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fanficimagery · 4 years

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‘Cause We’re Gonna Be Legends; pt. 1

Summary: Imagine wandering the Boardwalk with your friends. A group of boys catch their attention and while your friends are doing everything to catch their attention in return, they are apparently more interested in the oblivious girl of the bunch who doesn't care to bat her eyelashes at them. You. [Part One]

GIF courtesy of @daebom + Original GIF Post

Words: 6.5K Warnings: I have no idea what this is. I wanted just a quick little scene where the boys are taking care of a sick S/O and it turned into this. Fml. Sorry for their OOC-ness.

With summer officially here, your girl friends are more than ready to prowl the boardwalk in their skimpiest of outfits. Out of the five of you, you were the only one who preferred to actually be covered up. You didn't care to flash any skin if you weren't soaking up the rays on the beach and your friends didn't care to attempt any makeover since it was less competition for them.

And really, there was no competition at all. You were a little on the short side whereas your friends were all long-legged, thin beauties. You honestly wouldn't be surprised if a couple of them ended up in a magazine, that's how pretty they were. But you were comfortable in your own skin and didn't mind the attention being on them. In fact, you preferred to be in the background and watch your friends do whatever it is they pleased. You were content to witness and laugh at their antics, and then be grateful you were the only one without regrets or a killer hangover the following day.

You were the only one out of your friend group to live alone, so it was really no surprise your house became ground zero for getting ready for a night out. And after making sure the girls had picked up after themselves, we're not animals, ladies!, you piled into one car and sped off.

"So what's the plan?" Emily asks, already twirling a piece of her blonde hair around a finger as she eyes a couple of tourists walking by. She winks when they give her a double take. "If we're scoping out some boys, I can't mess up my hair on any of the rides."

Rolling your eyes, you let the girls pass you up and then walk behind them as they figure out what the night is going to entail. Booth after booth, each working individual calls out in order to grab your group's attention in order to play their game or buy their merchandise.

"Hold it." Ruby practically flings her arms out at her sides, stalling Jessica and Becca. "The boys are all alone and ripe for the picking."

Mentally chuckling, you let your girls ogle them from afar and then quickly fix themselves up. The boys in question are four bikers that basically run the boardwalk. David, Dwayne, Marko, and Paul. Ever since your girls had realized what babes the rebels actually were, they'd made it their mission to nab each one for a night of fun. But for as long as you've seen them prowling the boardwalk, not once had you caught them all alone. Not until tonight.

Ruby, all dark hair and red painted lips, takes the lead in all her sultry glory. Emily and Jessica follow, their heels clicking against the wooden boardwalk as they giggle back and forth to each other, and Becca- coy, innocent looking Becca- brings up the rear. For some reason, Becca was the one who had the highest chance of bringing in their targets.

You stay several feet behind them, chuckling when Becca glances over her shoulder and wrinkles her nose cutely at the one you've come to know as Marko. When he elbows Paul and Paul wolf whistles, you know the girls have them hook, line, and sinker. "Every time," you mumble, shaking your head in amusement.

As you're passing up the boys, something makes you look in their direction. Paul and Marko are calling out rather suggestive comments to your friends, but David and Dwayne are both staring at you. Your small smile briefly falters at the intensity of their stares, but you're quick to shake off the odd feeling you were suddenly overwhelmed with. Instead, you timidly nod in greeting before quickly looking forward once more to catch up to your girls.

"Oh my god. Do you hear them?!" Jessica gushes, her red hair framing her face in waves. "Tonight's the night, girls. I can feel it."

"Keys," you immediately say, holding a hand out. "You girls do you, but I am not letting you assholes abandon me if you get lucky." Emily smirks, readily handing over the keys. "And if you strike out, I'll be heading back towards the car around midnight. Wait around for me or catch a ride home. If I get to the car and no one is there, I'll sit around for thirty minutes before calling it a night and then you're shit out of luck. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, mom," all four of your friends muse.

"Good. Now go have fun," you say, shooing them away. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"But you wouldn't do anything," Ruby mockingly pouts. "And we want to do everything."

"Of course you do," you sigh. "You girls are my favorite sluts after all. Now go before I decide to lecture you instead."

All four girls cackle before taking a path back towards the way they came, intent on catching the boys' attention once more in hopes of drawing them in. You shake your head at them as they disappear and set off to hit up a few particular booths. You've got some spending cash on you and you plan to buy yourself a few things you'd been eyeing for almost a month now.

Wandering the boardwalk, you dodge some rambunctious teens and slide past the more unsavory individuals of Santa Carla. You manage to find some of the t-shirts you'd been wanting and even a few patches to add to your bag back home. Then after snagging yourself a Cola, you walk over to a table and take a seat to do some people watching. You waste some time doing just that, smiling hesitantly when you accidentally catch a gaze or three.

You haven't seen your friends or the boys, so you figure they actually did get lucky. But it was still a little too early for your liking, so you bought tickets for some of the rides. You got on the Ferris Wheel, riding solo and enjoying the peace of the night. On the Tilt-O-Whirl you partnered up with a little girl who'd been nervous to ride alone and her mother had been grateful for it. In fact she had been so grateful that she asked if you were with someone because her little girl wanted to get on the roller coaster, but didn't want to do so alone. And since you weren't busy at all, you made the kid's night by making sure she didn't have to ride alone after jogging real quick back to the car to drop off your purchases.

By the time the mother/daughter duo were done for the night, you wanted one last ride on the carousel before calling it a night for yourself. So after ripping off the exact amount of tickets you'd need for two rides on the carousel, you then handed the rest to a couple of teens who were still having the time of their lives.

You told the carousel operator you'd be going around twice and since you've done this numerous times he nodded to let you know he understood. And though you really want to sit atop of one of the horses, you're alone and don't want to look like a complete idiot. So choosing one of the sleigh seats, you sit with your back against the arm rest and stretch your legs out across the seat so no one dares sit with you.

The carousel music starts before the ride starts to slowly spin and you settle in. You don't know what it is about this particular ride, but it's soothing to you and you tiredly smile at everyone around you who are giggling and enjoying themselves. The ride spins for a couple of minutes before slowing to a complete stop and letting off the riders in order to make room for the next batch. But you remain seated, one arm draped along the backrest of the seat and the other along the arm rest as you twist your upper torso just so. You let your head fall back, eyes closing for a few seconds as the carousel rocks from the people jumping on and off.

Suddenly your legs are being lifted and then dropped into what obviously feels like someone's lap, and you lift your head quickly, ready to tell someone off. But your anger quickly fades into shock at the sight of a familiar blonde who is now laughing at your gaping expression. Paul. Someone looms over you just to your left, behind the sleight seat, and you barely manage to suppress a squeak at the stoic looking Dwayne. His dark eyes sparkle, but his expression remains neutral. Marko is behind Paul, draped over a horse as he smirks and wiggles his fingers in a childish wave.

"Wha-" Fingers caress your right cheek from behind, sliding towards your ear to tuck some loose hair behind there. You flinch and then glance over your shoulder. David's blue eyes are intense as he stares down at you, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Um. Hi?" You wonder, rubbing at your cheek with your shoulder. You move to take your legs out of Paul's lap, but he lays an arm over your thighs to keep you in place. He grins and you sigh. "What do you want?"

"Can't a couple of guys be friendly, chica?"

"Sure, but you guys aren't known for exactly being friendly. Are you, Paul?"

Marko ooh's as Paul's grin widens, but it's the voice above you that sends a shiver down your spine. "Well now you have us at unfair advantage, sweetheart. You seem to know us, but we have no idea who you are."

The carousel music starts and the ride starts to spin again. You tilt your head backwards so you're staring at David upside down. "Because that's the way I prefer it." His expression briefly falters and you slowly grin at him. "But since you've now been acquainted with my girls, I'm assuming it's only a matter of time before they drag you to my house or try to get us all to hang out. So in that case, I'm Y/N."

"Your girls, huh?" David drawls. "Then why weren't you with them when they attempted to get us alone under the boardwalk?"

You snort. Of course they'd jump straight to sexing them up.

"Yeah, girl, why not? You'd have probably made for better company."

Your eyes subtly widen as you then quickly give Paul your attention. "Better company? You've got to be joking. They're the definition of everyone's type!"

"And what about you?"

You briefly falter. "What about me? I'm just- I'm the mom friend." You shrug. "But instead of making sure they're behaving, I send my little horndogs off to have fun and make sure they have a ride home at the end of the night if they need it."

"Now that doesn't seem fair at all." The back of David's knuckles runs along your cheek and you move out of reach. The other two blondes chuckle. "Your friends were great and all, but they lacked a little.. something."

Dwayne huffs. "Yeah. A brain."

"Hey!" You frown up at the brunette, fighting off a smile because as much as you loved your friends you knew they were a little sidetracked when sex was on the brain. Your shoulders slump and you sigh. "At least tell me you let them down easy? They've been trying to get you all in the sack for weeks."

Paul smirks. "We know."

The carousel comes to a stop and as you move to get up, the boys don't let you go far. David smirks and takes the lead, and Paul immediately slings arm around your shoulders to make you follow him. Marko saunters at your other side and Dwayne is only a step behind you.

"That dark haired one was a bit mean," Marko suddenly says. "Ruby I think her name was?"

"Yeah." You grimace. "Ruby and Becca are the dark haired ones, but Becca does just fine with rejection. She'll laugh it off and still consider you a friend. You guys are lucky Ruby and Jessica weren't drunk. They're mean when they don't get what they want."

Paul laughs and squeezes you closer to his side. "Dwayne and David held their own just fine. And besides, your girls found another group to entertain themselves with."

"Oh good. At least now I don't have to hear them complain about not being di-" You pause, staring at the motorcycles they've led you to. "Leaving so soon? I figured you boys were the type to stay up all night."

David smirks as he straddles his bike. "We are."

"What do you say, chica? Wanna go for a ride?" Paul jostles you before letting you go, only to hop on his own bike. Dwayne and Marko are much calmer as they straddle theirs, though Marko joins Paul in practically bouncing in his seat.

You gulp and slowly inch backward. "Uh, raincheck? I was actually about to head home after riding the carousel."

"Boo. Live a little," Paul says. "Have some of that spirit you were friends were showing us earlier."

Your smile dims just a little at being compared to them, but you quickly squash the feeling. "Sorry, bub. If you wanted a good time, you were better off with the girls." You take a few steps backward, shrugging. "I'll see you around. My bed's calling my name."

Paul and Marko do their best to keep you with them just a little bit longer, but Dwayne and David watch you go with carefully guarded expressions.

Ever since you were introduced to the boys, it seemed like they were suddenly everywhere at the boardwalk. The girls didn't take their rejection personally, so it was only a matter of time before they realized that at least one of them had caught and held the boys' attention.

The girls left you alone to pursue a hopeful one night stand? The boys would find you and make sure you had a fun night yourself.

You trailed after your friends who were clutching onto someone's arm as they were won prize after prize? Marko would show up out of the blue with a prize half your size and a smug smirk when the girls would gape at his sudden appearance and disappearance.

Your friends chose the wrong crowd to hang out with? David, Dwayne, and Marko were immediately there to deal with the situation if you or your girls couldn't handle it yourselves.

Paul would endlessly flirt whenever your group would pass by, but the comments and stares were now directed at you.

Their attention solely on you didn't go unnoticed and your girls couldn't be more ecstatic for you. Normally you'd glare and reject any flirtations with a roll of your eyes, but day by day the boys wore you down to the point you'd laugh and smile at their antics. The girls were under the impression something was going on, but to you the boys were just annoyingly passing the time.

However, you couldn't help but notice how David watched you like a hawk to make sure no one was giving you a hard time. Dwayne would stand as close as possible without touching and didn't particularly like when other boys attempted to catch your attention. Marko liked to drag you onto rides and was always the one to offer dinner, and Paul liked to touch to see exactly where on your body was accessible to him. He was the most handsy of the four and thought it was hilarious when you'd punch him if he touched any spot you were ticklish. Lately though he took to slipping a hand in your back pocket when you least expected it and kissing your cheek when you yelped in surprise before running off.

Your friends were adamant that the boys were seriously into you, but you weren't so sure. They still looked and flirted with various females that crossed their paths, even as you sat there next to them and watched on in amusement.

They were the best looking guys you'd seen in Santa Carla, so surely they couldn't be interested in you like your girls kept saying they were.

Being sick is a rare occurrence, but being so sick that you're flat out miserable is even rarer. You're normally good at taking care of yourself and getting back into tip-top shape in no time, but the flu is really kicking your ass this time around. It also doesn't help that the AC's working to keep your apartment cool aren't doing that well of a job. Well they are, but your body is doing it's best to sweat the virus out of itself and you're just plain miserable.

With your hair tied up in a loose bun to keep it off the back of your neck, you've been so overly heated that you opted to lounge around in a sports bra and a pair of cotton shorts that you normally just sleep in because they're so small. But here you are, laid up in bed as you watch TV.

There's a knock on your front door and you groan, not wanting to get up and greet anyone. And besides, all your friends knew you were sick so they were staying away. A minute passes and then another, more urgent knock sounds. You groan again, but get up to find out who's disturbing you when all you want is to be left alone.

Stumbling through the hallway and living room, you make it to the front door just as a third knock sounds.

"What?" You grumble after yanking open the door. Four familiar boys stare right back at you, two of those gazes immediately dropping to take in all the skin on display. Dwayne frowns at you, but there's a- dare you say it?- spark of concern in David's expression.

"You weren't on the boardwalk," David says. "Becca told us where we could find you."

You wrinkle your nose at him. "Did she also tell you I was sick and in no shape for visitors?"

"Oh, babe." Paul leers. "You're in the best shape. Is this," he gestures to your body, "what you've been hiding under those band tees and plaid shirts?"

"I hate you," you deadpan. Marko cackles and even Dwayne's lips twitch in amusement. You smile tiredly, but then grimace in pain. "Guys, I'm gross, I'm tired, and I'm miserable. You know exactly where I'm at now, so can I please crawl back into my bed and die in peace? Yes? Okay, bye."

David's hand stops the door from entirely closing on them. You groan and whimper, moments away from just crying with how miserable you feel. The door swings back open and the back of David's hand is immediately on your forehead. Automatically you swat him away, but then realize a moment later that it actually felt good. He was cold.

"When was the last time you took medicine?" David wonders, smirking when you grab his hand and hold it to your cheek next.

You hum as you sigh in relief. "Medicine? What's that?" You attempt to joke. When you meet his no-nonsense expression, you frown and reluctantly drop his hand. "I either pay for food and medicine or pay to keep a roof over my head. Guess which one I prioritized."

David glances over his shoulder, and Paul and Marko stare at him before taking off without a word. You frown as you watch them go, but then David and Dwayne are pushing their way into your apartment. "You're running too hot," David tells you. "You need to cool off. Now."

"I know that, dad, but I literally can't stand for too long. You're lucky I'm even still standing right now." Without warning, a now jacket-less Dwayne picks you up with one arm behind your shoulders and the other under your knees. You yelp as your hands settle on his shoulder, but when you realize his body is as cold as David's hand felt, you melt. "Oh. Oh that's nice." Dwayne chuckles and David smirks behind his back, and you lay your head on his shoulder before nuzzling in towards the crook of his neck. "If any of you get sick, it's your fault. You should have left when you had the chance."

"Don't worry about us." Dwayne's voice is low, his chest rumbling as he talks. "We don't get sick."

"Mhm. You say that now." Dwayne lowers you gently onto your bed and you raise an eyebrow at him as he climbs in next to you. You gulp as he then lays down and stretches his arm out, and you take it as an invite to drape your upper half across his chest. He curls one arm beneath his head and the other around your back, and it takes everything in you to not completely wrap yourself around him. "God you feel so good," you mumble as you let your eyes fall shut.

David chuckles. "I don't think any of us have heard that without-"

"Shush!" You feel the bed dip behind you, but are too comfortable to move and look at him. "I just replayed that in my head and realized how it sounded. Don't tell Paul."

Both boys chuckle, but then quiet down after a few seconds. You sigh as your body finally relaxes and you moan quietly when Dwayne starts to run his fingers up and down your spine. He's abnormally cold, but right now you don't give a damn because he feels great against your feverish body.

"You need to take better care of yourself," David says. "You look out for those girls of yours all the time, so the least they could do is return the favor."

"As much as they like to appear independent, they're not," you mumble. "Medicine is expensive and I'm not about to put that on my friends or their parents. I can handle a week of being sick. It's fine."

"Is it?" Dwayne drawls. "You're awfully clingy for a sick person."

"I'm sick, you assholes. Baby me."

They find amusement in your whining and Dwayne squeezes you a little tighter. But David continues to talk. "So all your friends live with their parents, except for you. Why is that?"

"We're estranged," you say. "Lived with my aunt and got a job as soon as I was able to. Then I graduated and moved out with the cash I saved."

"You still talk to this aunt?"

"No. We kept in contact for a few months, but then we each got our own lives. The only people I have are the girls."

"And us," Dwayne rumbles. "You have us."

"You're adorable. Now shush. Watch TV and let me sleep."

David and Dwayne finally go quiet then, but you know they've listened because the TV volume lowers and you can hear the channels changing. They settle on some program and you can finally feel yourself drifting off into a promising sleep.

It's apparently not a deep sleep because semi-loud noises startle you awake once more. When you lift your head to stare around the room, Marko is frozen next to Dwayne as he shows him a couple different boxes of medicine. You blink at him and then stare towards the end of the bed where Paul's eyes are directed to one spot, and one spot only.

"Damn, girl. You should wear these shorts more often." Of course he's staring at your ass. "Are you wearing underwear because if you lift your leg just a little bit higher-"

"Paul!" You snort and then grimace in pain, lowering your head back onto Dwayne's chest. "I have on underwear, okay? You're not gonna get a peek at the goods no matter how hard you stare."

"Bummer." He then holds up a brown paper bag, his gaze meeting yours. "Got some chicken soup and crackers for you. Sit up so you can eat and then take the medicine."

"What?" You're surprised they got you both food and medicine, and slowly move to sit up against the headboard. Dwayne follows, and soon enough you're sitting between both Dwayne and David in your bed. "I was only joking when I said to baby me."

"Yeah? Well too bad," David says. "You need to break your fever. Now eat a little something, shower, and then take the fever reducer."

David seems actually pretty serious about this, so after holding his gaze for a moment too long you give in. You don't mention you actually hate eating in bed and watch on in mild amusement as Dwayne and Marko juggle the now opened soup container and a sleeve of crackers while trying to figure out a way to hand it all to you without spilling anything.

"There's a lap tray under the sink in the kitchen." You take pity on Marko and his shoulders sag in relief. "And can you bring me a glass of water?" Marko does quick work of retrieving what you've asked for and then you're stretching out your legs in front of you as Dwayne sets everything up in your lap for you. You sigh as you take hold of the plastic spoon to scoop up the first mouthful and pray your stomach doesn't revolt while the boys are with you. When you take the first bite and quietly groan at the taste, your gaze darts around to the four boys who are staring at you. "Please do something other than watch me eat. This is weird."

Paul immediately pushes off your dresser to start rummaging through your drawers, Marko busies himself with your bookshelf, David starts channel surfing, and when you glance at Dwayne he has his eyes closed. Paul's a little overexcited and you can't find it in you to reprimand him because you did tell him to do something.

You eat slow, nibbling on a cracker here and there between spoonfuls of chicken broth and noodles. David even steals a cracker or two, but his gaze never leaves the TV so he never sees you grin every time he does it.

"Hey. Sick patch," Marko suddenly muses. "Where'd you get it?" In his hand is the patch depicting a skeleton mid-headbang, his skeletal hand showing the sign of the horns.

"It was a gift," you tell him, smiling fondly. "A while back I ran into a little girl who was scared to get on rides alone, so I rode with her for about an hour. Her mother was really grateful and I ran into them again a couple days later on the boardwalk. They saw my bag, the girl fell in love with all the patches, and she conned her mom into buying me a new one to show her thanks." Marko's interest is suddenly piqued and you can see him subtly glancing around. And given his own love of patches, you guess he's looking for your bag. "My bag's in the closet."

Paul joins Marko at your closet then and you finally lean back against your headboard, done with eating. Dwayne takes the tray off your lap to take into the kitchen, but you keep your glass of water to sip. You smile when Marko finds your bag, commenting on the patchwork and about a few patches he hadn't seen before.

"You feeling strong enough to stand in the shower?"

You look over at David, who's more than at ease lounging in your bed, and shrug. "Only one way to find out." You hand him your glass of water and crawl out through the spot Dwayne had vacated. Standing on shaky legs, you hesitantly walk back and forth, and then grin up at David. "Yeah. I should be fine."

He nods. "Take the medicine now, then after you shower you can relax."

From the corner of your eye you see Paul make a beeline for your dresser. "Oh I know the perfect outfit."

"Out of the underwear drawer, you d-hole!" Dwayne re-enters the room, smacking Paul upside the head and shutting the drawer he had just opened. You smile at him in thanks and then quietly chuckle at the blonde's pout. "If you calm down and stop looking at me like that, you can pick out a fresh set of exactly what I'm wearing. And yes that includes the underwear." He perks up at that and you roll your eyes. "Top drawer for the underwear, second for the sports bra, and the very bottom for pajama shorts." As Paul takes his time choosing the perfect underwear, you glance back at Marko who's caressing a few patches on your bag. You sigh. "Hey, Marko. There's a shoe box at the top of my closet to the right. It's filled with patches. Have fun choosing the five you want." Immediately your bag is dropped and he's reaching for the shelf inside your closet.

"You know you just made their night's, right?" Dwayne asks. When you glance at him, you're surprised to see he had your first dose of medicine ready for you to take.

"I needed to get rid of some patches and I have a feeling Paul would end up in my underwear drawer the second the shower turned on, so.." You take the medicine from him, tossing two pills into your mouth and swallowing them down with a mouthful of water.

Dwayne nods and then lowers his voice. "Is there anywhere in particular you want Paul to stay out of?" You're about to tell him no, but then your eyes unwillingly dart to your bedside drawer. You gulp, your face flames, and you pray your face is already red from fever otherwise Dwayne is going to know exactly what you're hiding. When you meet his amused gaze and small smirk, you quietly groan. He definitely knows. "Got it," he says rather than teasing you about it.

Clothes are then shoved into your hands and Paul winks at you. "Your selection of underwear is phenomenal. I did not expect all that lace."

You don't bother with a reply and head out into the hall as he snickers at your back, taking a left to the bathroom. Once you're hidden behind the closed door, you turn the water on cool in the shower and then allow yourself to just breathe. It's been a while since anyone bothered to actually look after you and now having four boys, who are insanely attractive in their own ways, take up that job is a little mind boggling. But before you can think anymore on it and what their motives could be, if they had any, your back twinges in pain and you start to undress.

You're not sure how long you actually take in the shower, but you know it must've been quite some time in order for Marko to knock on the door and ask if everything was okay. A couple minutes after that you finally exit the shower, slowly dressing and doing your best to towel dry your hair. Giving up, you walk out and make your way back into your bedroom.

The boys have dragged chairs into your room, only one of them now lounging in bed. Paul has shed his jacket and boots, stretched out in your bed with both hands tucked beneath his head and ankles crossed. He wiggles his eyebrows at you and you huff a brief laugh.

"Better?" David asks.

Shrugging, you look towards him. "I don't feel so gross now, but I'm still sleepy."

"Then sleep. We'll wake you in four hours for your next dose of medicine and then leave after that."

You open your mouth to argue, but his deadpan expression lets you know it's pointless to argue. So just going with the flow, you shrug and toss your towel into the corner hamper. Crawling into bed, you tiredly grin at Paul who's likely hoping for you to cuddle up to him like you did to Dwayne. But your hair is damp, so instead you settle next to him. He dramatically gasps, but you sit there to gather your hair in hand before twisting it into an untied bun and then lay down on it so it's not all over the place.

"Well then fine," Paul huffs. "I'll just cuddle you instead."

Already knowing he means it, you lay your arm out in invitation. He's so much larger than you, however, that he opts to lay on his stomach directly next to you. His right arm drapes over your stomach and tucks beneath your waist, and his face nestles in the crook of your neck. You freeze, especially when you can feel hot breath against your skin, and only relax when he seems to be behaving. "This is not how friends cuddle," you mumble, "but you're so cold I don't even care."

David and Dwayne both smirk, and Marko hides his amusement behind a fist as he chews on his thumbnail. "Good." Paul's voice is muffled against your neck. "Because we've been trying for days, weeks if I'm honest, to get you to notice we're trying to be more than just your friends."

"W-What?" You squeak. Your heart immediately starts to pound and you're suddenly self conscious about the way Paul is wrapped around you.

"We were sure you'd have noticed by now or your girls would have said something," Marko says.

"I- I mean they have," you stammer, "but.. what? Why? I'm not- I'm just.."

"You're different," Dwayne says. You blink in surprise at him. "You noticed us, but you didn't throw yourself at us."

"You also weren't intimidated by us, so that was a plus." Marko perks up in his chair. "Have you really not noticed? I mean Paul started groping you and Dwayne glared at that one guy who asked for your number until he walked off."

"Yeah, but that's just Paul. He flirts with anything that has a heartbeat." The three boys chuckle at your still astonished expression and Paul nuzzles your neck with a hum. He doesn't deny it. "And Dwayne.. I kind of guessed he was into me," you frown, "but I convinced myself that his actions were of the protective brother sort."

"Oh he was protective alright. Just not brotherly." Paul's lips and breath so close to your neck makes you shiver, and it doesn't go unnoticed by the others. Paul too if him pulling you ever closer to his body is any indication. The tip of his nose runs along your neck and you find yourself subconsciously tilting your head to the side. "Even sick you smell so good."

Dwayne, David, and Marko all tense, their gazes darting to where Paul's face is hidden. You chuckle nervously, trying to push him away with your head, only to quietly moan when you feel the flat of his tongue sweep across your skin.

"Paul!" David barks.

Startling, you get your wits about you and push Paul away. He looks a little dazed when he glances around and then offers you a sheepish smile. "O-Okay," you shakily say, "out. Your cuddling privileges are over for the night."

"Aw. Come on, babe."

"Nope. I'm too sick for that right now."

Marko laughs as Paul slinks out of the bed and then quickly takes up the vacated spot for himself. He ends up almost in the exact position, only his head lands on your chest and his arm wraps around the tops of your thighs so his hand is tucked beneath your legs. You sigh as his cold skin cools off yours.

Marko lasts exactly eleven minutes before the hand under your thigh shifts upward to your butt and squeezes. You sigh and poke his shoulder. "Out. You're as bad as Paul." He laughs, not even bothering to deny it.

Paul and Marko high five one another, and you frown as you attempt to shift into a more comfortable position. You watch Dwayne with suspicious eyes as he slides into bed once more, but then give him the benefit of the doubt when he lets you cuddle up to him instead. Once you're comfortable with your head on his chest and arm over his stomach, you're finally able to fall asleep once more when his hand settles in your hair instead of somewhere on your own body.

The next time you're woken up it's because you feel a little overheated once again. You groan as you stretch out and realize a moment later you're not cuddled up to anyone. Frowning, you also realize that there's a black coat covering you. You shove the coat down towards your lap and glance around your room, only to find David staring at you in amusement from the edge of your bed.

"Sleep well?"

"Mhm. This yours?" You ask, gesturing to the coat. He smiles and nods. "Where is everyone?"

"We need to get going." You sit up and notice then that he's got your next dose of medicine waiting for you, and a glass of water. "We'll be busy later tonight, but we'll be back tomorrow evening. Keep taking your medicine and we'll see you soon."

After David hands you the medicine and water, he stands to pull on his coat. You slide out of bed to stand in front of him and nervously shift from foot to foot. "Thank you," you mumble. "For everything."

"Don't mention it, sweetheart." David raises his hand, fingertips caressing your cheek before tucking what no doubt is wild hair behind your ear. You grimace and then reach up to smooth it down yourself. "Listen. About earlier, the boys might have crossed a line. You're sick and we kind of dropped a bomb on you about all four of us being interested in you."

"Oh." You will yourself to not blush. "I, um, it's fine. It's kind of shocking, but I'm actually-"

"Interested?" David raises an eyebrow at you.

You shrug. "Who wouldn't be? But you guys seriously picked the worst time to bluntly tell me you liked me."

"You were taking too long to catch on."

You shake your head in amusement at him. "Fair enough." Sighing, you then nod towards your door. "I'll walk you out."

"It's fine. You get back into bed." His hand raises and latches onto the back of your neck, and he brings you so his cold lips press to your feverish forehead. "We'll be back before you know it." Then without another word, David whirls around and exits your bedroom.

A few moments later and you can hear your front door opening and closing. You're left blinking at nothing but thin air and when you notice it's just after three in the morning, you numbly crawl back into bed. The entire night, the parts where you were awake, had been nuts and you can't help but attempt to go over every interaction you've ever had with the boys. You try to pinpoint exactly when their friendly interactions turned into something more, but a sudden throb behind your eyes has you groaning.

Tomorrow. You'll figure it out tomorrow.

#the lost boys x reader #the lost boys imagine #the lost boys #david the lost boys #dwayne the lost boys #marko the lost boys #paul the lost boys #imagine #fanficimagery #david #dwayne #marko #paul

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toomanyrobins · 3 years

Text

a little birdie told me

Summary: Y/N “Birdie” Parker left New York and her family three years ago in the middle of the night. Now, a call for help to her best friend brings her back into the fold of the Three Families and their “business”

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Parker!Reader

Content warning: physical abuse, miscarriage, mentions of forced marriage

Word Count: 1.3k

Notes: comment if you want to be tagged!

Series masterlist // next part

The Ivory Hotel was sacred ground in New York City after the Three Families had formed. Multiple disputes and bloodshed after the war had led to a new leaf being turned over in the city. The Stark, Barnes, and Barton families had come together and become more powerful than ever before. Now, nearly a decade after the original agreement, New York was a different city. Many government officials had tried to bring the families down, but despite that fact that their practices were mostly illegal, they worked to help the city and offered jobs to anyone who returned from the war. One such person was Sam Wilson, fiance to Rebecca Barnes, the daughter of the head of the Barnes family. They were having lunch in the solarium at the Ivory when a waiter came rushing over to the table to inform her she had a call. When she asked who it was, the young waiter shook his head, “They wouldn’t say, but it’s a woman and she said something about a tiny bird, I think.”

Becca’s heart leapt into her throat, “Do you mean little birdie?” The waiter nodded and she stood quickly. Y/N Parker rarely called her and using their code word for danger sent her heart into her throat. Sam wasn’t sure what was going on, but could see that his fiancee was shaken. He threw some money on the table and followed her to the phone. When Becca lifted the receiver to her ear, the hoarse voice that greeted her put her on edge.. ‘Birdie? What’s wrong?’ At the mention of the name, Sam’s eyes widened. He had never met the infamous Y/N Parker-Stark, ‘Birdie’ to her friends and family, but he knew that she had been important to everyone and then disappeared in the night without a word.

‘B, I think I need help.’

She could hear the fear in Y/N’s voice and was already pulling on her jacket with Sam’s help, ‘Are you at your apartment? I can be there in two hours.’

‘Yeah, I’m…” Y/N groaned softly into receiver, “God, when did this all get so fucked?’

‘Can you tell me what’s going on?’ Becca’s heart was beating out of her chest as Sam was pulling his jacket on.

There was a moment of silence and then she whispered, ‘I think I’m having a miscarriage.’

‘Oh…Y/N. Okay, I am on my way. You need to get to a hospital.’ The broken voice on the other end of her phone told that it wasn’t an option, ‘Alright, no hospital. Go lay down. I’m on my way.’ She hung up and hurriedly tried to explain the situation to Sam. “You can’t say anything to anyone yet. Not until I know more…please.”

“You need to figure out what is happening and call the Boss. Okay? We are both putting our necks on the line as is.” Becca nodded and he kissed her softly, “Don’t do anything stupid, baby. I’d like to actually make it down the aisle.” The couple left the restaurant, Sam dropping her off at her parent’s home so that she could grab her car.

Becca rushed over to Bruce’s office, calling up to Nat and telling her to come down. Soon, the two women were on the road and Nat was learning about the situation, while Becca was breaking every posted speed limit. “So let me get this straight. You’ve secretly been in contact with Birdie since she left and haven’t told anyone? Now, she’s called you out of the blue and says she needs help,” Nat was trying to wrap her head around the entire situation and ran a hand through her hair, “Becca, that’s so much to unpack. Does anyone else know?”

She nodded, “Just Sam. We were at lunch when I got the call. She thinks she’s having a miscarriage and that’s all she will say, but my gut says there is more going on.” The two women knew the famous Barnes gut was never wrong. They drove in tense, worried silence and managed to cut the drive down to a little over an hour.

The duo hurried up the stairs and entered the apartment. They found Y/N curled up in a ball on the couch with a blanket pulled up to her chin. She sat up when she saw them and then winced in pain. Nat quickly sat beside the girl and started fussing. Becca stood by the door, getting her first look at her best friend in over two years. She couldn’t tear her eyes away from the split lip and the hand print on Y/N’s neck. Nat hadstilled when she saw the marks and the whole room seemed to be frozen. Bex finally broke the spell and spoke, “Who did this, Birdie?”

Y/N’s eyes dropped to her hands and she shook her head, refusing to speak. She flinched when Nat brought her hand up to run a finger along the purple painting her neck. Both women were willing the anger to leave her veins, knowing that they could be emotional later. Right now, they had to get Y/N out of the apartment and to a hospital. The redhead pushed herself off the couch, “Right. I’m gonna go pack your bags. You’re not coming back here.” She directed Becca to stay with Y/N. The dark-haired woman couldn’t tear her eyes away from the younger Parker. So much had changed in the past two years. The baby fat had fallen away from her face, leaving behind angular cheekbones. Her eyes had lost their sparkle and the bags under her eyes were purple. And then, there was the bruises and cuts on her face. It was difficult to believe this was the same woman she once knew.

She brought her hands up to cup Y/N’s face, “Damn, Birdie, what have you been mixed up in?”

“It’s a long story,” Y/N whispered, trying to brush it off. She looked down at the diamond on Becca’s finger and ran a finger over it.

She looked at her friend curiously. Becca smiled and allowed the conversation to change, “I know I said I would never get married. His name is Sam. Dad brought it to the families on my 18th and I fought against it. Turns out, I’m not as opposed to marriage when it’s him. I think you’ll like him, mostly because Sam and Bucky fight like they’re little kids. He and Steve on the other hand, get along like a house on fire.”

At the mention of Becca’s brothers, Y/N pulled away and groaned. She rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, hissing when she hit a bruise, “What do I do?”

“Well, you’ll be back with us now.” Y/N’s whole body tensed and shook her head sadly. Becca forced her friend to look her in the eyes, “Are you kidding? I miss you like crazy and I know your family would want you back. I need my maid of honor. Your dad has always had a soft spot for you and would let you come back. I’m sure of it.”

Before they could continue, Nat came back in with two suitcases packed. They forced Y/N into the car and drove back to the city. They went to a private hospital, anger blazing through Y/N’s eyes when she saw where they had brought her. She reminded Nat and Becca of the old her for a moment. The latter turned to her, “You need to see a doctor. There’s no negotiation to be had.” She tried to fight the two women, but they were incredibly persuasive. Nat paid the doctors to keep quiet. Y/N kept a firm grip on Becca’s hand through the entire wait, the check with the doctor, only letting go to sign the discharge papers. They told her that there was some minor damage to her throat, which wasn’t a surprise considering how dark the bruises were. The bruised ribs showing the doctors exactly where she’d been hit. They tried to convince her to report, but she just shook her head. She felt relief when they told her that she had had a complete miscarriage. At that moment, Y/N Parker was free.

#mafia au #mob!steve #avengers au #avengers imagine #steve rogers #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers au #steve rogers x reader #mob!au #mob!avengers #mafia!avengers #mafia!steve #mobster!steve rogers #captian america #captain america imagine #captain america x reader #toomanyrobins

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annab-nana · 3 years

Text

2020...

You were probably the worst and best year of my life for several different reasons.

Worst because you took away my normal college experience. Worst because mentally, you haven’t been kind. Worst because you have taken several people who have meant a lot to me and many others. Worst because people I’ve thought of as good friends don’t speak to me anymore or turned out to not be who I thought they were.

Best because for some reason being stuck in quarantine brought my best friend and I a whole lot closer. Best because I found new hobbies that I love. Best because I’ve grown a lot as a person. Best because I’ve grown a lot on here and made writings that people have enjoyed. Best because I have impacted others in a positive way and helped people. Best because I have felt the happiest I have ever felt and the most love I have experienced as well. Best because I have made many new friends that mean the world to me and I just wanted to say a small thank you to all of these people.

@rebelemilu • Emily, I remember months ago when I reblogged an edit of yours and you kinda geeked out that I did that. I thought it was the cutest thing ever and it was shocking to me that someone who didn’t even know me loved me and my stuff. Then later in July when I first ever showed my face to this hellsite, I inspired you to do the same and I got to see your beautiful face and smile and I was so happy that I was able to do that for you. You have always been so kind and supportive of me and I will forever be grateful to you for that. Now I get to talk to you almost everyday and you send me the best gifs of our favorite men and I couldn’t be happier. You are an amazing friend Em and I love you so much! You have no idea how much you mean to me.

@x-lulu • Lulu, this past month or so has been amazing! You are one of the strongest, sweetest, and most supportive people I know! Like you said, you feel like you can come to me with anything but that is how I feel about you. You have a soft warm safe presence about you that makes me feel comfortable and appreciated when I talk to you. Loneliness is my biggest struggle and I hate talking about it with anyone because it feels stupid when I say it but with you, I feel like I could discuss that with you without any judgement. Now that I know you I don’t think I could be without you. You’re just so wonderful and I wish everyone could have a lu as a friend. I don’t know what I’d do without my aesthetic queen that I love so much.

@https-luna • Luna, you are my luna bug! What else can I say? I love you so much and we’ve only really talked for the past twoish weeks but I feel like we will be friends for a long time. You are so incredibly smart and I love each and every one of your random fun facts. That makes my days so much better with your sweet personality. I feel like we’ve grown a lot closer these last few days and I wouldn’t change that for the world. You are a talented writer and I love getting to see that first hand. My love for you will never die, luna bug.

@sguymon21 • Sara, I honestly don’t remember how our friendship started. I want to say it was because we started talking when I was reading your story, All Of My Wrongs, because I fell in love with it and then we just started talking. And then we exchanged Instagrams and then Snapchats and we’ve talked for a while honestly. You are such an amazing writer and a sweet and kind soul as well and I know that at times that people haven’t been that kind to you but I promise you are so much more than what people say. You are gorgeous love and your heart is even prettier.

@samcolbylife666 • Zach, I know this is probably weird considering we haven’t talked in several months but I still wanted to thank you. You were the first person I ever really talked to on here and I hope you’re doing well. I remember the random things we’d discuss right before all hell broke loose with corona. I was literally talking to you when I had to pack to leave my dorm for our “two week” break and I was excited that our spring break had been lengthened. I’m pretty sure your plans to go to Disneyland for canceled due to everything but I hope you still get to go soon. I don’t know if you still get on here but I’d love to talk to you again.

@xgingerblue19x • Ella, my love from the other side of the world haha I love you so much. Our journey started the night Sam broke his back. I was lowkey freaking out about it and you were there to calm me down and you sent me updates about it too. It was nice to have someone to talk to when I was super anxious about someone I look up to and care deeply about. Then a few weeks later, we all lost someone really important to us, Corey, and once again, you were there. You talked with me and I am not one to easily open up to others especially when I’m upset but with you, I felt safe and you made it easy. Since then, we don’t talk super often but we can always pick up where we left off and it feels normal and not awkward at all and I love that about our friendship. You are someone I know that I can lean on and I hope you know I’m here for you as well sweetheart.

@socialanxiety-queen • Becca, I love you so much! We were both scared to reach out to each other and anxious about making new friends but I’m glad that we started to message each other and play a little game of twenty questions. Even though we don’t talk that often, I will always love and support you and I know that I can talk to you about whatever I need to. Your heart is so pure and it is a beautiful thing inside a beautiful person. You make me so happy and I love how you remember the little things about a person and make them feel so loved and appreciated and I hope you feel as loved and appreciated as you make others feel.

@toriswrites • Tori, you are such a cute little bean and I love you! We started talking right before I combined blogs on maybanksbaby and you were the one who helped me gain the courage to finally combine my blogs after I had been thinking about it for a loooooong time. I don’t think you know how grateful I am for that because it was the best decision I’ve ever made and I couldn’t have done it without you and your encouragement. So thank you for talking to me through that because I probably would’ve never done it or I would’ve pushed it off for a while if I hadn’t brought it up to you.

@heaven-with-mark • Babe, I honestly have no idea where our friendship started. I think it was you posted something and I came to check on you and then we just started talking. And then we talked almost every day all day for like a month. We’d be going crazy as we stayed up late. You’d show me all your pets and tell me their adorable and unique names which I loved. We’d talk about several random ideas and we’d talk about our problems too. I know we haven’t talked that much recently but I really miss you and I hope you are doing well.

@lonely-xplr • Bree, you are someone I’ve always looked up to. Ever since I started writing on this app and joined this fandom, I’ve looked up to you. You are so smart and so nice to talk to. I know that if I ever need someone to talk to, I can go to you. You always seem to send me something nice right when I need it and I am so grateful for that and you. I love you so much and I hope you know how much you mean to me.

@fttayla @ilovejjmaybank @demxters • Liv, Nat, and Elle, I love you all so much! You are so kind and super supportive and I thank you guys for that. Y’all are so cute too and your friendships have made me so happy.

@reinad-snc @goddess-of-time-and-magic @reddesertcolbs @xplrtrash @sarcasmhadachild @colbylover99 @cartiercolby @ygsucks @starrybrock • to my @traphousedaily babies and Kayla, you all made me feel welcome in this Sam and Colby tumblr fandom family. When I joined this group of wonderful people, I felt like I wasn’t alone and just posting my fics. I felt like I apart of something greater and I made great friends because of it. Each of you are so incredibly sweet and amazing people and I am so happy that I have gotten the chance to meet you all and become friends with you too.

@itsnotgray @ilguna @tomfreakinghollandneedsaoscar @xplrvibes @golbrocklovely @golbrockstar @turnupbrock @socialwriter @mrsmaybankhere @spilledtee @bricksatlandyswindow @dmonchld @killingbxys @nxsmss @mxltifandoms06 @uwubonebabie @rafej-cambanks @drewstarkeysbitchh @faithie-brock-gillespie01 @cognacdelights @tovvaa @moniamaybank @themaddies-obx @cuddlycolby @xplrsworld @makebank @rafeyybabyy • there are so many more but there is a tag limit to each post so I’ll probably comment to add some more but each of you have made my 2020 better. Some on small ways and others in bigger ones but each of you have brought me happiness and made me smile more so for that, thank you.

So after that reflection, I have realized that 2020 may not have been the greatest year of our lives but at least for me, the great points outweigh the bad ones tremendously. Here’s to 2021 :)

#anna rambles #and anna feels so emotional but in a good way #I wouldn’t have survived this year without you guys

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royallyprincesslilly · 3 years

Text

Title: Kismet {8}

Henry Cavill x Famous OFC Aliya Taylor

Warning: Plot, Tiny Slow Burn, Mild Cursing, Dialogue Heavy, POV Changes, Small Time Jumps

Words: 6.6k

Summary: Aliya is a singer turned model turned actress. Since she was fifteen, she’s been creating her empire in the entertainment world. As the daughter of a famous fashion model/designer and Hollywood director, you’d think life is easy for her, but her past has been anything but easy. Due to past trauma, she’s forever changed and no longer trusts any man that is not in her family and a select few in her team. She’s sworn off love and serious relationships and has planned never to fall again, but love isn’t something that can be planned. It just happens when it’s meant to. Can Aliya outrun a love that seems hellbent on holding tight to her, a love that is Kismet?

If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!! 😘

As always, thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |

-Henry-

The minute he woke the next day and the alcohol had worn off; he instantly regretted his actions. His head was pounding and his nose stuffy, which was always what the morning after a drinking fest looked and felt like for him. the pain in his head made him painfully aware of everything he’d said to you. More than half of him wished he would have just held his peace and moved on, but the other side of him—the stubborn bull side felt nothing but satisfaction from what he’d done. It was time, especially seeing that you completely had the wrong idea about who he was and his character. He couldn’t help but wonder what you thought about your conversation, but instead of dwelling on it, he decided to push it to the side and do the logical thing. Move on.

It was now five days since that conversation, and though it felt strange the first couple of days to not send you a message when you ran across his mind, he did it and adapted. He now was throwing himself into work because there wasn’t a shortage of it. Most days, he was in pre-production for Witcher two, and that in itself was a lot of work. Production decided to kick fight choreography up a notch because last season wasn’t badass enough. The choreography this season was definitely taking it up several notches, and it meant more long hours of training and even more potential for him to be hurt.

By week two post convo, he was steadily counting down to his vacation time. Training was kicking his ass, and the more and more days that passed, the more he thought of you. That wasn’t all though, the more the way he thought of you changed. In the beginning, he thought he was infatuated or possibly obsessed. When he was around you, he always felt as if he wasn’t in control. He felt like there were forces that were controlling your interactions and pulling a starry blanket over his feelings. He expected this time away to act as a purge, but it hadn’t, not in the way he’d anticipated.

“Come on, her name is Becca, and she’s super cute,” Alisha said.

“Why is it that all my brother’s wives want to set me up?”

“Because we care. You’re too great of a guy to be alone,” Halley complimented.

They all nodded, and his eldest brother painfully squeezed his cheek.

“Plus, look at this face,” Nik teased, making all of them elate.

It had been like this since they were kids. Nothing had changed.

“I’m perfectly fine being alone,” he answered.

“Doesn’t mean you should be,” Amee piped out.

No matter what, he said it wouldn’t be good enough until he gave them what they wanted. He had no intention of doing it, though. He wasn’t sure if it was really his loathing of being set up or because he didn’t want to pretend to want anyone else. Whatever it was, it had him declining to their annoyance. He could stick it out for the next two weeks until he got out of London.

-Aliya-

“You fucked up, plain and simple,” Amaya blurted out as she flipped through a magazine.

You rolled your eyes and tried to continue writing notes to the song you’d just wrote. As sure as you were that it was pitch black outside, you knew she wasn’t done—not by a long shot. A minute passed in silence, but as projected, Amaya began again.

“Just explain to me why you don’t want to be happy.” Amaya tossed the magazine aside, giving you her full attention. Still, you ignored her and kept your eyes glued to the note pad.

“Liya, come on. At some point in your life, you’re going to have to be honest with yourself.”

She was right. For the last few weeks, you’d spent a lot of sleepless nights doing just that. Since Henry’s call, you’d been forced to look at your situation in a light you’d ignored. It wasn’t that you were doing it maliciously. It was just easier and neater to see the worst in every situation hence the worst in people. You’d been the girl who dug deep for the best in people and only focused on that and their potential for too long. It made more sense from a survivalist standpoint to be different.

You’d went back and forth and round and round your situation, and perhaps you were too quick to jump to conclusions. The bottom line was the things he said had affected you, more than you liked and more than you could ignore. A few days after his call, you saw his picture in The Sun. He wasn’t alone. It looked like he’d had a long night of partying. You deduced it was probably the same night he called you. Though he was obviously drunk, he still looked so damn good. In the last few weeks, you’d thought about him a lot. On several occasions, you’d taken up your phone for the sole purpose to stalk his Instagram or even scroll through your gallery to gawk at his pictures. Never though, did you attempt to call.

The main reason was that you hated being the one in the wrong. You hated feeling like the asshole and what was worse was that you also hated apologizing. So, you bit your tongue, pushed your thoughts and emotions aside, and just hoped time would make it all fade. It didn’t.

“Aliya!”

Closing your notepad, you stood. “We’re going to miss the flight.”

“Whatever! It’s a private jet. It’s your private jet.”

You were already out of the room, which meant thankfully, you didn’t have to see her face. The drive to the private airfield was about forty-five minutes. For the entire ride, you could feel Amaya’s annoyance with you. she didn’t say one word. Instead, she kept her nose buried in her phone scrolling her life away. It was okay with you; you had plenty of work to do. Plus, you knew this wasn’t over, not by a long shot.

Sure enough, twenty minutes into the flight to London, she was back at it. The difference between Amaya and Alicia was simple. Where Alicia liked to leave me be until she knew the perfect time to go in because she knew the perfect time would come when you would be more receptive to it, Amaya preferred to go in all the time. She was always on one hundred. You loved both your best friends dearly, and they both spoke to different sides of you, but sometimes you wished they were wrong a lot more often than they were right.

When you got pulled into a phone meeting, you were grateful and even more so when it lasted for almost two hours. By the time you ended the call, Amaya was napping. Though you thought the silence was what you wanted, it was a blessing in disguise. It meant you now had peace and quiet to think, and your thoughts more often than not went right to Henry.

When you landed in London and checked into the hotel, it was after midnight. Once you’d taken a shower and answered a few emails, you popped two sleep aids in hopes they would knock you out because you needed all your energy tomorrow.

-The Next Day-

Hectic was an understatement for how your morning and afternoon had been going. One of the great things about being you was that when you got bored with one career avenue, you had three more to distract yourself with. For the last several months, you’d been focusing on your acting career and had been able to complete two films and three guest appearances. In between acting gigs you were also able to do a few modeling events, including Fall and Spring fashion week.

What had fallen to the wayside was your singing career. It was almost time for you to fulfill your contractual obligations by releasing another album. You’d been focusing on writing new material for the last few weeks, and tonight you were putting on one of the last stops on a mini-tour your team had planned months ago. The travel alone was killing you. You were exhausted, even more than usual. With every show, you felt your body telling you it would soon be time to slow down or stop for a few months. You needed a break.

“I should have flown in days ago. I hate feeling like this isn’t perfect.”

“Aliya, it’s fine,” Alicia countered.

The perfectionist in you didn’t believe her.

“I promise. I wouldn’t lie to you. You have to go anyway. The show is supposed to start at six; it’s already three.”

She was right. Though you hated it, you would have to cross your fingers and hope things looked cohesive. After finishing up the last-minute wardrobe adjustments and a quick pep talk with your dancers, you made your way back to the hotel to get in a little bit of pampering before having to get back to the center for prep.

As you laid on the table and enjoyed your deep tissue massage, you allowed the worries to float away. There was nothing you could do about it now anyway. You were also sure it was perfectly fine, and just your obsessive nature taking over. Tuning everything out, you focused on your meditative breathing. Before you knew it, it was time to get back to the center to get into wardrobe and put on a show worthy of the hundreds that were spent on tickets. You were determined to perform your ass off.

-Henry-

He couldn’t have gotten out of tonight no matter what. He’d tried. When Charlie announced to everyone that Heather had made plans for their adults' date night, he rolled his eyes. Now that he thought of it, it was around the time that Amee tried to set him up with that woman. This was supposed to be a blind date, and since he’d declined, he was here alone while all his other brothers were snuggling up and whispering to their significant others.

Here he was an hour and ten minutes into your show, and he’d never had more fluctuating thoughts and feelings. At first, it was surprise; then annoyance, then it transitioned into awe until it moved to arousal and admiration. Now he was stewing deep in all of them, and it was not a good look. Your voice was incredible. He’d always known how talented you were. Your stamina to dance and sing blew his mind. Then when he watched those dance moves closer, it was impossible to keep his thoughts pure. It also didn’t help that the outfits you were wearing only fueled his imagination more.

“What’s wrong with you? You said you liked Aliya Taylor,” Amee shouted over the music.

Plastering a smile on his face, he nodded. “Yeah, she’s great. I’m tired.” It wasn’t a complete lie.

When you came out for the final song in a flowing low cut white gown and barefoot, he staggered backward when he envisioned you walking down a flower aisle.

“Fucking hell!”

All eyes snapped to him, and the curious looks on their faces only had him needing air even more.

“I—I’m gonna get a head start to the cars.”

Not waiting for a response, he turned and walked through the crowd, not daring to look back at you.

-Aliya-

Amaya and Alicia laughed together at something on Amaya’s timeline. No doubt it was some picture of one of her boy toys. You sipped from your flower decorated porcelain teacup while staring out over London to the Eye. Just behind it, Big Ben stood tall and proud as it chimes for four o’clock echoed through the city. This was a city you’d spent a lot of time in thanks to your grandparents on your father’s side. Not as much time as they’d like, but there was only so much free time you had. Big Ben and the Eye were two of your favorite things about London.

You should have been on cloud nine after another successful show and checking another thing off your extensive to-do list, but you weren’t. You felt almost as gloomy as the rolling clouds in the sky that threatened rain.

“You seem depressed.”

Alicia’s voice had you turning back to them you softly smiled. “I’m not.”

“You look it,” Amaya slid home.

Rolling your eyes, you finished your cup of tea and gently placed it on its matching saucer with a shrug. “I don’t know what to tell you then.”

Amaya then gasped with a smile in her eyes. “I know what it is. You’re finally missing your grade A prime beef of a man.”

Snorting, you shook your head. “Oh god. Try again.”

“You might be right, Mya,” Leece started placed her elbows on the table to peer at you closer. “This all started the night we had dinner with him. What’s his name again?” Both of them pretended to wrack their brains to remember his name, but they knew damn well what it was.

“Ah, Henry,” Amaya cooed, making you roll your eyes even harder.

“Both of you stop. You’re not funny.”

“We approve.”

“I second that,” Alicia added.

“What? Really?”

“Are you kidding? Yeah. Not only is he gorgeous, like drop dead gorgeous, but he is also super nice. Throughout dinner he was very courteous and sincere. You know I’m a good people reader,” Amaya attested.

“He’s funny, and he seemed to be genuine with his efforts to get to know Mya and me. He also was putting in effort into proving something to you.”

Sighing, you took a few sips of your water.

“Honestly, I couldn’t find anything wrong with him.”

“Really? Perfection?”

You couldn’t believe your ears. Yes, you’d suspected they liked him, but the perfect word was just uttered. It was never spoken of, not by them.

“Pretty much,” Amaya doubled down.

“Wow.”

“Tell me about it. Move on that before some other chick does. He will not be single for long,” Amaya added.

For some reason, this was the first time you’d thought about that, and you couldn’t believe it. She was right. He was gorgeous, among other things, and women already fawned over him. He wouldn’t be licking his wounds much longer. A knot formed in your gut, and a sour taste in your mouth followed. Glancing away from their penetrative gazes, you looked around the restaurant and nearly dropped the water glass when you saw Henry across the restaurant laughing. This was the first time you’d seen him in person since your breakfast in New York weeks and weeks ago, and he looked great.

Your eyes drank him up, taking their time soaking up every detail of his face, the slight stubble that decorated his chiseled jaw, his perfectly imperfect smile, his hair that fell slightly longer than you remembered. When he spoke again, you watched his mouth move and quickly got lost. You didn’t have to hear his words. You knew how he spoke them. You knew the effect his voice had. At the thought of that effect, you peeled your eyes away and tried to keep them on either Alicia, Amaya, or the table. Of course, it was impossible. Your eyes continuously found him, and it was on him they remained until you forced yourself to look away.

“What do you keep looking at?”

Amaya glanced around the restaurant. You knew she’d found him because when she turned to face you again, her smile was as wide as a thief's.

“Oh ho ho, looks like fate is on mine and Leece’s side.”

“Stop. Be cool, act natural. Don’t make a scene,” you pleaded.

“Look at that, same place, same time, just mere feet away.”

From the tone of her voice, you knew she was tempted to fuck with you.

“Stop, Amaya. Don’t.”

“Why?”

Trying to keep your voice down and the panic from your face, you pleaded again. “Just don’t.”

Amaya studied you for a few moments before she nodded in defeat. Relief flooded you. Though you tried, you couldn’t get your head back onto lunch and off of him no matter how you tried. The three of you left shortly after passing his table on the way out.

Thanks to a little free time, you, Amaya, and Alicia were able to soak up some shopping in London and before getting back to the hotel for a quick change, then dinner. Even though you tried to stop thinking about Henry’s face earlier, you weren’t the least bit successful, but you played it off like everything was cool. You didn’t know if you fooled either of them, but you really didn’t care. You were so ready to get the hell out of London.

-That Night-

Big Ben’s chime for one in the morning ringing out all around you. It was yet another night of sleeplessness. From your seat at the window, you could feel the nice breeze. It still smelled like rain, but for whatever reason, the rain was staying away. Finishing your glass of wine, you sighed out and nearly leaped out your skin when your phone rang in the quiet room.

“Hello?”

“What’s wrong?”

You smiled from the unexpected sound of your gramaw’s voice. It was like the concrete gate you had around your heart that was constricting it to the point where it was challenging to breathe loosened.

Sighing, you leaned back, reclining against the surface.

“I think I fell in love,” you whispered.

“In love?”

Hearing the words said back to you made you close your eyes and shake your head.

“Yeah, at least I think that’s what I’m feeling. I can’t sleep well, not that I could before. I feel a little depressed, and I can’t pinpoint why, but when I think about it, I feel this way when I think about him. Not to mention, I think about him all the time. Christ, I even dream about him.”

Pausing, you glanced at your phone to find his picture there. It was the last thing you’d been looking at before tossing your phone away.

“I truly feel like I did something wrong, like I was wrong,” you confessed.

“Have you talked to him?”

Hitting your head back, you groaned. “Not since he called me and told me I’m missing out on him and gave me all the reasons why I should realizing I’m missing out.”

You couldn't help but smile at his words as you remembered them.

“Do you feel like you’re missing out?”

Your Gramaw always knew the right questions to ask. She was one of the few that did, one of the few that you’d even listen to. Bowing your head, you sighed again.

“Maybe. Normally I’m sure about someone and sure that I don’t need or want them in my life, but with him—I have doubts with my snap judgment.”

“Oh no, snap judgments are never a good thing, Aliya.”

You groaned hearing the disappointment in her voice. “I know, jeez do I know.”

“What do you feel like doing?”

You scoffed, if you knew that you wouldn’t be going through this struggle.

“I’ll be to you in a few days. I’ll see you soon.”

“Your heart, Aliya, not your head,” she cautioned before you ended the call.

For the next thirty or so minutes, you paced the balcony of your room as you debated with yourself over what you were going to do. After psyching yourself up as much as you could, you bit the bullet dialing Henry’s number before you talked yourself out of it. After one ring, you almost hung up but forced yourself to stick through the terror running through you. Two rings passed, then three. At the fourth you began to lower your hand to end the call and then his voice echoed through the speaker.

“Hello?”

You froze drawing a blank and forgetting for a moment you had a voice.

“Hello?”

“Hello,” you whispered.

The rustling on his end was loud but brief.

“Aliya?”

Swallowing the lump, you took a deep breath. “Yeah. Hi.”

“It’s after one in the morning. Is everything all right? Are you hurt?”

Your heart lurched, and a soft smile spread across your lips. “Yeah, I’m okay. I’m not hurt,” you assured.

He sighed, then yawned.

“I uh—I know it’s late or early. I know you, um, probably have something better to do than be up. I’m sorry if I woke you,” you half rushed and stuttered out.

“You’re rambling, Aliya.” You stopped your pacing then and slapped your forehead.

“Yes, I am. I do that when I’m nervous,” you blurted.

“Why are you nervous?”

Pausing, you gripped the rail on the balcony and used it to center yourself and get your nerves under control.

“Well, I’m about to ask the man I told I wouldn’t be with to meet me somewhere at nearly two in the morning. I’m—sending major mixed signals.”

Henry didn’t speak right away. Instead, he waited, making you chew your bottom lip as your anxiety increased.

“Why?”

“Wh—why? Why what?”

“Why should I?”

Stunned, your jaw dropped. “Oh, wow, out with the hard questions. Okay. Um—well—you should meet me because uh—it’s not often that I realize I was wrong or did something wrong and when I realize that, I like to say so.”

Again the silence over the phone stretched for long moments. After a full minute of it, your anxiety peaked.

“Still there?”

Henry sighed. “I’m here. I’m thinking.”

His voice sounded so deliciously deep. Either you had woken him, and this was his sleepy voice, or he was purposely giving you that sexy baritone.

“By all means. Think as long as you need to. Um—I’ll be at the eye until 2:30. I um—I hope you show. If you don’t, I understand, really I do and no hard feelings.”

Quickly you ended the call and panted as if you’d been running a marathon all in an effort to calm yourself down. It had been years since you’d put yourself through something like that, and you had a feeling it was only the beginning of you making amends.

Being Aliya Taylor afforded you some perks, and one was being able to have access to the eye well after closing. All it took was one call, well two to be exact, and voila, you were sitting in one of the cars anxiously waiting for Henry. You had no idea if he’d show, and the more and more time that passed with him not magically appearing, the more and more your brain worked overtime. The scenery helped a lot, but when you glanced at your watch and saw that it was almost 2:30, the scenery could do no more. Your nerves and anxiety had erupted like a volcano.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone.”

Spinning, you saw Henry at the door still on the platform. You released a relieved sigh, realizing he hadn’t stood you up.

“Good thing I’m not—anymore.”

Henry stepped into the car and took a few steps to you but stopped when he was still a ways away.

“London after two is not safe,” Henry informed.

“I know.”

The doors closed, and the contraption began moving.

“How in the world did you get them to open this for you?”

Smiling, you shrugged. “I may know people in high places,” you replied, which made him smile.

“This is one of my favorite places in London,” you announced as you walked around the car, taking care not to get too close. You didn’t know if you could handle it right away, and you had to feel him out to see what his coming really meant.

“Why?”

“You can see all of greater London from here and out to the countryside if you really look once you’re up high.”

Henry also walked around the car, mirroring your intentions. Neither of you came close enough to touch one another.

“How often do you come to London?”

“A lot. I have some family here, plus I prefer the countryside.”

“So you have some British blood,” Henry inquired, half a question, half a statement.

“I had to. Only the Bris would dare think to send their daughters off to finishing school,” you quipped.

Henry’s laugh filled the car, making you smile widely. He walked to one of the many windows turning his back to you. Slowly you looked over his broad back, taking in every detail. Your fingers could still remember what the dance of his muscles felt like underneath them, and they itched to feel them dance again. Taking a deep breath, you fiddled your fingers.

“Uh--I hope I didn’t interrupt anything important by asking you here. Like I hope I didn’t impose on—anyone.”

You were fishing, it was obvious, and you felt no shame.

“Eh, who needs sleep anyway. I can sleep when I’m dead,” Henry replied with a shrug of those magnificent shoulders still keeping his back to you.

“Were um--were you uh—sleeping—alone?”

Your heart was pounding so loudly you could swear he could hear it. He didn’t speak or turn around. He just stood there torturing you. You wondered if he knew it was sheer torture what he was doing. Did he even care? The longer he remained quiet, the more you freaked out until you decided to backtrack all the way back.

“I’m sorry. Don’t answer that. It is absolutely none of my business. I don’t even know why I asked that,” you rushed out, rubbing your forehead from embarrassment before beginning to pace the car.

That was when Henry chose to turn around.

“I know a woman doesn’t say something she doesn’t mean, and usually when a woman asks a question, she wants to know the answer either to prove herself right or in hopes she’s wrong. What is it for you?”

His voice made you stop in the midst of pacing to watch his mouth as he spoke. There was something poetic about how he spoke, and it always distracted you. Nibbling your bottom lip, you thought about how to respond. You were already tired of the verbal Olympics and talking around each other.

Sighing, you rolled your eyes. “Henry--.”

“You know that’s the first time you’ve said my name without the word goodbye in front of it.”

That made you snap your mouth shut. Had it?

“That’s not true,” you protested.

“It actually is. I was beginning to think you like saying goodbye rather than hello.”

You took a step to him. “That’s not true. I like saying hello way more than goodbye,” you defended.

The neutral look on his face gave you no confidence to go on, so you rolled your eyes and continued to walk around the car. This would be harder than you expected, you thought.

“I was sleeping alone. I’ve slept alone for quite some time now,” he informed just as you were looking out of the window to the city.

“Look, Henry, I-,” you began again, but then henry cut you off.

“That day in New York those weeks ago, I should have plain and simply laid it out for you. I should have told you everything. I was with Francesca--.”

“Don’t, don’t, don’t. I honestly don’t want to know.”

“But you need to know. There is no way you can begin to trust me or begin to let yourself gravitate to me the way you’re entire being wants until you know,” Henry slid out. Pressing your palm to your abdomen, you tried to slow the butterflies that began flitting.

“I was with Francesca for about two years. The whole time I knew she wanted a family in life. She was always vocal about her wanting to get married young and have kids. I knew, but I never paid attention to it. I was away filming something for a while, and when I came home one weekend, I caught her with someone else.”

Your eyes widened, hearing his words.

“turns out she was beginning a relationship with someone else, someone who she thought would lead to marriage and kids,” Henry added. His voice held steady, but you could imagine the pain going through those memories again.

“I’m sorry.”

Henry shook his head, “It’s not necessary. After a few months of her trying to make amends, I thought we’d try again.” He scoffed then rubbed the back of his neck. “I’m a hopeless romantic. After months of trying, I knew it wouldn’t work, but I kept a relationship of sorts with her.”

You understood. They were bed buddies.

“I then met Abby, and what started as a fling developed into something more. Long story short, I got wind of a rumor she was using me for fame and money, so I distanced myself from her. after some time of her telling I had it all wrong, I decided it was easier keeping her around though my heart wasn’t in it. I wasn’t juggling them. I hadn’t slept with either of them in a long time. I just—I felt it was better to have someone who misses me and wants me than living the lonely actor life.”

His honesty had you frozen. When he began to explain, you hadn’t expected him to reveal so much. You expected a bare minimum explanation, but what you’d gotten revealed so much more about him. You felt bad.

“I guess allowing the attentions and affections to remain is just as bad as juggling them. I was playing with their hearts. I’m not proud of it.”

Henry dipped his head, showing he felt some shame for his actions.

“When I met you, I realized although I had these two women sort of vying for me, I was still lonely, but those moments we were together, I didn’t feel alone. I felt--,” he paused as if trying to find the right word. His hesitation made you look down.

You knew what you’d felt.

“When I met you, I felt someone I’d never felt before, something I don’t fully understand. I don’t know what that means, but I know I want to find out—with you.”

Finally, able to release the breath you held, you took another, then cleared your throat. “I’m not juggling two guys. I was dating two guys, but not sleeping with both. I was with Liam first, and we had an okay relationship. We were busy, never saw each other and when we did it wasn’t for long. He um—he got annoyed and broke up with me. He said I was impacting his work, and he needed to focus.”

You remembered how he’d said it too. He’d said it like you were the one to blame for the roles he’d gotten or hadn’t gotten.

“I was fine with it, and during those five months apart, I met Jesse. We worked together and had fun and began dating. It wasn't anything sexual. Then Liam comes back and wants to pick up where we left off. I told him about Jesse, and he was fine with it.”

The shock on Henry’s face almost made you laugh. Alicia and Amaya were also surprised they’d chosen that unconventional path. Amaya, of course, thought you should have kept it secret from both of them.

“One day, Jesse sees Liam and me out, and it pissed him off enough to end things. Three weeks later, I lay it out for both that I don’t want to choose, and I don’t want anything serious. They were both fine with it, and so it went on. Six months later, I decided I needed to be on my own to focus on work and me. They didn’t like the decision. They call and text me to try to—rekindle something.”

Henry scoffed, and you watched a soft smile tickle his lips.

“I haven’t physically seen either of them in weeks, now maybe months,” you finished.

Henry was quiet for a few seconds before he snorted.

“They were mad.”

“Angry?”

“No, mad, bonkers,” Henry clarified.

“Oh, crazy.”

“Yeah. To be okay to share you, be willing to do something like that. I couldn’t do that,” Henry informed, making you smile in the process.

“Well, men do crazy things.”

“I can attest to that, but I’d never do something that crazy. I can’t share what’s mine. I won’t.”

Your eyes locked, and your body swayed toward his. It was like he was metal and you a magnet. Everything in you wanted to be close to him. The more you tried to fight the pull, the harder it became to breathe. The harder it was to breathe, the dizzier you became.

“I—I—I—I,” you began before gulping the knot in your throat down that was making you speak in a raspy whisper. “I don’t—know what this is.”

Henry nodded.

“I am not used to not knowing and being out of control,” you continued.

“You feel less controlled too?”

You couldn't help but to nod. Once you did, Henry took a step to you. You took a step back.

“Hold on. I like control. I like control a lot. Anything that threatens that control is not for me.”

Henry’s eyes lowered but only for a moment before he was looking right back into yours.

“But—I really want to find out why you make me less controlled,” you finally admitted.

The uncertainty on his face spoke volumes. “What does that mean? Where does that leave this—us?”

You chewed your bottom lip; you realized how ill-prepared you’d been.

“Honestly, I didn’t think this meeting out that far. I only planned up to when you showed up. I’ve um—I’ve been winging it this whole time.”

His smile started small but spread wide in seconds; then, he laughed loudly.

“So you won’t mind me making a plan?”

Oh lord, you thought, feeling his alpha pop out. You bit your bottom lip again.

“What kind of plan?”

Henry closed the remaining space between you. Every step he took had you shaking even more.

“A plan that I’ve envisioned every night since brunch.”

Stopped in front of you and held you captivated by his gaze and the sheer dominating energy rolling off of him. The way he stood there taller than you made your mouth run dry.

“Jesus, you’re freakishly short,” Henry teased in his perfect Englishman voice.

Smiling, you shook your head. “I know, I debated wearing heels but didn’t—I wanted you to see me normal for someone reason I don’t under--.”

Henry’s sudden movement cut you off. He dipped down the entire foot he overshadowed you and lifted you into the air to hold you flush against his body. Then he lowered his lips to yours, taking and keeping control of an intensely passionate kiss. A kiss you hadn’t known you craved until it began, a kiss you were not prepared for. You moaned against his lips, and that moan triggered his. Wrapping your arm around his neck, you clung to him, and every sensation you were feeling and even new ones he was awakening within you.

Slowly, Henry pulled his lips from your, but he kept your body to his. You kept your eyes closed, relishing the lingering effects.

“You’re shaking,” Henry whispered.

“So are you.”

You opened your eyes and gazed into his as he slowly lowered you back to your feet.

“What else is part of your plan?”

Henry's smile spread across his face. “For me to carry out any other part of my plan would be completely rakish of me.”

His smile was adorable, but still intimidatingly sexy.

“I take it you’re not a rake.”

“Not in the least.”

“All right. So, alternate plan?”

He smiled again. “Still pretty rakish.”

With that, he brought his lips back to yours, but this time he didn’t pull back for several long minutes.

Though you knew people in high places, it didn’t mean you could keep the eye open all morning. After three trips around, the two of you got off then walked around London holding hands and eating ice cream. It was such a weird sensation allowing someone to hold your hand. It had been a long time since you’d ever wanted to. The entire time you laughed and talked about everything and nothing at the same time. One thing was clear; neither of you was in any rush for your time together to end.

But end, it had to. When Henry walked you back to your hotel, it was almost time for the sun to come up.

“Home safe and sound,” Henry joked.

“Yes, thanks to Superman.”

“No, no, I’m just the man. Henry Cavill.”

He held his hand out to you. Smiling, you rolled your eyes.

“Now is when we get to this?”

His goofy smile and shrug had your head skip a beat.

“Aliya Taylor,” you said, shaking his hand.

“Nice to meet you. Mind if I call you Aliya or Liya, that's all a mouthful,” Henry teased.

Your laugh was loud, and you had to clamp your hand over your mouth, remembering what time it was.

“Yes, you can call me either. Can I call you Henners or Hank?”

“No. My friends call me that.”

“So, I’m not your friend?”

“If I have anything to say about it, which I do, then no. I don’t want you as a friend.” Henry replied, making you smile like a little girl at Christmas.

“Then what do you want me as?”

Your eyes lingered for a few seconds before Henry was pulling you closer to brush the back of his hand against your cheek.

“For now, I’ll settle for my girlfriend.”

The man was an expert at charm. You bit into your bottom lip and tried to stop smiling. “Girlfriend, wow. That’s a loaded title. What does it entail?”

“Well, for one, it entails being your true self with me, accepting my true self, being there for me when I need you, letting me be there for you when you need me or when I need you, allowing me to be your strength when you’re weak, your hope when you’re hopeless. Allowing me to grow with you, learn with you. Giving me your time and attention, enough of it so what we have can grow. Trusting me and letting me spoil you rotten.”

If he weren’t holding you against him, you would have fallen back.

“Is that all?”

Henry leaned closer kisses your cheek. “To begin.”

“And if I refused to be this girlfriend you speak of?”

“Then I’d just have to convince you,” Henry cooed.

“How?”

Right on que, Henry dipped his lips to yours. The second they touched, you moaned and held him close. Why resist when you could enjoy it, you thought. His tongue swirled with yours before he nibbled then sucked your bottom lip. When he pulled back, your eyes remained closed.

“I’m convinced.”

Henry pecked your lips once, then twice. “Good. Girlfriend.”

Your eyes locked again, and you forgot all common sense for what felt like an eternity.

“Eh-em—I have to be on a set in the morning.”

“Which is now,” Henry filled in.

Still hazed in the brain, you stuttered and smiled like a fool.

“Mm, did I stay out all night?”

“You did. I hope it was worth it.”

Smiling, you kissed his jaw. “We’ll see,” you whispered as you backed away from him, making your way to the door.

“Good morning, Henry.”

He smiled again, watching you disappear inside the hotel. As you walked to the elevator bank, you couldn’t stop smiling or stop the butterflies that had been flying all night in your stomach. As you stepped onto the elevator and watched the doors closed, you recognized the feeling you felt as happiness. It had been absent for a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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midnightsnyx · 4 years

Text

Consequences - Matthew Tkachuk: part 6

summary: you absolutely hate Matthew Tkachuk so it’s just your luck when you wind up pregnant with his child.

a/n: well... here it is lol 2(or 3?) weeks late. sorry for the wait, this chapter was just a bitch to write and every time i thought i was done, i wasn’t happy with it & i didn’t wanna post just for the sake of posting. but i stayed up until 2 a.m. to finish this, so technically it is sunday so im posting on schedule lol

im not sure how many parts are left to this story, maybe two or three + an epilogue but i haven’t decided yet.

also, this gif made me feel things 😂

word count: 2.1k (i wish they were longer too but im doing the best i can😩)

warnings: none other than a couple swear words

Part 6

29 weeks

“What are you doing?”

“Researching how to murder someone and get away with it.” You mutter, typing where to buy a tiger in Google.

Becca gives you a wary look and sits next to you. “Everything okay?”

“No!” You groan in frustration, tossing your phone on the coffee table. “Matthew is driving me insane.”

She frowns. “Is he being an ass?”

“He’s being nice. Too nice.” You grumble, ignoring when Becca chuckles. “It’s like he’s trying to make up for missing the doctor’s appointment even though I told him I forgive him.”

Becca raises an eyebrow at you and you try to ignore her pointed look. “Do you though?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” You ask defensively.

“You’re different around him now and I’m sure he’s noticed. It’s like you don’t trust him.”

You start to deny her accusation but stop to think about it. Were you more cautious around Matt lately? You certainly didn’t let yourself depend on him for things that you had been before, too afraid that he would let you down. You wanted to, but there was a nagging voice in the back of your mind reminding you that he’s let you down before and there’s always a chance he will again.

It’s as if Becca can read your mind because she shrugs. “You should be honest with him.”

However, something you’ve learned recently is that too much honestly can get you in trouble.

. . .

Sending Matt a text that said we need to talk, probably wasn’t the best approach because it took him approximately fifteen minutes to show up at your apartment and his is a half hour drive away from yours.

So his windblown hair and wide eyes really weren’t a surprise when you opened your front door.

“So, I think I should have worded that text a little better.”

“You think?” He huffs, walking past you when you step aside. He doesn’t even bother to take his shoes or jacket off, walking straight to the living room and turning to look at you.

“I’m sorry. For whatever I did.” He says and you groan.

“That’s the problem! Stop being sorry for things. It’s driving me nuts.”

He frowns and looks at you in confusion. “So… you don’t want me to be sorry for things?”

“I don’t want you to not be sorry for things, I just want you to stop being sorry for everything. It’s like you’re walking on eggshells around me.”

“I’m just trying to make-”

“Make up for missing the appointment.” you say, finishing his sentence. “I know.” your hand falls to your stomach and you sigh. “We’re going to be parents in less than three months. We need to start trusting each other.”

Matt slowly walks over to you and reaches out for your hand which you let him hold. His thumb rubs across the back of it and he nods.

“You’re right.”

You grin and lightly punch his shoulder with your free hand. “Of course I am. When am I ever wrong?”

He smiles, pulling you in for a hug and pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You ignore the way it makes your heart race because the last thing you need right now is your feelings for him to get even more confusing when you’re both finally on the same page.

Things are good now and you can’t risk messing it up.

. . .

31 weeks

He’s like a kid in a candy store, you’ve realized as you follow Matt around buy buy BABY. He has two carts, one already stocked full of things and the other slowly being filled. You stopped keeping count of how much everything costed an hour ago because the number started to make you queasy.

“He has enough clothes, Matty.” You whine, taking note of how Matt trips over his feet when you call him by that nickname. “and he’ll grow out of them before he even gets a chance to wear them.”

“Last one, I swear.” He says, holding up an outfit. “C’mon, how fucking cute is he going to look in this?”

“If his first word is a swear word, I’m going to kill you.” You mutter, taking the outfit from him and tossing it in the cart. Matt just grins and rests a hand on your stomach, hoping the baby will kick.

“How’s Joey?”

“Grayson is doing just fine.”

“We’re never going to come to an agreement on a name, are we?” he asks and you smile sweetly.

“Nope.”

He laughs and starts walking towards the checkouts.

“Did my mom tell you that they’re coming to visit?” He asks and you nod, recalling your conversation with Chantal. She’d called you first to make sure you were okay with the entire Tkachuk clan showing up. She knows how stressful pregnancy is and didn’t want to overwhelm you.

But you were ecstatic when she asked if it was okay for them to visit. You’ve grown to depend on her for any pregnancy questions over the past seven months and even when you needed some regular advice for everyday things, you sometimes texted her.

“Yeah, it’s Wednesday, right?”

Matt nods, smiling politely at the cashier as he starts loading every thing on the conveyor belt. You can tell that she’s a hockey fan by the way her eyes light up when she recognizes who he is.

“I’ve been meaning to ask if you can pick them up from the airport?” He asks, catching you off guard. “Their plane lands around noon and I won’t be back until later that night and I don’t really want them to have to take a cab.”

You’re a little surprised that he’s asking you to do this instead of paying someone or asking a close friend to do it instead. It’s an odd feeling, realizing that he trusts you with his family.

“Yeah, I’d love to.” You tell him and his smile warms you to the bone.

. . .

You show up to the airport forty-five minutes early because you can’t decide if you should wait in the SUV for Matt’s family, or meet them in the airport. Would it be weird to wait for them inside like you would with your own friends or family? You double check your phone to make sure that Matt did tell them it was you picking them up because how weird would it be if they were expecting him only to find you waiting.

You’re definitely over thinking it but you find yourself standing at the gates when their plane lands.

Chantal is the first person you see and her face lights up and she scurries over to you, pulling you in for a soft hug.

“Oh, look at you!” She gushes, taking your hands in hers and holding you at arms length. “You’re glowing.”

Glowing isn’t exactly the word you would use because as much as you tried to look nice to pick them up, you’re still seven months pregnant, sweating because of the jacket you have on and most definitely are wearing odd shoes because you can no longer see your feet and Matt wasn’t here to check for you.

But you blush nonetheless, letting Keith, Taryn, and Brady hug you before starting to walk to baggage claim.

“Thank you for picking us up.” Chantal says and you smile.

“It’s nothing,” you say, brushing it off. “You’ve done a lot for me.”

“Anything I can do to help. I know how hard it is being pregnant with your man travelling a lot.”

You want to correct her when she calls Matt your man, but you don’t want to be impolite so you just nod.

“Speaking of your man,” Brady says in a teasing voice, “what time does he get in, again?”

“Around 8.” You say, ignoring the teasing tone and changing the subject to ask Taryn how school is going. You know you’ll hear more comments about the nature of your relationship with Matt from his brother but for now, you chat with Taryn and Chantal about plans for the baby.

. . .

Matt gave you a key to his apartment when you both realized that you spent more time at his these days then you did at your own so you don’t miss the knowing looks Chantal and Keith share when you use your key to unlock Matt’s apartment. You know they can tell it’s your key and not Matt’s because he painted it your favourite colour when he gave it to you.

“So do we get a sneak peak of the nursery?” Taryn asks hopefully and you nod, gesturing for her to follow you. Matt turned one of the guest rooms in to the nursery in his apartment. You haven’t done anything with yours yet because you and Matt were starting to wonder if after the baby is born, at least for a little while, the two of you should just live together. It would certainly make things much easier.

“It’s beautiful.” Chantal says, and you can see her eyes watering a little.

“We’re going to put up letters spelling his name above the crib.”

“Oh yeah, have you guys decided on a name yet?” Keith asks, testing the sturdiness of the crib by wiggling it a little.

“No.” You mutter. “We can’t agree on anything.”

“You’ll find something you both love eventually.” Chantal reassures you. “Now, please tell me my son has food in his fridge, because I’m going to cook dinner.”

You grin, realizing that she too knows how bad Matt is at keeping his fridge stocked. Before you started spending so much time here, you would be lucky if he had eggs in the fridge.

. . .

Matt arrives home just as dinner is cooked and you get to witness what a typical Tkachuk night must look like. There’s lots of chirps thrown but you can tell how close this family is and how much they care about each other. Especially when it comes to Matt and his mom and sister. He treats them like gold and it warms your heart to see it.

After dinner, you volunteer to clean up and you’re surprised when Keith offers to help. You’ve only spoken to him a few times before today and you don’t feel as close to him as you do with Chantal so it’s quiet while the two of you clear up the dishes.

Keith breaks the silence after a couple minutes, turning to look at you.

“I know Matthew can be a handful… but don’t give up on him, okay?”

You’re surprised to hear this coming from Keith because you were truthfully expecting Taryn or Brady to say something about it. Every time you and Matthew touched or spoke to each other, you noticed the knowing looks and soft smiles from the other Tkachuk family members.

It was like they knew something that neither you nor Matthew did.

You’re not sure what exactly to say so you just nod.

“I won’t.” You promise, realizing that you truly mean it.

#matthew tkachuk imagine #matthew tkachuk fanfiction #matthew tkachuk #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #nhl fanfiction #hockey fanfiction #calgary flames imagines #calgary flames fanficton #allies writing

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clockworkgraystairs · 4 years

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Christmas Dinner || Jurdan X-mas in July

AHHHH there is more Christmas!Jurdan!!!!!!!!! 🎄🎄

Rating: T

Summary: The Duarte's are hosting their Christmas dinner and Vivi sets a trap for Jude to bring his boyfriend and introduce him to the family.

I guess this can be considered a little prequel to You got me trippin?

This is also my first time posting somethin in 1st person sooo...let’s see how it goes lmao

Tags: @jurdannet @jurdannetrevels @slightlyrebelliouswriter23 @sweetlyvillainous @aesthetics-11 @thesirenwashere @jurdanhell @demydreamer-otaku-and-book-lover @nightbringer @b00kworm @mysweetvillain @thefolkofthefic @yafandomsdotnet @vanessa172003

[if you wish to be tagged/untagged or if I forgot to tag you pls let me know!]

A massive thank you to Becca @sweetlyvillainous for betaing this for me!! Love u 🧡

Masterlist Read on AO3

This is a terrible, terrible idea I keep repeating myself.

If I’d shown a little more steadiness with my sister I wouldn’t be in this situation. I knew she was nervous about presenting her girlfriend to the family, specially to our father. And because she is extra as hell, she couldn’t choose another date that wasn’t on Christmas Eve. For weeks now she’d been texting me, grumbling about how was she going to be able to pull it off. I told her to relax and just go with it.

What I didn’t expect though, was for Vivi to arrive out of nowhere to the school where I work, talking nonsense about me bringing a fake date to dinner with hopes of taking the attention away from her.

After spending 15 minutes trying to convince her it is not necessary for me to do that, her insistence is such I end up babbling how bad that idea is since I already have a boyfriend, and fake dating someone else would certainly create problems.

Big mistake.

Looking at me with something like betrayal in her eyes, now she starts questioning me about that boyfriend who I’d never talked about before. I bite my lip. When it comes to personal stuff I prefer to keep it private, even with my own family. I have my reasons.

And just because luck is not on my side today, in the middle of her inquiries I hear a faint “Hey, babe!” behind me. I groan. Of course. Of course he had to arrive in that moment.

We both turn to look at him. Cardan approaches us wearing that mischievous grin reserved only for me, so different from the polite smile he uses with his students. His hair is tied up in a bun as he also wears it for work, few curls escaping it in the most adorable way.

With a pang of panic, I notice Vivi noticing how dumbfounded I’m looking at him. Her eyes light up in a way that I know means nothing good. I frown at her.

“I was looking for you on the cafeteria, one of your students told me you were here.” He pauses. “I- didn’t notice you were busy though, sorry.”

“Not at all!” Vivi says with exaggerated enthusiasm. “I’m Jude’s older sister, Vivi! You must be her lovely boyfriend.”

“Oh, yeah I am. Nice to meet you!” If I didn’t know him so well I wouldn’t notice the slight blush on his cheeks or the way he looks at me in contained alarm.

It’s too late by the time I put the pieces together. When I realize what is about to happen, my sister is already handing Cardan a rolled piece of paper.

“I came to make sure Jude invites you to our family Christmas dinner! She’s so absentminded sometimes isn’t she?”

I’m going to kill her. Slowly.

Horrified, I stand there and see Cardan take the invitation, grinning. His polite, charming smile.

“I wouldn’t miss it,” He says. “Thank you so much Vivi.”

My sister turns to me and whatever look it’s on my face makes her hesitate. Although, not enough. She claps her hands once and makes an excited squeal. “Well I must go now! But I’m so excited you’re coming to join us Cardan, see you there. Ciao!”

With that she turns and leaves.

So here we are. My boyfriend driving by my side, as we are about to arrive to my parent’s house.

My knee bounces without control as I twist my scarf between my fingers. At any moment now, I’m sure my heart is going to bolt out of my chest.

“Jude dear, is everything ok?” He asks. I notice I’ve been quiet almost the entire road.

I turn to look at him. He looks dashing, even if it’s not a strictly formal dinner he always finds a way to dress as it was. Black ensemble and green scarf that stands out his pale skin, though his nose and cheeks have a touch of color because of the cold weather.

“Yeah it’s just... My family is a little,” I pause. “I don’t know how to explain it.”

We are not the type of family that introduces romantic partners, ever. My twin sister tried to do it some years ago with a terrible and embarrassing outcome. At some point in the middle of breakfast, she’d asked her daddy to pass the salt. Both our father and Locke moved to grab it at the same time. What came next, well… if that Locke dude had restrained himself to make a sarcastic and really tacky comment about it, maybe he would still be welcome in the house. Alas, he is not.

Ever since that day, every time someone brings a guest to the house my father gets in a mood that is pretty uncomfortable for everyone. Sooner or later he makes everyone run. Not exactly the first impression I want Cardan to have.

We’ve been together for some time now, about eleven months. But the topic of introducing our families has never been on the table so far. I know he comes from a problematic family even if he doesn’t talk much about them. As for me, I have to admit I’ve grown so attached to him that I’m terrified of Madoc, or any other of my relatives, scaring him away.

He takes my hand in his, warming it, and smiles softly. “It’ll be ok. Breathe.”

I sigh, hoping he’s right and grip his hand tighter.

The inside of the house looks as if Santa’s bag had exploded. There are lights and ornaments everywhere. Even the tree is bigger than previous years. A delicious smell of food fills the place. As I stare in awe I hear voices coming from the living room.

“Jude? Is that you?” Hurried steps sound in the wooden floor and a few seconds later my little brother appears wearing an absurd red and white onesie. He crashes against me and I laugh, hugging him back.

“You do realize that’s for little kids don’t you?” I ask. “It looks good on you, though.”

Oak scoffs and pulls back. “Well of course it does. I look good on everything.”

Cardan chuckles next to me and for the first time my brother notices him. His eyes and mouth open widely, blinking at him and then turning back at me. Once. Twice.

“Jude,” He murmurs. It cracks me up how shy he can get around new people. “Who’s this?”

Ah, here we go. I take a deep breath and grab Cardan’s hand again.

“Don’t be rude,” I warn him. “His name is Cardan. Cardan, this is my brother Oak.”

Cardan greets him, extending his hand to him. Oak shakes it, visibly puzzled. “And Cardan is…?”

“My boyfriend.”

A slow, mocking and devilish smile spreads on his face. I swear to god that kid was taken out from the movie Cheaper by the Dozen. All the shyness is suddenly gone.

“You and Vivi are really trying to give dad a heart attack today aren’t you?” He turns to Cardan and adopts a serious expression I almost believe. “Please tell me Jude doesn’t call you daddy.”

“OAK!” I hiss. I look at Cardan and he gazes back with amusement, I notice he’s biting back a laugh.

“WHAT? I need to know earlier if I need to take my phone out, last time I didn’t have time to record when dad…” He motions with his hand. Yeah, I remember.

“She doesn’t.” Cardan affirms. Mimicking my brother’s mischievous smile he asks. “Is there a story there I need to know?”

Oak hesitates, even though I’m sure he’s dying to spill it out.

“Taryn would kill you.” I remind him.

“She’s not coming. For what I’ve heard, either it’s Locke’s turn to visit his family or something about dad running him under the car if he dared appearing. I’m not sure.”

Great.

“What if I beat you at Mario Kart?” Cardan asks, pointing at the console resting next to the tv.

Oak squints at him. “Are you challenging me?”

“It’s not a challenge when I know I’m going to win.”

Turning to me, my brother grins. “I like him.”

I know this is the first time I’ve brought someone home, but still I don’t know if I should be offended at my parent’s surprised faces. Oak had to tell my mother twice that Cardan is my boyfriend before she nods in understanding.

On his side, Cardan is being the full gentleman. To be fair he always is, but I notice the extra effort he’s doing today. It warms my heart. The only sign of nervousness I notice in him are occasional deep breaths he takes when he thinks no one is watching.

We get to meet Heather too, who is adorable and I honestly don’t know how on earth she fell in love with my lunatic sister. In a matter of minutes Cardan is already friends with her which helps with her evident tension. Vivi seems to relax as well.

Christmas music plays on the background as we eat. This is probably my favorite part of the evening. Don’t get me wrong, I love gatherings with my family but food calls me on a spiritual level. Cardan knows it too, chuckling at my excitement while I’m serving us mashed potatoes.

“So, Cardan.” My father starts, serving the wine. My heart leaps in my chest, oh no. “You met my daughter at work?”

He nods. “Yes sir, I arrived there about two years ago. I teach preschool and first grade.” Winking at me he adds. “Jude used to hate me.”

Madoc turns to me, frowning. “What happened?” I roll my eyes, classical worried dad.

I take a long drink from my wine and shrug. “Nothing, he stole the ‘best teacher award’ from me, on his first six months. I’m pretty sure he bribed the students that year.”

To my surprise, my father barks a laugh. We all stare at him wide-eyed.

“Keep repeating that to yourself, love.” Cardan teases. “It was a clean triumph.”

“You’ve always been competitive Jude, that’s no secret.” Vivi adds. “It’s nice to finally meet someone who can pull up with that.”

I turn to glare at her. You and I are going to talk later. She sticks out her tongue at me.

“Do you guys have sex?”

“Oak!” My mother shouts as my father and I both choke on our wine.

When Cardan parks the car outside my apartment it’s already past midnight.

Surprisingly, this turned out to be one of the best Christmas celebrations I’ve ever had. My boyfriend somehow managed to not only avoid any uncomfortable moments around my family but also to wrap them up around his little finger. With jokes and tales about us the night had passed incredibly fast.

Toasts were made, hugs and gifts were given. By the end, we were sprawled on the floor wearing silly sweaters and watching the merciless Mario Kart match between Oak and Cardan. It ended up in a tie. Rematch was already set for New Year’s Eve.

It was everything I never thought it would be.

“Well, did Vivi’s plan work?” Cardan asks.

I turn to find him already looking at me with a knowing smile on his face. Still, it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“C’me on, you weren’t really planning on inviting me to your family’s dinner. Something was surely going on the day she gave me the invitation.”

Sighing I whisper. “I’m sorry.”

He knows me too well, more than I even know myself sometimes.

“Don’t be, it’s not a topic we usually discuss.” He shrugs, reaching my hand with his. His thumb makes slow circles on my skin “Still, I should’ve asked if it was ok with you. Forgive me if I crossed a line.”

“You didn’t. I just wasn’t planning for you to meet my family yet.” I regret those words the moment they leave my mouth, knowing how they sound. Cardan doesn’t let go of my hand but he stops his ministrations. “Wait, that wasn’t…”

“Jude, it’s ok.” He says, turning to the windshield. I know him well enough too, and notice the touch of sadness behind his words.

“No it’s not. Please listen.” I insist, my heart is beating fast now. That look on his eyes is exactly what I tried to avoid the whole night. “The reason why I wasn’t thinking to introduce you to my family is that they’re ridiculously hard and annoying with every new person that visits. And this is the first time I took someone home and…I don’t know, I-”

“You thought I’d leave?” He turns his gaze back to me, warily.

At the beginning of the day I did. But I don’t find the words to admit it, so I don’t answer.

After a moment of silence he asks “Do you want to know why I agreed to go?”

I swallow and nod. Cardan inhales deeply..

“We’ve been together for some time now. And you know, you must know, I’m not playing around Jude.” I start to say something but he silences me with a soft finger against my lips. “I love you. If I agreed to whatever scheme your sister had in mind it was because I wanted to show you that I’m not going away. No matter what.”

“My family…”

“They love you. It’s only natural for them to ask what my intentions are… and maybe tease us about it too. I’m willing to admit your dad is a little scary. But not enough to make me run away.” He winks, cupping my face.“There is nothing on earth that would make me want to run away, Jude. That’s how much I love you.”

Feeling my eyes sting I blink. “I love you too.”

We’ve said those words before. But I find that they acquire a different meaning, somehow deeper. My chest is suddenly too small to hold everything I feel for this man. He’s not going anywhere. He loves me. I’m grinning like an idiot and I’m proud of it.

I lean to rest my forehead against his. “Since it’s our first Christmas together… and you already met my family.” His smile widens at that. “Would you like to stay the night?”

“There’s nothing I would like more.” Cardan angles his head to give me a kiss that I accept gladly, coiling my arms around his neck. “I usually spend Christmas alone, I guess it’s time for new traditions.”

We remain entwined for some minutes, it fastly turns into something hotter and desperate. I’m already straddling his hips when I pull back a few inches. I bet my lips are as swollen as his. He is looking at me with hunger… and love.

“How about a tradition in which we spend Christmas night undressed and watching some crappy Netflix movies?” I suggest.

My toes curl when he leans to bite my lobe and purrs. “Yes, please.”

#a very jurdan christmas in july #jurdannet christmas in july #jurdannet #jurdan #jude duarte #cardan greenbriar #tfota #holly black #tcp #twk #tqon #qon #judecardan #jude x cardan #the cruel prince #jurdan human au #vivi duarte #madoc #tess writes

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theycallmebeccawrites · 4 years

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Chris & Ellie Series: Episode 23

Hello lovelies! Hope you guys are having a good day and if not.. I hope tomorrow is better for you. I went back and forth between posting this episode today or waiting until next week...but y’all know I can’t wait... just waiting this long has been killing me haha.

Anyway, with this episode the focus of the main episode (vs the half episodes) is switching to Chris while Ellie will be the focus of the half episodes. That will end once they’re back together again! How long will that be? You’ll just have to wait and find out. 😏

Enjoy this episode, it’s a long one (for me at least). And I’ll catch y’all next time.

xoxo Becca xoxo

Pairing: Chris Evans x Ellie Spencer (OFC)

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: language

Episode Summary: Chris and his buddies in Las Vegas following the filming of Avengers two.

Disclaimer: This work of fiction is not to be reposted, used or translated without my permission.

This episode can also be read on AO3.

The Chris and Ellie series is primarily chronological. It begins with a flash forward to 2016 and has a few other scenes in the future. However, the majority of their story is told in chronological order starting in 2013 and going through 2017. Each episode starts with a date to help you place it within the story.

The Chris & Ellie Series Masterlist | Chris & Ellie Masterlist

Episode 22.5

Episode 23: Viva Las Vegas

September 2014

Ready for a night on the town, Chris sat on the sofa in the main living area of the penthouse that he had rented for himself and his friends in celebration of Brock and Tessa expecting their first baby.

Having come straight to Las Vegas after filming had wrapped on the second Avengers movie, Chris had been in town since last night while his friends had only arrived from LA that afternoon. He'd taken the master bedroom and had left the other four to figure out sleep arrangements for themselves. There was always a fight, but in the end, they all usually crashed on the closest bed available regardless of the decisions made earlier in the evening.

90's club music played on the penthouse sound system, making Chris feel more comfortable. It had all been too big and too quiet last night when he'd arrived. He'd planned to just go straight to bed, but that had been derailed when he'd gone into the ensuite bathroom and saw the large bathtub. His thoughts had instantly gone to Ellie and her love of taking baths; specifically, in the large soaking tub in his bathroom at home.

With his mind plagued with thoughts, he'd spent thirty minutes swimming laps in the private pool before taking a shower in the guest bathroom and going to bed, with the doors to the ensuite closed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" a voice asked from behind him.

Pulled out of his thoughts, Chris turned and saw Chucky Kellie standing in the doorway.

Not sure what to say, Chris stayed quiet, but Chucky took that as an invitation to join him.

"Tanya talked to Ellie," Chucky explained. "They invited her to the baby shower back in July. She said that you guys broke up."

"You and Ellie broke up?" another voice piped in.

"I was wondering why you looked like someone had stolen your favorite stuffed animal," a third voice said.

A grunt followed that comment and Chris didn't have to look behind him to know that Bryant had just elbowed Ray in the stomach for his remark.

"Are you guys going to go into the room or are we going to just stand here all night?" the last of his friends, Brock, asked.

Their arrival had given Chris time to think about whether or not he wanted to talk about the Ellie situation. He knew if he said he wasn't ready, they'd all go along with it and they'd go out to dinner and do a bit of gambling just like they'd planned. But even he knew it was time, past time, in fact.

Ever since that fateful day in front of his house, he'd made a point to be honest with himself even if the truth hurt. It had been easier, he supposed, thousands of miles away and busy with work. But now he was officially on a break from filming until the new year. It had seemed ideal, when he'd been planning it, to have fall and winter to relax and get back a sense of peace. But now that it had started, it seemed almost overwhelming. Especially since he had yet to decide where he was going to spend said time off.

One of the guys cleared his throat, subtly reminding Chris that they were all waiting for him to decide if he was up to talking about it or not.

Sighing, Chris said, "Ellie and I broke up."

The lack of reaction made him wonder if they'd all already known. He hadn't known Tanya to be a gossip, but he supposed she would have had to explain Ellie's absence at the baby shower to the other wives. Said wives would have then passed on the information to their husbands and then everyone would have known.

"Did she break up with you?" Ray probed, gently.

"It might have been easier if she had," Chris mused, defeatedly.

The time had come, he realized, to divulge everything that had been going on in his head and in his relationship with Ellie to someone else. As odd as it seemed, the words started coming to him easier than he thought they would. He supposed it was because, while his friends knew Ellie, they had been his best friends since before he'd been famous. They always had his back.

He knew Scott did, too. But it was different.

At the end of the day, Chris knew that his brother would choose him over anyone else that came between them. But when it came to Ellie, Chris knew she had a special bond with his brother. Scott had been with them virtually every setup of the way as they'd gone from being friends to more. And now Scott had been by Ellie's side through the aftermath of it all.

"The first time Ellie and I met," Chris found himself telling his friends. "I was completely naked." He'd never planned to share that story with anyone, but with these four, he felt like he needed to be honest and start at the beginning.

As expected, the four idiots spent a good five minutes laughing after he shared how he and Ellie had met when his mom had hired her as a housekeeper behind his back.

Once they'd calmed down, he continued the story. How he and Ellie had only spent a few weeks with each other before they'd had to share a bed not once, but twice. Then how the two of them, and Scott, had gotten close watching sports and spending time together.

"Wait, let me get something straight," Bryant interrupted. "Are you saying that the two of you hadn't even kissed when we had the kickoff party?"

"We hadn't," Chris confirmed and then followed it up with, "Did it seem like we had?"

His friends exchanged looks before Brock said, "We thought the two of you had been dating when you brought her to the wedding. Your chemistry…"

"What Brock is trying to say, is that you and Ellie seemed like you'd already known each other for a long time when we all met her," Chucky said, cutting in. "The two of you just looked so at ease."

"Even Kady and I noticed," Ray chimed in. "And we spent maybe 5 minutes with you guys."

"And then the way you two were sassing each other at the kickoff party," Bryant added.

Chris nodded as their comments brought to mind one of the fears that had plagued him; that everything had been too easy from the beginning with Ellie.

"It was easy, easier than it had ever been with anyone I've ever dated," he admitted to them. "Ellie and I spent a lot of time at home watching sports. Scott was with us most of the time, but not all the time. We just fell into an easy pattern and then I kissed her at Fenway Park after the Red Sox won the World Series."

"DUDE!" Ray exclaimed, making them all laugh. "Sorry, but that's just awesome." Considering Chris knew that Ray and Kady had met at a Dodgers game, he wasn't surprised his friend felt that way.

"Is that when you two started to officially date?" Brock asked, redirecting the conversation.

Chris shook his head and then chuckled at the memory. "She returned the kiss," he said. "But then she hid from me the next day. And then we went to a Halloween party with my brother and younger sister. I cornered her in a room and made her talk to me." Realizing how bad that sounded he quickly continued, "I mean, I waited for her to get out of the bathroom and asked her if we could talk."

Ray made kissing noises and Chris threw a pillow at him.

"Did you two kiss that night?" Chucky prompted and then smirked when Chris's face flushed.

"Fuck you all," Chris grumbled as they laughed. "Yes, fine. We made out and we might have gone farther if another couple hadn't barged into the room."

Ray let out a catcall.

"How are you married?" Brock asked him.

"Kady loves me," Ray said with a shrug. "But back to story time, Evans. Is that when you two started hooking up?"

Chris shook his head. "She went back to LA the next day and I stayed back east," he told them. "But after kissing her, I knew I wanted to kiss her again. And I really missed her. We had been spending so much time together and then suddenly we weren't. I mean, we texted a lot, but it wasn't the same."

"And when you said you wanted to kiss her again, you mean you wanted to date her right?" Bryant asked.

"Yes, definitely," Chris replied though he felt his heart twinge at the memory. He'd been so convinced last fall that he and Ellie were meant to be together. "She hadn't been so sure. She didn't want to ruin our friendship if it didn't work out."

Those words sucked the humor out of the room and out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his friends straighten. Shit was getting real now.

"I told her that it would be ok," he said with a sigh. "That we owed it to ourselves to explore our feelings. Because she told me she liked me, too." He told them about Ellie's encouragement while he was directing his movie, how he'd encouraged her to submit her resume for an editing job and how she'd told him over the phone on Christmas Eve that she wanted to give them a try.

He didn't get graphic in the details of what had happened in January, but he confirmed that he had taken her up to the bed and breakfast for a romantic getaway. And that he'd helped her celebrate the Seahawks' Super Bowl victory.

"So what happened?" Brock asked him. "When we saw you guys at the Super Bowl, you could hardly keep your hands to yourself. But then at the premiere…"

"They were secretly dating," Chucky reminded him. "He couldn't have his hands all over her."

"Obviously, but Brock is right, things weren't the same that night," Bryant argued before he looked at Chris. "Did something happen?"

"Other than getting messed up in my own head, no," Chris admitted. He sighed and told them about his journal. He knew that Chucky knew about them, after all the two of them had shared a bedroom at one point, but he didn't know the full context of them.

"And you completely shut her out when you got home?" Brock said with a frown after Chris told them.

Chris nodded. "I was so stuck in my own head, I didn't know what to do," he confessed.

The joking from earlier had stopped now that he'd gotten into the serious part of his tale. They'd been through situations like this with him before and he trusted that they'd pull him back from going too far.

Taking a deep breath, he dove headfirst into the abyss that was the downfall of his and Ellie's relationship.

"I wanted to be with her," he told them. "But at the same time, my head kept telling me that it wasn't the right time to be in a real relationship. She didn't press me to get out of the house, to go out in public with her. So we were able to keep it a secret."

He should have taken her out. He realized that now. He shouldn't have kept her a secret.

"Then everyone came for the premiere and there I was, dating someone my mom really liked and I couldn't bring myself to even tell my mom about it," he continued. "My mom isn't stupid though. I'm sure she knew what was going on. But I couldn't bring myself to say anything about it. And I don't know if Ellie wanted to tell her or if she was just following my lead on the whole situation."

He should have told his mom. She would have been happy for them both.

"And the real kicker is that I had to watch my sister introduce my girlfriend to my dad," he said. "It should have been me. That should have been a special moment for the three of us. But I just… I couldn't."

He felt a hand squeeze his shoulder, offering him strength with his confession.

"Tara figured it out and said she approved," he told them. "Then I went on the press tour… and came home to find Ellie's older sister and her husband in town. They weren't staying at the house, but we had dinner with them. I liked them and I thought they liked me, too. But then the next night…"

He paused to gather his thoughts, because it was getting harder for him to talk about it all now. He thought he'd gotten past the pain, but it had been simmering under the surface.

"The next night, Ellie had a fight with her sister, who didn't like that she was living in my house, working for me and sleeping with me," he explained. "She offered Ellie money to help her find her own place. Ellie didn't take it well and she came home upset. She told me about it…"

"And it fed into the fears you already had in your head," Brock surmised.

Chris nodded then explained, "I pulled away again, but not completely. It wasn't fair to Ellie. I see that now. I wasn't there for her, but I wanted her in my bed and to be there for me."

He felt a mixture of shame and relief as he admitted it out loud.

"She tried to get through to me, but I was so stuck in my head," he sighed. "Then I had a bad dream and made a huge mistake. Easily the biggest mistake of my life." He took a deep breath, trying to work up the courage to explain.

"Here," Ray said, tapping his hand with a shot glass filled with liquid. "I think you need this."

Chris accepted the shot and tossed it back. It burned, but it was almost a welcome relief.

"Do you need a break?" Brock asked him. "We can order room service."

Chris wanted to say no, wanted to continue, but he knew he needed a break.

"Get me a burger," he told Brock. "I'm going to get some air."

Getting up, Chris went outside to the private balcony. Somehow, they'd managed to create a relaxing outdoor oasis in the middle of Las Vegas and hundreds of feet in the air.

While he felt better getting stuff off his chest, he knew the worst was yet to come. He knew his friends wouldn't judge him for his actions, but he didn't know if any of them could mask their disappointment in him.

Hearing the door open behind him, Chris looked over and saw Brock. "We ordered dinner, they said it would be about forty minutes. We told them not to rush since we're nobody special."

A chuckle escaped Chris's lips. His friends were part of the reason he was who he was. They helped keep him grounded.

"You ready?" Brock asked him.

"No, but I want to get it over with," Chris replied. "Do we have beer?"

"Ray and Bryant were popping tops when I left the other room," Brock told him.

Chris followed his friend back inside and to the main living area. Sure enough, five beers were sitting on the coffee table with a bag of chips.

"Thought we might want a snack," Chucky said with a shrug.

Once they were all settled, Chris continued his story. "I had a dream that Ellie and I were together and we had a kid. But she was leaving me because I couldn't give her enough time because of my job," he told him. "And in the dream, she said she should have listened to her sister."

"Fuck," Ray breathed.

"Add the dream to my other thoughts and it was the making of a bad situation in my head," Chris said with a nod.

"So what was the mistake?" Bryant asked cautiously.

"I left," Chris told him. Then clarified. "In the middle of the night. Without saying anything to her."

"Dude…" Ray said, his voice laced with disbelief.

"And when you say you left?" Brock prompted.

"I packed my suitcase and left early for filming," Chris replied.

"Fuck," all four of his friends chorused.

"What did Ellie say when you two talked?" Brock asked him.

Chris didn't say anything as he felt his stomach churning. He focused on the beer bottle in his hand as he tried to will back the emotions that were bubbling just under the surface.

"Chris, please tell me that you and Ellie have talked," Brock said, quietly.

"I can't," he whispered as he blinked back his tears. "And now it's too late."

"What do you mean it's too late," Ray demanded.

"It's been 5 months," Chris said with a shrug. "I thought she was just mad at first. Which I understood, but I thought she'd at least make sure I was ok. And then when she didn't…" He took a shaky breath. "I texted Scott, checking on her. And that's what really ended it. I shouldn't have involved him and I did. And it's a fucking disaster now."

A part of him wanted to stop there, but he knew he couldn't. "I went to see her at the end of July when I found out she was moving out of my house," he explained. "There was a guy with her. And it was clear that she'd moved on."

"Clear how?" Bryant asked, his question immediately followed by a grunt of pain. "Fuck off! It was an honest question. I mean if he saw her making out with some guy, then yeah, she moved on. But if it was just a hug, maybe it was just innocent."

"I didn't stay long enough to see them kissing," Chris told him. "I told the driver to leave as soon as I saw them hugging."

A knock on the door of the penthouse saved him from having to answer any more questions. At least at that moment. He knew his friends wouldn't let the conversation stop there.

Once the food was rolled in, they migrated to the dining table to eat their dinner. Chris was silent as he ate, but the other four made small talk.

It wasn't until an hour later, when they were taking turns playing pool that Chucky asked, "Let's pretend Ellie hadn't moved on for a second. If you knew she was still single, what would you do?"

"I don't know," Chris admitted. "I fucked up."

"Forget that for now, too," Chucky said. "How do you feel about Ellie right now?"

"I think I'm in love with her." The words came out of Chris's mouth without a second of thought. They caught even him off guard, but as they settled, he realized that it was the truth. He'd spent the last six months listening to his head and ignoring his heart. Clearly, his heart had known what was really going on.

"Does that change anything for you?" Brock questioned.

"Yeah," Chris said with a nod. "But not in the way you think. I didn't treat Ellie like I should have. If this guy she is with now is treating her like she should be treated, what right do I have to ruin that for her?"

"But you love her," Ray retorted.

"Isn't there a saying about how sometimes you have to love someone enough to let them go?" Chris said with a small shrug. "Besides, I'm spending the fall and winter back home in Sudbury."

"You are?" Bryant asked. "Since when?"

"Just decided," Chris replied. He shook his head. "I can't go back to the house in LA. There are too many memories there that I'm not sure I'm ready to process."

He saw his friends exchange looks but in the end they all nodded.

"Just know we're here if you need us," Chucky told him.

"I know, thank you," Chris said.

A few days later, Chris went home to Massachusetts and his mom's house. It took him a few days to settle in and to fit himself into the rhythm of the household, but he knew it was the best place for him to be.

It was at the start of his second full week that his mom had gotten the email from Ellie that he had suspected was coming: her two weeks’ notice. His mom had forwarded him the email, since it concerned his house, and he hadn't planned on reading it at all. Then, he'd woken up in the middle of the night with a sudden urge to hear Ellie's voice. He knew he couldn't call her, but he knew reading the email would let him hear her in a way and maybe offer him some closure.

Dear Lisa,

I want to thank you for taking a chance on me last year. You could have hired anyone to be the housekeeper and we both know there were people more qualified than I am. Instead, you chose me and for that I am eternally grateful.

Between my hours at the bookstore and my editing jobs, I find myself running out of hours in the day and during the week. Given that Scott is living in Chris's house permanently, I feel like it is time for me to move on from my job there.

Thank you again for taking a chance on me. It was the kindness of yourself and your family that helped me get to where I am now, finally doing the job I always dreamed of.

Sincerely,

Ellie Spencer

A bittersweet feeling came over him as he closed the email app on his phone. Setting the phone back on the bedside table, he stared up at the dark ceiling. He'd hoped to find relief in reading her words, but he hadn't. Instead, he longed to actually hear her talk. To hear her laugh.

As he remembered her laughter, a small smile tugged on his lips. It wasn't one of those melodic ones that people rave about. It was a real laugh. The kind of laugher that included snorts, wheezes and a fully body response. God, he'd loved making her laugh.

Sighing, Chris rolled onto his side. While his mom thought Ellie was just too busy to go to the house, he knew the truth. Ellie was cutting all her ties to him, and after everything he had put her through, he couldn't say he blamed her.

Then his thoughts went to his brother. What would this all mean for Scott's relationship with Ellie? Would she cut him off, too? He hoped she wouldn't and not only for the selfish reason of knowing how she was doing. No, he knew that she was an important person in his brother's life and Scott deserved the best.

Episode 23.5

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writersrealmbts · 4 years

Text

Joining His Pack: Bonding (Final)

Description: Sanctuary Series: Life goes on for you and Namjoon, no matter the circumstances.

Posted: 05/22/2020

Tags: Hybrid Namjoon, Wolf Hybrid Namjoon, Wolf Hybrid Reader

Angst/Fluff: 3,656 words

A/N: First day of Fic Dump! Anybody surviving the music video? Because I’m hanging in there but I have about a thousand ideas for Yoongi stories now. Haven’t listened to the full thing yet, but I will after I post this.

Darkness and the damp smell of rain is what woke you up.

You groaned and rolled onto your feet, shivering at the cold of the floor and shuffling toward where the damp smell was coming from while still trying to open your eyes and getting your wobbly legs to comply.

You grumbled when a cool breeze met your skin, making you shiver again as chills went up your spine.

Then a blanket was draped around your shoulders. “The door broke,” Namjoon whispered, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind.

You sighed and leaned back onto him. “Guess that moved up on our list of things to fix and replace.”

He nodded. “Just a little. Sort of a pretty morning, though.”

You finally managed to peel your eyes open, looking out over the back yard as the rain poured down across your yard—the flowers from your garden bending but staying upright. Predawn light giving the world a hazy look that was actually quite soothing.

“Our gardens will be happy, we were supposed to water them yesterday,” He commented further, head resting on yours.

You yawned, turning and hugging onto him instead. “Why’s it so cold?”

“Because you’re naked, babe,” He chuckled.

You huffed indignantly. “And why am I naked?”

“Because we mated,” He whispered in your ear, fingers grazing over the ultra-sensitive spot where he had marked you.

You shuddered, keening at his touch and pressing closer.

He chucked again. “Come on, back to bed with you. I’ll be there as soon as I prop the door back in the frame. I’m surprised you can walk.”

“Barely, my legs are still wobbly. What happened to the nest?”

“I cannibalized it to make sure you stayed warm.” He guided you back to bed, holding you upright until you could collapse onto it, then covering you up carefully to make sure you wouldn’t get cold.

“Where are you going?” You asked indignantly.

He smiled. “Door? Me, propping it in the frame to keep the house warmer?”

“Oh,” You mumbled, grabbing and pulling the blankets. “Hurry.”

He laughed softly, his “you’re too adorable and I’m dying” laugh which you loved so immensely. He was too adorable for words. He could be all suave and cool but all you had to do was flirt a little and suddenly he turned into your tall, clumsy, adorkable sweetheart who was so cutely shy that sometimes you felt the need to just shower him in affection until he was all dimples and laughter.

Maybe you should have put the door back in place.

You pushed yourself up. “Namjoon, be careful!”

Your warning came a little late, a crashing noise sounding through the house as the words “be careful” left your mouth.

You winced. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just dropped the door. I’ll be there in a second,” He answered, only a slight edge of panic in his tone.

You leaned out of the bed and pulled the basket of extra blankets closer to you. “Is the door okay?”

He didn’t answer for a moment. “Sort of?”

You slipped out of bed again, stumbling out to look. “Oh my.”

He cringed. “What should I do?”

You examined the situation. “Call Jin or Micheal.”

He nodded, following you back into the bedroom and ushering you into bed, making sure you were tucked in while he went to call one of the men for help with the situation.

You were in a sort of doze when he crawled into bed again, arms wrapping around you and hands chilled.

“You asleep?” He asked in a whisper.

“Mmm, not quite.”

“I love you.”

“I love you more.”

“We’re going to last the ages, aren’t we?”

“We are,” You replied happily, wiggling closer. “We’ve made it this far, haven’t we?”

“Still need to work on the house,” He said softly.

“True, but as long as we’re both in one piece everything else is just details,” You told him, shrugging slightly and tilting your head so he could rub his nose along your neck.

“Might have bitten too hard, babe,” He whispered, sounding concerned as he nudged your mark, causing you to hiss slightly.

You hummed, the hum turning to a moan as he flicked his tongue over the mark. “The door?”

“Yoongi is coming over, he picked up Micheal’s phone. Apparently Timothy was running a really high fever again.”

“Poor pup,” You whispered. “Human hospitals suck. They should go to the Sanctuary.”

“I think they are.”

“Wait, does that mean we should be getting dressed?”

“We’ve still got time. He was feeding Eunyeong breakfast and he said he needed to get her dressed after that. So, at least half an hour.”

You nodded. “Tae coming too?”

“If he’s already awake, probably. If not, then no.”

You sighed. “Better let me up, honey.”

He grumbled slightly, but placed another kiss on your shoulder before letting you go. “You start your new job next week, right?”

“Yes,” You answered, letting the blankets slip from your body and walking to the closet to pick your outfit. You didn’t have to go anywhere (you weren’t allowed to go anywhere) but you didn’t want to look like a bum when other members of the pack arrived. Not to mention it was great to tease Namjoon in the mornings.

“You’re still wobbling,” Namjoon said after a moment.

“You’re still staring,” You retorted playfully, tail swishing in happiness as you pulled out your desired clothes. You really did need to get dressed, you were starting to get goosebumps.

“You want your black bra?”

“Please.”

“Preference on—”

“Whichever you grab first,” You answered, catching the bra he tossed you. “Can you go get the muffin mixes from the top cabinet?

“Yeah, when did you want to reorganize the kitchen?”

“Possibly today.” You threw the sweater on and then sat down to put on socks. “Depends on what happens after your brothers get here.”

“Well, Tae usually enjoys spending time here, and we haven’t seen them much since they came down, so Yoongi will probably end up asleep on our couch and you’ll get to cuddle the kitten.”

You grinned, following into the kitchen and pulling out the mixing bowl to make the muffins. “Sounds like a perfect lazy day.”

He pressed a kiss to your cheek, then hopped onto an empty counter while you mixed the muffin mix and poured it into the muffin tin liners. “Yeah, that mark looks pretty bad. Sorry, baby.”

You shrugged. “Only hurts when you press on it, and even then it’s one of those pains that feels somewhat pleasurable.”

“Weird omega,” He whispered teasingly.

“Bashful alpha,” You retorted, closing the oven door and going over to him, leaning against his legs.

He leaned down and kissed you, slowly, a little lethargic.

Both of you jumped as the make-shift blockade for the doorway fell in.

You sighed. “Wouldn’t be so bad if the wind wasn’t coming from that direction, and if it didn’t have rain with it.”

He nodded. “They should be here soon and—”

The doorbell rang before he could finish.

You moved so he could go answer the door, not trusting your legs to get you that far and instead taking his spot on the counter.

Taehyung came in, obviously following his nose, the toddling following while holding onto his tail and looking fairly grumpy herself.

You grinned. “Morning!”

Taehyung grunted, and leaned against the counter next to you.

The kitten grabbed onto your feet.

You reached down and picked her up, setting her on your lap to cuddle her. “That’s quite the grumpy face, little one.”

“She didn’t get back to sleep after Micheal and Becca took Timothy to the doctors, and we gave her some medicine to help boost her immune system in case its contagious,” Yoongi explained, looking his usual level of tired, but staring at the door. “Namjoon…how?”

Namjoon rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. “Um…I”m not sure?”

You smiled as they went to inspect, resting your hand on Tae’s head. “I’ve got some banana nut muffins in the oven.”

“I love you. Namjoon, I love her!”

“She’s mine, Tae, you can only love her platonically.”

“Then I love her platonically.”

You giggled at the exchange. “They’ll be ready in a couple minutes.”

He finally moved, sitting on the counter across from you, then his eyes widened. “What did Joonie-hyung do to your neck?”

You shrugged a little. “It’s not as bad as it looks.”

He looked at you like you’d grown a third head.

You blinked. “It’s a mating mark, Taehyung.”

He turned bright red and looked away. “I forgot canines did that.”

“Yup.” You stroked the soft kitten ears. “Eunyeong’s fur is still baby-soft. I’m so jealous.”

“Right?!” He perked up again. “Yoongi-hyung got her some special fur shampoo that’s amazing! Costs way too much for me, but you know how he is with her.”

“He spoils in her ways that won’t spoil her personality, it is beyond adorable.” You pressed a cute kiss to her forehead.

Euny blinked up at you sleepily, huffing grumpily.

The timer went off and Taehyung pulled the muffins out for you, taking one and starting to dig into it.

Euny made a sound and opened her mouth like a little chick.

Taehyung shook his head. “Words, honey.”

“Pleeeeease?” She said, sweetly.

He grinned and got a bowl and put a muffin in it. “Little bites, baby.”

“Okay,” She said, still grumpy but holding the bowl and picking off bites from the muffin. She curled against you as she ate, tail flicking.

“So, you guys going to have kids?”

“Eventually, but I think we want to get a bit more done on this place, and spend a little bit of quiet time together before then. I mean, things are just settling down from the trials, and I’m off house-arrest at the end of the week, and I start my new job after that.” You shrugged. “We both agreed that we wanted to wait a while before having pups. Besides, shouldn’t you be pestering Jimin about kits?”

“Eh, he’s been so stressed between last years incident and moving and the wedding that I figure it’s a miracle he’s in one piece. Maybe next year.”

“You going to join Hoseok in the master-nanny business?”

“I wish. First we’d have to move back home. Besides, Hoseokie-hyung is probably going to be a teacher at the Sanctuary school at some point.” Taehyung’s tail playfully flicked open cabinets to inspect.

“Yoongi set a time frame for your visit?”

He shook his head.

“Want to help me reorganize the kitchen?”

He grinned and nodded.

Namjoon eventually got shooed away from helping when Yoongi almost had a replacement door dropped on his head, and he helped you and Tae—meaning the boys did the work while you supervised and held Euny who was giggling a little when her Uncles made faces at you, and subsequently at her.

When Yoongi was done, he joined you sitting on the counter and eating a muffin and watching the boys do your work for you.

But all of you got quiet when Yoongi got a call from Micheal.

Yoongi was pretty quiet, just replying to him. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll bring Euny in.” He rubbed his forehead looking worried. “Yeah. Okay, thanks.”

You watched him for a moment while he hung up.

“Well?” Tae asked when Yoongi had been quiet for too long. Frozen.

“Timmy has pneumonia,” Yoongi finally said. “They want to test Euny just to be safe.”

Taehyung drooped. “That’s terrible.”

Yoongi nodded. “Yeah. Alright. I can either leave you here or drop you off back home.”

Taehyung looked at Namjoon.

He shrugged. “Pretty sure we were planning on you staying here all day anyway. Whatever you want, Taehyung.”

“I’ll stay here, hyung. It’d be boring being at home with no one around.”

You kissed the kitten’s head, wondering if she did feel a little warm, before handing her over to Yoongi.

“I’m sure she’ll be fine, hyungie. If she does have it, then we know before it’s really set in and we can treat it accordingly.” Taehyung hugged Yoongi, then kissed Euny on the cheek. “I’d go with you—”

“No!” Yoongi and Namjoon shouted simultaneous.

“No, that’s okay, you stay far away from the doctors office,” Yoongi continued.

You giggled, hopping off the counter and falling into Namjoons arms when your legs didn’t work. “Good luck at the office.”

Yoongi glanced you over. “Namjoon, try not to put her back in the hospital.” He went toward the door.

You managed to get your footing again, but stayed in Namjoon’s arms.

Taehyung stretched after hearing the front door close. “So, what else needs to be done?”

“The things we don’t use a lot need to be put in the highest cabinets. But I have to unpack those still, so we’re pretty much done today. Movie time?”

“Movie time!” Taehyung agreed excitedly.

“I’ll make the popcorn.” You wobbled over to the counter and pulled out the popcorn.

“Really, though, Namjoon-hyung, maybe go easy on her next time.”

You laughed as Namjoon gave a flustered response, throwing the popcorn into the microwave. “For the record, I encouraged him to. Nothing like a good romp. And the ones that leave you wobbly the next day are the best.” You kissed Namjoon on the lips, wrapping your arms around his neck and watching him turn red.

“N-noona….” Taehyung objected, completely flustered. “I’m still here.”

“Hmm, true. Alright, I can stand Joonie. You guys go pick a movie.” You smoothed Namjoon’s shirt and turned your attention back to snacks because snacks were very important.

Snacks were very important.

———

“Thank you! Have a great day,” You told the customer, handing over their bag of sweets before going to replenish the cinnamon-sugar banana chips. They were popular with several hybrid species and with the remembrance day of the restriction of hybrids coming up, the shop had been fairly busy. It had become a custom to have a sort of communal meal, everyone bringing something to the table as a bunch of hybrids got together. Last year you’d spent it with a group of singles at a party hosted by some of the security staff.

Anyway, “Otter Perfection Sweets” had a steady stream of customers that were there to prepare for guests or being a guest. And since there was a wide selection of specialty sweets that were aimed toward hybrids, a large portion of your customers were either hybrids, or those buying for hybrids. But it was definitely different from your other job.

One, your boss was way better. She was sensible, yet fun, and very flexible about your schedule. She was very family oriented and so friendly that before you knew it she had memorized all of the names of your pack members and how they were related to your mate, and would frequently follow up on things that she heard about.

Not that you didn’t also know way more about her family than you expected to.

You’d been working there for a few weeks now, and already had dinner with her family—all of which, from her grandparents, siblings, and parents, lived in one house. Except her. She lived above the shop because,

“My sister is moving back in with them with her man and her eight pups. I love them to bits, but I also love having a full night’s rest. Besides, they’re going to come here all the time anyway.”

And you didn’t blame her one bit for moving out. Because her family did drop in all the time and depending on who it was it could get very lively in the small shop.

You helped a couple more customers, happy to see product being sold. You liked her. You liked her products. You liked this job.

“Y/n, can you refill the ice-cream freezer?”

“Yup,” You called back, hurrying to the back to get the tray of cartons out of the freezer and then bring it out.

You were so focused on straightening the shelf after filling it that you didn’t hear the person sneaking in until they spoke from directly behind you.

“You know, I’ve been in here a couple times, but you’re the most delicious looking thing I think I’ve seen so far.”

You flinched in surprise, turning to smack him down.

Namjoon grinned at you. “You were about to tell me off, weren’t you?”

Deja vu.

“Hi,” You whispered, grinning.

He leaned in and pressed a chaste kiss to your lips. “Hi. Why are you whispering?”

“Because I wanted two more seconds with you and if I said it louder she’d come out to say hello.” You giggled and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“Oh, she already saw me. Headed into the back so I could surprise you,” He replied at a normal volume. “Ready to go, baby?”

“Just need to do a few more things and clock out. While you’re waiting you should pick out those treats. Some for Jungkook since he’s spending his first summer away from home, some for Yoongi, Tae, and Eunyeong, and then the watermelon chips for the triplets birthday next week.”

“Aren’t they all coming for the triplets’ birthday?” Namjoon asked, frowning in thought.

“Yoongi has to work, Tae said he might come but he also found out that the art gala he’s supposed to go to is the night after and you know the trip takes several hours. And Jungkook got that job, so he doesn’t know if he’s going to be there or not. Either way, if we send the package tomorrow he should get it by the next day and the sentiment is still the same no matter when he gets it. Spit spot.” You waved him off and went to check out a customer.

Your boss came out to refill the truffle tray. “I give you December of next year before the two of you have pups, and that’s being pessimistic.”

You just laughed and closed out your drawer, taking it back to the office and locking it while bringing out her drawer. “I give you to August of next year before you have a serious relationship. And that’s being pessimistic.”

She rolled her eyes. “Sure, you just go find me someone who likes kids and knows how to balance work and fun and I’ll help you win that bet.”

“Don’t tempt me,” You replied in a sing-song voice and then skipped toward Namjoon. “No, baby, not the watermelon leather. The watermelon chips.”

“What’s the difference?” He looked confused as you changed out the bags.

“Texture.” You checked what else he had gotten, then led him up to the counter. “Anyway, how was work?”

“Eh, it was work. I’m not a fan of our current project, but what can you do? But I’m definitely ready to be home,” He answered, kissing your cheek. He slipped his arm around your waist, just handing you his wallet so you could take care of paying instead. He was breathing in your scent, trying to detox from a stressful day.

You smiled up at him, then took the bag of sweets, said goodnight to your boss and led the way out of the shop. “Last time we left my work together was the second time we’d met.”

He blinked a couple times and then smiled a dimple smile. “Wow. That was so long ago…and yet also a really short time ago.”

“We haven’t even been together a year,” You said, wrapping your arms around his waist as you walked.

“And what a year it’s been,” He said, huffing a laugh as he did. “But I knew when I smelled you that day…when you flirted so shamelessly with me, that you were the one for me. There was no one else.”

“I was shameless, wasn’t I!” You puffed up proudly. “I should get back to being shameless.”

“Only with me, baby,” He whispered smoothly. “Speaking of shameless….”

“When we get home you don’t want to wear clothes for the rest of the night?”

“Um…not what I was going to say…but I can roll with that as long as we’re in our room. Being active.”

“Deal, but I have to finish the care packages first. Then we can have fun.”

“Right. Care packages.” He got the car door for you. “Do I get one for work? And not being with you?”

“Hmm, you get to come home to your care package every day,” You reasoned, kissing him above the door and then climbing into the seat.

“What if that’s not enough to sustain me,” He asked, still holding the door open.

You hummed, pretending to think. “Then I suppose I better start working harder.”

He grinned and closed the door.

You watched him as he waited for a few cars to pass by so he could get to his side of the vehicle without getting hurt. He was wearing a suit, and loosening the tie in such an attractive manner that you wished the drive home was shorter.

Namjoon got in, adjusting his seat again and the mirrors.

So suave. So enchanting and romantic. The perfect, attractive man that you’d see as the male lead in a movie.

“How did I get such a perfect partner?” You asked softly.

He glanced at you, suddenly shy and bashful. “How did I get a lovely little wolf to join my pack as my mate?”

You thought about it. “Well, if I remember correctly, you were chasing after a pup. Something I hope to see again someday.”

He nodded, taking your hand. “Eventually, you will.”

“When we’re ready.”

“Exactly. Whenever we’re ready,” He agreed, looking at you for a moment before turning his gaze back to the road.

You settled into the seat, gazing at the road ahead, excitement bursting in your heart.

——

Previous Part.

Masterlist. Series Masterpost.

Taglist: @alex--awesome--22 @missmoxxiesworld @bryvada @knjhe @i-dont-even-know-fck @ephemeral-mindset @young-yellkie

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dindjarin-mandalorian · 3 years

Text

A Soft Place to Land (The Mandalorian - Din Djarin x OC) - Chapter Eight

Author’s Note: I’m not going to link to my Masterlist or AO3 in this post because I don’t think Tumblr likes links, but you can find both linked at the top of my blog on desktop, or in the pinned post on mobile/desktop. :)

Note: This is the backstory of an OC I created for a failed RP, and that backstory turned into a whole fic for The Mandalorian and my OC, Lira. It begins several years before the events of Season One of The Mandalorian take place, but will eventually line up with the show. At this point in the story, Din and Lira have known each other for several years.

Summary: Lira is an intel-gatherer for Greef Karga, working to get information on the quarries he sends his bounty hunters after, but her life slowly starts to change after she meets one bounty hunter in particular.

Warnings: None in this chapter.

Tagged List: If you’d like to be tagged when I post new chapters of this fic (or anything I write), just let me know! You can comment here or send a message. I’m always happy to tag!

Lira sat in silence and played with the worn and faded rainbow-colored braided bracelet on her wrist as she watched Din press various buttons on his console. After several minutes, he asked, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re being uncharacteristically quiet.”

She heard the slightly teasing tone in his voice and smiled. “I’m just thinking.”

He nodded but didn’t press her for more. A few more minutes passed, and he nodded his head toward her wrist, where she was still twisting her bracelet.

“So what’s the deal with the bracelet?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean why do you wear it all the time?”

“I don’t know, it’s just a bracelet.”

She pulled her sleeve down over it and turned her head to look out of the window, away from Din. She felt bad about brushing him off, however, since he rarely ever asked for details about herself, so she turned back to face the console, still avoiding looking in his direction.

“It’s a friendship bracelet.”

“A friendship bracelet?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure if it’s a thing in this galaxy, but on Earth, kids make these little friendship bracelets and give them to their friends. Sort of like a ‘we’ll be friends forever’ pact, but with bracelets and not, you know, blood or something.”

“So who’s the friend?”

Lira shrugged a shoulder in faux nonchalance. “A girl I met at camp one year. Becca.”

Din flicked another switch, and though he made no effort to pry further, Lira kept talking.

“My parents made me go to camp one summer, and I hated it. I was never really good at making friends anyway, so I spent the first couple of weeks by myself. And then one day, they paired me up with Becca for one of the games. I think the counselors felt bad that I was always alone, so they assigned teammates in an effort to keep me from getting left out again.”

She sighed. “Anyway, after a little while, we started talking and actually hit it off. After that, we were inseparable for the rest of the summer. During craft time one day, we made these friendship bracelets for each other and swore we’d always be friends. When the end of summer arrived, we exchanged addresses and promised we’d write to each other every week. I kept my end of the promise, but Becca didn’t.”

“She didn’t write to you?”

“No. Never,” she said quietly. “I wrote to her every week for months and I didn’t get a single reply.” She huffed and scratched the bridge of her nose. “And it’s silly, but I kept wearing the bracelet. I liked the feeling of having a best friend, you know? Even though now I know Becca wasn’t a good friend. At the time, I just fooled myself into thinking she was busy, or that she’d moved and lost my address or something. But I saw her at the grocery store one day, months later, and she turned and walked the other way when she spotted me.”

She bit her lip to keep it from trembling. “And then when I got older, I kept wearing it to remind myself that I didn’t need anyone else, that I was fine on my own.” She looked out the window again. “And then I kept wearing it when I left Earth because it was one of the only things I had left from my planet.”

Din pressed another button on his console, then glanced over at her again. “I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

“I’m not - what makes you think I’m about to cry?”

“You always crinkle your nose like that when you’re trying not to cry.”

“I don’t -” She stopped talking when she realized he was right. Lira was shocked that he’d noticed something so inconsequential about her, and also shocked to realize that she did crinkle her nose when she was trying to keep herself from crying. The fact that Din, of all people, knew that about her when she hadn’t even really known it herself made her stomach flutter. She huffed a laugh. “Anyway, I’m sure that’s way more than you bargained for when you asked about it. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, it’s okay.” He turned to look at her again. “I’m sorry she never wrote to you.”

Lira gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”

“If it makes you feel any better, I would have written to you.”

Lira laughed. “You would not have written!”

Din laughed into his modulator. “You’re right. I’ve never been good with written correspondence.”

Lira laughed again, feeling better. “Well, thanks for saying you would, anyway.”

“No problem.” He was silent for a moment, then added, “And it’s Becca’s loss, you know.”

Lira’s smile grew a little more. “Thanks, Din.” She cleared her throat, then said, “I can make one for you, if I can find the materials.”

“That’s okay.”

“You wouldn’t wear it?”

“No.”

“Come on, it would look great with the armor. We could make it black and pink.”

Din turned to stare at her but didn’t speak.

“Black and purple?”

“No.”

“Black and blue!”

“No.”

“Silver?”

“I’m not wearing a bracelet.”

“Okay, if you don’t want to announce our friendship to the world, that’s fine.”

Din shook his head. “I wouldn’t think you’d want to announce your friendship with a Mandalorian to anyone.”

“Yeah, I do try to keep that quiet.”

He laughed again and she grinned at him as she leaned back in her chair, feeling much better than she had a few minutes before.

#the mandalorian fic #din djarin x oc #din djarin fanfic #the mandalorian #the mandalorian fanfic #my writing #a soft place to land

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lost-n-stereo · 4 years

Text

A/N: For anon who prompted me “Hallie+Sunshine”. Have a little 4th of July summer fic :)

and the sparks start flying (like the fourth of july)

She gets invited on a camping trip the first week of June, and when she says an invite she means that she quite literally received an e-vite from Helena through Facebook. There’s a group page and everything, with people RSVP’ing and talking about what alcohol they are going to bring and which campsites around the state are the best.

It’s not surprising to see the usual suspects on the list of people going. If Helena is setting it up that means that Luke is definitely going, since they are engaged and it’s just sort of a given. If Luke’s going then Clark and Jason will tag along with their girlfriends, and if the girls go then all of their friends will too. It’s a bit of a surprise to Allie though when she sees Harry RSVP and she kind of wants to comment on his post about how boat shoes aren’t generally camping attire but it feels shitty and she doesn’t want to be a dick for no reason.

The trip is planned for Fourth of July weekend, which is a little cliché but she doesn’t mind all that much. She orders a new tent off Amazon and an expensive pair of hiking boots because she’s not sure where exactly they are going yet but she feels like she should be prepared for anything. Becca calls her and asks if they should do some bathing suit shopping before the trip and they spend the day trying on different suits and drinking their daily calories in the form of food court smoothies.

It’s one of those rare times that the fourth falls on a weekend, so she takes the Friday before and the Monday after off from work and thanks the gods above that she works with a majority of older people that don’t care about the holiday weekend. They decided on a state park that has campgrounds that will fit all of them, she thinks it’s nearing twenty plus people going at last count, and a giant lake with tons of water sports and activities to do. She heard a rumor that someone rented out the entire stretch of sites on one side of the lake so they wouldn’t be bothered. No one said it was Harry but she can make an educated guess that was his doing.

There’s an honest to god party bus taking a large group of people to the lake but she decides to hitch a ride with Elle instead. The girl has a kick ass Jeep with no doors and it feels good flying down the highway with their camping gear piled high in the back and old school hip hop blaring out of the radio. Elle takes a sharp turn into the campground’s parking lot and Allie laughs as her body jerks out of the open door and her hair flies into her face as they jerk to a stop.

“You’re an absolute maniac,” Allie says on a laugh as they unbuckle their seat belts. “I fucking love it.”

Elle just flashes a grin and gets to work on unloading her tent from the back of the Jeep.

“Need some help?”

Allie rolls her eyes at the sound of Harry’s voice behind her and he’s grinning and eating an apple with a pocket knife when she turns around.

“I think we got it, thanks.”

He just shrugs, throws her a wink before heading over to where a group of people are unloading cases of beer out of the back of someone’s pickup. The parking lot is a madhouse. People are everywhere and Allie wonders in amusement if Helena is currently freaking out because there definitely were not this many RSVP’s in her Facebook group.

As if she conjured up the woman herself, Helena rushes up to Allie with a panicked look on her face. There are people Allie’s never seen falling out of backseats in fits of giggles, girls running around in barely there bikinis and dude-bros in board shorts lining up shots on the tailgate of a truck. It’s like a very cliché music video set to the sound of Post Malone pumping from someone’s car speakers.

“Are you seeing this shit?”

Allie laughs and reaches behind the seat for her backpack. “Yeah, it’s nuts. Who even are all these people?”

“Friends of friends,” Helena says, rolling her eyes as she takes a headcount. “There has to be over fifty people here already. It’s a good thing Harry rented so many campsites otherwise we’d be totally fucked.”

It’s the first confirmation she’s heard of Harry being the party benefactor but it doesn’t surprise her at all. He was always the one throwing giant parties in high school. His parents even rented an entire hotel for their senior prom, not just a banquet hall but the entire fucking thing.

“Let’s just be thankful no families with children will have to be in a tent next to that.” Allie points with her chin to where Lexie is currently pushed up against the side of a Suburban with a guy kissing down the column of her throat. “So much for a low key camping trip, ‘Lena.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Harry says, coming up to them with a Stella bottle hanging between his fingers. She wonders why he’s just randomly popping up when she knows his friends are here somewhere. Allie notices for the first time that he’s wearing flip flops, briefly stunned by the sight of his sort of bare feet. She’s not sure if she’s ever seen this man’s toes in the entire time they’ve known each other. The four years since high school have been good to him but that’s not a surprise. He has unimaginable wealth and a great job on top of that so she’s not shocked that he’s doing so well for himself so soon after graduating.

She went to school for accounting, ended up at a decent firm after graduating where the median age is mid forties, but she’s living in Brooklyn now which she loves and that’s what counts. Last she heard Harry was living in Manhattan but she doesn’t go that way often and someone like him probably wouldn’t be caught dead in her neighborhood.

Not that she cares or anything because what Harry Bingham does with his time has nothing to do with her.

“Better hope you get your deposit back,” Allie quips as she grabs a bottle of water out of her pack. Harry holds up his beer and asks if she wants one of her own. “No, Harry. It’s like nine-thirty in the morning. And don’t even say it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Harry chuckles and takes a deep pull from the bottle. She shouldn’t think it’s sexy how he licks his lips after but well, it is. He smirks a little like he knows what she’s thinking and she rolls her eyes.

“I wasn’t going to,” he tells her. “I was just going to remind you that it’s Friday, you’re not at work at that stuffy job you go to every day, and it’s a fucking holiday. Enjoy yourself for once, Pressman.”

There’s not an ounce of heat in his words but it still cuts a little because she has fun, thank you very much. She might spend a lot of time in her studio apartment and she may only have a small group of good friends but she’s happy and that’s what matters. Helena just looks between them with her eyebrows raised, as if she’s waiting for world war three to start right there in the parking lot but Allie just shrugs, grabs the beer from his hand and chugs the rest of it before using her thumb to wipe foam from the side of her lip. Her heart pounds a little as Harry tracks the movement with laser focus and then she’s the one smirking, pushing the empty bottle into his chest.

“Looks like you need a refill.”

The absolute shock on his face makes her feel better than it probably should and Helena’s jaw is practically on the floor.

“Well played, Pressman.” Harry tilts his bottle towards her in what may be a show of respect and leaves again without a word.

“What the hell was that?” Helena presses when he’s out of earshot. Allie just shrugs, asks Helena if she’d mind helping her grab her tent out of the back of the Jeep so she can set up camp somewhere.

***

It’s dark when the real crazy stuff starts to happen.

There’s a group of people running around naked because someone thought it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping in a national park. Allie is pretty sure there are supposed to be park rangers patrolling but she supposes it wouldn’t be hard for a certain someone to grease a few palms to keep them away for the night.

Speak of the devil…

“You look like you could use a drink.”

An ice cold White Claw drops into her lap and she gasps, her thighs bare since she’s just in a bikini top and denim cutoffs.

“What in the fuck, Harry!”

He just laughs, drops down beside her in a pair of bright orange board shorts and nothing else. “Just paying you back for that little stunt with my beer this morning.”

Allie rolls her eyes, pops the cap of the cocktail and drinks half of it in one go. “You deserved that. You’re always antagonizing me. Been that way since we were kids.”

“Bullshit,” he says but when she looks at him out of the corner of her eye he’s grinning a little, fingers playing with the string of his shorts. It’s fucking distracting. “Maybe I was flirting.”

Her cheeks heat a little but she knows Harry, has known him practically all her life. Maybe sometimes things he’s done could be considered flirting but that’s only because he flirts with everyone.

“I’m sure,” she says, finishing off the drink and tossing the can into a bin nearby designated for recycling. “Shouldn’t you be over there with your friends?”

“They aren’t as fun to fuck with as you are.”

Allie points at him. “Ah! So you admit you like fucking with me!”

There’s no denying his eyes go a little dark and then she’s wishing that she could take that back because now it just sounds dirty. She’s expecting a dirty comment in return but that’s not at all what she gets.

“Maybe I just like talking to you. Maybe…”

She tilts her head a little when he doesn’t continue. “Maybe what, Harry?”

His teeth scrape across his bottom lip a little as he thinks but then he shakes his head like he’s literally trying to erase a thought from his mind. He stands up abruptly, brushes a little dirt and sand off his board shorts and throws her a casual wink.

“It’s nothing. Have a good night, Al.”

***

She wakes up with the hangover from hell and finds herself cuddled in between Sam and Grizz.

“What the shit?”

Grizz mumbles a little, presses his nose into the back of her neck and she giggles. “Shhh, you’re so comfortable and my brain is heavy.”

It makes no sense at all but she also completely gets it because her brain feels heavy too. It’s hot as fuck in this tent, which she realizes now is not her own. She tries to piece together what happened after Harry left her the night before. Not that she got blackout drunk or anything but she did let Becca and Grizz talk her into Jägerbombs which are never a good idea.

Sam’s eyes blink open and then he smiles and it reminds her of the sleepovers they used to have as kids. She signs, asks him if he wants some coffee and he nods, so she gets up to go find the little brew pot that Helena said she was bringing.

She can see the row of little camp areas stretching all the way down to the end of the lake, each with its own barbecue and campfire area. Every site can fit three or four tents and the one she set her tent up in is shared with Grizz and Sam, Helena and Luke, and Becca. Grizz’s tent is huge with multi rooms and she knows it’s probably because he’s really into spending time outdoors, fishing and camping all over the state. What they are all doing this week borders somewhere on glamping, because she’s almost positive she saw someone set up portable solar panels to run some gaming station and a small television.

There’s a pack of water bottles next to their makeshift “kitchen” by the campfire so she grabs one, empties it into the brew pot and waits for it to get hot so she can make coffee for her and her friends. Most of the campsites are quiet, which makes sense because it’s eight in the morning and the party raged until at least six this morning. When the coffee is ready she brings a cup to Sam, who puts a finger to his lips and nods to Grizz, who’s already passed out again. Allie grins, hands him the cup and signs have a good morning to him before quietly leaving the tent.

“Top of the morning to you, Pressman.”

Harry is helping himself to a cup of coffee from the pot and Allie rolls her eyes. “Don’t you have someone else to bug this morning, Bingham?”

“I like bugging you more,” he says with a smirk and she doesn’t miss the way he doesn’t say maybe like he did the night before. It’s like he’s finally acknowledging the fact that he’s always trying to get under her skin. She used to think it was because he was annoyed by her but after last night she wonders if maybe she was wrong about that. “Cup of coffee?”

Allie huffs and takes it from him. “I made that for me and my friends, if you couldn’t tell.”

Harry puts on a fake pout, which makes his lips look really fucking good and she tries to ignore the little flutter in her stomach when she notices it. “I’m hurt, Al. I thought we were friends?”

“Why are you even up this early?” She asks, ignoring the question of their friendship. It’s not that they aren’t friendly but they aren’t exactly hanging out on weekends either. Which...okay so she knows they are quite literally hanging out on a weekend right now but that doesn’t count. They have just always known each other, from him being in the same class all through school as Cassandra. She remembers one year when they were science partners and he was at their house once a week during the second semester to complete a project. Cassandra had complained about him being lazy and incompetent but Allie knows he put effort into it because she’d sometimes hang out in the kitchen while they worked and he was always putting in his own ideas just to have her sister throw them out. Which, if you know her sister, is par for the course on pretty much everything.

“Work hours,” Harry says with a roll of his eyes. “No matter what I do or how late I stay up the night before I’m always up at sunrise. What about you?”

“Same,” she admits. “I feel like a total bum if I sleep past ten.”

They both laugh and she realizes they are actually having a conversation, even if it’s stupid and doesn’t really mean anything. But he’s not picking on her and she’s not throwing attitude back at his snark and it’s actually sort of nice.

“So I hear we have a busy day this morning,” he says as he lowers himself into a folding chair that’s set up near the unlit campfire. “Helena has planned our day down to the minute, it seems.”

Allie chuckles, pulls up a chair and sets it near him but where she can still see his face. “Sounds like my girl.”

“Actually it’s my girl,” Luke says from behind her and they all laugh. “You made coffee? Allie, you’re a lifesaver.”

When she looks at Harry she sees a little flash of disappointment in his eyes and she can’t help but wonder if it’s because it’s not just the two of them anymore.

She also wonders if the same look of disappointment flashes in her own eyes when Harry gets up, tells them he’s off to get ready for the day, and leaves her and Luke to wake up the rest of their friends.

***

Her feet hurt.

It was Helena’s idea to take a drive up the road to a hiking trail less than ten minutes away from the lake. And while Allie might have remembered to purchase new hiking boots what she forgot to do was break them in before wearing them.

“You look miserable,” Harry comments as they move up the trail, which just seems to go up and up and up. He’s not even breaking a sweat and she sees well worn boots on his feet which surprises her. “When was the last time you went hiking?”

“Um...never?”

Harry chuckles and pulls her to the side, his hand on her arm as he guides her to a large rock just off the path. “Let me help,” he says, kneeling down in front of her and unlacing her boot. Helena passes by, eyebrows high, but Harry just waves her off, tells the group they will catch up.

“What are you doing?” Her voice is far more breathless than she wants it to be but holy shit, Harry Bingham is crouched in front of her, picking up her sore foot delicately and placing it on his knee.

“Helping,” he says simply as he unlaces her boot and works it off her right foot, followed by her sock. After repeating the same steps with her other foot, he places them gently on the ground before standing in front of her. “Lift your legs.”

“Excuse me?” Her face flushes but he just smirks, grabs each foot and places them on his thighs with her knees together.

“You need to elevate your feet,” he explains as he positions her just so. “It’ll work, trust me.”

They probably look ridiculous, him standing in front of her with a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes and his hair a ruffled mess and her perched on a rock with her feet on his legs. But he wasn’t wrong and after a few minutes she can feel the pain lessening by the second.

“How long do I have to do this?”

Harry looks down at his watch. “About fifteen minutes and we’ve been here for eight so get comfortable.”

Allie laughs and tilts her head back. “You’re not sitting on the hardest rock known to man. My bony ass can’t handle this.”

“Your ass isn’t that bony,” he says but it’s not an insult, she can tell. It’s definitely a compliment, and a heated one at that.

“Spend a lot of time checking out my ass, Bingham?”

Harry just shrugs, a little grin playing on his lips as he looks down at her. Her cheeks heat again and she rolls her eyes for something to do because she’s not exactly sure what to say back. The last thing she expected this morning was to be hiking with Harry, who’s apparently some sort of expert, and then have him basically admit to checking her out before.

“We should catch up with everyone,” she says a few minutes later and he checks his watch again, nods and moves her legs carefully so she can put her shoes and socks back on. “Thanks,” she says quietly as she flexes her toes. “That really did help.”

“You should trust me more often.” He puts a hand out for her to grab and she accepts, ignores the little electricity she feels when her skin touches his. It’s hard not to be attracted to someone like Harry, who exudes confidence in everything that he does. And he’s obviously not bad to look at even though he dresses like a future senator eighty percent of the time and wears his cockiness like a badge. He just keeps showing her these little sides of personality that she’s never seen before and frankly, it’s hard to ignore.

They make up time quickly, thanks to Harry’s hiking skills and her mostly refreshed feet. When they reach the others everyone is standing at the top of the little mountain they just climbed, eyes focused on something in the distance.

“What is everyone looking at?” Allie asks no one in particular but stops short with a little gasp when she takes in the view they are all gaping at. The entire lake is visible from their viewpoint, the crystal blue water shimmering in the mid afternoon sun. She can see their side of the lake, with people milling around the sites like little ants. There are boats pulling people on water skis and tons of water crafts making waves for people in floating inner tubes. The lake is surrounded by trees on three sides and Allie thinks it might be one of the most beautiful views she’s ever seen in real life.

“This is breathtaking,” she says, mostly to herself, but then she feels a hand bump hers as Harry steps up next to her.

“It sure is,” he says quietly, his eyes sliding from the view before them to her face and then back again. His pinkie touches the side of her hand just barely and the idea to reach over to hold his hand is sudden and unexpected. She doesn’t do it but she finds that she wants to and that confuses her even more.

***

“Fifty bucks says I can chug this entire bottle of Jack in under a minute!”

Allie rolls her eyes as she passes by a group of guys that she went to high school with, all of them former jocks and not so bright.

“Pretty sure fifty bucks isn’t going to be enough to get your stomach pumped,” she tosses back in their direction before heading towards the campfire that’s currently warming the majority of her friend group.

After the hike they spent the day in the water, swimming and riding around on the Jet Skis that Helena had brought for the weekend. Harry offered to rent a boat to take them out but the boats were all rented out by the time they made it back to the lake.

“Tomorrow then,” he had said, dropping his credit card on the counter and winking at the girl making the reservations. Allie’d rolled her eyes and Harry had just laughed and winked at her too.

It’s hard not to notice that he looks really good right now, sitting by the fire with a bottle of beer hanging from his fingertips, his skin perfectly tanned from being in the sun all day. He’s wearing board shorts again but he finally put a shirt on, a white button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It annoys her that he can make anything look good.

The little smile he gives her when she walks up to the fire pit is almost too much to handle.

“Need a drink?” Becca asks, pushing a wine cooler into her hand before she can even answer. Allie laughs, thanks her and lowers herself into a chair that just happens to be next to Harry. He smirks a little around the mouth of his beer but doesn’t comment on where she chose to sit down.

“When do the fireworks start?” She asks Helena, who checks her watch before pointing towards the west of the lake, where there’s no trees and wide open skies.

“They will be over there in about an hour,” she says. “They won’t be super close because they are technically lit in town but we’ll see the show pretty clearly.”

They sit around for the next forty minutes drinking and laughing around the fire. Luke and Clark decide to have a rock skipping competition and Allie laughs as everyone scurries around to find the perfect flat rock to enter. Right before the fireworks are about to start Harry nudges her, leans over so he’s almost whispering in her ear.

“Want to find somewhere quiet to watch the show?”

Everyone around them is either drunk, searching for rocks or both, and no one is paying attention when she nods, stands up and tells him to lead the way.

They walk side by side next to the lake heading away from the party that’s already raging despite the fact that it’s barely ten at night. Allie practically chokes when they pass a couple full on having sex against a tree and Harry laughs, steers them away from the obnoxious moaning and towards an empty spot on the beach.

“I should have bought a blanket,” he complains as he settles in the sand and Allie smiles as she drops down next to him.

“A little sand never hurt anyone. Don’t be a baby.” He quirks an eyebrow at her and she giggles, which she only does when she’s this side of perfectly drunk.

Harry is quiet as he pulls his knees up and sits with his arms dangling in between them. “You’ve been different today,” he says so softly she can barely hear him. “More like you used to be.”

“What does that mean?” She’s sitting cross legged and stays that way as she turns so she’s facing him. He just shrugs which makes her roll her eyes. “You’ve been different too.”

“Oh yeah?” He asks with a raised eyebrow and she nods. “How so?”

She snorts, leans back on her hands which makes her knees touch the side of his leg. “If you’re not going to tell me, why should I tell you?”

“What are we, twelve?” He says on a laugh and she shrugs, giving him a dose of his own medicine. He sighs, like it’s a total inconvenience to explain something that he started anyways. “You were fun. Carefree.”

“It was a good day,” she says and he nods. “And you were flirting with me, which is new.” It’s a bold statement because maybe he wasn’t, maybe it was just like all the other times when he was flirty because he’s Harry Bingham and that’s just how he is. He charms, it’s in his DNA.

Harry scoffs a little and shakes his head like she’s missing something. “Me flirting with you is not new, Allie.”

The way he says her name does something to her, the way she can see his tongue when his mouth forms the word. They aren’t saying anything, just staring at each other when the first boom of fireworks sounds off overhead. Neither of them startle or even really acknowledge the show going off above them. She likes the way the colors flash across his face, bright blue and neon pink, and before she realizes what’s happening he’s leaning forward, pressing his lips against hers quickly in a surprisingly gentle and innocent kiss.

He pulls away first, rests his forehead on hers with a little smile playing on his face.

“What was that?” The words are practically whispered, breath feather light over almost touching lips.

“Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” He doesn’t say anything else, doesn’t go to kiss her again, just smiles softly before pulling away.

Allie smiles too and pulls away, rests her hands behind her in the sand and settles in to watch the show.

***

“Where did you run off to last night?”

The campsites are stirring the next morning with activity as everyone wakes up after the sun is high and the weather is warm. Helena is sitting by the campfire, a cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.

“I went for a walk,” Allie says carefully, not sure if she should say anything about what happened with Harry or not. They only shared one little kiss, and while it was wildly romantic with the fireworks sounding off above them, she’s not quite sure where they go from here. “What are you up to?”

Helena holds up her phone. “Trying to secure our boat for the day online. Harry already gave his credit card information to the rental place, I’m on hold.”

It’s then that Allie can hear the hold music playing quietly from Helena’s phone which is on speaker mode. Allie snorts when she recognizes the song, some piano version of a top 40 hit, and pours herself a cup of coffee.

A few minutes later a woman’s voice comes over the line, letting Helena know that she’s secured a boat for them that they can pick up in an hour. Helena thanks the woman and ends the call, stands up and wipes sand from the back of her shorts.

“This place is too fucking sandy,” she says and Allie laughs into her coffee mug. “I’m going to start rounding up the usual suspects. You’re in, right?”

Allie nods. “Definitely. I’ll get ready and meet you back here at ten.”

She finishes up her drink and heads to her tent to get ready for the day. There are two options for swimming suits, the one she wore yesterday which was bright blue and white, perfect for the fourth. But she decides on the flashier suit she’d purchased just because it was beautiful in the store and she couldn’t help herself. She slides on a pair of denim shorts and throws a sun hat on for good measure. She’s just finished applying sunscreen when a throat clearing at the tent’s entrance makes her jump.

“Jesus, Allie.”

Harry is standing there, one fist up to his mouth as he takes her in from head to toe. And now she knows this bathing suit was worth the price tag because he’s looking at her like he never has before.

“That suit..”

Allie laughs quietly and looks down at the top, a white ruffled halter top embellished with gold jewels that sit right under her breasts. There’s an additional piece connected to the bottoms that wraps around her middle that is purely for show, the gold jewels trailing down her stomach to meet the top of her shorts. With her recently tanned skin the stark white of the suit pops, making her look even more sunkissed.

“You like?” She asks with a cocked eyebrow and Harry nods slowly as he takes her in.

He looks around outside quickly before stepping into her tent. “That is by far the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he says when he’s right in front of her. She inhales sharply when he gently touches the jeweled piece on her tummy. He’s making her feel all kinds of things and he’s not even touching her skin.

“I’m glad you like it,” she says breathlessly and it makes him smile. Feeling a little bold she pushes up closer to him, leans up so she can whisper in his ear. “Wait until you see the rest of it.”

Harry lets out a little groan that makes her giggle as she pushes past him. She’s not exactly sure why she’s being so bold, or flirty at all for that matter, but it’s like their kiss from the night before has unlocked something she didn’t really know how to admit before.

She sort of likes him.

Half an hour later she’s got a beer in her hand as the boat floats lazily along the lake. It was big enough for a fairly large group of people and they are everywhere, laughing and drinking like it’s not before noon on a Sunday. Helena and Luke are talking quietly and kissing in a corner and Allie finds herself wishing for the first time in a long time that she had someone in her life to giggle and kiss whenever she wanted.

“They are disgustingly in love, don’t you think?”

Harry chooses that moment to drop down beside her, his chin nodding towards the engaged couple.

“I think it’s sweet,” Allie says, her eyes taking in Harry’s board shorts and bare chest. A pair of Ray Bans cover his eyes as he lays down in the lounge chair next to hers and gets comfortable. He rests his phone face down on his stomach and Allie snorts. “You’re going to get a weird tan if you leave that there.”

Harry just smirks and glances at her suit. “You’re one to talk, Pressman”

Allie just shakes her head with a laugh. “I lathered myself up in sunscreen before we left. I think I’ll be okay.”

Harry shifts in his chair and gives her a heated look. “I know, I saw.”

She remembers him coming in after she put on her sunscreen, wonders how long he was standing there before he cleared his throat.

“Perv,” she says with a smile to show him she’s not mad and he laughs, a bright and loud sound that makes a few people look their way.

They spend the day eating, drinking and playing in the lake. By the time they dock she’s perfectly buzzed, warmed by the setting sun and the margaritas Elle made for the girls on the boat.

“Let’s party!” Clark yells as he jumps into the sand and Allie rolls her eyes as everyone cheers as if that’s not what they’ve been doing all day. But it is their last night here so she follows her tipsy friends through the campsites until they arrive back at hers, which is apparently party central tonight.

Someone turns on music and Billie Eilish starts playing, a thumping bass beat that has everyone up and dancing around the now lit campfire. Elle stumbles up to her, a wide grin splitting her face, and Allie knows the girl is definitely tequila wasted right now which means she’s probably feeling on top of the world.

“Dance with me!”

Allie laughs and lets Elle pull her into the crowd of people dancing to “Bad Guy” like it hasn’t been on the radio for the past two summers. She turns when she feels eyes on her, sees Harry sitting on the tailgate of Luke’s truck. His eyes are following her every move, and he doesn’t look away as he takes a pull from the long neck bottle in his hands. Even from this far away she can feel her skin heat when he licks his lips, eyes fixed on her like he doesn’t see anyone else.

“Dude, I think Harry likes you!” Elle yells over the music and Allie stills, tears her eyes away from him to face her friend.

“What makes you say that?”

Elle shrugs, which looks ridiculous because she’s drunk dancing all over the place. “He hasn’t stopped looking at you since we got here. Go talk to him.”

Allie pales, looks around to see if anyone is listening to this conversation. It’s not that she really cares what anyone thinks, and he has been flirting with her more than usual. But he’s a known womanizer and it honestly scares her a little to think that maybe this is just the norm for him. Flirting with a girl until he gets what he wants and where will she be then? In a surprisingly sober move Elle puts her hands on Allie’s shoulders and looks her in the eye.

“Stop being afraid, Al.”

Allie takes a deep breath and nods, stands up taller and squares her shoulders back as she heads to where Harry’s sitting.

His eyebrows go up a little in surprise when she stops right in front of him, practically standing in between where his legs are open and dangling off the tailgate.

“What are we doing, Harry? You kiss me last night and then never mention it, and now you’re watching me like…”

“Like what?” He asks when she doesn’t finish her sentence and she melts a little at the deep and husky tone of his voice. “Tell me, Allie.”

“Like you want to do it again and never stop.”

He lets out a little breath of surprise as she steps in between his legs and leans up to kiss him. When he doesn’t immediately return the kiss she sort of panics but then he’s sliding down off the tailgate and pulling her into his arms to deepen the kiss. It’s not like the sweet kiss from the night before, it’s raw and full of emotion, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip until she’s weak in the knees.

There are hoots and hollers around them as he continues to kiss her but she doesn’t care. Maybe it’s the faint tequila buzz she’s still feeling or maybe it’s just how drunk she’s getting off this kiss, the taste of expensive beer on Harry’s lips as he sips at her lips her right there in front of their friends.

“Maybe we should rejoin the party,” he murmurs against her lips several minutes later and she smiles, reaches for his hand and pulls him in the direction of his tent one campsite over.

“Maybe we should have our own?”

He practically growls in agreement and follows behind her as she makes her way through the crowd. Elle winks her as they pass and Allie just grins, turns around to see Harry’s eyes lit up with alcohol and want, as they make their way over to his tent.

***

The lake is quiet when she steps down to the shore the next morning. It’s still early, everyone getting some much needed rest after the debauchery of the night before. Even from Harry’s tent, where they spent the night making out (plus a little more) and talking until neither could keep their eyes open, they could hear the party raging from the next campsite over.

“Morning, Pressman.”

Allie smiles when Harry comes up behind her, puts his arms around her waist and drops a kiss to her temple. “Good morning to you too.”

“I didn’t like waking up alone,” he admits quietly. “I fell asleep with you in my arms, kinda wanted to wake up like that too.”

The sentiment is sweet and it makes her heart beat furiously in her chest. “What happens next, Harry?”

He kisses her cheek. “What do you mean?”

Allie sighs, turns around in his arms so she can look up at him. “I mean, we’re on vacation. This weekend has been fun but what happens in two hours when it ends?”

“Then we don’t let it end,” he says simply. “You swear like Brooklyn and Manhattan are two separate planets. We can do this, Allie. I want to.”

She inhales sharply, surprised by how earnest his words are. “You do?”

Harry rolls his eyes a little and chuckles. “Allie, I’ve liked you since high school. This shouldn’t be such a shock.”

“I didn’t know,” she says but maybe she just missed it. Maybe all the flirting, every time he randomly joined in a conversation, maybe it wasn’t him being a womanizer. Maybe he really did just like her. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Honestly?” He asks and she rolls her eyes as if to say duh. “It just never felt like the right time. You were younger, your sister hated me. One of us was always dating someone else. And then life, you know?”

She nods because she does know. “Well I’m glad you told me now. But I do have issue with one thing that you said.”

His eyebrows dip together. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Allie smiles as she leans up to kiss him. “Manhattan and Brooklyn are like two different planets.”

Harry laughs and wraps his arms around her, dropping kisses from her mouth to her shoulder and then back up again.

“Guess we’ll just have to compromise,” he says, turning her around so they can watch the sun shine on the still water of the lake. “Some nights at my place, some nights at yours.”

“Sounds perfect.”

She settles back into his arms, enjoying the way the sun warms her face as it rises high in the sky, welcoming the new day.

#hallie #hallie fanfiction #harry and allie #harry bingham #allie pressman #fanfic

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thestuckylibrary · 4 years

Text

Group Ask 176

What is a group ask?

Previous Group Asks

AO3 Search Tutorial

Please send us an ask stating which group ask and which person you are replying to. Thank you so much in advance!

lady-x-red said:

Hey I’m looking for the fic based on the Beth/Neil plot from “He’s just not that into you”. Where Bucky wants to get married but Steve doesn’t. Thanks!

Anon 1 said:

hey! there’s this fic i’m trying to find thats basically like steve is an orphan and bucky takes him to his farm to work and bucky is super sullen and rude. all i remember is steve is a catholic, becca is in it and she’s pregnant, and bucky has ptsd, it’s also set in the 1800s i think? thanks a lot!

bworms1980 said:

Hi, I'm looking for a story where Bucky escapes from Hydra early and sees Captain America on TV during the Chitauri invasion I think. He has no memories of being friends with him but goes to Stark Tower to find him to tell him about Hydra. Steve comes back to the tower and finds a guy sitting out front and then sees its Bucky. I think they called Fury to the Tower to tell him and he finds out Pierce is Hydra's leader.

Anon 2 said:

Hi there, I’m looking for a fic that I believe was on AO3 where Steve and Bucky are soulmates. The premise of the fic is that when your soulmate first touches you it leaves a mark and Bucky saves Steve from getting beat up and touches his face causing Steve to get his mark there, he covers it up during most of the time and when he wakes up he takes immense pleasure in the fact the most people didn’t know this about him and the avengers are in it as well. I know tony makes a comment about it.

Anon 3 said:

Hi! I need help finding two fics please! The first one, Steve and Bucky work across from each other, Bucky asks Steve to illustrate some of his work and they eventually move in together and pretend to be married to two other girls so they can live together. The second one, Bucky and Steve are roommates but have never met because Bucky works at night and Steve works at a newspaper stand and he gets sick and Bucky takes care of him

snowpaw1611 said:

Hello! I'd like help finding a fanfiction, please :). Bucky talked with Clint and he made a comment on how if he became a veterinarian, he'd be a double vet. Sorry is this is vague, but it's all I can remember. Thank you so much for your help!

tunblrkilledmyhumor said:

Hi! I am super freaking out because like a year ago I read this fic that I remember really loving, but I only have vague details that I remember. It was in a modern setting, and Bucky basically insists on attending Steve’s missions because Steve throws himself into danger, much to Steve’s displeasure. There’s one mission where a bomb goes off I think and Bucky like saves him. At the end of the fic I’m pretty sure Steve ends up agreeing to stop going on missions. Thank you for all of the work💜

grizzviser said:

hi! i’ve looked for this fic everywhere with no luck. basically steve and bucky meet when bucky is being assaulted by his ex boyfriend. steve was out on a run and he spots them and chases the other guy off. i remember that bucky had to run away from him before, and was a mechanic (i’m not sure tho). steve was ex military and he protects him and lets him stay at his house. in the end, the ex boyfriends finds them and try to kill bucky but steve kills him first. the guy breaks bucky’s jaw

theominouskitten said:

Hey y’all! I’m trying to locate a fic where Bucky is not-really-recovering post-WS in Stark Tower. It’s long, complete, and includes both Steve & Bucky POVs (3rd person I believe). I recall a scene where Steve observes Bucky watching Bruce with a predatory expression while being patched up after a bad episode, and realizes that he’s become his keeper more than his lover. Would also welcome any recs with socio/psychopath Bucky, AU or post-WS. I’ve already exhausted tag searches. Thanks!

notanarrogantclotpole said:

Hey! I’m looking for a fic that I read halfway and ended up losing. It had the tag Dark Steve and Domestic abuse or child abuse (I think) and it was about Steve gaining telekinetic powers (and such) after being experimented on in the middle of a mission in front of Bruce and Tony. I remember some evil company kidnapping him and basically saying they were going to turn him bad because of how fragile his psyche was atm.

Anon 4 said:

Hi there! I’ve looked everywhere for this fic but still can’t find it in any of the tags. I’m pretty sure Steve is in relationship with Modern! Bucky but the Avengers don’t know until bucky helps stop a fight ( i’m pretty he protects some civilians with his metal arm ) and steve makes him board a jet with the other avengers to yell at him? Hope you can help!

Anon 5 said:

Hey I'm looking for a fic. It started pre-war and Steve had trouble getting it up, but would still want to have sex with Bucky, but Bucky always felt bad and kept trying to help him. It then went on to the war and despite the serum Steve still couldn't get hard. At the end I think it was in the modern day and Bucky had figured out that rimming worked, but the ending was kinda short. Any ideas? Thanks!

terrenis said:

Hi, sorry for bothering you. But I'm looking for a fic and I've exhausted all other methods of researching. It's set after CACW and after Bucky goes under ice in Wakanda. Steve goes on some sort of revenge tour, frees the Rogue Avengers and at some point they even discover Pietro alive as a prisoner of Ross. Eventually, all of them, including Bucky end up in Avengers Tower, where they make up with tony and get their happy ending. I really hope, you can help me. Thanks

bribee0299 said:

I'm looking for a soulmate AU. They had the first thing they said to one another. Bucky grew up with something about "dick" on his skin and his sisters teased him constantly once they learned the dirty meaning. Steve and Bucky also met on a beach. Let me know if anyone figures out what I'm talking about. Thanks in advance!

jaytodd1129 said:

Having a real hard time finding this fic I read AGES ago and it was soo good. Steve is a farmboy, if I'm not mistaken. He's also queer. He likes dressing up as a girl sometimes and has a hard time with his stern father. Bucky is the stable boy I think? Anyway his father sends Bucky away and they don't see each other in years until they reunite because of some twist of fate. I remember the writer was called "bees"-something? something-"bees"? Would really appreciate the help!

#group asks

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sly2o · 5 years

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The reason for the season

Alright friends, I’ve been sitting on this meta for two seasons and I’m finally (updating it and) hitting publish on it.

Each season of The 100 is predicated on a central Aesopian lesson that is the root of all conflict for that season.

Or in plain English: each season has a “moral of the story” that is woven into the main plot line.

And - that “moral of the story” is always in (some) way the name of finale.

Season 1

Finale title: “We are grounders”

English idiom/saying: “I’m only human”.

What it means/moral of the story: All humans make mistakes, or can be tempted into making bad decisions.

Examples from the season:

Clarke’s accusation of John Murphy as Wells’ killer.

Finn cheating on Raven with Clarke.

Bellamy shooting Jaha.

Bellamy’s efforts to prevent the Ark from contacting those on the ground.

Octavia and Lincoln falling for each other despite it being against their best interests due to them being on opposite sides of a war.

Other reasons:

A lot of the issues of this season were centred around base human trappings and weaknesses.

Repeatedly throughout the season we start the episode with the Clarke voice over saying “we will be tested by the earth, the secrets it hides, and most of all, by each other.”

Season 2

Finale title: “Blood must have blood”

English Idiom: “An eye for an eye (makes the whole world blind)”

What it means/”moral of the story”: If you take out vengeance on others, they will turn around and take out vengeance on you, and everyone will be left the poorer.

Examples from the season:

The “on the nose” sci-fi twist of this being that Mount Weather is literally stealing blood from the grounders, and now the grounders are demanding blood in return.

The Grounders demanding that Finn be killed after killing the village of grounders.

Abby being whipped in front of all the Arkadians to make up for her crimes.

Clarke, Bellamy, Monty, activating and using the lever to kill all of Mount Weather to stop them from killing more of their people.

Season 3

Finale title: “Perverse Instantiation”

English Idiom: “The ends don’t justify the means”

What it means/”moral of the story”: As Becca put it in the show “how you get there matters”. This scientific term has a particular spin to talk about unintended consequences.

Examples from the season:

Lexa’s accidental death - where Titus thought he was just going to kill Clarke but ended up killing Lexa by accident. This was a perverse spin on what he wanted to accomplish - ending the positive treatment of Skaikru by the grounder leaders.

Bellamy, Pike, and others, choosing to murder the Trikru guard as a means to protect themselves. This action, which they thought would help keep them safe, actually resulted in putting Skaikru in more danger.

ALIE’s motives for bombing the earth, as explained by Becca in the finale.

Other comments

It is perhaps the greatest irony that Lexa’s death was an in real life form of “the ends don’t justify the means” due to the backlash it caused - because the story’s goals didn’t justify revisiting a harmful LGBTQ+ trope.

Season 4

Finale title: “Praimfire”

English idiom: “Playing with fire”

What it means/”moral of the story”: The full idiom is that “if you play with fire you’re bound to get burned”. Or that if you take big risks/are reckless, you are bound to hurt yourself.

Examples from the season:

Clarke lying to her people to convince them to praimfire-proof the Ark, and the being exposed by Monty that she was actually making a list.

Clarke lying to Roan about praimfire-proofing the Ark, and then being exposed and having to negotiate even less space for her people in the Ark.

Clarke/Jaha stealing the bunker when they were convinced Octavia wouldn’t win the conclave, resulting in having to gas and remove numerous Arkadians from the Bunker.

Illian in the most literal example of this burning down the Arkadia station - where his short sighted needs hurt the entire human race by taking away the one option for survival they knew about at the time.

Clarke choosing to stay behind in Praimfire was a huge risk - but one that did pay off since she did survive.

Comments:

The alternate possibility for this season is that it was meant to be more about Prometheus - both the Greek version and Frankenstein (or known as its full title: “Frankenstein; or, the Modern Prometheus“). This would be because:

Octavia is described as “stealing fire” - in a way, the baton wasn’t passed to her, but she stole it.

Clarke does the Frankenstein version of Prometheus where she even literally turns herself into “a monster” by injecting herself with nightblood serum.

Season 5

Finale Title: “Damocles”

English idiom Literary reference: the sword of Damocles

What it means/”moral of the story”: Positions of leadership come with perilous circumstances.

Examples:

The entire Blodreina arc. Octavia was psychologically tortured by the decisions she was forced to make as a leader. This turned her entire regime into one where perilous circumstances surrounded her (and Wonkru) at all times.

Charmaine Diyoza being outed from her leadership position by McCreary

Clarke going to drastic lengths to prevent Madi from becoming Heda.

Bellamy being sentenced to death by Octavia when he chose to be a leader, rather than follow her commands. (Also Indra, Gaia, and Clarke).

Comments:

This was the first full season written after the big blowup when Lexa died. A big part of why this season fell apart at the end is because they seemed to at the last minute decide in rewrites to not commit to this lesson with Clarke. (Aside: Jason has revealed in old interviews that they did some rewriting after they found out that the actress cast as Diyoza was pregnant).

Confronting Clarke’s fears related to the perils associated with leadership would have made MUCH MORE SENSE for her aversion to giving Madi the Flame (as opposed to the weakly given “mama bear” lines in and out of the show). Instead they last minute deviated from the plan, and the end of the season didn’t really show Clarke learning this lesson and how to move on from it. Instead she just had a sudden change of heart that made no sense, and then she was backseat to the story for the rest of the season.

Season 6

(Note: I am posting this before the finale goes live so I miiigghhhttt be wrong on this)

Finale title: “The Blood of Sanctum”

English idiom/saying: “The Blood of the Convenant is thicker than the water of the womb”

What it means/”moral of the story”: The bonds formed in friendship are stronger than familial ties. (note: this idiom is frequently misquoted as “blood is thicker than water”, inferring the reverse)

Examples:

Bellamy’s huge rescue mission to save Clarke - one of his found family.

Bellamy saying “you’re not my sister” to Octavia and kicking her out in favour of his found family.

The Primes of Sanctum literally changing the blood of others to help turn them into their family is the sort of... “on the nose” sci fi twist of this saying. It’s like they said “well, why not both?”

Kaylee Lee recognized Josephine immediately when she took Clarke’s body (yes, she was goaded, but still). Bellamy recognized it wasn’t Clarke nearly immediately when Clarke’s body was stolen. And yet, Abby didn’t notice Josephine was in Clarke’s body, and Russell didn’t notice Clarke had taken back her own body from Josephine right away.

A last note on idioms

As I went through possible idioms for the the seasons where I didn’t quite have it figured out I stumbled upon a ridiculous amount of other idioms referenced in the show.

“Bob’s your uncle”

“It’s not rocket science”

“knocking on heaven’s door”

There’s literally been an 800 lb gorilla on this show.

#the 100 #the 100 meta #the 100 every season #i wrote this #ancient drafts #i've thought way too much about this and yeah here it is

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devil-in-those-eyes · 5 years

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Professional part 2-Roger Taylor

As I figured out, part 1 wouldn't need changing. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to post, I wanted to try and write ahead and I also have a second part to Return the favor.

Professional Part 1

It had been four months since your encounter with Roger, four months since he last said something to you that was even remotely unprofessional and the last four months had been smooth sailing for the band. They had just released another album and were gearing up to go on another tour of the states, and you were going to tag along with them.

It was your last day in England and the boys had decided to get together with their families at John’s parents house. It was small with only their families, and you felt a bit left out as you stood in the kitchen with Brian’s mum and Freddie’s sister. It had been a long time since you last saw your mum and dad because they frowned upon what you were doing with your life, after a while you just stopped going around for Christmases and birthdays, deciding that calling would just be easier instead of having to look at the disapproval in your fathers eyes.

Kash was cracking jokes about how Freddie didn’t really know how to cook when a little hand tugged at the hem of your skirt, you looked down to see Tayla looking up at you with big eyes and a grin on her face. She said something that was along the lines of your name and held up her cup, silently asking you to fill it up. You grinned and picked her up, “Come on, my love.”

Tayla sat on your hip while you walked towards the sink, within the last four months this pretty two year old turned three and she looked more like Roger every time you saw her. As you screwed the top back onto her cup and handed it to her, you asked, “Have you eaten yet?”

“Yeah,” she nodded reassuringly but then asked, “Where’s daddy?”

“I don’t know,” you breathed, “let’s go find him, yeah?”

It didn’t take both of you long to find Roger, as he sat in the family room of the Deacon residence with the rest of the band. He had a beer in his hand and was laughing at something Deaky was saying to Brian. When he saw you holding Tayla, he smiled at both of you. His daughter squirmed to get out of your grasp and she ran over to Roger, crawling into his lap and wrapping her small arm around his neck.

“I was wondering where you ran off too,” he said to Tayla, kissing her cheek. “You find Y/N?”

Tayla grinned at you but then looked back at Roger as you stood next to the recliner he was on, “Daddy, where’s Becca?”

Becca was Deaky’s five year old niece that Tayla had been running around with since her and Roger got here. Roger nodded to Deaky, “Ask uncle John, love.”

Tayla slid off Roger’s lap with a loud, “Uncle!” and ran off towards him, asking him about his niece. Roger looked up at you and patted the arm of the chair, you sat down on it as the conversation around you continued, but you noticed how quiet Roger was being. He had been quiet for the last couple weeks, not really engaging in a lot of conversation, that you noticed and it was starting to worry you.

You looked at him as he sat back in the chair silently, drinking the beer and looking around at the people inside the room. It had been four months since he last looked at you as something more than the band’s manager, and you found yourself wishing you never said anything during times like these. You missed making him laugh, hearing him come up behind you in a deep voice. You and Rog didn’t even get into arguments anymore, he just… listened and it was bothering you.

You lifted your hand and touched his shoulder, your hand almost hovering above his skin because you were afraid he’d curl away from you but Roger would never curl away from you. Roger was always waiting for you to slip into old habits, to smile his way and become the Y/N he had fallen for. He missed all your little quirks; your inability to relax while a studio session or let someone else help with the work. He really missed the late night sessions you used to stay for because he missed watching his friends record while you stood behind him, resting your head in the middle of his back because Roger was more comfortable then the rock hard couch.

So when he felt the radiating heat of your palm, hanging above his shirt clad shoulder, his cheek nearly tilted into your hand as relief flood his body but he kept his composure while you whispered, “You ok, Rog?”

Roger looked up at you, the look in his eyes making you forget that you were purposefully not touching him so your hand dropped to his shoulder slowly. His green eyes pinning you into the arm of the couch, “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You’ve been quiet for a couple weeks.” You said softly, careful not to attract the attention of the other boys.

A slow smile appeared on his lips, one that made those butterflies kick off the collecting dust inside your stomach while a blush crept up your neck. You wondered if Roger would always get this reaction out of you because you were slowly realizing you couldn’t control the swarm of butterflies or blushing, you just knew you had control over whether or not you kept your job. You would just have to live with it being like this.

Roger lifted a hand and snuck it around your back before you felt a palm touch the side of your ass, giving a reassuring circle. “I’m fine, love, I promise.”

You squeezed his shoulder just as Brian called your name, pulling your eyes away from Roger. “Y/N, tell Deaky his claims don’t make any sense.”

“You know I hate when you put me between the two of you,” you said, taking your hand off of Roger’s shoulder and looking at the two men. Freddie looked relaxed but smirking at Brian and Deaky, you were shocked that Paul hadn’t tagged along but you were glad because you got to enjoy your time with them. Annoying cold filled your body as Roger slid his hand away from your side and settled back into the couch.

Deaky cast a look over to Brian, looking all too pleased with himself as a smug grin toyed with his lips. “You notice she always says that when she’s going to side with me.”

You laughed as Brian scoffed, “She’s always had a soft spot for Disco Deaky.”

“Y/N is my dancing partner, right, love?” he asked, looking over at you again.

“Now that I’ll agree too.” You answered, earning a wink from Deaky before he looked at Brian.

Brian stared at him, “It doesn’t mean she’s agreed to your claims, John.”

You laughed again and settled into the side of the couch, Roger’s shoulder brushing against your side as you rest your arm against the back of the couch, leaning your head into your palm. You watched as Deaky and Brian continued their argument over something you didn’t really care about, you saw Kash come up to Freddie and start a conversation. Roger’s hand slid over the curve of your knee and you looked at him. He smiled and squeezed your knee softly, almost giving you more reassurance that he wouldn’t let this job slip away from him, even if it meant costing him his own happiness.

His hand slipped from your knee as Tayla appeared in front of you two, her cheeks rosy from running around. “I find Becca,” She answered, looking between the two of us.

“You did? Well then where is she?” Roger asked, but Tayla took off running again and he chuckled to himself.

“Is she really three?” you asked him, watching her little body disappear. You sighed, “I feel like it was only yesterday she was born.”

Roger sighed deeply, “My mum said that time flies with kids, but I didn’t believe her until Tay.”

“Y/N, do you need a ride home?” Brian asked.

You looked at him and nodded, “I’d love a ride home.”

“Why don’t I take you?” Roger said from beside you. You looked down at him as he explained with a shrug of his shoulders, “I have to head that way to drop Tayla off at her mum’s. It’s on the way.”

“I mean, if you don’t mind. That would be great.” You answered. When Roger nodded you looked at Brian, “Thanks, Bri.”

Brian shrugged because he didn’t really do anything, “Sure, love.”

A couple hours later everyone was slowly leaving. Freddie had left a couple minutes ago with his sister, and the other boys were gearing up to leave. You were in the kitchen, helping John’s mum out with cleaning and putting away any extra food when he came up to you and touched your arm.

“Are you ever not cleaning up after people?” He teased, earning a grin from you.

“I am always cleaning up your messes, aren’t I?”

Deaky laughed and leaned towards you, kissing your cheek. “Glad you were able to make it today, Y/N.”

“Me too,” you breathed out, giving a happy sigh.

“Y/N!” Tayla called out as she ran towards you, “Daddy’s leaving.”

“Okay, babe,” you answered and looked at Deaky. You pointed a finger at him, “Tomorrow, don’t forget, eight in the morning.”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved you off, you both knew that Deaky would be on time, it was Freddie you were worried about.

You did a round of goodbyes, hugging Deaky’s parents as they told you to be careful on tour but also have fun. You didn’t bother telling them that this was not even close to play time for you, but you just smiled and agreed to what they said. You walked outside and found Roger putting Tayla into the backseat, when he saw you coming he looked your way.

“Ready?” he asked, shutting the door.

“Yeah,” you breathed and got into the passenger seat.

The hour back to your place was an hour, but Nicolette lived at least twenty minutes farther south than you, so Roger and Tayla had a longer drive. It was silent between the two of you for a while before you looked over your shoulder and saw Tayla knocked out with her favorite blanket cuddled into her neck.

“She didn’t last long,” you murmured to Roger, turning back around to face the road after commenting on his daughter falling asleep twenty minutes into the drive.

Roger smiled and relaxed into the drivers side chair, resting his elbow on the open window sill and tilting his head back onto the head rest. “She had a fun filled day,” he whispered back, careful not to wake his daughter.

“Did you have a good day?” you asked him, turning your head to look at him.

He nodded. “Good last day to spend with Tay before we jet off.”

The conversation didn’t seem to be flowing naturally, it felt like there was something behind his words. You could hear the hesitation inside of his voice, almost like he didn’t know if he should even be bothering to speak to you. Being in the car with him, right now, was the first time you guys had been alone together in four months and you were starting to believe he was upset with you.

“Do you hate me?” your voice sounded small as the question rolled off of your tongue, but it came out before you even had the chance to think about it and by the way he looked at you, you wished you never asked.

“Why would you ask such a thing?” he asked bewildered, almost looking offended.

“You don’t speak to me anymore,” you pointed out, “today has been the first day in months that you said more than ten words to me.”

Roger fell silent with a heavy sigh, taking the wheel in his other hand and pushing the blonde hair off of his forehead. “I don’t hate you, Y/N.”

“Then what is it?” You pressed, “I must have done something for you to act like this.”

You didn’t believe it was the conversation you had four months ago, because even before you knew about his feelings towards you, in the very beginning, it had never been like this. He had always been friendly and talkative, even before he took his flirty-ness up a notch. There had to be something else.

“No, you,” Roger paused for a moment and rethought about is answer. He looked stressed as you turned in your seat to get a better look at him, waiting for him to tell you what has been going on. He glanced your way and you lifted your eyebrows as a silent well come on then and he sighed deeply. He looked back to the two lane road, “I don’t know how to talk to you anymore.”

“What?” your voice cracked from being so low.

“I mean.. I just… Fuck, Y/N, I don’t know what I can and cannot say around you.” He stammered, pushing his hair back again in utter frustration, “after that conversation, I just don’t know.”

“That’s what I’ve made you feel like?” you felt the blood drain from your face, “that you cant come to me about things?”

Roger’s silence gave you the answer you were looking for. His green eyes drifted to his side window and you tried keeping the disappointment out from your chest, but it was hard. You wanted him to still be able to talk to you, you were his band manager, the more you knew the better, but there was a line you didn’t want to cross with Roger.

“Rog, I still care deeply for you,” you informed him. “I want you to talk to me about anything.”

“Except my feelings for you.” He grumbled under his breath.

“Yes, except that.” You agreed softly. “I never meant to make you feel like this.”

“You know, I look at you and Deaks, and you and Brian and wonder why you cant be like that with me.” He looked at you and you felt your heart stop inside your chest.

“Be friends?” you asked him and he nodded. “Rog, I can be friends with you. We just can’t be more.”

“Because of your job, or because you actually don’t like me?”

“Because of a lot of things.” You answered. You tried to not sound hesitant but instead strong, but it was hard keeping the truth from Roger.

The truth was you had feelings for him and had done since the moment you met him. He was beautiful, he was funny and made you feel warm inside. But he was also a mess, he was a free spirit and had a problem with cheating, you didn’t know if loosing your job would be worth it if he just ended up cheating and breaking your heart. What could possibly make you so different to him that he completely changed his ways?

“Please, let me be in your life.” You begged quietly as Roger reached civilization, you could feel tears begin to pool your eyes. You wanted to keep this job, but you also wanted Roger to stay in your life. He would never be your lover, but he could be your friend.

As Roger came to a stop light he reached over and caught a tear with his thumb. “Please, don’t cry,” he begged, “fuck, I didn’t mean to make you cry, love.”

You caught his wrist and looked back at him, “I still want to be in your life, but we can only ever be friends.”

“I want you to be in mine.” But as more. His eyes screamed at you but you ignored it and sniffed.

“Are we okay?” you asked slowly.

He smiled softly, “We’re always okay.”

Thoughts?? It gets better, I promise!

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all1e23 · 5 years

Text

Heart & Soul [Pt.13]

Chapter: When You Smile

Summary: Bucky decides it’s time to take his Omega back out into the world, for a little stroll and Y/n takes this chance to ask about Becca. Meanwhile, Brock sets out to get a closer look at the Alpha he’s up against.

Warnings: Protective & *bit* possessive Bucky. Some Angst. ***Trigger warning: Drunk driving/Car Accident resulting in past death.***

A/N: ***My fics are not to be saved or posted on any other sites without my written permission. Reblogs are my jam though! Thanks!**

When the sun hit the trunk at the foot of their bed – yeah, he was it calling their bed already. He’s not going to apologize for that. He was going to keep that to himself though; because he’s pretty sure saying that will scare her away and that was the Gods honest last thing he wanted to happen. Thanks to the sunlight slowly making its way across the apartment, it does occur to him that they have spent the majority of their day (and the last several days) in bed, but watching her curl herself around him tangled in sheets that were a mix of the two of them? That’s something he would give his left arm to see every single second of every day. Even though the only thing he wanted to do was lock them both away from the world and stay here where he could keep her safe and protect her from anything that threatened her, he had to get them both out of bed and out of this apartment.

Keeping them both locked away wasn’t really an option and he knew that. He had an appointment with the shrink for firing his weapon the following day and in two weeks she had to meet with Pepper for her case against Brock – last night she had agreed to meet her at the station only if Bucky was allowed to sit in on the meeting. Now, he’s not saying he is proud of this, but he had the smuggest grin on his face when she told Tony.

Yeah, being jealous of an Omega, an Omega that was bonded to his best friend, was stupid and Bucky was well aware, but they still shared something that he wasn’t privy to yet – her unwavering, blind trust. Y/n didn’t flinch around Tony, she let him touch her without hesitation and she looked to him for protection and sure, Bucky knew it had nothing to do with him and everything to do with the fact that Tony wasn’t an Alpha and all that he did for her long before Bucky came along.

That didn’t mean it didn’t bug him. He still longed for the day when he’s the only one she runs to when she’s scared or needed comfort.

Regardless of the burning desire to keep her all to himself till the end of time, they need to get up and into the fresh air or they are going to have a much bigger problem on their hands. His rut. The whole place smelled like chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla, and every breath he could feel himself drawing closer and closer. It didn’t help that for the last two days she’s barely left his side. Not that he’s complaining, but he doesn’t exactly have suppressants to keep his biology in check and they were walking a dangerous line right now.

As much as Bucky hated it, it was time to face the music.

Surprisingly it didn’t take much to get Y/n out of the apartment. Her whole face lit up when he asked if she wanted to go for a walk. Every time she looked at him like that, Bucky could swear up and down his heart was going to explode. Somehow, he managed to keep it together, and kept his heart from breaking his chest as it tried to burst its way out. When Y/n came out of his closet wearing one of his white shirts he nearly choked on his tongue. She wasn’t making things easy on him.

Having her covered in his clothes and in his scent was the only way he wanted to go outside for the rest of their lives. His mark wasn’t on her neck, but at least she smelled like another Alpha if someone scented her and that would be enough to keep most off her. There were still the few, like that ass from the park a weeks ago, who wouldn’t care who or what she smelled liked, but he could handle the few. Most were just punks that needed to be scared straight and Bucky had no problem with that.

“I’m freezing.” She said as her teeth chattered. “Coffee please?” She asked with a grin as she pulled him to a stop in front of a coffee shop a few blocks outside his apartment. She was shivering and rubbing her hands together. He chuckled and nodded as he pulled out his wallet, but Y/n shook her head a the gesture.

“I can get it,” Y/n assured him.

“I know you can, but I am pretty sure I did the askin’ for our little walking date. When you ask me on a date then you can pay for my coffee.” Bucky grinned and held out a twenty for her take. Y/n crinkled her bright red nose at him and took the money with a fond eye roll.

“Fine, but you better let me spoil you when it’s my turn and since you’re insistent on paying, I will go in and brave the crowd so you don’t have to.” She said with a wide smile.

“Whatever you want, babydoll.” He promised with an amused smirk.

Y/n ignored the way her heart fluttered, and Bucky watched as she practically skipped into the crowded coffee shop. The last few times they have gone out together he’s noticed she’s didn’t spend as much time looking at the ground, stopped hiding from everyone around her, she shined a little brighter – if that was even possible. Bucky wasn’t sure it was, but the way she glowed when she looked at him, had his heart hopeful that one day she wouldn’t feel the need to hide at all. She would know that even if something went wrong, he would be there to fix it. Even now, his eyes never leave her even when he felt another Alpha come up and stand uncomfortably close to him.

“Pretty cold out today. Didn’t think it would drop that fast overnight.” The Alpha murmured and Bucky hummed in response.

He’s never been one for polite small talk with a random stranger, that was more Steve. Stevie was too polite for his own good sometimes and that was how he got trapped in the produce section by some chatty Blonde Omega and got himself in some trouble with Tones.

One of these days he will figure it out.

“She sure is a pretty little thing.” His eyes were glued Y/n’s backside and he grinned widely. “I’m sure that’s a nice sight when she presents for you.”

Bucky arched his brow and turned to face the Alpha fully, his arms crossed over his broad chest. There was an obvious shift in the air, Bucky had no patience for some prick Alpha eyeing his Omega and he didn’t like the way he said ‘little’, so fuckin’ condescending. But the comment about her presenting? That pushed him over the edge, it wasn’t something Bucky was going to tolerate. Ever.

“She is beautiful, but, and I mean this in the calmest way possible. Keep your eyes off my Omega.” He said quietly, a sharp growl following his words.

The other Alpha only grinned wider and nodded, still eyeing Y/n’s backside through the shop window. “Sorry. Protective Alpha I get it. Just saying you’ve got a hot little piece of ass in there. You better hold on to her. It would be a shame to lose something like that.”

Was this asshole serious? Bucky didn’t want to start a scene right here on the sidewalk, but he was about to toss this knothead through the shop window and beat him till he could no longer speak.

“You really need to shut your mouth before I make sure you spend the rest of your life drinking all your meals through a straw.” Bucky looked back through the shop window spotting her up at the register paying for their coffee, and he gestured for him to leave. If Y/n came out and there was another Alpha out here, being overly aggressive and causing a scene it was going to turn her good day to bad real fast and he wasn’t having any of that.

“Get fuckin’ lost. Now,” Bucky growled. The stranger held up his hands and walked backward away from Bucky, that dumb amused smirk still on his face.

“No problem. Have a nice day with the little one.”

Bucky’s never wanted to knock out a stranger’s teeth in more than he did at this moment. Alphas like him were the problem, the reason Y/n walked around on alert and afraid all the time. They were the reason she kept herself hidden while she was out and didn’t let herself relax until she was completely alone – why she was afraid to fully give her heart to him. Bucky watched until the prick had turned the corner out of sight, far away from his girl, before he turned his attention back to her.

By the time Y/n came out with their coffees, his new friend was long gone and he was aching to have her back by his side after those comments. If he was this bad before they bonded, he was going to be a mess once his mark was on her – if she ever wanted to bond, of course. It was her choice and they were nowhere close to thinking about that and he would never push her. It’s just one day at a time right now and if she never wanted to bond? Well, he could be okay with that, he would be more than happy to spend the rest of his days with her just as they are.

All he needed in this life was her, bonded or not.

She smiled at him and held out his cup. “I’m sorry that took so long. The line was so long, but don’t worry I got your boring black coffee.”

Bucky chuckled and threw his arm over her shoulders, taking the cup with his free hand. “Just because it’s black coffee doesn’t mean it’s boring, doll. What did you get? A cup of sugared milk with a dash of coffee?”

Y/n snuggled into his side to hide from the cold wind blowing against them and because she liked the way his scent wrapped around her when they were this close. The little shiver it sent down her spine and the way it made her insides turn to complete mush. Oh, if he only knew how much his scent affected her.

“No, I didn’t.” She mumbled against his neck. “Thank you very much. I got hot chocolate with a shot of espresso.”

Of course, she did.

He shook his head, shit-eating grin plastered on his face as he placed a kiss to the side of her head. “What am I gonna do with you babydoll?”

She hummed in response and pressed her cold nose against his neck making Bucky shiver at the sudden temperature change. “I’m not too worried.” She muttered against his skin. “Whatever it is I’m sure I’ll like it.”

That was not what he expected to come out of her mouth. He expected the shy, sweet Omega that would get all flustered and change the subject in hopes he didn’t notice how he affected her – he always noticed. Bucky slid his hand onto the back of her neck and gave a gentle squeeze so she would look up at him. He laughed when he was met with the cheeky grin she was sporting, and shit did he love it.

“One kiss and you gettin’ cheeky with me, doll?” He asked, biting back a smile.

“I just thought it was time you knew what you’re getting into.” She shrugged and wrapped her arm around his waist, hiding her face back in his neck. “And all this time you thought Tony was a handful. You’ve got no idea what you’re trying to take on.”

His frame shook from laughter and let his arm hang back around her shoulders, he loved that she was opening up relaxing enough to be herself around him without any reservations or trepidation. “Alright troublemaker let’s get a move on. I’ve got somewhere I wanna take you and we gotta move if we wanna get there before the sun starts to set.”

Apparently, Bucky wasn’t the only one who had the same idea because the promenade had several couples and little families leaning against the black fence facing the water. Still, Bucky managed to find a spot between all the people and instinctively moved her in front of him, taking up space behind her and wrapping his arms protectively around her. He didn’t feel as agitated this time around, nothing like when they were on the subway. He still had no idea what Brock looked like, but they were in a much different place than they were all those weeks ago.

There wasn’t any hint of hesitation when he wanted to hold her – Of course, if Y/n pulled back or showed a sign of not wanting his affection, he would respect that and keep his distance, but she needed his touch as much as he needed to touch her.

Oranges, reds and soft pinks filled the sky in front of them, wrapping around the buildings in Manhattan and despite everyone around him all she could smell was Bucky, chocolate and cayenne were wrapped around her and it was making it hard to think about anything other than how much she liked having him this close to her, how much she wanted him. Someone around them was whimpering and she didn’t realize it had been her until she felt his arms tighten around her and his warm breath tickling her neck as he whispered in her ear, “It’s all right, you’re okay. I’ve got you, baby.”

And, boy does he. Bucky had no idea how much of her he’s holding in those gentle hands she loves so dearly.

Y/n hoped he felt the same way. She hoped that she held him just as much as he held her, that, even when they are surrounded by hundreds of people and a beautiful sunset all he could think about, all he was able to focus on was her because she didn’t care how pretty the sunset in front of her was, it was nothing compared to what she saw when Bucky looked at her.

Y/n hoped he would always look at her like that – like she was his perfect sunset.

For that to happen, they needed to at least attempt a normal relationship and do the things that normal couples do like talk about more than her panic attacks. It was long overdue, but if she wanted to have a future with him then they had to do more than kiss and hold her through her nightmares. She wanted to help him through his nightmares, and she hoped he wanted to share the weight of them with her.

“James?” She asked as she leaned back against his chest, peeking up at him.

“Yeah?”

“What happened to Becca?”

Bucky went tense and she regretted asking the moment she felt his body go stiff behind her.

“I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. You just said – Tony mentioned once – Forget I asked. I’m sorry.” She shook her head and looked back at the water, feeling like an insensitive dope. Undoubtedly, it was a sensitive subject for him, and she just decided to casually bring it up in public with a bunch of strangers surrounding them.

Way to ruin a perfect moment, Y/n.

Bucky shifted to stand next to her and cupped her jaw, turning her head to get her to look at him. “Hey.” He said softly. “It’s okay. I can smell your distress. I told you, you could ask me at any time. I just wasn’t expecting it is all.”

She shifted from one foot to another avoiding his eyes. “So… you’re not mad at me for asking?”

“Mad at you?” Bucky frowned as if that was the craziest question he’s ever gotten.

“Doll, I’m never going to get mad at you for asking me a question. Especially when you just wanna know more about me and my family.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze and settled back behind her, resting his chin on her shoulder so his cheek pressed up against hers and his arms returned to their rightful place – wrapped around her.

“Becs…” He sighed.

“I told you she was a lot like you? She didn’t always hang out with the best crowd. I told her she needed to get new friends, but she only saw the good in everyone. Kind of like someone else I know.” He squeezed her gently before continuing. “A couple years ago she was dating some punk ass with a record. I should have beaten his ass till he was too scared to call her again, but I was told I had to let her grow up a bit and let her make her own mistakes.”

The regret and guilt were so thick in his voice it made her wish she never brought this up, but she didn’t tell him he didn’t have to share if hurt too much – as much as she wanted to. This was hard enough for him to get through without her interrupting and reassuring her. He cleared his throat and tightened his arms around her before he continued.

“That night… we got into a stupid fight because she wanted to go out with the idiot and I didn’t think it was a good idea. She got pissed, told me she didn’t have to listen to my shit and she could make her own decisions even if I didn’t like them and then she left. About three in the morning Steve came banging on my door, telling me I had to get out of bed and my dumbass thinks we got a call or somethin’.”

He shook his head, pressing his lips to her shoulder like he was hoping the feel of her pressed against him would give him what he needed to go on.

“It turned out it wasn’t our call, her idiot boyfriend was drunk when he drove her home, they got into a bad accident and Bec…”

It didn’t have to be said and she wasn’t going to make him say it. She rubbed her hands up and down his arms and dipped her head down, running her nose along his neck to soothe him. The smell of burnt chocolate was never something she had been fond of and she didn’t like it when coming off Bucky even more. He smiled and gave her a gentle squeeze in return.

“Of course, I wanted to kill the kid, but I thought, Nah. Let see this little punk handle prison. The trial came and… the little shit got off, he’s an Alpha from a good family and he claimed another car clipped him that’s why he lost control, not the fifteen beers. The judge said we shouldn’t risk the loss to the community because one Omega died.”

Y/n slowly turned in his arms and met his eyes, her heart crumbled at the guilt darkening his pretty eyes. “That’s why you help at the shelters.” She said softly. “That’s why you are pushing for Omega rights.”

Bucky brushed her hair out of her eyes and nodded. “Yeah. No one else should have to go through that and…” He ran his nose along hers and smiled when she shivered. “For everyone that’s had an Alpha abuse their authority, for you… Steve and I can’t be everywhere. We can’t help every Omega as much as we would like to.”

Her arms wrapped her arms around his neck, and she gave him a gentle tug. He got the idea and leaned against her, “I’m sorry about Becca, but you know it’s not your fault, right? If you’re right and she was anything like me, you couldn’t have stopped her from going out, and most importantly she knew how much you loved her.” She smiled at the wary look on his face. “You don’t have to tell me what you’re thinking James Barnes. I think I know you pretty well by now and I know for certain, she knew how much you loved her because you love with your whole heart. There’s no way she didn’t know.”

How the hell was she this perfect and in what reality did he deserve her? Certainly not this one. In every single dream, in every one of his fantasy, he’s never imagined his mate could be as good and pure and kind as the one he was fortuitous to have in his arms right now. He just hoped to Gods he didn’t do something to make her see how much more she deserved.

Without giving him a chance to fight her on what they both know is true, Y/n grabbed both his hands and turned him around, tugging on his hands as she tried to pull him away from the crowd of people. She knew just how to cheer him up.

“Ice cream please?” She asked, looking at him through her lashes with an adorable pout on her face.

Bucky laughed, free and unbridled the way he could only do with her. “Doll, it’s freezing out and you want ice cream?”

“Ice cream makes everything better Buck.”

His heart fluttered at the way his name sounded on her lips. That was the first time she had called him that and he liked it. He liked it a lot. Fuck, he was screwed. He was so far gone for her he would give her anything she asked for, even if it cost him his life.

Bucky slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her flush against him. The grip on her waist tightened as he let his forehead rest against hers and made a promise for all to hear, “I’ll give you whatever you want, baby. All you have to do is ask.”

Several feet down the promenade Brock strolled over to a fairly empty portion and leaned against the metal railing, next to a very unamused looking Alexander Pierce. He looked over at Brock and shook his head in utter disappointment and… disgust.

Maybe things weren’t as okay as Brock was told.

“That moved you pulled with Barnes was stupid and risky.”

Brock shrugged as he peered down around the people where Y/n was running her fingers through Barnes’s hair and smiling at something the shithead was whispering to her. “It was risky, but it wasn’t stupid. I learned quite a bit about the Alpha. I didn’t think he knew much about me and turned out I was right. I can use that our advantage.”

Pierce turned around to face and snapped his fingers in front of the young Alpha’s face, taking his attention off Y/n.

“You were lucky. It was by chance he didn’t know what you looked like and if he had you wouldn’t be standing here right now. You underestimate him and it’s going to be your downfall and mine. Get your head out of your ass and focus. I am not going to lose everything because of one little Omega.”

“I am focused.” He growled softly. “She’s mine and I’m not going to stop till I get her back.”

Nothing else in the world mattered. He had to get Y/n back and he didn’t care who was standing in his way. No one was going to come in and take her away from him, he needed her, and she needed him even if she didn’t realize it yet. He meant what he said to her that night in the alley – If can’t have her, no one will. He certainly wasn’t going to come in second to some poor, good for nothing Alpha who couldn’t give her all the things she deserved.

“I don’t care who she is letting knot her. She isn’t worth all this trouble. No Omega is but certainly not a lower-class orphan.” He glanced back at the pair of lovebirds walking in the directions of Barnes’s apartment. “I taught you how to keep your Omega in check and you failed to do so. That was your fault, not hers. You should have broken her when you had the chance and as if being unable to control your Omega wasn’t enough of an embarrassment, then there was that bullshit you pulled with the young Beta boy. What was his name? The one who lost his hand to your foolish pride?”

He ground his teeth, gritting out. “Pietro.”

“Ah, yes. The lovely reason we have Captain Do-Good breathing down our necks.” He pulled his gloves out of his pockets, covering his hands with the soft leather. “Now, I learn you’re stalking them? I didn’t take you in when you were a kid, raise you like my own to watch you fuck up your life and mine. Get it together or Captain Rogers will the be least of your worries.”

“Oh,” Pierce cautioned as he pushed passed the fuming Alpha, “If I have to, I’ll get rid of her. Permanently. Drop this half-witted obsession and leave Barnes and his Omega alone or we are done.”

Brock barely heard him. Who the hell did he think he was? Threatening his Omega?

What he didn’t understand was, Brock was doing this all for them. Once she was bonded to him and Barnes was out of the picture the case against him would be dropped and as for Pietro? They didn’t have anything that linked him or Pierce to his injuries. Hell, he wasn’t even in the state when it happened. It would all work out after he got Y/n back, and eventually, she would learn to love him the way she loves Barnes. They were the ones that were meant to be together, not her and Barnes. After some time, she would come to see that.

First thing first, now that he is certain Barnes doesn’t know what he looks like he just had to get him away from Y/n and Pierce just accelerated his timetable.

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