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#but i finally threw out the blanket i was assaulted on
cinewhore · 7 months
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I did something today.
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Going Down Swingin
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Kayce Dutton x Reader
Words: 4271
Summary: Tired of being holed up on the ranch, the reader begs her husband to calm his paranoid mind for one night so she can go out to the bar with some of the ranch hands. Turns out, his concerns were  founded.
Notes: God I love this man. I honestly have had ideas for Kayce imagines for like a year and now I’m finally finishing them (well, at least this one). I hope to do more with him soon, so fingers crossed for my blonde cowboy husband!
Warnings: Harassment, assault, fighting, wounds-
The cage of his arms was a welcome one. It kept you safe while also reminding you of every moment that led to this one. 
In this case, you were reminded of how you got into this position. 
Kayce’s beard tickled the back of your neck as his lips trailed down to your shoulder and back up again. You sighed contently and nestled back into his embrace. 
“Time to get up,” He mumbled. 
You screwed your eyes shut and shook your head. 
“Noooo,” You whined. “I’m still asleep.” 
His chuckle rumbled against your back. “C’mon.”
Your husband’s hands made their way to your waist and squeezed gently. He flipped you around so you were facing him. You tangled your fingers in his long blonde hair and crashed your lips into his in hopes of dissuading him from leaving the bed. Before you could deepen the kiss anymore, he grabbed your hips tighter and pulled you back. 
“Nice try, baby, but we’ve got work to do.” 
“Or,” you walked your fingers up his chest. “We could lock the doors and spend the whole day-”
He cut you off with another kiss. Just when you thought you’d won, he sat up, giving you a devilish smirk. His hands latched onto the blankets. 
You glowered. “Don’t you dare.” 
“Hey, I gave you a chance,” he said, yanking the covers back and subjecting your bare skin to the cold morning air. 
“Kayce!” You shrieked, clawing to regain the warmth, but he held them just out of reach, laughing at your demise. “Kayce John Dutton, I’m gonna kill you!” 
“You’ve got to catch me first, darlin’.” He took off, taking the blankets and sheets with him. 
“Navy SEAL or not, I’m still going to get you!” You shouted after him, grabbing his henley off the floor so you weren’t completely naked as you chased your childish husband around the room. Of course, he wasn’t wearing anything either which made the whole ordeal even more ridiculous. 
When you did finally catch him, he’d stopped so suddenly and you were running so fast it knocked both of you to the floor, practically rolling with laughter. 
“I… win…” You wheezed in between giggles, laying on top of him. 
“Alright, alright.” He brushed your hair out of your face so he could kiss you, but just for a moment. “But we’ve still got to get to work.” 
You bit your lip. 
“What if I promise to make some time for us tonight, hmm?” He offered. “Dinner, movie, whatever you want.” 
You sighed dramatically. “I suppose I can live with that.” 
Kayce rolled his eyes, locked his arms around you, and stood. You squealed as he threw you over his shoulder, smacking your backside with a victorious chuckle. 
Needless to say, you were definitely awake after that. 
-
It was a long day. In a good way. One that felt like you were actually doing something. But still, every move you made ached from the day’s work. You helped out at the ranch because of your past in veterinary school. Sure, you hadn’t been in a clinic in years, but you knew your way around an injured horse enough that John liked having you around. He said it was because you didn’t cost as much. You were pretty sure he liked you more than he let on. 
When you saw your husband riding up over the horizon, he didn’t look like he’d fared much better. Dirt caked his forehead, mixed with the sweat on his brow. Not that you minded. 
“Hey baby,” he greeted gruffly. Kayce jumped down off his horse and gave you a quick kiss on the cheek. When he pulled away, you notice the downward cast of his gaze and the look of guilt in his eyes. 
“Alright,” you sighed. “You’ve got that kicked puppy look now. What is it?” 
A smile cracks on his face. “I do not look like a kicked puppy.” 
“Sure you do.” You tucked a lock of blonde behind his ear. “With your big eyes and your pouty face.” You hooked your arms behind his neck and pulled him closer. “Are you ready for that date night we talked about?” 
The puppy look returned. 
“About that, baby,” He blew out a breath and ran his fingers through his hair. 
Uh oh.
“You’ve gotta work,” you concluded. 
“My dad’s asking me to run to Billing’s to take care of some things-”
You held up a hand to stop him. When it came to John Dutton, you didn’t want any details. 
“It’s okay. We can make plans for a different night.” You pulled him into a kiss, smirking against his lips. “But you’ll definitely have to come up with something big and romantic and groveling.” 
“I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his arms around you. “You know I’d pick a night with you over anything, but I don’t think fighting him on this would be a good idea. It’s business and you know how he gets.”
“It’s fine, Kayce, really. I’m sure I’ll find something else to do.”
As if summoned, Ryan and Colby mosied over to the two of you. While Kayce wasn’t close with any of the boys from the bunkhouse, you’d gotten to know them from working on the horses. So even though Kayce tensed protectively, you gave them a bright grin. 
“What do you two fuckers want?” You asked. 
“We’re going out,” Colby said. “Celebrating Ryan’s birthday if you want to come.” He eyed your husband nervously. “Both of you.” 
“We just saw you over here and thought, maybe you’d want to join, but it’s totally fine-” Ryan started to ramble. 
You weren’t sure if it was their usual awkwardness or if the boss’s son just made them nervous, but you couldn’t help but laugh. 
“Kace can’t, but I could use a night out,” you beamed. 
Kayce’s arms tightened around you and his puppy-dog eyes turned intense. 
Sensing the change, Ryan and Colby took a step back. 
“Cool,” Ryan said. “Meet up in ten.”
The two hurried off and you turned to fierce brown eyes. 
“I don’t think it’s a good idea,” Kayce said. 
“I wasn’t exactly asking for your permission, honey,” you scoffed. “Besides, like I said, I could use a night out. I can’t even remember the last time I really got away from the ranch for some fun.”
He turned away, jaw tensed, and eyes following the group of men heading back toward the bunkhouse.
“I don’t think any of the ranch hands are stupid enough to hit on me if that’s what you’re worried about,” you teased, trying to lighten his mood.  
“It’s not that.” He shook his head, gaze returning to yours. “And it’s not that I don’t trust you, so don’t start thinking that. It’s just… the places these guys go to. Nothing good ever happens.” 
“Baby, I think you’re the last person to worry about me getting into trouble. Or anybody, for that matter.” 
It was true. You’d married a trouble magnet. Hell, maybe it’s even safer to go to the bar without him, but he definitely did not look in the mood for you to point that out. 
“I won’t go if you really don’t want me to,” you said. “I’ll just sit at home…. All alone…. Bored.” You sighed dramatically. 
Kayce huffed and kissed your forehead. “Just keep your phone on, okay?”
“Don’t worry. You will always be my phone call if I get arrested.” You gave him a mischievous grin and started off to join the others. 
“That’s not funny!” He called after you, chuckling at your excitement and hoping that he wouldn’t regret this.
-
The neon lights bathed your skin in a blue and pink glow. Music blared from the band on the stage and your throat burned pleasantly from the liquor at your lips. You could feel the tension melting off of you from the long, hard day, realizing how much you needed this. It wasn’t that you didn’t like being at the ranch, but sometimes the vastness somehow felt so small. And knowing how much it hurt Kayce to be there, the nightmares you knew he’d had, made you wonder if it was worth it. 
“You look like you could use another,” a voice said over the music. 
“Hey, Rip.” You turned to face the dark-haired cowboy with a small smile. “Didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugged, “every once in a while I let them drag me out to these things.” He ordered himself another beer and you another whiskey. “Not used to seeing you without tall blonde trouble on your arm.” 
“Looks like I’m causing enough trouble on my own tonight,” you smirked back. “He’s working.” 
Rip nodded, running a hand over his chin. “And he let you come here?”
“He didn’t let me do anything.” You took a drink. “He wasn’t particularly happy about it, but he knows better than to try and tell me what to do.” 
“If it were me,” Rip chuckled, “I would have locked you up at home. You’re too nice for a place like this.”
“You rough and tumble cowboys don’t scare me,” you smiled. “I married one, remember?” 
“You married one of the good ones.” 
“Cheers to that.” You clinked your glass against his and he smiled, still shaking his head as he walked to the other end of the bar to keep an eye on things. 
His seat was not empty for long. 
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you ‘round here before.” A muscular arm dressed in a ratty old t-shirt blocked your view of the dance floor and the body attached to it loomed over you like you were a meal. It was a feeling that you were unfortunately familiar with, having grown up around bars like these and, more specifically, their patrons. 
“That’s because I haven’t been here,” you said, keeping your voice calm, but cold. The red-haired man beside you did not get the hint. He leaned even closer and you could smell the mix of tobacco and too much beer on his breath as he swayed drunkenly in the seat. 
“Well isn’t it my lucky day then?” 
You held up your hand, flashing him the wedding ring on your finger. 
“Not so much, buddy.” You downed the rest of your drink. “But I’m sure there’s plenty of single women dying to give you a handjob in the bathroom,” you snarked, signaling for the bartender to get you another. 
“What if I want you?” He leered. 
What started out as annoyance was turning into anger. 
“Do I have to spell it out for you?” You stood up in order to get away from his ever-leaning frame. “I’m married, dipshit.”
The drunkard shrugged. “I don’t see anybody here?” 
Oh but if Kayce were here… 
You could handle yourself without him. 
“Why don’t you just back off before that tiny dick of yours gets you into something your tinier brain can’t deal with.” 
You turned to walk away. 
He grabbed your wrist, twisting it back until it stung. 
“What did you say to me you fucking bitch?” 
When your fist collided with his chin, it was just the beginning. 
Hands grabbed your arms, giving him a clear hit to your stomach which you took with a grunt. You yanked yourself free and found two more men encircling you. Apparently, this shitstain wasn’t alone and all of them were drunk enough to not care that you were half their size and a woman. So much for chivalry. 
“Three men versus little old me,” you scoffed. “That hardly seems fair.” 
But you weren’t alone either. 
Ryan broke through the crowd first, punching the man to your right square between the eyes. Colby was next, fighting some others who’d joined in for the hell of it. You stayed focused on your original creep. 
“By the time we’re done, you’re going to be begging me to fuck you into tomorrow,” he sneered. 
You responded with another hit to his mouth, feeling a couple of teeth crack against your knuckles. 
He swung. You dodged. He picked up a bottle and crashed it against your shoulder, still too drunk to actually aim. You stomped on his foot. He grabbed you by the hair. 
Somewhere, a gun went off and everybody screamed. 
Red-haired Romeo, however, didn’t seem to care. 
By the time Rip had made it over to you, you were being thrown across the bar. You felt the sticky, slick surface slide past your leg before you collided with the back shelves, and dozens of bottles shattered into your back. Your head slammed into the counter as you fell to the whiskey-soaked floor. 
Everything was black after that. 
-
You got little bits, here and there, trying to force yourself awake, but never able to fight back the darkness. 
Rip and Ryan carrying you with your arms over their shoulders, Rip cursing the whole way to the house. 
“Her husband is going to have somebody’s hide and it sure as hell isn’t going to be mine.” 
A flash of strawberry blonde and the smell of cigarette smoke. 
Ryan’s worried eyes as Rip dragged him away. 
It was until the alcohol-dipped rag touched your cuts that you were fully awake. You grimaced, the sharp sting shooting up your back. You gripped the arm of the couch, face down in a pillow. 
“Oh good, you’re awake,” Beth snarked. “It’d be a shame to miss this fun.” She pulled a piece of glass out of your side and you clenched your jaw. “That looks like it hurts.”
“Is there still bourbon down here?” You asked. 
She laughed, shaking her head. “That’s what got you into this mess, sweetheart. And when my brother makes a list tonight, I’m not putting myself on it.” 
She plucked another shard. It seemed every muscle in your back spasmed with every move she made, taking out class and swiping at the blood pooling on your skin. Not to mention the pounding in your head, hair matted with gore. You were grateful it was her, though. At least she’d get it done quick, without any pitying or panic. 
Meanwhile, outside was an almost as pitiful sight. Rip leaned against the barn, glaring down the other men who nursed their injuries. Ryan’s eye was already starting to swell and Colby rubbed his aching jaw. Even Lloyd looked worse for wear. 
“You’re lucky I don’t fire every one of you,” Rip glowered. 
“In our defense, we were trying to stop the fight,” Ryan said, but quickly regretted it. 
Rip stepped toward him. “You want another black eye?” 
All eyes, however, glanced behind Rip, a pair of headlights growing nearer and nearer.
“Oh shit,” Colby muttered. “I thought he was going to Billings.”
Rip ran a hand down his face, trying to contain his frustration. Could anything else go wrong?
“Apparently not.” 
Kayce got out of the truck. 
At first, he thought they’d cut the party short and came back to the ranch, but as he got closer, he saw the specks of blood on their shirts and the color of forming bruises. 
“What the hell happened?”
Rip sighed. “What does it look like?” 
Kayce’s burning gaze turned to him, the question going unsaid, but very much present in his eyes. Rip held up a hand, keeping his voice level to not poke the bear any further. 
“She’s inside. Beth’s with her.”
Kayce didn’t waste any more time, dark eyes flashing as he whipped around, sprinting up to the house. 
“Y/N!” He screamed. “Y/N!” 
Beth rolled her eyes. “Do you want to wake up all of Montana? We’re in here.” 
A door opened upstairs. John was awake. 
“What’s going on?” 
You buried your face in the pillow. 
Oh. God. 
Kayce stormed into the living room at the same time his father appeared in the loft. 
“I’m sorry for getting blood on your couch,” you said, gritting your teeth as Beth cleaned another gaping cut. Your bare chest stuck to the leather uncomfortably as you shifted to get a look at your father-in-law, avoiding your husband in the doorway. 
“Is she going to be okay?” John called down. 
“She won’t be able to lie on her back for a while.” Beth looked up at your panicked husband with a smirk. “But hey, save a horse, ride a cowboy, right?” 
“Beth,” you groaned. 
Kayce’s expression darkened. 
Beth placed the rag back in the bowl and stood. “That’s my cue.” She waved up at John. “Just another day in the Dutton house, daddy.” 
John sighed, muttering as he went back down the hall. “I don’t want to know.” 
Kayce was at your side in seconds, dark eyes widening at the sight of your bloodied back and bruised face. Guilt and worry took over his features. It was worse than he thought. There were still a few shards of glass stuck in your flesh and some of the cuts looked like they went pretty deep. Your shoulder was a web of scratches with a bloody point of impact in the middle. The back and side of your head were covered with that dreaded red, more glass stuck in your hair. 
You tried to crack a smile. 
“You should see the other guy.” 
“Baby…” he breathed shakily, a trembling hand against your cheek. “What happened?” Before you could answer, another, angrier question boiled in his chest. “Who did this to you?” 
“I don’t know.”
He opened his mouth, but you stopped him. 
“I’m serious. I didn’t exactly ask for contact information when I was swinging at him.” 
Kayce nodded, body rigid with rage as he picked up the rag and started tending to your wounds with a much gentler hand than his sister’s. 
“So a man attacked you?” His voice was calm which made you even more nervous. He only sounded like that when he wanted to kill something. Or someone. 
“Well, I wasn’t tossed over a bar by Montana Barbie,” you snarked. 
Your humor hid your humiliation but only made his frustration worse. His hand tensed roughly against your skin. You bit your lip to keep from wincing. 
“Sorry,” he muttered. Keeping his movements slow and soft, he got the rest of the glass out and cleaned up most of the blood, though some of the cuts would definitely need stitches. 
“And technically, no,” you said. “I started the fight. He was just annoying.” 
You tried to push yourself up, crying out at the pain in your shoulder. Kayce gently urged you back down, repositioning the pillow so you could look at him more comfortably.  
“It doesn’t matter,” he growled. “Anybody who does this to you-”
“Have probably already been punished by Rip.” You used your strength to reach a hand to tuck his blonde hair behind his ear. “I’m okay, Kace.” 
He motioned to the liquor store sliced into your back. “Not from where I’m sitting, sweetheart. You know, one of those bottles could have paralyzed you, or-or severed an artery. You would have bled out on a dirty bar floor and I wouldn’t have been able to do anything about it.” 
His voice cracked and you finally let your cocky facade fall. 
“I’m sorry, baby,” you cried. “But you can’t protect me forever. I can handle myself.” 
“Tonight’s not real good proof of that,” he said, a small smile teasing his lips. “Only you could get into this much trouble going out for drinks.”
“Hypocrite.” 
He started bandaging you up as best he could to get you ready to go to the hospital. 
“I don’t need to go anywhere,” you protested as he helped you up. 
“You just had your head smashed against I don’t want to know how many surfaces. Rip said you were out for a couple of hours, now we should have had you at the hospital sooner,” Kayce said. “I’m not messin’ around.” 
Sure enough, when you did see the doctor, they confirmed that you had a concussion. A bad one. Enough to make them want to keep you overnight to observe, as well as stitch up your back. When they asked what happened, you told them you fell.
“You… fell…” The doctor eyed you, then looked at Kayce. 
You grabbed the woman’s arm, directing her suspicious gaze back at you. The last thing Kayce needed was somebody getting the wrong idea and thinking this was his fault. 
“Through a glass table, from which I might have died if my husband hadn’t come home early so you keep your focus on me, okay?” You snapped. 
Kayce chuckled. “Easy, baby. We’re not being interrogated.” 
“I’m responsible for what happened. I don’t want her thinking anything different,” you said. “Tonight was my fault.” 
“No,” he sighed. “It wasn’t.”
He should have been there. He didn’t drink, so he would have been able to see those creeps coming a mile off. Better yet, he should have stayed home, stayed with you like he said he was going to. Then none of this wouldn’t have happened. 
“Hey,” you said, taking his hand. “Don’t start.” 
“I didn’t say anything.” 
You gave him a knowing smile. “You don’t have to.”
He brought your hand up to his lips and held it for the rest of the night. 
-
Three Weeks Later
The wind whistled around you and for the first time in almost a month, you felt like you could really breathe. Adjusting the reins in your hand, your golden-brown quarter horse turned, facing you back toward the ranch, miles, and miles of beautiful country all around you. In the distance, you saw a dark hat appear out of the stables and heard your name echo across the field. 
You pet your horse's neck, laughing. “I think we’re in trouble.” 
With the sunset overhead, you rode back, your husband’s disapproving frown becoming clearer and clearer. 
“What the hell are you doing?” He asked. You dismounted and led your horse to the barn. “You just got cleared by the doctor. Are you trying to get another concussion?”
“I know how to ride a horse without falling off, baby.” You kissed him as you went by. “Besides, it’s therapeutic. See, I feel better already.” 
Kayce watched you go by, eyes lingering on your back, imagining the angry red scabs and scratches that crisscrossed your skin. He thought about how you tried not to wince when he touched you or that you’d have to lean on him after standing, too dizzy to see straight. 
He should have been there. 
“Morning, Rip,” you said, seeing the mountain of a man in the other doorway. He tilted his hat at you in greeting, glancing over at your husband for a moment before carrying on by. Something you’d watched that morning clicked in your mind. “I actually wanted to talk to the two of you about something.” 
Rip halted and turned around. 
“I saw on the news this morning that they found the remains of three hikers in the park last night,” you said, suspicious eyes switching between the two of them. “Three men. You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” 
Kayce’s brows furrowed. Rip’s expression didn’t change. You put your hands on your hips and narrowed your eyes. 
“Because I can fight my own fights. I don’t need either of you getting yourselves into trouble.” You shot your husband a look that said ‘especially you.’ It seemed like trouble was both of your middle names sometimes. 
But he just shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, baby.” Kayce turned to the other cowboy. “Rip?”
A silence fell over the barn, heavy with tension and an unspoken truth. 
“It’s the first I’m hearing of it,” Rip said, cool blue eyes watching you. “They probably poked a bear they shouldn’t have.” With that, he left the two of you, and Kayce couldn’t help but feel grateful. As much as he would have wanted to deal with them himself, he was glad those bastards got what they deserved. 
You unstrapped the saddle and started to lift it off.
“I got it,” Kayce said, grabbing the heavy leather for you and the two of you finished putting everything away. But that heavy silence was still there. 
Your hand slipped into his, tugging slightly to make him look at you. 
“Kayce,” you started softly, those big brown eyes making you melt just like they always did, but in them, you could see the guilt he’d been carrying for the past three weeks. “What happened was not your fault. It just… happened.” You laid a hand on his cheek. “Even you can’t stop the world from happening. And you can’t stop some men from being drunk bastards who can’t throw a decent punch.” 
His fingers traced the forming scars on your shoulder. “I can try,” he whispered. 
You brought his gaze back to yours and pulled him in for a kiss that said everything you both needed it to. When you pulled away, you smiled teasingly. 
“So enough of the puppy look.” 
Kayce rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”
“I’m serious!” You giggled. “It’s time to, I don’t know, have a little fun again. I’m not going to break.” 
Ever the fighter, he thought, bringing you in for another kiss. 
You tugged on his hand again, leading him out of the barn. The first stars were making their appearance over the incredible landscape you called home. 
“Besides,” you said, leading him back toward the house. “You still owe me a date night.” 
Kayce chuckled, wrapping an arm around your waist with a smirk that matched your own. 
“Yes ma’am.” 
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avenging-fandoms · 1 year
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hiii!!! can i request something for either matt or chris where they do like a sleepover at the triplets house and you’re all watching movies and it’s the classic like scary movie trope and maybe secret hand holding cos they like each other but are scared to admit it vibes
all good if not i love ur stuff hehe
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"Do we honestly have to watch a scary movie? Can't we watch Hannah Montana or something" Matt grumbled under his breath and Chris rolled his eyes, smacking his brother’s chest.
“It’s Halloween time ya baby. Plus, Yn and I have been wanting to see the new Halloween movie” You all sat on the couch, Matt squished in the corner with his legs straight out and you next to him, Nick next to you and Chris in the other corner.
Chris hit play and 'Halloween Ends' starts to play. You smile and shimmy a little excitedly, Matt throwing a blanket over you and him and a blanket over his brothers.
Matt kept jumping and hiding himself in your shoulder, making Chris and Nick make fun of him and you protected him. "Matt! Grow up you fucking baby!" Nick yelled and hit him with a pillow and Matt protected his head, and you wrapped your arms around his head and a leg around his waist as you shielded him.
"Stop! Stop! Scary movies aren't for everyone ya dickheads" You slap both Nick and Chris and they beat you with the pillows, and it was Matt's turn to protect you. "Alright! Everyone enough, I actually want to enjoy the movie"
Everyone sat back in their seats and Chris went back in the movie a little bit to watch what you all missed. You pulled the blanket over your chest so only your head showed, Matt's left arm behind his head with his right one underneath the blanket on his thigh.
His eyes shifted down to his thigh like he could see through the blanket, slowly moving his hand for his pinky to graze your knuckles. You moved your hand closer to his without taking your eyes off the screen, careful not to touch the blanket to blow your cover.
Finally, you guys interlocked your fingers without moving the blanket, no one noticing. Matt kept jumping, and every time he would squeeze your hand. By the end of the movie, Matthew was asleep on your shoulder, Nick asleep on Chris's lap while you and Chris were still very into the movie.
It soon had ended and you and Chris looked at each other, biggest smile on your face as you fist bump him. "That movie was great! I don't think it's the last one, though. They always say it is and then boom! another one" You explain and Chris had a 'meh' look on his face.
"I don't know I'm not a big fan of it. It wasn't about Michael is was about that goofy lookin fucker. When Michael was on screen, he was fucking dying. So I really didn't like it"
"Whatever, Chris, you're entitled to your own wrong opinion" You shrug and he shoves your shoulder and you gasp, jumping over Nick and pushing Chris to the couch.
Nick and Matt jumped up and Matt grabbed your waist, holding you tightly close to him as Chris laughs. "What the fuck happened while we were sleeping?"
"Chris assaulted me so I defended myself"
"Oh eat my ass you were telling me my OPINION was wrong. It's an opinion you idiot" Chris threw a pillow as you and you laugh. You yawned and fell back on Matt's lap, closing your eyes.
"I'm tired" You yawn again and Matt runs a hand over your hair.
"I'm way too tired to drive" Matt lies and you smile under your arm. Nick gasps and slaps your leg, and you kick his.
"Breakfast in the morning togetherrr!" He sings and you snort, sitting up. "Okay, Yn who you sleeping with tonight?"
"Uhm.."
"She slept in my room the last time, so I don't want her loud snoring ass in my room again" Chris complained and you rolled your eyes.
"She can sleep in my room, Nick likes to kick people off beds" Matt and you stood up and Nick threw his hands in the air.
"Y'know you kick a guy off a bed 4 times and suddenly you're a bad guy" Nick sighs and stands up, taking the empty bowls to the sink while Chris turns the tv off and you all head to your rooms.
"Too tired to sleep, hm?" You whisper and he smiles, pushing your shoulder softly as he passes you going to the bathroom. You change into a pair of his shorts and a shirt, sliding under the covers and plugging your phone in and shutting your eyes.
The bathroom door squeaks open and footsteps stop. "Alright, just make yourself at home" He jumps on you and you grunt, Matthew laughing and turning off the light. He plugs his phone in and turns over to face you, studying your features as you slept.
You peeked an eye open and giggled. "You're staring"
"Uh, yeah. Sorry, goodnight" Matt turned over and you stared at his back, smiling and biting your lip. You shimmy over towards him, putting an arm over his waist. Matthew smiled and held your hand, and the both of you quickly fell asleep.
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redrose10 · 4 months
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Here is chapter 2! Chapter 3 will come out in a few days. Comments are appreciated and inbox is also open. Merry Christmas to all who celebrate!
Yoongi X Female Reader. CEO/Arranged Marriage AU
Summary: You were selected to marry the wayward CEO/Billionaire/Heir, Min Yoongi. You went into it with an open mind and heart determined to try and make it work. Yoongi on the other hand had no intention of ever letting you in let alone allowing himself to fall in love with you. Slowly you start to associate the smell of cinnamon and vanilla with the feelings of hurt and sorrow.
Word Count: 1,914
Warnings: (May get updated as chapters progress): Arranged marriage, cheating/infidelity, hints of smut (Probably won’t get very explicit but we’ll see how it goes), Sexual Assault, Brief mentions of death, Reader grew up an orphan, General Angst, Swearing
After getting home from signing the contract with Yoongi you started to worry that you had just thrown away the rest of your life to some man who couldn’t even look at you without turning his lips up in disgust which lead to a panic attack. Thankfully you were staying at Jimins and he was there to help you work through it reminding you that this was for the best and in the end it would all work out. You were hesitant but at this point there was no turning back anyways as you’d already signed your name. So you and Jimin decided to drown your sorrows in pizza and chocolate ice cream instead.
Waking up the next morning you felt like you got hit by a truck. Your body was sore and you could tell your face was swollen and raw from all of the crying. Wanting nothing more than to just stay in bed wrapped up in all the blankets, you purposely ignored the insistent knocking coming from the front door. When you realized that this person was not going to go away you got up throwing on an old sweatshirt and made your way to answer it. When you swung it open ready to snap at whoever couldn’t take the hint you were greeted with the same smell from the day before. Cinnamon and vanilla. Unfortunately the man standing infront of you did not match the same warm and comforting scent that he presented. He looked you up and down with one eyebrow raised, “So that’s what you decided to wear on our first date? I knew you weren’t much of a fashionista but I expected for you to at least have pants on.” Welcoming him in before shaking your head, “What date?” Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose clearly irritated. “I texted you last night letting you know that my parents set up a reservation for us to have lunch and get to know each other. I had assumed you got the message or is reading not something you’ve mastered yet?” You bit your lip trying to stop it from shaking so you could hold back the tears threatening to spill. You didn’t understand why he had to be so mean to you. Yes this wasn’t ideal but you were willing to try and make it work or at the very least act civil. Why couldn’t he? It’s was all for his benefit anyways.
Yoongi noticed your tears and suddenly had a strange feeling course through his body. Was it guilt, regret, sadness? Either way he didn’t like it. No way was he going to let you chip away at his walls he worked so hard to put up. “Hurry up and change Y/N. I’m not going to be seen in public with you dressed like that.”, he said with a flick of his wrist shooing you away.
You quickly wiped away at the tears that were breaking through the dam as you made your way back to the spare bedroom. Digging through your clothes you knew you had nothing that would be up to Yoongi’s standards so you decided on a dark red sweater dress paired with black tights and black boots as it was starting to finally cool down in the city. You threw on some light make up and put your hair in a quick messy bun using a ribbon to tie a bow to add a simple accent. Grabbing your purse you took one final look in the mirror. You chuckled to yourself at your appearance and braced yourself for whatever snarky remark Yoongi was going to make about you.
Walking out to the living room you found him sitting on the couch scrolling through his phone. You put on your best neutral face before making your presence known and announcing you were ready. Yoongi’s head lifted up and looked you up and down. You waited for his remark but he said nothing. Instead pushing past you to the front door holding it open and gesturing for you to lead the way.
The drive to the restaurant was surprisingly not as awkward as you had imagined. The restaurant, unsurprisingly, was extravagant and luxurious. The host sat the two of you at a private table towards the back corner and handed each of you a menu. Yoongi ordered the most expensive steak they had and paired it with a glass of whiskey. You on the other hand decided to go a more simple route and went with a chicken dish and a lemonade.
Yoongi sat looking at his phone, answering the occasional text message or email but ignoring your presence entirely.
“I thought your parents said we were supposed to get to know each other.”, you asked almost playfully.
You watched him roll his eyes at your statement but he put down his phone and gestured for you to continue.
Honestly you weren’t expecting that reaction so you didn’t know where to begin.
“Umm okay. What is your favorite color?”
He chuckled, “Don’t have one. I’m not a child.”
Alright, this will we harder than you thought. “What is your favorite thing to drink?”
He simply raises his glass of whiskey towards you and you nod while internally scolding yourself for such a stupid question.
You continue, “Do you have any hobbies or interests?”
“Well I like making and spending money, drinking whiskey, and women.”
Nodding your head in acceptance you’re pretty stumped on how to proceed at this point. “Anything you’d like to ask me?”, you questioned. “Nope.”, he said before taking a sip of his whiskey and returning back to his phone.
Thankfully the waiter returned placing your meals in front of you and the rest of the meal was spent in silence. You offered to pay for your lunch but Yoongi waved you off handing his card to the waiter. The ride back to Jimins was also silent and somehow more awkward than earlier and you couldn’t wait to get out of his car. The car had barely come to a stop before you were grabbing your belongings and reaching for the door handle.
“Thank you for lunch. It was very nice.”, you tried to be positive. He gave you a nod before turning his eyes back to the road. Just before you shut the door you heard your name whispered so you turned around and Yoongi was staring at you. “My assistant will contact you within the next week to set up a day for you to go over your selections for the wedding. Money is not an issue so you can pick whatever you want.”
You gave a small smile and shut the door watching as he sped off like he couldn’t get away from you quick enough.
The following day the announcement was made that Yoongi was set to be married. Social media sites were a mess trying to find out any information they could about the lucky woman that stole the heart of one of the worlds most eligible bachelors. Somehow they were able to find out most of your life story and plastered it all over their websites much to your dismay. It seemed like everything was working according to the plan. Most articles painted Yoongi to be the good hearted CEO that was turning his life around after falling in love with the a sweet foreigner who grew up as an orphan and was now set to marry a billionaire. One article even called you ‘A Real Life Cinderella’ which made you double over in laughter. If they only knew how your future husband was the farthest thing from a prince charming. You tossed your phone on the bed not wanting to read any more.
Just as he had said would happen Yoongi’s assistant contacted you about the wedding and that set off a whirlwind of events. The next two weeks were spent planning a wedding that you were trying your hardest to be excited for. Yoongi of course wanted no part of it so everything was on you. You left what you could up to the wedding planner. It didn’t even really feel like your wedding at this point so you didn’t feel the need to be apart of every decision anyways. Your only request being that the wedding flowers be Blue Hydrangeas which thankfully fit in with the theme that was planned.
The day of your wedding you slipped into the gown that was chosen for you. A beautiful one of a kind Valentino gown. The silhouette fit you perfectly with a train that was just long enough to be dramatic but not obnoxious. The lace detail along with the beading must’ve taken hours. The very low cut back made you feel beautiful and sexy. You’re sure the Mins had to pay extra to have it made in such short notice.
Hearing the door click shut you smiled when you turned around and saw Jimin walking over arms out ready to embrace you in a hug. “Wow Y/N, you look beautiful.” “Thank you Jimin. I guess a dress that costs more than a car can make anyone look good.”
He playfully shoved your shoulder. “Oh before I forget, Yoongi wanted me to give this to you.” Reaching for the black velvet box you gasped looking down at the two diamond earrings staring back at you. “Wow your man has good taste.”, Jimin chuckled. You softly scoffed to yourself while adding the earrings to your look. You figured Yoongi probably just had his assistant go out and buy the most expensive pair he could find. No way did Min Yoongi put thought and effort into a gift like this.
Standing behind the large double doors staring down at the bouquet in your hand you started questioning everything. You always believed in true love. Ever since you were a little girl you would imagine your own wedding. Never did you think you’d be in an arranged marriage and to someone who despises you so deeply.
Feeling someone squeeze your hand you looked up and saw Jimin giving you a comforting smile. You were thankful that he was there to walk you down the aisle. The music started as the double doors were swung open giving everyone the first look at the bride. Taking a deep breath you slowly walked down the aisle too afraid to make eye contact with Yoongi. You feared that if you saw him look down at you that you would just lose it and ruin your very expensive and time consuming makeup with tears.
Once at the alter you gave Jimin a kiss on the cheek and watched him walk off to his designated spot. Unfortunately, you could no longer avoid looking at Yoongi. But when you looked up it was worse than you could’ve imagined. Instead of looking down at you with disgust he wasn’t even looking at you at all. His eyes were fixated off to the side at something or someone in the audience. Following his direction you saw the cause of this distraction. A young beautiful blond woman wearing a dress that you would consider more appropriate for a club than a wedding. She was shyly giving him a discreet wave. Softly you whispered in shock to yourself getting the attention of your future husband who now looked back at you noticing the tears threatening to spill from your eyes and for some reason he almost felt guilty. Almost.
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wifey-ohara · 8 months
Note
Yooo
Could I request a Hobie x gn reader where they're roommates and both can't sleep and just kinda catch eachother snooping in the kitchen at 3 am and then decide to cuddle until they fall asleep?
(Have a nice day/night!)
Ok this is funny asf bc i can imagine one of them elbow deep in some bag looking at the other like a deer in headlights while the other is "👁👄👁"💀😭
And they were (are) roommates
Hobie brown&gn!Reader
notes: fluff, could be read as platonic or going-to-be-romantic, hobie is the best raccoon out there, cuddles! We love that, author forgot how to write snackes,does he plural end in "es" or just "s"? Just ignore it, not proofread, written on the spot
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You couldn't sleep. It was a simple fact, yet so fucking annoying
Dropping your gaze from the ceiling you looked at the clock beside you
2:17am
With a goan you turned around on your side, taking your cover with you and tried getting comfortable in the bed
And kept doing that for the next hour
Finally you gave up sitting up on your bed and glaring at nothing in particular
"if i ain't getting no sleep at least i can eat" you whispered, kicking off the cover with your legs as if it assaulted you
Standing up, you made your way to the kitchen quietly, you didnt want to wake hobie up, at least one of would get some sle-
Too much for that...
You stared as you tried to hold in your laughter, doing your best at a poker face attempt as the sound of something moving inside a bag stopped as your roommate , hobie, snapped his head towards you and stared at you, as if he was a raccoon you caught eating your food
Giggles started to escape your throat as the thought crossed your mind, pressing your lips together to contain your wide smile
"ay, whacha laughin'bout!?" he barked out, a frown on his face yet a smile making it way through
You couldn't hold ot any further, you threw your head back, eyes squeezed shut and howling with laughter, shoulders shaking and arm holding you up right by grasping a wall nearby
You didn't see him rolling his eyes at you and continuing to ravage through the bag he has in hand
With a more steady breath you calmed down, at least enough to talk and understand talking, giggles still bubbling up in you chest
"you couldn't sleep too huh" hobie asked, glancing at you going to the fridge
"yup" you answered "stuffing my face with food was next best option"
"fair" he agreed, noticing how you grabbed a handful of snacks, an idea popped up
"how bout we go and put on a movie, grab more snacks and make this into a movie night? -day? Eh whatever" he thought
".. Yeah that sounds good, you go, put something on and I'll grab the snacks " you answered, and he groaned
"ughh, you know i don't know how that crap works" he grumbled, going to do it anyway
You chuckled, grabbing more snacks and following him, plotting yourself on the couch and watching him trying to work out a streaming service, you're still confused on how someone (as cool as him) can't do something as simple, especially since he was your age
After a couple of tries he succeed and throws himself beside you, leaning to get the blanket on the other end of the sofa
"get closer, the blanket's too small" he reminded, you always said to replace it but you never did
Scotting closer you leaned on him and he dropped the blanket on both of you and laid down, focus drawed over to the screen in front of you
An hour in you noticed the he stopped reaching out for the m&ms on the coffee table and that his breathing slowed
Glancing up you saw he was fast asleep, features relaxed and peaceful
You decided to join him so you cozyed up to him and closed your eyes, letting his breathing, and steady heartbeats drive you to a peaceful slumper too
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ronika-writes-stuff · 2 months
Text
This starving Heart
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#2. Keep Feeding It Lies.
‘It's Just a one time thing'.....he tells himself firmly as he goes to bed with the literal root of the problem in front of him.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Unfortunately, It was not, in fact, a one time thing. 
It happened again the next morning. 
Waking up at 4 Am with heat pooling between his legs and having those vivid images assault his brain again was not a pleasant experience. 
He got up, took off his shirt and went inside the washroom.
As he took off his shorts, he briefly wondered if he should just….take care of it. 
Maybe his body will calm the fuck down after a release?
 
He quickly waved that thought away and turned on the shower. 
'It's not like he would know,' his mind whispered to him. 
'But I would'..... he thought, and He was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to look Ishan in the eye again if he did that.
.
.
.
.
.
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.
Another drawback of the cursed dreams, he realized, halfway through their practice session, was that he was suddenly hyper aware of Ishan's presence. 
In the past hour, he had stared at the guy so much that he could probably redraw the tattoos on his arm, had missed 7 balls thrown towards him, stared some more at his earrings as they shone under the sun, and almost got hit in the face twice by Siraj.
He forced himself to look away when Rohit Bhaiya started glaring at him and tried to concentrate.
He still ended up looking over his shoulder when he heard Surya bhai and Ishan laugh together and ended up missing. Again.
Now even Miya looked annoyed which was not a good sign. 
They took a short break to catch a breather and grabbed their water bottles.
After the break, he promised himself not to look at anything except the ball.
…But Miya messed up his throw.
So when the ball finally hit him in the face, technically, it wasn't really his fault.
It did earn him a short lecture with curses and concern mixed together from Virat Bhai.
.
.
.
.
.
“How did you get hit?”
“Hmm?”
“During practice…how did you get hit?”
They're laying in their beds after having dinner with the team in the dining hall of the hotel. 
Ishan is watching a web series, without earphones, at full volume, as per his self-invented tradition.
Meanwhile he's already wrapped in a blanket and curled up against a pillow. 
The question pops out of nowhere and brings with it an array of images from their morning practice he did not want to think about; 
Ishan with his eyebrows scrunched together in concentration, his gleaming earrings, how his arms moved when he practiced, the way he threw back his head and laughed…
“I-....”
His voice is not working the way he wants it to. Ishan pauses his episode and turns towards him. He raises an eyebrow and tilts his head a little. 
Cute.
“I…got distracted.” 
His roommate snorts in response and turns back to his tablet. 
Shubhman Pulls the blanket over his head and hopes for a peaceful night this time. 
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
He doesn't get any peaceful nights. Or days, for that matter. 
Aside from dealing with the horrifying reality that he was dreaming (and fantasizing) about his roommate of all people, His sleeping schedule was getting messed up.
He kept dozing off in their bus and even during meal times. 
And when he was not busy taking naps in random places, he was staring at Ishan.
He couldn't help it.
It was not his fault Ishan was so… himself.
He had spent hours memorizing the way his eyes lit up when he laughed, how his muscles flexed during practice, how his eyelashes fluttered when he was tired, the tiny glimpse of his waist when he stretched his arms upwards and his shirt was lifted, how good black outfits looked on him and how soft his voice became when he talked to his niece. 
He had gotten odd looks from his teammates a couple of times but he just brushed it off by saying he zoned out. 
Which led them to wondering whose zone he was so lost in. 
And when he reacted like a flustered teenager (how could he not!?), they tried to guess who it was. 
It was kinda hilarious how they would never be able to guess the actual answer. 
On top of that, there had been some… embarrassing incidents which made him want to bury a hole in the ground and crawl into it and never return to the land of living.
.
.
.
.
By the end of the week, Shubhman quietly accepted that this new hell was a part of his life now. 
He started setting his alarm for an early morning to give his body time to calm down and settle back into reality, to forget those phantom sensations that roamed all over him when he woke up from another dream. 
Not all his dreams had such filthy thoughts though. The other dreams were perhaps a lot more innocent. 
But those were the ones he hated the most. 
Cold hands stroking his arms, gentle fingers combing through his hair, cupping his cheek, soft kisses being pressed on his forehead, a rough hand wrapped around his own.… 
These dreams didn't have a solution.
They left an odd emptiness behind that he did not know how to fix. 
No cold shower, no early workouts could fix the hollowness these dreams left behind.
~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~
Please tell me what you guys think.
(づ ̄ ³ ̄)づ
Tagging : @hum-suffer @bimesskaira @ishuess @fortunatelycrazyyouth @ispeakmorelanguagesthanyou @athena-swords @happypopcornprincess @deeee60 @melancholicmonody @roseromeroredranger
If you want me to add your name in the tags do tell.
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faggotmox · 6 months
Note
Claudio fucking someone up against the wall so hard they break the wall?
dude, wont lie to you i wrote this so stoned, so quick & excited abt my bf coming to visit. also thank you so much for giving me a reason to finally write some claudio fucking post that josh barnett match. that match was an awakening for me.
so like fair warning: humiliation kink, blood kink, wound kink, violence kink, size kink, ect ect bcc being the bcc, bcc being insane abt each other
pairing: jon moxley/claudio ccastagnoli, bcc poly, one-sided mox/josh barnett (as a treat lol)
rated: porn ofc
"Fuck!" Mox shouted as his back hit the wall hard, his legs barely losing their hold on the cut hips pinning him to the wall. "Harder!"
Claudio growled deep in his chest as he took a sturdier stance and gave even more powerful thrusts. They were both incredibly desperate. The match had left Mox's mouth watering, and Claudio feeling superhuman. Every muscle in his body was exhausted from the Warmaster but Claudio felt too good to even acknowledge it. The screaming strain of his muscles, the pain from the bruises and bumps made Claudio even more turned on as Mox begged for more of his cock.
One hand slammed against the wall while the other kept a strong grip on Mox's hip. He fucked the other man like they'd never get the chance again. It was sublime. Claudio felt everything in that moment wrapped in Mox’s tight heat.
"I said harder, bitch!" Mox moaned, his head thumping back harshly against the wall.
"Want me to throw you around?" Claudio slammed Mox against the wall again. He watched the smaller man's eyes roll back in his head. "You love it when I do this. Little slut likes to be manhandled."
"Fuck, I'm gonna come keep sayin' shit like that." Mox had the breath knocked out of him, the dizzy haze of pleasure blanketing everything feeling. 
“You’re cute when you’re fucked out and dazed.” Claudio smirked at the cloudy eyes and happy expression looking back at him. Mox really was in his element and Claudio loved delivering a rough fuck. A different kind of dream match. “Look at me.” 
“Claudo, please.” Mox looked up at the huge man holding him up. His body arching into the muscular chest. “Need-- ah!”
“You want this big bitch to fuck you until you cry? I've done it before." Claudio slammed Mox against the wall again before grabbing both hips and giving it all he had.
"Claudio!" Mox's rough voice broke on the scream, his legs hiking up higher to give a better angle. "Oh, god." Talking later was going to be difficult. 
"I beat Josh Barnett." Claudio whispered into his ear, biting at his shoulder. "You've fought him, felt him on top of you. Felt what his strikes feel like, how his holds hurt. He's incredibly strong. He threw me like I weighed nothing, I bet he threw you so hard you jerked off to it." 
"Claudio, fuck, please." Mox sobbed, his eyes closed again as he bucked against the hard, devastating thrusts. 
"He put me through it all too, and I won." Claudio moaned as he felt Mox tense and tighten around his huge cock. The other man knew what was coming. "You couldn't take it, right? Josh was just...too big? Too strong? Too hot over you?" Claudio smirked at the broken noise Mox made.
"Please, please! Fuck me!" Mox begged, pulling himself closer to make Claudio slam him again.
So Claudio did. Hard. As hard as he could. Too hard. The plaster gave way under the assault. They fell through together, Claudio tried to move and protect Mox when he realized he couldn’t stop them from going through.They both cursed as they felt themselves go through plaster and wood and whatever else made the flimsy wall.
The dust settled. Mox moaned in unpleasant pain as he tried to push Claudio off him. They'd fallen, mostly, through into some storage closet. Luckily a large metal shelf caught most of their fall. A bucket dropped off the shelf and banged against Mox’s arm.
"Shit." Mox's hysterical laughter bubbled up. "Oh, shit. You fucked me through a wall, big guy."
"Are you okay?" Claudio had to push himself up and roll out of the rubble. "I did." He paused for just a moment before laughing too. "I fucked you through a door once in 2011."
"Oh, shit. How'd I forget about that?" Mox was carefully extracted from the fallen wall, carefully not to rack himself on anything. "That was good. So was this. Oh." He pulled his hand away from his back to find blood. "You stepped it up this time. We got color too."
"Ha!" Claudio turned Mox to check the damage. "That's pretty bad."
"So are yours." Mox pointed out. 
"Mine?" Claudio pulled back and started checking himself over. Low and behold he was also covered in blood too. "Oh."
"You okay, big guy?" Mox checked the cut on both their elbows, almost comparing them before moving to look at the laceration on Claudio’s forehead.
"Didn't even feel it." Claudio grinned at the fascinated look directed at him. "I'm okay. I don't think I even hit my head. A piece of wood bounced back."
"Wow." Mox whistled. "There's uh...ond on your chest too." The blood had started getting caught in the fine chest hair. "Sure you're okay?"
"Yes, I am. Are you about to ask if we can finish, Jon?" Claudio grabbed Mox by the hips again and brought him close. Blood was streaked over the other man’s hip on the injured side.
"You bet your fine ass. Finish the job or it's a No Contest." Mox smirked at the fired up look on his partner’s face. 
"Come here then." Claudio grabbed him; forcing Mox to jump up onto his hips again before sitting on the couch. "Ride the winner."
"Oh fuck yes. Can I--?" Mox's eyes were stuck on the chest wound. Blood ebbing out in small trickles.
The pooling blood was mesmerizing his partner so Claudio ran his hand through the red liquid then smeared it onto Mox's face. Most of it marked Mox’s cheek, some of it caught his beard and nose. Something flipped in Mox’s head as everything short circuited in his body at the treatment. 
"Yes. Fuck yourself. Hard too." Claudio grunted. "And be quick. You have to get out there for Bryan's match. I have to make sure you don't get hard at the desk by fucking you good now."
"Oh, God, I'm gonna be fucked up after that match." Mox shifted around untl he found the right angle and lowered himself onto Claudio again. A heavy moan was drawn out of them as they were rejoined.
"Maybe we'll gangbang you later." Claudio smirked at the look of pure want on the other. "That's it, baby. Ride me good."
"Love you." Mox grinned as he leaned down to kiss Claudio, making sure to get the blood everywhere.
+++
After their ‘match’ Claudio quickly worked to clean up Mox just enough he could be on TV. The pout he gave when Claudio wiped off his face nearly made him miss Bryan’s match. Bandages were quickly applied to the few blood spots and Mox was redressed.
They had purposely just slapped something on Mox’s woods so he would be bloody under the shirt. No one would know except them. And the other two after the show. Somehow Mox was still bloody for work. 
“What did you two do?” Yuta asked as he and Bryan walked into their hotel room to find the pair finally tending to their wounds appropriately. 
“Claudio fucked Mox through the wall.” Bryan supplied as he stepped past Yuta, totally unphased by the circumstances of their hotel room. “Why do you think the wall was broken in the locker room, Wheeler?” 
“Seriously?” Yuta blinked at the snickering pair.
“He got a victory lap so I wouldn’t get hard during Bryan’s match.” Mox explained, he had to lift his arm above his head to allow Claudio space to put a few butterfly bandages on a cut. “It was really hot too. We were covered in blood.”
“You’re disgusting.” Yuta grinned, leaning down to kiss Mox. It was a compliment after all. “And you,” Yuta kissed the side of Claudio’s head instead since the man was working. “Freak.” 
“Shithead.” Mox mumbled. “Claudio kept slamming me into the wall. When can you do that, Yuta?” 
“Shut up.” Yuta rolled his eyes. “I’d put you through one of these walls right now if you weren’t already messed up.” 
“Sure, sure. Know what? Just for that, I’ll line up a match with Josh for ya, kid.” Mox smirked at the terrified expression Yuta gave him.
“We all know you just want to fuck Barnett, Mox.” Bryan sighed as he laid back in bed. The dragon was satisfied. Mostly.
“That big bitch.” Mox scoffed. “He’s a fuckin’ tease is what he is.”
“You love a big bitch.” Claudio gave Mox a peck on the mouth. “You’re all bandaged.”
“Thanks, babe. You’re hot when we play doctor.” Mox slid a little closer to Claudio.
“I basically just fucked Zack Sabre, Jr. in the ring and you’re trying to get seconds?” Bryan glared at both of them. “I beat Zack.” Bryan grinned. “I can’t wait to wrestle him again.”
“Yuta, go apologize for losing by keeping Bryan busy. I wanna fuck Claudio again.” Mox shooed the other away as he tossed his leg over Claudio’s hip. “After all, Claudio beat Josh, and I haven’t. Only right.”
“You’re fucking weird, dude.” Yuta shook his head as he jumped onto the bed with Bryan. 
“We’re all weird. Now,” Bryan pushed his shorts down. “Suck my dick while I watch them.”
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mishapocalyse · 1 year
Text
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Chapter One: The Man With The Bifröst Eyes
Description: Not many travel up the walls of Asgard, and you are one of the few. When searching for Atreus, you encounter much on your way as a long journey lies ahead of you.
Pairings: Heimdall GOW! x Reader// Thor GOW! x Reader
Warnings: Language, Violence, Gore, Mentions of alcohol, Abuse, Sexual content, sexual assault, mentions of suicide, mental illness may be within this fan fiction. Reader discretion is advised.
You have been warned.
"Tell me another story, Kratos." You asked the spartan before you.
He had been leaning over the large oak table, arms crossed--a grimace alluding to the disdain that was spread across his face. Kratos grunted, his demeanor changing ever-so slightly towards you in the process of your small, sweet request.
His shoulders relaxed, he had time for another tale. As he had been waiting, as everyone else had been waiting for Atreus to return home.
Not that there was much any one of them could do.
Atreus had run off, not being seen for two days. You could see the stoic look upon Kratos's face rub off, a look of worry stretching across it. You reached over to place a hand over his own.
"He will return, Kratos. Atreus is probably visiting home in Midgard. Don't worry." you reassured him.
Clearing his throat, the spartan gave another grunt.
So much for another story, you thought to yourself.
*********************
You couldn't sleep that night, a cold sweat keeping you shivering for warmth.
The light tapping of Sindri working on a blade had stirred you fully awake, while you threw back the fur blanket covering you . Atreus had still not returned, you knew as the bed in your shared room had been empty.
You sighed, the young boy had become a son to you. The thought of him being hurt and alone somewhere terrified you.
You heaved a sigh, bracing yourself to stand. Dressing yourself in the padded leather gear, as well as the gold plated armor, you hefted the long bow over your shoulders, to its dismay it chirped.
"Sorry Grötti." you replied in a hushed whisper.
Lugging your rucksack with you, tying the waterskin as well as the wrapped meats inside you slowly wandered towards the door, Sindri giving you the same worried look as he always did.
"I'll be fine Sindri. I promise." Those words hung in the air as sweetly as they did. The dwarf had scurried over from his table to wrap you in a tight hug.
"Please, be careful." and his words clung to the hands that he held, as you slipped away from him and onto the path that lied before you.
*********
There wasn't much you were worried about, only the boy, Atreus who still was nowhere to be found.
You would bring him home. You only had to find him first.
First, you had checked Midgard, the only would you found were those of the Hel-Walkers, and an angry World Serpent who also had no clue of the whereabouts of the young boy.
Then, the trail led you to Alfheim, then Muspelheim, to Svfartelheim, and finally to Vanaheim. In your last attempt to search for him, every trail of his went cold.
Then it hit you.
He must have went to Asgard.
You shook your head, your worry turned to a haunting desperate feeling as it gnarled your heart in your chest.
You could feel your chest tighten when the thought that he could be trapped by Odin.
Or worse...
He could be dead.
You shoo the thought away, no, Atreus was strong, he was smart. You knew he could handle himself quite well. He always had.
You wished for him to stop looking for trouble. All the while you were also running out of Yggdrasil stones, which meant you could travel to Asgard, however, returning would be a much different outcome.
There was no turning back, and if Atreus was not there, you for sure were going to have a lot more on your plate than trespassing.
************
It felt like hours as you wandered the Asgardian realm, wanting nothing more than to bring Atreus home.
You whispered to yourself, as well as to your bow companion, Grötti, of memories from your childhood.
Memories to keep you going, however, remembering who you were as well as to not fall into the fate of sleep.
You grew tired from the long journey here. Although it was a rather short one, it had been unbecoming, filled with nothing but stress, and bloodshed.
Apart from running into old friends, you were short on energy, and yet, it was a long way up.
An exceedingly, excruciating way up.
The wall had towered up stories high, the town you had went through with Migardian's whom sought shelter from the ever-coming Ragnarok. Their eyes watching as you went by.
You yourself knew that you were not the most inconspicuous, as you towered over many.
Standing at around 6'1, your h/c- a braid that circled your head. The furs and armor that encompassed your body--they admired you.
You were not like the others. However, you presented yourself as kind and generous, a smile never leaving your lips as you traveled up the wall.
Scaling it would prove troublesome.
Your fingers dug into the wall, feet kicking into the rock, finding small grooves to hoist yourself up the wall.
When you made it to a ledge, you made a note that when you reached the top, that you were for sure going to need a bath as well as something to eat.
Your rucksack had been stolen in Alfheim by a dark elf, which also held your source of water, in which you had taken to drink from the clear pools of water on the way up.
Not far ahead you had continued to climb, in the distance above you made out the top of the wall. With as much energy as you could muster, you bent your knees, and lunged forward to grip the ledge above you.
Pulling yourself up, you seated yourself on the ledge to look at how far you had came.
Grötti, chirped, delighted the two of you had made it so far without the help from anyone.
You murmured back that it would have been much easier to have just checked here first. The bow had fell silent once more, and you had been well rested to stand.
It was the middle of day when you reached the top, as the surrounding area was vacant. Not a soul was awaiting your arrival, which felt like the easiest by far.
Hopping down, you scoured the area on top of the wall, and as you peered over it you stared in awe of the city below you.
This was Asgard. In all of its glory, you had made it.
Atreus had to be here.
"Now what do we have here? Don't any of you stupid, filthy mortals have any common sense? Or do you all just fall short from the same tree?" You tensed, your back still turned away from the voice that came from behind you.
Wait, did he just insult you? How disrespectful. You internally seethed, yet you kept your composure as this individual was not your problem at this moment. He could pose for one later though.
"I wouldn't know, yet you would speak just as filthy as those you comment about." You retorted, still facing away.
He scoffed, "Have you come to bask in the glory of Asgard? Or steal from the Aesir?"
You had no time for this conversation, Atreus could be anywhere in the realm. Yet, this person was wasting your time. You slowly turned around, the furs gliding effortlessly behind you, your hair falling back into place.
Grötti had become rather irked by the stranger in front of you, keeping the bow calmly against your back as you spoke once again.
"I have come for a friend of mine. Nothing more."
"Lies." he sneered. "Everyone comes here for more. You could be just as selfish as the rest of those nasty mortals-" you interrupted him when you raised a hand.
"He is but a boy. Ye' high. He ran off, and I could not find him anywhere." You looked down at the ground innocently.
"I am worried sick about him. Have you seen him?" You added.
The stranger not once spoke another word, he stood there, eyes glued to you in disbelief.
"I will take you to him then--" You bowed to him, eyes never leaving his.
"Y/N."
"What?" The stranger asked, a brow raised. The Bifröst of his eyes glowing, swirling into one another.
"My name. And yours, god?" you quipped, that same playfully sweet smile egging the conversation on.
"I am the God of Foresight, Heimdall." He began, staggering towards you with a mission.
"Welcome to Asgard." He frowned as he passed.
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r0-boat · 1 year
Note
Bestie I am on my knees, BEGGING, for alpha Emmet taking care of his heat ridden omega when their heat comes early in the station
- noodle (last one I swear)
More Alpha Emmet lets fucking go
Cw: mild assault ( rando grabbing the arm but nothing further)
No fucking in this one but fluff and comfort
You finally get to the station, it was a bit of a walk, but you don't mind the exercise. Gear Station was packed with people, as always. As you get to your train line, you see Emmet, your boyfriend, talking with his brother. Seriously, something about seeing your partner every day while heading to work fills your heart with love. You thought about waving to him but ultimately decided against it; you didn't want to distract him while he was at work.
As you try to squeeze your way through the crowds of rush hour you notice a faint heat pooling in your core, at first you wanted to ignore it but it became stronger than it hit you.
Heat
The smell of Alphas burned your nose your eyes watering the smell of preheat Omega fills the air making Alphas turn their heads. Their eyes flickered with a sudden animalistic drive to find the heat-stricken Omega. With the sense of all now presenting alphas your legs shake as your preheat becomes more.
" Attention all Depot agents there is a code O in place, I repeat a Code O" the announcement blared.
Immediately the depot agents follow protocol searching for the owner of the scent while you try to push through the crowd wanting to get out of here or maybe find your Alpha for protection.
You flinch when the hand grabs your arm. A strong sense you don't recognize fills your senses mingling with the others quickly overwhelming you. The random Alpha growls out your title making your skin crawl. A whimper slipped out of you everything in you wanted to pull away.He grips your arm tighter... Until-
"Excuse me sir..."
Emmet's arm wraps around your waist pulling you towards him he's comforting scent easing you.
" This Omega has to come with me,"
The alpha loosens his grip but he doesn't take the hint. in fact letting out a low growl disrespecting Emmet's authority and unknowingly pissing off your mate. He grabs his arm in an almost bone crushing grip, while still keeping his customer service smile. With enough force, to yank the alpha off you before pulling his wrist down, making the random Alpha lean closer to him. Emmet's eyes darken now face to face with the random Alpha, growls just low enough for the alpha to hear.
"I'm Emmet and don't touch things that don't belong to you "
It seemed to finally click in his head, his eyes filling with horror as Emmet threw their arm to the side. The alpha stumbled back, trying to leave quickly and not cause more of a scene than he already did. Deciding that you are not worth the trouble. But he was already in the depot agent's sights. He won't get away with this...
It took everything in him not to tear him limb from limb from even touching you. Judging by his scent his intentions were clear. Just like every other unmated Alpha he can danm smell. no matter how much wrath was bubbling inside of him you were more important. He can feel your trembling hand clenching his polo shirt, holding on for dear life, your eyes darting around, not wanting to be seen by anybody besides your Alpha. You want it to be home in a comfy nest of pillows and blankets.
He squeezes you closer to him opening his coat as if protecting you from prying eyes while he navigates you to a heat room.
Emmet looks around his surroundings before speaking into his communicator " yes Ingo I have them, I'll be in the heat room with them I'll leave the rest to you." nothing else mattered but getting you to safety protecting his Omega, making sure you're safe... Holding everything back trying to keep his professionalism.
Only to finally relax when those doors close and lock. His eyes soften as he gently laid you on the soft medical bed. When your smell sour from being overwhelmed too soft and sweet knowing that you're safe.
"Alpha."
Your sweet voice calling out to him for Comfort now how can he say no?
"Omega?" you feel his arms wrap around you his warm body against yours. He scent,it felt so good...
Your whole body called out to him not only your slowly growing heat, but your heart. You could sense the tinge of bitter in the air. As Emmet gently rubbed the growing bruise on your wrist. His face almost unreadable.
Even as your heat called out to him he ignored the lustful Alpha inside of him. Giving you a kiss on the forehead. Taking off his Subway boss coat and wrapping it around you and giving you one last smile before turning on his heel. It physically hurt him to turn away from you; not when you're in such a vulnerable state you couldn't leave you; he couldn't. He would be less of an alpha if he did so...
"Ingo are you there?
...
" I'm going to stay with them-"
" Don't worry about it brother I have everything under control just relax and take the rest of the day off, they need you!"
Emmet nodded he could always count on his brother.... What would he do without him?
"Thank you...Ingo."
He wasted no time in being with his omega scooting himself on the bed, fingers in your hair and holding you close to him, his chin nuzzling on the top of your head. Light touches slowly, gliding up and down on your back. With a smile,e you nuzzled your head into his chest.
Hearing his heartbeat drum on almost made you forget about the pooling desire in your core.
105 notes · View notes
amberlynnmurdock · 2 years
Text
The Secrets We Keep and the Secrets We Hold (Ch. 1)
CHAPTER ONE: The First Encounter 
Pairing: Matt Murdock x Reader 
Genre: Fluff, angst (to come) 
Summary: You are a pre-law student at New York University. One drunken night, Daredevil crash lands on the rooftop of your dorm building. What you thought was a one-time meeting soon turns into an every-weekend affair with Daredevil. You fall in love with him, even though you don't even know who he is. On top of pining for him, you have to balance school, social life, and an internship at a local firm called Nelson & Murdock.
WARNINGS: Matt and Reader will have a slight age difference of 4 four years. This series will have violence, attempted assault, alcohol, drugs, and lots of fluff and lots of angst. Please read with caution and please message me if you need me to address something. 
Archive of Our Own Link
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You know this feeling all too well. Your throat is drier than a desert, your chest feels heavy from rushing home. Your feet hurt from braving four-inch heels all night. The feeling of forcing yourself to stay awake so you make sure you and your friends get home safe. The sudden carelessness of how you look, the carelessness of your mascara smudged because all that matters is getting the fuck in bed.
In other words: the feeling you’ve had too many tequila shots for one night.
“Come on, we’re almost there,” you slur your words as you push the elevator button, your fingers wrapped around the straps of your heels, the others holding onto the wall. Your three degenerate roommates were right behind you, barely walking in straight lines.
“Hold on, I think Anna’s going to puke,” Mary stops in her tracks to help her blonde friend out. Mary’s own bleach-blonde hair is frizzy from the sticky night sky that only August air had. Sabrina, with her dark brown hair, isn’t far behind. She's not as sober as you. You're the quickest to sober up because you deemed yourself the most responsible of the group. She reaches you and looks at your two friends.
“Glad we can hold our liquor,” she smirks. You let out a lazy laugh as you keep pushing the button of the elevator in your building.
“At least we’ve learned something here at NYU,” you force yourself to say, feeling out of breath. Finally, the elevator made its way down 20 flights, and Anna managed to hold her liquor. The four of you gathered in the elevator and each slumped in a corner as it made its ascension to the 20th and final floor. Luckily, your apartment building wasn’t far from all the most popular bars downtown, which made it easier for four drunk girls to get home safely–and quickly.
When the elevator dinged, Anna was the first to rush out and reach for her keycard to the apartment, which took up half the entire 20th floor. The other side of the floor was occupied by another group of girls, who weren’t as loud as the four of you, who were… slightly more responsible on a Thursday night.
While your three friends made a beeline to the bathroom, you instead grabbed yourself a water bottle from the fridge and threw on your biggest sweatshirt and slippers to go somewhere else. You didn’t like going to bed drunk because you hated how you felt in the morning. Instead, you took advantage of the roof, to clear your drunk mind and sober up before bedtime. Sure, you stayed up later than the others, but it was well worth not having a hangover for class in the morning.
The roof was spacious. You were the only one who ever took advantage of it. You had set up a chair and blanket when you first moved in because you knew this would become your hideaway spot from reality. As much of a social butterfly you were, you still treasured your quiet moments, moments you didn’t get to have often here at college. It was nice to sit here to clear your mind and listen to the city when it’s at its quietest. In the distance, you can see the Empire State Building lit up in the theme they chose for the night: red.  
Sipping from your water bottle, you close your eyes and focus on trying not to feel like you’re spinning. It doesn’t work. You open them again and sigh deeply. You pull out your phone to scroll through your calendar. Your senior year just started and the assignments were already coming in like crazy. You should’ve known since you’ll soon be getting your degree in pre-law that you’d be preparing for law school already. The LSAT was only a few months away. It’s not that time yet, but there were other things you had to do before you graduated to prepare, like getting an internship at a law firm.
There were a few places you had in mind. The biggest reach was at Hogarth, Chao, and Benowtiz and while you knew you were capable of working at such a prestigious law firm, it was highly competitive to get an internship there. Still, you sent in your resume last night, hoping luck would be on your side. Another firm you applied to was Landman and Zack. The only problem with this firm was that they had something to do with the Wilson Fisk scandal–and that didn’t sit right with you. However, you couldn’t be picky with opportunities as a pre-law student.
*CRASH!*
Metal bins came flying and rolling from the other side of the roof. Startled, you jump up in your foldable chair and hug your sweatshirt around you closer. A cold sweat forms on your forehead as you realize you never thought to bring a weapon with you in case you had to defend yourself. As smart and alert as you were, you were sometimes forgetful.
More noises came from the crash and your mind was racing with a million scenarios. A bird? Did someone throw an item from another building and it landed here? If so, why was it still making noise, and now… why did you hear groans?
You looked around in a panic for anything to defend yourself with. You half thought about calling Sabrina but you knew everyone was fast asleep. On the side of the roof was a metal pole. You rushed over and grabbed it, holding it over your head and slowly beginning to walk towards the origin of the crash.
“Hello?” you call out with a shake in your voice.
“Erhhh,” someone groans in what sounds to be like pain.
The closer you got, you made out a dark figure on the ground, rolling over metal cans and trying to lift themselves with their elbows. The very, very dim orange light coming from one light bulb on the side of the building opposite you shines over and you can see a man dressed in a dark red suit with blood running down the side of his face.
Realization sets in, and you know who this man was. It was Daredevil, who seemed to have crash-landed on your peaceful hiding spot. Now knowing who he was, and what he was all about, your fear began to subside. This man is the reason why Wilson Fisk is now in jail. He couldn’t be as dangerous as everyone says he was, you rationalized. He put someone very bad in jail.
Doesn’t that make him good?
“Um… are you okay?” You ask him, not sure what to begin with.
You’ve startled him, you notice. He doesn’t answer you at first, and that annoyed you.
“I know you heard me,” the tequila was still in your system and with that, some liquid courage. “It’s rude of you to crash land on my roof and ignore me when I ask about your well-being,” you shoot at him.
Although you can’t see his entire face, you know you’ve got his attention now. Daredevil turns to face you and you see blood on his bottom lip.
“Yeah,” he replies, startled by your voice. “I’ll be–ah–good. You should go.”
“Oh, I should go?” You laugh at his mere suggestion. “That’s funny because you were the one who landed here uninvited.”
You didn’t care if it was the President, Daredevil, or Tony Stark himself–you weren’t going to be told what to do. In fact, you hated it. And the fact that Daredevil wasn’t speaking was making you more annoyed with the situation. Like he was ignoring you again. On purpose. You weren’t sure if your anger was valid or if it was the tequila, but that’s beside the point.
You took a moment to really look at him, now that you had a closer look. He looked hurt. Like, really hurt. And you didn’t know a thing about nursing or bandages but you knew he looked like he could use all that and a whole EMT squad. In situations like these, you could either put on a facade and act properly or you could be yourself. You went with the latter. And you threw away your sarcastic tone this time.
“Sorry, you didn’t get lucky. The medical student girls stay in a building two blocks from here,” you quip, lowering your weapon, forgetting it was in your hands.
The man flashes a grin as he sets himself up against the brick lining. It’s the only part of his face you can see, and you feel like it’s a reward that you’ve made Daredevil himself smile.
“You said, students? What building is this?” Daredevil asked, rubbing his side.
“This is Palladium Hall which is part of New York University. The purple flags didn’t give it away?” You raised an eyebrow.
He paused. “No,” he replied curtly, “too busy breaking my fall.”
“And where exactly is it you fell from?” You asked, gesturing to the sky.
“The building next door,” he replied.
You looked to your left. The building next to Palladium Hall had to have at least 10 more stories to it. You look back at Daredevil with concern, wondering if you should take him to the nursing students. You were kidding. But he definitely needed some medical help.
“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” You ask him.
“No,” he replied curtly again, “I’m fine.” His voice was gravely like he’d been shouting all night.
“Well,” you reply, folding your arms. “Can I at least offer you water?”
Daredevil takes a deep breath. You were going to scream if he was about to ignore you again, but it looked like he was pondering the request. You obviously couldn’t see half his face, but it was his body language that gave it away, he was considering your offer.
“No,” Daredevil said. “I have to go–“ and as he tries to begin to walk, a pain shoots in his side it seems, as he grabs for his side and hunches over.
“I’ll ask again,” you sigh. “Do you want water?”
You took his grunt in response as a yes.
~
You rushed down to your apartment and quietly made your way to the kitchen. As if you were on a little mission, you snuck out the door again and made your way back to the roof, water bottle in hand. You sighed in relief, knowing Daredevil was still here, waiting for you.
You took this moment in briefly: were you really helping an illegal vigilante right now? Isn’t this against everything you’ve devoted four years learning to?
Ignoring the rationale, you walked over to him. He was now sitting on a larger metal can. You hand him a water bottle and your fingers gently grazed his leather gloves, which are definitely covered in someone else’s blood.
“So… what exactly was it tonight? Robbery? Assault? Threats? All of the above?” You ask him.
He lets out a soft laugh. “Domestic abuse.”
You suddenly grow quiet and you feel guilty for making light of very dark situations. Perhaps it was hard to wrap your head around the fact that these dark situations could be someone’s everyday life, and that they exist in real life, which is a sad thought. But it’s people like Daredevil that put a stop to it.
“Well, did you win?”
“I don’t think he’ll be touching his girlfriend again. Well, his ex-girlfriend, now. I made him sign restraining order papers he had been avoiding for weeks, and the woman is now safe.”
“Did she… expect you? Is there some sort of vigilante hotline I can call for problems to be handled? There’s a bunch of frat guys you could talk to for me,” you joke, unfolding your arms. You’re now standing in front of him. Daredevil takes a sip of the water bottle you gave him, and the sight of it sends chills down your spine. You're not sure why.
“I had… heard of her situation and knew my practices could help. And no,” he lets out a laugh, “there is no hotline.”
“Your ‘practices’ you say,” you smile, “practices that are against the law and making the news.”
“Are you going to call the cops?” He smirks as if he knew what your answer would be.
“I might if you disturb my peaceful rooftop session again, Mr. Daredevil,” you reply, realizing you accidentally just flirted with him. You wanted to blame it on the tequila again, but you could only do that so many times.
“You already know how I ended up on this roof,” Daredevil replies, seemingly not picking up on your tone. Relief washed over you. “What about you?” He asks.
“I… uh… was sobering up from a night out,” you answer truthfully. “I like to sit up here until I’m ready to go to sleep sober so I’m ready for class in the morning. There’s nothing worse than a mock trial with a hangover.”
He seems to be intently listening. You feel yourself growing tired by the minute, but your night felt like it just got exciting.
“Mock trial? Are you in law school?” Daredevil asks. You’re caught off guard by his interest, but you’re glad he asked.
“Not yet. Studying pre-law here, and it’s my senior year. So, next year is the fun of taking the LSAT and applying to law schools.”
Daredevil nods and he looks hesitant to ask you anything else. You wished he would.
“Where do you want to go?”
“My top choice is Columbia. But I’ll settle for anything in the city.”
He looks like he wants to say more, but doesn’t. You yawn, realizing you should probably be in bed sooner than later.
“Well, Daredevil, it was an absolute pleasure to have you scare the fuck out of me and crash land on this rooftop. I hope you have a great rest of your night breaking the law, as you are speaking to a future lawyer,” you smile as you start to make your way to the door.
Daredevil gives a small smile.
“Maybe you’ll crash land again,” you say softly, too softly for him to hear.
Daredevil slowly gets up and begins walking to the roof's edge.
He turns to you in the moonlight, so you can only see his profile.
He jumps off the roof. And you head back to your apartment.
~
You don’t tell your friends about Daredevil.
Instead, you keep him to yourself, like a secret. You felt like a teenage fangirl, hoping you’d see him again, but instead of focusing on something minuscule like that, you took a look at the resume you sent to Hogarth, Chao, and Benowtiz. There was a reply and you clicked it eagerly.
Dear ___,
Thank you for your application. We sincerely appreciate your interest in being a part of Hogarth, Chao, and Benowtiz, but unfortunately, this position is now closed. We have saved your resume for future job openings and we hope to invite you for an interview then.
Best,
Pamela Smith
Legal Secretary
Hogarth, Chao, and Benowtiz
You sigh, and you don’t feel too disappointed, because you honestly saw that coming. Although you applied for Landman and Zack as well, you still weren’t keen on working for a firm that had a hand in the Wilson Fisk case. Who knows who else they were working for now?
At the bottom of the internship page, you saw an opening that was posted a day ago. The law firm of Nelson and Murdock was looking for a bright, and eager law or pre-law student to join their team to gain experience and help defend the citizens of New York City. Although this internship wasn’t paid like the other ones, you were desperate for a season of working in a law firm. You would be working as a legal assistant for them. Even if it meant getting them coffee in the morning: you didn’t care. You really needed an internship!
You also remembered their firm in the news as well, because they were the lawyers who put Wilson Fisk in jail. That was a better reason than Landman and Zack.
You submitted your application and decided to go about your day, starting with coffee down the block and a trip to Washington Square Park.
~
Matt Murdock carefully walks up the steps to the office of Nelson and Murdock. He had a long night, per usual, but unfortunately, the effects were still hurting him today. Not even coffee helped his case. He was tired.
He does remember you, though, and he’s not sure why he can’t get you off his mind. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the banter you offered him or the way you immediately offered to help in the smallest of ways. Or maybe, it had been a long time since he was able to talk to someone behind the mask. Although the interaction was short, it left a lasting impression on Matt.
He was intrigued by your background in law and it made him reminisce on the days when he and Foggy were in law school, just five years ago. He smiled to himself, remembering the smell of alcohol on you mixed with your perfume which was berries and jasmine. He can’t say he didn’t spend his college nights drinking, too.
“Good morning,” Matt greets Karen who is sitting at her desk, vigorously going through her files. Foggy comes out of the kitchen with a stale cup of coffee in his hand.
“Morning, Matt Murdock,” Foggy quips, taking a sip of coffee. “Damn, my alliteration game has been on fire lately!”
“How about your litigation game? Have you come up with an opening statement for the hearing on Monday?” Matt replies with a smirk.
“Uhhh, for sure! Yeah, right, Karen?” Foggy nervously laughs. Matt chuckles and takes off his blazer, hanging it on the coat rack. He walks to his office, cane in front of him, ignoring the sharp pains that come with each step.
“Oh well, here’s something,” Karen says from her computer, “we finally might have an intern to help us out.”
Matt hears her speak, but he’s already thinking of the clients he has to contact today. He pulls out his briefcase and sets up his computer, headset, and braille reader.
“Oh, really?! Finally! Someone to get us coffee in the morning!!” Foggy exclaims.
“That’s not the point, Foggy,” Karen rolls her eyes, “this is meant to help a college student trying to get their foot in the door. Don’t you remember struggling as a law student?”
Foggy shrugged, “sure, I know. I’m just kidding. Well, do you want to bring him or her in for an interview?”
“Of course, but I’ll need permission from you guys first. And, it’s a she.”
“Well, I’m cool with it, we need someone,” Foggy says. “Matt?”
Matt takes his headset off and gestures his head toward them. “Yeah?”
“Do you want to interview someone today for the internship position we posted?”
“Oh, uh, yeah, that’s fine,” Matt replies distractedly.
“It’s not even 9 AM and he’s already deep in work,” Foggy mutters under his breath. “Okay then, it’s settled. Bring her in.”
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bechloeislegit · 2 years
Text
STRONGER Chapter 7
Later that night, the three women were in bed. Sarah was asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow. Beca was in her room, tossing and turning, unable to get to sleep. All she could think about was Chloe in the room next door.
Chloe was in no better shape than Beca. She was startled by sudden noises and was beginning to get lost in her head about what those noises meant. She finally threw the covers off and got out of bed.
Beca heard the unmistakable creaking sound of the floorboards outside her room and smiled. She waited and watched as her door slowly opened.
"Beca?" Chloe's voice whispered from the doorway.
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared, can I sleep in here with you?"
Beca couldn't help how her smile grew as she noticed Chloe was already moving toward her bed.
"Come on," Beca said, holding up the blanket for Chloe to crawl in.
Once Chloe was in the bed, Beca dropped the blanket over them. She pulled Chloe to her and whispered, "I was wondering how long it was going to take you to come in here."
"You could have just invited me in to begin with," Chloe whispered. "It would have saved me a lot of anxiety."
"You don't need a special invitation," Beca said. "You have an open invitation to invade my space anytime you want."
"Anytime, huh?"
"Yep."
"So, if I got into your personal space right now," Chloe said as she moved up so she was lying on her side face-to-face with Beca, "what would you do?"
"Um, probably something like this," Beca said, throwing her leg over Chloe and rolling them so she was now hovering over Chloe.
Beca leaned down and smashed their lips together. Chloe moaned and pressed into the kiss. Beca broke the kiss and looked into Chloe's eyes.
"I've got you now," Beca whispered.
"So, what are you going to do with me?"
Beca smiled and bent down to recapture Chloe's lips. Beca raised herself slightly using her left arm. She then shifted and used her right knee to push Chloe's legs apart. As soon as Chloe's legs parted, Beca pushed her knee into Chloe's core; Chloe thrust against Beca's knee, moaning as she did.
Beca pulled back from the kiss and looked into Chloe's eyes.
"I want you," Beca murmured.
"So, take me," Chloe responded with a smile.
Those words spurred Beca on. She used her right hand to start unbuttoning Chloe's pajama top. She popped the final button and used her hand to open the shirt, exposing Chloe's breasts.
"My god, you're beautiful," Beca mumbled as she teasingly flicked her tongue across Chloe's nipple.
Beca smiled at the sinful moan she elicited from Chloe. She then used her right hand to palm Chloe's breast as she leaned down and took the other fully into her mouth to continue using her tongue to lick around the pebbled nipple.
Chloe's hand made its way to the back of Beca's head; she held Beca's head in place as Beca continued her assault on Chloe's breast.
"I want to see you, too," Chloe whisper-moaned.
Beca removed her mouth from Chloe's breast. The resounding pop echoed around the room. She then sat up so she was straddling Chloe's hips. Beca removed her t-shirt, exposing her bare chest to Chloe. She tossed the shirt over her shoulder.
"Talk about beautiful," Chloe said, sitting up to wrap her arms around Beca, whispering, "You're exquisite," before smashing their lips together.
Beca wrapped her arms around Chloe's shoulders and deepened the kiss. Chloe broke the kiss and started kissing down Beca's jaw and neck. Chloe slid her hands down and squeezed Beca's ass, pulling her closer to her.
The sudden sound of glass shattering, followed by a car alarm going off, caused the girls to jerk apart.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
"What the fuck is that?" Beca yelled.
Beca scrambled off Chloe and rushed to the window to see what was happening.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
"Motherfucker!" Beca yelled before turning to rush out of the room.
"Beca! Wait!" Chloe said, jumping off the bed to grab Beca's arm to stop her. "You need to put on a shirt."
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
Beca looked down and grabbed her shirt from the bed and put it on. Chloe buttoned her top as they rushed out of the bedroom.
Sarah almost crashed into them as she came rushing out of her room.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
"What the hell is going on?" Sarah yelled over the sound of the car alarm.
"It's dad," Beca yelled back as she rushed to the stairs.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
Sarah and Chloe ran after Beca. Beca jumped off the last two steps and ran to the door, pulling at it to open it.
Beca forgot about the deadbolt until the door wouldn't open.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
"Shit," Beca muttered as she turned the key to unlock the deadbolt.
"Beca, stop," Sarah yelled, grabbing Beca by the arm. "We don't know what your father might do. I'm calling the police."
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
"But he busted out the window of my car," Beca yelled as Sarah made the 9-1-1 call.
The sound of more glass shattering could be heard.
BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!BEEEE-OOP!
Beca grabbed her keys and shut off the car's alarm as she opened the front door. She rushed out with Chloe on her heels.
Beca and Chloe stopped just outside the door. They stared in shock for a moment as Ben continued to take a baseball bat to Beca's car.
"Dad! Stop!" Beca yelled as she ran off the porch.
Beca grabbed her father's arm to stop him. Ben pushed Beca away from him, causing her to fall to the ground. He swung the bat at Beca's car and brought it down on the already dented hood.
Chloe remained frozen on the porch as she tried to make sense of everything she was seeing. She saw several neighbors rushing over.
"Beca!" Chloe screamed, seeing Beca on the ground.
Hearing Chloe scream Beca's name caused Ben to look down at his daughter.
"YOU!" Ben screamed, pointing at Beca with the bat. "I've lost everything because your mother is divorcing me, and it's all your fault!"
He lifted the bat over his head and brought it straight down toward Beca. Beca rolled out of the way at the last second, and the bat hit the dirt with a thud. Beca's eyes were wide as she looked over to see that the bat had landed where her head had just been.
Chloe ran off the porch as Ben lifted the bat over his head again. She ran at him and knocked him to the ground. She then turned and threw herself protectively over Beca.
"Chloe, move!" Beca yelled, pushing at the older girl.
"No!" Chloe said. "I won't let him hurt you."
Ben got back to his feet and looked down at Chloe lying on top of Beca.
"Why couldn't you just be normal and have a boyfriend like other girls!?" Ben screamed at Beca.
He raised the bat over his head, causing Chloe to raise her arm to protect her and Beca.
Before Ben could bring the bat down, one of the neighbors grabbed him from behind and restrained him. Ben tried to get out of the man's grasp, but he was too strong.
Sarah rushed over to stand between Ben and Beca; Ben continued to struggle.
"Ben! Stop it!" Sarah yelled, and much to her surprise, Ben stopped struggling. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"
"He's drunk," the neighbor said, still holding Ben. "I can smell it all over him."
"I'll take that," Sarah said, yanking the bat from Ben's hand.
Chloe jumped up and helped Beca to her feet. She pulled Beca into a hug. Beca was shaking, and Chloe held her tight to her as she tried to comfort her.
"It's okay, baby," Chloe murmured. "You're okay."
Beca wiped her eyes and pulled away from Chloe. She glared at her dad, her hands and jaw clenched. She shook her head at him and then turned to look at her car. She saw that the driver's side window was completely busted out, the windshield had a hole in the middle, the glass splintering out to the edges, and there were dents all over the rest of the car.
"Fuck, I can't believe-" Beca stopped as her emotions got the best of her, and tears started streaming down her face.
Chloe pulled her closer and held her. "It's okay, Beca," Chloe whispered. "It's okay. I've got you."
"He was going to hit me with the bat, Chloe," Beca cried on Chloe's shoulder. "I can't believe he hates me that much."
Just then, a police car pulled up, and two officers jumped out. Sarah rushed over to them.
"Joe! Thank God you're here."
"Sarah, what happened?" Joe asked.
"Ben took a baseball bat to Beca's car," Sarah said, waving the bat out toward the car.
Sarah held the bat toward Joe; he took it and handed it off to the second officer.
"He also took a couple of swings at Beca with it," Chloe added, glaring at Ben.
"Beca, are you okay?" Joe asked.
"I'm okay," Beca mumbled into Chloe's shoulder. "He missed."
"She says she's okay," Chloe said louder so the officer could hear her. "But, I think she may be in shock."
Hearing this, Sarah turned toward Beca.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Sarah asked softly. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"No," Beca said, pulling back from Chloe while shaking her head. "What I need is for him to be arrested."
"That's being taken care of," Joe said, looking over as his partner handcuffed Ben.
Joe walked over to a small group of neighbors that had gathered to see what was happening. He stood in front of one woman and asked, "What did you see, ma'am?"
The neighbor that had grabbed Ben quickly made his way over to Sarah and Beca.
"Kayla and I are here for you," the man said, looking over to the woman speaking with Joe. "Anything you need, just ask. Okay?"
"Thanks, Donnie," Sarah said.
Donnie nodded and walked back over to his wife. They both answered Joe's questions before heading back to their home.
Beca, Chloe, and Sarah watched as Ben was placed in the back of the police car. Joe walked over to Beca and Sarah.
"Sarah, we can take your statements now, or we can do it later at the station. It's up to you."
"What's going to happen to my. . .to him?" Beca asked.
"We'll put him in a holding cell," Joe responded. "And since it's Thanksgiving, he won't get before a judge until sometime tomorrow. He'll probably be let out on bail, so I strongly suggest you two get a temporary restraining order against him."
"Thank you, Joe," Sarah said. "We'll come by the station tomorrow and give our statements."
Joe nodded and said, "Let me know if I can help you with the restraining order."
"I will," Sarah replied.
"Thanks, Joe," Beca said as the officer started to walk away.
"Let's go inside," Sarah said once everyone had left their yard.
"What about my car?" Beca asked, walking over to get a closer look at the damage.
Sarah sighed. "I don't think we can do much of anything until later. Don't forget it's a holiday and many places are closed or working with a small staff. I'll call the insurance company and see what they say we should do."
"Can I at least move it into the garage?"
"There's a lot of glass on the seats," Sarah said, looking inside the car. "Let me get a small broom and dustpan to clean it up. I don't want you cutting yourself."
"Okay," Beca said, sighing heavily.
Chloe came over and took Beca's hand as Sarah hurried inside. Beca squeezed Chloe's hand, giving her a grateful smile.
A few minutes later, the garage door opened, and Sarah walked out carrying a small broom, dustpan, and trash can.
Sarah opened the car door and swept up as much glass as possible, dumping it into the trash can. Once she was sure it was safe for Beca to enter the car, she moved away and let Beca climb in.
Beca started the car and slowly backed it into the garage. She turned off the engine and got out. She stood with her hands on her hips and stared at her car.
"Jesus," Beca said. "What is it with people trashing my car when they're mad at me?"
Sarah walked over to Beca and pulled her into a hug; Beca clung to her until Chloe came over to them.
Chloe took Beca's hand, saying, "It's kind of chilly out here. We should go in and try to get some sleep."
Beca and Sarah both nodded; Sarah followed the young couple as Chloe led Beca inside.
~Stronger~ ~Stronger~ ~Stronger~
Unsure of what to say or do to make her feel better, Chloe just lay with Beca and held her until they both fell asleep.
They had been sleeping for only an hour when Chloe woke to find Beca shaking in her arms as tears fell from her eyes.
"Beca?" Chloe whispered. "Are you okay?"
"He tried to hu-hurt me, Ch-Chloe," Beca sobbed. "My own father wan-wanted to hurt m-me all be-because I'm g-gay."
"I know, baby," Chloe whispered as she held Beca tighter to her. "I'm so sorry."
Chloe kissed the side of Beca's head. Beca didn't say anything as the tears continued down her face. Soon she and Chloe fell asleep.
A few hours later, Chloe woke and eased herself out of Beca's arms. She got up and left Beca sleeping; Sarah was coming out of her room just as Chloe emerged from Beca's.
"How is she?" Sarah asked when she saw Chloe.
"She's still asleep," Chloe said. "She woke up quite upset a couple of hours ago and has been tossing and turning since. She seems to have settled down and is sleeping soundly, so I thought I'd let her sleep a little longer unless you need me to wake her."
"No," Sarah said. "Let her sleep. You don't mind helping me cook, do you?"
"I'm happy to help," Chloe said.
"Let's get to it, then," Sarah said. "I want to get the turkey done so the oven will be free later."
Chloe followed Sarah downstairs and into the kitchen. The first thing Sarah did was set up the coffee maker and turn it on.
Next, she got the turkey and set it on the counter. She then started to prepare the stuffing. Chloe played sous chef, cutting onions and celery and handing Sarah spices and seasonings as she asked for them.
The turkey was prepped, and Sarah placed it in the oven.
"Would you like a cup of coffee?" Sarah asked.
"I'll get it," Chloe said and proceeded to pour two cups of coffee.
"You mentioned Beca woke up upset," Sarah said, taking the cup Chloe held out to her. "Was it because of her car?"
"No," Chloe said. "She woke up crying and shaking because her father tried to hurt her using a baseball bat. I don't think she's going to easily get over it or accept the fact that it only happened because he was drunk."
Sarah sighed and looked down at the floor.
"He was arrested for destruction of private property, but I'm going to ask the DA to file assault charges against him, as well," Sarah said. "And charge him with a hate crime."
"Will they do that?" Chloe asked.
"They should," Beca said from the doorway. "He only did it because I'm gay. And that reason alone should make it a hate crime."
"We'll get Joe's take on it when we go in to give our statements," Sarah said, pushing off the counter and pulling Beca into a hug. "Until then, we'll have a nice Thanksgiving and be thankful that the only thing that got hurt was your car."
Beca nodded her head and moved out of Sarah's arms to walk over to Chloe. She wrapped her arms around Chloe's waist. Chloe engulfed Beca in a hug.
"My hero," Beca mumbled, causing Chloe to laugh. "I can't believe you put yourself between my dad and me. You could have been seriously hurt."
"It would have been totes worth it as long as you were safe," Chloe said, kissing Beca.
"I knew she was good for you," Sarah said with a smile.
~Stronger~ ~Stronger~ ~Stronger~
The food was done, so Beca, Chloe, and Sarah took time to shower and change. Having completed their showers, Beca and Chloe were in the living room waiting for the Bellas to arrive.
Chloe's phone pinged with a text; she pulled out her phone and read it.
"My folks are leaving my apartment now," Chloe said. "They should be here in about fifteen minutes."
"I thought they were coming straight here," Beca said.
"They made good time," Chloe shrugged. "So, they went to my apartment first to drop off their stuff and freshen up."
Just then, there was a knock at the door, and Beca went to answer. She opened the door to find Fat Amy, Ashley, and Jessica standing there.
"Hey, girls," Beca said. "I'm glad you could make it. Come on in."
The three girls entered and greeted Chloe. Sarah came down the stairs, and Beca introduced her to the girls.
"Welcome," Sarah said. "And Happy Thanksgiving."
"Happy Thanksgiving," Jessica said. "Thank you for inviting us."
"Can I get you girls something to drink?" Beca asked.
"I'll have a beer," Fat Amy said.
"Sorry, but none of you are of legal age," Sarah said quickly. "So, no beer, wine, or any other alcoholic beverages are available to you. We have iced tea, juice, water, or soft drinks."
"I'll have a diet cola," Ashley said.
"I'll have the same," Jessica added.
"I guess I'll have iced tea," Amy said.
"Got it," Beca said. "Help yourselves to some appetizers. I'll be back with those drinks in a few minutes."
"Have a seat, girls," Sarah said, walking over to the sofa.
"I'm going to help Beca," Chloe said, following Beca to the kitchen.
"What do you and your mom want to drink?" Chloe asked as they entered the kitchen.
"We'll both have iced tea," Beca said.
"So, um, about last night," Chloe said. "Are you going to tell the girls what happened?"
"You mean about my dad?" Beca said; Chloe nodded. "I probably will since my dad's a professor, and it will come out at some point that he was arrested and why."
"Oh, that makes sense," Chloe said.
The two worked together to make the drinks, and Beca turned to Chloe.
"I think we, as in you and me, should talk about what else happened," Beca said. "Or, almost happened last night. Maybe we can find some time to talk after dinner."
"Of course," Chloe said, stepping closer to Beca. "But, I'd prefer to pick up from where we left off. If that's something you want to do."
"Oh, god, yes!" Beca exclaimed, pulling Chloe to her. "I thought maybe you wouldn't want to after everything with my dad."
Chloe looked into Beca's eyes before lowering her gaze down to Beca's chest. She smiled when Beca looked down as well.
"Are you kidding? After seeing those beauties, it's all I've been thinking about."
Beca blushed and laughed. "Keep it in your pants, perv. We can talk about that later, okay?"
"Okay," Chloe said with a heavy sigh. "Just don't keep me waiting too long."
"I won't," Beca said as she leaned up and kissed Chloe.
Chloe grabbed Beca by the back of her neck and held her in place, deepening the kiss.
"Ahem!"
Beca and Chloe jumped apart to see Jessica standing in the doorway, smiling at them.
"We were wondering what was taking so long with our drinks," Jessica said.
"They're ready," Beca said, blushing brightly as she passed Jessica, carrying a tray of drinks.
Chloe smirked and winked at Jessica as she walked by, following Beca with a second tray.
Jessica shook her head, chuckling as she followed after Chloe.
~Stronger~ ~Stronger~ ~Stronger~
Dinner was nearing the end, and Beca was telling everyone what had occurred the night before.
"You mean your father actually tried to hit you with a baseball bat?" Charlotte asked in disbelief.
"Yep," Beca said. "If it wasn't for this one here," Beca pointed at Chloe, "and our neighbor Donnie, he would have succeeded on the second try. Chloe covered me, and Donnie grabbed him before he could hurt us."
"Wow," Ashley said. "I had Dr. Mitchell this semester, and he seemed so laid back and easygoing."
"He usually is," Sarah said. "But he was drunk, which is so unlike him."
"Doesn't excuse what he did," Beca mumbled, looking down at her plate.
Chloe squeezed her hand under the table.
"You're right," Sarah said. "It doesn't. And, I didn't mean to imply that it did."
"I don't understand how parents can treat their child like that," Chloe's father, Carl, said, shaking his head. "People should be allowed to love who they love; men, women, or both. Who cares, right?"
"You're right, sweetheart," Charlotte said as she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "You're a good father, Carl."
"The best," Chloe interjected, smiling at her father.
Carl smiled back at Chloe.
Fat Amy looked around the table. Her gaze stopped at Beca, and she blurted out, "Can we see your car?"
Everyone looked at Amy in surprise.
"What? I want to see what it looks like when a baseball bat and car go head to head."
"Spoiler alert," Beca said, chuckling. "The car lost."
~Stronger~ ~Stronger~ ~Stronger~
Dinner was done. Beca and Chloe, along with the rest of the Bellas, had just finished cleaning the kitchen.
"Can we see your car now?" Fat Amy asked.
"Sure, why not?" Beca said, leading them over to the door to the garage.
Beca turned on the garage light before opening the door. She stepped down and looked at her car.
"I don't know how, but it looks worse than it did last night," Beca said, taking it all in.
"Wow!" Ashley exclaimed. "He really did a number on it."
"I'm just glad he didn't use the bat on you, Beca," Jessica said.
Beca sighed and looked at Chloe.
"Like I said, he tried," Beca said. "But my mom and Chloe got between us, so he couldn't."
The three Bellas looked over at Chloe. Chloe looked back at them with an uncharacteristically shy smile.
"I couldn't let him hurt her," Chloe said, blushing slightly. "She means too much to me."
"What happened after that?" Jessica asked.
"The cops showed up, and he was arrested," Beca said. "We have to go to the police station tomorrow and give them our statements. My mom's going to ask that my dad be charged with a hate crime since he only did it because I'm gay."
"Chloe!?" Charlotte's voice called out.
Chloe turned to see her mother coming through the door, looking rather flustered.
"What's wrong, mom?"
"Something's happened at home. Come with me. We need to talk about what we're going to do."
"Oh, um, okay," Chloe said, looking nervously at her mother. "Beca? Would you come, too?"
"Of course," Beca said, looking at the other girls. "Excuse us."
Beca followed Chloe and Charlotte back into the house.
"Should we just stay here or what?" Ashley asked Jessica and Fat Amy.
"We can check out the car a bit," Fat Amy said.
"Yeah," Jessica said. "It sounded personal, so we should probably stay here."
Charlotte hurried over to Carl and stood next to him. Chloe grasped Beca's hand and looked at her parents.
"What's going on, dad?"
"Our neighbor Lou just called," Carl said, looking down at the floor. "Someone broke into our house."
"Oh, my God!" Chloe whispered.
"Their security camera captured the intruder breaking in, and Lou gave the police the video," Carl said, avoiding Chloe's eyes.
"No, Daddy," Chloe whimpered. "It can't be. . .was it?"
Carl finally looked at Chloe and nodded. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, it was him."
Chloe stiffened and looked at Beca.
"It's okay, Chloe," Beca said, pulling Chloe into her arms. "You're safe here. I promise."
"Wh-what are you going to do?" Chloe asked, looking over at her parents.
"We'll have to go home," Carl said.
"I found a flight that leaves at eight-thirty tonight," Sarah said from the living room sofa. "But, there was only one seat left, so I booked it for you, Carl."
"Thank you, Sarah," Charlotte said.
"I can drive you to the airport," Sarah said. "Charlotte and Chloe look a bit overwhelmed, and I don't mind."
"That's very kind of you, Sarah," Carl said, looking from his wife to his daughter. "I'll go home and check things and call you once I know more, okay?"
"Okay, dear," Charlotte said. "You should probably go now. You'll have to go by Chloe's and get your suitcase before you go to the airport."
"Come on, Carl," Sarah said. "We can go now."
"I'll ride with you to the airport," Charlotte said.
"Daddy," Chloe said, walking over to the man. She pulled him into a hug and whispered, "Please be careful."
"Always, baby girl," Carl said, pulling out of the hug.
Carl reached for Charlotte's hand. "Let's go."
Sarah grabbed her purse and keys and led the Beales out to her car. Chloe and Beca followed.
"Mr. Beale," Beca said, causing the man to turn and look at her. "Don't worry about your wife or Chloe. They can both stay here. We'll keep them safe, I promise."
"Thank you, Beca," Carl said. "That means a lot to me."
The Beales got into the car, and Sarah drove off.
Beca led Chloe back into the house just as Fat Amy, Jessica, and Ashley came in from the garage.
"Is it okay if we come back in?" Jessica asked.
"Sure," Beca said as she and Chloe sat at the kitchen counter.
"We heard a car pull off," Ashley said, looking at Chloe. "Did your folks leave?"
Chloe was staring down at the counter and didn't say anything.
"Only Carl is leaving," Beca responded. "My mom took him to the airport; Charlotte went along for the ride."
"Why did he have to leave?" Ashley asked.
"There was a break-in at their house," Beca said. "Carl went home to check on things and speak with the police. Charlotte and Chloe will be staying here for a couple of days."
Chloe continued to look down at the counter. She wiped a tear from her eye; Jessica saw her and asked, "Chloe, are you okay?"
"I think she's a bit overwhelmed," Beca said.
Chloe looked up with tears in her eyes, blurting out, "I have a stalker, and he's the one who broke into our house."
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nokingsonlyfooles · 1 year
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Do Not Watch "Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker"
I'ma tell you why, because writing words helps me regulate my emotions and I have this outlet now, but I'm not having a wonderful time right now. Y'all don't have to click.
I like me some true crime. I consume it critically. It is often painfully obvious the police have fucked up and railroaded someone, but the soundtrack will be dissonantly scary or triumphant, so I know that's not the conclusion I'm meant to draw. Nevertheless, a mystery is interesting, even if it comes with a chaser of systemic injustice.
Netflix's algorithm has been trying to feed me "Hatching Wielding Hitchhiker" for a long time. I finally bit. I feel ill with anger right now.
It's a short documentary. 1'25". I think they had time to say the words "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" and "People with mental illnesses are most often the victims of violent crime and not the perpetrators" but it never came up. I don't think they even said the words "child abuse" although they had a child abuser on camera in a nice homey setting who kept deadnaming her child. (Cis people can have deadnames too, it all depends on the circumstances that caused them to change their name. I think an escape from an abusive family warrants a name change that should be respected.)
They had a corroborating, not-mentally-ill person say that this woman had a dark room with blankets over all the windows where she locked her son, and that she'd also tried to lock him (the witness) in there. When they put her on camera she said, essentially, "No, I never locked him in his room. I did have to lock him in his room, but it was because he would get up early and do things that could hurt him."
And I remember being preschool-aged, and climbing up on the kitchen counters to serve myself milk, cereal and sugar (I was not allowed sugar, it was on the highest shelf), sometimes even making a mess, because my dad was at work and my mom was upstairs in a depressive coma, and I wonder, "Oh. Things like that?"
I know my parents would also say, "No, we never locked her in her room. Well, we did lock her in her room, but it wasn't a lock, it was a hook-and-eye latch. She wouldn't sleep, and she cried a lot and wanted us to comfort her, and we wanted to sleep. So, we fixed it. We got her a fire ladder and made sure she knew how to climb down it, so that wasn't a problem. Well, we assume she didn't have to use the bathroom... Anyway, she didn't like to flush the toilet, it was too loud, she said, and that sure was inconvenient for us. What is this about, again?"
Anyway, this kid finally tried to burn down the house (or at least started a fire), got put in foster care and ran away soon after. If I'd been AMAB and had a bit more testosterone on board, I might've done something clever like that instead of hanging out in an abusive situation until my early twenties, but it never seemed like an option.
The boy we're concerned with changed his name, lived on the street, got assaulted more than once (I don't see any reason to doubt that) and had really bad reactions to seeing others assaulted. He stopped an assault with a hatchet. And he became like an adorable duck who drinks a milkshake, no longer a human being who needs food and shelter and safety... if he ever was that, to anyone.
He made the rounds on TV and social media, the police got him to testify against the guy who did the assault, and I see no effort by anyone to do anything more than corral him long enough to get what they wanted from him. During that time, he peed in inappropriate places, and on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (that is an appropriate place to pee, everyone pees there, I have been to Hollywood), threw a knife at the ground (oh no, scary music), and rode his skateboard in a bumpy hotel lobby. This irritated people. When they stuck a camera in his face and tried to get him to perform, he rambled nonsensically. That wasn't very adorable, so he started to not be so famous anymore.
Here is where the scary music, already present whenever he did something weird, became constant.
He says a 70-year-old man picked him up, drugged him and raped him. The 70-year-old man's friends say "He wouldn't do something like that." But, you know, a mentally-ill homeless person who's never participated in an unprovoked attack before would beat a 70-year-old man to death for no reason.
The scary music, and many of the people who met the young man, find it especially damning that he allowed his alleged rapist to drive him to the train station and buy him a ticket, and hugged him goodbye. The young man thought he could take the train and find someplace safe to sleep, but he could not, so he went back to the rapist's house to get a meal and a bed. Why would a person do something like that?
Oh, I dunno, maybe people are willing to do some awful stuff when they need food and a bed? Or maybe he told himself it didn't happen, "I'm just overreacting"? Or maybe he gave the guy a chance to not try something, and the guy tried something, so he killed him? I could forgive any of that. I know how hard it is to get away from an abusive situation, how that helplessness gets ground into your bones, and how scared and angry you can get when you feel like it's all going to happen again, and that would give me some reasonable doubts.
(The police officer saying that it's almost impossible to fracture the orbital socket, when it is only difficult to fracture one part of the orbital socket, and an elbow to the face can easily fracture another part of it, and the young man saying in his interrogation that he elbowed his rapist in the face, also gave me some doubts.)
It did not give the judge, the jury, or most of the people who shoved cameras in the young man's face, any reasonable doubts.
Now he sits in prison, saying, "But I was raped!" and being denied a new trial. He does not wish to see his abusive mother. The closing captions deadnamed him some more.
Thanks, Netflix. What an intriguing mystery. Not unlike that thing you tried to get me to watch where someone vacuum-bagged a kitten, only you didn't play scary music to make me afraid of the kitten.
Don't watch this. And don't watch that, either. It's called "Don't F**k with Cats," don't watch it.
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echoing-oursong · 2 years
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For @zoomersandlosers the Forever Winter by Taylor Swift inspired fic with Steve and Robin 
TW and Notes: lyrics used or integrated in fic are in italics, drunk!Steve, Steve and his low self-esteem issues, talk about a slight assault (in canon when Steve is getting interrogated the Russians hold/tug at his hair so that is slightly addressed here), talking about trauma, talk about Steve and Robin being drugged
          Title:   He Seems Fine Most of the Time (I Call Just Checkin’ Up On Him)
             Robin couldn’t fall asleep plagued with nightmares of the battle. She had fallen asleep early that night, but later she had woken up early in the morning. Memories of melted flesh and the voices with Russian accents and inhalation of smoke were the only things that she could sense. Robin felt jittery as she kept moving her hands and turning into weird positions in her bed. She also kept debating in her head if she should go to the phone and call Steve. Most times Robin’s nightmares consisted of Steve’s screams when they drugged him, and she had wanted to make sure that he was okay. In her dreams she would put her hands on him to wake him up and when her hands came back bloody, she would hysterically search for a pulse. Robin would wake up screaming when there was no pulse found. When her parents would come into her room asking what had happened, the only response was that it was a nightmare from the mall. They had told her parents that they were at late at work and Steve had saved her life. Which wasn’t that far from the truth, well the second part wasn’t that far from the truth.
           Robin had been debating about calling for about a half hour now. Finally, it started to become too nerve wrecking for her, and she threw the blankets off her bed. Trying to go down the steps without making any noise, she looked over her shoulder making sure that her parents didn’t come down to see her. She made it down to the first floor and a smile appeared for the first time that night as she completed her mission. Although, she almost blew it by shouting in happiness. Robin carefully tip toed to the phone and after picking up the phone she called Steve’s number. She had gotten it after the battle and called him so often that she didn’t need to look at the phonebook to figure out who to call. The phone made beeping noises as it dialed his number. She held the phone close to her ear so that her parents wouldn’t hear a sound and leaned against the wall to get more comfortable. In anxiousness she also twirled her fingers around the cord and bounced her legs waiting for Steve’s voice to come through. She felt like time went by forever before he picked up the phone.
           “Hello, who is this?” Steve’s voice came from the phone and Robin relaxed against the wall even more. Her hands paused in their movement from fiddling with the cord. The bounce in her leg also paused but then increased when the slurring of his voice registered. It had been a slight slur, but Robin knew him well enough to pick up on it. She reasoned to herself that he could have just woken up, but Robin was concerned in the way that he was talking. A moment went by before Robin realized she had to answer his question. “Steve, it’s Robin.” Through the phone she heard a sigh come from Steve. Robin bit her lip as she was waiting for Steve’s response because it felt like a long time before he responded back to her. “Is everything okay?” The question that came out of his mouth sounded so automatic like the ones that you would hear at grocery stores. Are you having a good day? Those types of questions, but unlike them he sounded genuine and had a personal connection with Robin. She was the one to sigh now and said, “I just wanted to check to make sure that you were okay.” “I’m fine Robin,” said Steve. But Robin’s mouth formed a frown as the slight slurring happened again. It didn’t sound like he had just woken up. Her eyebrows went up as she realized something. She voiced her realization and said, “Are you drunk?”
           Her concern grew as Steve took a long moment to gather himself together in an attempt to deceive her. His voice came out low and husky with more slurring. “No, why would I do that? What are you? My mom.” Now, Robin was panicking as she had never dealt with a drunk Steve before. In high school they made him out to be this big drinker as he was the Keg King. But throughout their time spent together she realized the times he did drink he never had much. It had been a shock to her especially after learning about the secrets that the gang had to hide from the town. She had assumed that he would want to drink to deal with everything, but one time she had told him her assumptions he had said that it was more complicated than that. Back than Steve had not elaborated on his explanation, but she respected his answer. So, hearing his voice from the phone sounding like this had frightened her just a bit. This led her to say quietly into the phone, “I’m biking over.” She then hung up because she knew that Steve would protest. He would tell her that it was late and that it was about a fifteen-minute bike drive which she could be kidnapped or something even worse. She was concerned about that too, but she was even more concerned about her friend.
           Robin not caring that she was in her pajamas walked over to the door and saw her coat hanging on the coatrack. She put on her coat and tried to silently yank the door open. Once opening the door, she stepped outside and closed the door. She surveyed her front yard and began her journey to her garage to get her bike. When she reached her bike Robin saw her helmet on one of the arms of the bike. She took it off the bike and secured it onto her head. After that she then kicked up the kickstand and went onto the bike. Robin then rode her bike to Steve’s meanwhile thinking about his voice. Something had sounded off and strange. Even though she thought he was a douche for most of high school, she fastly became attached to him when she first met him. When he had walked into the Scoops Ahoy place for the first time, she couldn’t help but wish that she had just got a different job at another place. Thinking that he would be insufferable. But then when she had teased Steve he just laughed nervously or made a joke at her. He didn’t say rude jokes to her though and nothing surprised her more when she found out he was good with children. The first time that it had completely shocked her was when Erica and her family had come in for the first time. Erica’s brother, Lucas who she hadn’t known at the time, saw Steve and immediately bursted into laughter. His family had scolded him, but he just kept laughing. The reaction of Steve’s completely blindsided her as Steve had just told the kid to laugh it up. And he jokingly laughed at the kid which then led to Lucas unable to stop laughing. Steve got his order without even to be told and when the kid finally stopped laughing, he mentioned about telling ‘the party,’ whatever that meant. Steve had just sighed like he knew this was going to happen. Erica and the Sinclair’s although bothered seemed like they knew about the friendship that the two had. She didn’t know what it all meant back then or why they were friends but after that night (she refused to call it what the others were calling it – even Steve used the terminology) she understood why they became friends. She couldn’t wrap her brain around it but somehow Steve became the person to take in people who were dubbed as freaks. People with strange personalities. People like her.
           While her thoughts wondered she made sure to check her surroundings in case she bumped into a rock or something. In about eleven minutes Robin sees Steve’s house in sight making her smile despite his voice vibrating in her skull with his slurring. Finally, she gets outside of Steve’s house and gets off her bike. She sets the kickstand down and takes her helmet off her head snapping back onto the left arm of her bike. She races to Steve’s door and makes sure to knock loudly. After a few moments nothing is heard from him, and she grows more anxious as she starts to play with her pajama shirt. She curses out loud until she remembers that Steve had told her that the spare key was under the mat. When he had first told her that she had laughed and told him that it was a very typical and easy to find spot for a key. But Steve had told her that that’s why it was a perfect spot. He had said that smart people or nerds, which she found hilarious considering that he surrounded himself with nerds, would never look there. Because they believe that people wouldn’t take that route and spend enormous amounts of time to finding the key when it was right under them the whole time. Sometimes she wondered why he thought he could outsmart the smart people.
           She took the key and placed it into the doorknob. When it clicked, she opened the door and suddenly she realized that his parents might be home. But then she realized that Steve had told her his parents were out for the next week. So, she didn’t feel that bad when she shouted his name into the house. Silence filled the house, and she waited a few moments as he might not have wanted to respond right away. Robin had called out his name again and again but was met with silence. Anxiety grew in her and she raced up the steps taking two at a time to get to his room. When she got up the stairs, she walked the hallway and saw that his door was open. She got to his door but didn’t see him. Even though she peered into his room and didn’t see him, she went into his room. She sat on his bed for a few minutes and saw his window contemplating something. Hoping to get some sort of clue onto where he was, she walked over to the window. She peered out and gasped as she saw Steve on the diving board of his pool. She relaxed a little bit knowing that he was safe, but then remembered his slurring and that she questioned if he was drunk.
           Robin ran down the steps and ran into his backyard. She didn’t shout his name though because she didn’t want to scare him into accidently falling going into his pool. When she had gotten closer however she heard Steve muttering a few words, but she couldn’t hear what they were. Finally, when she got closer she whispered his name which his head immediately turned towards her. His eyes were blood red shot and there were tears tricking down his face. He smiled but it did not reach his eyes and it was not the one Robin was used to. It was not the smile that she had grown to love. The one which she found annoying in high school, but now wished it would never fade away into the universe. Now she stared at his depressed state wondering what he was thinking about. Steve replied to her, “Robin, what are you doing here?” His voice was still husky, but it was the same as when she heard him on the phone. Hopefully that meant he hadn’t drunk anything more when she was biking here. Robin started to get more desperate and begged him, “Can you please come over here, Steve?” Steve nodded a tiny bit and slide on the diving board heading towards his friend not trusting himself to stand up. When Steve got close enough to her, she reached out and grabbed him into a hug. After a few moments she pulled away from him and placed her hands on his shoulders. “You look like shit,” was what came out of her mouth. She wished that it hadn’t come out of her mouth as Steve’s face formed into a frown. However, she was glade when she didn’t notice a beer bottle in his hands. She grabbed his hand and dragged him into his house. Once inside she had to walk a little further and eventually saw a couch up against a wall. She sat him on his couch and saw a blanket that had been draped on top of the couch. Grabbing it, she wrapped it onto his body hoping to get him warm. Although, it was summer she had seen him by the pool and concern grew in her as she thought that he might get cold.
           After a few moments of Steve staring blankly at her she finally gathered the courage. Robin afraid to set him off whispered, “Steve, what happened?” Steve sniffed and didn’t answer her. Starting to become annoyed and anxious again she whispered the same question. The answer was not the one she expected. “I don’t think you should be friends with me.” Robin stared at Steve as she processed that thought, which she couldn’t even do that. Her response came out angry, “Why the hell would you say that?” She couldn’t fathom why he would say that as she couldn’t imagine not being his friend. Steve took a couple of moments to get his thoughts together and said, “I’ll hurt you.” Robin watched in worry as Steve held his head in his hands that were in his lap. Robin grabbed one of his hands, but Steve immediately retracked his hand away from her. Robin couldn’t help how hurt that made her but the worry over Steve was consuming her. She softly said, “Steve what’s wrong?” Steve shook his head and started running his fingers through his hair. A nervous habit that she noticed he had often done. He had done it when they were in the Russian elevator and when they had their talk in the bathroom.
           Now though she wanted the nervous habit to stop and hoped that Steve would explain what he was talking about. Steve then said, “You need to get away from me. It’s the only way you’ll be safe.” Robin was now really getting worried which turned into anger, and she got off the couch. The anger had started to take over now as she was furious as to why he would be thinking this. “What the hell? I want to be friends with you and there is nothing you can say or do that would make me think differently.” She kept moving her arms and wagging her right pointer finger at him to prove a point, but at the end Steve lifted his head and stared at her. Her anger halted at his expression as his eyes were twinkling with a look on the verge of tears. He shook his head and said, “I don’t think that’s true.” Robin gulped and looked away from him. She kneeled onto the ground next to him and took his hands in hers. Steve didn’t pull his hands away from her and she took a breath saying, “Steve something’s wrong. I want to help you so can you please tell me what’s going on?” She felt like she was falling onto pieces on the floor trying to beg Steve for answers.    
           Steve answered her begging with something that made the whole room pause at his truth. “I killed her, Robin. I killed her.” Her head spun at that, but she knew Steve. He wouldn’t kill anyone unless he was protecting his friends. However, she grew more anxious and wanting to understand him, so she voiced her next question. “Who?” Steve turned and stared outside of the door into his pool. Robin wanting to gain his full attention gently grabbed his chin and turned his head towards her. She didn’t expect to see pain, anguish, guilt, and something else that she couldn’t place. It hurt her to see that on her best friend, so she rubbed softly at his cheek hoping the pain went away. Instead of it being a comfort he looked more guilty and looked down at his feet. “It wasn’t supposed to end that way. It was supposed to be a fun night. I thought we were having fun.” She rubbed at his cheek again and wanted to put his eyes back on her, but she didn’t force his head to look at her. She had known that knowing the truth and seeing what they had damaged them, but she wasn’t used to seeing Steve this way. It had forced them all into being fighters and survivors. People that this town would ever acknowledge. People whose pain was used as some sort of joke.
He explained further in a soft cracking voice, “I was supposed to protect her.” Even though Robin cared about his moment she also grew frustrated with his vague responded to her and said, “Who Steve?” Steve looked completely away from her in what appeared to be shame. She found it a tiny bit ridiculous as she was never going to blame Steve for anything. His voice grew quieter as he muttered the name, “Barb.” That stopped her for a moment and gave her pause. She remembered the story that had come out a few months ago about her death. Although Steve had told her a basic story about the lab she was still confused as to what Barb had to do with it. She chooses her next words carefully, “I thought that was the lab. It was a chemical leak, Steve.” Steve shook his head and said, “No, it was those things. The Demogorgon got her. “
           Her voice came out in a whisper afraid to hurt him even more now. “That wasn’t your fault though Steve. No one could have predicted that.” “Well, I should have,” was the angered response. He whipped his head to hers and she couldn’t deal with the amount of pain that was in his eyes. “You couldn’t have okay. So please stop talking like that.” Steve had yanked his hands out of her grasp and her hands flew to her sides. He got himself up and Robin also getting up gently placed her hands on his shoulders and forced him to sit back down. “Steve please just sit down.” He had tried to fight his way out of her grasp and kept trying to stand up. Finally, he just sat down completely on his couch and started to sob. Robin’s eyes widened and she sat down next to him on the couch. She rubbed his back hoping that it would subside. However, in between his cries he admitted something. “She died, she’s dead Robin.” The crying became even worse after that, and she gently grabbed him causing his head to rest on her shoulder.
           After a few minutes the crying started to stop. It didn’t stop completely but it was better than what it had been. As Robin was rubbing his back she whispered to him, “Steve please tell me what is going on. You’re starting to scare me.” She wished that had calmed him down, but instead he started to grow more worried about her. “I’m sorry.” His hands flew back to his hair and running his hands through the hair. She shook her head and said “That’s not what I meant. I just want you to be okay Steve. I didn’t know you were breaking down like this.” She could tell that she was breaking Steve’s walls as he answered her begging with, “She died here, Robin. Barb died here. I had a stupid party with Tommy, Carol, Nancy, and Barb. Nancy invited Barb over and we were shot gunning some beers. When it was Barb’s turn, she cut her hand and had to clean up in my bathroom. I should’ve gone with her to help. Instead, I wanted to have a stupid fucking party.” He paused and took a break there as he was starting to catch his breath from all the energy it took him to explain. Robin watched and didn’t say anything afraid that she would scare him, and she almost shuddered at the thought as if Steve was a frightened animal. Eventually, Steve gathered his courage and continued to explain. “We jumped into the pool. After that we had to get into some clean clothes, so I was bringing Nancy up to do that. And before we could Barb came to get Nancy, but she wanted to be with me. Well, you could guess how that went and Barb had left or so we thought.” The room was silent for a minute as the reality of what Steve had just said processed in Robin’s brain. But one thing wasn’t making sense which she voiced, “How do you know that if you were some place else?” Steve sighed again which she really wished he would stop doing and said, “Jonathan took pictures.” Her eyebrows raised in confusion as she didn’t understand something. Robin said, “You didn’t say his name with the others.” Steve shook his head and said, “He wasn’t invited.”  “So, what he was just stalking you guys?” His shoulders shrugged ad he said, “I guess so, but it’s been so long that I don’t care anymore.” This response to Robin’s confusion didn’t help anything as she suddenly grew angry on Steve’s behalf. “I think you should care Steve,” was what Robin told him.
           Steve took a moment to breathe, and Robin gently grabbed his shoulder to bring him closer to her. Steve’s breathing was coming out in slow motions with a heavy texture to it. Although, he didn’t care that Robin had pulled him closer and he softened into her touch. Robin sighed out a breath and instead of trying to push him about the topic of the pictures she said, “I’m sorry.” She gave a slight kiss to the top of Steve’s temple and the warm touch lasted a few moments. The whisper of affection towards Steve seemed to calm him down but at the same time increased his anxiety as he reached towards his hair and smothered the kiss with his hands. Robin, feeling hurt but also wanting to care for her friend, put her hand on his knee hoping that it was a better alternative. Steve’s hand came back down from his hair and held her hand that was on his knee. Robin said, “You’re my best friend, Steve. I want to know when you’re breaking down.” She took a breath after carefully choosing her words again, “I want to know when you’re not okay.” Robin felt like she was really begging this time for him to let out all his insecurities and demons. She wanted to figure out the puzzle of Steve’s head as sometimes he was so long gone that he wouldn’t listen to anyone.
           She held him tighter, and Steve relaxed more into her touch but retracked his hands from hers. A few moments went by where Robin was looking at Steve carefully until he said, “I need protect you all. I just don’t know how to.” She wanted to take his hands that he was now wringing together but she didn’t. She had wanted to do and say so many things to him. The one above all though was that she loved him. Robin never had a friend like Steve. Someone who made her smile with his lame ass jokes (and sometimes they were pretty good jokes) and his personality. While Robin was silent Steve was now the one trying to figure out the right words to say to her. Steve forced a slight smile and said, “You all are the best people in my life. I don’t know who I would be without all of you.” He gulped and continued, “I can’t lose you all. I’m so fucking scared of that happening. Now with Hopper being gone.” He takes a second and swallows but barrels on. Robin admires his bravery in situations such as this knowing that Steve didn’t open up to anyone else besides her. “Everyone’s a mess right now. We’ve dealt with this pain before but it’s different. We can’t ignore this now and the Byers are leaving. I’m going to be the oldest now out of all of us.” Robin looked at Steve’s face and saw everything that she didn’t want to see.
           The entire world was on Steve’s shoulders right now and he was on a tightrope. Waiting for the moment it snapped and dooming him into a descent of madness. Responsibility was in sight for him, and he would have to ignore the calls or pleas to care for himself. The pain that the others went through were dragging him into the cold pitiless world of despair with no railing to hold him up. Robin wanted to turn away and deny this truth but seeing the desperation in the way his face crinkled told her she couldn’t. Even if she wanted to turn a blind eye, it was still Steve who had carved out a place in her heart no one could ever touch. She took a breath and wanting to be brave like her best friend said, “I’ve got your back, Steve. I’m not going anywhere.” This got Steve to turn and look at her. Robin stared at him and watched as he realized that she was telling the truth which broke down his walls. He threw himself into Robin’s arms and she held him as he started to sob again.
           Sniffling was heard and after a few moments he went onto one of his other demons. One that didn’t involve the others, one that he clearly never even admitted to himself. “He touched my hair, Robin.” Robin’s eyes crinkled and her eyebrows scrunched into confusion. In his ear she whispered, “Who?” Another sniffle was heard and eventually he said, “The Russians. It’s so fucking stupid.” Robin, remembering their time in the Russian base, felt a phantom touch of where Steve’s head had been on the base of her head. Although touching was never shy with them, it had been the closest they had ever been which Robin wanted to change. Shuddering from the experience she remembered when Steve had first woken up and the men had come in. She couldn’t see what they were doing to him which often the guilt of that kept her up at nights. Leaving her with nightmares and she remembered seeing them touch his chin or face from the side of her eye. Robin had rubbed her hands against Steve’s arms again and said, “Its not stupid Steve. They hurt you.” She felt Steve stilling in her arms and heard him whisper, “I feel like it is. They could have done worse things to me.” Suddenly he sounded angry at the end and in pure anger also said, “And somehow I’m still worried about my hair.”
           Robin felt him shudder a bit and the way in which his shoulders became tighter. Robin kept rubbing his shoulders after stopping for a few moments and tried to keep soothing him. She was starting to become angry about how he felt it was stupid. He didn’t want them to touch his hair and they were trying to kill him. She really didn’t think it was that dumb or superficial. Maybe that’s why he thought he was being stupid. He felt like he was being superficial as he had been before. So, Robin in order to calm him down said, “I would be angry too.” It was difficult but Steve picked his head up from her chest saying to her in a weak voice, “Really?” Robin nodded her head vigorously hopping to get the message across to Steve. “It wasn’t something you wanted. You shouldn’t feel guilty over that.” Steve’s eyes glistened with the weariness and exhaustion he had. His eyes were bloodshot and red looking but Robin didn’t care. She wanted to get across that he shouldn’t feel guilty for this.
           Steve forced another smile to get the message to Robin that he understood what she was saying. But Robin knew that it didn’t necessarily mean he would take that advice. More moments passed on as she waited for Steve to continue. She wanted him to know that he could keep talking to her. Steve pulled away and brushed his fingers through his hair. “I feel his fingers lingering and I hate it. Then everything catches up with me. I hear my voice saying Dustin’s name and it’s like the world has stopped. They stare at me and bring him in. I see the gun go right to his temple, and I hyperventilate. I fucking told them his name. All I can do is stare and beg. Then the gun goes off and I stare at walls with blood everywhere. Then I see you and Erica getting hurt too. All I can think of is I was supposed to protect everyone. And I couldn’t even do that right.” Robin watched as he kept running his fingers through his hair as he grew more agitated with himself and at the events repeating through his mind. She had those nightmares a few times. The ones where it felt like you were watching someone else in your skin. Your body not knowing what to do but your thoughts run like a hamster wheel. Repeating over and over the scenarios that could have happened. The what ifs more daunting than what happened. The what ifs taking over your mind until you’re nothing but an imaginary scenario.
           Robin grabbed his shoulders again and kept him into her arms which didn’t scare him as he didn’t pull away. It was a tug of war game with them being apart barely a few inches on the couch and then being in one another’s arms for comfort. “I know this isn’t going to do anything, but you were drugged. It wasn’t your fault just like Barb wasn’t your fault either. No matter what happens, I will love you at your darkest.” What she doesn’t tell him is that she wants to take the bomb of thoughts that was in his head and silence it. What Robin says though is “You have to promise me whenever you feel this way that you’ll come to me.” She had learned that the children had cared deeply about promises which was something that Steve had taken seriously to. Somehow, she wondered how the children and Steve hadn’t been friends forever because their values and virtues aligned with one another. She heard Steve sniffle again and he said, “I don’t think I can do that.” He paused looking at his hands and said, “Sometimes with everything we know, I wonder if ghosts exist. And if they do, I think I’m being haunted by her.” Once again he swallows trying to word everything correctly. After a moment he says, “I can’t tell if it’s in a good or bad way.” He sighed again which she really wished he would stop doing but she would not voice her annoyance after that confession.
           She didn’t know why but this whole time she felt like she had to choose her words carefully but now the choice was made not to be careful. Robin stood up from her spot on the couch and wagged her finger in Steve’s face. “I am not going to leave you to deal with this on your own. I’m here and I will not leave.” She hears another sniffle coming from Steve and she kneels back down placing her hand on his knee for another time. Robin looks at Steve who is back to looking at his shoes and running his fingers through his hair. Another sentence is uttered by Steve that makes the room pause with the amount of weight it holds. “I need to protect everyone. It’s the only way I am useful.” Robin’s jaw dropped open, and her eyes bugged out as the realization of how awful his self-worth was.
           The realization was a bucket of ice being poured down on her back or harshly being hit with a huge snowball. It was almost as worse as seeing the supernatural monster. Seeing him in pain was one of her worst fears, she realized. Tears started to stream down her face, and she squeezed his thigh to provide some comfort. Beneath her hands she feels Steve’s leg bouncing and now it was her that was sniffling. She said, “You are more useful than just for that. Steve, you are amazing, and I wish you could see that.” Steve was silent and he pitched forward a tiny bit falling into Robin’s arms falling onto the floor with her. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders and Robin’s arms flew to his torso wrapping him in a hug. His sobs wracked against Robin’s body until it consumed the room as the only sound being heard. Robin painfully aware of how silent it had gotten wanted him to say something. He answered her silent pleas with a “I don’t think I believe that. I feel like I don’t believe anything positive that people say these days.” Robin consumed with heartbreak at his response said, “I’m not going anywhere, Steve. You have me no matter what happens.” They stayed like that engulfed in an embrace that neither wanted to let go of. An embrace that would hopefully remove their demons from them.  
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spicler-man · 2 years
Text
peter and morgan
masterlist here
Spider Surprise by LittleMissAgrafina for Nicolemoon8
"How big is it this time?"
Morgan blinked at him, face grave as she lifted her arms and spread them out as wide as she could. "The biggest one, Daddy."
Tony sighed and nodded, suppressing a shudder. Man, he hated spiders. "Okay. Let's get this over with."
He stepped forward, pushing the door to the treehouse open as he did. Just as he ducked inside, he caught movement out the corner of his eye and turned towards it. And there, leaning against the wall with a smirk, was Peter.
---
Peter gets home early from college and decides to surprise his family with the help of Morgan.
Comfortember 23. Hiding + 28. Treehouse
The Kingdom Come, The Rise, The Fall by BlueCherryCoke
There were photos of everything: photos of her, the avengers, landscapes, and her family. To his surprise, his eyes were drawn to a photo he recognised.
‘Morgs, why do you have a photo of me on your wall?’ he questioned, turning around to look at her.
----
Morgan meets Peter and answers an important question.
Honorary Brother by Jen27ny for imgoingtocrash
“May!” Peter’s scream drowns out the loud bang from the apartment door. In equal parts surprise and shock, May jumps from the couch, the coffee in the mug spilling on her favorite (white) blanket. “I need you to teach me about babies!”
For a second, they just stare at each other.
“Peter, I know we never really talked much about… that, but considering what kind of school you’re going to, I thought that at least your Biology teacher would-”
“Nope! Not talking about that!” Peter screams just as loud as before, but now it’s out of horror and not excitement. “I’m talking about how to care for them, not how to-” He can’t even get the sentence out, not when this is indirectly about Tony and Pepper, because going anywhere near that topic with them makes him wanna vomit over May’s (already stained, so maybe it wouldn’t be that big of a deal) favorite blanket.
~*~*~
With baby Morgan finally born, Peter is ready to be the best pseudo-brother he can be. No one else is ready, though.
Honorary Stark by imgoingtocrash
“You have to be more careful at least until Baby Stark is born,” Pepper says, placing his hand on her stomach. “She hears your voice and starts kicking away.”Peter lets out a breathy “Aw,” at that, feeling the tiny kicks of the baby against his hand. Tony and Pepper look at him, pleased. Aunt May looks like she might cry a little, from the moment and a little bit from sleep deprivation.“Pepper Potts, expert guilt-tripper since, well, forever.”“Shhh, Mister Stark, you’re ruining the moment.”As Tony and Pepper prepare to be parents, Peter realizes how happily close he is to the Stark family in a myriad of domestic ways.
Stop, Look, Listen. by for_the_night
The problem with children is sometimes they don't think before they jump- or run - for that matter. One moment Morgan was running to her father after another great day at school, the next Peter had her in his arms, fear stricken, as the car made impact.
whose daughter are you? whose fortunate son? by ohbutmydarling
"My daddy loved you three thousand."
Dad Handbook by baloobird for imgoingtocrash
Tony walks in on Peter comforting Morgan after she had a nightmare and he never expected just how soft he gets.
Love you 3000! by AimAim94
Pepper asks Morgan Stark why she loves Peter Parker.
Adorable sibling Fluff.
Yes, I threw in some Iron Dad fluff too. Don't worry. 😉
*Note: I don't own these characters. They belong to Marvel, Disney and Sony.*
Hero by lady_oneder
Time travel is fickle, and Tony is busting out his dad moves. Peter just wants to take the physics test he studied hard for.
OR
Tony, Morgan, and Peter accidentally travel back and time and meet Howard and Maria Stark
Chapter 4 is an Author's Note.
Life in the land of orange by Charlotte_stars
"Hey, kiddo. Are you alright?"
Morgan slowly regained consciousness, blinking several times as a strange orange light assaulted her senses.
"You with us? Well, it's just me actually. You with me? I don't know your name so I'm just gonna call you kiddo for the moment. Don't try to speak, just let yourself adjust for a minute. Or five minutes. Or ten, it's not like we're going anywhere."
~
Morgan Stark falls out of a tree. When she wakes she meets a mysterious person who looks strangely like the boy in her Dad's photograph.
How Not to Steal a Couch by ephemeralstark
“ Why are we even taking the couch, man?” “This is Tony Stark’s couch, you know it’s gonna be worth millions,” came the reply. “Not if you dent it by dropping it, it’s not.” “Petey?” a small voice came from behind Peter, “why are those men here? Are we moving house?” “What the-” the sofa hit the floor with a clatter that interrupted Mr. Stark’s snoring from the floor above. - Two men get the bright idea to try and rob Tony Stark, not realising that the entire family is still inside the house.
Spider-Man: Finding Home by Yeeter_Parker
It was over, Beck had won. He killed everyone Peter loved. But this isn't the end. It's only the beginning. What little heart Beck had left decided to send Peter to a different universe instead of killing him. A universe where everyone was alive, except Peter didn't exist in this universe. Peter needs to stop Beck. Peter also vows to not get close to Tony, or Ned, and MJ. Until one day he meets a girl named Morgan that strikes familiarity in Peter. But it's probably nothing. Will Peter stop Beck? Will Tony figure out who this Peter is that his daughter talks so much about? Read to find out.
who you are is not where you’ve been (you’re still an innocent) by MellarkandArt
He had never, ever expected to see Skip again, not in this lifetime at least. He’d feared it, sure, had nightmares about it, of course, but the rational part of his mind concluded that it wasn’t a very plausible scenario. Not once, never in a million years would he have expected to find that monster in the Starks’ home.
“Why was Skip here?” Peter mumbled into May’s shoulder.
May stiffened but answered him. “Tony and Pepper were talking about getting a babysitter for Morgan. I told them… how much you liked Skip… I guess Tony tracked him down.”
“I thought that it might be good for you and Morgan both. I apologize if I overstepped…” Tony said.
“Why didn’t you just ask me?” Peter asked, pulling away from his aunt. ”I could have watched Morgan. I wouldn’t mind and I’d never hurt her!”
“Peter,” Pepper inquired softly, sitting in an armchair across from the sofa. “Did Skip hurt you?”
I promise to be always there when you need me by superpineappleenthusiast
brother /ˈbrʌðə/ noun 1. a man or boy in relation to other sons and daughters of his parents.
Morgan knew Daddy wasn’t Petey’s real dad. But Peter was Morgan’s brother, and always would be.
Morgan's Protective Big Brother by Ebone
Morgan gets in a fight in school and Peter is the only one who can get her.
Siblings by apscribbles
Bits of Peter and Morgan’s lives as siblings.
Hospital Days by nblkolt
Peter meets Morgan while visiting a comatose Tony in the hospital. She keeps insisting he is her brother and he doesn't know how to break it to her he is not.
We Hold These Infinities (To Be Self-Evident) by Disishistory
Morgan curses in front of everyone. More importantly, in front of Pepper. Time for Tony to blame Peter.
kidnapping by OnlyForward
morgan stark gets kidnapped and peter accidentally finds her…because the kidnapper comes and begs spiderman to take her back.
Found Family by inkinmyheartandonthepage
A little girl wondering around New York with a robot is not the weirdest thing that Peter had seen as Spider-Man but it’s definitely up there.
trick or treat by ciaconnaa
“Oh my god,” Peter nearly yelps as he grabs the smoothie away from Morgan, despite her protests. “Pepper’s allergic to strawberries? Why didn't you tell me!?”
“She is, but we don't know if I'm allergic because Dad never lets me have one, just in case. So I thought I'd do an experiment to try and find out.” Her eyes are squinted slightly as she carefully taps her lips with her fingers. “Are my lips swollen?”
“Morgan. When Pepper says allergic, how bad-“
“She uses the phrase deadly.”
“Ohmygod.”
the title of a big brother by Livinei
“All this cold-blooded betrayal,” Tony grumbles, and Peter shoots him a gleeful look, “makes me want to get a goddamn drink.”
“But you’re not going to do that,” Pepper says with a content smile, and Tony gives a yielding sigh.
“But I’m not going to do that,” he agrees.
“Oh? No?” Peter repeats, and stares between the two of them questioningly. Tony had long ago gotten past the alcoholism problem, but that didn’t mean he didn’t still drink. Reasonably, of course, but he did.
Except, now that Peter thought about it, he couldn’t quite remember seeing Tony have a drink at all recently.
Tony and Pepper exchange a look that Peter can’t quite read. Then Pepper gives him a small shrug, her smile saying well, go on. Tony clears his throat.
OR a drabble in which Peter finds out that Tony and Pepper are expecting a baby
Plushie Superiority by LittleMissAgrafina for Aixabi
"Come in." Morgan mumbled, her voice muffled.
Peter pushed the door open, taking in the way that Morgan was sprawled face down on her bed with her face squished in her comforter. He ambled across the room and dropped down on the bed next to her, mirroring her position.
They lay in silence, Peter eventually turning his head to side to breathe easier. Comforters weren't exactly one of the most breathable things around.
After a few moments, Peter nudged Morgan. "Wanna tell me what's bothering you?" He asked quietly. "You don't have to, but I want to help if I can."
---
Comfortember Day 7. Comfort Item
From Strangers to Siblings by for_the_night
“Your friend will be okay, I can feel it,” the girl said, beaming positively at Peter in the hospital corridor.
“You can?”
“Uh-huh. Daddy said I have the same magic sense as my brother, he can feel things too.”
Peter frowned, feeling a sense of familiarity in the girl’s expressive mannerisms. She reminded him of Tony.
Or: how Peter saves some candy, makes a friend, and gets the shock of his life. (Aka, Peter meets Morgan Stark)
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red-riding-wood · 1 year
Text
Heroes - Chapter 9
Chpt. 1 , Masterlist , Chpt. 10
Pairing: Sgt. Elias Grodin x Female OC (Alexis Ryder)
Fandoms: Platoon (1986), Cherry (2021)
WARNINGS: I'm just going to put down a blanket for the entire book/all chapters: graphic depictions of violence and gore, torture, explicit sexual content, attempted sexual assault, language, marijuana use
Another day was coming to an end, the sun just beginning to dip below the horizon of the highest peaks, dappling the leaves of the deciduous trees and brushing the sky with a tincture of pastel pink. I allowed myself to sit and watch the sky slowly morph into an impressionistic painting, watching as the clouds drifted lazily by, noticing how a gossamer fog crept from the recesses of the valleys below.
Elias had taught me to become more in tune with the world around me – the colours, the scents, the sounds. I could detect the trace of wildflowers, the perfume-like odour that I associated with the blue-eyed soldier, and every time my song came to its end, I took a moment to listen to the creaks of the boughs as the wind stirred the trees, or the lullaby of the birds that were lamenting their final song to the daylight before it died.
But Elias wasn’t here with me, because he was out on patrol with his squad. Taylor hadn’t been in the chatting mood, either, had been a recluse for much of the day. Though I wasn’t permitted to stray far from the village, I had wanted to distance myself as much as I could from the rest of the soldiers – namely Two Bravo.
But with the incipience of dusk, it was time I made my way back down. Elias would be expected back soon, too, so maybe I could wait for him in his hammock, start reading that book of Taylor’s.
As I approached the village, I slipped my headphones down and let them hook around my neck, stuffing my iPod in the pocket of my khakis. Immediately, I was assaulted by a cacophony of shrill, feminine cries and the deeper, more tenebrous notes of male laughter and hollering. An eerie contrast to the serenity I had just come from.
With a knot pulling taut in my gut, I made my way through the village to the source of the sound. I should’ve ignored it, walked away, went back to Elias’ hammock and curled up with the book and put my music on full blast to drown out the helpless wails. But if I had, that knot would’ve twisted, culminated, and the reflection of the killer I’d seen in that cracked, bloodied mirror would’ve haunted me.
Behind one of the huts, in the thicket of trees and brush, were Bunny, Junior, and a couple of Warren’s men. They had three little girls – Afghan, former prisoners of the Taliban, barely past the age of ten, by the looks of them – and were yanking them by their bony arms and tearing the fabric from their impotent forms. Bunny threw one against the gnarled trunk of a tree and began undoing his fly. The little girl’s screams pierced the air like a knife, slicing straight through my chest and stopping my heart.
I should’ve turned the other way, made out of there before they saw me, acted like I hadn’t just witnessed the members of my platoon attempting to rape children.
But “Heroes” still played faintly from the headphones around my neck, and the image of the woman in the mirror still flashed in my mind, and memories of Bunny nearly doing the same to me, of Elias barging in and having to save me because I had been willing to just put up with it, inundated me like a suffocating tide, and I knew that I couldn’t walk away. Not this time. I was done putting up with shit, was done letting my humanity chip away until all that was left was that woman in the mirror.
“Hey!” I mustered as much ire, as much valour as I could and I forced it into my tone. It was enough to make Bunny hesitate where he fumbled with his fly and snap his head towards me. It was enough to make Junior let his hand slip from one of the girls’ mouths and still. It was enough to lull the wailing of the children into quiet whimpers.
“Get the hell away from them!” I shouted, because if I let my volume drop I feared my voice might waver like the hands that trembled at my sides. “What the fuck is wrong with you? These are fucking children!”
An awful smile carved itself into Bunny’s features, and he kicked at the girl by the tree, doubling her over and silencing her crying. I started forward, but something about the way his eyes glinted and his lips curled so gleefully over his buck-teeth stopped me in my tracks, my flesh prickling and my stomach churning.
“You wanna take their place, Sugar Tits?” He asked me, sauntering forward.
I glared at him, and hissed, “Nobody’s raping anyone, unless you want a court-martial when we get back to base.”
“Aw, lookie here, boys,” Bunny chuckled, swinging his head around to regard the men around him before settling that disconcertingly-giddy gaze back on me. “Sugar Tits is threatening to tattle on me ‘cause she knows she ain’t no danger to me. Elias ain’t ‘round this time to rescue her.” Another laugh, and then, “This is real cute, but you’re barkin’ up the wrong tree.”
I wasn’t sure if Bunny knew what that expression meant, but I knew what he meant by it, at least, from the way he stalked forward, closed the distance between us until he was near enough that he could’ve reached out and tore another button from my shirt.
A rustling sounded from the bushes to my left, and Taylor emerged, hazel eyes wild and his rifle gripped firmly between whitened fingertips. “I heard yelling,” he said to me, and darted his gaze to Bunny, and the girls and the men. Horror blanketed his face like he’d just seen a ghost.
“Don’t worry, Taylor. You showed up just in time to get your dick wet,” Bunny cooed, and flashed him a toothy grin. “This generous lil’ girl is about to volunteer those pretty tits o’hers.” His eyes were on me again, glinting with something in-between madness and evil.
I swallowed, but held my ground, and said to Bunny, “You’re not touching me. And you’re letting those girls go. Now.”
Bunny stepped even closer, so close now that I could smell his foul breath as it raked across my face. “What’cha gonna do? You gonna scream, like a lil’ girl? Maybe I like it when they do.”
My lip pulled in disgust over my teeth, and in a flash, Bunny’s hand was reaching for the buttons on my shirt again, but as the movement flashed in my vision, I curled my fingers into a fist and sent it straight for those buck-teeth of his.
“Son of a bitch!” he screeched, staggering back as he pawed like a wounded animal at the blood that cascaded from his mouth, and his helmet, already unclasped and ajar, tumbled to the forest floor.
When those glinting eyes met mine, they were filled with nothing but murder.
He sprang towards me just like a jackrabbit and knocked the wind from my lungs, his scrawny form surprisingly heavy as it sent me careening to the ground. My spine knocked against some sharply-pointed rocks – my rifle had been jostled from my shoulder and had landed somewhere to the side – and I gasped, but fingers slick with warm blood were around my throat now, and the substance was landing in splatters across my cheeks, my lips, my lashes. I blinked furiously against the red, and kicked at him, tried to grab hold of something, but I was half-blind.
Oxygen poured like a vicious yet welcome tide into my lungs as his weight was knocked from me, and as I regained my footing, swiping the blood from my eye, I glimpsed the butt of Taylor’s rifle striking Bunny firmly across the jaw. He shoved him back then, and pointed the bayonet of his rifle at his chest. “She’s a fucking human-being, man!” He shouted at Bunny, and I swallowed, blinking again against the red.
Bunny’s gaze darted back to me, his bloodied lip curled around the gap in his mouth, his eyes still undaunted. I grabbed my own rifle from the ground, though I held it across my chest, and I stood up straighter, squaring my shoulders. I spat some of his blood that had trickled past my teeth onto the grass and sneered at him.
“Taylor!” A thunderous voice barked, and everyone’s attention was immediately stolen by the Two Bravo sergeant.
Fear darted through Taylor’s eyes as he turned, and he lowered his gun, Adam’s apple visibly bobbing along his throat.       
“Barnes,” I said, and stepped forward. “He didn’t do anything.”
Ugly, scarred features turned to me, and cold blue eyes froze me in my tracks. They darted to the blood on my face, and realization flickered through them – whether it was a good kind of realization or an awful, calamitous kind, I wasn’t sure. But I was quickly met with my answer.
“The fuck you mean, Ryder?” He said, and forgot about the men as he stalked towards me. “You mean you started this shit?”
“I saw Bunny and these men trying to rape these girls, and – “
“You didn’t see fuckin’ shit, Ryder! You attacked my men for no fuckin’ reason! You wanna explain to me how we’re gonna win this war if I got lunatics like you tryna bring their own justice where it don’t fuckin’ belong?”         
Barnes’ voice was like thunder in comparison to Bunny’s, seeming to reverberate through the marrow of my bones, and his stature loomed well over me, shoulders blocking the light that stretched its pleading fingers through the trees. I thought that my breaths were coming as rapidly as my pounding heartbeat.
“I – “
“I know what this is all about,” Barnes snapped. “You let ‘Lias get in your fuckin’ head, you did. You, and Taylor. Fucking hippies. I told you to stay the fuck away from him, Ryder. You think you’re some kind o’ water-walker now, too?”
I trembled, but stood my ground, even as the bitter tang of alcohol and the smoke of cigarettes on his breath met my nose, and the blood roared in my ears, reaching a terrifying crescendo of which there was no return, no escape, no sanctuary.
Barnes’ eyes darted then to the headset around my neck, that was set ajar from my skirmish, and to the wire that travelled to my pocket. My heart seized.
“What the fuck are you listenin’ to, Private? Some fucking bible hymn? Give me that shit.”
He snatched the headphones from my neck, leaving my throat feeling so unnaturally exposed, and I gasped as he held the cuff to his ear. I watched as his expression soured, and recognition passed through his eyes when he heard the song, and he threw the headset to the ground.
“You think you’re some fuckin’ hero, is that it?” Spittle landed across my face as he bellowed these words to me, and I flinched. He reached for my pocket, and he was quicker than Bunny; in less than a second he had my mother’s iPod  in his hand, and he was letting it fall alongside the headphones.
“No, sir,” I spoke feverishly, my eyes darting frantically from him to the last piece I had of my mother.
But he wasn’t listening. He brought the heel of his boot down on the screen, and followed with a bullet that made me jump back.
My chest heaved. My ears still roared with blood. And my heart split in my chest.
I hadn’t realized tears had welled in my eyes, but they streaked my cheeks now; one bound itself to Bunny’s blood, and the crimson-hued bead suspended itself for a moment from my nostril only to dribble down to lips parted in a shallow, aching breath. Metal tinged my tongue, and I stepped back, my head light and my fingers seizing as I tried to wind them tight around my rifle.
Whatever bravery I had found within myself had shattered, like the mirror, like the screen of the device that lay at my feet, a little eddy of smoke winding its way through the air.
But somehow, one of its fragments managed to hiss out from my bloodied teeth with trembling tones, “Fuck you.”
And I turned and I ran, insensibly slinging the strap of my rifle over my shoulder and sprinting for the trees, for the wild terrain, for the honey-gold light that burned through the diaphanous fog and reached so sorrowfully for me.
My sweat was beginning to mix with my tears and the blood and the spittle, and the shouting behind me became distant, like gunfire echoing across a barren battlefield. And I kept running, nearly twisting my ankle over the perilous terrain, but my adrenaline and this vacuous canyon in my chest kept me going.
I barely noticed as I ran into the returning squad of Two Alpha, and I nearly swatted King’s reach away as he extended an arm to block my path.
“Whoa, easy there, little lady. Where do you think you’re…” He trailed off  as he saw my face.
“Alex?” Elias bulled through the jumble of men, and past the blurry veil of my tears, I could see the golden limn of the dying sun on his wild hair, and the way his brows knitted solicitously on the sharp yet soft features of his face, and as I pulled him into a hug and buried my face in the fabric of his uniform, I could smell the wildflowers, the earthy grime, the musky sweat, and I closed my eyes and imagined myself back on that cliff-side, or in that hammock, pressed to his body.
Elias moved my rifle to the side, sliding the strap from my shoulder and letting it fall gently to the ground before returning my embrace – but only for a moment, before his hands were peeling my head back, strands of hair clinging to my face from the blood and tears.
“What’s going on?” he demanded, blue eyes shining with worry. “What happened? Are you hurt?”
“Barnes,” I breathed, blinking away tears. The rest of the men were coming into view around me now, but I ignored their stares. “He – “ A sob seized my chest, and I let the crest of my head fall back to his chest, but as I tried again to form the words on my lips, I realized that if I did, that I might be sentencing Elias. I’d seen what he’d done – or tried to do, rather – to the man when he’d ordered me to shoot those innocents on my first day. I could only imagine the hellfire that he’d unleash upon the sergeant and Bunny if he returned to the sight I had. And the violence that would surely rival it.
“Elias,” I breathed, and tipped my head back to meet his gaze. “Take me away. Please.”
Elias stared back at me for a moment, seemingly torn, before barking out to his men, “Rhah, you take the men back down to the village.”
Without question, the men began filing down the hill through the trees. Cherry tried for a moment to linger, but I shook my head at him, mumbled that I was okay past the hair that clung to my bloodied, tear-stained lips.
Elias smoothed out the messed hair on my skull as I buried my face back in his chest and sobbed. “Where’s your music, sweetheart?” he asked me, trying to find something that would calm me.
This only widened the chasm in my chest, and I heaved a broken sob into his uniform. I was so pathetic, weeping like a child, barely able to speak. My fingers, still unnaturally stiff, clawed at the course fabric on his chest, unable to quite grasp it.
“Shhhh,” he breathed, hot breath sending a shiver through me. “Alex. Sweetheart.”
I kept sobbing into his chest. I couldn’t get a hold of myself.
“Alex,” he said, and pulled me from his warmth again, leaving me shivering in my cold sweat. But those eyes were staring down at me with nothing but affection, and the final rays of the sun were silhouetting his head again like that of an angel, and I reminded myself that I was okay now, that whatever happened, we’d get through it together.
“Come with me,” he said, and slipped his fingers through mine, filling the trembling gap finally and giving them some kind of stability. With his other hand, he carried my gun, and I followed him, up through the trees, and he took me away, just like I’d asked. Away from the fear, and the anger, and the hate.
---
The wind in the rustling leaves and the persistent hoot of an owl and the symphony of crickets were my music, the song that threaded itself so ethereally into the otherwise silent night.          
I rested my head against Elias’ shoulder, my fingers still looped through his, and the warmth of his body radiating against mine as it stabilized me. I nestled Taylor’s book against my wrist, eyes slowly tracing the words from still-slightly-blurry eyes. Shoots of grass tickled the bare flesh of my ankles where my khakis rode up from my boots, and my attention was briefly drawn from the literature as an insect crawled across Elias’ knee.
My tears had dried on my face, and when I blinked, my lashes would stick together, but there were none left to shed, and my body felt like a drained faucet, resting limply against the man that sat still and quiet beside me, his eyes trained up on the stars that glittered overhead like winking diamonds in the black sky. We were entirely sober, the last of the weed smoked last night when we’d found ourselves in a similar position, but we were still content.
At this point, the events of earlier that evening seemed like nothing more than another reflection in a dirtied, broken mirror, and I couldn’t believe I’d cried so much over them. I was at peace, in my sanctuary, and nothing – not Barnes, not Bunny – could hurt me.
“Elias?” I murmured, and slipped a finger through the pages of the book to mark where I’d left off as I shut the cover. “Do you believe that every man has two sides to him?”
Elias shot me a glance from his starry eyes, and he smiled. “What’s gotten you so philosophical, sweetheart? You hidin’ some of the good shit?”
The line of my mouth quirked into a smile, and I shook my head, and opened my book again. “Listen to this,” I said, and recited, “’I have been doomed to such a  dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two.’”
The soldier made a soft yet resonated “hmm” sound and landed his gaze back on the stars above, pondering this for a moment or two. And then, he said, “There’s a Cherokee legend that in every man exists two wolves – one evil, one kind. They’re in a constant battle.”
Once again, I found myself reminded of Barnes’ cruelty, of Elias’ kindness, and I wondered if Barnes had ever been kind, if Elias had ever been cruel. It was difficult to fathom either. When I thought of Barnes, I thought of dead bodies at my feet; I thought of children being raped. When I thought of Elias, I thought of hope, of the warm glow of the sunset, of the feeling of wind through one’s hair.
I fell silent as I ruminated, and stirred my head from its perch as Elias’ baritones reverberated beneath me, before nestling my cheek back into the crook of his neck. “You still got that letter, sweetheart?” he asked me. 
“Um… yeah,” I said, at a loss for words in my state of alarm. I shifted, and pulled the envelope and a pen from my rucksack, and handed the objects to him. “You change your mind about your family?” I asked.
“I’m gonna write to my brother,” he said, and took the pen and the envelope in his hands; he removed the contents of the latter, smoothing the paper across his knee.
A contented smile graced my lips, and though I wanted to ask about his change of heart, I said nothing, deciding instead to let him be deluged in the music of the night as his pen laid its first stroke against the paper. I settled back into place, my cheek falling against his warm shoulder, and I opened my book. I inhaled, breathing in once more the wonderful tincture of grass and earth and man, filling that chasm that had split inside my chest, and as I exhaled my sigh, with it I expelled the cruel, haunting gaze of the woman in the mirror. And the ache that dwelled beneath my ribs, I imagined to be the warring of two wolves; one, who’d let bodies fall before its depravity, and the other, who’d had the courage to sink its jaws into the harbinger of such destruction.
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mrhyderager · 2 years
Text
Off My Chest
I grew out of airing my dirty laundry on the internet a long time ago, but because of an interaction I just had, I feel like I need to say something. My upbringing was largely really shitty. Even when I was young, really young, I lived in a home where my single mother couldn't make ends meet. I didn't know it at the time but she was extremely mentally ill from long before I was ever even born. I can't speak to her life experiences prior to then, but I know from stories that she drank and did drugs and the whole 9. My older brother had told me stories of her lashing out at him and I even once witnessed her attack him with a frying pan, but I didn't know any better at the time. I was no more than 4 or 5. My brother left for the military as soon as he could. I figured that out eventually. I think the first time I really recognized something was wrong was when I was around that age and my cat, who was an outdoor cat, had come back pregnant. When she had kittens, we made a little bed out of a cardboard box and some blankets. One of the kittens started to get mobile enough to try to climb out of the box. It did so a few times and finally my mom got frustrated and threw it... the kitten didn't survive. As a kid I was devastated and I didn't fully understand but I knew it was wrong. I was 8 when we moved from Ohio to Kentucky. We had a couple of pretty good years, living in a townhouse and largely doing our own thing. But as my mother started interacting with the neighbors that lived in the same complex, things started souring pretty quickly. Again, I didn't know or understand it at the time, but two of the neighbors were moving drugs and had enough issues of their own. Naturally, I'm in the 11-12 year old span and I'm just starting to figure out my own personality and making my own decisions. My mom reacted to my autonomy with increasing violence. It was almost shocking how quickly it happened in my experience. Every kind of physical and emotional abuse you could think of, from smashing and breaking my belongings to attacking me directly - I've still got scars on my arm and leg from when she broke various objects over them as I shielded myself. Once a broom, another time a ceramic vase... it would come and go in waves and I now know that the waves were driven by a combination of drug use and some form of bipolar disorder. At 14, I had to drive her car back home - clearly unlicensed, never drove before - because she had been arrested for intoxication at the convenience store. This continued for years. My only reprieve came from my grandparents, close friends' families, and school. There were times when we played host to my mother's addict friends who were allowed to stay with us if they provided her with pills. Once I had to jump out of her moving car to prevent her from continuing to assault me as she ran stop signs and red lights to prevent me from getting out while the car stopped.  There were good times, don't get me wrong, but when all of this is happening, no matter how frequent, the good times really stop being the point. Finally at 17, as a Senior in High School, I left and went to live with my grandparents. I've never felt that kind of relief in my life either prior to that point or any time since. And while my mother's mania didn't stop there, I was free from it. I've spent the rest of my life trying to distance myself from that. She eventually sobered up after ODing on Heroin at the same time my grandmother was passing away, but she has not in my experience changed who she is fundamentally. I've never received an apology - never any personal ownership of the way she behaved - only pity parties and sob stories that I cannot accept. I was just a kid. I just wanted a parent who could care enough in nearly 30 years to stop and think about the impact of their actions. I tried for years to make this clear but I got tired of being the bigger person. It's not my job. Maybe none of it is her fault. Maybe there's illness there that won't go away. But none of that excuses the experiences I've had to go through, or the ruined relationships it's caused with my brothers, or anything else. I don't say any of this for pity or anything really other than just getting it off my chest. I've seen a therapist as an adult that's trying to not repeat a cycle of emotional illness and I'm much better for it - still, sometimes it's best to just write it all out.
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