just checking every corner, so you can sleep.” He smiled.
I love you too.
————————————
Tag list: @frannyzooey @foli-vora @danniburgh @sambucky21 @greeneyedblondie44 @lola4pedro @mouthymandalorian @221bshrlocked @artsymaddie @supernaturalgirl @sleep-tight1 @softdindjxrin @wheresarizona @sherala007 @freak-nasty-thick-dick-mando @marydjarin @cannedsoupsucks @thirstworldproblemss @ilikechocolatemilkh @lori-tovar @freeshavocadoooo @hrk-fic-recs @greeneyedblondie44 @maxwell--lord @princessxkenobi @the-feckless-wonder @kirsteng42 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @thisshipwillsail316 @feministfanboi @dihra-vesa @gaiuswrites @stevie75 @sweet-creature98 @readsalot73 @tobealostwanderer @elegantduckturtle @diogodxlot @alczysz17 @evyiione @absurdthirst @beskarboobs @andruxx @littlemissoblivious @1800-fight-me @goldielocks2004 @maievdenoir @gracie7209 @omlwhatamidoinghere @bellaorisa @hellovanessax
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dollslayer · 3 years
Note
Please continue the Scandal-based Steve fic, you write the best angst ever!!!!
A/N: As you wish! Thank you so much for reading, hope this is up to par 💖 (ps- if you commented on the first one I'm tagging you for this follow up, no permanent tags tho don't worry!)
Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader, Steve Rogers x Peggy Carter
Warnings: pseudo-cheating, angst, alcohol consumption, swearing, love triangle, secret relationship
Part One HERE I Main Masterlist
It’s been an entire week since you walked out on Steve. He never did find the words to tell you that he wasn’t going to leave Peggy, but you never found the words to explicitly leave him, either. You were both in a game of chicken that you’d unknowingly started and neither of you had found the courage to finish it.
It was so easy when you were swept up in the moment, a storm of anger and hurt that finally came to a breaking point. But now you were past it and found yourself lost. The only thing making you feel better was seeing that Steve was having just as hard a time as you were. He wasn’t as outgoing, he was making dumb mistakes, he was off his game. You didn’t necessarily want Steve to suffer but it was reassuring in some way, to know that he felt anything for you. You just wanted this entire mess to be over.
But when the mess was over, what would you want to come of it? Do you even want to be with Steve any more? Or do you just not want him to be with Peggy? Thinking it through, what you felt for Steve was real, real enough to pull on your heartstrings and real enough to hurt. After all of the grief that Steve has caused you you’re not sure that you could properly forgive him. Maybe over time but you couldn’t see yourself trying to rebuild your relationship when the two of you had so much else to focus on.
So now you were caught in some sort of relationship purgatory because you were too afraid to end it. And he was too much of a coward to admit he’s been in the wrong this whole time. Honestly you can’t justify Steve’s actions on any level when it came down to it. His men are in the midst of war and fighting Hydra and he really thinks that a relationship is going to be their saving grace and reassurance? Bull.
On some level, no matter how deep it is, Steve saw something for her that he didn’t see in you and he felt some affection for her. Maybe saying that the relationship was just a front was his way of covering his real feelings for her. But he’d be damned if he thought he could have his cake and eat it too. You’d spent many a night cycling through this thought process and ending up right where you started.
Getting nowhere in your deliberating you decided to bury yourself in your work. You’d always felt that it was fulfilling work, you helped civilians and military alike with your work and you were damn good at it. So you plunged head-first into your codebreaking and strategy-forming and put your in-limbo relationship on the back burner.
Throwing yourself head first into work turned out to be in your best interest for the time being. The last two missions had been a success but per usual, you had gone unrecognized. That’s fine, you didn’t need to be patted on the back every time you excelled but every once in a while it would be nice. And thanks to your codebreaking, once again, you find yourself stuck in the corner of the dingy pub you had lost your mind in just a week ago. Unappreciated. Or so you thought.
You sat back thinking Steve wasn’t under Peggy’s thumb this time but he was trying his best to make the most of the moment over a pint with the rest of the commandos. And you were back in what was becoming your usual corner of the pub, sipping on a dry red wine. It was bitter on your tongue but after the week you’ve had you needed a drink, even if it meant seeing them.
“You did good back there, thank you” Bucky’s voice shook you from your thoughts. “Okay if I sit?”
You were so caught off guard by anyone really speaking to you, let alone praising you that you couldn’t find anything to say. You just stared at Bucky with wide eyes before nodding slowly. He settled into the chair next to you and took a swig from his bottle.
“You know, on the outside you don’t seem like you’re gonna be much but when you put yourself to work… it’s somethin’ else. You’re a natural.” Bucky told you.
“Um, thanks, I guess?” You brushed off the compliment to give him one of your own, “We wouldn’t be sitting here right now if it weren’t for you all. I’m just some codebreaker, you’re the one doing the leg work”
“Give yourself some credit, you deserve it.” Bucky patted you on the shoulder and for the first time in weeks you felt a spark of genuine happiness. You shyly smiled up at Bucky and took a sip of your wine.
“So, you wanna tell me what’s got Steve snappin’ his cap at everyone? You two break up?”
Your eyes rounded in surprise. You were so sure that no one had known. You were so sure Steve didn’t want anyone to so it didn’t occur to you that Bucky might’ve known.
“Did… Steve tell you? About us?”
“Didn’t have to. I ran after him to talk a few weeks ago and found you two smoochin’”
Your face heated in slight embarrassment but you nodded in understanding.
“I just… it’s not fair that he should show her off like she’s his sweetheart while I’m treated like some dirty secret. I gave him a piece of my mind and he wasn’t able to cope. But I don’t know where this leaves us. He didn’t split but there’s just no way we could go on like this.”
Bucky looked a little miffed but grunted in affirmation. He shook his head and clenched his jaw.
“I knew he and Peggy weren’t for real but what he’s been doin’ to ya ain’t right. Sorry Steve’s been such a knucklehead. My two cents, you go back to him and confront him. And if he’s too much of a punk to see what he’s got you walk.”
You shakily exhale and take another gulp before setting your palms flat against the table.
“Easier said than done, but you’re right”
“I love him, he’s my brother but forget him if he’s too much of a jerk to know what he’s got. But for now let’s just get pleasantly drunk, whaddya say?”
Rather than giving him an answer you downed the rest of your glass and put it down on the table. Bucky was looking at you with a toothy grin.
“Atta girl”
____
The evening had been as promised, you were pleasantly drunk and for the first time in weeks you were letting yourself enjoy the moment. Bucky was funny and kind to you when no one else had even batted an eye and you found yourself grateful for his company that night.
You were humming to yourself as you walked back to your room but just when you reached for the door a hand reached out for your wrist. You didn’t need to look up to know that the hand belonged to Steve. You denied yourself the comfort you found in physical contact and reminded yourself of the situation. You sighed and looked up to him expectantly.
“You and Buck? Just what the hell’s going on?” Steve demanded.
“Oh so now you want to talk to me? You only care now that you’re not my main focus?” You shot right back at him. You swayed slightly, tipsy still from the wine.
Steve’s jaw tensed and he schooled his features though you could tell he was simmering on the inside.
“No”, he said calmly, “I just wanted to know. If you’re trying to make me jealous it’s not going to work.”
“Well I wasn’t trying but apparently it is working.”
Steve’s hands balled into fists and you could see veins beginning to spout in his hands. He didn’t say anything so you continued.
“I give you an ultimatum and tell you how much you’ve hurt me and you only come back once I turn my attention to your best friend? He’s the only one that’s said a nice word to me this whole time. The rest have been caught up in the lie you’ve been spinning with Peggy!”
Your anger was getting the better of you but you were letting it. Anger got you through it the first time, it’ll get you out no matter how it ends.
“That’s not fair-”
“You’re not fair, Steve. The way you’ve been treating me, it isn’t right! I gave you a choice and you’ve been dragging your feet. I’m going to ask you one more time, Steve. Me? Or Her?”
Steve was silent again, you could tell he wasn’t thinking about what he wanted, but he was forming an answer. Deep down you knew it would come to this. He’s never going to hold your hand in public, there’s never going to be an apartment in Brooklyn, there’s never going to be an us between you. Maybe there never was.
Steve started to call your name but you shook your head and scrunched your eyes closed in a mixture of frustration and pain. Tears were welling in your eyes but you’d be damned if Steve Rogers would see a single one fall. He doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t deserve you, he never did.
“I’m sorry…” Steve offered lamely.
“No, you’re not.” Maybe that wasn’t fair of you to say, Steve did look to be in genuine emotional pain over this but right now you didn’t care. If he had felt any true remorse he wouldn’t have let himself get anywhere with Peggy in the first place.
“I really did want all of that with you, I still do. We could still have it, we just need to get through this, please.”
You shook your head and started ushering him towards the door.
“No, Steve. That’s all gone now. You had your chance but I’m worth more than how you treat me.”
You opened the door and waited for him to leave.
“I think you should go. I don’t have anything left to say to you.”
With that Steve sighed heavily but left with his head hung between his shoulders. You could’ve sworn he was crying but you didn’t care if he was. He made this happen and he didn’t treat you right. So this is what happened.
Tears finally make their way down your face but you don’t feel sad. It’s cathartic almost, like a weight lifted. You’d probably put in for a transfer with the SSR just to save the team the grief but for now you’d keep your head down, keep working. Damn Steve Rogers for not seeing in you what you saw in yourself and damn anyone else that didn’t either.
232 notes · View notes
sleepysnk · 3 years
Text
hey hey! i'm back with some stuff for Eren because tbh i really liked this scenario. this kind of makes me happy because i feel like this happens often, and ngl, i see Eren kind of like this? not exactly sure, but i hope you guys enjoy! 🖤
Ditched
Pairings: Eren Jaeger x Fem!Reader
Warnings: Slight angst, mentions of cheating, mentions of alcohol, fluff at the end
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A sigh came from Eren's mouth as he leaned up against the wall at the party he was currently at.
He got invited to this party that Reiner was hosting, of course Eren wasn't going to say no to a party, and Reiner being his friend he couldn't necessarily deny it would be bad. Reiner always threw some bangers and knew how to get all kinds of people to come. It was no lie to say Reiner was like a damn celebrity.
Eren on the other hand, wasn't having the greatest time.
He was waiting for someone. More specifically, Mina Carolina.
Eren and Mina had been talking for a few weeks and the two were starting to get to a point where they could reach a serious relationship, and Eren figured he'd invite her to the party. He genuinely liked her, but recently she started acting way different towards Eren. She became more dry and only interested in what Eren had to... offer. His friends explained that maybe she was just going through something, but something in his gut told him that things weren't right.
Here he was now, waiting for about 30 minutes or so. She still hadn't replied, nor showed up. It slightly made Eren's heart feel heavy, he felt like he had his time wasted.
He looked down at his phone, going to her messages.
8:28 <-Eren: hey i'm here
8:35 <-Eren: did you get the address?
8:47 <-Eren: Mina? where are you?
8:51 <-Eren: are you even coming?
9:01 <-Eren: hello??
Read: 9:05 P.M.
Eren clicked his phone off, placing it in his pocket after realizing she most likely wasn't showing up. Another disappointment in a talking stage, he was certain Mina was a nice girl. She was introduced to him Sasha, she never said anything bad about Mina. For one, Sasha always talked Mina up to Eren, but he guessed she wasn't into it anymore.
"Hey Eren! Did she show up?" Connie yelled over the loud music. "We've got some sick jello shots!" he said, smiling excitedly at him.
Eren didn't even feel excitement anymore, he just felt upset. His whole mood just crashed and he wanted nothing but to go home and sleep, maybe a nap would do him some good, or maybe some McDonald's.
"I think I'm gonna head home!" Eren shouted back, looking at Connie.
Connie nodded. "Are you sure?! Did she ditch you or something?!" he asked, looking around to find the black-haired girl who was no where to be seen.
"I guess so!" he yelled, looking at the time on his phone.
Eren felt the fullness of his bladder from the alcohol he consumed. He needed to pee before he leaves or he'll explode.
"Hey where's the bathroom!?" Eren asked, shouting at Connie.
He rubbed the back of his head. "Upstairs! Third door on the left!" he yelled, turning to walk away. "Drive safe by the way!" he added, walking away.
Eren shoved his phone back in his pocket and made his way up the long stairs to find the bathroom, his ears having a slight ring from going further away from the loud music that blasted below him.
As he made his way up the steps, he passed different people drunkenly falling down the stairs, or couples who were eating each other's faces. Making him cringe as he passed by as he heard the soft kissing noises coming from them. Gross.
He passed the multiple doors, hearing soft moans from girls who decided that hooking up with college guys was a good idea, or he heard different people yelling at those who were taking shots or hanging around in those usual smoke circles with marijuana.
"Third door on the left.." Eren said to himself as he stopped in front of the bathroom door which was shut.
The light was on and someone was clearly using it, so he decided to just wait for whoever was in there to come out. Eren kept looking at his phone as he waited, a few people passing by him and heading into the bedrooms. He assumed they were going in there to do the usual.
After about 10 minutes of waiting, Eren was starting to get antsy. Why the hell was someone in the bathroom for this long? He thought the person could be sick or maybe two people decided to go and hookup in the bathroom.
He decided to just knock, approaching the door he used his finger to knock on the door.
"Yo! Open the door! I gotta pee," he said, leaning against it so whoever was in there could hear him.
No response.
He sighed, whoever was in there clearly heard him, because he heard shifting behind the door.
"Look, just open the damn door. A line is going to form soon," Eren said, knocking once again on the door.
No response once again.
Eren decided to just say fuck it and open the door. He hesitated a bit and put his hand on the knob, nobody was really around to see him. He looked around and turned the knob which was unlocked, pushing it open he was faced with a girl.
She was leaning against the sink, a red solo cup next to her. Eren took in her features noticing dark mascara smudged around her eyes, along with tears going down her face.
The girls head snapped towards him. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry... um, I was just in here. Were you trying to come in?" she asked, wiping the tears from her cheeks.
Eren stood there for a moment taking in her appearance. "No don't worry.. um my bad for slamming the door open. I just needed to pee," he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "Why are you crying? If you don't mind me asking," he asked, looking at her puffy eyes.
She sniffed. "Um.. it's really stupid, especially telling a stranger. I'm sorry, also don't apologize for coming in. I didn't hear you, I'm gonna go now." she said, grabbing her items.
Eren felt guilt washing over him noticing how sad she looked, she had nobody around her. Usually when he found girls crying at parties they were surrounded by their friends, but she was alone. Something about it didn't sit right with Eren, and he wanted to know what was up with her.
"Wait!" Eren said, stopping the girl in her tracks.
She looked back with her brows furrowed. "Huh?" she said.
He looked away and then back at her. "Look I know I may not know you, but you seem really upset right now, and I know how it feels to be alone. If I can, I'd like to know why you're crying in a bathroom." he replied, crossing his arms.
The girl stopped and stood, looking down at the floor. "Um.. well, it's a lot and I feel like it'd just bother you really. I need to call an Uber anyway," she said, going onto her phone. "Thank you really but it'd just burden you," she added.
Eren leaned against the door frame. "You had a shitty night and so did I, least I can do is help you out. Of course no force," he said, shrugging.
She thought for a second. Maybe he was just trying to be nice? He didn't seem like a creep, considering he didn't seem dressed to impress anybody.
"Um sure I guess..." she replied, putting her phone away.
Eren was surprised at her answer. "I need to pee first if you don't mind," he said, smiling a bit.
She felt a small smile grow onto her lips as she moved outside the bathroom. "Take your time," she replied, leaning against the wall outside the bathroom.
Eren finished his business and exited the bathroom. He saw the girl standing outside, she seemed to be in deep thought.
"Let's go," Eren said, taking his keys out of his pocket and heading down the stairs.
The girl slowly followed behind him as he made his way outside, she felt the cooler air hit her skin causing her to shiver. She totally forgot how chilly the air was, rubbing her arms for warmth she stopped noticing the car he walked up to. He had a nice car, tinted windows, freshly clean, he seemed to know how take care of it.
"Hop in," he said, unlocking the passenger side door.
She got in and shut the door, feeling the cool leather of his seats go up against her skin. Making her shiver and goosebumps litter onto her skin.
Eren couldn't help but notice how nervous she seemed, he wasn't a creep. He didn't have bad intentions with her at all, she just seemed to be having a bad night, so he wanted to be of some help. Even if she didn't ever speak to him again.
"I know you're nervous and I know what you're thinking, but trust me I'm not going to do anything bad to you. I just wanted to be a cool person and help you out, since you were crying and you were by yourself." Eren said, breaking the silence between them.
She nodded, swallowing thickly. "I see.. what's your name?" she asked, nodding.
"Eren.. and you?" he asked, turning on the car to heat it up.
"(Y/N)," she replied, putting her seatbelt on as he began to drive his car away from the house.
Her name was pretty to Eren.
"Do you want to get some McDonald's? I don't know about you but food makes me feel better," he said, throwing a smile her way.
(Y/N) looked his way and smiled a bit. "Yeah.. sure, um I can pay for myself," she said, searching through her small purse she had with her.
Eren looked over. "Nah don't worry about it. I can pay for ya," he replied, turning into the McDonald's. "What do you want?" he asked, looking into her (e/c) eyes.
She pondered for a moment on what she wanted. "Chicken nuggets," she replied, giggling a bit.
Eren shot her a toothy smile. "Those are my favorite so I'm gonna get the same," he said, turning to the drive-thru.
He ordered their food and gave the bag to her as he drove to one of the empty parking spaces. She felt a bit more comfortable with him now, he seemed chill. She was starting to trust him, she felt relieved knowing he wasn't trying to do anything weird or dangerous.
Eren looked at her before putting the car in park. "Alright, let's get snacking." he said, removing his seatbelt.
(Y/N) gave the bag to him, moving her body so she was against the door. She removed her seatbelt and watched as Eren tossed her chicken nuggets. She put it on the armrest between them, and watched as he started eating.
"Thank you... for the food," she said, looking up at him.
Eren looked up and nodded. "Oh yeah, no problem! Party food was the worst, I drank too so I wanted something to eat." he replied, taking a sip of his drink.
(Y/N) started to eat her food and the two chatted about things. Getting to know each other, which made her feel a little more comfortable. They actually went to colleges that were close by, and they knew a few of the same people.
"Then this one time I almost poured the chemicals down the drain, and the teacher almost killed me!" Eren said, laughing at the memory. "I never saw a teacher more pissed off than ever," he added, rolling his eyes playfully.
She giggled a bit, looking down at her food. "Duh! That's like, one of the first things you learn in chemistry!" she replied, laughing even more.
He rolled his eyes once again, adjusting his bun. "So what? Sometimes you gotta live on the edge or whatever," he said, looking at the different cars driving past on the road. "Oh! By the way, what's your address? I'm sure you'll want to be home after this," he asked, taking his phone to open Maps.
(Y/N) looked over at him. "Oh! Um.. let me put it in," she replied, taking his phone from him. She felt a bit sad that it had to end, she kind of liked his vibe. He seemed chill and like a cool dude.
She handed his phone back to him after putting her address in. "Alright, you don't live too far. Let's get going," he said, putting his seatbelt on and starting the car.
"Wait!" she said, looking at him.
Eren stopped and furrowed his brows. "What's up? Did I do something?" he asked, nodding at her.
She looked away for a second. "Um.. Eren, do you have to drop me off right now?" she asked, avoiding his gaze.
He furrowed his brows in confusion. "I just figured you wanted to be home since it was late, why?" he asked.
(Y/N) sighed. "I just... um, would it be weird if we hung out a little longer? Of course we don't have to," she asked, nodding.
Eren smiled. "No that's not weird at all, just tell me where you wanna go," he said, looking at her.
She felt heat rush onto her cheeks seeing his smile, Eren was charming to (Y/N) and even though they just met, she enjoyed talking to him.
"Um.. just take me wherever! We can go anywhere," she replied, putting her seatbelt on.
Eren smirked. "Alright! I know where to go," he replied, putting the car in reverse and driving out of the parking lot.
-
The rest of the car ride was so much fun. Eren and (Y/N) jammed to music, cracked jokes, stopped for ice cream, and even told each other funny stories.
Eren pulled into this clearing on a hill, showing a view of the city and the highway. The lights in the distance gave a perfect view of everything. (Y/N) was surprised seeing such a pretty view, she never knew something like this ever existed. If she knew she'd come up here often, she was always a fan of views, and so was Eren.
"Let's go," Eren said, opening his car door and exiting his car.
(Y/N) followed and stood next to the hood of his car, which Eren was sitting on. She felt a bit awkward and shy in the moment.
"Oh.. my bad, my ass takes a lot of space. You don't have to sit," he said, giving a weak smile.
(Y/N) laughed a bit, climbing to sit next to him. She felt the metal on the back of her legs, causing her to shiver, as well as the cooler air that surrounded her.
"You cold?" Eren asked, looking at the way she was shivering.
She giggled a bit and nodded her head. "Y-Yeah.. my fault for wearing this," she replied, adjusting the skirt she was wearing.
Eren got off the hood of the car and went to the backseat, he grabbed a black cotton blanket he always kept back there. Sometimes before classes he would take a snooze in his car, and he used the blanket for warmth.
"Here.. I uh, take naps before class." he said, handing the blanket to (Y/N).
She reached for it, feeling his fingertips brush against hers, making small sparks come from his touch. His fingers felt.. warm. She wrapped the blanket around her frame, feeling the warmth surrounding her made her feel cozy.
"Thank you.. really, you didn't have to do this." she said, looking over at Eren.
He stared at the city lights. "It's no problem, you looked like you needed some cheering up anyway," he said, bumping his elbow into her arm.
(Y/N) looked into his green eyes which were twinkling in the light. "You never mentioned why your night was shitty," she said, nodding her head at him.
Eren felt the disappointment coming back to him about Mina. "O-Oh! Yeah, uh.. it's a lot really," he said, looking towards the girl. "I can tell you," he added.
She smiled. "I have time," she replied, adjusting herself a bit and wrapping the blanket around her a bit tighter.
Eren sighed, staring at the ground. "I got ditched tonight by a girl who I thought liked me. I was kind of stupid to ignore how she was acting, I guess in a way I should have taken the signs, but I liked her too much. She was supposed to join me tonight at the party but she never showed, so I guess that's the end of that," he said, shrugging his shoulders.
(Y/N) felt bad for him, nobody deserves to have that happen to them. Eren seemed like a nice guy to her as well, she couldn't exactly see why a girl would pass up on him.
"That's really mean... I couldn't imagine being ditched by a guy. I'd probably feel so embarrassed," she said, looking towards him. "How long have you guys been talking?" she asked.
"Three weeks? Almost maybe a month? I was planning on asking her out tonight too but I guess she had other plans," Eren replied, leaning on his elbows.
(Y/N) nodded, staring at the ground.
"Say... you never told me why you were crying, do you wanna talk about it? No force," he asked, leaning up to look at her face.
A frown formed onto her lips thinking about the events that occurred. "Yeah I feel like I need to vent," she replied, putting her knees to her chest.
Eren turned to face her. "Ready when you are," he said, giving her a reassuring smile.
Her smile grew as he looked at her. "Well um, my boyfriend- well now ex-boyfriend cheated on me a few weeks ago, he hooked up with someone I was close with. My friends brought me to that party to sort of 'let loose' in a way, then they ended up ditching me. I didn't know anybody there, so I just went to the bathroom and broke down." she explained, feeling a few tears well into her eyes.
Eren felt a tug at his heart hearing what she had to say. He couldn't imagine what she was going through right now, especially with her ex.
"I'm so sorry (Y/N), those people aren't your friends for sure. You should honestly stop talking to them," he said, crossing his arms.
She laughed a bit, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "It's just been hard you know? None of them seemed to care when he cheated on me, and they sort of just brushed my problems away." she said, shrugging her shoulders. "It sucks telling you this," she added.
Eren placed his hand on her wrist. "I get it, what you're going through is so difficult. Having people around who don't care are the worst and it sucks seeing you this way, you seem like a really cool girl! Well, from what I've seen anyway. That's besides the point, you're really cool and those people don't deserve you. Your ex is also an asshole too," he said, rolling his eyes.
She smiled a bit at his words. Nobody really said that kind of stuff to her before.
"Same goes to you, you seem like a nice guy, and whoever that girl was who ditched you, she's missing out." (Y/N) said, smiling at him.
Eren chuckled a bit. "I guess in a way we both had a shitty night, but it ended pretty great." he said, looking at the sky.
"Eren... thank you for everything. If you didn't find me in that bathroom I probably would be eating ice cream and sobbing to Twilight right now," she said, laughing a bit.
He smiled. "No problem (Y/N), if I didn't find you I'd probably be at home watching some stupid sports compilation," he said, laughing along with her.
(Y/N) leaned against the windshield. "Do you want to head back?" she asked, looking towards him.
He sat up, stretching a bit. "Yeah sure," he replied, standing up and heading towards the drivers seat of the car.
The two hopped in and drove back to (Y/N)'s apartment, the drive felt long, but their company kept each other in good moods.
Eren pulled into the parking area and looked towards (Y/N). "Tonight was fun," she said, smiling at him.
A smile grew onto his lips. "Yeah it was, you made tonight great." he replied, putting his car in park.
(Y/N) grabbed her stuff. "Well... thank you really, you made me feel a bit better. I appreciate you a ton," she said, unbuckling her seatbelt.
"Yeah, no problem at all," he replied, looking towards the front of the building.
He unlocked the car and watched her get out.
"Wait!" Eren said, stopping her in her tracks.
(Y/N) looked back at him. "What's up?" she asked, nodding a bit
Eren grabbed his phone from his pocket and handed it to her. "May I.. get your number?" he asked, smiling a bit at her as a blush formed onto his face.
She felt heat rush onto her cheeks, taking his phone in her hands. "Of course," she said, smiling as she entered her number into his phone. "Text me tonight, we should facetime." she added, handing his phone back to him.
Eren smiled, taking his phone back. "I'd love that," he replied, smiling again at her.
"See you then, and drive safe!" she said, closing his car door.
He watched as she entered her apartment building, Eren smiled to himself thinking about what happened tonight.
Who knew being ditched would lead to this?
542 notes · View notes
superhero--imagines · 3 years
Text
Part 12
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Part 1 Here! / Part 2 Here! / Part 3 Here! / Part 4 Here! / Part 5 Here! / Part 6 Here! / Part 7 Here! / Part 8 Here! / Part 9 Here! / Part 10 Here! / Part 11 Here!
* You stare at the blank ceiling, the smooth unblemished surface like freshly fallen snow
* you should really put some nudie posters up there or something to lighten the mood a little. 
* Light notes from the piano float around your room
* You sigh, so these are the facts as you know them:
* Edward is your best friend who has occasional bouts of brooding and flirtatious behavior.
* Bella is not albino, she has a lovely peach undertone, and a lovely grilled peach scent
* The entire coven has treated your attraction to this young lady’s blood like you got caught masturbating or wetting the bed or something
* “You don’t need to be embarrassed it’s a perfectly natural feeling.” Esme tells you while rubbing your shoulders
* “We’ve all been there” Rosalie reassures
* “Totally not a big deal, it happens to me everyday!” Jasper chimes in
* You wish sunlight hurt you so you could combust into flames on the spot
* The piano notes get louder, and you feel your mouth pinch into a frown.
* “Oh my god Edward! Read the room, I want brooding music!”
* Edward stops, up until then he had been playing a pretty cheerful Mozart piece
* You can tell he wants to ask why, you’ve been radiating joy non-stop since biology. But he decides against it
* “You really shouldn’t eat lying down.” He says as you sip blood while lying flat on your bed.
* “Okay dad.” You snort
* Edward starts to imagine what it would be like if you called him ‘daddy’
* All needy on top of him, your hands curled in fists against his chest, the breathy “daddy please” that leaves your mouth
* All of a sudden he’s ugly turned on
* “Ugh you’re no fun, I’m going to hang out with Rosalie”
* You leave the room and Edward has a total meltdown, is this what a kink is? Is he discovering a kink?!? At 100 years of age?!?!?!?
* Edward.exe is broken
* You don’t even make it to Rosalie’s room, you can smell them a mile away
* Broccoli, sugar and fat, and axe body spray. No peaches you realize with a sigh.
* They’ve only just barely rung the door bell when you open the door
* “Hey what are you guys doing here?”
* Jessica’s standing in front, looking pretty at ease, while Mike and Angela look equally uncomfortable.
* Makes sense, Jessica’s here all the time now either for homework or to watch TV.
* Mike and Angela haven’t been back since your sweet sixteen
* “How did you get down here so fast?”
* “I saw your car from upstairs” you say with a sheepish smile.
* You wish Alice would have given you a heads up, you weren’t planning on pretending to be human right now. Still you probably look raggedy enough right now in sweatpants and an oversized sweatshirt
* You can probably pull this sick thing off
* “We just wanted to check up on you, I heard from Mike and Angela you got sick during class.” And then in a more annoyed tone Jessica adds “And I guess you’re too sick to respond to all my texts and calls”
* Oh crap, where is your phone.
* You pat your pockets, and think when you saw it last
* “I left it in my locker” you smack your head. You told Edward to go grab your bag from class but you forgot your phone.
* “Hey don’t worry about it, I can get it for you tomorrow if you want.” Jessica rushes to your side and pats your arm. You shake your head
* “No I can get it myself, I’m fine I just ate something bad.” You mumble.
* You’re not missing school tomorrow. You would literally risk murder to smell Bella again.
* It’s not insatiable thirst like described in the books, more like a craving, like someone might have for nachos.
* It itches at you for a while, but if you just distract yourself long enough you can move on
* “Would you like to come in? I think Esme just baked cookies or scones or something.”
* Esme likes to bake for the smell and donate the food to the local shelter. That, or take it for her employees at her architectural firm in town.
* Firm is a loose word, she has maybe four employees, and they get one job a month, but it seems to make her happy.
* Angela and Mike give each other looks but Jessica perks up
* “Is she making those delicious earl grey scones again?” You sniff the air
* “I think she made some of that orange zest butter too”
* “Omg I am so happy you left your phone at school” Jessica giggles walking inside past you, you hear her greet Esme with a squeal
* “They really are good.” You tell them and your remaining human friends enter the house carefully
* “Soooo where is everyone?” Mike asks taking a look around your living room.
* “Ummm Rosalie’s in the garage, Alice is probably meditating on the roof, Emmett’s at swim practice, and Jasper’s probably at the barn.”
* “What about Edward?” Angela asks before Mike can ask about the barn
* Last you saw him he was playing the piano in your room, but it’s been a while since then
* “He’s probably in his room monologuing about the degradation of the American dream or something.”
* You lead them into the kitchen where Esme and Jessica are already deep in conversation about the wonder of her baking
* “-side is so light and fluffy, how do you get the tea flavor though”
* “Witchcraft.” Esme jokes, giving a full smile before putting another tray in the oven. Only Jessica laughs, the other two are too nervous to even sit down
* “Why don’t I teach you how when you come over next week.”
* Yeah you’re pretty sure Jessica is really only a fan of the “eating” and not of the “baking”
* You’re half surprised when she seems happy at the invitation. 
* “Oh that sounds great, I can’t wait for it!” Jessica’s practically beaming
* Where’s Edward when you need him? You wonder what her motivations are. 
* Jasper is not going to like this. He’s already irritated enough that he’s kicked out of his own house every Friday when Jessica comes over to watch arrested development
* Before you can say anything to Esme the conversation moves forward
* “Did you guys hear about that security guard that died in Mason county?”
* She’s just making small talk, you know that. But you and Esme instantly tense at the mention
* Carlisle had mentioned he thought there was a nomad wandering through, they were still far enough not to cause the coven immediate trouble, but anything that brought more attention to them was a disadvantage
* “My Dad says he heard from Chief Swan it was probably a wild animal attack” Mike mumbles over a bite of scone, you figured he would be the easiest to win over with food
* You hide a smile behind your hand, he really is like a golden retriever
* “What kind of a wild animal climbs stairs into a building” Jessica mumbles over another bite of scone. And maybe to fit in, or maybe because she’s always been a nervous eater, Angela takes a bite too.
* “Oh wow, these are really good” she murmurs
* Esme Cullen ladies and gentleman, winning the hearts of teenagers with baked goods since 19XX
* “Well you kids stay safe, stay together if you can.” She pats your head and you nod.
* You don’t know the details of the attack, you get the feeling Carlisle still see’s you as a kid and he doesn’t want to burden you.
* But assuming the small changes that have happened have nothing to do with the large changes, that means Laurent, James and Victoria will be passing through soon.
* Maybe it’s for the best Bella doesn’t get involved with Edward until later.
* You’d really like to not get all mixed up in the whole “James Thing” if you can help it.
* “Are you staying for dinner? I’m thinking of whipping up some pasta, maybe a chicken?” Esme looks to you, yeah you have no idea how she’s going to manage that. Besides the baking basics there’s no actually food in this kitchen. And the one upstairs is just for your blood bags.
* “(Y/N), do you think...Carlisle would mind if we used one of... his chickens?”
* His chickens? The only chickens in the house-
* “No Esme! My chickens are only for love and chicken snuggles” and their blood which tastes very leans yet rich. “Not to eat!”
* “It would just be one-we’ll eat your least favorite!”
* You’re really hoping this is her way of chasing the humans out because she doesn’t want to cook.
* “No- oh my god- we’re going to the diner come on!” You say tugging Jessica and Angela to stand.
* “It was great seeing you again Mrs. Cullen, see you next week!” Jessica shouts as the three of them follow you out.
* “Going out? Is that such a good idea it’s late and a school night.” Edward says as he descends down the stairs
* “Oh my god, yes Dad I’ll be home before my curfew.” You say before leaving, cue Edward crumbling onto the stairs as he imagines you calling him “daddy” again
* “I’m going to hell, I’m definitely going to hell.” He mumbles, his face in his hand.
* It’s a really short drive to the diner, also known as the only place to eat in Forks in the mid 2000’s. 
*There’s not even a McDonald’s. It’s almost sad
* And when you get there, while everyone moves ahead to the table you see a familiar face.
* “Oh, Hey Bella”
* Your eyes met and you figured it would be rude not to say anything. It looks like she’s here having dinner with her Dad. 
*She really does look like her dad, same eyes, same cheekbones.
* “Nice to see you again Chief Swan”
* “Nice to see you too, how’s Carlisle doing? Heard it’s been busy at the hospital.”
* “Yeah, it’s like he doesn’t sleep anymore.” You grin at your own joke.
* “Are you feeling alright now?” Bella asks, she looks genuinely concerned
* “Yeah, I um, made some questionable food choices at lunch.”
* There’s an awkward moment of silence. You get the impression that Chief Swan and his daughter are both the “strong silent” types.
* It looks like they’ve both finished eating already
* If you had known she was going to be here you would have made Edward come with you. 
* “Oh hey, do you want to join us for dinner?” It just seems like the friendly thing to do for the new girl, something on-brand with human character
* Definitely not because if you get on her good side now, maybe she won’t kick you out once her and Edward get married. 
*Father and daughter exchange a glance and the familiar connection they have makes you nervous. 
*“Of course you don’t have to, I know you’re here with your dad so-“
* “I’m sure Bella would love to join-“ Charlie says at the same time Bella says:
* “Wouldn’t it be kind of weird since I already ate.”
* Ah, so they’re not as in sync as you thought. 
* You give your best “Golden Girl - You can totally trust me with your daughter” smile.
* “I’m actually not eating either,” you place a hand over your stomach like a human might. “The uh, Clam Linguine is still haunting me, so I’m sticking to broth and sprite.”
* Why did you say Clam? You don’t even eat meat, it’s how you’ve been getting away with eating so little at lunch. 
* “not a lot of vegetarian choices” You say to your human friends who nod solemnly. 
* Father and Daughter exchange another look likening telepathic communication and they both move to stand
* “I’m going to finish up some paperwork at the precinct, don’t stay out to late.” Charlie says, leaning down to kiss his daughter on the forehead
* You watch with warm eyes and a small smile twitching onto your lips
* Bella is so loved.
* You can’t believe she’s willing to break her dad’s heart just so she can be 19 forever.
* Which, as you are 19 forever, you can fairly say is overrated
* “Hey guys Bella’s joining us.”
* Your female friends offer her a polite smile, you see Angela gaze flick from the menu to Bella’s face. Silently calculating the worth of this opportunity
* Any intel on this new girl would be pretty valuable
* Same old Angela
* Mike sits up straight so fast that he actually knocks his silverware off the table.
* “H-hey Bella, Hi, w-what, what are you doing here?”
* “Eating.” Bella says it so bluntly that you can’t help but laugh.
* Mike flushes bright red and Jessica and Angela exchange a look before giggling.
* “I thought it would be cool if she came over since I didn’t get to talk to her much.” You take a seat next to Jessica and Bella follows by taking the last seat between you and Mike.
* You still catch whiffs of her scent her and there, especially when she’s sitting so close to you.
* But it’s not so bad, the peachy smell is making you a little lightheaded, but you can handle it.
* At least you’re not fantascizing about killing her and everyone in this room like a certain dork you know.
* “Do you guys want to do that promotion where we get the basket of fries for the table?” Jessica asks
* “I don’t like sharing fries with Mike he eats them all.” Angela mumbles
* Yeah you remember last time when after a football game the three of them actually sat down and divided the plate in three equal portions
* They even measured out each fry dividing up the extra long ones 
* “Says the person who basically eats ketchup with a spoon.” Mike retorts and Angela scoffs
* “It’s America’s best condiment for a reason Mike.” Angela snaps back
* “I think we’re getting off track, I say Mike buys us all french fries to make up for all the times he hogged the joint basket” Jessica’s teasing but Mike takes it seriously
* “What so I’m a French fry monster now?”
* “Yes” Both Angela and Jessica respond in unison without looking up from their menu cards
* “What do you think Bella?” You’re surprised that Jessica’s the one asking. You get the feeling she’s not very happy about Mike’s crush on Bella.
* “I think Mike should buy everyone their own basket since he has such a bad history with sharing.”
* “You traitor!” Mike mocks hurt and you all laugh.
* You look at Bella through the corner of your eye, maybe it’s just the lighting but she looks pinker when she’s laughing.
* She looks happy as she starts contributing to the conversation.
* “I will say the pie here is really good, I wouldn’t share even if someone paid me to.”
* “Omg yes, the cheery icebox pie is out of this world” Jessica responds
* “I’m partial to chess pie” Mike pipes in and Angela laughs
* “You guys are crazy, the fruit custard they make is the best”
* You grin as your four new friends argue about the superior dessert, watching Bella laugh beside you.
* Welcome to team human Bella
Tags:  @moonlights27 @thebluetint @the100thtwilight @awesomebooklover17 @oneofthepotterheads @smileygirl08 @imdoingathingmom @iconicgguk @yrawn @alyciaswhore @little-horror-show @wicked-watering-can @lazydreamers @xxxmuxxx @puritanicalhypocrite
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Text
COSMIC - S1:E5; Chapter Five, The Flea and The Acrobat - [Pt. 4 - FINAL]
A Will Byers x Male!Reader Series
𝘏𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘣 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴 𝘔𝘳. 𝘊𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯.
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|| 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕 ||
With Dustin in the lead, we found ourselves stopped atop a hill, at what I assume is a scrapyard. Old vehicles like abandoned cars and buses scattered around the area.
Dustin came to a stop and looked around.
"Oh, no." He muttered.
"'Oh, no'? What's, 'Oh, no'?" Lucas asked in a panicked tone.
Dustin turned around to look at us.
"We're headed back home."
"What?" Even Mike seemed to be frustrated.
"Dustin, are you sure?" I ask, irritation and exhaustion creeping up on me.
"Yeah, I'm sure. Setting sun, right there." He pointed past us in the direction of the sky. "We looped right back around."
I sighed, shifting on my feet as I run a hand down my face.
"And you're just realizing this now?" Lucas snapped.
"Why is this all on me?"
"Because you're the compass genius!"
"What do yours say?"
We all checked our compasses, mine was wobbly but nevertheless, pointing North.
Lucas, Mike and I all spoke at once.
"North."
We all sighed, and Dustin began slowly pacing, looking off into the distance deep in thought.
"Makes no damn sense."
"Maybe the gate moved," Mike offered.
"No, I don't think it's the gate." Dustin began looking all around us. "I think it's something else screwing with the compasses."
"Maybe it's something here?"
As Mike spoke, I didn't fail to notice the look that crossed Lucas's face as he slowly turned to face El.
"No, it has to be like a super magnet." Dustin replied.
Lucas rose his hand and began pointing at El accusingly. "It's not a magnet. She's been acting weirder than normal. If she can slam doors with her mind, she can definitely screw up a compass."
El stood rooted in place, a look of guilt and fear in her eyes.
"Why would she do that?" Mike snapped.
"Because she's trying to sabotage our mission. Because she's a traitor!"
As much as I hated to admit it to myself, it was the only logical explanation we had. It could be all too easy for her to screw with our compasses after what she showed herself capable of.
I shook my head, ridding myself of the conclusions my brain wanted to jump to.
"Lucas, come on. Think about what you're saying. Why would-" I rested a gentle hand on Lucas's shoulder to try and calm him down, only for him to rip his arm from my touch.
"Enough, Y/n! I'm so sick of you defending her! You of all people should be more worried for Will."
"I am!" I snapped, feeling the anger, fear and confusion of all I've been carrying the past few days shoot up to the surface unexpectedly.
I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself. "Just... Please. Hear her out."
Lucas never met my eye and only stomped towards the poor girl intimidatingly.
"Lucas, what are you doing?" Mike asked, following behind Lucas worriedly.
"You did it, didn't you? You don't want us to reach the gate. You don't want us to find Will." Lucas was in her face by now, and it as if the poor girl was on the verge of tears.
Dustin and I were toe in toe with the others and I walked up to Lucas, ready in case he decided to something rash.
Mike seemed to have the same idea.
"Lucas, come on, seriously, just leave her alone!"
"Admit it." Lucas spit.
"No." El muttered.
"Admit it!" We all jumped when Lucas began screaming.
He grabbed her right arm and examined her sleeve. There was a streak of shiny dark crimson on her sleeve.
Lucas swatted away her arm in disgust and frustration at the sight.
"Fresh blood. I knew it."
Dustin and I watched speechless as the boys began fighting.
"Lucas, come on!"
"I saw her wiping her nose on the tracks! She was using her powers!"
"Bull! That's old blood. Right, El?"
We all whipped our heads to El, waiting for her response.
At this point, she was fighting back tears, and her breath hitched.
"Right, El?" Mike asked again, less confident.
She began sobbing as she choked out her words.
"It's... not... it's not safe."
My stomach plunged as Dustin and I shared a look of worry and shock.
⊹ ⊹ ⊹
"What did I tell you? She's been playing us from the beginning!"
Lucas and Mike seemed to be having it out now and they wouldn't stop despite the many protests from either Dustin or I. My body seemed to have shut down, staring helplessly as my two best friends fight, at a complete loss for words from shock and knowing my words will make no difference.
"That's not true. She helped us find Will!"
"Find Will? Find Will? Where is he, then? Huh? I don't see him."
"Yeah, you know what I mean,"
"No, I actually don't. Just think about it, Mike. She could have just told us where the Upside Down was right away, but she didn't. She just made us run around like headless chickens."
With every word my body was feeling more and more on edge, my anxiety set in as I felt uncomfortable in my own skin at my friend's tearing each other apart. I started shifting back and forth, my hands rubbing the back of my neck.
Either Dustin noticed this, or he was sick of the fighting as well - or both for that matter - he stomped towards the boys and intervened.
"All right, calm down!"
"No! She used us, all of us! She helped just enough so she could get what she wants. Food and a bed. She's like a stray dog."
"Screw you, Lucas!"
"No! Screw you, Mike. You're blind... blind because you like that a girl's not grossed out by you. But wake up, man! Wake the hell up! She knows where Will is, and now she's just letting him die in the Upside Down."
"Shut up!"
"For all we know, it's her fault."
"Shut up."
"We're looking for some stupid monster... but did you ever stop to think that maybe she's the monster?"
'I don't want to believe it. I don't want to believe that El is the monster. I don't want my best friend to be missing, I don't want my friends to fight all the time. But at the same time, I can't afford to dismiss the possibility that maybe Lucas had a point. Not about her being a monster. No, that I refuse to believe, but her having something to do with everything that's been going on.'
What came next was a blur.
Mike couldn't take it anymore and lunged at Lucas, the boys toppled to the ground and began wrestling in the dirt. Dustin, El and I screaming at the top of our lungs for them to stop.
I looked to Dustin and El and back at the fighting boys. I ran to them attempting to pry Lucas off of Mike in a panic, knowing there was a big chance I'd get hit. But I didn't care and I couldn't stand by and do nothing.
"Enough! Please, stop! Just-"
I closed my eyes as I saw the blur of Lucas's hand strike me accidentally as he swung his arm back, ready to punch Mike. I felt the back of his fist collide with my nose and I fell back with a painful yelp.
I heard a shrill shriek and opened my eyes in time to see Lucas fly backward in the air about five feet and slide into an abandoned car door, lying unconscious.
I looked to Lucas in horror and ran to him, not caring about my gushing nose.
I dive in front of Lucas, trying to shake him awake.
The boys were right behind me.
"Lucas! Lucas, wake up! Lucas."
Nothing. I checked his head for injuries, my hand never leaving him as I look over my shoulder at El, horrified.
"What did you do?"
El stood rooted to the ground, sobs wracking her body as blood dripped down her nose. I could tell the guilty look in her eyes was genuine but I didn't have time to feel bad for her right now.
Lucas was my main priority. I turned my attention back to my friend.
Dustin and Mike were just as panicked as I was.
"Come on, wake up. Come on!" Dustin yelled.
"Come on, man. Lucas?" Mike muttered worriedly.
"Lucas? Lucas, come on!" I sniffled, weakly shaking him.
To my tremendous relief, Lucas slowly came to with a groan and his eyes fluttered open.
The three of us chuckled and laughed in relief. The weight in my lungs and heart were lifted at the sight
"Lucas." Mike let out in a shaky breath.
Lucas slowly sat up and blinked a few times, processing what just happened.
"Lucas, you okay?" Mike asked.
There was no response from our friend.
Dustin spoke up shakily as he held up three fingers.
"Lucas... Lucas, how many fingers am I holding up? Lucas, how many fingers?"
Mike began reaching forward towards Lucas's head, already one step ahead of me.
"Let me see your head." He offered gently, he was cut short went Lucas angrily shoved Mike's hand away.
"Get off of me!" He grunted, struggling to stand up.
"Lucas, come on, you could be hurt. Let us help." I try, my voice soft reaching for his shoulder.
He pushed my arm away in anger as he stood up, storming past me.
"I said, get off of me!" I detected a hint of fear in his voice this time and less anger, making me more sympathetic than angry at him.
Mike began to chase after him but Dustin and I seem to have the same thought as we both caught each of his arms
"Let him go."
I watched sorrowfully as my friend left without us.
"Man, let him go."
We all shared a somber silence when suddenly Mike spoke up.
"Where is El?"
I looked to where she had been standing previously only to find no one else in sight.
Mike's breathing increased and he began shouting for her.
"El! El!"
"Eleven!" Dustin had joined in.
I stood frozen, my voice failing me. I looked around me as hopelessness sunk in and solidified into guilt. The icy wind whipped my collar as the desperate voices of my friends was lost to the wind.
She was gone.
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lihikainanea · 3 years
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Did tiger and bill ever go through like a phase where tiger kind of had to get used to bill thinking of her? Like she wasn't really used to being someone's first choice, like someone thinking about what she might like or want. To have someone frankly just think of you. I'm sorry to be a bother. Just feeling kind of bad lately, and could use some sweet bill. Sorry again.
First of all boo, please don't ever be sorry for sliding into my DMs. I love hearing from you guys, especially if you're not doing that well. I'm all ears, and this blog is a safe space for everyone--so pull up a chair and stay awhile. I, and our two favourite idiots, would be nothing if it weren't for all the amazing asks that you guys send to me <3
Secondly, I love this train of thought because I think it is very, very true. And it probably started back at the beginning of their friendship, right? Yes, it did. Follow me down this rabbit hole.
Bill doesn't make a lot of new friends because since the whole fame thing, he has trouble trusting people--and Bill, by nature, is a caretaker. He's extremely nurturing. He provides. He takes care of those close to him, in one way or another. But he knows his own empathic side, he knows its limits and boundaries, and one of the worst things he can do for his own well being is care about too many people. Get involved with too many people. Bill is happiest amongst his close group of friends, people he knows he can trust, people he can cook dinner for and host movie nights for and fly halfway around the world when he has a premiere.
And tiger, for her part--my girl tiger, she has zero self-preservation skills. Like, none. And Bill is fascinated by that. He's fascinated by this little fireball who not only has no idea who he is, but who subsequently really couldn't give a shit once she found out. He's enamoured with this little scrappy ball of ire who is convinced not only that she can start a bar fight with everyone in the pub, but that she can legitimately win. Bill's never seen anything like it. And once you meet tiger, she's impossible not to love. Or at least, it's impossible not to be intrigued by her, and to want to know more.
But the thing is, that firecracker personality and the massive chip on her shoulder doesn't come from nowhere--tiger's been hurt a lot. And it's because she never goes for the good guys. For as much as Bill has an empath side, tiger has the self-destructive kind where she wants to fix people. And she always goes for the dudes who will take and take and take, the dudes who play rope a dope with her heart, and who leave her shattered. Tiger gives her soul away too easily, and she takes it as a challenge when she's tossed to the side by some guy who was never worth her time anyway. She tries to prove she's worthy.
But then in comes Bill--this big, wall-eyed, kind of freaky looking dude who seems nice and kind and is moderately soft spoken. And when they hang out, Bill starts showing a genuine interest--platonically, of course--but it's genuine. He asks what she does for a living. He asks if she likes it. He wants to know where she went to school, what she studied. Does she have any siblings? Because he has a lot, and he knows how tough big families can make you. When tiger can't decide if she wants the chilli fries or the chicken wings one night at a pub, Bill tells her to get both--and that's when she knew they'd be friends.
And it slowly but surely escalated from there--still all platonic at the beginning--but suddenly, Bill was asking her how she was getting home, if she needed a ride. He was asking her how her week was, when everyone got together on Friday--and if she had mentioned something big previously, a meeting or a presentation or something--he'd remember, and ask her how it went. If he left the bar early, he'd politely ask her if she could text him when she got home.
"Why?" she scoffed.
"Because somebody needs to look out for you," he answered honestly. Tiger, in true fashion, balked awkwardly.
And this is where her defence mechanism started to fly up. Because when you're not used to being cared for, when you're not used to genuinely mattering to someone or hell even just getting the attention of a truly good person--it's weird. It's awkward. It's scary as hell and requires a level of vulnerability that tiger isn't ready to let exist--because it would mean that she would have to admit to herself that she is worthy. That this is the norm, and that she deserves this. That she knowingly let herself settle for being treated like shit for so many years.
And tiger's first defence is always anger. So maybe she started getting real snippy with him, probably well into their friendship by this point--so Bill was cooking for her, and if he wasn’t then he was checking in to make sure she ate at least one vegetable that day. If she had a date, he would wait until she texted him that she was in for the night--whether that was at the guy’s place or hers. If she needed a ride home in the morning then he would pick her up, in all of her walk of shame glory--but he’d pick her up with a few Advil, some big sunglasses, a huge coffee. And he would absolutely make fun of her nefarious, ill-fated decisions but he’d always wait at least 12 hours before he dared.
But to go even further--you are absolutely right. Bill does put her first. Once she is solidified as his best friend, then there’s no going back--she comes first. And part of it is Bill really is legitimately concerned because tiger has no self preservation skills and he worries that if HE doesn’t concern himself over her, then tiger will just like...her reckless decisions will be her undoing. He must look after Little Human, because Little Human’s self-destructive streak is far too prevalent. He has left dates in the dust when she needed his help. He looks out for her in group settings, and intervenes if some idiot is getting too handsy with her. If he has a boys night that night but tiger calls crying because some idiot broke her heart, or crying because it’s shark week and she’s out of gummy bears--then Bill is there. In a heartbeat, he’s there. She comes first.
And I’ll bet it’s all very nice, but it also kind of has tiger seething. Because she’s not used to this kind of...care. The genuineness of it. And tiger can’t be vulnerable enough to admit that part of her likes it, part of her feels safe knowing that even in the wee hours of the morning, Bill is awake and waiting for her to let him know she got in safely. Part of her kind of likes this idea that someone is thinking of her, that someone prioritizes her. But it’s still tiger, so she also gets hella mad. And she seethes--for a long time, she seethes. Quietly. And then maybe it all just comes to a head one night when she goes over to Bill’s place after work and he has a crisp glass of white wine waiting for her, a change of clothes, even her favourite make up remover--the kind that doesn’t sting, because she has sensitive skin. And all of that pisses her off, but then she walks into the kitchen as he’s deftly cleaning and slicing mushrooms.
“How did it go?” he asks casually. Tiger plays dumb.
“How did what go?” she swigs her wine.
“The meeting with your boss today.”
“...Fine,” she mumbles, petulantly. Of course he’d remember that, even though she told him two weeks ago. 
“We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to,” he offers kindly. Tiger sees an errant pile of green onions on his chopping board, and she eyes them wearily but somewhat triumphantly. Bill heads to the fridge, pulls out a bowl of salad, then he tosses the green onions in. Perfect, she thinks, and it gives her a weird sense of satisfaction. Mr. Nice Guy, Mr. Considerate, doesn’t even remember what she considers to be the most significant thing about her. That she hates green onions. She feels triumphant, renewed. Somewhat weirdly comforted to confirm that perhaps she doesn’t mean that much to him.
Until he heads back to the fridge, and pulls out another bowl of salad--one that he promptly dresses, salts and peppers, and tosses. One without green onions. One for her.
“Why do you do that?!” she explodes. Bill jumps in surprise.
“Do what?” he asks innocently, “This one has no green onions!”
“Exactly,” she continues, “Ugh, Bill. Just...why do you always...ugh, Bill!”
Bill is stunned, still holding his bowl of salad, trying to figure out what exactly is happening here.
“It’s too much,” tiger says, slamming her wine down, “All of it is too much.”
“What’s too much?”
“You! This. Why do you always just....think of everything?” she says, and she’s steadfastly working herself into a tizzy.
“Tiger...”
“How? How do you remember these things? How do you fucking remember that I had a meeting with my boss today, a meeting that I told you about two weeks ago? Why do you make a whole other bowl of salad for me, why do you remember that I hate green onions?”
“Because I care about you kid,” he shrugs.
Tiger is angry, but she’s also at a loss for words. Bill’s genuineness, his honesty, will do that. For as much as she struggles to be vulnerable. Bill shows that side of himself openly. She doesn’t even know why she’s so angry. Bill watches her for a minute, but she’s kind of just bug-eyed so he goes back to his cutting board and starts calmly chopping his little mushrooms again.
“I don’t like it,” she mutters after a long pause.
“Too bad,” he shrugs non-chalantly. Tiger glares at him.
“Too bad?” she seethes.
“Too bad,” he repeats.
“Stop it,” she says.
“No.”
“Bill, I mean it. Stop always trying to--”
“No.”
“I’m not finished,” she stamps her foot, “Stop being such--”
“No.” he says again, “Tiger, this is what I do.This is how I am. I care about the people that matter to me.”
“Well I don’t ma--”
“Yes you do. You matter to me. So I suggest you put on your big girl panties, and fucking deal with it,” he says. And that’s final. Tiger is taken aback at his tone, at the way his face suddenly got serious--but then in a heartbeat, it’s relaxed again.
“Now, do you want mustard on your burger, or ketchup?” he asks. Tiger is petulantly silent, glaring at him.
“Tiger.” he warns, holding up the hamburger bun.
“Shouldn’t you already know?” she huffs in annoyance, going to the fridge and grabbing the wine. She swigs it right from the bottle as she boosts herself up on the kitchen counter. Bill goes to the fridge and grabs the mayo--her favourite--putting a thick schmear on the bun.
“God, get fucked asshole,” she mutters. Bill just grabs her face, plants a noisy kiss on her cheek as she shrieks and swats him.
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elentiyawhitethorn · 3 years
Note
feysand blind date
Loving Every Second of It
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Fluff//3010 words
Feyre wasn’t sure what she was expecting tonight.
Lucien had set her up on a blind date with a friend of a friend and there was no way it wasn’t going to end miserably. Maybe Feyre would say something stupid and he would think she was weird. Maybe he would decide she wasn’t pretty enough or her clothes weren’t nice or she was just boring. Maybe some other woman who was everything she would never be would catch his eye. Maybe—
“I really hope you’re not still imagining ways this will end poorly.”
Feyre frowned. “Seriously, Lu, this is a bad idea.”
Lucien elbowed her. “You said, and I quote, “I’m done being a lonely spinster who’s too busy regretting my life choices to get laid.” Therefore I, as the good friend I am, decided to get you a date. And consequently, laid. So stop being a bitch. If it doesn’t end well, at least you put yourself out there, right?”
She sighed. “If it doesn’t end well, I will have to endure the long-lasting humiliation and despair for the rest of my life. That’s not something I’m inclined to want.”
“The only reason I’m still here listening to your self-pity is because I know if I leave you’ll chicken out.”
“And because I’m your best friend?”
“Yeah, that too.”
Feyre scowled and crossed her arms. “You don’t say that very convincingly.”
Lucien just smiled and gave Feyre a peck on the cheek. “You’ll have a good time tonight. Just be yourself.”
“But what if he doesn’t like myself?”
“He will. Azriel has good taste in people, as evidenced by the fact that he’s dating me,” Lucien stated matter-of-factly.
Feyre rolled her eyes but allowed a small smile to cross her features. Azriel had only started dated Feyre’s best friend a couple weeks ago, and she’d met the man a handful of times. It was his friend, Rhys, she thought he’d said, that she would be going on a date with tonight.
“It’s time to go,” Lu told her.
Feyre blinked. “Already?”
“Yes, don’t pretend you haven’t been counting the seconds. You’re such a bullshitter.”
A mournful sigh was all she gave Lucien before heading to the door. They had agreed to meet at the restaurant, a fancy, but also homey, little place downtown.
“Wait.”
Feyre almost growled out loud. If Lucien kept distracting her, she was going to lose her nerve.
“I’m driving you to the restaurant.”
Feyre spun around. “What do you mean you’re driving me? I was about to walk out the door.”
Lucien crossed his arms. “Yes, but that still leaves you with dozens of opportunities to turn back around. I won’t risk it.”
Feyre narrowed her eyes, but reluctantly allowed him to take her. The drive was unpleasant—Feyre would never admit it to him, but Lucien had been right. Had she had the option, she would have turned around by the time they pulled up at the restaurant. Feyre’s hands were clenched into fists to keep them from shaking.
She tried to think when she had become so nervous about dates. It probably had something to do with Tamlin. Tamlin was a bastard who had ridiculed and scorned Feyre subtly enough during their relationship that Feyre had begun to think of herself as worthless, entirely unaware it was his fault. She’d dumped his sorry ass after she caught him in Feyre’s own fucking bed with Ianthe, a “friend.”
Yes, that was definitely the cause of Feyre’s anxiety. She was never excessively social or flirty, but she had at least been cool and collected, as many guys noticed. Or they used to, anyway. Now she was scared to go on a single gods-damn date.
“Are you going to get out of the car, or are we going to sit here all night?” Lucien’s dry voice cut into her thoughts.
Feyre glared at him, not deigning to give a response other than a raised finger (try and guess which one) and getting out. She closed the door and turned around, checking her phone for the time before turning it on silent. It was only a few minutes before six-thirty, so he may or may not be there already.
Taking a moment—and making sure Lucien had already driven off—Feyre smoothed out her dress apprehensively. She was wearing a plain blue dress suited for a special occasion, but still simple enough not to be too flashy. Had she misjudged what to wear? Should she have with something more stylish? Or maybe more revealing, showing off more of her legs or breasts?
And her makeup—was it too plain? Should she have chosen better earrings? Should she be wearing more jewelry? Were her flats too drab?
Feyre almost wished Lucien had stayed to make sure she made it in the restaurant. Steeling herself for the inevitable letdown that tonight would be, Feyre went inside.
Before she had a chance to look around, she nearly ran into a man waiting at the entrance.
“Oh, you’re pretty.”
The man raised an eyebrow.
Feyre blinked. “I didn’t mean to say that out loud.” She was blushing and cursing herself for her lack of a filter.
Although, who could blame her? The man was dark-skinned, violet-eyed, and muscled, with dark, tousled hair and strong cheekbones. He was wearing an insanely hot dress shirt with the sleeves—the fucking sleeves—rolled up, revealing tattooed forearms. Pretty was a bit of an understatement.
The man was grinning now. The bastard probably had a lot of women telling him he was pretty. Feyre kicked herself internally.
“Well, if it makes it better, I think you’re pretty too.”
Feyre’s face turned an even deeper shade of red. “Um, thanks. I should… I have a date… with um…” She trailed off, the man smirking all the while. And then she thought of something.
“You’re Rhys, aren’t you? I mean sure, there are plenty of other people here who could be Rhys, but I have the worst luck, and telling my date he’s pretty totally qualifies as bad luck. Fuck, I thought we’d at least make it to the table before I scared you away. Oh shit, I’m just making it worse now, aren’t I?”
Rhys, or the random guy Feyre was assuming to be Rhys, smiled. Not condescendingly or rudely in any way, just more of an amused expression. “I am Rhys. Which I think makes you Feyre?”
Feyre nodded sullenly.
“It takes more than a beautiful woman complimenting me to scare me away, don’t worry. Why don’t we sit down?”
Feyre’s face was crimson, she was sure of it. She hadn’t expected a compliment from him after that little incident. She tried to think of what Lucien would say right now. Don’t worry, it’ll be a fun story to tell your kids. Okay, not helping.
Trying to turn off her brain, admittedly without much success, Feyre nodded once more and let Rhys lead her over to a table by the window. It was mostly dark outside, so the choice of seating only allowed to give them some privacy as opposed to being in the middle of the room. Probably not a conscious choice on Rhys’ choice, but Feyre quite liked it.
He also pulled the chair out for Feyre to sit. What a gentleman.
Feyre awkwardly fumbled with the menu, trying not to stare at Rhys’ beautiful face.
“Have you been here before, Feyre?” So much for that.
She looked up. “No, I haven’t.”
“I’ve been a couple times. Of course you can get whatever you like, but I would recommend the braised pork. It was delicious.”
Feyre bit her lip. “It sounds good.”
The waiter came over just then and Rhys asked for the braised pork for himself, then Feyre said to make it two orders.
He left, and the pair was left in silence once more. “So, Rhys,” Feyre said, making an effort not to be entirely silent. “Tell me about yourself.”
He smiled. “I work as an architect. I like reading, sightseeing, and talking to interesting ladies. How about you?”
Feyre snorted. “I’m an artist. I like, well, painting I guess. And jogging. And talking to handsome men, I suppose I should say.”
Rhys full-on grinned. “Tell me about your work. Is it just paint, or other types of art?”
Feyre answered his question, and then a few more. She tried not to talk too much, not wanting to take over the conversation, but Rhys showed such a genuine interest in her passion that Feyre could help opening up. By the time the food arrived, he knew her style, her favorite colors to use, her methods of gaining inspiration, and her opinions on some classic pieces that Rhys seemed to know more than the average person about.
Then the waiter interrupted with their meal. Once everything was served and Feyre had already dug into the pork, which was even more delectable then Rhys had let on, he asked another question.
“If you don’t mind me asking, why did you decide to try out a blind date?”
Feyre finished chewing, using the time to think about how to answer his question properly. “I ended a bad relationship a few months ago, and I’ve been a bit lacking in confidence since then. I guess I’m just sick of spending my weekends alone. What about you?”
“I’ve been searching for a relationship for a while. I’m interested in the idea of spending my future with someone, so when Azriel suggested a date with you, I jumped at the chance.” Rhys seemed to reconsider his words. “Not that I would be spending my future with you, necessarily.” He paused. “I mean—”
“No, I get it,” Feyre cut in, not wanting to hear any more of this. “I’m not the type of person you want to be in a serious relationship with.” She had known all along. Rhys was charming and handsome and smart and funny and there was no reason he would want to spend his life with her of all people.
Rhys’ eyes widened. “No, not at all!” he exclaimed. “That came out wrong. I was only trying to take it back so as not to pressure you. I didn’t know how much you’d be okay with hearing me tell you how interested I was in you after saying I’m looking for a relationship.”
Feyre blinked, surprised to find that it hadn’t been a dismissal. Surprised at more than that. “Oh.”
Rhys smiled, the first signs of nervousness shining through his calm demeanor. “I like you, Feyre. We’ve only been talking for fifteen minutes, and already I like you. And I’m not getting too ahead of myself by claiming you’re the one I want to spend the rest of my life with. Not nearly this soon; hell, I just met you. But I do think you should know what I’m looking for so we can end this before it goes too far. If you’re not ready for something like that, I mean.”
Feyre was stunned. Rhys not only liked her, but enough to tell her something like that?
“I hadn’t really thought that far ahead, but I like you too,” she replied. And she meant it. Rhys was really nice, and very intriguing. She hadn’t considered what she wanted past a date. After all, she had been positive he would diss her by the end of it. But Feyre sure as hell wanted something with this man.
Rhys almost seemed surprised. “I’m not asking for commitment or anything like that. Certainly not on the first date. But maybe you can think over that later, and we can finish dinner now?”
Feyre smiled, still processing his words. “Okay.”
They dug in. There was less conversation than before, both because Feyre was too busy letting out content groans at the taste of the food and from the lingering awkwardness. But they did start talking more toward the end, Feyre snorting into her hand as she heard the end of some ridiculous story Rhys was telling her. By the time the waiter came over and let them know the restaurant was closing now, they’d returned to an animated conversation.
From everything to Rhys’ work as an architect to gossip about Azriel and Lucien to current events and old movies and bad jokes, it had crossed the discussion. Rhys was an exceptional conversationalist.
Rhys pulled out a wallet, but Feyre said, “We can split it.”
He glanced over. “I’ve got it, darling. Consider it my treat.”
Trying to suppress a shiver at the new nickname, Feyre said, “Really, I can help out.”
“Persistent, aren’t you? Maybe I’ll let you buy me coffee next time.”
Feyre knew he was teasing; there was no doubt he would refuse to let her pay next time. He seemed like the kind of guy to insist. Still, Feyre was more than satisfied with hearing that there would be a next time.
Disappointed with the fact they had to leave, but definitely pleased with how the date had gone, Feyre stood. Rhys walked Feyre out in silence, the latter surprised to find how long they’d been chatting. The restaurant was almost empty.
Feyre pulled her phone out of her purse.
“No ride, darling?” Rhys had raised an inquisitive eyebrow.
“No, my friend dropped me off. He was worried I would flee if he didn’t actually bring me here himself.”
Rhys grinned. “Would you have fled?”
“Probably,” Feyre admitted.
“Let me drive you home. No expectations,” he added hastily at Feyre’s expression. “Just so you don’t have to wait out here. It’s getting cold.”
“Alright,” she agreed, very appreciative.
She’d sent Lucien a text and he had shot back a message letting her know he would be on the way. Feyre swiftly sent another text.
nvm rhys is dropping me off
Then she followed Rhys over to his car, laughing when he opened the door for her with a bow. Feyre wished she was the one driving; it would have been easier to keep her eyes off of him if she had something to focus on.
“Am I really that pretty?” So he’d noticed.
Feyre scowled. “Shut up.”
Rhys chuckled and glanced over, then turned his eyes back to the road. “I had a really nice time tonight, Feyre.”
“Me too,” she said.
The only words passed between them after that were directions on how to find Feyre’s apartment, fairly close to the restaurant. They were a street over when Feyre pulled a scrap of a receipt out of her purse, as well as a pen—Lucien often made fun of her having everything in her purse, but it was useful—and wrote down her number. They parked and Rhys looked over.
“So you don’t have to contact me through Lucien next time,” she clarified, handing him the paper.
Rhys smiled and put the paper in his pocket.
“Thank you for the ride, Rhys.”
He frowned mockingly. “What kind of person do you think I am, darling? Didn’t you know the good guys walk their dates to the door?”
Feyre laughed and mumbled something, getting out. Rhys stepped out of the car as well. But Feyre was starting to get nervous that Rhys was expecting something from her. Tamlin always had, after all.
They reached Feyre’s door and she stopped. But before she could say goodnight, Rhys seemed to realize why she was so anxious. He was too observant for his own good.
“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Feyre. I didn’t walk you here because I required anything of you.”
She flushed. “It’s not that I thought you would, exactly, I guess it just… been a while since I’ve met a nice guy.”
Rhys looked very sympathetic. “I understand. And for you, Feyre, I couldn’t care less if you wanted to drag me in your apartment and have your way with me now or wait a year to so much as kiss me. You’re worth it.”
There was no way Feyre’s face at all resembled a normal color. Or her ears. Or her neck. Gods, she was positively reeling.
“Really?”
“I had fun with you,” was all Rhys said.
Feyre barely noticed herself leaning closer. “Maybe a goodnight kiss wouldn’t be so bad.”
Rhys’ lips twitched and he assessed the sincerity of the statement. He leaned in slowly, giving Feyre every chance to back away, before planting his lips softly on hers.
Feyre melted into the kiss, obsessed with the soft feel of his mouth. It only last a few seconds, and Rhys’ touch remained featherlight. He pulled back, grinning.
“Goodnight, Feyre.”
She leaned against the wall for support. She was probably swooning. “Goodnight.”
One last smirk was all she got before he turned and walked down the hall.
Making it into her apartment, Feyre tried to process what had happened.
She’d met the man and made a fool of herself. Still, he had been nice and showed an interest in her. Then he had said he desired a serious relationship with someone, and she was a good candidate. There had been some more startled deer-like behavior on her part and some more suaveness from him. Then he had been super gentlemanly about not expecting her to sleep with him.
Basically, he was all Feyre could have wished for—and then some.
Feyre groaned loudly, throwing one of her flats at the wall. Then the other. She wasn’t sure why she was angry. Probably just because she’d been so ridiculous tonight. Or maybe it was the pent-up up hormones.
Feyre glanced at her phone, saw about a dozen messages from Lucien telling her to have fun and “be safe.” She threw her phone on the couch and grumbled about what a nosy little asshole her best friend was.
Then she slumped to the floor.
Feyre was going to spend the rest of her life mooning over Rhys and making a fool of herself, she already knew it. And she was going to love every second of it.
Oh, she was screwed.
———
Tag List:
@aelin-bitch-queen // @feysand-loml // @infernoqueen19 // @live-the-fangirl-life // @midsizewitch // @sleeping-and-books // @story-scribbler // @thebonecarver
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tyb1 · 3 years
Text
If It’s The Right Thing To Do (2)
Part 2
Series List
Words: 2849
Character: Seth Clearwater
Dialogue prompt: I nearly jumped out of my skin, I turned around to see an angry Sam walking towards me with murder in his eyes. He grabbed me then began to shake me violently. “Why didn’t you tell anyone (Y/N)! I’ve been searching for you all morning!” 
*idk how to feel about this writing* :(
@anndaydreamer​
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I awoke to Seth's body pressed against mine. I haven't felt this feeling in a while and yet it was so comforting. As much as I wanted to stay and wake him up with my morning kisses I couldn't. I needed to be home before Sam got up or else we would be in a warzone.
I tried to unwrap Seth's arms from around my waist but he only held on tighter. "Seth wake up! I have to go."
"No, two more minutes I promise."
I rolled over so I could have a better view of his face. He only placed his head on my chest snuggling deeper into the blankets. These were the moments I missed the most. The days where Seth would stay over while Sam was on patrol and him leaving early in the morning so Sam wouldn't catch him. I'd laugh every time he got caught and Sam would always have to give us "the talk" which made me laugh even harder.
"I miss these moments (Y/N). Sometimes I wish things could go back to normal."
"Me too Seth but now we have to keep our distance for our own safety."
Seth groaned, "I can't keep my distance from you."
"I know it's hard but we have to for now."
Seth lifted his head giving me a long passionate kiss. It was one of those kisses where you got lightheaded and it felt like you were in a trance. "I love you (Y/N)."
"I love you too."
Those were the last words I had said to him before I left. He watched me get dressed and walked me out to the front door. Seth even volunteered to take me out to breakfast but I had to decline for my own sake.
I sat in my car for a few moments before I made my way into the house. The house was spotless; there was so much sign of rage from Sam. Everything was in order from the kitchen all the way to the living room. I found this weird because if the guys were over the whole house would smell like muffins and chicken. It was so strange it almost gave me chills to be in here.
"Where were you last night (Y/N)!"
I nearly jumped out of my skin, I turned around to see an angry Sam walking towards me with murder in his eyes. He grabbed me then began to shake me violently. "Why didn't you tell anyone (Y/N)! I've been searching for you all morning!"
"I didn't tell you because I knew you wouldn't have allowed me to see him!"
Sam scoffed, he still had his firm grip on my arms. I glanced behind him to see Quil and Embry with guilty expressions on their faces. It had finally clicked in my head. Both of them had told Sam where I went off before the sun arose. They knew that I was going to see the Cullens. They just waited it out so they could tell Sam that I was with Seth.
I somehow managed to get out of Sam's grip. I walked up to them violently pointing my finger in their face. "You guys really stabbed me in the back like that!? I would jump in front of a bullet for you and yet you still snitched!"
Embry dropped his head lower and began to kick the pebbles on the ground. I could tell from his gestures that he didn't want any parts in the whole situation. Paul walked into the living room with a smug grin on his face"You're the one who went to sleep with the traitors so who really stabbed who in the back?"
I shot a nasty glare at Paul, I wanted to rip the ugly grin from his face. "Go to hell Paul."
Sam grabbed me again pulling me into the house. He sat me on the couch while he began to pace and forth. I watched as he muttered curse words from his mouth, all I wanted was for Emily to show up and get me out of this mess.
"So...you went to the Cullens just to sleep with Seth?" He leaned against the wall while crossing his legs and arms he reminded me so much of a Dad. I always felt like that was his problem, Sam was always too busy trying to be my dad that he forgets how to act like an older brother.
"No Sam! Jake called me and told me that Seth got hurt so I went over there because of how they screamed on the phone. I thought he was dead!"
"Why would you go over there (Y/N)! You could have been labeled as one of them. I had to convince everyone that you weren't anywhere near them. I tried to tell them that you were at a friend's house but no, you were at the Cullens!"
"For a good reason Sam."
"Just like Jacob, Leah, and Seth! They claim that they're over there for good reasons."
I jumped from my seat but quickly sat back down when the vein in his head began to protrude. I sat there quietly. He was speaking the truth and that was a tough pill to swallow. I snuck out of the house without informing him of my whereabouts. I also went over to the Cullens when he specifically told me not to. Sam had every right to be mad and worried about me.
"I'm sorry."
"You have two choices, you can either obey my rules and respect me or pack your bags and be with the Cullens." He left without saying another word, no eye contact or remorse. Emily appeared from the kitchen whispering "I'm sorry."
Once she left I threw my head into a pillow then screamed. Not once but twice, it seemed like nothing in my life was going accordingly to plan. I heard footsteps enter the room, without looking up I had already known who it was.
"Was the sex even good?"
"Paul go to hell with gasoline underwear!"
I brushed past him making sure that I made contact with his shoulder. I walked upstairs towards my room. I fell on my bed screaming into my pillow. "You have two choices, you can either obey my rules and respect me or pack your bags and be with the Cullens" those words kept ringing throughout my head. I loved Seth. He was my whole world but the pack is my family. You never turn back on your family. Sam taught me that at a young age ever since dad turned his back on us. I had to force myself to go to sleep. I didn't want to hear Sams's wrath anymore. It seemed like nowadays I had to force myself to go to sleep to cope with the pain.
I awoke to someone shoving me against my headboard. I opened my eyes to see Emily standing above me with a phone in her hand. "Is it Santa Claus?"
Emily laughed, "No it's someone by the name of Marie. They said you told them to call."
I gave her a questioning look while taking the phone from her head. The numbers that appeared on the phone nearly made me choke on my saliva. It was the same number that was used to call about Seth. I quickly ushered Emily out of the room so I could confidently speak to "Marie"
"Are you freaking crazy Seth? Are you trying to get me on Sam's bad side again?" I placed my back against the floor before I slid down to the bottom. I could hear him laughing from the other side.
"I swear I'm not but I really want to see you. I really miss you (Y/N)."
My heart began to flutter. I got those butterflies again, I've always hated those things they constantly made me act out of character. "I miss you too Seth but I can't risk it again. Sam would have both of our heads."
"Meet me at LaPush beach. I'm on my way right now."
"What!? Seth, I can't!"
"I'll see you there. I can't wait, I feel like Romeo and you're Juliet."
"You know they both die at the end right?"
"Huh, I forgot about that. Well, we're more like beauty and the beast except for you're the beast, and I'm the beauty."
I started to laugh, it was an actual genuine laugh. I haven't laughed like that since we were all together. I hated the fact that our family was so torn apart. I threw my head on the wall trying to stop myself from crying. I couldn't bring myself to speak another word, if I did I knew I'd end up crying on the phone like I did every night since he left.
"(Y/N)? Are you still there?"
"Yeah, I'll meet you there in 10 minutes." I stood up from the floor while hanging up the phone. The door of my room flew open causing me to nearly crack my head open on my desk. I turned ready to fight the person behind the door only to see Emily standing there.
"Were you listening to my conversation?"
"Yes, but I want to help you. (Y/N) I know how you're feeling right now. Your brother is so invested in the treaty and keeping them away that he hasn't taken your feelings into consideration."
I looked up Emily, at first I didn't want to believe it. She'd always picked Sam's side when we argued not once had she taken my side. I was always close to Leah, I hate to admit it but she was more of an older sister than Sam was an older brother. Now Emily wanted to take over which is completely fine but I look at her more as a mother figure than a sister.
"How can I trust you? You're probably like the rest of them."
"When you guys were arguing today I could tell he was really stressed so I offered him a stress reliever." She began to wink at me. I almost threw up the bile that was in my stomach. As much as I didn't want to believe it Emily actually had my back. He'd be too busy with Emily to think about me.
"You're literally the best!" I wrapped my arms around her giving her a big hug.
"If you want to meet Seth you better go now."
I nodded my head then opened my window. I jumped into the tree then quickly made my way down. There was no way anyone would spot me. Collin and Brady were on watch for the night so that meant I could get away with this. I went to my car cranking it once again. This could be really good or really horrible.
The drive to LaPush was very frightening. I kept looking in the woods to see if someone was watching me. I put all of my faith in Emily, she needed to play her part well in order for the plan to work out smoothly. I couldn't afford to be on Sam's bad side again.
I parked near the trees so no one could notice. In Lapush everyone knew everyone so I had to make sure I kept my guard up. I walked onto the beach looking around for Seth but he was nowhere to be found. "Clearwater," I said in a whispered yell.
"(Y/N) I'm right here!"
I turned to see him standing near the edge of the woods. I ran towards him jumping into his muscular arms. My nose immediately engulfed his hazelnut scent. "I missed you."
"You saw me this morning silly." He wrapped his arms around me making sure to support me as we held one another. There was a comfortable silence between us. Neither of us dared to speak another word.
I playfully smacked him against the head. "That's for calling me a beast earlier."
"Ouch (Y/N), You can't get mad because I'm the beauty and the brains of the relationship." He engulfed me in another hug. I began to squirm when he placed kisses on my cheek.
"Seth stop now your saliva is on my cheek." We both laughed at our antics.
"What a cute reunion!" I shot my head up from Seth's neck to see Paul standing near a tree clapping his hands. Embry, Quil, and Jared soon appeared behind him. They gave Seth a disgusting look as if he just murdered someone.
"This isn't your territory anymore Clearwater," Paul said, he stopped with his childish antics and now was serious. He started to walk closer to us slowly sizing Seth up.
Seth placed me behind him taking guard. 'How did you find us?"
Jared laughed, "Your scent couldn't get past me. We thought it was one of those bloodsuckers on our territory. Luckily it was only you and (Y/N)."
I stepped in front of Seth glaring at them. I had never back down to them and today would not be the first. "Just leave us alone. You guys are always ruining something."
Jared and Paul ignored me, their only focus was Seth. "You know what we do to traitors right? We rip them into shreds, ask the Cullens, one inch away from being one with the ground."
Seth scoffed, "You don't scare me, Paul."
The tension in the air grew, I knew deep down that there wasn't going to be a good outcome. Someone was going to get hurt tonight and it wasn't Paul or Jared. Seth had a target on his head and Paul being the hot head that he was wanted to take that target down.
"Mommy isn't here to stop me now Seth." Paul walked even closer to us.
"Paul we should just scare them. Now let's not take things to the extreme." Jared tried to stop him but at the same time, he didn't want to be caught in Paul's wrath.
"Jared, he's a threat to us now, he could go back and tell those bloodsuckers everything." Paul pulled me to the side out of his way then pushed Seth roughly, "Now do something Clearwater."
He winced, that was a red flag in my eyes. Seth still wasn't healed from yesterday, he was still sore. Seth wasn't here to fight he wasn't a fighter he was a lover and yet Paul was still here nagging him.
"Come on Paul just leave us alone. He'll leave!" I jumped in front of Seth once more so Paul wouldn't push him again. This time he pushed me hard into a tree. It knocked the breath out of me, I fell to my knees gasping for air. Seth caught me in time before my head hit the ground.
"(Y/N)! Are you okay?"
"Yeah I'm fine" I actually wasn't fine. My back was killing me. I didn't want to say anything to trigger Seth into phasing. If he phased right now he could pose a threat and that could give Paul the green light to kill him.
"You're not fine. There's blood on my hands and it isn't mine." I reached back to my back and there was a minor cut which caused a lot of blood. Seth glared at Paul, his body began to shake violently. I reached up to caress his cheek. I even tried to turn his head in my direction so he could look into my eyes.
"Seth calm down it's okay I swear." Before I could stop him he phased in front of me and so did Paul. I always hated when Seth would phase. He wasn't a person to just get angry out of the blue, you had to push him there and that's exactly what Paul did.
Jared held up his fist motioning for no one to interfere. Paul and Seth's life was on the line and they weren't doing anything about it. They were trying to rip one another's head off. There was a difference between when they'd fight on the reserve and right now.
"Are you guys crazy!? You're just going to let them fight to the death!?"
"Go stop them (Y/N)."
It was already too late; they were too deep into the woods. There was only one way to stop them and I knew this person would have my ass. I ran from the woods to my car, I needed to get to Sam before one of them got hurt. I sped down the road back to the house as fast as my car could take me. My back was aching and my head was throbbing from the impact. The reserve wasn't that far all I needed to do was make it back home without killing myself.
I jumped out of my car as fast as I could. I left the car running not bothering to cut it off. The front door was locked so I had to make my way to the back. I ran to Sam's door and tried to open it. It was locked so I started to bang on it.
"Sam! He's going to kill him! Please Sam he's going to fucking kill him." I began to sob everything started to hit me at once. I started to punch, kick, and even scream at the door anything to get Sam's attention.
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whatifxwereyou · 3 years
Text
The Oncoming Storm Part 30: Waiting
Liu Kang x Reader and Kung Lao x Reader (gonna do both, two paths!)
Some comic relief. Kung Lao and Liu Kang have an adult-ish conversation before it turns into a much less mature conversation. Mostly about you. About some other stuff too. Sure hope that no one overheard it or anything.
A/N: Some humor to break up those last few chapters. Saturday is the chapter with the choice at the end then my posting schedule has to swap around a bit, will probably be Monday and Friday? One for Liu one for Lao? That cool?
Part 29 Part 31 Chapter Index
Liu Kang changed his bandages while seated on the floor of his room with his door open. Kung Lao leaned against the frame of the door with his arms folded across his chest. Liu turned his attention to his brother and offered a weary smile. Kung Lao had been checking on you for them both since Chen had sent them away. Liu had suggested that they wait patiently but even he’d had a difficult time not worrying about you. When Kung Lao had told him where to shove that idea, he’d relented. Liu had been the one to care for you when you’d first arrived. He wanted to be the one to care for you now.
Raiden had said something about them both becoming too attached.
Liu hadn’t argued even if he thought that was a ridiculous reason to keep their distance.
“Have you heard anything yet?”
“That woman taking care of Y/N turned me away again and this time she was mean.” The annoyance in Kung Lao’s voice was completely unjustified. His vendetta against the people working in the infirmary was extremely silly. But Kung Lao wouldn’t talk about it and Liu Kang couldn’t make him.
“She needs taking care of, Lao.”
“Yeah, which I am perfectly capable of doing.”
“You are not qualified.” Liu chuckled as he finished wrapping up his arm. It had healed as well as could be expected over the last few days. It would take a few weeks to be back to normal, but he was prepared for the climb. “You don’t even take of yourself when you need it.
“Only because they make me go to the infirmary every time. They don’t trust me to do it alone.”
“Because you don’t do it.” Liu stood and dusted himself off. “When was the last time that you checked your bandages or your wounds? Are you even bothering with them anymore?”
“No, because they’re fine.”
“I think I just made my point. Everyone’s point.”
“You get to take care of your wounds. Why do I have to go to the infirmary to do it?”
“Because I’m qualified. And I actually do it.” He threw away the old bandages.
Kung Lao grumbled and then tilted the door closed behind him before leaning against the nearby wall. Liu sat on the edge of his bed with a heavy sigh. He was listless. Doing nothing and waiting patiently was part of what they did in Raiden’s Temple, but it didn’t mean that he was content to do it. While he composed himself better than Kung Lao, he was just as worried and frustrated by the lack of control he had.
“I’m going to sneak in through her window. She can’t stop me from there. I’ll fall to my death. She doesn’t want to be responsible for that.”
“That’s a terrible idea. One of your worst.” Liu laughed in disbelief at his brother. “Sure, you’ll get in, but she’ll kick you right out after. Not to mention that you’re going to terrify the poor woman. And Y/N’s bed is right beneath the window. You could hurt her.”
“I could just use my hat.” He tapped the brim.
“Same results, Lao.” Liu rested his elbow on his knee and ran his fingers through his hair. “Chen is good at what she does. Y/N is in capable hands.”
Kung Lao took a seat next to him with a frustrated huff. They sat in tense silence.
“How is your arm doing, anyway?”
“It’s healing fine. Stitches will be coming out soon.” Liu patted the bandage on his left arm. He had a relatively high pain tolerance, and he wasn’t the type to complain. It’d hurt like a son of a bitch when the ink had sliced through his flesh, but he’d been more worried about you in the moment. “No more fever which has helped tremendously.”
“I hear that.” Kung Lao was staring wide-eyed in front of him. He had so little patience, which was something Liu usually gave him hell for, but in this situation, he was right there alongside him. They sat in silence again, a frequent occurrence over the past few days. So much had happened since they had last had a chance to speak and neither one of them seemed willing to talk about it. They’d spent plenty of time together waiting for you to wake up, but it had mostly been in frustrated silence.
“Did she tell you?” Lao didn’t turn his wide-eyed gaze away from the floor.
“Tell me what?
“That we kissed.” Kung Lao clasped his hands together in front of him and tapped his fingers nervously against his other hand. Liu Kang heaved a sigh and tried not to let it bother him, but he was sure that his silence said more than enough. He shouldn’t have been surprised.
“No, she didn’t. But I suspected as much after how she behaved in Huangshan. You had her all mixed up.” Liu tapped his foot and then let go of his frustration with a breath. He had gotten into his head that you were his Y/N. This wasn’t easy to talk about for either of them. “I think she was afraid to tell me. Afraid of how I’d react.” Rationalizing it had been enough to wipe the remaining frustration completely away. “She carries more guilt than she lets on, I think.”
“Funny that you put it that way because she didn’t seem to have a problem telling me that she’d kissed you.”
Was Kung Lao trying to get on his nerves? He did that sometimes, but Liu had gotten good at navigating his way around it. He laughed under his breath and Kung Lao seemed genuinely surprised not to have annoyed him.
“You have known her since you were nine, Kung Lao. You have a connection that is deeply rooted in your childhood. It’s nothing like the one I have with her. It is worlds apart.”
“Wow, I don’t think that I’ve heard that kind of jealousy from you since we were teenagers.” Kung Lao smirked. Liu tapped his foot and heaved another sigh. It wasn’t the connection that had caused his renewed frustration. This had gone on for too long.
“I don’t want to play this game anymore.” Liu frowned. “I can’t get it out of my head. I want out of the bet. I never felt good about it to begin with, Kung Lao. It’s making me act differently. I don’t want any part of it.”
“So, you’re chickening out, huh?”
Liu rolled his eyes.
“Why are you doing this, Lao?”
“What kind of question is that? Did I not explain the bet to you?”
“Are you sabotaging any chance you might actually have with someone you care about?” Liu watched Kung Lao instantly stiffen up and knew he’d hit the nail right on the head. “When I was brought to the temple and we became family, you spoke of Y/N so fondly. Now she’s here and you’re willing to risk any relationship that you have rebuilt with her so that you don’t have to do a few chores? It’s absurd, Lao. You don’t think she’s going to be upset? Feel gross about it? Because I feel gross about it.”
Kung Lao clenched his jaw and stopped tapping his foot and fingers and stared at the floor again instead. Liu waited patiently and rotated his left shoulder, feeling the stinging in his arm and the pain that radiated down to his fingertips. He would focus on stretching his muscles until Kung Lao was done arguing in his head. He did that sometimes, especially when he was arguing with Liu. This wasn’t the first time that he’d told Kung Lao a harsh truth and it wouldn’t be the last. Kung Lao had done the same for him, but it had been less necessary over the years. Liu Kang was the type who saw his shortcomings before others did.
“I really hate when you call me out on my bullshit.” Kung Lao finally chuckled.
“Call it what you will, Lao. If you won’t let me back out of the bet, then I forfeit. I’ll do your chores. I don’t care. I stand by what I said when you first suggested it. I don’t want to bet on someone else’s feelings. Let her feel what she feels authentically so that I can feel what I feel authentically.” He mussed up his hair in annoyance.
“It’s fine.” Kung Lao deflated next to him. It was comical. His posture had completely changed. “Honestly, I felt pretty terrible about it by the end of our trip to Japan. Like I was… manipulating her. I didn’t mean for it to be like that. I thought it was a harmless and fun thing but you’re probably right. I’m purposely… screwing it up.” Kung Lao unclasped his hands and stood then dragged the chair from Liu’s desk and sat on it backwards. He couldn’t seem to sit still since you had fallen unconscious. Liu had struggled with that too, but he’d always had an easier time focusing than Kung Lao had. “The bet’s off. I’ll tell her about it, I guess. I don’t want to feel like I’m hiding anything anymore.”
“Is that so?” Liu smiled, feeling a little relief. “Not going to make me do your chores?”
“Not over this at least. I’ll weasel out of them some other way, I’m sure.” Kung Lao grinned. He seemed like himself for the first time in days. Maybe it really had been weighing on him as heavily as it had been weighing on Liu.
“Does that mean I was right? Self-sabotage?”
“Ugh, can you not rub it in? Just for once?”
“Not a chance.” Liu Kang laughed, and Kung Lao leaned his arms on the back of the chair then rested his chin on them with a heavy sigh. Whatever happened, he knew that they would be okay. They’d broken the dam when it came to talking about it, which felt nice if not a little daunting. At some point, he had gotten nervous to bring it up again. He didn’t want to hurt Kung Lao, but he couldn’t give up on you either even if he couldn’t get it out of his head that it was selfish for him not to.
“So, she kissed you again, huh?” Kung Lao diverted attention away from his emotions, something he did very frequently. Funny enough, Liu thought that you did the same thing. You were similar in many ways. “…wait, you didn’t want to end the bet because you uh…” Kung Lao sat upright, and alert suddenly then made a motion with his hands that was rather crude. Liu Kang hesitated but then shook his head no. “You didn’t win and not tell me, did you?”
“Those weren’t the terms of the bet, remember? I would have never agreed if it had been.”
“That’s evasive, Liu.”
“I’m just saying that the conditions had to do with her choice and not any physical achievement, Kung Lao. We’re not stupid kids.”
“Wow, this is so incredibly defensive.” Kung Lao whispered in wonder.
“I dislike talking about this with you.” Liu Kang frowned. “Talking about her like this with you. It’s uncomfortable.”
“I hate it too!” Kung Lao laughed and threw his arms up in frustration then let them fall back over the chair dramatically. “Just… look, tell me if I lost. Tell me if I don’t stand a chance. I just want her to be happy.” He said this all with a grumble, as if it were like pulling teeth to say it. It was funny how uncomfortable he was with his emotions.
“That’s what I want too.” Liu Kang nodded to agree. “And I’m not the one to decide who wins or loses. And this isn’t a bet anymore.”
“No more bet.”
“The bet is off.” Liu Kang sighed with a relief. He wasn’t sure that Kung Lao was going to actually let it go. He was difficult to read. “That’s a huge relief.”
“Yeah, I mean… yes and no for me. You called me out and now I have to think about that.”
“Poor, poor Kung Lao. Having to think his own thoughts.”
“It’s a burden, really.”
“We have to tell her, Lao.”
“Yeah, I know. Can’t fix the self-sabotage thing if I don’t. And if you tell her and I don’t then that makes me look bad and we… we all know you and honesty, for the most part.”
“I can lie when I need to but I’m not going to lie about this.” Liu folded his arms over his chest. They sat in awkward silence again. There were plenty of things that they should have talked about, but it still felt weird to. Usually, they would have joked about this kind of thing and had the other to confide in, but they were both worried about hurting the other’s feelings and dashing their hopes.
“You didn’t answer me.”
“Hmm?” Hadn’t he? He didn’t remember not answering Kung Lao.
“I asked if you two… you know.”
“Can you not say the words, Kung Lao? Are you not an adult?”
“I don’t want to. I don’t want to picture you two doing that.” Kung Lao stuck his tongue out and then shook his head as if to dismiss the mental image. “But did you?”
“No. I thought I told you no.” Liu had hesitated again. It wasn’t that he hadn’t wanted to on your trip. No, he had wanted to, but he had thought about that stupid bet and how much it could potentially hurt you to have done that and then found out there had been stakes attached to your emotions. He’d pulled himself back because of it more than once while you were in Huangshan.
“How am I supposed to interpret that, Liu?” Kung Lao was laughing, at least. Liu Kang hung his head and Kung Lao only laughed harder.
“Look, she had a nightmare, so I let her sleep in my bed.”
“I’m sort of disappointed that you didn’t get laid at the end of this story.”
“It was your stupid bet that ruined it.” Liu chuckled but he could feel his face turning red.
“What, did you wake up with a half chub or something?” Kung Lao was teasing him, but he’d gotten to the end of the story before Liu had found a less crude way to tell it and Liu covered his face in embarrassment. Kung Lao was wheezing with laughter. “Liu! You didn’t!”
“In my defense, I was having a nice dream and she was right there in my arms and…”
“Wow, Liu. That’s more me than you.”
“I’m only human, Kung Lao.”
“Just, wow.”
“Yeah, tell me about it.” Liu pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. His face was still burning but it felt nice to laugh about it with Kung Lao. He hadn’t talked to you about it because that felt like opening a floodgate and he’d needed to end this stupid bet first. Plus, it was kind of a difficult conversation to start. It was easier just to make a move.
“Did she… notice… or?”
“…I hate that you guessed so accurately. I never would have told you outright.”
“It’s amazing.” Kung Lao smacked the back of the chair in glee. “So?”
“Yeah. Yeah, she noticed, Kung Lao.” Liu Kang hung his head again, hands on his knees. Kung Lao was practically choking to death with how hard he was laughing at him. “You could try to enjoy my misfortune a little less.”
“This is the funniest thing that has happened in weeks, Liu Kang.” He wiped a tear away and tried to regain his breath. “Why didn’t you just go for it? I would have gone for it. Wouldn’t have given it a second thought.”
“Well, I’m not you. All I could think about was how hurt she would be if we did that and then found out about the stupid bet. And she had been so frightened after her nightmare. I played it off the best that I could given the circumstances.” Liu was laughing now too. He couldn’t help it. It was funny. And it felt good to laugh after having done nothing but worry and stress for three days.
“You know what, Liu? You are a much better man than I am sometimes.” Kung Lao wiped his eyes and regained his composure. “I never would have let that opportunity pass.”
“I know. I had no intention of telling you the truth either.”
“I’m glad you did. I needed a good laugh.”
“At my expense, of course.”
“Of course.”
Silence fell again, but it was at least less awkward. Liu supposed if that came at his expense than he was okay with it.
“What do we do now?” Liu sighed. Kung Lao was avoiding his eyes again.
“I don’t think it’s really up to us what happens next with that.”
“Yeah.” Liu nodded to agree. “…no hard feelings no matter what happens, right?”
“Not going to be that simple, I think.”
“Of course not, Kung Lao. But above all things, you are my brother.”
“Yes. Nothing will change that. It might just be weird while we figure it out.”
“Yeah, probably.” Liu didn’t have much else to say on the matter. Silence again. While he felt relieved that they’d cleared the air and sorted things out, it still weighed heavily on them both.
“…I’m going to check on her again.” Kung Lao stood and stretched his arms before nodding toward the door. “Want to come with me? Might overwhelm her.”
“No, I don’t need to see you harassing that poor woman again. She said that she’d tell us when Y/N wakes up.”
“I don’t believe her, Liu.”
“You have made that abundantly clear.” Liu Kang smiled, and Kung Lao bowed his head to say goodbye. “If I hear any jokes at my expense throughout the rest of the temple, Kung Lao, you will be sorry.”
“My lips are sealed, Liu.” Kung Lao chuckled again under his breath and then left Liu Kang alone with his thoughts.
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sweetcherrypie1967 · 3 years
Text
Happier
Draco Malfoy was in the Hogwarts library under the appearance of doing Transfiguration homework, but he was really there to clear his head.
The past month has been beyond amazing for him, he's finally been given a chance to start over with Hermione Granger. They've become very close friends and every moment with her makes his love for her stronger. But, he knows the same month hasn't been the same for her.
Ron Weasley refused to accept their newfound friendship and has decided that he's going to make her choose between the two of them. It was a major shock for Draco when Hermione chose him instead of Ron. But the red haired boy has done anything to make her miserable.
He's turned almost all of the Gryffindors against her so now not only does Weaselbee always make fun of her and insult her, so does the majority of the Gryffindors. Though Harry and Ginny support Hermione, it isn't enough to make them stop.
It doesn't help that Draco and Hermione have been getting into quite a lot of arguments recently.
Oh how Draco missed seeing her genuinely smile.
The fights are usually over stupid things but the last one was pretty nasty. She was particularly frustrated by Ron's antics today and Draco had spent the day dealing with furious Slytherin's. Draco made a snarky comment and she blew up, which inevitably made him blow up as well. It wasn't even what they fought about that bothered him, it was how personal they chose to make it.
She said he never changed deep down.
He said she lost everyone because of her decisions.
So Draco was sitting there, in the library hating himself, and trying to think of something to do to make this right. They've made up from previous fights before but afterwards it just becomes more tense, they never truly make up.
Before Draco could think anymore someone slammed their hands on the table he was sitting at.
"Why don't you just leave Hermione alone?" Ron Weasley snapped.
"Why? So she can suffer from all the shit you're doing to her alone?" Draco said angrily.
He never hated Ron Weasley before this year, he was just ill mannered and he was frustrated by how he treated his friends. But now that he's hurt Hermione, Draco did hate him now.
"Once you leave I'm going to take back what's mine," Ron said with a stupid imitation of a smirk.
Draco glared at the man with disdain, "and what's that supposed to mean?" He asked.
"Once you're out of the picture, I'll make her happier than you ever could," Weasley said with a smile as if that would actually work.
"You really think she'd forgive you? After everything you've done to her?" Draco asked incredulously.
"She will," he said dumbly.
"Keep dreaming Weaselbee," Draco said before pretending to work again. He made sure to keep his hand on his wand but luckily the Weasel actually walked away.
As Draco tried to calm himself down so he didn't go after him and hex him into next week, an alarming thought crossed his mind.
What if you did leave?
No, Draco couldn't do that to Hermione. He didn't think he could even do that to himself, he cares for her too much now. But the voice was persistent.
It told him that there wouldn't be anymore fighting. He won't have to look at her everyday and remember that she will never feel the same about him as he does for her. She'll never love him and he knew it.
Besides, then she would finally have what she wants back. Her best friend and the other Gryffindors would be back on her side again now that she wasn't hanging around a death eater. She wouldn't have to worry about Slytherin's hexing her in the hallways.
And best of all, Draco could see her smile again. Even if that means he has to leave...
The rest of that day and a few days after, Draco tried to keep his distance from Hermione. Everytime he got close to telling her he was going to leave her alone from now on, he chickened out.
It just didn't feel right to him.
But today was the day.
Draco had sent Hermione a letter via owl that he wanted to meet her in the Astronomy tower after classes. Well, it's after both of their classes now and Draco was beyond nervous.
He made sure to walk up there as slowly as possible to stall the supposedly inevitable. Dragging his feet, he once again debated whether this was the right thing to do or not.
No, this is what's best for Hermione. Not you. You don't deserve a happy ending anyways, but she sure as hell does. Draco told himself and pushed forward.
Draco walked up what must be thousands of stairs in what felt to be three seconds, he's never dreaded anything more.
He reached the Astronomy Tower where Hermione was waiting for him. Draco found her leaning on the wall near the edge looking out into the woods. The light from the sun made her look angelic and peaceful, but even so he could tell she was tense and if her fiddling fingers told him anything, she was nervous as well.
"Hey 'Mione," Draco called out nervously.
Upon hearing his voice, she whipped her head to look at him before rushing over and giving him a big hug.
"I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry!" Hermione said sounding as if she were about to cry. "I didn't mean what I said!" She added.
Draco was surprised by her outburst but smiled and held her tightly, knowing this would be the last time. He buried his face in her hair and savored the moment.
"You're forgiven. I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have said any of what I did, I didn't mean any of it," Draco admitted. Hermione broke the hug, too soon Draco thought, but stood near him with a smile.
"Apology accepted..are-are we good again?" Hermione asked nervously.
Draco hesitated at that but as she grew more anxious he decided to answer. "Yeah we're good, but um there's something I need to talk to you about.." Draco said even more nervous than she was.
"Oh ok," she said.
"Well, you see I've been uh I've been thinking," Draco started before pausing and avoiding her eyes, "well we've been fighting a lot now and it doesn't seem like you're happy anymore. I understand, don't get me wrong, but I hate seeing you so miserable. So I uh..I don't think we should be friends anymore," he finished looking at the ground with a foul taste in his mouth.
There was a tense silence that followed.
Very tense.
Hermione couldn't believe what she was hearing. Draco didn't think she was happy? So, what, he wanted to make it worst? Didn't he realize that he was the only thing keeping her sane?
Draco prepared himself to be yelled, screamed at and maybe even punched like back in third year. But nothing came, she just stared at him.
After a few moments of agonizing silence, Hermione opened her mouth to say something and Draco flinched. She paused and closed her mouth.
Before Draco could say a word Hermione grabbed his tie and pulled him down to her until their lips crashed together. He was beyond surprised at this point but just as he was about kiss her back, she pulled away.
"Draco Lucius Malfoy, you make me happier," Hermione said. Draco smiled brightly before leaning down and kissing her once more.
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marchioness-caprina · 3 years
Text
Tumblr media
Dense
Pairings : Reader x Todoroki Shouto
Writing Style : 3rd Person, 1st Person
Warning : Cursing ( only a few) , OOC Shouto Todoroki
Word Count : 2487
3rd Person's POV
" I feel like I've been watched for the last 2 months and now it's kinda freaking me out " Y/n muttered sitting down on the sofa with a groan as the rest of the girls piled up around her.
" Well maybe you should just You know... Investigate? " Mina suggested staring at her friend.
" Yeah... Maybe it's just someone who LIKES you but is too shy to admit it? " Uraraka added.
" And who do you think it would be? " Y/n asked raising her eyebrows and simultaneously the girls around her groaned.
" Really y/n? For such a sharp person you're really dense.... And he's dense too! But you're even worst! " Hagakure muttered.
" Who's he? And I'm not dense you guys, I know what's happening around me " Y/n said in defense and the girls gave her a look which states ' No bitch, You don't '
" Oh really huh?... Ok then. Didn't Todoroki-kun give you flowers the other day? " Momo questioned and y/n was fast to answer.
" Yeah he did... So? What's up with that? "
" Oh my god! You're so dense it's actually painful! " Mina cried hugging her pillow.
" Ok let me Try " Uraraka volunteered as she scooted closer towards y/n who only gave her a questioning stare.
" Didn't Todoroki-kun.... Ask you to The Amusement Park a few days ago? "
" Uhh... Yeah but I was busy that Day so I said No.... Why? " Y/n muttered trying to recall the memory.
" Oh my god! I can't take it anymore! Didn't Todoroki-kun Say he Liked you !? " Jirou blurted out standing up from her seat and again the dense female nodded her head.
" Yeah he did and I said I like him too because he's a really Nice friend " Y/n answered and the girls didn't know if they should cry or laugh atbyehir friend's hopelessness.
" She's too dense Kero " Tsu muttered.
" Oh Lord Help me! And what happened after that huh? Anything weird happening with Todoroki-kun!? " Hagakure yelled unable to handle her friend's unaware nature when it comes to love.
" Uhh.... Well.... He started avoiding me? And... He was being really gloomy? And cold? A Bit... Mean? " Y/n tried her best to pick up on Todoroki's behavior and it was true. After that day he had been more distant and he actually snapped at her to stay away from him.
" Y/n... You like Todoroki-kun right? " Momo questioned and the girl gave her a nod.
" Yeah why? "
" More than a friend? "
" Yeah why? "
" Will you accept his love if he asks you to be his girlfriend? "
" Yeah why? "
" Then why the hell did You Fucking Reject Icy Hot!? Now everyone's got to suffer his moody ass and your oblivious fuckery! He Fucking Likes you too! And now he's cooped up in his room barely eating because you Fucking rejected him! You hear me!? " Bakugou suddenly stormed in the common room and y/n's eyes widened.
" Really? " She asked unable to believe the new information she had acquired.
" Oh my fucking-- yeah Really! " Bakugou yelled and she just gave an unreadable expression.
" Oh "
Everyone froze staring at her with disbelief.
Was she really that dense?!
" Y/n....if you don't get your ass up to his room... I will Fucking murder you! And blow your body to bits! " Bakugou threatened and immediately y/n made a run for it upstairs.
_____________
Y/n's POV
I'm not dense right!? No I can't be... Wait... Oh shit bitch I think I might be.
I didn't even notice that I was standing infront of Todoroki's Door.
Taking a Deep Breath I knocked on the door , once, twice, thrice, and whatever r the Hell's next.
But on the 9th try he finally opened up .
" Shoto!---" The moment he saw me he slammed the door in front of my face harshly.
" .... "
" Shoto?... Can you please open up? " I pleaded softly knocking on the door.
" Don't call me shoto " He spat out from inside his room.
" Shoto.... I know you Like me--"
" Oh you think y/n? "
' what the?.... Why is he being so sassy? '
" As I was saying... I know you like me--"
" No shit Sherlock "
' did he just curse at me? THE Todoroki Shoto just cursed at me '
" Just let me Fucking finish Shoto Todoroki!, I know you like me , I Like you too but I was too dense to actually notice the signs that you do like me back! I never confessed because I didn't want you to feel uncomfortable with me! I didn't want to ruin our friendship! Because it's the only thing keeping me close to You! I Like--- No.... I Love You! " I finally had the guts to confess but the only reply I was met with was Silence.
Sighing I turned my back against his Door and started walking away.
I didn't get far when his door flew open and arms were wrapped around me from behind.
" It's about Time you finally said something.... I was upset you know?... I thought you didn't like me" He whispered in my ear making my legs wobble.
This guy makes me feel weak.
" Shoto... I'm sorry for noticing a bit too late.... " I apologized in a sincere tone.
" No.... It's better late than Never " He muttered making me smile.
I didn't really expect him to collapse on me like that.
" What the? Shoto?! " I reacted quickly and spun around catching him and when his forehead brushed against my neck I felt how hot he was.
Oh my gosh? Can a person with an icy hot quirk get sick? Well apparently he's living proof of that.
" You're burning! " I began to balance him in my arm before dragging him inside his room.
It took me a lot of will power since he's bigger and heavier than me and I bumped onto ever furniture I passed by.
After a few seconds of bumping myself here and there I finally managed to gently lay him down on the bed which is a futon and by gently I meant falling on his futon with me laying on top of him.
I made sure to use my arm as a pillow for his head so the fall won't be painful for him but for me. It hurts.
I was about to roll off him but his arms wrapped around my waist securely when he felt how I was about to shift my weight.
" Stay...please " He pleaded with his eyes closed a pained expression on his face making my heart clench.
" I'll be back shoto, I need to get you medicine and food ok? Just wait here I'll be back I promise--"
" No! I want you! I need you! If I let go you won't come back! " He whined his voice weak and hoarse as he tughtened his hold around my waist.
" Shh...baby it's fine...i promise I'll come back but you need medicine and food. I'm going to take care of you ok? But you have to let me go--"
" No! No! No! Don't! Please! " He begged, this was a very weird sight to see. A very childish and vulnerable shoto unlike the usual calm and collected shoto.
People say Fevers make people act weird.... I believe it now.
" Shoto Please! " I raised my voice and this time he started sobbing.
' oh my fucking gosh what the fuck have I done!? Is this even shoto right here!? I think the fuck not! Damn it! '
" Don't leave! " He whined between sobs and I honestly didn't know what to do but let my instincts kick in.
Hushing him as I gingerly grabbed onto his cheeks and peppered his face with kisses while humming a comforting tune to calm him down and it worked, he was slowly calming down and when his eyes closed and his arms relaxed I waited for a few minutes before standing up from my position and crawling away from him.
Grabbing his blanket I placed it on top his figure before leaving the room.
I needed to find medicine, a towel and a bucket and maybe I could ask someone to cook chicken soup for shoto? .
I trailed down stairs where everyone was seated.
" Well!? What the fuck happened!? " Bakugou asked making me jump.
" Wow Bakugou... I didn't know you were this Nosy " I teased and the blonde boy growled.
" Ok, ok. Everything is fine now but shoto has a Fever and I need Medicine, a towel and a bucket filled with water, and can someone please make chicken soup?" I asked and everyone looked genuinely concerned for Shoto.
" Me and the girls will cook Chicken soup " Momo volunteered and the girls agreed.
" I'll Look for Medicine! I think I saw some in the Kitchen Cabinet! " Izuku stated.
" Don't worry I got the Towel and bucket of water Covered! " Denki smiled as I walked closer to them but again I felt a powerful and overwhelming air of fire and ice combined. I didn't even get the chance to react when I felt arms wrap around my waist harshly and I was pulled back against a hard chest.
" You said you won't leave! Why did you leave me!? " Shoto growled angrily, his tone was dead serious and cold. It made everyone in the room shiver.
" Shoto, didn't I say I needed to get -"
" Fuck Medicine and shit I needed you... I wanted you and you left---... Why'd you leave? " At the last bit of his sentence his voice broke and he started sobbing again , he dipped his head on my shoulder and I could feel the wetness of his tears as his sobs began to grow louder.
" Oh shit.... Did Todoroki just curse? " Kirishima muttered.
" Forget that.... Is that even Todoroki? " Came another comment from Kaminari.
" I heard from my mother that A fever could change a person's Behavior... As to what I am seeing today I highly believe that it is indeed true " Iida added.
" Y/n...shame on You for making Todoroki-kun cry " Uraraka was guilt tripping me and soon everyone joined in.
" Shame on you y/n "
" Hey! Why the fuck is it my fault!? " I growled and It seems like either Todoroki took it the wrong way or he misheard me.
" S-so you don't care about me? " His voice came out weak and pained and I turned around to place his face on the crook of my neck.
" No I care about you... That's why I came down here to get Food and Medicine for you right? I love you remember?. Why'd you come down here when you're sick? Tell me where it hurts " I softly cooed running my fingers through his hair and he visibly relaxed breathing in my scent as he buried his face further on my neck.
" My head hurts... And my eyes sting " He silently complained.
" Because you were crying, don't cry anymore ok? I won't leave you again and our friends are here to help us... Say thank you " I smiled as he shifted his head taking a peek at our classmates who watched in awe.
" Thank you guys " He muttered with a smile which made everyone's jaw drop.
" Wow.... Who knew the Queen of dense actually has a motherly side " Sero muttered.
" Y/n I think you should take Todoroki-kun back to his room, we'll take care of everything here and we'll deliver everything to his room once we're done! " Izuku suggested and I couldn't be happier.
Shoto was leaning all his weight on me and my legs were slightly shaking. It seems like midoriya noticed.
" Ummm.. A little Help guys? " I asked and some of the boys volunteered to help me carry shoto back to his room.
_________________
" We'll leave now Y/n! And take care of Todoroki-kun for us! " Iida stated as The rest of the boys who helped me carry him waved us goodbye and closed the door.
Shoto was on his futon my hand on his cheek . One of his hand holding onto my hand to keep it in place while he nuzzled his cheek onto my palm.
" Y/n...."
" Yeah? "
" Cuddle with me? "
" Umm.... "
" Please? "
" Fine "
Giving up with a sigh I laid down on his futon , his blanket covering us as I scooted closer to his body.
And to my surprise he pulled me closer only to climbed ontop of me in a very awkward position.
" Uhh... Shoto? " I asked nervously as his intense gaze pierced my own.
" I wanna lay on top of you " He stated with a monotoned voice before laying his head on my chest and his arms wrapping around my waist.
" Warm.... Soft " He mumbled clearly pointing at my chest as he nuzzled he face further.
' ok... Awkward... I'll try to not think about it that much... He's really lucky I love him'
Closing my eyes as my hand came to brush against his head I heard giggles coming from the door.
Opening my eyes I saw the girls standing in the doorway taking pictures of us.
" No! Stop that! It's not what it looks like! " I yelled as Momo came in holding a bowl of soup along with tsu and Uraraka holding a bucket with a towel and medicine.
" Relax y/n we're just here to deliver everything, hope we didn't disturb you guys " Momo chuckled placing everything on the table.
" Yeah right... You guys are here to deliver everything... It kinda looks like you're taking pictures from an exhibition or something " I deadpanned as Momo headed towards the door.
" Well, continue what you're doing Kero " Tsu smiled before shutting the door.
" Y/n? "
" Yeah? "
" I love you "
Looking down at him with a smile I kissed his forehead.
" I love you too Icy Hotty "
" Wait... You Think I'm Hot? "
" Shut up and go to sleep already! "
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Text
More post 4x13, Maddie-centric, a little Madney, a little Buddie. I just want her to be happy. Warning for a lot of emotions in this one, folks.
Maddie is elbow deep in soapy water when her phone starts ringing. She tells Hildy to answer (being a parent has definitely taught her the wonders of technology, unlike Eddie) while she shuts off the tap and reaches for the dish towel.
“Hello?” She asks, seeing Chimney’s name scrawled across the screen. It’s been two hours since he last called—not concerning, but a deviation from the usual.
“Maddie. Are you OK? How’s Jee?”
A bad call, maybe. He could’ve lost someone.
“We’re good,” Maddie says, stealing herself. She hates to lie to him, but she’s being honest in the way he means. They’re not hurting in any way he can fix.
He breathes out a whistling breath over the phone. “Good. Good. Thank God.”
“Is something wrong?”
“No. No, I mean. I’m fine. But… Jesus…” He mutters something too low for her to hear. “It’s Eddie. He’s in the hospital — alive — but, but he got… he was shot, clean through the shoulder. Some psycho opened fire on the LAPD.”
Maddie’s heart drops to her stomach, where it stays for another hour until Chimney walks through their door. She’s holding Jee-Yun, who’s wailing like her little lungs are about to give out, but she and Chimney find each other like magnetic poles. She steps into his arms and wishes that the whole world could just drop away. Just her, and Chimney, and their daughter. That would be enough.
“It’s all over the news,” Maddie says. Jee-Yun seems to have been stunned into silence by the unexpected arrival of her dad.
“Athena says they’ve got some of the best people in the department on it,” Chimney says. “They’re gonna catch him.”
“They’d better.”
“Yeah well, otherwise, they’re going to have Amateur Detective Buck on their hands again.”
Jee-Yun starts hiccuping, picking up where she left off, and Chimney steps back to lift her out of Maddie’s arms. She lets go without a fight. She’s so tired of fighting.
“Don’t even joke about that. I’m sure he’s losing his mind—he hasn’t answered any of my calls or messages.”
Chimney attempts a smile. Or maybe all along he’d been going for that twisted grimace. “Bobby’s corralling him, don’t worry. Your brother isn’t going to do anything stupid.”
“Like drag Athena into an active investigation to chase down the man who stabbed you and kidnapped me?”
“Yeah,” Chimney says. “Exactly like that.”
Maddie turns her head to look out the window. She knows what he’s going to say in answer to her question, and she can’t bring herself to look at him when he does. “So what are you all going to do? What happens when someone targets the entire Las Angeles Fire Department?”
“Our jobs,” he says, and Maddie closes her eyes. “We have to, Maddie. We called in C-shift today, but we go back tomorrow.”
“OK,” Maddie hears herself say. What else can she do? How can she tell him that she’s afraid they’ve avoided tragedy one too many times, that she can see them all running to the end of a line, nothing but a long fall below them?
She feels like someone froze half of her in ice, then told the other half to run for her life. She feels fathoms deep in very dark water, but someone is screaming in her ear to swim up, up, up.
When Chimney pulls on the bullet-proof vest, Maddie doesn’t say anything. The human throat wasn’t made for the drawn-out scream inside her head.
Maddie doesn’t visit Eddie while he’s at the hospital. Between Jee-Yun and her own shifts at work, there isn’t time. She feels a little bad about that, but despite their small social circle, she and Eddie haven’t gotten that close over the years. Buck takes up all the air and space when he’s around, a wildfire that she and Eddie chase around and keep from burning up the furniture. But Maddie feels like she should have been there while Eddie was confined to a hospital bed, watching his friends risk the same fate as him when they pulled on their uniforms—she feels a sort of kinship with him. With that helplessness.
So she shows up at his door a week later with Jee-Yun and dinner.
Buck lets her in, which has ceased to be surprising as a general rule, but seems a little suspicious in these circumstances. She hasn’t heard anyone mention Ana’s name since the shooting.
“Jee-Jee!” Buck shouts, whisking Jee-Yun from Maddie’s arms.
“Oh, hi, how are you,” she mutters, watching Buck as he kisses Jee-Yun’s nose and grins. He looks like he needs a long shower and an even longer nap. But Jee-Yun giggles at him as he makes faces and smacks his lips. It’s sweet. It only hurts a little, seeing how good Buck is with her, when sometimes Maddie still thinks of him as that little kid she stitched up every time the world knocked him down. It only hurts a little that for Maddie, getting Jee-Yun to smile is like pulling out her own teeth with rusty pliers (i.e., really goddamn difficult).
“Hey, Maddie,” Eddie says, reaching the door. He nudges Buck aside to make room for Maddie to come in. “It’s good to see you.”
Maddie looks at his cast, at the way Eddie hunches in on himself and the blue-black bruises beneath his eyes from exhaustion and blunt-force head trauma, and feels so goddamn guilty. She should have come sooner. She should have tried harder.
“Hey,” she replies, wiggling the takeout bag, “I come with nourishment.”
“By all means,” Eddie says, sweeping his hand out to the hallway. Maddie leads the way to the kitchen, Eddie slumping behind her, Buck cooing at Jee-Yun and somehow managing not to walk into a wall.
“I figured something light and healthy would be best,” Maddie says, dropping the bag on the counter.
“Yeah, that’s pretty much doctor’s orders,” Eddie agrees. He peeks inside the canvas tote and pulls out a container, opening it up to reveal a big, green salad. “Oh, you shouldn’t have.”
“It was no problem—“ Maddie starts, but she realizes Eddie is wrinkling his nose in disgust, not gratitude. “Oh, shut up and eat your veggies. There’s chicken in it,” she adds with a laugh.
“Where?” Eddie snorts, eyeing the salad like it might come to life and strangle him with leafy hands.
“Chris! Guess who’s here!” Buck, who hasn’t heard a word of their conversation, barrels into the living room where Chris is sitting on the floor with a host of action figures.
“Don’t—don’t let her put anything in her mouth!” Maddie calls after him.
Eddie chuckles and takes a seat at the table. “How’s it going with her? With Chimney?”
“Us?” Maddie keeps her eye on the living room situation while she sits down across from Eddie. “We’re fine. How are you? Buck seems to be living in your back pocket lately.”
“Yeah, he’s been…” Eddie trails off, and Maddie glances over to see him looking at the living room. She turns her eyes back to see Buck sitting cross-legged on the floor, cradling Jee-Yun while showing Chris her tiny fingers. The first time he held Jee-Yun, Buck had lost his mind over her fingernails. They’re so small, he’d said reverently. How could anything be so small?
“I wouldn’t be here without him,” Eddie finishes. “I think I’m going to ask him to move in.” The way he says it isn’t a joke, isn’t something light-hearted about being down an arm or how Buck is free labor. He sounds contemplative. Wondrous.
“Oh,” Maddie says. “But what about… I mean, won’t that be kind of weird for Ana?”
“Buck didn’t tell you?” Eddie asks, turning back to face her and fishing a fork out of the bag. “Ana broke up with me.”
“Oh, my god.”
“I know. But it wasn’t like what happened with Chimney. Ana had the guts to say it to my face.”
“Jesus, Eddie, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. It was the right call. I’m not upset, actually.” Eddie pokes around the container until he finds a piece of chicken, throwing Maddie a smile as he picks it up. “It was the easiest breakup I’ve ever had.”
“Well, that’s… good.” Maddie pulls the bag toward her and lifts out her own salad. She’d gotten Chris chicken fingers and fries, but Eddie doesn’t have to know that. Not until he finishes his grown-up, post-ballistic-surgery food. “Then should I ask what your intentions are towards my brother?”
Eddie chokes on his lettuce. She flashes him a smile while he struggles to swallow. “He is a strapping young man,” she adds. “Very… able-bodied.”
“You’re evil,” Eddie says, laughing.
“No, just observant,” she counters. “Every time I called Buck this week, he was either with you or Chris.”
“I keep telling you people that Buck’s suspension wasn’t my fault. I was unconscious when it happened.”
“All I’m saying is, my brother wouldn’t risk losing his job for just anyone.”
“You think so?” Eddie asks, smiling down at the table.
Maddie takes a delicate bite of spinach and pomegranate seed. “My brother spent a long time running, Eddie. I always thought he was just running away, but he was running toward something. The 118 is his family. But you and Chris are special. He would bleed himself dry if it meant keeping the two of you safe.”
Eddie’s fork is paused halfway to his mouth.
“Don’t take advantage of that,” Maddie says. “If you can’t say the same for him, you need to let him go. I’ve seen him hurt too many times, Eddie.” And she doesn’t mean just Abby—she means their parents. She watched Buck drag himself through hell for a love he shouldn’t have had to fight for. She means herself, too, because she knows that the years he spent thinking she’d chosen Doug over him had cut him deeper than she had any chance of healing. Even now that he knows the truth, there’s a scar.
“You’re a good sister.” Eddie lowers his fork and meets her eyes. “I wasn’t really expecting the shovel talk a week after getting shot, but I promise you that I feel the same.”
“Well, good,” she says. Then, “Oh god, I really did corner you while you’re—I apologize. That was thoughtless and rude of me.”
Eddie just laughs. “Please, Shannon was a wreck the whole first year. She actually forgot my birthday.”
“Oh, Chimney would never let that happen,” Maddie says, feeling a genuine, soft smile cross her face. This is the first time in a week she hasn’t felt the weight of the entire world on her shoulders. It’s an unexpected, but welcome, break. “He starts dropping hints at least three months in advance.”
“I wasn’t really around to remind her,” Eddie says. “That’s my biggest regret, really. Not being around more when Chris was little.”
Ah, there’s the familiar, soul-crushing weight of the world again. It was a nice minute, while it lasted. “It must have been hard to be away from him. I can’t even imagine…” Maddie swallows, but her food tastes sour, acrid. She can imagine. She has. She’s fantasized. About walking out the door. About not coming back.
“That’s the thing,” Eddie says, “it kind of... I mean, I missed him, and I missed Shannon. And now? I would rather get shot a thousand times than leave Chris. But at the time, it was easy. Ridiculously, insanely easy.”
Maddie watches as Eddie runs his hand through his hair, a twisted smile taking over his face. “What kind of fucking father chooses a war zone over his own wife and kid, you know? I kept telling myself it was for them, it was for us. But really I was just scared. I was terrified of it, of being a husband, a father. I didn’t know how to be those things.”
There’s something unfolding inside Maddie’s chest. An old hurt, an old fear, unraveling for her to finally grasp at its edges and see the bloody, wretched mess. “I don’t either,” she admits. She hasn’t said that to anyone. Not Buck, not Athena, not Josh. Certainly not her parents. Because that thing inside her, that little girl curled in on herself to hide away her broken heart—her parents had a lot to do with it. “I’m so scared. All the time. She’s tiny, and perfect, and I’m… I’m not good enough.”
“Yeah, I get it,” Eddie says.
“No,” Maddie says. “I’m going to ruin her, Eddie. I’m a horrible mother. I don’t know what I was thinking. I can’t do this.”
“Whoah, whoah.” Eddie reaches his hand across the table to grip hers, tight. Maddie raises her other hand to her face to wipe her eyes. “You’re doing great, Maddie. You’re really good with her.”
“No, I’m not. Not really. I mean, Buck is more of a natural at this than I am.” He’s in the living room, letting Jee-Yun chew on the collar of his shirt, while Chris is talking and gesturing wildly with his hands. Buck looks happy. He looks rapt, focused. All in.
“I don’t think anyone’s naturally a good parent. I think it’s supposed to be hard. That’s how you know you’re doing it right.”
“I just don’t want to hurt her,” Maddie says, watching Buck, watching Jee-Yun, watching Chris. This beautiful tableau of a family that she wants so desperately to be part of.
“That’s normal. That fear is… hell, Maddie. That’s parenthood.”
“How do you deal with it? How do you walk around with that, knowing… knowing any moment, you might fail?”
Eddie tightens his hold on her hand, pulls on it slightly to bring her focus back around to him. “I’m going to tell you something I told Buck a long time ago,” he says. “You’re going to make mistakes. It’s not like there’s some test you can study for and get the perfect kid at the end. What matters is that you love them enough to keep trying.”
Maddie remembers Buck, what feels like a lifetime ago, staring down their parents. Love me anyway, he’d said. “It’s that simple?” She asks, feeling hollow. Feeling like she failed before she even crossed the starting line.
“Of course not,” Eddie says. “It’s hard work, loving someone. But you’re not in it alone, either. You’ve got all of us.”
He’s right. Maybe she can put a little bit of the load down, once in a while. Maybe she doesn’t have to be crushed by all that weight.
“I’m sorry,” she says, cracking a smile, “all we’re doing is talking about me.”
“Trust me, it’s a relief,” Eddie says, smiling back. “All anyone wants me to do is talk about how I’m feeling. I’m sick of talking about myself.”
“It’s nice to know you’re not the only one with problems?”
“Yeah. Exactly that.”
They share a raw, honest smile, and Maddie does feel a little bit lighter. “I’ll be sure to come back for more sage advice,” she says, pulling her hand away.
“Next time, bring pizza,” Eddie says. It makes Maddie laugh.
When she gets home, she puts Jee-Yun to bed and looks at her. Just takes in that fragile nose, the impossibly delicate eyelids, her perfect, untidy mouth. She thinks about how she’s been scared her whole life—of upsetting her parents, of hurting Buck, of losing Doug, of leaving Doug, of finding love.
But all those fears, they brought her here. So maybe this is just another journey, and maybe it’s OK to be scared.
When Chimney gets home the next morning, he crawls into bed with Maddie and Jee-Yun. Their daughter had started fussing at three in the morning, and now they were both exhausted. But Maddie holds on tight, holds Jee-Yun close, and when Chimney wraps his arms around them and drops a kiss into her hair, Maddie hears him say, "my two best girls. How did I get so lucky?"
And she thinks, this. This can be enough.
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