#but it's still 28th here so it counts

[mo0nfairy]

ᥫ᭡ . # ۫ , ⸺ UNCHAINED MELODY, PART FIVE !

summary :: surviving raccoon city together, you catch the affections of leon kennedy, ada wong, jill valentine, and carlos oliveira. six years later, you reunite with them and realize their obsession with you has increased tenfold.

chapters :: the masterlist.

word count :: 8.7k.

content warnings :: mdni! yandere!leon, yandere!ada, blood/gore, violence, death, weapons, drugging, kidnapping, stalking, noncon touching, invasion of privacy, mentions of sexual assault, parasites/infections, & needles.

ada wong's yandere traits are . . .

lucid, romantic, & confident

──── Ada Wong hates the sensation of grass on her skin. Yet still, the green matter stains all her clothes.

She'll spend her days laying in fields of grass. It tickles her skin and provokes her allergies, but she cannot fathom living without it. If she closes her eyes, she can almost stimulate the feeling of being with you once again. September 28th, 1998. On that road verge with dirt caked on her skin and a dandelion in her messy hair — Ada is convinced she is the only human who has ever been touched by such intense, perfidious happiness.

A beige trench coat littered with these same stains is preserved in her walk-in closet. It has not been worn in years, not since that night in Raccoon City. There are the occasional splatters of blood and gunpowder residue, but they are insignificant in comparison to the vivid green smudges. During rough patches, Ada will take the coat from its plastic covering and hold it close to her chest. If she closes her eyes again, she can almost convince herself it is you in her arms instead of this filthy, out-of-season garment.

As difficult as it is, however, she cannot let these feelings reach her heart. She cannot let herself feel for you.

She made this declaration long ago. Six years ago, to be exact.

Y/N L/N. The name she will never forget.

Ada remembers your evocative touch, your bunny-like shivering, your skin like flowers; she will never forget how you ended her life in Raccoon City.

The onslaught of inhuman, guttural growling had died down with the echo of gunshots. All flesh-eating creatures surrounding her now lay dead on the streets of Raccoon City. Now, a heavy silence sits. And the fear that follows slices into her flesh like a jagged knife. But, not for her life, no. For yours.

Ada briskly and anxiously scrutinizes her surroundings, searching for that jaw-dropping face she fell so hard and violently for. In the end, she finds nothing. All she is met with is the flickering lights of corner shops and the crackling of fire from car wrecks. When she looks down, however, Ada discovers the crumbled dandelion you gave her beneath the foot of her heel. Hastily, she grasps the precious weed and stuffs it into her coat pocket.

From here, attaining the G-Sample, selling it to the highest bidder, and earning more money than she could ever need was irrelevant. All that matters is finding you. Her darling petal, her bunny rabbit. Her salvation.

Ada's relentless efforts to find you result in Raccoon City being torn to shreds. Searching through Mizoil Gas Station to Umbrella's underground laboratory, all her attempts at bringing you back into her arms are brought to no avail. Ada is worn down and stained with grime, absolutely exhausted with dread.

It isn't until the golden sun rises does she learn of survivors being sent to a hospital outside of the city. She abandons everything in Raccoon City and high-tails it to Fox Park Hospital. Her feet ache from its uncomfortable stance in her stilettos and her lungs throb from the constant sprint. Still, nothing matters but you.

When she arrives at the hospital, she is overwhelmed with concerned families and tireless doctors. Several nurses inquire her about her physical state, but Ada disregards their concern entirely. She thought she could hide how perceptibly enamored she is with you through sly remarks and poised disposition. Maybe she'd conjure up some flattering remark to one of the doctors and bite her lip, all to gain access to your location. However, the only trait others can garner from her attitude is a desperate, downright feral act of despair.

Sharp nails digging into the shoulders of a poor nurse, she demands he inform her of your whereabouts. When the nurse squeaks out where you had been admitted to, Ada nearly punts him to the ground before breaking into a dash. She shoves past all other bystanders and bursts through the door to your room. And the way her heart surges in her chest upon entering could rival that of a genuine, torturous death.

There you lay, unconscious on the hospital bed. Bandages adorn the bruises and scars littered on your body. A white cast has been ensnared around your right arm.

The sight is nothing short of devastating. In a moment of weakness, she had so frivolously let you escape from her embrace. Now, you had to be the one who suffered the consequences.

Softly, Ada sits beside your sleeping form and restrains the urge to tackle you into a hug. It scares her, this sudden sense of warmth she possesses for you. She takes your weak hand into hers and shivers from the tender contact. I should not feel this way, she thinks to herself. Nothing about this is okay.

Despite the experience she has in the field of romance, Ada has never obtained genuine feelings for someone. All that lay beneath the surface of her seductive veneer was nothingness, sheer dust. She'll wear that coquettish nature like a crown and revel in the sense of power she feels of having someone beneath her. They care more about her than she does about them. And she loves it.

With you, though, things are different. Much different.

In all 24 years of her life, Ada never anticipated being slapped across the face with such raw emotion. The instance was ephemeral, but all-too devastating in the same breath. Dandelion between your fingers and the playful light in your eyes — the sight robbed her heart blind like candy from a baby. A lifetime spent in the depths of Winter, who knew a mere second of eye contact was all she needed to be lunged into the heavenly warmth of spring?

Ada is humiliated upon finding herself in the depths of such a ridiculous predicament. You have turned her into some lovesick monster, entirely incapable of maintaining stability. She thought she could control it; she thought she could shove you into a box with the rest of her past lovers. But, much like every other attempt she has made involving you, she failed miserably. No matter how hard she tries, she can't stop herself from being in love with you.

With this epiphany comes another. Every bruise, every scar, every wound on your body is living proof of what your life will become if she were to take you away. As badly as she wishes to take you and drown you in her adoration, she holds herself back. To live in complete bliss would mean robbing you of a good life; to ensure her happiness would mean robbing you of yours. By taking you away, her life would begin, yes, but yours would end. And if she were to take away the precious light you hold inside, she would never forgive herself.

The syringe she managed to snag from a passing doctor clatters to the floor. A physical manifestation of the realization seeping through her mind. For the very first time in her life, she cannot be selfish. For the first time, someone else's well-being is more important than hers.

She doesn't deserve you and you don't deserve her. You deserve happiness, you deserve normalcy, you deserve safety.

You deserve everything she cannot give you.

With a trembling breath, she affectionately drags the joint of her fingers down the side of your face. The mere thought of never being able to see this sight again shatters her. But for you, she would do absolutely anything, no matter how soul-crushing the pain is. Anything.

"Until next time, Y/N..."

The next six years were a tumultuous, frenzied blur. Ada Wong, notorious for her enticing personality, has crumbled.

Head-first, the agent had thrown herself into her work. Anything to keep her mind off of you. Or, at the very least, to look at the horrors she faces in her career to further remind herself you are better off without her. Every day, she oscillates with the idea of checking up on you, wherever you may be. It would be far too easy, as told by her skills. Though, if she were to do this, she knows she would not be able to leave you like she did six years ago. It had nearly killed Ada to leave you behind in that hospital. She isn't sure if she can survive that same pain all over again.

These gnawing desires keep her awake into the late hours of the night. Tossing and turning in bed, tossing and turning the idea of how good it would feel to have you in her arms. She wraps her arms around herself and caresses her own skin, pretending it is your hands on her body instead of her imagination. She feels weak, she feels deranged. But, she cannot help it. It kills her to not have you here with her.

She wonders how your life has changed since Raccoon City. What makes you smile, what makes you cry, if you're up at night thinking about her the way she does you. The misery nearly emulates the feeling of being butchered, as if you had personally cut open her flesh and sewed your name into her veins. But, Ada would do anything for you. Even if it means enduring the same torture every day, she is satisfied with life knowing she got to hold you. Even for just a second.

After a call with Albert Wesker, she is reminded yet again why you should not be a part of her life. To be exposed to this separate world would only be detrimental to you. She could never curse you with the burden that is her lifestyle. You deserve far more than that.

Ada teases the ring on her left hand. Mere hours after the crisis in Raccoon City, she preserved the dandelion you gave her and had it pressed into a ring. Six years later, this piece of jewelry has always ensnared her finger, as it remains her only source of security. The memory of you pulls at her heartstrings the way an angel plays a harp. In fact, it is the only memory she has that she can look back on fondly, as opposed to the bloodshed she has been so frivolously exposed to.

So absorbed in the warm rain of your memory, Ada nearly forgets the task Wesker had assigned for her. Abruptly and harshly, she is once again given another reminder of why you should stay far away from her. You make her weak, as Wesker told her, and neither of them cannot afford that weakness. She was fortunate enough to never disclose your identity with him, as he may have hunted you down in retaliation to her slacking efforts.

She doesn't know what she would do if she learned you were suffering out there. Wherever you are.

Opening the file Wesker sent to her, Ada scrutinizes the myriad of information sent her way. Through the grapevine, there was hearsay of Umbrella surviving the wreckage of Raccoon City. Satellite imagery displayed a vast forest where they had set up their 'sanctuary,' as they called it. Within the sanctuary were survivors of Raccoon City, where they would be kept captive to avoid exposing Umbrella and forcing them to face the consequences of their mistakes.

Her task was simple: find out if they have samples of Amber in their possession. If so, deliver the sample back to Wesker.

Of course, with this mission arose heavy concern. Images of you being subject to Umbrella's abuse sent a serrated rush of panic through her body. Ada had practically torn herself asunder with her efforts to protect you, she never acknowledged how other dangers may have slipped through the cracks.

A consideration, one much stronger than before, is what she is faced with. Giving into her selfish desires and having you by her side would benefit her happiness, yes, but it would also expose you to the horrors of her life. Leaving you without this burden in whatever life you had chosen for yourself would most likely benefit your happiness, yes, but would expose you to peril she cannot control. She would put her life down for your happiness, after all.

This consideration plagues Ada's mind as she is flown out to the sanctuary. Since the area was under investigation by another team, she had to play this smart, no matter how badly she wished to storm through the doors and hunt you down.

Yellow tape surrounds the entire premise, and numerous police officers and detectives are scattered amongst the area. Picking the lock to a window; Ada slides into the building with flexible ease. She lands with a bounce upon a bed. The springs whine beneath her weight; the headboard creaks with frail fragility. She finds herself in a sunken mess of fluffy throw blankets and tacky plushies. Climbing out of the array after practically drowning in it, Ada straightens her dress before scrutinizing the room.

The area is naturally stale. The same way a bleak, depressing hospital room feels. However, this detail is hidden beneath the mass of decorations and clutter. It is surrounded by love, despite its dull foundation.

A rickety bookshelf and stale bedside table are settled by the bed. On them are books checked out from the sanctuary's library, as well as wilting plants, a flickering salt lamp, dusty candles, and even more heaps of plushies. Ada's heels sink into a fuzzy rug as she studies the contents. A clothing rack can be found, too, with boring clothes hung upon it. Stickers and doodles adorn the supports, as well. 

Across from this was a sofa couch that sat opposite a chunky television. Cheesy horror movies are stacked on top of the thick surface. Another plant sits by the television in a custom-painted pot, leaves adorned in brown decay. Another plushie is rested against the TV, as well. God, how many stuffed animals does a person need?

Nothing within this small expanse relates to your whereabouts or the Amber, which eases Ada's mind. She lets out a sigh of relief. It would pain her in ways she could never fathom to know you were suffering in Umbrella's disturbed idea of a "sanctuary" while she was too busy trying to forget you.

Ada walks through the adjacent threshold and finds a small kitchen. Once again, the dull appearance had been diluted with heartfelt decor. Hand-crafted paintings are strung upon the walls. Some show the childlike fun of the artist, while others display the raw talent every brush and stroke exudes. A small table is huddled in the corner with a vase of Lego flowers serving as the centerpiece.

Cooking utensils, handmade clay figures, and tea sets are all scattered on the kitchen counters. A package of chamomile tea had been left out on the same counter and the shattered pieces of a mug had been left on the concrete. Strange, but it does not pull her attention.

It isn't until something catcher her eye while on her way out does her heart pound. By the art on the wall, beyond the scatterings of band posters and paintings, a myriad of polaroids had been taped into the shape of a heart.

And directly in the middle is a polaroid of you.

It is a candid shot of you in the sanctuary's garden surrounded by lush flowers. Fat, glittery smile on your face, there is more light in your eyes than Ada had ever seen. Beyond the jealousy for the photographer who got the privilege of drowning in that gaze, a sinking pit of dread sits like a brick in her stomach.

You were here. This whole time, you were here.

It only makes sense this is your room, she should have known. Who better to bring love into such a dank estate than you? You've made something bland more lively, as you do in all other areas of life. But, she was so concerned with roping you into the violent dangers of her life, that she strayed as far away from you as she could. Still, you found yourself here in the end. She was so concerned with keeping her vigorous feelings for you at bay that her negligence had caused you to be thrust into the darkest pits of this world. And nothing she can do now will erase the sheer weight of her frivolous mistake.

Her chest expands and deflates rapidly with hyperventilating breaths. Black dots swim in her doubled vision. Her skin is sheen with sweat. Nausea swims in her stomach. She collapses onto the bed, your bed. A quiet array of whispered "no"'s evades the cramped bedroom. She can't think, can't breathe, can't do anything!

"My petal, I'm so sorry. My sweet petal... How could I have let this happen...?" Ada is completely and utterly devastated.

The pervasion of an unfamiliar voice seeps in from outside the door. Ada covers her mouth to muffle the hyperventilating breaths protruding from her.

"T said they've fled to Spain. Fucking Spain, can you believe that shit?"

"Goddamn Umbrella... If only Oliveira were still here to see this. 'Give him somethin' else to do than daydream about his bitch, 'know what I mean?"

"I hear ya. Dude's a fucking nutcase."

Spain? Is that where you could be? Is that where Umbrella has taken you?

The doorknob jiggles and Ada immediately stands to her feet. Her swift nature had been robbed from her, as her legs now felt like two bags of sand. Her head throbs violently. It sounds like a tumultuous clammer before she succumbs to the turmoil and falls to the ground.

Sweat seeping down her forehead and her hands shaking, Ada attempts to pull herself up. She grips the corner of the bed frame and pulls her entire body weight. Her stiletto then accidentally kicks something beneath the bed. Looking for identification, Ada finds a plastic case with several cassette tapes inside. As she studies it, the doorknob jiggles once more. After greedily taking hold of it, Ada swiftly takes a few more souvenirs before leaving. The polaroid of you, a flower you molded out of clay, and an opossum plushie nestled on your bed. Then, she is off.

And within the penthouse that feels more like a model house than it does her actual home, Ada sits in her office. Inside the case full of cassettes, dates are written on each tape. Upon closer inspection, there's a sudden halt in activity after October. Almost as if Umbrella has lost interest in you. She prays this is the only reason, that they had released you and let you enjoy a life filled with the happiness you deserve. Thinking of the opposite has her whole body shivering.

Ada takes the cassette player in her desk and pops the earliest tape into place. She was so invested in finding where you had run off to, she had completely disregarded the gut-wrenching effect your voice would have on her. It's so... pretty. Like the first birdcall of Spring, like gentle waves crashing against the shore.

Ada is quick to grasp her control back, shifting her attention to the actual context of your words instead of how badly she wished to hear you whisper in her ear.

The contents of the tape display an audio journal, where you recall every horrid detail of the night that changed your life. You mention Leon Kennedy and Ada rolls her eyes from the annoyance his mere name brings. Six years have passed since she's seen him, or even thought of him, for that matter. But, the irritation that cop was marvelous at triggering still lives on. Of course, he's the first thing you talk about. She's sure he'd be ecstatic knowing this.

You speak about your time working at Mizoil Gas Station. When you trail off about your coworkers, your voice perceptibly drops when you speak of one in particular. With his wandering hands, sultry words, and a compulsion to ignore every 'no' you sent his way, you admit to yourself how good it felt to kill him.

As infuriated as this makes Ada, you then speak her name, and all coherent thoughts are stolen from her. She has to cover her mouth to restrain the sharp gasp that escapes. You do not speak thoroughly of your encounter with her, much to her dismay. Only detailing how she guided you out of the police department and protected you. Still, she revels in the harmonious melody of you speaking of her.

Ada can crawl out of cloud nine when you, unfortunately, move on to the next fraction of that night. To escape the zombies that attacked you and her, you sought protection in the local gun shop. There, you meet someone she was not aware of.

Jill Valentine.

Ada's eyes narrow when you speak of this woman. She can see the obvious signs of her being attracted to you, but you could be none-the-wiser to these affections. Your inability to heed flirtation is adorable if Ada were to be honest.

There's another transition to where you meet another man. Someone who, once again, Ada was unfamiliar with.

Carlos Oliveira.

He, too, showed obvious signs of being attracted to you. Which, once again, flew over your head. Both he and Jill had saved your life numerous times and you expressed this gratitude. To you, it was nothing but a common heroic act from two hardworking cops. Ada, however, read through the lines of their actions the same way she could read a children’s book.

They are in love with you. Hopelessly so. That much is clear.

It should be obvious. This is you we're talking about, after all. As much as she wishes they wouldn't, it is simply impossible to not become irrevocably besotted with you. Even if it were feasible, it would simply be brainless not to wish to spend the rest of forever with you.

The tape whirs as it reaches its ending point. Your story ends with waking up at Fox Park Hospital before being sent to this sanctuary. However, there is nothing that implies where your path has led six years later. There are miscellaneous updates on your physical health and your mental state, but there are zero indications of where you have vanished from.

With you gone and no reliable trace of your disappearance, there are only two potential outcomes of your whereabouts. Either you are still in Umbrella's clutches or those two cops have taken you for themselves. Six years of contemplation and Ada has finally reached a solution. Not a structured one, but a solution, nonetheless.

Find you, ensure your safety, and pray to God she has enough strength to leave you after.

And you, Y/N L/N, are exactly where Ada thought you'd be. However, the circumstances of your whereabouts are far different than what she presumed them to be.

After Dr. Gorkis, the man you had once called your friend, forced you into a state of unconsciousness, you were comatose for an undisclosed amount of time. When you wake, you are perplexed over your foreign environment. Inspecting your surroundings, there is absolutely nothing that can enlighten you of what happened within the dark gap of your memories.

The room you have awoken in is gloomy, accompanied by the cracked lantern protecting you from complete murk. The stone walls surrounding you are riddled with moss and chains. Several shelves stand awkwardly in the corners, where dilapidated books and broken pots all rest on the rickety surface. A rusted plate sits by your feet. A cluster of flies hover over the mashed potatoes hardened from age and the bread overwhelmed with mold.

You search about for any familiar faces, presumably those of Jill and Carlos. This isn't the first time you've been kidnapped, after all. If they were to lurk in the dark depths of this room, it would surely be no surprise. Instead, the area around you is entirely desolate. Nothing but the sound of your bated breath fills the empty space.

Your neck aches, your head throbs, your body trembles — everything has morphed into a permanent hue of misery you do not recognize. In a morbid way, you could almost be grateful for the circumstances you were kidnapped in before. A beautiful sanctuary, then a lavish home, and now this. A cold, decrepit room with no one to comfort you but yourself.

It's almost comical, how much this has happened to you. However, when you bring your hand to your neck to ease the pain and feel the necklace Carlos gifted you, laughter does not escape you. Alternatively, you curl your fingers around the pearls and yank with what little strength is left in your body. You watch with newfound satisfaction as the pieces clatter to the rotten floorboards.

A new beginning; the next chapter. That is what this feels like.

Stumbling over to the decaying door, it whines as you open it steadily. Haphazardly scanning the area for any potential assailants, you find none. Instead, you find a narrow hallway with lit candles hung upon the decaying walls. The light they exude guides you to a large window smeared with dirt and grime. Outside, the heavy downpour of rain neglects your need to identify your current location.

Your vision then abruptly goes black and an unfathomable pain ensnares your head. It leads you to collapse against the wall as you groan out from the abysmal misery. A voice calls out to you from the depths of your mind. A sort of ghastly incantation. A whisper you would only hear in the presence of a nightmare.

"Pursue them..." It taunts, "The lost lamb is escaping. Deliver onto them... Salvation..."

And just as it had begun, it was over. Your vision has cleared, and the ache in your skull has eased. It was all over.

One glance through the filthy window and fear hits you like a punch to your gut. A group of people dressed in ragged clothing make their presence known, all with pitchforks and axes in hand. Their torches guide them as they follow the muddied path. You can only stare in trepidation as they saunter about like hungry predators in search of prey.

When you hear the chains to the front entrance rattle, you turn and race towards your escape. Up the rotten steps of the ladder, the dingy expanse of the attic does not aid you in your efforts to flee. The light at the end of the tunnel is a shattered window, where the harsh weather brings violent rain and wind into the room. Out of the window, a shed riddled with overgrown ivy sits at a nearly-perfect distance beneath. You'd rather break your ankles than get sacrificed, after all.

Ripping the bandaid off, you leap from the ledge and land clumsily. It is a thunderous collision your assailants most certainly heard. With your feet fortunately intact, you leap from the roof of the shed and sprint away from the chaos behind you.

You hear unintelligible shouts, you hear accelerating footsteps, and you hear gunshots echo from afar. Rain feels like glass as it pours down on you. They meld with your tears and sweat. Your feet are cramped in your new, expensive boots. Still, you do not look back. Even with your lungs aching with every step you take, you continue to race forward as far as your legs can take you.

Several more throbbing paces and you find yourself in the center of a village. Dilapidated houses are scattered around the grounds, while large mountains frame the small area. Shifting your gaze forward, you find a rickety signpost. Signs that once read locations had now been overwhelmed with blood. The words 'Los Iluminados' and 'Lord Saddler' were painted in the red matter.

In a fit of enervation, you fall to the dirt. The substance stains your body and clothes, something Jill and Carlos put so much effort into preserving. You feel a sense of trepidation when your thoughts subconsciously drift to those two. Staring down at yourself, you see how every inch of you is still marked in their possession. The scent of Carlos' cologne still clings to his jacket that he draped around you. The shoelaces Jill quadruple-knotted have now been torn, the loose threading dirty and sticking out in awkward directions. Almost as if after all of this turmoil to escape them, their residue was still printed on you.

With air in your lungs after what felt like so long without it, you bring yourself to your feet. You clench your aching abdomen before limping forward. You then ponder over how you'll recount this absurd story to the police.

Then, you're flying.

Something wraps around your waist and yanks. Before you can comprehend it, the ground grows further, further, and further away from you.

With an exclaim of surprise, you land on the flat ledge of a mountain. You don't have a chance to acknowledge the impossible explanation of you defying gravity. Not when your breath gets lodged in your throat when you find the source of the sudden occurrence.

Ada Wong is that very source.

You stare up at her with the same disbelief she possessed. And this sight of you is surely something she will never forget.

The lick of sun in your eyes has never faltered, despite the years of chaos and disarray you’ve endured. The rain speckles across your body and cascades down your flesh, almost as if it was savoring every inch of you it got to touch. Bruises sit like kisses upon your skin; blood is painted on you like a vermillion art piece. Exactly the way it was six years ago.

Ada has found you. And the intensity of the euphoria that follows could be enough to kill a man, she is sure of it.

It is gut-wrenching, how beautifully nostalgic the sight is. This time, however, she will not allow any unwelcome guests to intrude.

Ada returns her grapple gun to the holster and crouches down beside you. A tender, gloved hand finds its way to your waist. It shivers and hovers, terrified of the emotions she'll be unable to control when she makes contact. Terrified of feeling nothing but cold sheets beneath her and waking up from this dream. When her hand does find you, as it always will, a hot chill surges through her body. Ada can hardly gather herself as the revelation settles. You are safe, you are alive, and you are with her again.

The other hand finds your cheek. The dandelion-pressed ring pokes against your skin, a firm reminder of how long this devotion has lived. She can feel the Earth sparkling in her palms with her hands on you; she can feel the warmth of the stars with your flesh against hers. Every bone, every sinew, every vein — everything good the universe have to offer is right beneath her. So, she does what she wished to do before, but was interrupted. What she has dreamt of doing for years, but was not able to do. She does what she has always wanted to do.

Her lips are on yours faster than you could think.

Everything inside her... Melts.

Rain falls like confetti. The frigid temperatures ease from the heat you share together. Every jut and curve of your lips mold perfectly against hers, as if you were made for each other. It robs her breath straight from her lungs, it robs her brain of any coherent function. The thumping of her heart batters in her ears as though it were trying to lunge from her chest with its sheer, rampant speeds. Her hands shiver with fervent need. The lump in her throat remains lodged no matter how much she tries to swallow it. What on Earth are you doing to her?

Your kiss is more soul-crushing than she would like to admit, as pride has always been her most prized possession. And it is all so stupidly cliché that Ada could almost laugh. A kiss in the rain. She never thought she would experience something as tooth-rotting and romantic as this. Still, it succeeds in practically shattering what remains of her moral compass. The suave and collected Ada Wong has been shattered. And the devil on her shoulder begs her to indulge in every last sliver of you she can.

She's a woman of self-control, but you had torn that control straight from her hands and claimed it as yours. She's a woman with tight fists and cruel words, but you have taken every rough edge and filed them down to soft curves.

When you inevitably part, Ada follows the direction your lips go, absolutely desperate for another taste. She is practically inconsolable without your warmth.

"Y/N..." She gasps out your name. It's a silent prayer for more of this, for more of you.

Dark webs of veins then spread among your face like woven spider's silk. It causes your vision to blur and your ears to ring. You wince from the sudden surge of pain and recoil from Ada's touch, something she didn't anticipate being so gutted by. The agony pumps through your veins like a drug; it has you writhing and groaning against the mud. It practically robs you of all your senses, the only comprehensible thing being the torture inflicted upon your feeble body.

Ada is then forcefully brought to reality where she is cruelly reminded of how this is not real. She cannot have you and you were never meant to be hers. No matter how badly she wishes you could be.

When you turn over, clutching your stomach in pain, she places her hand on your shoulder. Your eyebrows scrunched in confused pain, face wet from the pouring rain, lips sheen from her lip gloss. You are beautiful in the most devastating way. The sight bursts her heart open as if someone has nestled a bomb in her chest cavity. But, how she feels in this moment is not important. The one thing she has torn herself apart to prevent is now happening. You are hurting.

"What- What's happening to me!?" You cry out, a chunk of blood splattering from your mouth when you cough.

"Y/N... My petal...!" Ada's thumb rubs soothing circles on your arm while her cheek rests against the same surface. She clutches onto you like you're her lifeline, her last sliver of hope.

A voice interrupts. "Ada! I've been looking everywhere for-"

Ada rips her gun from its holster and points it at the intruder in fervent speed. She is terrified of being torn away from you like she was several years ago, she cannot let it happen again.

Luis Sera puts his hands up in defense, eyes blown wide in shock from her sudden shift in nature. In one hand of his is a dirtied white box with tape sloppily wrapped around the frame. He shakes it timidly, diverting her attention to what is most important about their agreement. Cure Ada of the infection and she'll let him take a seat on her helicopter.

Her stance does not halter, however. Instead, she throws yet another demand his way.

"Cure them." She orders. A perceptible tinge of despair is present in her tone.

When he remains frozen, Ada steps closer and presses the barrel of her gun directly to his forehead.

"Cure them or you know what happens." Her stare is violent. Her disposition is terrifying. There is nothing but the honest, undying truth with every syllable she speaks.

"I- But, our deal-?"

A gunshot echoes.

Deafening. Heart-stopping. The sound is accompanied by the harsh thump of Luis' dead body. Horrifying.

Ada takes the box from his limp grasp. She flips his deceased body over and steals the sample of Amber doused in blood, shoving it into her pocket. Using her sharp nails and an impromptu knife, she then slices the tape from the box. Once she hastily takes the syringe from its plastic enclosure, she rushes over to you.

Her behavior endures an abrupt shift when she crouches at your side. From a blood-thirsty monster to a fluffy-winged angel, Ada caresses your skin as if it were fine silk. You whimper as you float in and out of consciousness. You are so inert, in fact, you do not feel the intrusion of a needle and the anecdote seeping through your bloodstream. Ada comforts you through this entire process. Caresses to your flesh, kisses to your skin — she does it all terrified of it being the last time she ever touches you.

With the key to Luis' laboratory, she knows what her next course of action is. What she originally anticipated to be a quick check-up on your well-being had manifested into awakening her deep, irreparable fervor for you. But, she cannot let her measly emotions blind her to what is most important. You and only you.

She will stay, cure you, and pray to God once more that she has enough strength to leave you after.

And it kills her more than she ever thought it would.

When you wake, you find a blinding, fluorescent light hanging above your head. Cold metal and jagged leather nestles into your skin. The tapping of keyboards and technology humming fills the silence. You could almost roll your eyes if it weren't for the confusion overruling all. Have you been kidnapped again?

Attempting to gain mobility and move your body was entirely fruitless. Instead, a weak whine is all you can conjure. The frail sound is immediately met with the affections of someone else in the room.

Even in these circumstances — the grungy expanse of Luis' lab and Ada's dead parasite on the ground — she has never felt such euphoria. The severity of these feelings terrifies her, but she cannot help but fall into the emotions like a child would jump into a swimming pool. To be with you, there is nothing she could ever want more. But, as she has firmly stated numerous times, she cannot be selfish with you. No matter how badly she wishes to do such.

"Everything is going to be alright, petal. I won't let anything happen to you... Never again..." Another kiss is pressed upon your forehead. Ada's lip gloss stirs with the icy sweat beaming on your flesh.

One tap to the computer and the machinery whirs to life. Three lasers then protrude into you and begin to eradicate the Las Plagas inside of your body.

A horrible, gut-wrenching scream evades the room. Agony hits you like a tidal wave. You shout, you wail, you sob. You are in such horrendous pain, it is impossible to keep quiet. Your relentless squirming to escape the source of such misery was futile, as the restraints around your wrists keep you compliant and subject to this torment. Reassurances of "I'm here, petal" fail to conquer the sheer volume of your cries. Ada takes your hand, peppering kisses and nuzzles upon any surface of skin she can reach. Soul-crushing dread satiates her body upon seeing you in such pain. It is hurting her more than it is hurting you.

How could she have been so ignorant? How could she have let your suffering get to this point?

How could she have possibly lived every day oblivious to your well-being? How can she live with herself now knowing she had so carelessly neglected you?

How can she possibly live without you?

And as fast as it started, it was all over. The hum of the machinery silences. A vibrant "SUCCESS" flashes on the computer screen. Ease envelops your body like a warm blanket and for the umpteenth time that day, you doze off. It's a slumber like never before, where the sheer exhaustion derived from the most eventful 24 hours of your life has finally boiled over.

You now lay there. Lifeless.

"Y-... Y/N...?" Ada's voice barely surfaces above a whisper.

The death grip you had on her hand weakened and Ada never anticipated the sheer terror it would make her feel. The fear is a heavy weight on her chest, a tremor in her body. Something wet cascades down her cheeks. With skepticism, she brings her gloved hand to her face to identify the strange substance.

She's... crying?

Ada can't remember the last time she had cried. Her entire life she has powered through any turmoil with her chin held high and a stone-cold soul. Never was she allowed to feel, hence the secure control she has over herself. Now, however, the emotions escape through her facade the way a gunshot wound bleeds through a dirty bandaid.

Your flesh is cold, your body is painfully still. Ada can not bring herself to consider the conclusion that pokes and prods at her mind. Where the big heart she fell in love with stops beating. Where the eyes she'd give her life to gazes in forever loses their light. Where the only good thing this disgusting world has to offer is taken away.

Where she loses hold of the only happiness she has ever felt.

The clinical logic that had always benefited her has now become her worst enemy. Ada scans your body from head to toe, desperate for even the smallest sliver of life. More gasps of your name pervade the room, as well as the gentle, yet desperate nudges to your body in hopes of waking you from your slumber.

Ensuring you are safe, happy, and far away from the dangers within her own life has become her only purpose. Without you, Ada is now lost within the whorls of her empty, dreary world.

The woman is full-on weeping now. It had been so long, she had forgotten what it felt like to cry altogether. Her face twists with every ugly sob parting from her mouth. Her form convulses with each uncontrollable cry protruding out of her chest. Ada has become a mess of snot and tears, surely a sight the old version of her would be revolted by.

A cough fills the lonely silence. And the groggy sound could rival an angel's symphony with its raw beauty.

Alive.

You are alive.

"Hey, you did it...!" You manage to wheeze out upon seeing your status on the computer screen, voice dazed and crooked.

A smile, albeit a weak one, breaks out on your face and Ada swears she has not ever seen a sight so breathtaking. Her hands cling to your face, searching every inch to ensure she hasn't lost the only thing she could ever love. And then, she smiles. Ada smiles like she never has before; Ada smiles like she has never known pain. It is nearly deranged, how blinding and exhilarating the emotions on her face are.

She speaks before her brain can compute the consequences of her next actions.

"I love you."

The three words are spoken with such acute clarity, it is difficult to not be completely entranced by them. Ada's eyes are blown wide as her gaze sinks into yours. Her body trembles from the irrepressible fear mixed with relief coursing through her. For the first time in (quite literally) forever, she is telling the pure, unadulterated truth. However, your lack of reciprocation causes Ada's logic to fully take control of her mind. You do not love her. And as impossible as it is, she must force herself to not love you. But God, you do not make it easy.

"I-I mean- Did you have any doubt, petal? I should be offended you think so low of me. But, with those eyes, how could I be?" The tremble in her voice jeopardizes her attempt at swiftly building vanity.

You don't respond to her, you can't respond. All you can think about is how you nearly died and how Jill and Carlos will surely slit her throat for what she has done.

Ada glances down at the ring on her finger, the very thing that has held her over these past six years. It is almost humiliating to wear it. To know its existence is because of her inability to move on from this stupid crush that has somehow harbored full control of her life. Then again, Ada cannot bear to ever part from it. The thought makes her queasy, like a boat swaying against harsh waves of melancholic uncertainty. To toss the ring overboard would mean completely succumbing to the force of the sea, to drown in the heavy mass of her feelings. Cursed for eternity with stagnant sorrow.

And even though the truth strikes like a knife, Ada must commit to the plan she originally formed. Bring you to safety and pray to God once again that she has enough strength to leave you after.

"Three times..." You whisper to yourself in disbelief, your voice a ghost that Ada can hardly decipher.

With furrowed brows and a quiet hum of question, she beckons you to continue.

"Only six years and I have managed to get kidnapped not once, not twice, but three times. That's gotta earn me a place in Guinness, right?"

She reads through your attempt at masking your prevailing emotions with humor. That playful attitude, how deeply she loves it. And how devastatingly difficult it is for her to fall out of love with it. In these circumstances, when your lively demeanor is used to shield yourself from pain, it quickly festers into something she despises.

Even through everything that has happened, you are still playful. Cracking jokes, making comical jests. Just like you did all those years ago. Ada could almost be angry at you for this, for making her fall so clumsily in love with you. Almost.

"First, it was Umbrella. They had never hurt me, so I never felt they deserved the title of "kidnappers," but I guess my naivety is what got me into this shit in the first place."

This 'naivety' you speak so poorly of is mistaken for the honest warmth of your heart. You have this beautiful ability to find positivity, light, and kindness in the ugly world. Yet again, another reason why it is impossible for her to untangle you from her heartstrings. She does not speak of this, however. She is afriad of vomiting out every syllable of adoration her voice could muster.

"Then, it was..."

You hesitate, a subtlety Ada does not overlook.

"Jill and Carlos." Their names sit like rotten fruit on your tongue.

You cringe upon imagining how those two would surely react to you now, fawning over your current state as if you're some baby lamb. They nearly have a breakdown from something as mere as a paper cut, you cannot imagine the absolute warfare they'd induce upon seeing you now. Beaten, bloodied, and your organs practically on fire from the laser-induced torture they had just endured. Though, it feels strangely good to be able to breathe without them.

"A little over six months is how long they kept me. Again, they never hurt me, so it feels wrong of me to call them "kidnappers"... When I think too hard about it, I know it is what they are, I just never wanted to admit it. God, they took my freedom like it was pocket change!"

The sneer you hold has nothing against the absolute fury stretched among Ada's face.

"In the end, I escaped. I-I didn't know where I intended to go or what my plan was, but now I really, really don't know what to do..."

To make matters worse, you curl into yourself and begin to cry. It kills her to do such, but she must hold herself back, as giving you comfort would only add fuel to the fire that is her devotion to you. And to refrain from scooping you in her arms is practically killing her. To not be able to touch and comfort you, Ada knows that this is the universe testing her. No, torturing her. Every mistake, every flaw, every selfish deed — this is the karma that caught up to her after a lifetime of running from its inevitability.

"And I'm just so scared. I know they're gonna find me again and I won't be able to escape them. I'll never be free. I'll be running forever until I either submit to them o-or die!"

A beat passes when another unwelcome, unruly sob escapes your throat. The sheer calamity of this day had prevented you from processing these events. Now, the exhaustion and anguish are too much for you to bottle up.

"Oh, petal..." As you cry, Ada's long acrylics dig into the meat of her palm.

She refrains from caressing the warm skin of your shoulder. She holds herself back from pressing another tender kiss to your forehead. To prevent herself from doing such feels like suffocating. As if the heavy mass of her burning desires became physical matter and were now crushing her.

"Ada, I can't thank you enough for all you have done for me." Your gratitude is certainly not taken for granted, as every pretty word falls from your mouth and directly into the mosaic of her heart.

She cannot be in love with you anymore. She can't, she can't, she can't.

"I'm sorry for being so selfish, but please..." With helpless desperation in your eyes, you plead as though your words do not make her absolutely weak.

She must stay strong, she must complete her plan. Find you, ensure your safety, and pray to God she has enough strength to leave you after.

"Don't leave me..."

Welp, there goes that plan.

She would slaughter every soul before she'd admit it to herself, but turning her back on it has now done more harm than good.

You make her soft.

Needy.

Hungry.

You have rendered her to the same disposition of an animal, entirely feral for any chunk of you she can sink her teeth into.

"I'm right here, petal... I'm not going anywhere."

Ada Wong has let go. And you are oblivious to the consequences of this.

The resistance she once had has now faded. For six years, these tree roots have coiled around her limbs, keeping her restrained within the suffocating soil. Today, they have untangled themselves. Ada surfaces the thick dirt to find Spring in its most genuine, vulnerable time. Bunnies chase through the blossoming flowers. Trees dance with the gentle breeze. Fresh rivers flow through the bright forest. The war has ended; the torture is over.

You are at her side and there is nothing Ada could ever want more.

When she guides you out of the laboratory, she informs you of the helicopter that will soon arrive. If you weren't seconds away from succumbing to exhaustion, you'd notice the terrifying, devoted undertones beneath her structured facade. There is a man and a woman you have seen this behavior in too well, after all. However, Ada's ability to maintain herself differs from Jill and Carlos' messy aptitude.

She says your name, beckoning you to follow her. Y/N. It feels so good to say it, to have the sugary word on her tongue. It feels so good to speak it into the air and watch those eyes gaze at her with wonder, the same wonder she has fallen so hopelessly in love with. The bliss that follows after you should be considered a crime with the sheer effect it has on her. Then again, Ada was never one to follow the rules.

The two of you both race through the many twists and turns that scatter the island. Shipping containers, cargo lifts, and barrels splattered with yellow paint, you and Ada dodge the obstacles in your path. And still, she protects you with her life. Just as she had wholly promised.

Back in Raccoon City, she had lost control. She cannot afford to lose that control again, not when losing you is a possibility. Her mindless infatuation had already thrust you into danger, she would die if she let it happen once more.

With burning lungs and weak legs, you both finally arrive at the loading docks. Ada doesn't break a sweat as she tells you the helicopter will be arriving shortly. You collapse onto a pile of brown, paper sacks, now finally given a moment of rest after so many exhausting hours without it. You could nearly cry with relief.

The creak and whine of footsteps against the thin metal floors pervade the air.

A voice speaks.

"Y/N...!?"

You both look to identify the voice.

Your stomach sinks like an anchor at sea.

Leon Kennedy.

⁺ 🎧 , 🪷 you are currently listening to . . . ⁺ 🪺 , 🎵 ꪆ

THE BONUS TRACK !

❝ I CARE FOR YOU STILL

AND I WILL FOREVER . . . ❞

this is what i imaged ada's flower-pressed ring to look like. and this is what i imagined the teddy bear necklace carlos gave reader looks like.

gif creds :: ada.

#moonfairy #resident evil #leon kennedy #ada wong #jill valentine #carlos oliveira #resident evil x reader #leon kennedy x reader #ada wong x reader #jill valentine x reader #carlos oliveira x reader #resident evil imagine #leon kennedy imagine #ada wong imagine #jill valentine imagine #carlos oliveira imagine #yandere leon kennedy #yandere ada wong #yandere jill valentine #yandere carlos oliveira #yandere #gn reader #gender neutral reader #Spotify

[barbwritesstuff]

Thicker Than - Monthly Update

Happy full moon! I hope you've all had a wonderful month. I love October. Here in Australia, it's the right mix of spooky and springtime.

It's time for another Thicker Than demo update.

I made a lot of progress this month and am excited to see what everyone thinks.

This update features a couple of steamy scenes, a romance reveal, and a possible showdown with a hunter. I also added a few more options and choices in Chapter Five to make the time skip less jarring, especially for reluctant vampires. I hope you like it.

Play Thicker Than Demo

This is still a work in progress, so if you have any feedback, or spot any errors, please let me know.

As always, you can contact me by messaging me here on Tumblr, by emailing me (barbara truelove writes at g mail dot com), or by messaging me on my KoFi page.

You can also commission me and get weekly demo updates on my KoFi page for just $5 a month... which is like... a dollar per update. So, check it out if you haven't had the chance to yet.

Update Details:

As of 28th of October 2023

Chapter Five is finished

Chapter Six is in progress (currently incomplete)

Several bugs and spelling mistakes fixed

Additional Words: 33,875 (excluding commands)

Total Word Count: 132,971 (excluding commands )

#thicker than if #update #vampires #choicescript

[absurdthirst]

Kinktober 2023: October 28th

Day 28: Cuckolding, Aphrodisiacs, Temperature Play

Joel Miller x F!Reader

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Restraints, gags, cuckolding, forced voyeurism, threats of violence, oral sex (male receiving), taunting, crying, vomiting, vaginal sex, rough sex, unprotected sex, cream pie

|| Kinktober List || MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

Joel has never liked you man. Never. From the moment you and him hit town, he had known what type of man he was. He was slimy, unreliable, a cheat. Not only were those eyes of his wandering, but he was a greedy son of a bitch who had viewed himself as some sort of prize and had managed to convince someone like you that you needed him around. 

“You’re gonna sit right there and watch.” The fury in Joel’s tone makes the man struggle against the gag. His hands tightly bound behind his back and his body secured to the chair in his apartment. His lips hover near his ears and it’s too bad that the small, wicked smirk that he gives is seen by no one but you. “You fucked me out of my payment, Ben. What you owe me, now I’m going to get it other ways.” 

The muffled scream of protest is ignored as Joel straightens and saunters over to where you are waiting. He had come to you for payment and had been surprised when you had offered so much more than the credits that he had been promised. Nothing you offered had been worth anything, until you had finally offered him the one thing he couldn’t refuse. Yourself. 

Joel has a reputation. He’s a mean son of a bitch. Ruthless. It worked for him. The fact that few fucked with him, that the FEDRA agents even were wary around him, helped him survive. Let him do the things that he needed to do. He should have refused. Should have said that your pussy wasn’t worth the credits he was owed, but he would be lying. To you and to himself. 

He wants you. He wants to touch you and apparently you want to get away from the son of a bitch you are with. The fact that you were willing to let Joel completely ruin you in front of him, well that’s just icing on the cake. Ben had fucked Joel out of credits. Joel was going to fuck you and fuck him out of his woman. It was a fair trade in his mind. 

He listens as Ben struggles, shouting through the dirtiest cloth he could find to wrap around the fucker’s face. Knowing those ropes are cutting into his wrists, hearing the creaking of the chair but he knows it will hold. 

“She’s a pretty woman, Ben.” The hardness in his gaze softens slightly as he reaches out to cup your face, to touch you. “You should have known that if you fucked someone over, they were going to want her.” He looks back towards the man who is still struggling against his fate. “Now you’re gonna watch me take her.”

Your shiver draws his head back towards you and he looks down at you again. His silent question is private between the two of you. Despite being a somewhat cruel man in appearance, there are lines he will not cross and sexual force isn’t one of them.

Inhaling, you nod, your reasons for doing this are your own and he hadn’t questioned that. Just if you were serious and what you wanted him to do if you were. 

“Now, your man owes me a lot of credits, and I’m going to get satisfaction. One way or another.” He growls, his voice rough and uncaring. His hand tightens on your jaw as he lifts your chin. “First, you’re gonna suck my dick.” He informs you. “Then I’m gonna fuck in you in front of your piece of shit, cheatin’, swindling man.” 

Ben doesn’t need to know that Joel actually showered for this. In the man’s own shower, to make sure that he was clean. That you had told him that you wanted to get away from Ben but you never had the means. If he would get you away, ‘take you as payment’, that you wanted to do this. As a means of getting back at the bastard for his apparent sins. Whatever went on between the two of you hadn’t been pretty, but Joel didn’t pry. Wasn’t his business. 

He lets go of your chin when you nod and reaches for his zipper. The fact that you were already naked, already spread out on the bed when your man had walked in the door had been a calculated move. One that distracted him long enough to let Joel overpower him. Plus it was easy to get to the fuckin’ when you’re already undressed. 

Pulling out his hard cock, Joel groans as he pumps himself. “Didn’t think that I would get anything more than the pleasure of breakin’ your knee caps. Or maybe your hand. Hadn’t decided yet, but this mouth? This pussy?” He smirks and looks over at Ben’s wide, angry eyes. “Might be worth losin’ the credits you fucked me out of.” He tells him as he shuffles closer and grabs the back of your head. “Open up, little girl.” He orders, purposefully using the nickname that you had confided Ben had an affinity for. 

The angry, harsh shouting from behind the gag is ignored, the soft heat of your tongue distracting him. Making him groan when you run your tongue over the head of his cock and give him a pleasure that’s been a long fucking time since he’s enjoyed it. “Fuck.” He spits, watching your tongue circle the head and draw him into your mouth, starting to take him deep on the first pass. Your teeth slightly scraping just enough to make him hiss, but it feels good. 

He’s so distracted by the heat of your mouth, the way you take him deep until your nose is pressed against the hair above his cock that he doesn’t watch Ben. He’s forgotten for a moment until he hears a whimper. 

Looking over see the man closing his eyes, trying to block out the filthy, wet, sucking sounds as you give blowing Joel your all. 

“Open your fuckin’ eyes before I pop them out of your fuckin’ skull.” Joel barks, making you moan around him at the authority in his voice and Ben’s eyes spring open. Horrified that Joel might actually do that. “Watch how eagerly she sucks my cock.” He chuckles darkly, reaching down and grabbing the back of your head to start rocking his hips forward. Pushing deeper into your mouth. “When was the last time she sucked yours? Been a while, hasn’t it? That why she’s trying to suck my soul out? Needed a cock in her pretty mouth?” He huffs. “Sounds like you aren’t man enough to pay your debts or satisfy your woman.” 

 You moan around him, letting him push deep, his cock down your throat and he can tell you are enjoying it. Especially when you slide one hand between those pretty thighs to rub your clit. Joel groans in approval. Tears are leaking down your cheeks, but you are taking his dick like a pro. He wonders how long you had imagined cuckolding your man. Way too eager in suggesting this, and you keep glancing over at where he is tied to the chair. 

“Fuck, I should cum down your throat.” Joel grunts, twitching in your mouth at the idea. “But I want to fill your pussy up. Have you drip my cum while you walk around this apartment.” He knows you are leaving the asshole, but it drives the nail in deeper. 

Tears are sliding down Ben’s cheeks when he looks back over, making him smirk. “Is it worth it?” He taunts. “A few credits? You could have just paid me.” 

A gasping sob that is barely audible in answer has him huffing and Joel lets go of your head to pull his hips back. Pulling his cock out of your mouth. “On your knees, little girl. Give him a prime view.” 

You shuffle to your knees and Joel moves behind you. Making sure that Ben can see everything. You had wanted him to see everything. You had told Joel to fuck you rough. That you wanted to scream. He’s man enough to get a woman what she wants, and he pumps his cock again, wet with your saliva. 

“Fuck, such a pretty cunt.” He slaps your ass and looks back up at Ben once more. “Gonna look real good split open on my cock.” 

Guiding himself towards your entrance, there’s a renewed struggle from the chair a few feet away. The hopeless fighting that makes Joel grin as he pushes into your tight pussy in a rough thrust, making you shriek in pleasure. 

“Shiiiiiiiiiit.” Once he’s buried to the hilt, Joel immediately starts fucking you. Harsh, hard thrusts that push you forward and make your tits sway. Giving it to you exactly how you said you wanted it, Joel bares his teeth, watching his cock fuck into you as he holds onto your hips in a bruising grip. 

You seem to love it, your pussy clamps down on him so tight he thinks he’s gonna blow prematurely and your shouts of pleasure are loud. Loud enough that the people around you will hear. It’s not Ben’s name you are shouting, it’s Joel’s.

Ben is sobbing, forgotten in that chair while he watches you get fucked by Joel. Your face twisting in pleasure every time the bastard thrusts into you and he has rubbed his wrists to the point where they are raw. Unable to stop this. Unable to stop you from fucking this…monster. 

Joel groans, making sure that every thrust slaps against your ass, his balls hitting your clit and making you moan when he pushes your head down to the bed you are kneeling on. Giving this everything he’s got and fucking loving it. 

Your eyes are on Ben, watching him sob and cry. Making it even better when they roll back in your head when Joel’s cock hits deep and you moan again. Letting him see how much you are enjoying being fucked by the man he had fucked over. Sweet revenge. 

“Gonna, fuck, gonna knock off a few credits of your debt.” Joel tells Ben. “For every nut I bust inside your woman.” 

Ben retches, nearly throwing up behind the rag tied around his head and it makes Joel chuckle as he continues to jack hammer his cock into your cunt. You were right that he would find it disgusting. Somehow territorial about cum. 

“Maybe I should make you eat it out of her.” He grunts, making your cunt clamp down around him at the thought. He smirks and feels that he’s getting closer, so he pulls you up to your elbows and then up against his chest. 

His grip on you is tight, harsh. One hand sliding down to your clit to rub it as both of you watch Ben. “You gonna cum for me, little girl?” The growl in your ear is meant just for you. He wants you to cum. To be completely satisfied while you’re being fucked in front of your man. “Gonna soak my cock and cover it in your sweet pussy juices? Let me wear you all day?” 

Your eyes roll back again and you gasp out a “Yes!” right before scream his name. Your cunt clamping down around him and your body twitching against his as you soak his cock in those juices he had been talking about. 

“Fuck, fuck.” Joel hisses, his own pace faltering, hips stuttering as he gets close to his own orgasm. “Gonna fill you up. Gonna wreck this little cunt.” 

The retching continues, but Joel is too lost in the beginnings of his own orgasm. Pumping into you in short, shallow thrusts until he is grinding deep. Painting your walls with hot ropes of cum as he groans harshly. Exhausted and completely blissed out as you take his cum in your still trembling cunt. 

He might have actually thrown up and had to swallow it. Ben’s face is screwed up in disgust and horror and to Joel’s utter amusement, he’s either pissed his pants or cum in them. He’s not going to find out, but it just solidifies how big a piece of shit this guy is when he finally opens his eyes again and sees the man sitting there. He looks so defeated. 

Joel squeezes your hip gently and pulls out of you, slapping you on the ass as you fall forward and he can see his cum dripping out of your cunt. He hums in approval and shuffles off the bed, tucking his wet cock away. 

“Get your stuff.” He tells you, making Ben’s eyes snap back over to him and he smirks at the shake of the man’s head. “Decided she’s comin’ with me. You don’t deserve a pussy that good.” He saunters over and grabs the back of Ben’s hair and yanks his head back while you scramble to dress and grab your things. You had already packed them, but that’s besides the point. 

“Shouldn’t have fucked with me, Ben.” Joel growls harshly. “Now, now I’ve fucked your woman.” He tells him darkly. “And I think I’m gonna continue fuckin’ her. You, you’re gonna sit right here and think about things. Might let you out of that chair in a day or so, might let you die in it.” He chuckles. “Haven’t decided yet.”  

#pedro pascal #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #absurdthirst kinktober #joel miller #joel miller x reader #joel miller x you #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller smut #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller imagine #joel the last of us

[sunflowervoltwentyeight]

Happy 28th! Here is my March 2024 fic rec, organized by word count, from longest to shortest. You can view my other fic recs here. Enjoy!

Sunshine, Baby! by staybeautiful / @harruandlou (106k)

Louis was the first one down the row for their group. If he hadn’t been they would have never met.

He was turned around, walking backwards and saying to Liam, “No, I’ll get you to a real footie match next,” when he bumped into someone.

“Oops,” Louis laughed, tripping over his own feet. A hand curled around his upper arm as he nearly fell over the seat in front of him. “Sorry about that, mate.”

He turned around, still teetering in his vans, to apologize again, but the words dried in his throat. Another hand gripped his other elbow, steadying him, but all Louis could see were green eyes and dimples.

“Hi,” the man laughed, a bright, bubbling sound. “Are you okay?”

Or Louis is in his first year of law school, Harry is a junior on the swim team dreaming of the Olympics, and they both agree that they don't have time for anything more than friends with benefits... right?

Follow Your Arrow by Anonymous (78k)

Harry was the golden child, blessed in every way; Niall was the charming miscreant, a bad boy; Liam was the future-son-in-law parents of daughters dreamt of, and Zayn was the kid parents wished was their son. But Louis, Harry thought, Louis was the special one. 

It's senior year and everything is about to change.

Where We Landed by blueskiesrry / @blueskiesrry (70k)

The leaves were green the last time Harry stepped foot in Holmes Chapel, a stark contrast to the candy apple, butterscotch painting them now, years later. Harry first notices them on the train, gazing out the window with a downturned mouth. A warm something floods his stomach–memories, Harry imagines, of him as a boy, longing for the days when he’d live elsewhere and have to take this very train home for the holidays. He wonders how it’s possible to have once felt eager and euphoric at the sight of changing leaves yet now to feel nothing but tired. He sighs softly, turning away from the trees to look at his daughter, half-curled in his lap, asleep.

or: harry returns to his hometown with his sick daughter and more reminders than he bargained for of the boy he once loved when he left a handful of years ago

You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home by styleandsin / @styleandsin (43k)

Now, as he’s standing in the doorway, he’s trying not to get choked up. He hadn’t realized how much he missed this: the smell of his mother’s baking, the sounds of each of his family members, the sight of some of his old toys scattered about the foyer where his littlest siblings had presumably left them. All these things scream home, and he hadn’t felt at home since he left this house eight years ago.

 Louis needs a break from everything, from acting and the constant pressure of life in LA. He decides to move back home for a bit, some time with his family is exactly what can lift his spirits. What he doesn't expect is to fall in love. Both with the town he hated so much so that he couldn't wait to leave it years ago and with a curly haired florist that was the complete opposite of the guys he'd often meet in LA.

Something About Liminal Spaces by kingsofeverything / @kingsofeverything (34k)

Searching for inspiration for his latest book, and hoping distance will help heal his broken heart, Louis Tomlinson heads to the village of Piha on the west coast of New Zealand’s north island.

There he meets Harry Styles.

Fifteen years older than Harry, Louis tries to keep his distance, but Harry is impossible to avoid and harder to ignore.

At Risk, I Fold by clare328 / @bearmustard (15k)

2015 is a stream of hotel rooms and whisky on the rocks, tired glances and touching hands under tables. It’s the bears and the bees under a rainbow sky, and Harry and Louis have to figure out how to grow up together, instead of apart.

Wedding Bells Will Never Ring For Me by lousmoonshine / @lousmoonshine (14k)

After a failed proposal a few years back, Louis gets an unexpected invitation to his ex - Harry’s – wedding

Some Kind of Night Into Your Darkness (Colors Your Eyes With What's Not There) by larryismylifesource (5k)

Harry’s body buzzes with heat, like a current underneath his skin, because it’s been too long and his husband is right here and for once they have no obligations other than each other and he just wants.

“Lou.”

And Louis must sense it, the way the atmosphere shifts against him, the way Harry’s eyes get all big and dark with need, because he meets Harry’s gaze and then yanks him down for another kiss.

or, the boys get a day off in the middle of tour and harry and louis use it to their advantage

#28th appreciation #larry fic rec #march fic rec #monthly fic rec #fic rec #hlcreators #read

[late-to-the-party-81]

Birthday Gifts

AN: So Alpha Nomad Steve won the birthday ficlet poll. Enjoy the fluff, which also means that this set of stories is officially a series now. Find Need You Now and Surprise, Surprise here.

Beta’d at speed by @indyluckycharlie

Dividers by @firefly-graphics and banner by me

Master list

Series Master list

Summary: It’s Steve’s birthday and you have the perfect gift all ready

Relationship: Alpha! Nomad Steve and Omega! Reader

Word Count: 2.1k

CW: Breeding Kink, Fluff, Explicit Sexual Content, Lots of kissing, Non-graphic descriptions of pregnancy, labour and delivery.

28th June

“Steve, I’m as big as a house!”

Your Alpha wrapped his arms around you from behind and nuzzled into your neck and the slightly scarred flesh to be found there.

“A sexy house.”

You playfully slapped his arm and let out an equally playful cry.

“Hey! I’m not gonna disagree with you. That would be dangerous to my health.”

You couldn’t help it. You giggled. Which had probably been his intention.

“Big, strong Captain America, scared of a pregnant Omega?”

He rubbed his bearded face against your neck again, inhaling your scent.

“Only because you’re my Omega.”  

You turned in his arms, your large baby bump - a bump that you now knew did hold twins - getting in your way. Luckily Steve knew what you wanted and ducked his head down to kiss you.

Although you had a few weeks until your due date, the fact that you were carrying twins meant they were probably going to show up sooner, rather than later. But it was Steve’s birthday in a week, and you hoped they’d wait until afterwards - you’d hate to miss his birthday by being in hospital.

Once the shock of being reunited and the reveal of your pregnancy had worn off, Steve had revelled in your situation. His Alpha hindbrain preened at the fact that his Omega was pregnant, and if he’d had voracious appetites before, your rounding belly just made him insatiable. 

When you were too tired to do anything, he just asked you to lie naked in front of him and he’d jack off, praising you, looking at you, covering your bump with his spend, before cleaning you up, and kissing you until you fell asleep in his arms.

However, when you did have the energy, he liked to perch you on top of him, so you could control the depth and speed. His broad hands held your hips, helping you move - grind - until you came. There’d still be the praises though, the electric gaze, and the aftercare.

Steve deepened the kiss, and then suddenly he lifted you up into his arms. You squeaked and clung onto him, and he let out a low growl in response that went straight to your core. You were glad you weren’t feeling tired today.

July 1st

Your hands held onto the headboard, curling your fingers into the wood as you swivelled your hips.

“Alpha!” You whined as you neared your peak.

“I know, ‘Mega. You can do it, baby. Look so beautiful when you cum. I’ll be right there with you.”

Steve’s right hand dropped from your hip and his thumb delved between your folds, searching out your slick bud and rubbing tight circles over it. The tension in your body snapped like a rubber band and you threw your head back, keening as you trembled above him. His hips thrust up gently under you and you could feel his engorged knot brushing your entrance, and you wished you could take him deep enough to feel it inside you. He groaned with you as you rode out the waves of pleasure, filling you to the brim with his cum. 

As you drew in ragged breaths, your arms shook under the exertion of holding yourself up. Sensing your weariness, Steve helped manoeuvre you so you were lying on your side on the bed. He pressed a kiss to your sweaty brow before darting to the bathroom and coming back with a wet washcloth. He wiped down your face and chest, before gently cleaning you between your legs.

You smiled up at him.

“I must look a complete mess.”

He dropped another kiss on you, this time to your lips and shook his head.

“Nope. I meant what I said - you look beautiful. I don’t think I could want you more, and then I remember that once the babies are here you’ll be a certified MILF.”

You grabbed your pillow and threw it at him, but he easily avoided it.

“Perv!”

He dropped down, facing you, tangling your legs together and dropping an arm over your thickened waist.

“Only for you, Omega. Only for you.”

He kissed you again, deeply this time, and stroked your hair until you fell asleep.

July 4th

You groaned, and rolled over, an outstretched hand reaching for your phone to check the time. The screen lit up, bathing your face in its glow and mocking you with its answer.

1:17

You let out another groan and shifted, trying to get comfortable. It was Steve’s birthday today and you were determined it was going to be a good one. If only this damn backache would calm down. You closed your eyes and willed your body to relax, which is of course when the twins decided to start up a kicking war with each other, with you caught in the crossfire.

You rubbed your palm over your bump, trying to calm them.

“Quit it, you two.” You kept your voice low, but having an Alpha with enhanced senses means that it didn’t matter how quiet you were. A hair covered arm, corded with muscle came over your bump and pulled you close to the human furnace connected to it.

“They causing you problems, ‘mega?” His voice was roughened from sleep as he pressed his lips to your mating scar.

“Just waltzing around in there.” You suddenly winced and rubbed your hand over your belly again. “Okay, that was a little hard. I’ll be having words with them when they come out. Let’s try and go back to sleep, so we can enjoy your birthday later on.”

You turned your head over your shoulder to give Steve a brief kiss, and then snuggled back against him, pulling the comforter up and hoping the heat from his body would soothe your back ache.

You woke up a few hours later as the sun started to rise, golden rays finding the gap between the curtains of Steve’s - your - compound apartment. Your back was still killing you and the twins were obviously headbutting your bladder. You were glad that your last scan showed both were head down, but sometimes you couldn’t make it 10 minutes between toilet visits. 

You carefully pulled yourself from bed, noting that the time was only 4:33. At some point Steve had rolled away from you, and the comforter was tangled around his legs. The early morning sun lit up the hairs on his body with a golden sheen and you smiled to yourself, before waddling off to the bathroom at the insistence of your unborn children. By the time you’d finished and washed up, despite still being tired, you were too awake to go back to bed.

You slowly made your way from the bedroom to the small living room cum kitchen of Steve’s compound apartment. You got yourself a glass of water and took two tylenol, hoping to ease your backache. You then moved towards the TV, snagging the throw from the back of the sofa and rolling your birthing ball out from the wall with your foot. Settling down on the bouncy rubber, the throw draped around your shoulders, you switched on the TV, making sure the volume was down low, and started to channel hop. There was bound to be some kind of mind-numbing rubbish on that you could while away the hours with. Then you’d have a nice nap.

At 7am you were resigned to the fact that you weren’t getting a nap, and you had a sinking feeling that all your plans for today were getting put on hold. 

Normally, Steve would have been up an hour ago, to get in his morning run, but he’d agreed to forego the alarm this morning, accepting your suggestion that he have a lie in. Theoretically you should still be there with him, ready to help him out when awoke, but it appeared that the universe, and your twins, had other plans.

You were walking laps of your living room and trying not to accept the fact that your backache and slight twinges had morphed into the early stages of labour when a painful tightening of your womb caused you to moan out loud. Before the sensation had even fully passed, Steve was by your side, an arm around your back and the other holding your hand. There was a look of panic on his sleepy face.

“Are you okay, baby? What’s going on?”

You raised an eyebrow and swayed from side to side, the movement helping to ease your discomfort.

“Steven Grant Rogers, I’m 35 weeks pregnant with twins. What do you think is happening?”

He looked at you and you looked at him, watching as the realisation hit him. The panic on his face didn’t lessen any. In fact, it seemed to get more intense.

“They’re coming? Now? We need to get you to the med facility!” He dropped your hand and ran back to the bedroom, still talking. You rolled your eyes and restarted your perambulations.

“We need your bag, and the pups’ bag. And my bag. I need to call Buck. And Sam. And Tony…”

He reappeared, hopping on one foot as he tried to pull his sweatpants up the other leg.

“Should I carry you? Or do you want to walk? Maybe we could do both? Oh, and you have to remember to breathe, and…”

“Steve. Alpha. Please shut up.” 

He came to a grinding halt, watching you as you walked around him.

“It’s not that time yet, Steve. I spoke to the doctor about this last week. I need to wait until the contractions are regularly 2-3 minutes apart or until my waters break, whichever happens first. We’ve probably got hours to go yet. Now, relax, will you? Make your phone calls and get the bags near the door, but as the med facility is only on the other side of the compound, I don’t think we need to worry about getting there.”

Steve shook himself from his panicked stupor and moved back to your side, taking your hand and joining you in your circuit of the room.

“How are you so calm, Omega?”

You stopped and tugged on his hand to make him bend down so you could press your lips to his.

“Because I’m built for this, and because I will have the best Alpha by my side, supporting me. And let’s face it, if I’m squeezing your hands later, I’m not going to hurt you.”

The mental image made him laugh and he kissed you back.

“Bring it on, baby. Do your worst.”

20:05

“I’m never letting you and your knot near me ever again, Rogers! Aaaahhhh!”

You were on your hands and knees on the bed in the medical facility. One of Steve’s hands was trapped under yours - you weren’t letting him go anywhere! - and you were swaying back and forth as another contraction washed through you. 

There was a midwife - Penny, a calming Beta - standing at the end of the bed, keeping an eye on proceedings, although to your mind she’d spent longer placating Steve’s fears than helping you through labour.

“I’m sorry, Omega. But you’re doing so well. And it will all be worth it when the pups are here. It won’t be long now.” He turned and looked behind you, towards Penny. “Will it?”

“No, in fact, Twin A is almost ready to be here, their head is starting to crown.” You turned your own head to look at her and she smiled at you.  “So with this next contraction I want you to push as hard as you can, okay. And Mr Rogers, I need you to hold up that water bottle so Mama can take sips when she wants.”

It was a good thing your mate was a military man, because he didn’t hesitate, and just did what had been asked of him. You didn’t have long to appreciate it, however, as your next contraction hit.

“Here we go,” Penny said, brightly. “Give me a nice big push…

“What time is it, Steve?” You were exhausted, your eyes heavy and your blinks getting longer and longer. Your Alpha turned away from the window, where he was watching the fireworks explode across the sky. In his arms was a wrapped bundle with a scrunched up nose. An almost matching bundle was in the bassinet next to you. 

Sarah and Joseph, after Steve’s parents.

“Just after 10pm. You should get some rest, Omega mine. I can’t believe how well you did. You made it look easy.”

You gave out a little snort.

“I can assure you, it wasn’t. And I’ll get some rest in a moment. But I need you to come here.” You held out your hand, beckoning him over. With baby Sarah in his arms, he perched on the edge of your bed, the biggest smile you’d ever seen on his face. You pushed yourself up and pulled him into a kiss.

“Happy Birthday, Steve. I hope you liked your presents.”

“The best presents I could ever wish for, Omega. Thank you.”

Tag list: @jobean12-blog @sidepartskinnyjeans @flordeamatista @goldylions @luxeavenger @wheezy-stucky @doasyoudesireandlive @chemtrails-club @seitmai @marvelstarker-mha98 @peaches1958 @pono-pura-vida @writing-for-marvel

#alpha!steve x omega!reader #alpha!steve rogers #nomad!steve #nomad steve x reader #late writes #Steve Rogers birthday #steve rogers fluff #pregnancy fic

[theladybarnes]

CRIMSON AND CLOVER: CHAPTER FOUR

"Remind me, when do they become reasonable human beings again?”

▸ summary: spring break is just a day away, but something else is looming around the corner.  ▸ characters: robin buckley, eddie munson, steve harrington, dustin henderson & nancy wheeler  ▸ word count: 7.4k ▸ warnings: angst, semi-fluff, & slight depression ▸ series masterlist

FEBRUARY 28TH (TWO WEEKS LATER)

 The two of you haven’t stopped glancing at each other all night. 

 With every little still in conversation with a party goer, you rewarded yourself a chance to glance over at Steve. He’s talking with another girl, short, curly red hair, cute. But even with their in-depth conversation, his eyes always seemed to find yours.

 It’s been only two weeks since the two of you started to secretly hook up again. Neither brave enough to talk about it, nor explain it to your friends. But simply enjoying the sinful pleasures that each other gave. Seeming to forget the world when it came to each other.

 It was a bad idea.

 “So I must look pretty good if you can’t keep your eyes off me.” 

 You glance again this time to watch as Steve slid over the kitchen island so that he could stand beside you. 

 Alone.

 It gave you a moment to really look over his outfit. Eyes scanning over the black crew knit sweater that tugged over his top looked great with his jeans. Correction, his tight jeans. The very ones he bought at the outlet mall when he caught you staring last fall. 

 Next your eyes danced across the many features of Steve’s face. The constellation of freckles and moles on his skin. The way his deep eyes would always stare at you so intently. The warmth they seemed to only hold for you. All things you missed dearly.

 An overwhelming feeling hit you suddenly and you forced yourself to avoid his gaze any further by glancing down to the can in his large hands. “What are you drinking?” you asked, nodding towards it. “Aren’t you driving?”

 He chuckled a bit at the deflection before he looked down at the can with a small amusing smile. “It’s just a cherry coke.” He said simply before he held the can up towards your lips. “Want some, pretty girl?” 

 The use of an older pet name left you stunned with the offer. A heat quickly spread over your face but you managed to press on as you leaned forward to take a slow sip from the rim. All while keeping eye contact with Steve. That seemed to do something for him as he proceeded to bite down on his lip. Letting his eyes shift down to your mouth while you drank the sweet liquid. 

 A small dribble of the sugary drink managed to coat your bottom lip, making you jerk back in reaction. But before you could wipe it away, Steve already leaned forward in time to cup the side of your face. “So messy.” he hummed, letting the pad drag slowly over your bottom lip before he pulled away to casually suck between his lips.

 You couldn’t help but gulp, nervous for the way Steve seemed confident in all his actions.

 “So, I figured you were done with parties since Fall break.” you blinked, trying to gain back some control. “What brings you here?” 

 He paused for a second, brow raised at your sudden question before he quickly shook his head. Brushing off his past convictions apparently.

 “I’m here to see you.”

 “Really?” you scoffed, finding it both amusing and hard to believe that he’d be here for you at all when he wasn’t aware of any of your plans. Your answer thankfully came when Steve let out a small chuckle. He brought a hand up to point meekly behind you to where the other party guests were at. 

 “Patrick started on the team around when I did. Never really had a fall out with him so told him I’d stop by at work the other day.”

 The boy himself came into your vision as he tried leading a group of kids away from one of the rooms in his house. Apparently Patrick McKinney had a super strict Dad. Which made the party itself questionable, but in a town like Hawkins you can’t really argue with a free party.

 “And what about you?” He asked, stepping closer to bop at the tip of your nose with his finger. “It’s not like you to come to a party alone.”

 “Nancy.” You frowned, swatting lightly at his hand before pointing over towards the backdoor that led to more party guests. “Some people from her editing team are here and she wants to make friends with them. I offered to come with her for support.” 

 “And Nancy is your only company tonight?”

 Your lips pursed at the slight mention to Eddie. Both nervous and hesitant to bring your friend up at all. There was no telling what bringing him up would lead the conversation to. 

“Are you really interested in what Eddie is doing or are you wondering why I’m not with him?”

 Steve sighed, leaning in to rest his elbow against the counter. Bringing you both shoulder to shoulder and close enough that you could inhale the scent of cologne off his collar. You wanted nothing else but to turn your body over and bury your face into the fabric. Seeking the regular comfort it usually gave off whenever you used to cuddle up in his bed. Luckily your mind wasn’t foggy enough to give into that urge.

 “He’s with his friends. I don’t really keep tabs on him.” you answered anyway, keeping your gaze now at the can in his hands rather than his curious one. He let out a small sigh of relief before his elbow nudged into your side lightly. Almost playfully. 

 “So you’re not going to see him tonight?”

 Though he was trying to keep the mood light, there was a bit of worry in his tone that had your stomach twisting. The never ending conflict of keeping up the mindset of moving on and making sure that whatever you said wouldn’t hurt Steve’s feelings. 

 “No, I’m not.” you sighed, feeling suddenly tired with your internal struggle. “So if that’s all you came to catch up on then I guess we’re done with that.” Stealing his can of soda, you made your leave from the kitchen and tried to venture back out into the party. Hoping that the footsteps behind you weren’t his. 

 “Who’s to say I’m all done? What if I asked because I wanted to hang out with you tonight?” Steve asked, hand sliding up to rest on your lower back as he carefully led you towards the foot of the stairs. His palms were warm. Warm enough to seep through the fabric of your dress and nearly have you curling to wrap around him.

 “Is hanging out what we’ve been doing lately?” you asked, pulling yourself away as you leaned against the banister.  The small space only gave you the smallest amount of composure as you stared over at him. There was a small smirk tugged at his lips as he placed his hand right beside yours. 

 “Well, I’d consider it.”

 You threw him a weird look, only shaking your head as you took another sip. “You’re getting too comfortable.” His brow raised at that before they knitted together. “Maybe we should be hanging out differently.”

 He pursed his lips, displeased with that notion. “I kinda prefer what we’re doing now than the weird avoiding thing we had before.” he took the can from your hands, taking a quick drink before he gave it to you again. It was oddly sweet and reminded you of last year. When the two of you finally became friends and shared lunches together. You’d steal his drink then and he’d say nothing about it. Just like now.

 “And the sex wouldn’t be the reason for that, right?” you asked slowly, looking away. He simply reached a hand out to cup at your chin, gently turning your face back to look at his again. He was serious now, leaning in closer so that only you could hear his words next. 

 “I’m not gonna lie and say I’m not enjoying the sex.” he said, breath fanning over your already flushed face. “But that’s all you’re offering me and I’m going to take every bit of it you give me,” he explained. “Because we both know that if things were my way...it would be different.”

It took you too long to physically pull yourself out of his grasp. Needing a bit of space to get some clarity. You two were on the stairs in the middle of a party. Not at the privacy of each other’s houses. Where you were allowed to be lured in by his words.

 Carefully, you moved up a step. Giving yourself the higher ground and hopefully more confidence to put down the tone of the conversation Steve is turning things to. But even with that help, you struggled to bring the words past your lips when you saw the small bit of longing in his eyes. 

 “I’m not dancing around the subject again, Steve. We both want different things.”

 “It’s not like we aren’t used to dancing, Trouble.” His eyes locked onto something around your neck before he looked back at you again. “Besides, we both know the only thing I want is you.” 

 Shaking your head, you left him there. Needing to head up the upstairs to clear your mind. It was becoming harder and harder not to give in again and you were scared the next time you did you’d fall back into something that would get broken.

 Steve’s hand gripped lightly onto your arm when you reached the top. Gently ushering you into one of the empty rooms before you could protest. “Four months.” He said letting you go to close the door. “Four months is all I have and then you’re just gone.” 

 You stared at him in shock. Watching as the semi reserve he had moments ago slowly faded away as his worries seemed to kick in. “Steve,” you sighed, setting down the can on a nearby dresser. “Please. We shouldn–”

 “You’re still wearing it.” he interrupted, stepping towards you to reach for the chain against your neck. The small lamp over at the desk shined just enough to make the S around your neck glimmer. “You’ve been wearing this the whole damn time and I’m not supposed to take it as a sign? Do you..do you not love–”

 His sentence was cut off when you jumped forward to crash your lips against his. Hoping to stop the question from ever coming past his lips. Like always, his lips were soft, warm, and inviting. This time with the lingering hints of cherry cola still there. 

 He eagerly kissed back, Moving his arms to wrap around you as he pressed your chest tighter against his. It wasn’t long for the air to leave your lungs. Making your chest fill up with a burning heat that you tried to ignore in order to dive deeper into the kiss. There’s only a second you give a small space of shared air for the two of you. 

 Steve followed the same hungry path. Turning your kisses open so he could pant hotly into your mouth before closing it with his again. You’re not sure what’s making your head spin so much. The shared hot breaths between the two of you or just the usual pleasure that came when being this close to Steve. 

His hands found purchase over the round of your behind. Cupping at the cheek briefly before he squeezed it lightly. Your legs wobbled from the sudden touch and you couldn’t help but wrap one leg around his to stable yourself while your hands wrapped around his neck. Bringing him closer than ever tonight. 

This could have gone further. You wanted it too. But the sudden sound of something breaking downstairs caused you to flinch back and look at how much you allowed yourself to give in. The two of you rested foreheads against each other while you calmed down from the heat of the moment.

 Looking up, you saw that Steve had been watching you silently, but questionably. Probably even more confused by your actions that went against your words. You reached out to cup the side of his face, letting your thumb caress his cheek softly. 

  “I love you.” you said out of breath. “But that’s the problem. I love you and I need to be able to move on from you. Because I am leaving soon, and I don’t think I’m going to be able to step on any plane if I can’t get over you now.”

 “Honey..”

 There’s a sudden knock on the door, and the two of you jumped a bit before Nancy barged in the room. Her wide blue eyes scanned over your close positions before she shook her head. “We get outta here.” she said quickly. “One of Patrick’s neighbors gave the heads up and someone called the cops.”

 Steve quickly took your hand, leading the three of you back down the stairs to the hustle of party goers trying to make their exit. “You guys parked close?” he called over his shoulder, keeping you both nearby as he pushed through the crowd of people.

 You were about to answer his question when the sound of a prissy voice called out to Steve. The short girl from earlier pushed her way through people, beer in hand and a lazy smile on her face. “Stevie! You left without giving me your number, silly. I thought you wanted to talk about what school I’m going to?”

 The three of you stand there kind of frozen in place. From one side you could see Nancy glare over at the girl, probably confused about what she was going on about in the first place. On the other, you could see Steve's shocked face turned into a grimace. Feeling bad for the girl who was unfortunately in the middle of a drama she wasn’t even aware of, you quickly help end the problem. 

  “Harrington.” you told her, dropping out of Steve’s tight grip. “They’re listed.” 

  Without saying anything else, you reached for Nancy’s arm and dragged her out the door of the house. Towards the direction of her car. “Did that seriously just happen?” she asked, perplexed, trying to keep up with your fast pace. “Did you really just give that girl Steve’s information?”

 “Not now, Nancy. Please.” you said, voice wavering as you held in the mix of emotions. Why did you do that? You’ve been saying this whole time that the two of you needed to move on, and you’re even attempting something like that with Eddie. 

 So why was your stomach twisting so much about it? 

 The two of you only got half way down the block before a hand grabbed at your shoulder. Steve, who had barely caught up to the two of you, was glaring at you now. 

 “Why would you tell her that?” He asked. You tried to get out of his grip, wanting, no, needing to get away before you cried in front of him again. But Steve gently reached for your hands, getting you to stand close in front of him. “I thought we were...what changed just now?” 

 “I’m just.. trying to do the right thing for once.” 

 Nancy, who while free now, was still at your side. Looking over the two of you with such turmoil on her face as she witnessed everything. Steve didn’t seem to care how awkward that might be as he moved a hand to cup the side of your neck. Trying to bring you down to Earth with him.

 “Right thing? How the hell can that be the right thing? What about what you said, not five minutes. I thought you still loved—“

 You quickly reached up to cover his mouth. “Four months.” you said, repeating his words back to him. “Four months and I’m due back home.”

 His brows knitted tightly together as he shook his head in disagreement, reaching his hand up to pull yours away from his mouth. “But we..we still feel it. I still want this..us.”  

 “It doesn’t matter what we want at this point, Steve. Neither one of us should be held back because we’re too scared to face reality.” You took a step back and quickly reached for Nancy again. “I want us to be friends, Steve, but we can’t do this if we don’t get over each other first.” 

 Not having the heart to hear more of Steve’s pleas, Nancy quickly took the lead this time and dragged you away from the boy. Rushing the two of you towards her car and thankfully away from the peering eyes of everyone. 

 It wasn’t until you were both strapped into your seats that you finally broke down. Letting the hot tears roll down your cheeks. Nancy reached over to place her hand on your arm, calling out your name softly until you finally looked over at her. 

 “Are you going to be okay?” she asked softly. 

 You shook your head, looking at your friend sadly. “I love him so much, Nancy.” She reached out to hand you a tissue from her glove compartment, watching you with a concerned look on her face. “Please tell me I’m doing the right thing.. I need to know that this isn’t a mistake.”

 “You’re doing what’s right for you, and that’s all that matters.” she said softly, “Steve will understand eventually. We both know he’s a good guy..”

 “He’s the best guy, Nance.” you corrected her. “He’s the best and he doesn’t want to come with me.. why doesn’t he wanna come with me?” 

 She didn’t answer you, probably unable to think of a good response for it. All she does is start up the car and keep a hand patting at your arm. “I wish I knew.” she said eventually. “I really do..”

  MARCH 20TH (THURSDAY NIGHT)

 It was the soft sounds Eddie strumming against the strings of his guitar lightly that had lulled you to sleep. It filled the room with such soft background noise that easily relaxed the moment you arrived from Family Video an hour ago. 

 You had spent the majority of the night listening to the new songs that his band were planning on covering soon. Some too out of your tastes, and some like this current medley that pulled you into a nap. Which was all a pretty good distraction from your current problems. 

 It was weeks of you running on autopilot through work and school while you tried to ignore the ache in your chest. It would turn out that sticking to what you thought was right would only lead to you feeling worse. Every day was filled with a headache, stomach ache, or the current of your problems. Nightmares. 

 Every night, you found yourself dreaming up various scenarios that ended with you running away from everything. Leaving all your loved ones in broken pieces. All because you’re too scared to fight. It was torture and brought your current guilt of disappointing everyone to a new high. 

 Things only seemed to worsen when you found out later that weekend that Steve took your words to heart and decided to go out on a date with that girl.

 Then again the next night when he went out with another girl.

 Then another.

 And another.

 It was safe to say that you were definitely over now.

 But you knew better than to voice out the hurt of that reality. Especially when you still found yourself sitting comfortably in the Munson trailer over in Forest Hills. Making out with Eddie, touching Eddie, and occasionally letting Eddie touch you. But with your heart so out of it, you didn’t consider it actually moving on. But it wasn’t like you could claim that as being single either. 

 It was beyond messed up. You were totally fucking up your life and you weren’t sure how to control it anymore. The only relief was that you weren’t ruining anyone else’s. 

 Steve didn’t deserve the stress of having to uproot his life just for you. As amazing as that dream sounded, that’s all it was. A dream. You were asking for too much. You were too much. 

 A pity party for one, how sweet. (Tick)

 You squeezed your eyes tight, fighting against the venomous voice that seeped into your mind more than ever these days. 

 Venomous voice? Is that how you see it? Others would say I’m just brutally honest. (Tock)

 Something about the words threw you off and you found yourself squeezing the blanket tighter. Hoping that the cotton of Eddie’s blanket would ground you. But something about that voice started to sound familiar..

 Maybe it’s your guilty conscious finally catching up on– (Tic–)

 “Ah, now I don't hardly know her. But I think I could love her. Crimson and clover..”

 The soft singing from the edge of the bed pulled you out of your thoughts, calming down the building back in your chest. Turning over you caught sight of Eddie watching you from the bedside. His singing had stopped, but he continued the light strumming to the song. 

 “Ah, she wakes up to her favorite.” he mused softly. 

 Rubbing the sleep away from your eyes, you moved to crawl up in the bed. Sitting beside Eddie with a pillow hugged to your chest. You watched as his fingers worked the strings on the guitar. 

“Sorry I fell asleep.” you said eventually. 

 “S’okay,” he shrugged a bit, glancing over at you briefly. “Your snoring makes up for a nice break from hearing you talk.” 

 You fought back a smile, instead, playfully frowning at him while you pinched at his rib side. Causing him to briefly mess up on a note. “How do you know I liked this song?” 

 “You only ever make me shut up whenever it comes on the radio.” he snorted, finishing up the rest of the notes before setting the guitar to the side. He carefully turned around so that he could face you now, causing you to back up a bit. “It’s a good song. Did it cheer you up?”

 “How did you–”

 “You’ve been pouting so much it’s showing in your sleep.” 

 Letting out a huff of air through your nose, you looked down at the pillow. Unsure just what truth would make Eddie feel too uncomfortable or not. But instead of saying anything, you pushed yourself forward to capture your lips against his, wanting to distract him, and yourself, from any real worries for just a moment. 

 “Mm, Princess,” he chuckled against your lips, reaching out to gently push you back. “As much as I’d like to kiss you, I can tell you’re not into it right now.” 

 You looked down to your lap ashamed. Wondering just how much you were breaking through your usually well put up walls. Eddie poked gently at your cheek, waiting for you to look back up at him. 

 “We’re friends, right?” he asked, his voice gentle.

 “It’s up for debate..” 

 “As friends,” he drawled out, ignoring that bit. “I think that kinda means you gotta be honest with me now and then.” 

 “Honest?” you asked, feeling a familiar lump return to your throat. “Since when am I not honest?” 

 Eddie sighed dramatically as he crossed his arms over his chest. Patiently waiting for you to actually just give in to his request. Licking over your lips, you tried to pull your staggered thoughts together. 

 You sighed, a mixture of frustration and longing tugging at your heart. “It’s Steve,” you whispered. “He’s been dating now.. which means things are really changing.”

 Eddie's expression softened, and he nodded, waiting for you to continue.

 “I never meant to make things so complicated for myself. For anyone. But I’m still.. struggling to get over him.” The memory of his face when you left him at the party flashed in your mind and you fought hard to shake off the physical pain that came from the image. “Now he’s going on dates, doing the thing I said we should both do, and it’s killing me. And the hardest part is that it’s completely my fault and I don’t have a right to feel any of this.”

 He didn't say anything for a moment, processing your words. You could almost feel the conflict within him—the desire to talk against the very type of people he usually despised and the other to actually provide some help for you. 

 "Look, I'm sorry," you started, preempting any awkwardness. "You don’t need to say anything. I just needed to vent it out I guess.” 

 Quickly, you made an effort to climb off his bed but was gently pushed back into place by Eddie’s hands. He shook his head, a determined look in his eyes. "First off, don't apologize for giving me the answer to my question, okay?” he said slowly. “Second, I think it’s kinda a normal thing to feel shitty after a breakup.”

 “So you don’t think I’m just a whiney bitch who’s changing her mind quickly when she suddenly doesn’t like getting what she’s asked for?” you asked softly, feeling your own venomous words get to you.

 Eddie reached out to place a hand over yours. Brows knitted together with concern over your words. "I don’t think you’re a bitch at all. Maybe a pain in the ass, but definitely not a bitch.”

 With a sigh, you let silence fall between the two of you. Playing instead with the hem of your shirt as you tried to not overthink everything you’ve just said in the past five minutes. 

 Eddie leaned in, his voice carrying a comforting tone. "You know, you don't have to figure it all out right now.” His hand reached up to tip at your chin, making your gaze return to him. “I’m serious. You’re in your Senior year, you’re hot, single, and sometimes fun to hang out with. I think you should just forget about shitty ex-boyfriends, and think about doing cool stuff.”

 You couldn't help but chuckle at his enthusiasm. "You make it sound like that’s easy."

 "Definitely not easy,” he agreed. “But sometimes a friendly distraction helps.”

 “And what kind of friendly distractions do you have in mind?” you asked, leaning in towards him. A small noticeably blush spread over Eddie’s cheeks. He didn’t back away though, only clearing his throat before he brought a hand up to brush a bit of hair away from your eyes. 

 “Tomorrow night.” he said softly, “Come and watch me play with the boys.”

 You raised a brow at him, wondering how quickly his band managed to rehearse the songs he had just collected for them a day ago. “You have a gig tomorrow?” you asked, thinking about if you had any outfits at home that would look cool in a rocker sort of way. 

 Eddie’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head. “Wrong choice of words. I meant Hellfire’s Campaign.” 

 “D&D?” you groaned, chucking the pillow at Eddie’s face. “You know better than anyone that I do not have any interest in that stuff!”

 “Come on! You’ve barely given it a chance! I’m really good as Dungeon Master.” he tried pleading, pushing the pillow away. You took the chance to roll off the bed, reaching for your shoes on the floor. “Wha- now you’re leaving?”

 “Yes!” you laughed, slipping on the boots quickly. “I am not about to sit here and get another lecture on the fundamentals of D&D and how it can open my imagination of storytelling.” 

 “Okay, that was only once. And to be fair, Dustin had some really good points that day.” 

 You threw him a pointed look before getting off the bed, going towards the mirror where his electric guitar hung to check on your hair. “I’m working tomorrow night anyway. Keith pleaded with me to close the store. Says he ‘needs the help’ or something.” you sniffed, fixing up the rest of your outfit. “You’ll have to have fun with your campaign without me.”

 “Ooh I love it when you talk with the right lingo.” he cooed softly, climbing up from the bed to stand behind you. “The game lasts pretty long.. I bet if you get off early you can catch it.”

 “I’m still gonna have to pass.” you said turning around to face him. 

 Eddie had a small pout on his face, and you couldn’t help but reach out to pinch at his cheeks. “While you’re kind of terrible at providing ideas on what I can do, I’d say you’re pretty good at keeping me from thinking too much about my other problems.”

 “Yeah? You feeling all better now?” he asked, a crooked grin tugging at his face. 

 “I’ll get there. Especially if you keep up with that nonsense talk.” you teased, watching as his smile quickly turned into annoyance. “Can’t wait to see what other songs you learn for me.” 

 He smiled a bit before quickly draping his arm around your neck, keeping you close in a small choke hold as he led you over towards his front door. “Keep teasing me and that might be the last song you get from me.” he said, lightly giving your hair a toss.

 You slapped at his hands, trying to keep your hair from looking crazy but he only held you tighter, making you laugh against his chest. With his free hand he pushed open the door, letting the chilly air seep inside the warm trailer. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”

 “Yeah, I’ll try and find you for my next set of problems.”

 “Sounds like a plan.” 

 "Goodnight, Eddie." You leaned up as much as you could in your position, planting a gentle kiss on his cheek before you slipped out from under his arm out the door. With a glance over at your car, you couldn’t shake off a bittersweet feeling. Eddie was funny, caring, and possibly into you.

 The only problem was, you weren’t so sure where you stood with your own feelings. At a second glance, you watched as he gave you that same lopsided grin again. You couldn't help but hope that maybe, just maybe, you could figure it out soon.

 For Eddie’s sake.

  MARCH 21ST (FRIDAY) 

 “We’re going to be late.” 

 “He’s just getting dressed dear.”

 “It’s about fifteen minutes before we’re out of luck.”

 “He’s trying to figure out his style! It takes time.” 

 You pushed the set of pain relief pills into your mouth, downing the glass of cold water before you looked over at your Aunt incredulously. She had been pacing in the living room for ten minutes now while you both waited for Dustin to finish getting ready. It’s the third time this week he’s pushed the limits of being later or not, and you’re frankly tired of it.

 “He’s worse than me.” you pointed out, looking at the time on your watch again. “Then again, I only take long because beauty takes time. Boys taking long though.. well, we both know there’s only a couple of reasons for that.” 

 Aunt Claudia paused, eyes went wide at the nefarious thoughts before she instantly shot down the hall. There were a couple of swift knocks to his door as her worried voice perked in your ears. 

 “Dusty-buns what’s going on in there? You guys are going to be late!”

 “DON’T COME IN I’M NAKED!”

 There was a loud gasp and she slowly ventured out back into the living room. Her face pale and worried as she leaned against the archway. You couldn’t help but shake your head, arms crossed over your chest. “I’m telling you, worse than me.”

 She wiped a hand over her face, groaning a bit before the sound of Dustin’s door sliding open stopped her. 

 Dustin, looking a little bit smug for some reason, came down the hall. Completely dressed with his backpack hitched over his shoulder. “Shall we get going, ladies?” he chirped before making his way out the front door. You share a confused look with your Aunt before gathering your things and joining out with him. 

 After a small fight for the front seat, the three of you were thankfully on the road to school. Dustin was grumbling about something under his breath from the backseat before he leaned forward to peek over at you.

 “Since when did you care about getting to school on time? You’ve been close to late for the past two years.”

 “The word is close to late. And that was only because I was adjusting.” you scoffed, glancing over your shoulder. “I wasn’t fiddling around in my room doing God knows what, like you.”

 Dustin rolled eyes, his Mother beside him shaking her head swiftly. “I don’t like this Dusty, you need to be better at managing your time if you’re.. busier in the mornings.”

 Your cousin’s eyes narrowed over at you before he looked over to his Mother. Trying to put together what it is you two were insinuating. “Look, whatever crap she’s filling inside your head, just push it out. Because the only thing I’m doing in the morning is making sure that I’m ready for my education.”

 “And talking to Suzie.” you piped in, pulling down the sun visor to check your reflection, catching the stink eye from Dustin in the backseat. 

 “I wouldn’t expect anyone to understand the relationship that I hold with Suzie.” he sniffed, looking away. “Especially you, the girl who has put herself in the unfortunate position of being single even though she had a perfect relationship with the coolest guy.”

 "Ah, the expert on love speaks.” You chuckled dryly, pulling out your red maxi-color lip gloss to spread over your lips. “Tell me, Dustin, are you pursuing a class in relationship counseling now?”

 He rolled his eyes. “I don’t necessarily need to be in a class to know that you two were good together. It just doesn’t make sense why you make it seem like you guys are incapable of holding a long distance relationship. Suzie and I do it.”

 “Suzie and you met at a summer camp where she miraculously was not bothered by you in the first five minutes of speaking together.” you said with a head shake. “It’s complicated for some people, Dustin. College is a whole different world. Different schedules, different priorities... throw in things like long distance and it's a recipe for disaster."

 Dustin scoffed, crossing his arms as he fell back into the seat. "I think you’re just being overly dramatic about this. You guys could make it work if you wanted to."

 "It's not just about wanting to.” you turned over to look over at the back, watching as his annoyance turned slowly into a frustration you didn’t think he could have about it. “It's about feasibility and reality. And unfortunately, dear Dusty-buns, reality tends to be a buzzkill."

 There wasn’t much said from him after that as you guys neared the long road down to the school. All the kids were gathered around the main entrance, making their way across towards the gym for the early pep rally. Dustin was quick to brush past you without a goodbye. Making his way to meet up with Mike before the bell rang. You figured he was just on the list of people you were hurting from your decisions. 

 As you made your way towards the school gym amidst the bustling crowd, a familiar voice called out your  name.

 “Hey! Wait up!”

 You turned around to see Robin beckoning you over from Steve’s car. The unexpectedness threw you off. Causing you to lamely stand in place as you figured out what the best response would be. Robin quickly grabbed her stuff from the backseat before she started heading your way.

 "Hey!" Robin grinned, falling into step beside me. "You came right on time today."

 “Barely.” you chuckled, throwing a sideways glance at her. “Ready to huff out air in your lungs for the sake of school spirit?” 

 She shrugged, adjusting her bag on her shoulder while her hands struggled to keep her cap and trumpet in place. “That’s the plan. Though I’m pretty sure I'm just a walking zombie at this point with how tired I am. Who knows how well I’ll do.”

 Taking her feathered cap, you give her bangs a quick fix with your fingers before smiling over at her. “Well, at least you’ll be the prettiest zombie. So it can’t all be too bad.” you teased. She rolled her eyes but wasn’t able to hide away the shy smile from her face. 

 “Come on, let’s go so I can liven up your spirits.” she said eventually, nodding towards the school.

 "Yeah, let’s see about that.” you hummed, trying to match her enthusiasm before you glanced back towards Steve.

 His eyes met yours, and in that brief moment, a rush of emotions flooded in. Still, you managed a sad smile and lifted your hand in a small wave to him. His lips turned upright in a small attempt of smiling back before he nodded at you. 

 Robin followed your gaze and caught sight of Steve. "Hey, you okay?" 

 You nodded, trying to brush it off. "Yeah, just got caught up in the moment. Let’s go.” 

 Together the two of you turned towards the gym, heading inside for what was bound to be an interesting start of the day.

  The pep rally did not uplift your spirits as intended. 

 After having the loud music from the band buzz in your aching ears, the whole school was invited to listen to evangelistic words of Jason Carver. Someone you did not think you’d grow to dislike so much, but after hearing him speak of the many passing people of the school, including Billy and even Hopper, all for the sake of a championship? You easily found a disdain towards him.

 Even now as he sat comfortably gathered by his friends, you couldn’t help but scowl at him. 

 “Do you think if you glare hard enough he’ll just leave?”

 You stopped momentarily shooting daggers at Jason to look over at the table you had been walking to originally. Robin, who had saved you a seat at her table, looked up at you amused. She was finally out of uniform. Sporting her regular jean jacket than the ruffle and white combo that you saw her in previously. 

 “Unfortunately, I’m not El and can’t just simply move him out of the cafeteria with my mind.” you sighed, sitting down across from her. 

 Robin chuckled, taking a bite of her sandwich before she reached over on your tray to steal a fry. “I’m guessing that his little speech didn’t inspire you today?”

 “Oh you mean the speech where he callously mentioned the deaths of fellow students and Hopper in order to justify the team’s need to win?”

 “That would be the one.” she said, stealing another one. “I for one, have learned how to drown out kids like Jason after all this time.”

 "It's just hard not to slip back into being a mean girl again," you admitted with a sigh, picking at bits of your sandwich. "But people like this guy seriously make me want to reconsider.”

 Again Robin couldn’t help but chuckle at your words before she patted your hand lightly. “Don’t worry, kid. A few more months and you won’t have to worry about any dumb high school jocks.” 

 You leaned back against your seat, nodding your head in agreement. “A little disappointing I won’t be able to enjoy that new freedom with you.”

 “Hate to say it, but that’s high–”

 “But as long as you’re into band, or science, or parrrtieesss, or a game where you toss BALLS into laundry baskets!..”

 You, Robin, and the majority of the students instantly turned your gazes over towards the center of the cafeteria. Where Eddie of all people, decided to make a sudden ruckus amongst the already noisy room. He was standing on the table looking towards the direction of Jason.

 The other boy slowly rose up from his seat, confidently glaring over at Eddie as he stood ready for action. “You want something, freak?”

 For a second you were worried that there might be a sudden random fight in the middle of lunch. But Eddie, ever so serious, raised his hands up to his head in a horn-like way, and sputtered out a weird random response to the blond.

 Students all around seemed to drop their attentions after that. Most likely unsure how to react to that. You on the other hand couldn’t help but laugh at how oddly timed that was in comparison to your conversation with Robin. It wasn’t until you watched Eddie hop down from the table that you glanced back at Robin again. Her face was curious as she stared at you.

 “So, Eddie Munson, huh?” she hummed, taking a swing from her coke. “Are you two uhh..”

 “Together?” you asked incredulously. She slowly nodded her head. “No, we’re just friends. I’m not planning on dating anyone right now.”

 “Really?” she asked, perplexed. “There’s no one here to change your mind?”

 “Nope. I’m staying single until graduation and after that I’m out of here.” you frowned, balling up the remainder of your sandwich in the foil. “I am so done with high school romance.”

 “Oh, well if you’re done with high school romance..I do happen to know this out of high school guy..”

 “Robin..” you sighed, rubbing your hand against your forehead.

 A coy smile tugged on her face as she meekly held her hands up to you. Trying to feign some innocence with words she knows are completely biased. Apparently, it wasn’t just Dustin who had reservations about your relationship with Steve. 

 “Hear me out! He’s cute, has great hair, drives a nice car, and from what I know is super into you.”

 “And is also going on dates with other girls,” you reminded her. “Not to mention he’s part of the reason why I’m not dating anyone right now.” 

 Robin sat up right, setting down her food in order to reach out for your hand. “Look, I don’t know the full details of the break up.. just that it’s official. But I truly do not believe you or Steve are over each other. Regardless of what either of you is doing.” 

 Holding up your hands, you tried to shake your head innocently. But Robin only shuts that down when she pointed over at Eddie. “I’m not dumb. Don’t think I haven’t seen the way that guy looks at you when he’s picked you up now and then. It’s anything but just friends.” 

 You can’t help but sigh, feeling a little bit ashamed all of a sudden under your friend’s gaze. “It’s complicated.” You mumbled, unsure how to stick up for yourself. “We’re friends but sometimes more.. then I’ll think of Steve and pull away. It’s just..”

 It’s pathetic. (tick)

 The table before you blurred a bit and you tried to control your breathing. The familiar ache suddenly surged into your head. Making you reach out to grip against the table before you shook your head. 

 “Are you okay?” You heard Robin ask. 

 “I’m fine.” you said suddenly getting up from your seat. “I think all this noise is making my head worse.”

 YOU are making things worse. (tock)

 Robin stared up at you worriedly, her blues flickering over your face as she tried to piece together your sudden ailments. You reached down for your bag, slipping it over your shoulder before you pushed your chair in. 

 “I’m gonna head out. Take care of a couple things before the bell rings.”

 “Okay,” she replied wearily. “Do you want me to go with you?”

 You quickly shook your head, finally gaining back some composure. “I’ll call you later? Maybe after the game?”

 “Yeah, we can talk then.”

 With that you gave her a quick wave goodbye and quickly made your leave. Chucking the trash into the bin before pushing your way through the double doors back to the hallway. The halls were oddly quiet and you finally had a moment to let out a relieved sigh before you felt a warm liquid begin to pool above your top lip.

 Bringing a hand up you slowly swipe over your lip before looking to see that it was blood. Pinching your nose, you rushed over towards the nearest bathroom and rushed into a stall to retrieve a piece of toilet paper. 

 The bloody nose didn’t last long. In fact, it left just as quickly as it came. You couldn’t help but wonder where it even came from. Could it be that bad of a headache that it was making your nose bleed?

 After checking for any more blood on your face, you slowly came out of the stall, looking at your reflection in the mirror to make sure you were presentable again. The lights in the bathroom flickered. Sending an oddly familiar up in your spine before it returned to its normal fluorescent hue. 

Today was slowly turning from annoying to just plain strange.

A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to give you guys an update. I've hit a bit of a writing block and had to split this up in order not to rush the whole first ep. Another update should be happening soon so you guys can get back in the flow of the story. Hope you enjoy!

Tagging Request: (if anyone else would like a tag, just let me know~)

@cluz1babe​

#steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington x henderson!reader #steve harrington x henderson reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x henderson!reader #eddie munson x female reader #stranger things fic #steve harrington x y/n #cac #angst #fluff

[ggsyoons]

Make it Colorful | C.Seungcheol (sfw)

”A fat white rabbit cake, really…?” “It wasn’t from me! It was just a cake from the staff…” As Soonyoung said, even after telling him that, Seungcheol still sulked.

♡ summary;

my lil spin on cheol's bday live last year where you're staff and also his gf and he's sulky about his cake.

・❥・word count: 1.5k

choi-ddoppi strikes again! ­ᥩིྀ ⋅ ˔ ⋅ ) in honor of seungcheol's (aka the sexist man alive) 28th bday <3

request here!

☆⠀ ੭  ﾟ

“It’s time for your birthday live, Cheol.” You said, peaking around the corner, carrying a phone and tripod.

Seungcheol was just sitting there on his phone, wearing an oversized windbreaker with grey sweatpants.

He looked up, “Damn, already?”

”Yep, so get ready,” You said. “Did you get hair and makeup done?”

”I did, but…” Seungcheol grabbed your hand as you passed by, stopping you. “Can you check again?”

“What?” You chuckled. “Check your makeup?”

Seungcheol was looking up at you, grabbing your arm as he nodded with a goofy smile.

Though the schedule was tight, you couldn’t say no to that stupid smile of his.

All you even did when Seungcheol asked to “check his makeup” was look at his face up close as his eyes were shut.

Seungcheol giggled whenever you touched his face with your gentle fingers, often interfering via grabbing them.

”Your makeup looks great.” You said, sighing before walking away to set things up.

”I can do that myself.” He said, beginning to stand.

”I’m a staff member for a reason, Cheol - it back down.”

Seungcheol sat.

You had set up the whole tripod, phone, light thing so much it was practically muscle memory to you.

Even when you had done it a million times before and Seungcheol had also seen it a million times before, he would always hug you from the back and whisper his upmost gratitude.

”Looks great as always, Y/N, so reliable.” Seungcheol said, his arms around your waist.

”I’ve done this a countless number of times, Cheol, must you do this every time?”

”Do you not like it?”

You paused, “No…”

Seungcheol didn’t say anything, he just smirked and buried his face into your nape. 

That part was always sensitive, so you yelped. Seungcheol began kissing it, you manage to squirm away from him.

”Cheol!” You scold. “The live! It’s scheduled in like, two minutes.”

He just stood there with a careless expression, shrugging.

You rolled your eyes as Seungcheol sat down on the couch, in front of the phone and the lights. He began fixing his hair, moving things around, and just making sure everything was perfect before the live.

Honestly, lives were one of the most stressful things about this job.

Unlike videos, lives couldn’t be edited, everything that was said and done was said and done forever.

Nothing ever went wrong thus far, you’d done this for years and with every member and everything always went smoothly, but you still always dreaded it.

Ah, right, I almost forgot.

You push these thoughts to the side and run out the room for a moment as Seungcheol calls out for you.

When you returned, you were holding a white box, Seungcheol immediately knew what it was and jumped up.

”Y/N, is this for me?” He asked, taking it from you with a wide smile.

”Yeah, it is,” You said, though it was obvious. “But—“

Seungcheol unboxed it, revealing the cake sealed inside.

It was a fat white rabbit holding a diamond with cherry candles on top, quite plain, but it was just a cake for the live.

You could tell it wasn’t what Seungcheol expected as he held it with a slightly confused, almost disappointed expression.

”What is this supposed to be?”

”A fat rabbit.”

”A rabbit is this fat…?”

”Yes, but—“

An unexpected guest suddenly came in, “Coups! Happy birthday! Did the live start yet?” Soonyoung said. “Hey, Y/N!”

”Hi, Soonyoung,” You waved, he waved back. “And no, it’s about to start, though.”

Other staff had come in to get things ready, lighting up the candles and setting up the live itself.

You found a seat behind the phone, on an armchair as Soonyoung stood beside you, arms crossed.

“What do you and Coups have planned after this?” Soonyoung asked, nudging you.

”Nothing you need to know.” You teased.

Soonyoung pouted, “C’mon…”

”Just hanging out.”

”Alright, then…”

As Seungcheol was getting the final touches done, he looked down at the cake, then up at you.

Is he upset about the cake? Oh, don’t tell me he’s sulky…

But he was, you could clearly see it in the way he frowned, pressing his lips together as he glared at you.

It was a pain when Choi Seungcheol became sulky, - which was very often - but it was undeniably adorable and you looked down to smile. 

Soonyoung tapped you on the shoulder, “Uh, is Coups upset about something?”

You lift your head, suppressing a smile as Seungcheol still glared at you.

”The cake, it seems like he doesn’t like it and he thinks I’m the one who prepared it.”

Soonyoung craned his neck to see the cake, once he did, he nodded.

”Yeah, looks like a cake he’d not like.”

”It’s not what I prepared, though. It’s just for the live! I wanted to tell him, but—“

”— He got dragged away?”

”Yeah.”

Soonyoung laughed, “Well, guess you’ll have to deal with that for, like,” He checked his phone. “Thirty minutes or so.”

“Not even the longest he’s gone being sulky.”

“That’s true. Though, I feel like even if you did tell him, he’d still sulk.”

You sighed, ”Probably.”

The live went as well as it could in the first few minutes.

Soonyoung went and (loudly) sang happy birthday, gave a small cameo on live, then scurried away as he gave you a knowing look.

Now that it was just Seungcheol, he sat there and looked at the rapidly moving chat.

”Oh, the cake?” He said, his eyes moving to you for a moment as he began to frown again. “They said it’s a fat rabbit.”

Again, sulky Seungcheol was a pain, but…

Damn, he’s so cute. You covered your mouth as you stared back.

Seungcheol knew you were covering a smile, his expression let up for a moment, but went right back to being sulky.

”It’s a rabbit, but it’s this fat?” He laughed dryly. “This is upsetting.”

You tried to mouth an “I’m sorry”, however, he didn’t want to see it.

As the live went on, he asked for the slippers Jeonghan had gifted him. You went to go fetch them.

They were Gucci, you almost felt bad for even touching them.

Seungcheol stood to receive them from you, only his torso down were seen on camera, so as he took them, he mouthed “I’m upset” as he held your hands in place for a few seconds. 

The final time the cake was brought up, it was towards the end after a few of the members (very loudly) belted happy birthday from the hallway. 

”Ah, you want to see the cake?”

As soon as you heard that, you nearly groaned, Out of all comments to read… 

He lifted the poor little cake, frowning, “But why isn’t mine colorful? Colorful,”  He looked up at you, chuckling dryly again. “I feel like it could have been more colorful.”

Seungcheol sighed dramatically, “Gosh.”

“Colorful…” He murmured, now glaring at the camera.

What kind of heroic deed will I have to do to make him stop sulking from this?

“Cheollie…” You whined, hugging him from the back as he just sat there, crossing his arms.

”A fat white rabbit cake, really…?”

“It wasn’t from me! It was just a cake from the staff…”

As Soonyoung said, even after telling him that, Seungcheol still sulked.

“I don’t even like vanilla cake.”

”Well, they didn’t know that,” You pressed your cheek against his back, your arms still wrapped around his waist.

“Could’ve told them…”

”You’re being unfair, Cheol!”

Seungcheol didn’t say anything to that, he just kept crossing his arms.

“Fine, it’s fine, a fat little colorless rabbit cake is fine.” He began to say, flipping around so that now his back was against the couch

You were left sitting there beside Seungcheol, his lips sticking out into a pout.

This classic routine he does, You leaned against his shoulder. “It really isn’t that bad, Cheollie…”

“Yeah, you’re right. It’s fine, it’s just fine.”

”Cheol—“

”No, no, I’m fine with it.”

The pout got bigger with each word.

Choi-ddoppi will be the death of me.

The two of you sat there silence, Seungcheol crossing his arms with an admittedly cute frown and not looking at you.

You sighed and pulled his sleeve, “Cheollie… look at me.”

Even when he was “mad”, Seungcheol couldn’t refuse a request like this.

He turned his head as you got onto his lap, arms wrapped around his neck now.

”After this, I have a celebration prepared just for us… so don’t get hung up over that cake, m’kay?” You said before kissing him on the cheek.

Seungcheol considered it with exaggerated expressions, looking around in all directions as he thought about this. 

Then, you pecked him on the lips and his sulky face melted into a smile.

Seungcheol kissed you back, knocking you onto your back as you made out.

”Plus, I was the first person to wish you a happy birthday today, so you can’t be upset with me! I did it right at midnight.”

”Yeah, yeah,” Seungcheol laughed, kissing you again. “Wait, but I think Jeonghan did it first—“

You playfully punched his chest, “Hey.” You warned.

”Joking.” He said mischievously.

“Coups! Coups!” Soonyoung burst in, so used to your and his antics that he wasn’t even surprised by the sight. “Time to bounce.”

Seungcheol hung his head, giving you one final kiss before getting up. 

Soonyoung left, but not without saying, “Happy to see you made up.”

”I’ll be home soon, get that surprised prepared for me. I’ll be looking forward to it all day.” 

“Anything for you.”

Seungcheol smiled, he was halfway out the door, but he couldn’t stop himself from going back to kiss you again, scooping you up into his big arms.

”Cheol… don’t leave your fans waiting.” You rolled your eyes, breaking away.

”I know…” He looked like an abandoned puppy with those big, sparkly eyes. “Okay, bye for real.”

”Mhm, we’ll see each other soon.”

Seungcheol left very slowly, his eyes on you the whole way out.

You were about to go back to the couch and chill for a bit before leaving when Seungcheol stuck his head back into the room.

“Oh, and I didn’t really care about the cake.”

I knew it. 

#seventeen #seventeen fanfic #s.coups x reader #s.coups #choi seungcheol #seungcheol x reader #seungcheol fluff #s.coups fluff

[clonefandomevents]

Haunted Clone Week Prompts!

Here are the prompts for the Haunted Clone Week! There were so many good options and ideas, that we decided to give a total of nine prompts a day! As well as two Free Days, and a little surprise Bonus as well! Can't wait to see what they inspire!

Day 1- October 23rd

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of South America; Haunted Kamino

-Ghost Ships

-Time Loops

-Space Bermuda Triangle

-Dark Between the Stars

NSFW Prompt- Battlefield Sex

-"You said I killed you- haunt me then!" from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

Day 2-October 24th

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of Africa; Haunted Christophsis

-Force Ghosts

-Left Behind

-Not Quite Human

-Bloody Hands

-NSFW Prompt- Blood Kink

-"Ghosts are guilt, ghosts are secrets, ghosts are regrets and failings. But most times, most times a ghost is a wish." (The Haunting of Hill House)

Day 3- October 25th

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of Europe; Haunted Umbara

-They Don't Know They're Dead

-Marching Far Away (But Still Beside Me)

-Body Horror -Please Not Again

-NSFW Prompt-Ghost Sex

-“I’m scared to close my eyes, I’m scared to open them. We’re gonna die out here.” — Heather Donahue, “The Blair Witch Project”

Day 4- October 26th

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of Australia; Haunted Felucia

-Ghost Stories

-Trapped and Not Alone

-Eldritch Horror

-Moonlight

-NSFW Prompt-Knife Play

-"Dozens of eyes looked out from the trees"

Day 5- October 27th

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of North America; Haunted Dothomir

-Mistaking a Ghost for a Living Person

-Marching Back (Dead Clones Coming Back)

-The Witching Hour

-Accidentally Cursed

-NSFW Prompt-Ritual Sex

-"Soldier keep on marching on/Head down till the work is done" - "Soldier" by Fleurie

Day 6- October 28th

-Folklore, Mysteries and Regional Gothic of Asia; Haunted Coruscant

-Haunted Space Ships

-Their Armor Holds Thier Souls

-Glowing Eyes in the Dark

-Fog

-NSFW Prompt-Possession

-"It seems to me that the dead only return for love or for revenge. Who did you come back for?" from White is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

Days 7 &8- October 29th-30th

Free Days! Have a prompt you liked, but wasn't included? Have a spooky idea that doesn't quite fit one of the other days? These are the days designed specifically for you!

BONUS!- October 31st

So, I apparently am not good at counting. Which gave us an extra day to the week on accident! So, we decided to do something a little different for the accidental bonus day.

Twist An Episode Day!

-Basically, it's take any episode of Clone Wars, Bad Batch, anything the clones are in and twist it so the CLONES are the ones coming out on top. Do something to an episode so that it's the soldiers fighting, not the corrupt leadership, who benefit. Preferably something a little out there, a lil spooky, but it can be whatever you want. Use the extra day so that for once, it's the clones winning.

-Links to Photo Prompts origins below

#haunted clone week #clone wars events #clone wars week #clone centric #clone troopers #spooky season #prompts

[thewriterg]

♡︎𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐲’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞!♡︎

pairing(s): Peter Parker x fem!reader, dad!peter x mom!reader

summary: You were on a mission and Peter’s heart broke when he had to tell your kids that you probably wouldn’t be making it home for Christmas as planned but a little bit of sweat, blood, tears, and hurting Nick Furry’s dignity you have a surprise in store

word count; 1.0k

warning(s): little baby tears, fluff, reader and Peter are married, small mention of blood and bruises, healthy parental love, celebration, and language

A/n:—GIFs; @dailymarvelgifs & @tomhollandnet— Finally freaking Friday.

Peter sighed patting your two month old daughters back as he looked at the sight of your shared home it was only two days ago that he told your eleven and three year old that you, their mom wouldn't be home for christmas this year

You were on a important mission so important that Nick Furry himself showed up at your doorstep practically begging both Peter and You to join in on a serious mission in Sokovia At first you denied it without a second thought it was cutting it too close to the holidays that you always would choose to spend with your family and your house was accustomed to your… secretive lives and since the rest of the team would be on the mission as well you didn't trust anyone else with your children nor the technology of your home

It was only then when Furry offered to put you on leave with paid time off until March that you reluctantly agreed but you were a stubborn woman and you knew you had power in general with enhanced abilities and mentally so the deal that stood for you would stand for Peter as well and Furry knew that even though you were a pain in his ass he had you

It was only then when Furry offered to put you on leave with paid time off until March that you reluctantly agreed but you were a stubborn woman and you knew you had power in general with enhanced abilities and mentally so the deal that stood for you would stand for Peter as well and Furry knew that even though you were a pain in his ass he had you

Along with being a pain in Nick’s ass you laughed straight in face when he asked if you would both be packed by the crack of dawn the next day stating Peter would be staying home with your children while you went out into the field you’d both already talked about this if something like this were to happen you would go out and Peter would stay home with you kids

You were four days late and the only reason Peter wasn't on the edge of his seat tearing his hair out of his scalp was because less than eight hours ago he had shield agents on his doorstep alerting him that you and everyone on team were alive and had ran into more technical issues than calculated and should be home by december 28th

By that time you would've missed Christmas and your eleven year old son's birthday and it took everything, every stream of radioactive venom, every cell of skin on his body, every microfiber of his cotton t-shirt not to break down

He had to look at the better view of things like you would. You were still alive and you would be home before New years. What else could he ask for? For you to be here, to hear the giggles of your children when you would enter through the threshold of your home, for him to bask in your battered and bruised embrace, to celebrate the Holidays as a family.

That's all Peter wanted for christmas.

💌💌💌💌

You sighed heavily as you began to slip out of your skin tight suit before stopping abruptly zipping the silver zipper back up into its place your skull mask still on your face along with the black makeup you used to hide the peaking skin against your eyes

You and the team had made it back gratefully after you stabbed Nick Fury's dignity beyond repair you got into contact with a shield base close to russia and after two days you had a quinjet it wasn't up to date which Tony made very clear as he complained endlessly but all you needed was something that flew to get you back home.

You exited the compound with your goodbyes as you hit the parking garage taking one of Stark's cars that you were sure he wouldn't miss Merry fucking Christmas to you.

You ducked getting into the the vehicle making sure not to hit your head on the roof your ribs aching and formed with purple bruises you still had dried blood stained on your temples but you paid that little to no mind as you thought about your family that you couldn’t wait any longer to see

As you drove back home you were sure you’d broken three traffic laws and gave a stray cat a heart attack but you had finally reached the driveway of your home you didn’t even bother to put the car into the garage or grab your duffel bag from the backseat you just stepped out of the vehicle and ran up the rest of distance it would take to get to your doorstep

Even with the pain in your ribs and the fact your could hear your head pounding in your ears you felt like you could finally breathe now that you were home

You typed in the code to your padlock before entering through the threshold closing the door behind you softly three pairs of eyes met with your and there wasn’t another second going past as your children screamed running towards your embrace as you masked your groan with a playful over exaggerated grunt

“Mommy’s home! Mommy’s home!” Your three year old squealed with joy as you picked the toddler up from under the arms spinning in a small circle preparing butterfly kisses all over their face and neck before before you slid them over to your hip

“M-mom, I thought you were going to miss my b-birthday” You eleven year old sniffled digging their head into your stomach that was covered by the leather of your suit as you twitter the curls on the back of their neck

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world honey bee” You smiled and the look on your child’s face could make your heartbreak but you still smiled bone the less you say your toddler down as they went running off in your home rambling about their mommy being home and your eleven year Follower soon after

“Hello love” you let out an airy sigh as you and the father of your children met in a warm embrace before smashing your lips together ignoring the slight pain of your teeth clapping together

“Please don’t scare me l-like that again” You were now resting your foreheads against one another as you stared into the big brown puppy eyes that made you fall in love

“No more, I promise.”

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker x you #peter parker x gn!reader #dad!peter parker #mom!reader #spiderman #spider man x reader #spider man x you #spider man x y/n #romance #fluff #hurt/comfort #avengers x reader #avengers x you #i love you #2022 #fem!reader #thewriterg

[ash-rigby]

Moonlit Blooming (Merfolk) [M/M]

Featured Characters: A gay, black human man and a bisexual merman.

Description: After spending some unfortunate time apart due to a run of bad weather, a lighthouse keeper spends a calm, clear night on the beach with his merman lover.

Contains: Nonhuman POV, Slit Play, Tentacle Dicks, Diphallia, Handjobs, Oral Sex, Fingering, Frotting.

Character Ages: Aster is 28 and Malik is 31.

Completion Date: November 28th, 2023

-

There is something different about the moon when you’re in love. Aster had enjoyed it well enough before; a pretty thing that was a constant no matter where he surfaced when the whim arose. With Malik had come a shift.

Maybe it was because all the poems and songs about the moon resonated now. Perhaps it was seeing its light reflected in the eyes of someone whose gaze he never wanted to leave him. Or playing off of skin he wanted to kiss. Either way, Aster lived for cloudless nights spent laying out on the beach, basking in the cool glow with the man he loved.

Aster had a particular liking for a secluded spot near the lighthouse that Malik kept with his older brother. He had washed up there not long ago; frightened, confused, and in pain after getting hopelessly tangled in a rogue fishing net. The sun had been harsh, beating down and suffocating.

He may have died there had it not been for Malik rushing down, gently but urgently cutting him free, and keeping up a string of reassurances despite not knowing if the merfolk shared his language. Aster remembered being carried back into the sea, his arm around his rescuer’s shoulders as he looked up into his handsome, focused face.

He had turned tailfin as soon as he was able and swam away without a word; whether it was because of the residual fear or embarrassment, he did not know. It took a few days for Aster to work up the nerve to return to the area and thank Malik properly. And not long after that to confess his adoration for the man; a human, no less. Aster had grown up on cautionary tales about the two legs but never really bought into the idea that they were all so terrible. Now he knew for certain.

Aster was pulled out of his reverie by the sensation of a gentle hand running from his upper to lower back. It paused just where the silvery scales of his tail began. The scents of his lover and the salty sea air mingled pleasantly in his nose. They hadn’t been able to be together in a while due to a run of horrid weather; the sad reality of a love between one of the sea and one of land. As much as Aster enjoyed quiet, close company, he couldn’t ignore his urges.

His own hand and memories—however vivid and wild—had far from satisfied him those two weeks.

He hummed, smiling wide and moving his fingertips over the dark brown skin of Malik’s chest. As they slowly trailed, he took in every detail; the mole between his pecs, the small scar over a rib he still didn’t know the story behind. The breath was calm; he would fix that.

Aster moved lower, hearing a sharp inhale as he reached the waistband of Malik’s bright pink shorts. He toyed with it, slipping slightly underneath.

“Are you just going to count the stars all night?” he asked.

The smile was obvious in Malik’s voice.

“Why would I when the only one that matters is right here?”

Aster chuckled. Big sap, he thought as warmth fluttered through him. He lifted his head from Malik’s shoulder to speak in his ear, lips close to brushing the shell.

“Can I touch you?”

Malik nodded nearly imperceptibly, throat working. “Yeah.”

Together, they worked Malik out of his shorts and underwear, leaving him naked on the sand. Aster teased his hand over Malik’s abdomen and down his thigh, watching the base of his cock twitch from the simple touch. He took it into his webbed hand and began to slowly stroke.

As Aster laid his head back down, his keen senses picked up on the quickening of Malik’s pulse. Always so excitable, he thought. Especially after some time apart. Aster was one to talk; he could already feel a needy throb beginning to overtake the deepest parts of his slit. From this angle he could look down his lover’s chest and stomach to watch his hand moving up and down the thickening shaft, teasing in its languid pace.

Malik took in a breath, releasing it shakily. A moan followed it as Aster brought his mouth to his neck. He kissed and licked under his jaw and down the length of it. Aster’s nostrils flared as he ravaged the heating flesh, his eyelids flickering; if there ever had to be a warning about the two legs, it should have been about the potency of their pheromones. The heady scent of his arousal was thrilling, leaving Aster gasping even before he began to grind his leaking slit against Malik’s hip.

“Aster,” Malik breathed. “Getting so worked up just from touching me? You’re already soaked.”

Aster whimpered as he felt himself dribble more. “Missed…you.”

“I know…I know…me t—fuck.”

Malik’s cock was full; heavy and hot under Aster’s palm. He began to lightly thrust into the slick, webbed grip. The movements of his hips screamed for a quicker pace and Aster obliged, pulling a louder moan from him. Beads of precum leaked down over Aster’s fingers with every upward stroke. A slick, rhythmic noise filled the air. The increased wetness aided the motion, the slight twist of Aster’s wrist made smooth and seamless.

Malik began to pant. He choked on a gasp and suddenly gripped Aster’s arm, not hard but imploring. “Babe…babe, stop.”

Aster obeyed, fixing him with a quizzical look.

Malik grinned, chest heaving.

“Don’t…don’t let me get too far ahead of you,” he said.

Aster smiled and brought him into a deep kiss, letting himself be guided into laying on his back as their tongues nudged and glided over one another. Malik pulled away and straddled him to hover for a moment. He was utterly captivating; haloed in a silver glow, lips parted around his breaths, adoration and lust in his deep brown eyes.

Aster reached up and cupped Malik’s face in his hands, running his fingers through the short scruff of his facial hair. The back of his left hand was gently captured. A warm, attentive gaze locked onto his as Malik kissed the inside of his wrist. The same affection found his collarbone, moving lower over his chest and continuing to his slit.

His bright, blue-white scales carried an extra sheen from his excessive leaking. Malik ran his tongue up the wet line of it, giving an appreciative and aroused hum when Aster moaned in response. He brought his thumbs to either side of Aster’s slit, pulling it open to expose the tips of his swelling inner folds.

Aster knew how much he was already twitching. He could feel the pulsations that were slowly working their way to his sheathed cocks. He was glad Malik could see it; what he did to him.

Malik hissed a curse and delved in, licking and sucking at the needy slit. Aster’s hands found his lover’s hair. His hips quickly gave in to a shallow buck under the fervent mouth. Hot breath panted against him, Malik’s deep groans vibrating into sensitive flesh.

“There…m-more,” Aster moaned. He cried out, feeling Malik begin to fuck his tongue into the tightly-squeezing space between the two sets of folds. “Fuck, Malik!”

He gasped as there was a shift inside him, the throbbing becoming more intense. Desperate sounds tumbled from his lips around quick breaths. His tail shook, fins quivering. All at once, his internal folds emerged from him in a motion not unlike a blooming flower. The wide, sturdier ones locked against his scales, doing their job of holding his slit wide open.

Aster’s deeper parts were exposed; the dual sheaths sitting side-by-side in the lower portion of his slit. A finger found them near-instantly. Malik’s fingertips teased the weeping holes, caressing the rims and smearing slick. Single digits slid into both of them effortlessly and began to pump. Aster’s mouth was open, his voice only managing short, choked-off moans as his head spun.

Malik scissored his fingers, heavy awe in his tone when he spoke. “Wow. You’re…you’re so much hotter in here than usual.”

Because it’s you. Because I’ve been so lonely without you. Because I can’t cum without you anymore and need this so badly. Aster wanted to say all those things, but the pleasure was addling those thoughts somewhere between his brain and tongue. I love you. I love you. I love you.

Aster whimpered, his sheaths fluttering around Malik and, in turn, around his cocks. He cried out as Malik thrust to the second knuckle and nudged their sensitive heads. The wet, sucking sounds his own body was making only aroused him more, feeling how eagerly it took him.

Malik’s other hand moved and went to his mouth. The motion captured Aster’s attention, eyes locked on his lover’s burning pupils as he sucked on his pointer finger. When it was glistening, he lowered it and found Aster’s third hole a few inches down from his slit. Aster bit his lip through the initial shallow probing, back briefly arching as Malik’s finger fully entered his ass.

Aster’s fingers dug and scrambled at the sand. Malik was hardly being rough with him, but Aster’s noises might convince a voyeur otherwise. Even the moderately paced thrusting had him loudly moaning like a beast in heat. His head tossed back, chin angled at the night sky. He felt pressure building in his slit, something hot and about to burst. It throbbed and surged like a storm until ecstasy claimed him.

Fluid gushed from his sheaths. There was no cum. Just a copious, clear slick spurting around Malik’s fingers and dribbling down Aster’s sides. He slumped, hands mindlessly pawing at his chest and hair and he panted. His body shivered, slit still ablaze with need. Malik exited him and there was another gasp-inducing shift; Aster’s cocks following him out. Only the leaky tips emerged. The stubborn things still needed more coaxing even after all of that.

Malik looked shell-shocked. “What was that?”

There was no disgust; more of a ‘How did I make you do that so I can make it happen again?’ sentiment. Aster only held his arms out to him.

“Malik,” he whined. “I need you.”

Snapping to action at the pleading voice, Malik scrambled up and aligned his dick with Aster’s slit.

“Right, right. Fuck that; who cares right now?” he said quickly.

He brought them together as Aster’s hands lighted on his shoulders. The whole of his length was throbbing; the show had clearly been lovely. Precum leaked from him at the first touch and joined the wet mess. Some of Aster’s folds curled towards him, lightly clinging to his cock. He began to thrust through the ample slick which aided his movement.

Those sweet moans returned as Malik chased his pleasure, winding in with Aster’s. Lust mixed with a deep concentration on his face; always so focused on what he was doing to start out. Aster loved to watch that slowly melt away. To see his lover’s body give in to instinct.

It didn’t take much of the sensation of Malik’s dick grinding against his slit for Aster’s to slip out. Long, tentacle-like appendages slid from his sheaths. He groaned as they did, perfectly aligned to rise up on either side of Malik. They were dripping more than they typically did, twitching in time with his heartbeat. His conscious control of their movements clicked into place and that was always electrifying. With only a sly grin as a warning, he wrapped them around Malik’s cock.

Aster kept the space tight; perfect to thrust into. Malik paused, seeming to just enjoy being buried in that throbbing sleeve. He leaned down for a hot, desperate kiss, leaving them moaning into each other’s mouths as he started to move again. His hips were graceful, a slow undulation to drag it all out. To etch every detail of this feeling into his memory. To save for the next rainy day.

But as Aster moved his warm, slick cocks around him, that gradually changed. He thrust faster, groans punching out of him. His balls slapped against the wet, quivering slit beneath him. Sweat poured from him and his scent was an ambrosial whirlwind. Aster panted, drowning his senses with it. He dragged his hands down Malik’s back, feeling the flex of his muscles and digging his nails into the meat of his ass.

“Mmm, yeah,” Malik moaned. He slowed down, trading the pace for longer thrusts and a steady voice. “You’re so damn gorgeous. Every—ah—every part of you turns me the fuck on. Love how you wrap around me like this…twitching on my cock…shit.”

Aster looked to where they connected. At the hypnotic way Malik’s dick pushed through the tight cling of pulsing tentacles, turgid flesh on both sides shiny with slick. His eyes roamed back; over the heavily-working, sweat-speckled chest and up to that beautiful, euphoric expression on his lover’s face. He squeezed Malik’s ass, a weak grunt sounding in his throat as he tried to rock his hips beneath the weight.

“You’re perfect…perfect,” he gasped. He pulled Malik down against his slit; he needed it faster. Brown eyes went wide. “Mess me up…make me drip with you.”

Malik fucked with renewed vigour. He almost felt harder in Aster’s clasp. His noises ceased any restraint. Like he didn’t care who heard him. As his thrusts became less coordinated, he dropped his head to rest in the juncture between Aster’s shoulder and neck.

It was almost too much; Aster’s currently-sealed gills lined his neck and were uniquely sensitive in that state. His eyes rolled as Malik’s nose brushed against one of the lower ones, a whimper overtaking his moans. Even the panting breath ghosting over them made him shake. His arms moved, one to bring a hand to grip at Malik’s hair and one to drape over his stuttering waist.

Aster lay there, pinned as he was ground against. His cocks were a mess, heat tingling through the lengths as they writhed and squeezed around Malik. They rapidly throbbed, down to their bases and beyond to those four, compact glands deep inside him; they were aching to release. Sudden jolts of pleasure would find him, accompanied by more of that spurting from his sheaths. Every movement grew audibly sopping wet, slick clinging to their bodies.

Malik suddenly seemed to be holding his breath through a few particularly quick thrusts, letting it go alongside a loud, shaking moan as his hips briefly stilled forward. His cock pulsed heavily and Aster felt thick cum splattering his chest. Malik continued, fucking through his release and lifting himself back up with his hands firmly on either side of Aster.

Though breathless and clearly spent, he kept moving. His oversensitive cock twitched in the tentacled confines. He looked down at Aster, face awash with what had to be bordering on too much pleasure.

“Aster,” he gasped. He sucked in a breath, pushing through and thrusting as fast as he could manage. His eyes rolled a little. “Cum..cum for me. Cum for me.”

Aster felt stars burst in his head at the sight his lover made. The scent of the seed scattered across his skin drove him wild. His cocks flew over Malik’s; gliding and twisting frantically, spurring two voices to rise together in ecstasy.

“Only for you…only—only for you!” Aster cried. “Ahhh—Malik!”

His entire body quivered as he came, his tail slapping against the ground. He squeezed Malik’s dick in a final, desperate, throbbing grasp. Cum pumped from him in excess; even for his dual endowment. Relentless spurts covered his heaving, moaning form. A single shot reached his lower jaw to end it all.

His mind felt like it was floating circles around him. It took a moment for him to perceive the sensation of Malik’s tongue running over his stomach and chest, readily lapping up their mess. He felt his cocks retracting back into his sheaths, the internal folds following and re-entwining inside him. They were still lust-swollen, so the outer sides of his slit domed slightly with them underneath.

The mound continued to pulse with pleasured aftershocks. Especially as Malik cupped a large, reverent hand over it and dragged a finger along its line in a final tease. Aster moaned, weak and whimpering. The noise was caught by a kiss that tasted of their combined release. He relaxed into it but still gasped as Malik pulled away, a line of spit connecting their tongues for a moment.

Soft lips brushed his cheek, then his forehead. Malik’s eyes were warm and adoring as they shared a silent, breath-catching moment together. Out of all they had just done, this was what made Aster’s heart skip. To have such beauty look at him this way as they shimmered in the afterglow.

“Dip in the water to clean off?” Malik finally suggested.

Aster hummed affirmatively. It didn’t take long for him to feel uncomfortable sitting in all the fluids involved in on-land love-making. He reached out to rest his hands on Malik’s shoulders.

“Carry me, my prince?”

Malik chuckled. “I’ll never get tired of it.”

He gathered Aster up into his arms effortlessly and steered them towards the nearby shoreline. The sea welcomed them in her calm, cool embrace. They walked out until Malik was chest-high in the water. Aster slipped from his grasp and under. He swam a tight circle around Malik’s legs, tenderly caressing a fin over his calf before returning to the surface in front of him.

They were in each other’s arms a second later, Malik spinning them gently in place. Aster gave in to dumb, love-struck laughter and kissed him, feeling the smile against his lips. The moonlight reflected in flickering ripples around them; Aster’s home turned paradise by the presence of his love.

End

Masterlist

#text #spicy #ash originals #terato #exophilia #monster love #monster lover #monster boyfriend #merfolk #merpeople #merman #merman oc #merman boyfriend #oc: aster #oc: malik #yeah this is what that ''speculative genitalia'' post earlier was about

[stayarmytinyzenmoa-l]

Prominence [A.1]

Social Media AU ; Idol AU ; Added Unit AU CW/TW: Language Genre: Comedy, Romance Pairing: NCT x Idol!Reader, Yangyang x Reader Y/N Pronouns: Female (She/Her) Word Count: 5.5K

(1/?) [NCT Masterlist] | [Other Groups Masterlist] | [Prominence S1 Masterlist] | [Prominence S2 Masterlist]

Notes: AKA me wanting to write an alternate season where all of us second-male-lead-syndrome bitches won. Also, rq, should go without saying but this is completely separate from S2 and will not be referenced in S3, I just like being delusional. Also this is a direct branch from s1, it's an alternate season soooo yah Disclaimer: Please remember that this is an AU and a work of fiction, obviously the idols mentioned/written about in this story would never partake in these actions. The idols mentioned in this work are meant to be seen more as face claims rather than the actual idols themselves

Feedback is greatly appreciated!! Thank you for reading!

28th December 2021

You were a mess.

And, really, he didn't blame you. Back-to-back scandals leaving everything on the line, if he were in your shoes he'd have isolated himself too. Maybe he wouldn't have shut everyone out, but, then again, he hasn't exactly been in this situation before, feeling like everything could have been gone in the blink of an eye. He's never felt so... hopeless.

Not when you forgot his name. Not when you didn't do so much as spare him a glance. Not when you didn't remember him when you were grouped into NCThree. Not when you announced that you were dating who was, most likely, one of the most eligible bachelors in the 4th gen.

And not now, he wouldn't let himself. Look at you, he'd never seen you like this, and he never thought he would too.

And then the fantasy ended. Leaving you here with him, two soju bottles in and a third being opened. And a secret tossed into the open when it should have been kept locked away.

'(Y/N) you have to promise me that nothing will change after this, okay?' He said that and you swore to him that nothing would. But he knew, he knew this was a bad idea, so why did he want to keep going with it so bad?

“(Y/N). You’re my best friend,” saying it out loud really puts more into perspective, “[and I love you].” Those three words carried so much weight that as soon as he said it, he felt his shoulders become lighter. You only nodded.

“Yangyang, you’re my best friend, and I love you too,” you laughed. You didn’t get it. “That’s not really a secret, buddy. I’d take a bullet for you,” you continued. Yangyang shook his head. He expected this much, but now that he has to spell it out, it feels even more awkward.

“No, (Y/N), you don’t get it,” he puts his hand on your shoulder now. “You’re my best friend. And I love you.” He said it again, and still the weight carried. It felt wrong to tell you this now.

“I… oh,” realization was clear in your eyes. Your lips fell slightly ajar as the cogs turned in your mind. They closed and you looked away for a moment. Yangyang pulled away from you and folded his hands together instead, looking off while you processed. You were quiet for a while, both of you were, your hands were playing with the cap of the soju bottle in front of you while your expression changed only slightly, and it got Yangyang wondering just what you were thinking in your head.

But you were still quiet, you have been quiet. Just what were you thinking about? There was always this pride you both held in being able to understand what the other was thinking but, for the first time, he couldn't read you at all.

"(Y/N)?" He's testing the waters now. You promised.

"I think... we should head back now," you pushed the bottle away. Yangyang turned away from you and straightened in his seat.

"Yeah, let's go," he nodded his head and waited for you to step off the stool first before following you.

"Auntie, we're leaving now," you said without looking back.

And that was the first time, in a very long time, that Yangyang had felt hopeless.

~

"She didn't say anything?" Dejun was at the edge of his seat, and so were the rest of WayV, Renjun, and, of course, Mark. Yangyang had just finished recounting the [details from just a few hours] earlier to this grouping of curious members, and, to say the least, their expressions were grim or near unreadable. Some listened intently, while others seemed to be distracted.

"Nothing... just... 'oh' and that was it, that was the end of the conversation," Yangyang's eyes glance to some corner of his room. Not a good time, he knows he should have waited, it was too rash on his part.

"What did she say on the way back? Or when you got back?" Mark probes.

"Nothing," Yangyang had this despair in his eyes. "I... I think I really ruined things between us," he shakes his head.

"No, don't say that," Kun comforts him. "She's probably just processing everything right now, you know it wasn't really the best time to drop this on her."

"I know!"

"Then why did you do it?" Renjun sighs.

"Hey, don't be like that, you're the one who encouraged me to tell her the truth."

"Well not right now, Yangyang," he groans.

"But... she really didn't say anything? This is (Y/N), right? No smart quips, no badly timed jokes, nothing?" Mark hugs the plush to his chest.

"That's what's got me so worried," Yangyang rubbed the back of his head harshly. "She promised nothing would change, though."

"Seriously, Yangyang?" Ten groans. "Everything will change."

"Dude, not now, I know I shouldn't have dropped this on her now," he runs a tired hand down his face. "I know... I know it was selfish of me to have even said anything, but part of me felt like it would've been more unfair to keep it a secret from her, especially when there are just so many secrets around her right now," he mutters.

"No, you're right... but I think I'm gonna go check on her," Mark stands up, handing the stuffed animal to Renjun on the way. "She's... she's my best friend too, I feel bad about lying to her," he shakes his head and leaves the room.

"I fucked up," Yangyang shakes his head. He should have waited. "I don't even know how I'm going to fix it."

"Maybe don't," Kun offers, "I can't speak for her, but everything seems to be out of her control for now, wait for her to get back to you on this."

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Yangyang nods, "but I can't just... pretend that it didn't happen."

"No, definitely don't do that," Xiaojun shakes his head. Ten nods.

"Don't pretend, but don't push either," Ten hums, "and, most important of all, don't ignore her," he shoots him a pointed glare. "She needs friends right now, and her best friend even more. Don't be Yangyang the doomed second male lead, be Yangyang her best friend," Ten crosses one leg over the other.

"Easier said than done, I don't think we'll ever look at each other the same way again," he runs a frustrated hand through his hair.

"Well, she promised that nothing would change, right?" Renjun leans forward, "I don't know (Y/N) as well as you do, but I do know that she keeps her promises. Just give her time, and maybe support her while her career hangs on by a thread," Renjun sighs.

"Yeah, you're all right," Yangyang leans back on his palms. But he couldn't swallow down the guilt.

~

You sat in your room, hugging your pillow to your chest all the while.

Wow... talk about timing.

You sighed into the pillow and reached for your phone, your thumb hovering over Seonghwa's contact name, and so much more guilt building inside of you. So much shit was going on right now, you were thrown into scandal after scandal and now you had... this to deal with. Most of ATEEZ had always been concerned about your friendship with Yangyang, some louder about it than others, but never did you think that they were right. Maybe the fact that enough of them brought it up should have been a concern to you.

But you didn't want to believe them. You just wanted to hold on to this image you had of your best friend that he was just that. And now so many of his actions have become clouded to you, so many of his intentions have been brought to question, hell, even your friendship with him is in the air now too. Even your future was something you were unsure of now. You couldn't just stop talking to him, that would be impossible considering NCThree. Then again, you were in very real danger of losing your job now so it wasn't impossible.

This is nothing, though, compared to the bigger conflict. You're still in a relationship, a very happy one, or at least you think it is.

So why didn't you give him an answer then? You should have flat-out told him 'no.' You should have rejected him right then and there and had the both of you move on and continue like it hadn't happened, but, no. You didn't give him an answer. And if it was eating you up like this you could only imagine him. How long had he felt this way about you?

If he was a year earlier, maybe things would have been different.

You shook the thought out of your head. You're in a relationship. And one that you were willing to fight for, one that you had been fighting for.

Then, a knock at your door interrupted your thoughts.

"It's open," you took a deep breath as Mark entered, closing the door behind him. He pulled your desk chair aside and sat down, hands in his hoodie's pockets and shoulders relaxed.

"Hey, I... uh... I just wanted to check up on you," he says. You nodded your head and, if possible, you sank further into that pillow you were holding.

"You talked to Yangyang, huh?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded, "but you're my best friend too, and to be honest, don't tell him, if I had to pick a side I'd always choose you first," he says quietly.

"Why would we need to pick sides?" You glanced at your phone again. "It's okay, Mark, you don't have to worry about anything, but if he's looking for an answer..." you trailed off, "I can't give him one."

"If you don't mind, can I ask why?" You're silent for a while.

"Well, I don't want to just heartlessly reject him, he's still my best friend too," you nodded, "I need to come up with a... better way to turn him down without ruining his ego forever," you added with a short laugh, "plus... I can't really think about what he said right now," you muttered.

"I get it, I get it," Mark hums, "but... uh..."

"I know, I promised nothing would change but... Mark, you understand where I'm coming from, right?"

"Of course, I do," Mark sits up a little now, "will... will the three of us change?" His voice was quiet and you couldn't answer him.

"I don't know, I think I'm going to wait for all this to blow over then he and I can figure it out," you said.

"Yeah," Mark answers but he doesn't sound convinced, "if you need anything, though, (Y/N), let me know."

"Can you silence all the rumors?" You asked jokingly.

"Eh, I can probably pull a few strings," Mark tilts his head left and right with a small smile, "you said it yourself, everyone loves me," he tries to lighten the mood and you cracked a small smile.

"Exactly, Mark," you tipped the pillow toward him, "but, seriously, thanks for checking up on me," you nuzzled your head into the pillow.

"Yeah, of course," he says. "I should probably head back now, get some sleep, (Y/N)."

"I will, good night," you watched him get up and head to your door.

"Night," he closes it behind him and you're left on your own again. You laid down in bed, going over your mental checklist of things to do tomorrow, the first thing, naturally, would be to call Seonghwa and tell him about everything that's going on, then you'd have to talk to your managers and sort everything out too, and maybe some damage control wouldn't hurt either. Then, as you closed your eyes, your phone rang on the nightstand next to you and you picked it up quickly, immediately recognizing the ringtone.

"Seonghwa?" Your voice was tired.

"Hey, could you meet me outside really quick?" And so was his. You stood up and walked over to your window. The sidewalks were anything but busy at this time of night.

"Yeah, I'll be down there," you hung up first while pulling on a hoodie and heading out of your room. The dorms were just as quiet as the outside likely was and you moved around carefully so as not to awaken anyone on accident. But, moving to the main room, you saw the small sliver of light coming from the WayV dorms and part of you felt a little sad about it. You turned away and left the dorms, the elevator ride down being unbearably longer than usual.

When you'd finally left the building, there Seonghwa was. His phone was still in his hand and Mars in the other.

"Hi," you looked either way before hugging him. He held you back, his head nuzzling against yours.

But something about it felt... off.

And when you separated, that feeling only grew.

"It's a bit late for a walk, don't you think?" You pet Mars gently with a smile.

"Yeah," he seemed distant. "I need to talk to you about something important," he says. You nodded.

"Anything, did you want to come inside? It's cold out here," you pointed behind you, but he shook his head. "Did something happen?" You asked him. He looked off for a moment before nodding.

"(Y/N)," he says your name, but it felt like it was being held down by a heavyweight, "I've been doing a lot of thinking," he says.

"Mmhmm," you nodded your head slightly, "me too," you answered. And you weren't wrong, there is so much that you both had to talk about in terms of this relationship and in lieu of all the scandals that suddenly appeared.

"Then you know," he says.

"Yeah," you nodded, "it'll take a lot of work, but I'm sure we'll be able to fight our way out of this, just like before, right?" You shot him a tired smile. He didn't return it. "Seonghwa?" You said his name carefully, but he shakes his head.

"I think..." he looks away for a moment, then he turns back to you and hands you Mars' leash. "You should watch him for a while, he's always trying to escape our place," he says. You nodded and Mars walked over to your side.

"Yeah, I'm always happy to take this rascal in," you scratched behind his ears. "But, I can tell that that's not what you're here for, huh?" You tried to look him in his eyes, but he averted from your gaze every time. And, slowly, you felt this pit form in your chest. "Is... are you okay?" You changed your question. He shakes his head and you took a step toward him, and he took a step back.

"I think we should go our separate ways, (Y/N)."

You're silent.

"I don't think now's a good time for either of us to be..." he didn't finish his sentence. And still, you were silent. Mars whimpered next to you, and still you didn't move. You kept looking at him.

"You're breaking up with me?" You asked him with a shaky voice. He looked at you with a gentle gaze. "Why?" Did you even need to ask?

"I'm sorry, (Y/N)," he says.

"Is it the rumors?"

"I-"

"Did I do something?"

"It's not that-"

"If it's because of Yang-"

"(Y/N), just wait, please," he says. You stop talking. "(Y/N), I just think... With everything going on right now, it might be best if we walk on our own for a while, let everything settle down," he says. You didn't respond. "And you're getting busy, so am I, we just won't have time to spend with one another," he continues. You looked down at the ground. "Say something, (Y/N), anything," he says. You looked to Mars, who's ears were down.

"What... what do you want me to say to that?" You looked at him and shook your head. "If I say 'no' then I'm selfish, and if I say 'yes' then everything we've been through together... was for nothing?" You swallowed harshly.

"It wasn't for nothing."

"Then why even break up in the first place?"

"I told you why," Seonghwa shook his head.

"That's not fair, Seonghwa, you know everything happening isn't my fault," your voice wavered. "That's not fair, you can't pin these on me," a noticeable whimper rose in your throat.

"It's not about the rumors, (Y/N), of course I know they're not true!" Seonghwa rarely ever raised his voice, and he knew he made a mistake when you sealed your lips shut. "I'm sorry, (Y/N), I don't think I can continue on with this anymore," he says. You clutched the leash tighter.

"You... that... that's not fair..." you muttered. "We've made it work before."

"(Y/N)."

"I don't think we should give up now."

"I... I can't, anymore."

"Why not?"

"I just can't!"

"That's not an answer, Seonghwa, we've been together for more than a year, you can do better than I can't!" Your voice rose and Seonghwa groaned in frustration.

"It's for me and for you," he says.

"Don't you dare make that decision for me," whatever disbelief you had was slowly being replaced with anger, "you..." you took a deep breath. It wouldn't be fair to him for you to refuse, and you just couldn't look him in the eye. "Fine," you whispered.

"(Y/N), I don't want us to end on a bad note."

"We're not," you shook your head, "but it's not on a good one either. Take however long you need, as long as you tell me eventually the real reason why you wanted to throw away a whole year," you shut your eyes tight, as if locking the tears away. Seonghwa reached out to you and you let him, and he held you close to him for a while, but you couldn't find it in you to hold him back.

"I'm sorry, it's for the best," he says. You shook your head. You couldn't say anything to him, it would've been selfish of you to hold him back when he didn't want to continue on and you could just tell that there was something else, something bigger, that he was keeping from you and if this was how he wanted to play it, without you, then that's his choice. He didn't ask for a break, he didn't leave hope to continue, he just chose to end it all.

"You..." you pushed away from him, "are horrible," you shook your head and you turned to leave. But Mars stood still, grabbing onto the leash between his jaws as if to pull you back. "Come on, Mars, let's go," you pulled on the leash gently, but he stayed put with a small whimper. You sighed and dropped the leash. "Then stay with him," you hugged your arms to your chest and you walked back into the building, taking one last look back. Seonghwa watched you with a distant look in his eyes, and you waited for a few moments, hoping for something, anything really. Was it too much for you to hope that he'd follow you in? Take it all back? Why was he just standing there? You shook your head, he did nothing, and you pushed the button for the elevator, and when it took too long you turned to the side and took the stairs instead. And with each step you looked at your phone, waiting and hoping to get a sudden call or text from him to come back down or to... do something, but, instead, all you saw was the time. 3:45am.

You walked back into the dorms, the main room was empty, dark, maybe a little messy but that was normal for this home. Most of all, it was quiet, everyone, you think, was still asleep or about to be. You felt like you were on autopilot since taking the stairs. Then, right as you turned to walk over to the ANiMA side, that door opened and Jihyun, headset around her neck, spotted you and smiled.

"Hey, you're up... what happened?" Her smile dropped and she walked over to you quickly to wipe the tears off your face with her hoodie's sleeve. You sniffled loudly and you held onto her hands.

"I... he... I..." you swallowed harshly, feeling your words get caught in your throat and turn into short gasps until you finally gave up and hugged her and she hugged you back, wrapping her arms securely around you while your sniffles turned into sobs, and you cried into her shoulder.

"Oh, it's okay, shh," she comforts you, rubbing the back of your head softly. "It's okay, (Y/N)." But you couldn't respond, your voice was being swallowed down. You let go of her first, but she kept her hand on your shoulder. "I know you must be under a lot of pressure right now, (Y/N)," she says. You nodded, but you still couldn't speak, you just pointed to the dorms and you walked off toward it, Jihyun following you as soon as she grabbed a cup of water for you, but when she entered your room, you weren't there. "(Y/N)?" She looks around until she sees the line of light under the bathroom door. "Oh... (Y/N)..." she leans on the wall against it.

You, meanwhile, lay on the ground. You came in here fully intending to just wash your face but, at one point, you were sitting on the floor, then you were on the ground staring at the wall.

What the hell?

What the hell was that?!

It's better for you and him?

What was better? How could this be better? Your whole fucking life is falling apart. You thought that if there was just one thing you had in control it was your relationship but apparently fucking not considering he just broke up with you with some bullshit excuse and... this sucks. Even your dog didn't want to go with you. How badly did you fuck up for him to think that it would've been good to... break up? You sighed and blinked the tears away, but it wasn't long before they were replaced. And so you covered your eyes with your hands instead.

~

That next morning, the NCT dorms were in chaos. Early morning schedules mixed with personal schedules had everyone up early and without the varying doses of caffeine those same people were cranky.

Such as this one. Jeno banged on the bathroom door.

"Jaemin, stop flexing in the mirror, I have to take a shit," he grumbles. There's no response. "Jaem, I'm serious!" He knocks on the door again and Saeron opens it, holding her shower caddy and blowdryer.

"Thanks for letting me use the bathroom, Jaemin! Sorry, Jen, I just had to take a quick shower," she pats his face and walks off. Jeno covers his mouth and gasps.

"Oh, fuck," his cheeks flush red with embarrassment.

~

"Who the hell is taking so long in the bathroom?!" Doyoung shouts. The other eight members of 127 looked among themselves and shrugged.

"Ay, wait in line! I'm next," Johnny tightens the towel around his waist and Jungwoo pulls out his toothbrush from his mouth.

"Mm whm ahm," Jungwoo says, mouth full of toothpaste. Finally, the door opens and Yeseul walks out.

"Thanks for letting me borrow your hellhole bathroom," she dries her hair with a towel and walks off, Doyoung's jaw dropping in the process.

"Em? Why were you using our bathroom?" Mark asks.

"Ours is quarantined," Yeseul shrugs.

"Oh, well, if (Y/N) needs to use it she can," he says.

"That's nice, I'll tell her once she leaves our bathroom," she walks out of the dorms.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Mark follows her out.

~

"Damn! You live like this?!" Jihyun's voice seemed to echo in the WayV dorms. She throws the door open, holding various skin products in hand. "There are no labels!" She has a wild look in her eyes.

"Yeah, there are!" Hendery argues.

"Guanheng! This literally says "Xiaojun's Thing" that's not a label!"

"Well, it's Xiaojun's so it's none of my concern," Hendery rests a hand on his hip and Yangyang opens his door.

"Jie? What are you doing here?"

"(Y/N) has been in the bathroom since 3 am and she's not coming out, and we all have schedules, but we love her, so we're letting her have her time by taking from yours," Jihyun explains, shoving the mystery skin products into Hendery's hands on her way out. Yangyang quickly follows her.

"Since 3 am?! Is she okay?" He asks.

"Yeah, she just needs a couple hours," Jihyun explains. When both walk into the ANiMA dorms, they see the crowd outside of the bathroom.

"(Y/N)?" Seojoon knocks on the bathroom door. "How long has she been in there?" He asks.

"Five hours now," Jihyun looks at the clock.

"(Y/N), we got schedules, I'm sure you look fine," Seojoon says. There's no answer. Saeron sighs and knocks on the door.

"(Y/N)? Honey, is everything okay?" She asks. Jihyun's lips downturn.

"She went out last night, around 3 am, I ran into her on her way in and she was crying," Jihyun explains and Saeron's shoulders dropped.

"(Y/N), we're worried about you, what happened?" Saeron asks. Again, no response.

"At least give us a sign you're alive," Yeseul leans against the door and a loud thud resounds against it. "She's fine," Yeseul nods. "Who am I beating up?" She asks. No response. Then her phone rings with your caller ID on it, and it wasn't long before she answered. "(Y/N)?"

"Sorry..." your voice was tired and scratchy from crying. Yeseul put it on speaker and the girls crowded around the phone, barely leaving enough space for Mark and Yangyang.

"What happened? It's not like you to hole up in there," Saeron asks.

"I... I have to skip schedules today," you say. The girls look at Seojoon.

"Are you sure, (Y/N)? I thought you said you wanted to keep working," he says. Saeron nudges him harshly and he looks at her as if to say 'What?' She only rolls her eyes at this.

"Yeah, I wanna stay home," your voice drops into a murmur.

"That's okay, kiddo, but we're all worried about you, at least let us know what's wrong and how we can help," she says.

"I don't think you guys can help with this..." you answered. "Unless you can find a way to put my relationship back together," your sentence turned into a sob.

Silence.

The girls looked at each other.

"Honey... did... did Seonghwa break up with you?" Saeron asks carefully. She is responded by a loud cry that she could hear from inside the bathroom.

"I don't even know what I did wrong! Sure the rumors flying around about me are shit as fuck but he knows none of them are true! I just don't understand why he'd end things now! He told me it was better for him and better for me but I've been thinking all damn night about how on earth this would be better for me I'm about to be jobless, for god's sake, and now I'm jobless and alone! And, sure, yeah, both of us are getting busy but not that busy it's not like we haven't been this busy before, I don't understand how that's a good enough excuse to throw away an entire fucking year!" You ranted, occasionally interrupted by hiccups and sometimes sobs, and the whole time everyone just listened. "Was it me? Did I do something wrong?"

"No, no, hon, you didn't do anything wrong," Saeron says.

"Fucking asshole," Yeseul curses under her breath. "I love you, (Y/N), I've always thought he was an asshole," she says into the speaker and you cried louder.

"She can't go out," Saeron looks at Seojoon who only nods.

"I wouldn't want her to either, I'll explain everything to the producers," Seojoon pulled his phone out and dialed them, leaving the group behind. Saeron looks at the boys and nudges her head toward the door.

"What?" Yangyang whispers.

"Say something!" Saeron whispers back.

"Oh, trust, Yangyang should not say anything," Mark shakes his head quickly.

"Dude," Yangyang half whispers.

"What? Why not? If anything he should be the only one talking," Saeron shakes her head in confusion.

"Uh, I, um," Yangyang stammers and Mark shakes his head, he was the first to knock on the door.

"Hey... (Y/N)," he says, "let's talk about it, you shouldn't be alone right now," he says. Yeseul hands her phone to him.

"Do you think he broke up with me because I have a lot of... guy friends?" You asked quietly.

"If he did he's a piece of shit," Yeseul says.

"Emily, be a bit more comforting," Saeron says.

"I know! But... fuck, he really chose now to break up with her?" Yeseul is, rightfully, angry, and when she heard you cry in the bathroom behind her she only got angrier. "Call your cousin here right now so I can beat his ass to oblivion," she looks at Saeron with an unmeasurable rage in her eyes.

"Although I'm sure you would win in a fight against San, violence isn't the answer here," Saeron says. She sighs. "Who doesn't have schedules today?" She asks. "All of ANiMA is booked."

"I can't right now," Yangyang mumbles. Mark shakes his head. Everyone looks at Yangyang, who sighs in response.

"Yeah, I'll check in on her first," Mark says, "I'll let you know if anything comes up," Mark knocks on the door. No response.

"Thanks, Mark, we're lucky that you're not busy right now," Saeron says. "We'll be back in the evening. Mark, text me if anything happens," Saeron says.

"And text me if he-who-shall-not-be-named pulls up," Yeseul rubs her hair harshly.

"Yeah, I will," Mark watches them leave and only Yangyang stays behind. "Dude, do you really not want to go in there?"

"Of course, I do, she's my best friend before anything else," Yangyang says. "But after last night, I don't think it's a good idea if I comfort her about this right now." Mark could only nod.

"Just... no, yeah, you're right. It might be rubbing salt in the wound if you go in there," Mark looks at the door.

"If she even opens it," Yangyang sighs. He puts his hand on the door and twists the knob, opening the door slightly. "Oh."

"Well, I got it from here," Mark sighs. Yangyang watches him go inside, catching a quick glimpse of you on the floor before the door shut.

You were staring at particularly nothing, awake, but staring at the wall. Mark closed the door behind him and sat on the ground next to you and, when there was no response, he laid down too.

"Hey... uh... (Y/N)... why are you on the floor?" Mark asks. You blinked. Huh, you didn't even realize he came in.

"Why are you on the floor?" You shot a question back at him.

"Figured it'd be easier to talk to you this way," he nods.

"Yeah, I guess..."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Well..." your lips pressed in a straight line before turning into a frown, "I..." you sniffled.

"Take all the time you need."

"You know that feeling when you don't want to cry but the more you talk the more you feel like crying?" You asked him, your voice getting slowly replaced by sobs, Mark just nods. "Yeah, um, my life is shit right now," you cried. You rolled on your back and sighed. Mark didn't know what to say to that, there was no silver lining right now, just... shit, you know? Well, you would know but he wouldn't say that. "I must have been a really bad girlfriend, huh? I wonder what he saw that... confirmed that for him."

"Hey, don't say that, you were a great girlfriend to him," Mark shakes his head. “I mean, you always tried to sync your schedules with his, you always spent your days off together, and, I dunno, you were always thinking of him and we thought he did the same for you,” Mark rolls on his back too, both of you lying on the bathroom floor and staring at the ceiling. “Jihyun noona says you’ve been here for a while.”

“Is the sun up?”

“Yeah.”

“Damn…” you closed your eyes, “I’m sorry, Mark,” you mumbled.

"Don't apologize to me, I don't think you're doing anything wrong," he folded his hands over his stomach and you sniffled. "But, you know, lying down on the bathroom floor probably isn't the best way to cope with things," he says.

"Yeah... I know..." you muttered. "I'll be out in a minute," you said. Mark sat up.

"Alright, I'll wait for you outside." When Mark shut the door behind him, Yangyang was nowhere to be seen. Mark shook off the worry, he couldn’t think about the future when you were behind him needing all the support you could have. Support, huh? He wondered if there was even anything he could do to help aside from what he was doing now.

Needless to say, you didn't leave the bathroom in a minute, or in hours for that matter. And when the ANiMA girls walked in Mark knew you weren't coming out for a while. Mark gestured toward the bathroom and Saeron walked in next with a glass of water and small snacks. He took a deep breath and shook his head, running a hand through his hair. He just didn't get it. Sure, he didn't know Seonghwa that well, but he knew Yangyang well. Just what exactly happened last night for even him to avoid you?

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[myplasticadversary]

Deciding it's time for me to just share my PayPal and Venmo (@Delenn-Sandy) already since I don't make enough at my current job to pay my share of the rent, which is $573.33 not counting utilities. I'm working on getting a second job but I'm running out of time for this month and I need too much to keep borrowing from the same couple of people over and over.

My thinking here is if I can raise up at least $200 from donations by the 28th I will open up to taking drawing or music requests and maybe even make some kind of demo. I've never done anything like commissions before but I'd like to at least be able to provide some kind of service as well as put in more artistic practice finally. I really hate to do this because I know we're all broke on here, and maybe some part of me is too embarrassed to go and do this on Facebook, but it's something to try out.

Edit: Alright, so it's the 28th now as I write this and my head roommate agreed to cover what I still owe for rent ($367.47) on the condition that I pay it back before April 4th. I'm hoping I'll receive my tax refund around that time but I can't guarantee that, so I still need help.

#might pin this to replace my 'roy family sickness' post since i hardly ever post succession anymore anyways #any assistance really would be much appreciated though i'll also approach family and friends #it's just a guilt neuroses thing

[sunflowervoltwentyeight]

Happy 28th! Here is my February 2024 fic rec, organized by word count, from longest to shortest. You can view my other fic recs here. Enjoy!

Remember Me Fondly by kiddle / @bluejeanlouis (73k)

“You’ve told the beginning of the story so many times. I want to hear the end.”Louis laughed, scratching at his chin. “I can’t say I really know when the end happened.”“How about the tour of ninety-five?”“Alright.” Louis took a deep breath. “But it took a few steps to get there. What would you like to know?”Penny cleared her throat.“How did you first meet Harry Styles?” Grunge legends Fearless Doe topped the rock charts in the ‘90s, but they spent the decade kicking Smudge off their heels. From lawsuits to jaw-dropping scandals and a surprising joint world tour, the two bands share a complicated history.

Twenty-five years later, frontmen Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles are finally ready to sit down and tell the world their two sides of the same story.

Truth may vary.

I Would Know You From Touch Alone by staybeautiful / @harruandlou (72k)

They had never been face to face before now. They’d never touched, skin to skin, until Harry landed a punch to his face, high on his cheekbone.

Louis shoved him off and was pulling his fist back from Harry’s abdomen before he realized his face wasn’t tingling because of the pain.

It pooled out from his cheek, over his face, down his neck and spine. A shiver in the late September night. Heat, sparks - whatever you wanted to fucking call it.

or The Tomlinson and Cox gangs have hated each other for over forty years. Harry Styles, the grandson of Gritty Cox, was freshly back to the city after uni when, on his first night out, he punched the Tomlinson heir in the face. It shouldn’t have mattered, their gangs have done worse to each other. But all it took was one single touch to recognize your soulmate. Louis was adamant that being soulmates changed nothing, not who they were or which family they were loyal to. Or, at least, it shouldn’t have.

A Yuzu Grows in Brooklyn by stylinsoncity / @aliensingucci (66k)

Harry is a recent implant in new york and a young chef opening a restaurant called yuzu. louis, a music teacher and broadway lover, has been around the block for a while. in a city that's so fast-paced, they're slow to catch on to each other.

Ferricadooza! by suspendrs / @suspendrs (65k)

Harry can’t even fathom the idea of surrendering; he’d fight ‘til he died, if he had to, anything to keep from surrendering.

Or, the year is 1963, homosexuality is illegal in the UK, Louis owns a gay bar, and Harry’s an underground boxing champion with an unfortunate enemy.

The Recklessness in Water by LarryOn (50k)

Louis Tomlinson is miserable. He's stuck on a family vacation at a lake cabin in New Hampshire when all he wants to do is bemoan his sorry existence and wallow in his sweatpants. As if the humidity and mosquitos weren't bad enough, he becomes the singular target of an obnoxious lifeguard named Harry.

Passing By by Larry_you_know / @larryyouknow (48k)

Sometimes, people are in each other's lives just for the briefest of moments. They meet and then go their separate ways because being vulnerable is scary and it might be easier to not let anybody else in. But some people aren’t meant to be just passing by. Maybe when they open their eyes, they can learn things about themselves they haven’t known before. If they let their hearts speak they will find a way to be together.

Or the one where Harry doesn't even know he's into guys until he meets Louis on a boat trip. There's something more to their friendship but it ain't gonna be smooth sailing.

Rivers 'Til i Reach You by embodied (29k)

Louis can’t begin to understand how he’s always this close and still can’t manage to make Harry his. He stands up and gets another beer.   AU. Louis studies astronomy; Harry studies Louis. They spend their summers on the water and it shouldn't be complicated (spoiler: it is).

You Promised Forever by indierection (amandamoraisa) (21k)

[Harry wants a baby. Louis wanted a baby. Now he's not so sure.]

Of course they've always wanted to have kids, even as young as they were in 2012. But it's only ten years later, when they've been married for already three and One Direction is no longer together, that Harry and Louis will finally get to start their own family. Or at least that's what they thought, because Louis suddenly feels the pressure of fatherhood on his shoulders as he realizes he has to be responsible for another human being; and if that's not terrifying he doesn't know what it is. He is, in fact, having these sudden panic attacks when he thinks too much about the future. Yet, Louis just sucks it up because he's losing his mind, but Harry has already to much on his. Besides, in the end they are fireproof. Aren't they?

The Sunshine Stays by QuickedWeen / @becomeawendybird (15k)

It's three years after One Direction got back together, and Harry and Louis have just come off a world tour. They're enjoying a much more relaxed schedule the second time around, allowing themselves to bask in married life. Until, one day, Louis surprises Harry on vacation, and there are some surprising consequences.

#28th appreciation #february fic rec #larry fic rec #fic rec #monthly fic rec #hlcreators #read #2024 fic rec #february 2024 fic rec

[use-your-telescope]

When Everything's Made to be Broken - Chapter 16: We Don't Know What We're Doing

Summary: Amidst the day to day, Theo and Loki continue to learn new things about each other, including some interesting details about how they view relationships.

Author’s Note: First, I am so sorry this is so late!! I had planned to post on the 28th, but I ended up having some (good) things come up that took up my weekend and meant I didn’t have time to get this to a point I felt was ready to post. I foolishly thought I could have it ready by Tuesday, then by Friday, then Sunday, then accepted my fate and admitted I just wouldn’t have time until this weekend to get this chapter wrapped up and posted (shoutout to a work trip last weekend for making this take an extra week!) I shared a note about the delay on tumblr, but figured I’d share it here so I’m covering my bases.

That being said, spring is a crazy time for me work-wise, plus I’m finishing my second master’s degree this semester (after a two year hiatus!), so this will probably not be the only time things get a bit delayed. I’m pretty sure I will have the next chapter ready for next Sunday (the 24th), but the week after that has some work stuff going on, which means the following chapter would be posted on March 9th. Anyways, thanks for your patience, and hope you enjoy <3 reblogs are always appreciated, and lmk if you want to be added to tag list!

Word Count: 6,789

Song: Amateur Lovers - Switchfoot (Bonus Song: Passing Through A Screen Door - The Wonder Years)

Everyone I know Needs love like drugs Like a common cold We could never shrug My baby and me We're missing the same stuff We've all got a disease Deficiency of love Every day we still try Every night we still cry Driving home on the 805

Months after Theo first promised Loki that she would hang out with the other Avengers, she could not deny the truth: Loki, the little shit, was right.

Unintentionally agreeing to “family night” opened the floodgates of invitations to hang out, and other than the period of time where everyone’s moods plummeted from the string of unpleasant anniversaries, Theo found herself becoming more and more fond of the colorful collection of superheroes that she lived with, and it seemed like they accepted her with open arms.

Even worse, Loki was right and he knew it.

Every time Theo caught him watching as Wanda braided her hair or Yelena talked her into trying (and absolutely sucking at) Call of Duty, Loki cocked an eyebrow and shot Theo the most smug, self-satisfied smirk. When he wandered into the lab and stumbled upon Theo and Helen working on new medical technology with Bruce and Shuri, a downright devious glint flashed in his jade eyes, and his jaw flexed as if he bit back some snarky comment about Theo’s voluntary presence. When they went out as a team and it came to light that Natasha had done Theo’s makeup, Loki bit his lower lip to stifle a snicker. 

On that night, Theo had just finished up working in the emergency department; after showering and changing into an old set of Duke sweatpants and a shirt she stole from Chris the last time she stayed at his apartment, Theo made her way out to the living room with a book in hand.

The sight that greeted her was one she often found at the end of the day: Sam, Bucky, Yelena, Natasha, and Steve sprawled out on some of the more comfortable seating options, clad in sweatpants and worn t-shirts after what was likely a long day of training and briefings. A video game that Theo vaguely recognized, but not enough to identify, broadcast itself from the television screen, displaying a mix of desolate space-esque scenarios and scifi combat. 

Sam sat on the edge of the couch cushions, leaned in towards the television screen with a video game controller clutched in both hands, focusing so intently on the screen that he stuck a bit of his tongue out as he mashed buttons on the controller. 

On another couch sat Yelena and Natasha, with Bucky sandwiched between the two widows. Yelena and Bucky alternated between shoving fistfuls of popcorn into their mouths and shouting at the television as an explosion flashed on the screen, while Natasha sat with her legs curled up under her, sipping a glass of merlot as she occasionally teased Sam about dying in the game.

“Theo, hey,” Steve waved from the other side of the living room, where he stretched across on the couch with sock-covered feet propped up on the coffee table. 

“Hey,” Theo waved as she took her usual seat, curling into the corner of the couch. “So, which game is this?”

“Halo–” Yelena replied between mouthfuls of popcorn, “— Genetically enhanced super soldiers fighting aliens.”

“I thought the point of playing video games was to take a break from reality…” Theo glanced around the room. “How is ‘genetically enhanced super soldiers fighting aliens’ any different from what we already do?” 

“It’s fictional.” Yelena shrugged, despite the knowing grin she wore.

“Hey, bird brain, don’t you have something to ask Theo?” Bucky threw a piece of popcorn at Sam, bouncing a fluffy kernel off Sam’s head; Sam scowled, but kept his eyes on the screen.

“Ask me what?” Theo glanced between the others expectantly, her pulse quickening ever so slightly. 

They must have been talking about her… But why? 

“Fuck! I was so close!” Sam groaned as a message flashed across the television screen stating his team lost. He tossed the controller at Bucky, who effortlessly caught it in his non-vibranium hand. “You try.”

“Is anyone going to tell me what I’m supposed to be asked about?” Theo repeated, her chest tightening as she tried to guess what they wanted. She couldn’t think of anything that she did recently to raise any suspicions, and the way Bucky brought it up made it sound like it wasn’t anything serious…

“Dammit Buck, I was gonna ask her when it was just the two of us.” Sam glared at Bucky, who was too busy setting up the next round of whatever shooting game they had decided on for that night.

“Okay, now I’m just getting nervous.” Theo tried to laugh it off, but it didn’t do much to cover up her ballooning nerves.

“Nah, don’t be - I just need advice… ” Sam rubbed his face with both hands, conveniently hiding any clues Theo might have gathered from his expression. “... Dating advice.”

“Dating advice?” Theo’s brows shot skyward as she echoed Sam’s message back to him. 

“Yeah. There’s a hot doc that you work with, and I want to see if she’s interested.”

Well, that certainly changed things.

Theo struggled to keep her cool, cheeks and jaw tensing to prevent a grin from curling up her lips... 

.. What were the odds that Sam shared Julie’s crush?

“Thing is, the only way I ever run into her is when I need to get patched up —“ Sam continued, “— not exactly great for getting to know each other...”

“… So you want my help getting close to her?” Theo ventured, her mind running wild with possibilities. “Who is it?!”

“Oh hell no, I’m not telling!” Sam laughed sheepishly, “Not until I know if she’s interested too!”

“How can I help if I don’t know who it is?” Theo pointed out, “it’s not like all doctors are the same! What works for Julie won’t work for Helen!” 

If Theo didn’t know any better, she swore she saw Sam’s cheeks flush at Julie’s name; then again, that might have been in her head.

“Watch him when he’s in the ER,” Bucky commented, not missing a beat even as all of his attention seemed focused on the video game. “You'll know in two seconds.”

“As much as I don’t want you to need to go to the ER, now I’m curious - maybe we can beat you up a bit during training so you need to pay a visit.” Theo teased, smirking at Sam. Yelena laughed, offering to beat him up, while Natasha and Steve exchanged knowing glances.

“Not you too–” Sam groaned, before pointing at Yelena and Bucky. “ – that’s the same thing these assholes recommended!” 

“Because it’s good advice!” Yelena huffed, crossing her arms. “You want to see her? That’s how!” 

“Oh come on, you really think that’s my advice?! I’m not that terrible,” Theo scoffed, feigning offense. “My first piece of advice would be to talk to her and see what she likes outside of work, then figure out a way to ask her to hang out and do something she enjoys. But unless you tell me who it is, you’re going to need to work up the courage to stop by the ED specifically to talk to her, or you’ll have to wait until you actually have a reason to get patched up.”

Sam let out a sharp breath, shoulders slumping as he narrowed his eyes at Theo. “And if I tell you?”

“Maybe I can help — invite them over when we do a movie night or something,” Theo offered, this time not bothering to hide her smile. After all, Theo was not above a quid pro quo - she gets to satisfy her curiosity, and Sam gets a chance to talk to whoever he’s crushing on. Win-win, really.

Sam narrowed his eyes at Theo. “… Let me think about it.” 

Theo stood up and stretched her arms overhead; since it seemed like Sam had put an end to the conversation, it was as good of a moment as any to step away for a moment and get herself some water. As she sauntered towards the kitchen, she called over her shoulder: “Your choice, but it doesn’t have to be hard!”

Conversation continued among the others as Theo entered the kitchen, voices laughing and chattering over each other so Theo couldn’t make out what anyone said. 

Theo moved on autopilot as she found a glass and added some ice from the freezer, mind spinning as she tried to recall any details from past interactions that would help her figure out which of her colleagues caught Sam’s eye. Even as she moved to the sink to fill her glass, her thoughts remained so occupied with the new mystery that she barely paid her surroundings any mind.

“You feared the Avengers would never trust you, yet Wilson trusts you enough to seek your guidance in matters of the heart; I dare say that your concerns were unfounded.” A low voice spoke from just behind Theo — a smooth baritone that she recognized anywhere, even if it startled her so badly that she dropped her glass and nearly jumped through the ceiling from shock.

A flash of emerald shot forth. Loki caught the glass just before it clattered into the sink, all the while failing to stifle his laughter at the string of curses that fell from Theo’s mouth.

“Can’t you just say hi like a normal person?!” Theo pressed one hand to her heart in a feeble attempt to settle her racing heart, all the while glaring at Loki.

“When such amusement is a possibility? Absolutely not.” Loki grinned, offering Theo her water glass. She snatched it from him, taking a quick drink of water before turning back to the sink and topping it off.

For a moment, Theo considered finding some way to fuck with Loki so he couldn’t gloat so much, but after Loki had a difficult month (between the shitty anniversaries and Thor nearly dying, calling it difficult was probably an understatement), Loki needed the chance to loosen up and laugh. Besides, he was the first friend Theo made when she moved into the tower, and even if she wouldn’t admit it outright, Theo was grateful that Loki had been right. 

So, she simply rolled her eyes and smiled. 

“You’ve not responded to my original comment,” Loki pointed out, smug satisfaction dancing in his tone.

“Sam’s interested in one of my colleagues,” Theo attempted to brush off Loki’s observation, her cheeks burning as they undoubtedly flushed.

“I heard…” Loki leaned back against the kitchen counter, a lazy smile dangling on his lips as he looked at Theo. “Still, he trusts you.”

“Not enough to tell me who it is,” Theo grumbled,  setting her water glass on the marble counter as she pretended to pout so she could cross her arms. “How long were you lurking there?”

“Long enough,” Loki simply shrugged, eyes twinkling from the reflection of the kitchen lights as he looked at Theo. “The exchange reminded me - are you still courting your gentleman caller?” 

Theo couldn’t stifle the snort of laughter that escaped from Loki’s unironic use of the term “gentleman caller;” she slapped both hands over her mouth, entire face now aflame with embarrassment from the ridiculous sound.

Loki tilted his head at Theo’s reaction, brows furrowed in a silent question. 

“Am I supposed to ignore the fact that you just used the term gentleman caller?” Theo finally managed, still chuckling as she repeated the term.

“Is there another term I ought to use?” Despite the neutral tone of Loki’s reply, his cheeks took on a faint shade of pink that stood out against his porcelain skin. “Or am I to presume you are no longer courting him?”

“I’m still seeing him, but I don’t think that ‘gentleman callers’ exist in modern day dating,” Theo couldn’t wipe the smile off her face from hearing the term in daily conversation. “Feminism and all that.”

“Ah, yes, forgive me.” The flush on Loki’s cheeks grew more noticeable. “Nonetheless, you are still courting him?”

“Yeah,” Theo nodded. “Why?”

“You’ve not spoken of him in quite some time.” Loki shrugged; the gesture looked like an attempt to be nonchalant, which matched his tone, but something about the movement seemed a bit… forced.

“You were busy supporting Thor, and I was busy supporting you, so it didn’t seem like the thing to discuss at the time.” Theo offered a sheepish smile as she explained her reasoning. “Besides, it’s nothing serious.”

In response, Loki leaned away ever-so-slightly, narrowing his eyes with a slight frown as he studied Theo.

“What?” Theo tensed as heart quickened in her chest, confused by Loki’s reaction.

“Midgardians often speak of love at first sight; after quite some time, your feelings for the actor seem ambivalent at best, yet you continue to court him,” Loki remarked slowly, continuing to look at her with a perplexed expression. “It’s rather odd.”

Odd - with a silent sigh of relief, Theo relaxed, her shoulders dropping ever so slightly. 

“I don’t believe in love at first sight – that’s lust,” Theo winked, shaking her head. “We’re just having fun and enjoying each other’s company, that’s all.”

“I see,” with a nod, Loki hummed to himself. “Do you foresee the relationship turning into something greater?”

“I don’t know,” Theo shrugged. “Never gave it much thought, if I’m honest.”

As she answered the question, a thought occurred to her: Loki asked about her dating life, but Theo never asked about his… 

“Speaking of dating, did I see you bring someone up to your suite after Stark’s fundraiser a few months back?” Theo cocked a brow at him, a sly grin spread over her face. “What’s going on there?”

“Rest assured, I’ve not kept any partners from you,” Loki replied with a smirk of his own. “I am… not one for attachment, shall we say.”

“So she was a booty call?” Theo giggled, earning a venomously dirty look from Loki. “Well, what would you call it?”

“I prefer to have companions for a single evening,” Loki dryly answered, a pale pink blush returning to his cheeks. “It’s less complicated that way.”

“Is that so?” Theo teased, her grin widening to the point that her cheeks hurt as Loki’s blush grew brighter.

“Yes –” Loki’s explanation took on an edge of defensiveness as his expression teetered on the verge of a scowl.  “It’s not as uncommon as you might think, particularly among our peers.”

Theo barely managed to keep a straight face, all-too-amused by how quickly Loki became flustered.

“Civilians do not understand the nature of our roles, so relationships that are not between two agents or established prior to one becoming an Avenger are practically doomed from the start,”  Loki continued. “Having seen the effect of those failed relationships on others, I have chosen to refrain from courting anyone.”

Theo’s stomach lurched at the observation, her prior amusement vanishing in an instant. She quickly grabbed her water glass, taking a long sip of chilled liquid to ground herself before the implications could make her spiral.

“That being said, physical desire is a near-universal experience, or a need, if you will—” If Theo’s expression shifted, Loki must not have noticed; the usual glint of something clever returned to his eye, as did a wry smirk. “—And sometimes our needs… Well… They need to be satiated.”

“Can’t fault you there.” Theo covered up her discomfort from Loki’s earlier comment with a smirk and a wink of her own. She started towards the living room, glancing back at Loki over her shoulder. “Some of us are hanging out in the living room. You want to join?”

Loki nodded, pressing away from the counter and following Theo into the living room. 

Amidst a chorus of greetings directed at Loki, Theo took her usual seat, but this time stretched her legs out across the cushions so there wasn’t room for anyone else to sit. She looked up and grinned at Loki, who stood in front of the couch like he was about to take his usual place beside her.

With narrowed eyes flitting between the seat and Theo, Loki arched one brow in a silent challenge. Theo simply widened her grin, curious to see what would follow.

To Theo’s surprise, Loki didn’t say anything; instead, he picked up both of Theo’s legs, moving them out of the way so he could sit down; once he settled into his seat, he placed both of Theo’s feet on his lap, as a result returning Theo to her initial position. He capped off the response by flashing an impish grin at Theo, a sort of silent taunt - “you thought you could try me? Foolish mortal.” 

Other than a suspicious glance exchanged between the widows, it didn’t seem like anyone even noticed the exchange between Loki and Theo.

Despite Theo’s playful behavior, Loki’s comment about relationships doomed from the start lurked in the dark recesses of her mind, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. Even as she forced herself to pay attention while Sam and Bucky explained the rules of the particular type of Halo match they selected for the evening, Theo couldn’t shake the vague uneasiness that the comment initially instilled within her. 

A good night text from Chris, something which usually made Theo’s heart flutter in her chest, instead filled her with dread. However, Theo kept her discomfort close to her chest, acting like nothing was amiss as she replied to Chris, wishing him a good night. When Theo returned her attention back to her friends, she tucked her concern away behind carefully crafted smiles and quick-witted comments with such practiced ease that it should have been concerning. 

Only when she had retreated to the privacy of her suite, after turning out the lights and tucking herself beneath her thick, plush comforter, did she allow the matter to crawl out from the shadows and capture her attention. 

When Theo accepted the offer to go on a date, she hadn’t even considered that the difference in careers/experiences would influence their relationship, or the special considerations that she needed to make. Given her career as a doctor, she was used to missing holidays, birthdays, and special occasions because of work. Chris had, up to that point, seemed perfectly fine with that. With healthcare privacy laws, it wasn’t odd for Theo to avoid talking about work with other people, and that naturally flowed into her relationships, another thing that Chris never seemed to mind. He didn’t care that she never brought him up to her suite, and that they always stayed at his apartment. 

Maybe she was overthinking it - they never said anything about getting serious. Besides, she didn’t know the circumstances of the failed relationships that Loki referred to. Other factors could have impacted those relationships. 

Still, the idea of Chris inevitably being hurt because of Theo’s lack of foresight left a bitter taste in her mouth. The last thing Theo needed was to hurt anyone else, but time and time again she made the same mistakes, and innocent people were caught in the crossfire.

Staring up at her ceiling, Theo drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. Up until that night, she had no reason to worry about the future with Chris. He hadn’t made any indication that he wanted to pursue a long-term relationship. At that point, they were more of a situationship than anything - they didn’t change their lives for each other, they simply saw each other when it was convenient. That was okay. Theo was fine with that. 

Hopefully Chris was alright with that as well.

You tried to play it down But it never stuck I tried to bail this town I'm getting no such luck, yeah When nobody's around I keep my eyes on the clock There ain't a cure I've found In all my times around this block Every day we still try Every night we still cry We’re driving home on the 405

Between the overly loud sounds that Midgardians called music, the throngs of sweaty people, and the sharp stench of alcohol, Loki vehemently regretted allowing Maximoff to convince him to partake in this particular outing.

One of the local bars, the Hi-Lo, hosted an event they decided to call “Emo Night.” Maximoff’s explanation of “Emo Night” conveniently omitted that the “music” was far too loud and the quality of “singing” was questionable at best. Quite frankly, the quality of the scratchy, sometimes guttural noise could hardly be classified as singing, yet the people around them “danced” all the same - that was, if one could call shoving each other about in a sweaty horde dancing. 

Theo informed him the correct term was “moshing,” but Loki felt “barbaric stumbling” would be more appropriate. 

Some of their entourage seemed right at home. After freeing himself from the Winter Soldier’s programming, Barnes had grown fond of the loud and angsty racket. Maximoff had a penchant for live music, though this escapade made Loki question how the Scarlet Witch defined music. Though Wilson did not seem invested in the performance, he seemed quite comfortable with the strange cacophony – particularly strange given his typically warm and straightforward nature. 

Others, however, shared a response akin to Loki’s. Rogers hung back near the bar, nursing a bottle of beer with ear plugs in as he watched the scene unfold with an openly perplexed expression. Romanoff sat on a bar stool beside him, maintaining her usually neutral expression while drinking some sort of dark-colored cocktail from a cheap plastic cup. Despite shifting his appearance to look human, any passerby could have concluded that Vision’s presence in the midst of the drunken chaos was not natural. Amidst a sea of dark, casual clothing, Vision wore a pastel blue sweater and well-tailored pants. The android’s complexion lacked the flush of alcohol and the sweat from ‘moshing;’ combined with his lack of movement and mild expression, only emphasized the utterly strange nature of the event. Had it not been for Maximoff’s presence in the crowd, the android would undoubtedly have chosen a different location from which to observe the spectacle.

Until that evening, Loki assumed Theo would not be at home in such a ruckus - though she had performed in similar venues prior to becoming an Avenger, her musical prowess seemed far more advanced than this drivel. 

Yet, to Loki’s shock (and concern), Theo also claimed to be a fan of the so-called music; though she initially stood beside Loki as the so-called band performed, after bobbing her head to a couple of songs she disappeared into the sea of people as they jumped and screamed incomprehensible lyrics off-key.  

Left by himself in what might have been his personal hell, Loki cursed Theo for abandoning him, only to chastise himself for such a thought; after all, Theo had attempted to warn Loki of what he would experience. 

Earlier that afternoon, when Maximoff said “You’ll love it Lokes,” to which Loki rolled his eyes — it didn’t matter how many times he told Maximoff, she insisted on calling him Lokes — Theo couldn’t hold back the snort as she countered, “Given your thoughts on Tony’s music, you’ll probably hate it. But hey, you’ll probably enjoy the people watching.” 

Theo was not to blame for Loki’s current predicament; if anything, the only person Loki could truly blame was himself. After all, he was the one who accepted the invitation. 

The sound of distorted guitar shook the walls, his shoes stuck to the floor, and he couldn’t tell if he smelled stale beer or body odor - or both - but the scent was utterly repulsive. There were far too many people packed into such a small place, and they were drunken imbeciles. Even if he wanted to people-watch, it was too chaotic to tell what was going on. With the unnecessarily loud noise coming from the stage, a conversation would be near-impossible, no matter where he stood.

Then again, now that he was alone and everyone else was distracted by other things, no one would miss him if he left. Loki glanced over his shoulder at the exit, debating whether or not he should attempt to slip away at that moment, or wait until a break between songs.

The collision of another person bumping against Loki’s hip interrupted Loki’s train of thought. He whipped around, ready to unleash a series of insults at whoever dared to run into him, only to find Theo standing before him with two identical plastic cups in hand, both filled with a dark liquid similar to what Romanoff drank. The insults died on Loki’s tongue as she offered him one plastic cup, glancing down at the cup and then back at Loki before mouthing “for you.”

Loki lifted the cup and sniffed the drink; the saccharine scent of Midgardian soda intertwined with a spicy, sharp scent akin to some sort of Midgardian alcohol filled his nose, which he quite preferred to the establishment’s fetid aroma. However, Midgardian liquor would not be enough to dull his senses and render the evening tolerable; a tense chuckle – hardly more than a puff of air – escaped him at the thought.

When he looked back at Theo, her previously free hand now dangled a steel flask between two fingers for Loki to see, as if she could read his mind.

“Spiked with Thor’s whiskey,” Theo called out over the music, “You look like you need it.”

Loki rolled his eyes, schooling the discomfort from his face as he took a swallow of the beverage. 

As if the Norns recognized Loki’s frustration from the inability to converse, the ending of the next song brought a short break in the music - just long enough for the performers to switch instruments - after a relentless barrage of sensory overload, the lack of screeching instruments filling the air was a blessed reprieve. 

“Honestly, how can anyone enjoy such nonsense?” Loki leaned in towards Theo, still forced to raise his voice in order to be heard over the hollering from the inebriated audience. “It’s horrendously loud, the musicians are off-key, and the technique is terrible.”

Theo failed to bite back a grin, unfazed by Loki’s ire. “It’s not about perfection, Lo.” 

“Lo?” Loki raised an eyebrow at her. 

Theo faltered, worrying her lower lip between her teeth. “That’s okay, right?”

Loki sighed. “It’s—”  tolerable, at the very least  “—fine.”

Begrudgingly, Loki suspected that there were many things he’d allow Theo to call him that he wouldn’t allow anyone other than Thor to even consider.

“It’s about the feeling behind it. It helps us deal with the bad shit, like anger and sadness —“ Theo glanced toward the stage, then back at Loki. “— Life isn’t perfect. Music shouldn’t be perfect either.”

Much to Loki’s dismay, the band’s vocalist approached the microphone and announced the start of the next song.

Theo, however, lit up, practically glowing despite the dark venue.

“Listen closely to the lyrics—“ Theo instructed (via shouting) as the first chords and the drunken ruckus of the entire venue singing off-key slammed against Loki’s ears, “this is a good example!”

Had anyone else made the request, Loki would have outright refused; however, Loki trusted Theo enough to comply, and begrudgingly put forth a concerted effort to listen closely. 

A few lines in, Theo joined in singing:

“The highway won / I’m listening to traffic reports one on one, coming quietly undone / I was born to run away from anything good / an escape artist’s son / sun drenched pavement in my blood / the first thing that I do when I walk in / is find a way out for when shit gets bad, and…”

Theo kept eye contact with Loki as she sang along; a wistful look in her eyes made Loki recall some of the emotions he’d buried from his younger years. An uncomfortable void swirled in his chest as he stood amidst what he might consider to be the first tier of his personal hell. 

Yet, the song barreled on and Loki forced himself to continue focusing on the lyrical content. Though the writing was not Shakespeare by any stretch of the imagination, the lyricism surprised Loki with its complexity and depth. References to historical events - the Cold War scares of the sixties - interlaced with references to the lingering sentiment within tragedy led to commentary around existential anxiety, loneliness, and the fear of not fulfilling one’s potential.

Loki glanced back over to Theo, who continued to watch him while singing along. She flashed a small, almost sheepish smile as the song reached its bridge:

“Jesus Christ, I’m twenty six / all the people I graduated with / all have kids, all have wives / all have people who care if they come home at night / well Jesus Christ, did I fuck up?”

Even in the poor lighting, Loki caught a glimpse of something painful behind Theo’s expression as she uttered the phrase ‘did I fuck up?’ The expression, however, was fleeting, replaced with a different sort of intensity as Theo locked eyes with Loki for the final chorus:

“I've been looking for tears in the screen door / and I’ve been waiting for another disaster / but I was kinda hoping you’d stay / I was kinda hoping you’d stay / I was kinda hoping you’d… stay.”

Though the song concluded, neither sorcerer made any effort to look away; something unspoken and inexplicable held them in place, frozen in a moment despite the chaos and discord of their surroundings…

… Until said chaos and discord quite literally crashed into them. 

Some drunken oaf had been shoved from the crowd and into Theo’s side, knocking her off balance. Theo let out a shriek of surprise as she stumbled forward in an attempt to not crash into Loki or spill her drink.

Without a second thought, Loki practically dove to catch her before the horde could trample her in their ‘moshing,’ even though it made his drink splash out of the cup in the process. Ignoring the liquid dripping off his other hand, he hoisted Theo up by her elbow and pulled her into his chest to steady her, at least until she regained her footing. 

Yet, when he felt her weight lift, he hesitated to let go.

“Are you alright?” Loki leaned down, close enough that his cheek brushed against Theo’s temple as he spoke into her ear. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Theo tilted her head back, the soft skin of her nose brushing against the crook of Loki’s jaw as she replied; the sensation sent a pleasant chill down Loki’s spine. “Thanks!”

Theo stepped back, and Loki forced himself to let go; though they met each other’s gaze again, this time neither of them allowed the moment to last. 

Stifled by the sheer volume of the music, the only conversation between Loki and Theo until the end of the event consisted passing comments from time to time - Theo sharing thoughts on a particular song, Loki offering to bring Theo a refill when they both finished their drinks, or one of the pair pointing out something particularly amusing.

Between comments, Loki often caught Theo singing along, though she did so in a far more discreet manner than anyone else in the venue. Despite Loki’s best attempts to focus on Theo’s voice, the sound was lost in a swell of drums and guitars and other voices. The effort invested into trying to hear Theo successfully distracted Loki from the disdain he held for everything else about his surroundings, though it did nothing to dampen the disappointment when he could not hear her far-more-melodic voice floating through the air. 

Perhaps if Theo was the one singing them, or the one playing the songs on piano, he might enjoy them more.

After far too long, the return of overhead lighting and disappearance of musicians from the stage confirmed that the event had finally drawn to a close. Wrangling the various members of their entourage required a bit of teamwork and effort, but it was not long before the Avengers exited the establishment and felt the blessedly cool air of the city against their skin. 

It did not take long before the Avengers split into smaller groups along the sidewalk, a mixture of varied walking speeds and small conversations naturally pairing certain avengers with others. Maximioff and Barnes led the group, laughing and singing along to themselves as they stumbled along. Close behind, Vision and Wilson kept a close eye on their companions as they chatted with Romanoff and Rogers.

From the back of the group, Loki observed his surroundings while relishing the quiet of night. Quiet, of course, was relative - in a city such as New York, the bustle of traffic remained such a constant that it turned into white noise with due time. Strangers occasionally passed on the sidewalk, barely giving any of the Avengers a second glance as they ventured to mystery destinations in the night. 

Farther ahead, a beggar sat near an alleyway, his back against a dumpster so thoroughly covered in graffiti that it would have been impossible to guess its original color; as groups of people passed without paying the man any mind, Loki couldn’t help but notice the man’s resigned sadness.    

“... You survived.” The comment, clearly directed towards Loki, drew his attention from the beggar, though he did not catch the full remark. 

“Pardon?” As Loki replied, he glanced over to find Theo walking beside him, somehow managing to keep pace despite her much shorter stature.

“So, you survived Emo night,” Theo repeated with a coy grin. “How terrible was it?”

“It is certainly not how I would choose to spend my time,” Loki dryly replied. “Nor is it something I would have expected you to enjoy.”

“Thought I had more cultured taste?” Theo teased, bumping Loki’s hip with hers as they strolled along. 

“Clearly I was mistaken.” Loki chuckled and shook his head. “Tell me you do not subject your actor to such nonsense…” 

“You think I can walk into a bar with him and not be swarmed?” Theo cocked a brow as she looked up at Loki. Despite the amused smirk she wore, something bittersweet lurked beneath her gaze. “Even if he could get in without drawing attention, I think the internet would drag me for bringing him to a place like that.”

“Drag you?” Loki echoed, hoping Theo might clarify what she meant by such a term.

“Chew me out. Chastise me. That sort of thing.” Theo sighed, looking ahead once more. “It’s not exactly a luxury hot spot; I’m guessing Chris’s fans would think this kind of place is beneath him.”

“What would he think?” 

“I couldn’t see him having fun, but I don’t really know,” Theo admitted with such nonchalance that it almost seemed odd. “He seems too happy to really get the appeal.” 

Loki froze in place, struck by Theo’s answer. Yes, Loki had endured hardships that others might not understand, but no one could truly exist without heartache, could they? 

Theo stopped a step ahead and glanced back at Loki. “What?” 

“I–” Loki faltered, grasping for the appropriate response. “Surely he has experienced emotions other than happiness?”

“I mean, sure?” Theo glanced ahead at the rest of the group, then back at Loki. “Look, we don’t really talk about shit like that, but I don’t think he’s ever had a bad thing happen to him. If I ever got the crazy idea to talk to him about a bad day at work, I don’t doubt that he’d listen and try to make me feel better, but I doubt he’d really understand.”

“The more you reveal about your relationship, the less I understand the appeal.” Loki shook his head and started forward once more. “I thought that Midgardians valued love for the emotional connection, and yet you seem all too content to avoid emotions in your courtship with the actor.”

“We connect in other ways.” Theo’s tone held a certain cheekiness to it, which she paired with an equally cheeky grin. “I could tell you about the se–”

“– No, I think I am quite alright –” Loki replied rather sharply, cheeks burning as he forced images of Theo in a compromising position from his mind. The last thing he needed was to linger on such inappropriate thoughts, particularly with another Avenger.

“– Hey, you were the one who said everyone has needs –” Theo pointed out, far too self-satisfied in her response, “I figured you’d get it.”

“I do not need the mundane details to understand the appeal of physical intimacy.” Loki scoffed, rolling his eyes. “I simply do not understand why you bother with the rest of the courtship if you’ve no interest in further commitment.”

Theo did not have an immediate answer; she drew in a breath as if to speak, but remained quiet. 

By that point, the pair had walked far enough that they were about to pass the beggar Loki had previously noticed; at that point, they were close enough that Loki could clearly make out the creases of age and weathered skin, as well as the faint wisps of silver where a once robust head of hair likely sat. The man’s earlier melancholy lingered in Loki’s memory, and sentiment tugged at Loki’s heartstrings, compelling him to do something. 

All it took was a twitch of Loki’s fingers to conjure some cash in hand; if nothing else, Loki figured the man could use the money for a night of shelter and a warm meal. Yet, before Loki had the chance to acknowledge the man, Theo had already greeted the man by name, then crouched down so she was at eye-level before she extended some sort of plastic card to him, saying something Loki didn't quite catch. The man, however, grinned at Theo, his smile highlighting gaps where his teeth had fallen out at some point, before thanking her for her generosity.

Dumbfounded, Loki offered a quick greeting and extended the cash, which the elderly man thanked him for, though it was not with the level of warmth that the man exuded when he spoke to Theo.

The moment they were not within earshot of the man, Loki turned to Theo. “You know him?”

“Before I was an Avenger, I played a lot of shows in this area,” Theo explained with a small shrug. “Greg used to be the janitor at one of the local bars, but since I last saw him, he had to quit because of some health problems that left him unable to work. Between the treatment and the lack of income he couldn’t pay rent and ended up on the streets. 

“I didn’t find out until a couple weeks ago, when I was walking home and I recognized him, so I stopped to talk to him and learned about what happened. I told myself that the next time I saw him, I’d put Tony’s insane bank account to use and give him enough money that he would never have to sleep on the street again, and he wouldn’t have to worry about making ends meet The card has contact info for some people who can help him with the logistics.”

“Awfully generous of you,” Loki remarked.

“Hey, you didn’t even know him, but you still gave a bit of cash too,” Theo pointed out with a soft smile. “Most people would have ignored him.”

“Yes, well, back to our previous conversation–” Uncomfortable with the direction with which Theo took his remark, Loki quickly diverted the conversation. “–You never answered my question.”

“What question?” Theo glanced at Loki as they rounded the corner, Avengers Tower stretching into the sky ahead of them.

“Why bother with a courtship if you have no intention of pursuing a serious relationship?”

 “You’re reading too much into this,” Theo laughed nervously as she shook her head. “It’s not that I refuse to be in a serious relationship - I just like to go with the flow.”

Yet, contrary to what Theo said, a familiar melancholy in Theo’s eye said otherwise - the same melancholy he caught when Theo sang, ‘the first thing that I do when I walk in is find a way out for when shit gets bad, and / I’ve been looking for tears in the screen door / and I’ve been waiting for another disaster…’

That look in Theo’s eye told Loki everything he needed to know.

We don't know what we're doing Let's do it again, yeah, you know We're just amateur lovers With amateur friends I can tell you what you're thinking now Before you think it you can settle down Our lovin' isn't gonna burn us out We don't know what we're doing Let's do it again Yeah, let's do it again

#loki #loki fanfiction #loki slow burn #loki fluff #loki fanfic #loki marvel #loki mcu #loki laufeyson #loki odinson #loki x ofc #loki x ofc fan fiction #when everything's made to be broken #wemtbb #loki angst

[juggalomary]

Hey pookies I’m back. After about a month of no chapter four I finally finished it. I technically could’ve continued this on but I want the chapter count higher. Anyways it’s midterm week until Friday the 28th so I will be a bit inactive (even more). Without further ado chapter 4 of who is this kid!!!!

Warning! This chapter has violence, attempted suicide, panic attacks, and brief nondescript vomit, take care and message me if I missed anything!

Ringing in the new year does not mean tinnitus from bombs and guns going off without proper ear protection, but 1 cannot complain as he is still alive. He can’t wait to go back to the compound, he misses the relative quiet of it all. December 31, 2024 his orders were to execute a commander working in the American CIA. Her name was Laswell, they got the intel from a man that macarov trusted just enough to believe. So here 1 sat in the edge of a neighboring building to a luxury hotel that the party was being held, his sniper resting gently on his shoulder and the rubber shavings starting to dig into his chest.

He sat for another hour before the target came into view, a middle aged huge woman with blonde hair hanging around with some brunette of her same age. He focused in on her, leveling the crosshairs with the base if her skull. He waited for a second, hoping she would step fully in front of the window. After three minutes of her not moving he finally decided to take the shot. He ran the risk of it not going and hitting it’s mark, but in reality that was low.

His fingers tightened on the trigger and he re-readied his aim. As his shot was about to go off someone from deeper inside the room tackled her to the ground. He cursed to himself, of course the glare of his fucking sight gave him up. He thinks about trying a different angle and getting her from there but a set of footsteps behind him had him whipping around.

A 6’4 behemoth of a man with a fucking skull on his face muttered something, probably about the damn rubber and how you can’t sneak around on it. He stopped and whipped his gum out when he saw 1 trying to find a way onto the buildings fire escape.

“Hey arsehole, SAS hands where I can see them!” He shouted, the voice he recalled from an earlier mission he was sent in to blow a bank up. He did not obey, capture was not an option, suicide before capture.

Within that mindset 1 crawled over to the edge and let himself fall off of it. He fell,for only a second before he hit something and suddenly couldn’t breathe. He felt blood drip down his back as he sat up, attempting to catch his breath. Upon further investigation he realized he just landed on the balcony of some horrified family’s apartment. He landed on the cold metal and smashed a, (just his luck) cactus in a terracotta pot.

His head was bleeding and there was definitely a crack in his hip. He could feel his heartbeat through his entire body. The was a definite boot thumping sound coming from the inner hallway of the building.

He hobbled to a standing position he groaned and broke in the glass door. Realizing his mistake as the tall man breaks in the front door in and sees him. As the both realize that 1 is not getting out of this, 1 dives into the floor between his legs and pops up behind him in the kitchen, big ass knife in hand.

As the commotion ensues a middle aged man comes out with a shotgun from one of the bedrooms. The tall man shoos him off with just a glare. In this time 1 took it upon himself to slit his wrists. Suicide before capture.

He couldn’t feel his hand. He could already feel the blood dripping down towards his elbow. Hie tried to grab the knife when he saw the tall man turn around to face him but his hand wouldn’t move. He fought hard against his body but couldn’t. He had sliced his tendon in half. He let his knees buckle and his head hit the cabinet.

The tall man was on him in a second, shouting into his comms and holding his hand over 1’s wrists. He caught a decent amount of the conversation coming from the tall man before he passed out. He had evaded capture, Makarov would be proud.

——————

He came to for the first time in the medical helicopter. He woke up screaming and thrashing, he didn’t form any coherent words, or at least any that could be translated by someone around him. He was sedated again when he nearly flipped the backboard he was on over with him strapped to it.

He woke up slightly, eyes and motor function not working but he could hear. He was in some sort of building now, there was no helicopter blades screamingly loud in his already damaged eardrums. He heard the tall man from New Years speaking to some gruff man with a scouse accent.

“I hated the damn thing, got shit from the brass about regulation. Kind of missing the ugly thing now.” The gruff man said. He didn’t want to know what he was talking about, clearly regulations were broken and therefore he had to be punished. It’s not like he could avoid it, he was a prisoner to an unknown army.

“I kind of miss when he wasn’t a suicidal maniac who let me call him Johnny. Now that you mention it though he does look like an egg.” The man from New Years quipped back. Who were they talking about, who was Johnny, and how has he never seen him before. He’s gone against this group two times and has never seen a Mohawk, and that’s something he was sure he would if remembered. He listened for a few more minutes before he was to exhausted to listen any more. He fell back asleep for three more days.

——————

Five days in he woke up fully. A younger man in a baseball cap sat next to him, asleep and snoring lightly. He didn’t attempt to wake him up, that would get him a beating.

He found himself barefoot and not covered with a blanket, instead restrained and in just a hospital gown. The skin (could it be considered that if it’s just scar tissue?) was tight and sore. The air conditioning was in high and blowing right on him. He had no time to get back into his body before he was screaming, he could take most any kind of torture, but the cold room as he called it was the worst. Old wounds would become tight and sore, and he was almost always left unable to walk because whatever wet skin was on the floor would freeze to the concrete and rip his skin when he was stood.

This was the first time he had been tied down, maybe he wasn’t supposed to be injured. As he fought up against the restraints he felt a pop and then throbbing pain in his wrist.

He fought more and more, he could feel warmth spreading throughout his wrist. He couldn’t hear anything other than his own labored breathing and the sound of air whooshing. Distantly someone was screaming, not completely unusual, definitely not something that would freak him out.

He was writhing, trying to get out of there, he was in so much pain already, but it wouldn’t be much help as a strangely warm hand fell on his chest. He instinctively shouted some Gaelic and Russian mixed insults and thrashed even harder. The hand stayed for a second before hastily removing his restraint in his good arm. He went to grab 1’s hand and put it in his pulse point, but when he grabbed it he got punched in the head.

1 was now shouting desperately and trying to find his way out, the world was blurring and blackening at the edges. As his hand tried to grab something he hit a IV pole and knocked it over. That proceeded to rip out a NG tube they had stuffed in his nose to try to start reversing the malnutrition. He gagged at the sensation and threw up onto his lap as the nurses and security burst in. He was laid back down and restrained again. When he couldn’t vocalize that he was panicking because he was getting tortured in the cold room they sedated him, “for his own good”.

#fanfic #ghoap #ao3 #soapghost #ao3 crosspost #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #mw2 #mw3 #cod mw2 #cod mw3

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 6)

part 6/9

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: austin comes back from the week long stint in the u.s., things are discussed and things are realized.

word count: 3780 (longest part yet!)

author’s note: V*MIT TW in the last day/chunk, but nothing too graphic! this is very dialogue heavy but our fav doofuses have quite a bit to talk about 😅 next chapter is an austin pov interlude thing and i am VERY excited for that so ty for sticking with me here!

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

June 28th, 2020

You sent Austin a text after you listened to the voicemail saying you got it and did want to talk. But outside of quick hellos and goodbyes on the outskirts of him facetiming Cora you hadn’t said much else to each other. And you didn’t want to prod on his first day back after he spent an obscene amount of time traveling, so you settled on trying to catch him at the end of everyone’s first day back on set.

It was a late night- but you didn’t think you’d sleep if you put it off another day. 

Spotting him heading in the same direction you were as you got closer to his trailer, you walked a faster to catch up to him. Austin turned when he heard the footsteps, looking startled until he realized it was you.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” You supplied and he waved you off. “‘is alright.”

It fell silent between the two of you again, and you crossed your arms over your body, suddenly feeling small in the dimly lit trailer lot. 

“Follow me home? Cora will be in bed, but if you still wanna talk,”

“I do.” He said quietly, adding that he just had to change and then you could head out. When he climbed the steps and opened the trailer door to go inside he didn’t close it right away, tilting his head back towards you.

So you followed him in, standing against the closed door as he pulled his costume off and changed into street clothes. 

“How was your trip back?” You tried after a minute and he chuckled under his breath as he tugged his sweatshirt over his head. “Really fuckin’ long.”

The quip broke some of the tension at least, the two of you making amicable small talk as you walked to the parking lot. The next ‘big thing’ being filmed was the Vegas residency, the way Austin practically buzzed as he talked about how excited he was almost making you forget you were upset with him. 

Almost. 

“Go say goodnight if you want, I’m gonna make tea.” You said as you opened your front door and he disappeared down the hallway while you relieved the babysitter. You were sitting cross legged on the couch when he came back out, standing in the mouth of the hallway looking almost nervous to approach. 

“Sorry for being such a bitch on the phone.” You said bluntly as he finally did walk over.

“Hey, don’t call my baby mama a bitch.”

A laugh escaped at that, but then Austin sat down next to you and you were nervous all over again.

“And you weren’t being a bitch anyways, you were hurt.” 

“Didn’t really have the right to be, you can't cheat on someone you're not dating.” You stated, Austin not letting that go without a rebuttal either.

“Sure, but I think I earned the tongue lashing.”

Biting the inside of your cheek, you took a short breath to gain a smidgen more composure before you started talking again.

“Said in your voicemail that you didn’t sleep with her.” 

You looked down and focused in on a loose thread hanging off your cardigan sleeve, seeing him sit up a little straighter out of the corner of your eye.

“I didn’t. She was kinda upset when we were talking about Cora. I didn’t wanna be a douche so I tried to comfort her and she had her head on my shoulder. Got done snifflin’ and kissed me.”

Hm.

You didn’t disagree that the other woman was owed an explanation of the timeline. A clarification that you were only involved during their break and that Austin really didn’t have the faintest clue about Cora until April. But a pang of possessiveness coursed through you as Austin was relaying the chain of events. You tried unsuccessfully to push it down.

“We did uh, makeout. But when she went for my shirt we both snapped out of it. And then she started freaking out asking if she’d just made me a cheater and I said not exactly, because we weren’t exclusive- the rest just kinda tumbled out.”

His retelling of that part in the voicemail had left with more questions than answers, mainly surrounding the three word slip that had felt like an anvil dangling over your heads since it had happened.

You swallowed thickly, forcing yourself to look at him. “So when you said what you said, on Facetime,”

“I meant it.” He started, clearing his throat. “It was the heat of the moment, yeah, but it only slipped out cause it was all I’d been thinking about since leaving you two at the airport. How different it felt to know I was coming back- good different.”

“Cora missed you like crazy, drove me nuts when I was still mad.”

It was a redirect, but you were starting to get overwhelmed and it tumbled out before you could convince yourself to just swallow your anxiety and push on. Not a good enough redirect though, not when Austin only focused on the last part.

“So you aren’t anymore? Mad, I mean.”

“Upset, a little jealous. Not mad.” You said, suprised by your own honesty.

Austin seemed to be too, pulling his eyebrows together.

“Jealous of what?”

Returning to the loose thread on your cardigan, you plucked at it aimlessly. “That if you wanted to get back with her it’d be easier. Less strings attached, nothing tying you down- less to lose it it didn’t work out.”

You realized you were rambling and stopped abruptly, the room was silent when you did save for the low buzz of the radiator.

Austin broke the silence first, running a hand down his face.

“I get that you’re looking out for Cora by keepin’ me at arms length here Y/N, a hundred percent I do. But I guess my thing is that don’t plan on going anywhere. And I want to be with you if that’s what you want too.”

I want that more than anything, you thought, but what came out of your mouth was the thing that had made that feel off limits permanently since April.

“If you hadn’t come back for Elvis, if we never ran into each other,” You said tightly, fidgeting with your hands. “You probably wouldn’t have ever known Cora existed unless she tried to find you on her own as a teenager or an adult. And I don’t understand how you could ever forgive me for that.”

You were embarrassed by how much your voice was shaking, really not wanting to cry and feeling dangerously close.

Austin sucked his bottom lip in and took a short breath before he spoke, voice gentle.

“I forgave you the minute I saw Cora when she came out of the hallway that first night. So little, lookin’ just like me. I understood instantly why you did what you did to protect her.” He started.

"And I think what you need to do now, Y/N, is forgive yourself. I would’ve loved to be involved sooner, but you weren’t keeping me away to be cruel. You were protecting our baby the best way you knew how, that’s it.”

Swallowing thickly, you looked down in an attempt to hide the tears you felt pooling. What you wanted to say was that you didn’t even know how to begin to do that. That every time Cora told you how much she missed him when he was gone for one night- or you watched her run to the door to greet him, guilt surged through you like a lightning bolt.

Not just over what Austin had missed out on either, but what Cora had too. And you knew somewhere in the back of your mind that you needed to forgive yourself before it ate you alive.

Hearing it out loud, from him, that's what put a lump in your throat.

Austin scooted a little closer, asking you softly to look at him as you swiped at your eyes.

You felt his hand on your knee when you lifted your head, the way he was massaging your leg about to do you in because God- you loved him.

But scared that you’d start crying in earnest if you tried to articulate even half of what you were thinking, you kissed him. And Austin kissed you back as you maneuvered over into his lap, hands sliding up your neck to your cheeks as he pulled away just enough to talk.

“I love you so much honey,” He whispered, rubbing his thumb against your jaw. "You know that?"

Tilting your head to the side to kiss his fingers where they were resting against your face, you gave a small nod. “I do.”

It was a couple hours later when you worked up the nerve to say a certain three words back, laying in bed tracing infinity loops over his shoulder blade with your index finger. You thought he was too close to sleep to hear it until you felt him stir, eyes fluttering open as he pulled you in a little closer by the arm he’d had wrapped around your torso.

It felt good to be love and be loved in return. You could get used to that.

---

July 22nd, 2020

Not a lot changed after that night, mostly because of the fact that you’d been acting like a couple from the second you ended your “not in a relationship” conversation anyways. But the little adjustments that did crop up were welcome.

Austin practically lived at your flat, only going to his when he had an obscenely early set call. The two of you sat Cora down a week in and explained to her in four year old terms that mommy and daddy were in a relationship, something she made sense of via proclaiming that the the two of you were just like Flynn and Rapunzel. Not that you minded the comparison. 

And on top of all that Austin got a new manager that couldn’t have been a sweeter woman. To the extent that she brought a little present for Cora the first time she came over to meet with the two of you together.

All in all things were going better than you ever imagined they could.

Save for the lingering anxiety in the back of your mind about what was going to happen when Elvis wrapped. You felt secure in the knowledge that Austin wasn’t going to up and ghost, but it regardless wasn’t a topic you could avoid broaching for much longer.

“Hey Aus?” You said on the drive to set one day, rubbing your thumb against his hand where he was holding yours over the console. He glanced over at you with a quirked eyebrow, and you looked at the road as you spoke.

“What are we going to do when Elvis wraps? Cora and I are both Australian citizens. And I hate asking you to uproot your life- but the thought of losing you all over again,”

You didn’t realize how anxious you really felt about it until that last part slipped out, Austin squeezing your hand as he pulled to a stoplight. 

“Do you think you’d wanna move to the U.S.? If you don’t wanna uproot Cora we can look at me movin’ here.”

He said it so casually, like he wasn’t suggesting he leave his entire life behind to move across the globe, and it went right at your heart. 

“I can’t ask you to do that. She’s still little, and sure visa shit would take time but I think she’d adjust okay.”

“Alright then, so we’re gonna figure this out, and no one is gonna lose anybody.” He replied with a smile as he raised your interlocked hands to kiss them before driving through the green light. “I promise.”

-

The conversation lingered in your mind all day at work, and still was after work when you met up with Leah for Chinese food. Immediately, and unsurprisingly, she noticed.

“You’re quiet.” She stated, looking at you over her work with a skeptical expression.

“I finally asked Austin about what we’re gonna do after filming wraps.”

“And?”

Twirling noodles around your fork, you glanced around to make sure you were mostly alone before you continued. “He offered to move here if I thought moving to the states would be too much for Cora. And I think she’ll be fine, I told him that.” 

“So are you lookin’ at getting a K1 visa?”

You almost spit your food out at that, Leah laughing at how wide your eyes got. It had come up in the research you’d starting during your break on set, but you made haste in scrolling past those results.

“We’ve haven’t even been together together for a full month, we’re not getting engaged Leah.”

She didn’t seem to take that for an answer, putting her fork down to prop her head up on her hands. “C’mon, do you really think there’s going to be anyone else?”

You knew what she was implying but you were quiet for too long and she rephrased the question anyways, tone a degree more serious.

“Do you think either of you are going to end up with someone else at this point? You’re planning on moving countries for him, moving Cora. I like to think I know you pretty well Y/N and you wouldn't be willing to sacrifice so much if you didn’t think Aus was your end game here.”

Picking her fork back up, she pointed it in your direction with the look she’d always given you when there was no point in arguing against whatever she was saying. Not that you had a particularly good argument, that in itself a realization that felt heavy.

“When you know you know, that’s all I’m saying.”

---

July 29th, 2020

Since the the dust settled between the paparazzi fallout and figuring your relationship out Cora had become a semi-regular visitor on the Elvis set whenever Baz gave the greenlight for it. She had Austin and just about everyone else wrapped around her finger, quickly becoming little miss popular among the cast and crew whenever she was around.

And it did your heart good to watch everyone take her under their wings, the fears you’d had about losing your job over the ‘scandal’ of it all feeling silly in hindsight.

On this particular day the two of you had opposing schedules, Austin leaving the day at two after an early morning call when you were just coming in to work lights for some casino scenes with Tom. You brought Cora with you to swap off, and give her some time to run around what had quickly become her favorite playground.

The last you saw after the switch she was fine and giggling on Austin’s shoulders as he showed her around the International Hotel set. So when you had a couple seconds to check your phone almost an hour after you parted ways, the text from twenty minutes prior that you were just seeing came with a bit of whiplash.

Hey, Cora threw up. Gonna take her back to yours once she seems okay enough for the car ride. DW about rushing home but call when you get a minute.

Well, you were worrying whether he wanted you to or not. And you were about to call when you heard footsteps coming towards you and looked up to a rather frantic production manager. She seemed to clock that you knew why she was there, running a hand through her hair.

“Been running around like a mad woman trying to find you, Austin’s on his way to parking lot B.”

You thanked her before taking off across the studio, spotting him getting into the drivers seat of his car as you reached the lot. Speeding up to a run so he didn’t drive off before you reached him, you managed to get there before he hit the gas.

“Hey, I’m so sorry- she was fine earlier, I wouldn’t have brought her to set if she was sick.” You rushed out as he rolled down the window, waving you off. “Kids puke baby, nothin’ to be sorry about.”

Your attention was pulled by sniffles before you cohort respond, Cora having spotted you from the backseat. Opening her door and crouching down, you were met with a four year old hiccuping through tears.

“Sick on daddy,” She whined, cheeks flushed.

“She threw up on you?

Turning towards the drivers seat you realized Austin didn’t have a shirt on under his hoodie. And you hoped that at least meant she hadn’t thrown up on the Elvis jumpsuit Austin had on when you first got to set.

“I was already outta costume,” He supplied with a little shrug, and you muttered a quiet “Thank you Jesus.”

Sighing as you stood back up, you reached into your back pocket for your phone as you spoke. “I can tell my supervisor what’s going on and he’ll let me go, he’s good about Cora.”

But Austin shook his head, reaching for your arm to stop you. “I got her, really.”

You met his eyes then, realizing suddenly why he was being so insistent about you staying at work. He’d been alone with Cora before. But the worst he’d had to do thus far was talk her down from the occasional tantrum. 

This was different, and you got the sense that he was treating it like some sort of parenting litmus test. And while you didn’t have any intentions of drilling his abilities as a father yourself, ever, you were touched by how adamant he was being about the whole thing.

So you put your phone back in your pocket with a soft “Okay”, giving Cora a goodbye with an assurance that you’d be home later before shutting her door.

When you popped back up to the driver's seat Austin leaned out of the car window for a kiss, promising he’d call if she got much worse.

Your phone buzzed only a couple minutes after you’d walked off, leaving them while he was still parked getting Cora calmed down because you had to get back to set.

Thank you for trusting me. Love you.

The message brought a smile to your face in spite of how shitty the situation was, and you shot back a Love you too. before put your phone on do not disturb. If Austin called it would come through anyhow, and you wanted to try your best not to helicopter text about Cora.

-

When you were leaving for the night and did check your phone you had a litany of notifications from Austin. And Cora being sick was far from ideal, but the live feed he’d been keeping you on via text was so sweet you found yourself laughing some under your breath.

No puking in the car, considering that a win.

Got her to keep a couple crackers down.

Nevermind. 😅

Outfit change #2 time (for me, not Cora bless her heart).

She threw up when she was laying in bed and missed the bowl. Put the dirty stuff in the washing machine but don’t know where you keep the spare bedding and don’t want to leave her alone to look too hard. Gonna set us up on the couch.

The next message came with a photo of the back of Cora’s head, blonde hair pulled into two braids that you didn’t think looked all that bad.

Asked me to do her hair after I gave her a bath, I did my best!

I hate knowing you’ve been doing this all by yourself all this time. You’re a super mom.

Cora hasn’t thrown up in a hot minute and says she’s feeling “less yucky” so we might be out of the woods. Think we’re both gonna be asleep by the time you get home though. I love you.

He’d assumed right by that, the sight that met you as walked into your flat the both of them asleep on the couch. Cora was curled up under Austin’s arm, her head resting against his neck with a hand on his face.

The sight was so sweet you snapped a photo before moving to wake them up. Which you felt a horrible about, but Austin couldn’t afford to screw up his back on your couch or get whatever Cora had come down with. Which it might’ve be too late to avoid given that she’d thrown up on him, and from what you’d assumed by his texts a second time at that. Better safe than sorry though.

He stirred when you scooped Cora up off of him, a flash of panic crossing his eyes before he realized it was you.

The husky “Oh, hi,” he gave you sounded absolutely exhausted, his eyes not even open all the way for a minute there.

“I’m gonna let her sleep in my bed,” You whispered over your daughter’s head as he sat up slowly. “And I hate to kick you out but I don’t want you to catch whatever she has.”

Austin stretched his back, waving you off as he turned back to face you. “‘s fine. I think it’s just food poisoning anyway, she didn’t have a fever or nothing.” 

“And if it’s the flu then Baz is gonna have my head for getting you sick.” You replied, knowing the argument was already lost.

He followed the two of you down the hallway, Cora waking up fully as you were laying her down in the middle of your bed. Opening her eyes, she gave a little tired smile when she saw you.

“Hi momma,” She said so quietly you almost didn’t hear her, and it was moments like this that you really understood what people said about your kids being your heart walking around outside of your body. Brushing a few hairs out of her eyes, you smiled softly.

“Hi Cor, you feelin’ a little better?”

She nodded at that, but pulled her gaze away from you to scan the dark room, sitting up some in your bed as you laid down next to her. Austin was across the room plugging his phone in, your bedroom too dark with the lights off for Cora to see where he went.

“Where’s daddy?” 

“Right here sweetie,” He said softly as he came back over, climbing into bed and pressing a kiss to her head as he laid down.

Cora ended up sandwiched between the two of you, her head knocked back on Austin’s chest with a foot nudged almost in your ribcage.

And Austin had a protective arm slung over the both of you, Leah’s words running through your head like a skipping CD as you tried to sleep.

“When you know you know, that’s all I’m saying.”

xxx

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