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beom-pyu · 1 year

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cologne ☆⋆｡𖦹°‧★ choi beomgyu

choi beomgyu x fem!reader , tags; lakeside cabin vacation funtime yay , summer , frenemies w beomgyu , annoyed reader , more friends to lovers bc why not! , some enemies to lovers? , jealous!beomgyu , nsfw , reader is in deep denial , silent pining , can't be a beom-pyu fic without fluff at the end!

warnings: smut (minors dni!) , slight frottage , thigh fucking , jealousy , subtle perv beomgyu? very subtle , beomgyu is a little possessive , cursing , needy beomgyu

( inspiration: cologne by beabadoobee!! literally has nothing to do with the song, but the vibe just reminded me of this fic so! :] )

a/n: just something cute and simple since it's almost summer!!! also, THANK YOU ALL FOR 100+ FOLLOWERS!! im oh so grateful for all of you readers and your lovely comments as well as cute tags and reblogs <;3 you guys make my day!!!

wc: 4.1k+

12:01 a.m

you place the last pillow in between your bodies, humming in approval at your makeshift pillow border. you clap your hands once to get beomgyu's attention, the brunette looking up at you with exasperation from the other side of the small bed.

"okay, so the rules are very clear. don't cross this line, don't—"

"don't touch your stuff, and don't talk to you. i know. you've repeated yourself like twelve times," beomgyu finishes your interrupted speech, ending his sentence with a roll of his eyes.

your face contorts into disgust at the boy on the other side of the pillow wall, rolling your eyes back at him. "whatever. don't steal all of the blanket either."

beomgyu's lip curls up in an equal amount of repulsion, running his annoying fingers through his annoying hair. you abruptly turn your back to him, laying down to pull the sheets up to your chin.

it’s just your luck to be stuck with beomgyu for your friend group outing. you are now solidified in your belief that flipping a coin was the most idiotic way to pick roommates.

how did you end up with the single bed and choi beomgyu? this has to be some type of spiritual karma. maybe you should've given up your seat on the bus for that old lady after all.

"don't tell me what to do," he mumbles as he reaches over to turn off the lamp on the bedside table next to him, settling into the covers. you have half the mind to shoot a snarky retort back at him, but you decide to be the bigger person (for once) and just go to sleep.

this does not mean he wins though.

rule #1 (don't cross the pillow border) seems to be the easiest rule to follow. you both sleep with your backs to each other, bodies fully separated by the plush cushions you’d stolen from the cabin’s couch. it may be the littlest bit uncomfortable, but you rather wake up with a stiff back than feel beomgyu's annoying foot touch your leg under the sheets.

a shiver racks down your spine simply at the thought.

rule #2 (don't touch your stuff) is a little harder for choi “annoying bitch” beomgyu, much to your dismay. when you get up at 3 a.m. to pee, you notice your charger plugged into beomgyu's annoying phone, your own phone sitting sadly next to it at a whopping 23%. when did he even…?

you inhale deeply to calm yourself.

now, you would’ve… should’ve chucked beomgyu's phone across the room and poured ice down the back of his shirt in retaliation to breaking your rule, but when you look down at his sleeping face, you just can’t bring yourself to do it.

beomgyu's annoyingly pink lips are slightly parted, his annoying hair all messy and flopped over his annoying forehead into his annoying eyes, and his annoying chest rises and falls deeply.

he looks peaceful. cute, even.

...

wait.

what. the. fuck?

you silently gag at yourself, shaking your head before pulling a face at the passing thought. you must really be sleep deprived if you think choi “assface” beomgyu looks cute right now. even after breaking rule #2 (don't touch your stuff)!

you shake your head, shuffling over to unplug his phone, pretending to hit him with the device before you toss it to the foot of the bed. you happily plug yours back in before carrying on with your mission to the bathroom.

by the time morning rolls around, rule #3 (don't talk to you) is beyond broken.

there is no reason, no reason at all, as to why you are awoken to beomgyu's shouts bouncing off the walls of the small cabin room.

"SPIDER! Y/N, GET UP! THERE'S A FUCKING SPIDER!"

you groan as you try to blink your eyes open to assess the situation, but the blinding sunlight through the sheer curtains of the room burns your corneas, your eyes squeezing shut again.

“just kill it then!” you whine, burying your head back into your pillow in an attempt to tune him out and fall back asleep. you couldn’t have been any dumber though—in a single beat, the warm white blanket over your body is pulled off, the cool morning air attacking your skin immediately. “what’s your fucking problem?!”

“get your ass up and kill it for me!” beomgyu’s annoying voice fills your ears, and that was your final straw, grabbing the pillow from under your head to chuck it in the direction of the noise, successfully hearing a muffled ‘oof’ in the distance. you smile in victory.

“damn, what did i do?”

instead of hearing beomgyu’s complaints of getting hit, you’re instead met with his loud cackles. you peek an eye open to see soobin standing in the doorway with a pout on his lips and a pillow in his hands. wrong target.

“sorry, soobin! i was trying to hit that loser,” you apologize, sitting up to rub the sleep out of your eyes as you point toward beomgyu’s annoying figure. you see soobin give you a small smile, shaking his head slightly, and beomgyu frowns at the name you called him. serves him right.

after a good 5 minutes of soobin attempting to chase down the spider and get rid of it with beomgyu on his tail recording the entire interaction, you manage to drift off to sleep again, happily spreading your entire body out in the starfish position now that you have the bed all to yourself.

another few hours pass before a hand is shaking you awake.

“5 more minutes,” you grumble, turning onto your side to curl up into the fetal position, blanket still long gone.

“c’mon, y/n! get dressed—we’re going to the lake!” kai announces enthusiastically, shaking you again until you finally open your eyes, feeling a little disappointed at the fact that the voice doesn’t belong to beomgyu.

…

only because you're in the mood to argue! that’s why!

that’s totally why…

3:36 p.m

"soobin!" you shout down the trail, waving a bit as said soobin stops in his tracks, turning around to wait for you to catch up. you jog a bit to meet him, a wide smile crossing his face.

"hey y/n. you coming from the lake?" you guys fall into stride together, nodding mindlessly at his words.

"mhm. i forgot a towel.” you motion to your drenched body, and soobin hums in confirmation.

“i’m heading back too. yeonjun’s rod broke,” soobin informs you, holding up the broken fishing rod with a small, sheepish smile. you laugh a bit at the poor sight, covering your smile behind your hand.

“how did that even happen?”

and from there ensued a step-by-step breakdown of how yeonjun managed to break a pro-grade fishing rod, trailing into a bunch of other crazy stories soobin has to tell as you trek to the cabin. once you get back, your stomach hurts from laughing so much. soobin has his arm slung over your shoulders as he continues to tell the most embarrassing story of his life and you just can’t help it.

"stop laughing at me! everyone saw naruto my underwear," soobin whines, but the smile on his face gives it all away.

“maybe stop wearing jeans that are 2 sizes too small? you’re not in one direction,” you tease as you walk into the cabin, slipping off your flip-flops by the door. you hear soobin half scoff and half laugh at your comment, his hand coming to your waist faintly as to move your body so he can slip past.

you see beomgyu sitting on a stool at the kitchen island, watching you guys with narrowed eyes as he bites into an apple slowly. you feel uncomfortable with his intense gaze on you, suddenly aware of the wet bikini on your body, wrapping your arms around yourself self-consciously.

“you try finding a good pair of jeans when you’re 6’1,” soobin retorts, taking his own shoes off before looking around for the fishing supplies. you puff out a chuckle, heading over to the kitchen, you brush past beomgyu’s figure to dig in the freezer, your back fully turned to him.

“you want a popsicle, soobin?” you call over your shoulder as you pick out a strawberry one for yourself and a cherry one for soobin, already knowing his answer.

“yes, please!” he responds in a silly voice and you smile a bit at the action, turning around to make your way back over to him. your brows furrow at the sudden disappearance of beomgyu’s presence but shrug it away, making your way over to your lanky friend.

“did you want me to walk you back to the lake?” soobin asks from where his head is ducked into a closet, sounds of clanking filling the space as he digs around. you think for a moment as you lick your popsicle.

“no, you go ahead. i’m gonna shower and then help taehyun set up the grill,” you respond, soobin letting out a little noise of triumph as he finally locates the fishing rods, standing back up straight.

“thank you,” he speaks as you pass him the popsicle, patting your head affectionately. “i’ll see you later!”

“see you!”

and then he’s swiftly out the door, leaving you alone in the front room of the cabin. you’re reminded of your drenched body when you look down to see the puddle you’ve trailed across the hardwood floor, mentally promising to clean it up before you make your way back to your shared room.

you knock on the door before entering, just in case someone just so happens to be inside changing or something. when you receive no response, you push the door open to see beomgyu on the bed, headphones covering his ears. they don’t seem to be doing the best job though, considering the fact that you can still hear the music blasting through the speakers.

the eardrum damage must explain why he ignored your rules last night. you accidentally let out a cackle at your own inside joke, somehow gaining the attention of beomgyu who looks up at you with startled eyes. he removes his headphones to settle around his neck before the infamous lip curl appears on his face.

"you fucking scared me. why were you creeping like that?" beomgyu shoots towards you, venom in his voice. it doesn’t phase you one bit though, pursing your lips as you shrug your shoulders, licking your slowly melting popsicle as you head over to your bag on the opposite side of the bed.

"i knocked but you didn't hear cause of your loud ass music. not my fault."

you can feel beomgyu's eye roll from behind your head, but instead of receiving a retort back, he remains silent. it’s odd. choi “always has something to say” beomgyu doesn’t have a comeback ready for you? you grab your towel and stand back up to face him, cocking your head. he’s acting weird.

"why are you acting weird?"

very classy.

beomgyu looks up from his phone screen, squinting his eyes at you. his lips are pressed together tightly, his hair messy, and in his eyes like it had been that night, your mind flashing back to his sleeping appearance.

gross. totally not cute. he’s choi beomgyu—so he’s automatically gross. he has to be.

"i'm not..." beomgyu drags out as if he’s unsure of his own statement. "i'm just tired because someone decided to make us sleep in the worst position known to man."

you give him a small glare before focusing your attention back down on your bag to grab your body wash and loofah. a beat passes as he continues.

"you seem to be having fun with soobin though."

your head lifts back up, giving him an inquisitive stare.

“what? you can’t stand seeing me actually happy and not trying to rip my hair out like when i’m around you?” you laugh in amusement, flipping your towel over your shoulder to reduce the clutter in your hands. you could’ve missed it—you almost missed it—the way beomgyu’s eyes slightly dull at your words, nibbling on his bottom lip in thought. you try not to think of it though, walking to leave the room.

“anyways, we’re grilling at the lake in like 2 hours so don’t try to say i didn’t tell you!” and that was that as you exit, an uneasy swirling within your gut.

2:23 a.m

you sit on the edge of the bed as you plug in your phone, making sure its in the outlet on your side of the bed this time to avoid any more rule-breaking. you adjust your tank top as you stand to retrieve some more pillows. as much as you hate to admit it, you’re struggling to ignore the way beomgyu has been acting around you all day.

little touches at the lake, playfully wiping your mouth during dinner, sharing a blanket with you as you all sat around the campfire, his head on your shoulder. maybe he really was just tired today. maybe he was so out of it that he didn’t realize how out of the norm he’s been acting.

it’s not like you hate choi “mr. annoying” beomgyu. that isn’t the case at all! you’d even go as far as to consider him your… friend. he just has a knack for pushing all your wrong buttons, evoking such guttural annoyance out of your body in a way that no one else can. it’s always been that way since the day you first met in high school.

but he’s never been like this, you think as you grab the pillows off of the floor to rebuild your pillow wall. his voice stops your movement, though, your head whipping around to see a freshly showered beomgyu—his hair is all wet and wavy, his skin smooth and golden from the summer sun. the sweatpants he’s wearing hang low on his hips, revealing the waistband of his underwear.

you swallow a bit as your eyes widen at his figure.

only because you’re not used to seeing him in such a minuscule amount of clothes!

yeah… that’s why.

“can we go without the stupid border? my back still fucking hurts from last night,” beomgyu complains as he makes his way over to the bed, looking a little too good in the warm lighting of the bedside table’s lamp, an orange hue casting over his skin.

you’re frozen as you watch the way his muscles move as he climbs into the bed, laying on his back with his hands behind his head. his eyes meet yours, a brow raised in question. you blink, snapping yourself out of whatever trance you were in, clearing your throat as you drop the pillows back onto the ground.

“yea, whatever. just—don’t touch me with your gross feet,” you mumble, slipping into the bed yourself. beomgyu laughs a bit at your words, reaching over to turn off the lamp.

“just my feet, huh? so you wouldn’t care if it were my hands?” he asks, obviously joking—but you feel your stomach swoop slightly at the thought.

no! you’re just tired. it’s been a long day.

“don’t touch me at all, loser. and don’t talk to me either! starting now.” you turn your back to him, a perfect mirror of the night before as you pull the blanket up and over your body. the room is silent other than the slight creaking of the wooden bedframe as beomgyu gets comfortable.

as much as you want to ignore his presence completely, you simply can’t. he’s too close to your body, so close that you can feel his steady breaths on your shoulder, his body heat radiating onto your exposed skin. you try to squeeze your eyes shut and force yourself to just sleep, but he scoots closer. and closer. and closer—until his chest is fully pressed against your back, a hand coming to rest on your hip.

your heart pounds in your ears as you take in his touch. you should be telling him to get off of you, or push him onto the floor for breaking your rule! but his hand is heavy and hot on your hip, his fingers playing with the hem of your tank top for a second before they dip underneath, splaying his hand out onto your tummy. his touch is hot and searing. your stomach flips at the sensation.

you can feel his dick chub up against your sleeping pants, his hips slowly rutting up against you. you feel heat rush to your core at the simple action, your heart stuttering a bit.

“beomgyu, what are you doing?” you whisper, voice shaky and unstable as you feel him roll his hips onto your ass.

“please, let me break your rules just this once,” he whispers back, deep voice filling your ears, clouding up your mind. his voice is breathy and low, holding you back against him. “i need—fuck, please, i just—”

his words come out sparse as he rolls his hips against yours again. your mouth is dry, unsure if this is even real. the beomgyu you know wouldn’t even dare to be closer than 2 feet near you, and now here he is, begging in your ear.

“what do you need, beomgyu?” you mumble back, biting your lip as he ruts against you a little faster, a small broken moan leaving his lips at the friction. you’re wet—you can feel yourself dripping into your panties as his fingers press into your skin.

“you, y/n. i need y—been wanting you all day,” he whines into your ear, his nose nudging against your shoulder. it’s all too intimate, too intense—and you hate the fact that you like the way his breath feels on the back of your neck. “can i fuck your thighs, please? please, i won’t put it in—just your thighs, please.”

you inhale, wanting to weigh out the pros and cons—but you want him just as badly. your head is nodding before you can even think and beomgyu’s lips press against your shoulder, mumbling thank yous as his hands scramble to pull down your pants and underwear in one swift motion, before pulling his dick out. you feel it twitch on your lower back and you press against him, enjoying the way his breathing picks up a little too much.

you lift your leg a bit so he can slide his heavy dick in between your thighs, his shaft nudged up against your wet pussy. you sigh at the weight, beomgyu’s hand pressing flat against your stomach to hold you in place.

“thank you, thank you, thank you,” he whimpers out as he begins thrusting quickly, going dumb at the way your cunt drips onto his length, easing the glide. you tilt your head back a bit and beomgyu’s immediately kissing up the expanse of your neck, nipping at your skin, moaning in your ear. it’s so lewd and dirty and your hand comes down to rub at your clit, moaning quietly at the relief.

beomgyu notices your movement, brushing your hand away to do the work for you, his soft fingers rubbing delicious circles on your bud as his thrusts quicken, your thighs becoming wet with a mixture of your own slick and his precome. you can’t help the quiet moans falling out of your mouth at the feeling, his fingers moving just right over your sensitive clit, the drag of his veiny dick applying the perfect amount of pressure against your entrance.

“‘m better than soobin. so much better than him. only i can make you feel like this,” he mumbles into your skin, voice high and whiny as he thrusts against you, pressing down on your clit in a way that makes your gut tighten. you can barely process his words—something about soobin?—but you’re too lost in beomgyu’s touch, his hips stuttering against your gushing pussy.

you’re unable to control your noises as your hand grabs onto his wrist, feeling your orgasm rushing upon you quickly. beomgyu’s dick is twitching against your folds and the combination of his breathy moans and stimulation on your swollen bud is too much. your body tenses up as you cum, pleasure washing over you in waves as you whimper in beomgyu’s arms.

“that’s it, baby. cum on my cock—fuck, just like that,” beomgyu talks you through your orgasm, fingers only slowing on your clit as he cums himself. you can feel the stripes of burning cum shoot onto your thighs, his thrusts faltering as he whines, mouth hot against your skin. you lay there catching your breath, head spinning as you gradually come back to reality, beomgyu’s hand still pressed against your rising and falling stomach.

his forehead rests on your shoulder, breathing heavily for a bit before you feel delicate kisses on your skin, trailing up your neck. you lean into his touch, letting those butterflies swarm your stomach again at the little action.

you don’t want to speak first—you don’t know what to say. after all these years of fighting with beomgyu over the pettiest things, all the tension has led up to this point. you aren’t sure how to feel… but you think you kind of like it.

and maybe you kind of like choi “annoying loser” beomgyu as well.

you feel beomgyu slide out from in between your legs, moving over to the other side of the bed in silence. you feel a little disappointed at the disappearance of his touch.

“i’m gonna go get a towel, okay?” beomgyu speaks softly as he moves to stand, pulling his pants back up. his face is flushed and the tips of his ears are bright red, a shy smile on his face.

“okay,” you respond quietly with a small smile of your own, acknowledging the way your stomach flips at the sight of him. what the hell are you going to do now?

it doesn’t take long for beomgyu to return with a wet rag, climbing over the sheets to clean you up. his brows are furrowed as he focuses on his task, and you cover your face in embarrassment at the closeness of it all—with his body in between your legs, gently wiping up the mess he made. you pull your hands away as his movements stop, helping you get dressed again.

his gaze on you is heavy and you try not to meet his eyes, face hot and flustered as the entire situation fully dawns on you. he’s having none of it though, hovering over your body to turn your head so your gaze locks onto his eyes, his blown-out pupils a little too sparkly, making your heart flutter a little too much.

“are you okay?” he asks quietly—gently as if his voice was only made for you to hear. you nod in response. you want to shrink under his inquisitive stare, but there’s nowhere to run as you’re fully caged in by his body.

you see the way his eyes flutter down to your lips for a quick second before they’re glued onto your eyes again. “please don’t tell me you regret that because i don’t. not at all.”

he sounds desperate, pitiful almost, and you reach up to brush the strands of hair out of his face with a small smile. because you don’t regret it either.

“remember that no talking to me rule?” you start, seeing the way beomgyu’s lips pout in disappointment, unsure of where you’re going with this. “how about you kiss me instead?”

beomgyu doesn’t give you a second to breathe before his lips crash onto yours roughly, as if he’s been waiting for this moment for years.

and oh fuck... maybe he has.

you sigh into the kiss, reaching to the back of his neck to bring him closer to you, his body lowering onto yours. his lips are incredibly soft, his weight comforting on top of your body. his hand comes to hold your cheek gently, thumb swiping over your skin. it’s everything and more—it’s something you didn’t even know you had been waiting for.

when he pulls away from you, it’s slow and gentle. beomgyu leans down to press a few more quick kisses onto your lips, a tiny smile settling onto his face as he rolls over to the other side of the bed, pulling you into his arms. you melt into his embrace, resting your head against his chest as you wrap your arms around his torso.

“i swear to god though, gyu. your feet better not touch me,” you mumble into his chest, feeling his body rumble with laughter.

“rules are made to be broken, baby,” beomgyu speaks before his still-very-annoying foot touches yours under the sheets. you squeal in shock at his cold skin, but laughter quickly overtakes any annoyance that was bound to wind up in you.

you’ll let it slide. just this once.

reblogs are highly cherished!

masterlist

©️BEOM-PYU

#txt #txt imagines #txt fluff #txt smut #txt scenarios #beomgyu #beomgyu imagine #beomgyu imagines #beomgyu fluff #beomgyu smut #beomgyu scenaries #beomgyu x reader #beomgyu x y/n #beomgyu x you #txt x reader #txt x y/n #beom-pyu

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ma1dita · 2 months

Note

Hii!! Congrats on 23!!! I love your writing!! Idk if you write for Jason Grace, but if you do could you do something with a daughter or Dionysus reader where it’s just her trying to loose him up a little bit? Or maybe them at a party?? Thank you so muchh!

🐥🐥🐥🐥🐥

jason grace x dionysus!reader

a/n: underage drinking lol but that comes with a dionysus!reader ,,, ty for the request my love!

wc: 683

“So you’ve like, never been to a party?”

You’re smacking on a piece of gum as the both of you watch the party come alive in your cabin. Cabin 12 was always the place to be on weekends with it just being you and Pollux, and everyone knows that no one can throw a party like a Dionysus kid. Though with the way Jason’s leaning against the corner of the wall you both take up with a beer in hand, it’s like he doesn’t know what to do with himself. Ever since his arrival at Camp Half-Blood, you’ve come to notice that there is possibly no version of him that is ever at ease.

“Never really had the time.”

Well, that just won’t do.

You teach Jason all the things a teenager usually does at a party, from drinking a few cups of spiked punch (which was much more pleasant than the beer), to dragging him onto the dance floor once the drinks set in (he thinks he likes spinning you around until your laughter bubbles over like sparkling champagne), to finally getting him to join a few party games. Jason killed it at cup pong, watched you annihilate other campers at king’s cup, until an Aphrodite kid insisted you end off the night with 7 minutes in heaven. A chorus of both groans and cheers were heard around the room, and Jason looks at you confused. His glasses glint under the fairy lights and you giggle at his lost puppy look.

7 minutes in his father’s domain didn’t seem like a good game to him, so he leans in to listen to you whisper the mechanics of it all. His cheeks redden, and he’s unsure if he wants to play.

“Come on, it’ll be fun, sparky.”

You gave him the nickname because he always looks like someone’s lit a fire under his butt—too uptight and cordial for your liking.

Sitting around while mismatched couples took their turns in your linen closet wasn’t really Jason Grace’s idea of fun, but he supposes he doesn’t really have a good grasp on that either. He trusts you though, for what it’s worth. A son of Jupiter having full faith in a daughter of Dionysus must be a deadly combination.

When Piper calls out both of your names, he supposes that could be fun. You grab his wrist and he follows you into the dim closet, everyone’s voices muffled through the closed door.

“Is this okay?” He whispers, even if no one else can hear him but you. Your smile is intoxicating when it’s directed at him, he realizes, and he wonders if he’s finally drunk.

“Yeah. We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to, Jace,” you say sincerely. At a wave of your fingers, the hesitation and impairment from the punch subsides a little; a light buzz settles in your stomachs. Jason pushes his glasses up and then dares to ask, “So what do people usually do when they’re in here?”

You raise your eyebrows. You didn’t think you’d have to spell it out for him.

“Um, well…they kiss. Or other things…”

“Oh.”

You giggle at his shock, leaning in slowly and waiting for him to make the final move. Jason closes the distance and there are a few things that surprise you about this kiss. It’s intense, lips molding onto yours with the passion he puts into everything he does, wanting to do the job well. Whether it be the waning effects of alcohol or a static shock—it made the both of you hyperaware, lightly panting before his hands pull you in by the waist and you smile into the scar on his lip, grabbing onto his tshirt. You tilt your head to the side and let him consume you once more, a floaty feeling in your chest until you realize—the both of you are actually flying.

A muffled groan leaves him when his head hits the lightbulb, sparks flying out as you land in his arms.

Lips locking through the laughter, Jason finally understands why you would think this is fun.

#jo's 23rd birthday bash ⋆｡°✩#jason grace x reader #heroes of olympus x reader #hoo x reader #made by ma1dita ♥︎

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messierthanthou · 3 months

Text

Took me longer than expected but here! You and Tangerine are stuck in the snow in a car on the way to a job, and you have to keep warm somehow, hehe

What to expect: Some very slight dirty talk eventually, some fingering and some jerking him off, no p in v because there's simply not room for it in the car sadly! Saving that for another time ;)

3.6k words, whoopsie

Cold, Warm, Hot

Outside the wind whistles and the snow whips around your car in a furious flurry of impenetrable white. The tires lost their grip on the road once you hit a sheet of black ice on the unkempt backroads that was supposed to lead you to your next target; some rich asshole who crossed the wrong kind of people to make even more billions than he can spend in his now short life.

But that doesn’t matter right now, what matters is the fact that you and Tangerine are stuck in the snow a dozen miles from civilization, and with what little cell reception you two have here, Tangerine managed to call for a tow truck. Which will arrive in about 12 hours or so.

“Now, I’m not one to lose my shit over something this trivial, but I told you, bad stuff happens when you split up the team,” Tangerine says, referring of course to the fact that Lemon isn’t here.

Lemon is already up ahead, probably sitting warm and cozy in the cabin you rented as a meeting place and base of operations for this trip. And Tangerine seems to think it’s bad luck whenever he and Lemon are separated for too long, and you shake your head at their codependency.

Tangerine gives the wheels another spin, trying time and time again to become unstuck, but…

“Would you stop that? You’re only digging us deeper into the snow,” you say with just a slight roll of your eyes.

“Fine, but you can’t say that I didn’t try.” And he turns off the engine.

“What are you doing? We’re gonna freeze to death in here without the heat on!” You reach for the car keys to turn them but he’s faster and pulls them out of the ignition.

“So you’d want us to be unable to drive when we eventually get out of this heaping pile of snow? We get pulled out by the tow truck, then we can’t go anywhere because we’re either out of gas or the battery’s dead.”

“Then what do you propose we do?” you ask, exasperated.

“Get cozy; you’re under so many layers over there, surely you’ll survive a short night out in the cold like this.” He gestures to you and your perhaps too many layers of clothes, but you were always one to get cold easily, so it only made sense to dress up proper for the occasion.

“Yeah, well, what about you?”

Tangerine is wearing his usual gingham patterned overcoat and a cashmere scarf because fashion matters more than functionality to this man.

“A little cold won’t hurt me, darlin’, I’m thick skinned.”

“Thick in the head if you think that little getup will keep you warm throughout the night.”

“You’re right, why don’t we snuggle up on the backseat and keep each other warm, huh? Bet you’d like that.”

Heat rises to your face at that, but you’re thankfully not one to blush at something so innocent. No matter how much you’d actually be into the idea of snuggling up with someone as incredibly handsome and occasionally charming as Tangerine. He teases, of course, but there’s something to his grin and a shine in his eyes that might indicate he wouldn’t say no if you said yes.

But you don’t.

“No, I'll be fine over here, getting cozy underneath my too many layers.”

And he acts like it was a joke, but for a moment, just a second, there’s something about the fall in his broad shoulders that tells you he wanted you to say yes to the proposition.

“Suit yourself.”

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d asked you in a jestering manner to become physical with him, and he keeps being a good sport about it even when you say no again and again. And every time you hate yourself a little more, but someone has to have a moral code and keep the distance required in a profession such as yours. Can’t get too close to anyone or their inevitable death will break you down. Stay cool, stay calm, stay collected.

He doesn’t speak much after that as the two of you sit in the dark, the cold creeping in on you both, but you barely feel it through your thick winter coat, sweater, thermal underwear, and the couple of stockings beneath your slacks.

But he is quick to start shivering. He stays tough and stoic, trying not to let it show, arms crossed and head buried in his scarf, but you can hear it in his breathing, the way it shivers with every exhale, and you feel bad for the idiot who decided to wear that outfit that makes your heart flutter.

Minutes go by where you have to listen to his teeth chattering, the stubborn fool still not turning on the engine to keep you both heated, and eventually you give in.

“Get in the backseat,” you say and start undoing your coat.

“What? Why? What’d I do? What are you doing?” He asks too many questions sometimes.

“We’re gonna do what you suggested, snuggle up to keep you warm. If you fall sick on this trip I’ll never hear the end of it from Lemon. So crawl on back there.”

You’ve been told in the past that you can be “bossy” which is usually just a euphemism for “I don’t want to take orders from a woman,” but Tangerine would never say or act like that, so he does as you say and climb between the front seats and into the back of this not-that-spacious car, and you follow.

“So. What now?” he asks as you sit hip to hip and your heart beats faster.

You had sort of hoped he’d decline the offer, act like a big, tough man who can handle it on his own, but he seems almost… eager for this. Like it’s something he’s been waiting for for a while.

“Open up your coat,” you say as you take off yours.

“Oh are we finally doing this? No more will they won’t they?” he jokes again, but there’s not much of a smile beneath that stupidly attractive mustache.

Perhaps he’s suddenly worried about catching feelings like you are, maybe he doesn’t actually want to but has a hard time saying no to you, or it could be that he’s holding back. You can’t figure out which is more likely at this moment.

“No, we’re just going to lay down here on the backseat together. Body heat, as you may know, is best shared when you’re close to one another, so I will do my best to sort of… lie down next to you, and we’ll use my coat as a blanket to shield us from the cold.”

Silence fills the room and through the dark you can barely tell what his face looks like, and you wouldn’t start to guess if he’s interested in the idea of lying with you or the idea of survival.

“Is that okay with you?” you ask and finally he moves as he nods.

“Yeah, yeah makes perfect sense, body heat and all that, sure.” Tangerine is quick to unbutton his coat and does his best to lie down on the backseat without taking up too much space.

And so you lay down next to him, face to face on your sides as it’s pretty cramped in here.

“Like this?” he asks and his voice has never been this close to you before.

“Maybe if we got closer we’d be more comfortable?”

“Sure.”

With him against the backrest of the seat, it is up to you to inch closer and closer till your bodies are pressed against each other, you can feel his rapid heartbeat and practically taste his intoxicating cologne. You’re about half a head shorter than him, but you’re lying up high enough to feel his breath tingle across your lips. He has stopped shivering.

But now you are just this close to trembling. You’re of course no damsel in distress, far from it, but as heat gathers between you and him, eyes locked together, you sigh.

“You ok?” he asks tenderly without a nervous waver to his tone, but you fret a little that if you speak, your voice might not be as steady.

“Mhm,” you hum out and give only the slightest of nods.

“This ok with you? You comfortable?”

If anything you’re too comfortable, and wish he’d stop being so randomly nice to you; it’s a rare side to him you’ve seen only a few times, and he’ll always deny it later on.

“Y-yeah,” you say and curse yourself internally for that slight stutter.

“Is it okay if I put my hand here?”

His strong and firm hand lands on your waist and it doesn’t even take a second for sparks to ignite and fly straight to your cunt as it starts throbbing ever so slightly.

“Yeah that’s… that’s fine.”

You don’t get tenderly touched often in this job; the only time you are ever physical with somebody is either during active combat or training, and never have you been this close to Tangerine, and it’s as if this warmth and gentleness is the key that unlocks the door to this hidden chamber in your mind, body and soul that you’ve fought to keep closed.

Your eyes close and you try to shut the door again, distancing yourself from the situation at hand, pretending not to notice how broad shouldered he is, his strong chest, his heated presence, that hand and the fact that you’re tingling all over and your pussy is drenched with lust for this brit.

Can he feel your heart beating too? Your quickened breath, your trembling legs, your heat.

Unfortunately you want him. You’ve never wanted anyone this bad before and it pains you. Stay cool, stay calm, stay collected. Your mantra. The one thing that has kept you at bay for so long is your devotion to being a goddamn professional, but this? This is far from that.

You wish he’d kiss you, touch you skin to skin. That he’d move his hand down, far down, beneath your pants and stockings and panties. Wish he’d run his fingers across your clit, massage it before slipping in between your soaking lips and down to finger your needy hole, preparing you for his cock to enter. With your eyes still closed you can easily imagine it all happening, and the heat between your thighs intensifies, building up.

“Hey,” he whispers, bringing you back from the fantasy and your eyes flutter open to catch how the moon shines in through the window, illuminating his all too close face and those incredible ocean eyes staring at you.

Then it happens. Your brain can barely register it but your body for sure can as he kisses you and you moan into the embrace. It’s a kind kiss, a gentle one - the type that tests the waters to see if what he’s doing is okay, and when he moves away again you miss it dearly and immediately.

He looks at you, perhaps waiting for a response, a reaction, waiting for you to say no and break his bleeding heart. But you don’t. Instead, you grab his face and pull it back into a deep and passionate kiss, and for just a moment you feel all the tension leave his body as he might realize that you do want this, too- oh God you’re on fire.

And it’s as if he can sense it as he presses his lips harder against yours as if this is all he’s ever wanted to do in life. He could have anyone but he wants you.

His hand on your waist tightens its grip, squeezing you through the shirt. Your hands run into his hair, around his neck and he groans into your kiss.

It doesn’t take long before you feel his cock growing hard beneath the fabric of his pants, and you don’t wait to grind against it with fervor, making him turn his head to hiss and groan out in pleasure. The breath of air is welcome, for his kiss suffocates you in the most delicious manner, making you forget to breathe in his presence.

The hand on your waist moves beneath the shirt and up your back, his touch is searing hot and you want nothing more than all of it everywhere. But you both understand that you can’t exactly get naked right here and now, it’d be too cold and there’s too little space to get properly into it all.

Yet that doesn’t mean either of you are going to stop.

He brings his hand up from beneath your shirt, grabs your wrist, kisses your hand and your palm almost too lovingly, then guides it down. Your eyes stay locked together, lips inches apart as you breathe the same air, as he brings your palm against his impressive bulge, and his eyelids lower at the pressure you put against it.

His forehead meets yours as his eyes close when you rub up against him and you can easily feel every inch of his throbbing cock that you wish would fuck you senseless.

But the best you can hope for right now is to feel it in the flesh, so you reach down with your other hand and start undoing his belt, but shock hits you like a brick when he stops you, and for a moment you doubt everything, until he’s quick to say-

“No, no no no, you first, love.”

It’s always been darlin’ or honey, but never love, and perhaps it is a bit too soon for that, but you feel your entire body tremble at the word anyways.

You are speechless as he then reaches down to undo the button of your pants, let the zipper run down, and when the tips of his fingers start to dig beneath the waistband of your too many layers, you close your eyes in anticipation.

And the relief is glorious when his index finger and middle finger smooth across your clit, letting go of some of that white hot tension that has been building up for what feels like hours, but are in fact only mere minutes.

“God,” you sigh, and you feel Tangerine huff a breathy laugh against your skin.

“Just Tangerine, dear.”

He starts drawing small, short and quick circles with your clit, massaging it just like you had hoped he would and oh he’s done this before, much to the benefit and joy of you right here, right now. You moan out in ecstasy and grip at his muscular arm in a need to stabilize yourself before you drift off to a sea of lust.

“Oh fuck,” you whimper and he doesn’t kiss you, but you can feel him staring at your knit brow and wide parted lips.

It is phenomenal, but it’s not enough.

“I want you… inside of me…” you whisper against his lips.

“Happily.”

And so without hesitation, he moves his fingers further down at an almost eager pace, but you are as enthused as he is, so it does not bother you at all. In fact you are beyond thrilled when his thick, strong fingers enter your slick, throbbing pussy, and as he immediately starts thrusting in and out as best as he can despite the restrictions, you thank God for the fact that you’re out in the middle of nowhere as you practically scream out in joy.

“Oh God, oh fuck, ahh!”

With every thrust of his fingers heat builds in you, coursing through your body, your thighs quivering and quaking, making you breathless. And when he kisses you it consumes everything as his tongue dances with yours while he fucks you thoroughly and passionately.

You’re so close to cumming that it would be irritating under normal circumstances, but right now everything is magic, so you don’t mind the wait for release that your vibrator usually brings you to that now Tangerine does instead.

And when he starts using the base of his palm to massage your clit in rhythm with his fingers entering you, you cry out in pure ecstasy as you cum possibly harder than you have in years, tearing your lips from his as you need all the air your lungs can muster. While you would never admit it due to how cheesy it sounds, it feels like fireworks in your cunt and gut exploding and lighting up your entire body, and you understand why orgasms are called “little deaths” because you could die happy right now as you slowly come down from your high and regain consciousness proper after what felt like a minutes long orgasm.

“My my,” Tangerine whispers against your jaw as he kisses it gently. “What a spectacular show.”

“You should try being me,” you say, breathlessly with a slight smile.

“To be honest that sounds like a pleasure, you phenomenal woman.”

You hum as you kiss the charmer, and when he pulls his fingers out you feel empty inside like never before. He sucks his fingers clean of you and it sends sparks through you to witness.

“Maybe next time I can try the real deal,” he suggests, implying that he’s more than willing to eat you out.

“Oh there’s gonna be a next time?” You laugh a little, because obviously, there’s no way you’ve had enough after just a taste of him.

“Oh there’s gonna be a next time,” he repeats assuredly, and he leans in to whisper in your ear, “I want my cock in your pussy so bad, I’ll fuck you into oblivion, make you cry out my name, my real name some day, and I’ll fucking ruin every other man that will come after me, because love, you’ll never have better than me.”

You practically moan at this promise, and pull him into a rough and electric kiss, whispering. “You cocky son of a bitch, let’s hope you’re good at keeping your promises.”

“Speaking of promises, I think you owe me one right now.”

“Happily.”

You’re not slow to undo his belt, and perhaps it is pure luck that you get it off so easily, but you won’t complain about it when you run the zipper down, and he groans out as you reach beneath the waistband and pull his cock out the best you can in this cramped space.

“Mmmm, quite big, aren’t you?” you tease as you get a proper feel of his girthy, lengthy cock.

“Never had any complaints.”

“I can feel why, God I want you inside of me. In my pussy. In my mouth.”

“If there was space I’d shove it so far up your cunt I’d be rearranging your guts.”

You moan a little with him at that thought.

“Next time.” And you start jerking him off, slowly at first, from the very base and all the way to the tip of his dick, letting your hand get wet with his precum before smearing it all over his length as you travel down again. You continue this rhythm for about half a minute or so, ensuring it won’t be a too dry experience for him, but the way his hips buck forward and his breathing becomes elevated, you’d guess you’re doing a proper job of it.

And if you had any doubts, they all go away when he grunts out-

“Fuck, love, that’s it, keep going…”

His hand grabs your ass as if it is the one thing that keeps him grounded in this moment of dear tenderness. And while he seems to enjoy the slow rhythm, when you eventually speed up he curses even more in a growl-

“Yes- fuck, shit, ah-”

He brings both his hands up to grab your face, kisses you and tongue fucks your mouth like it’s a promise, one he’ll keep, about all the things he’ll do to you that words can’t explain, but actions do speak the loudest.

And your actions seem to do the trick, for the faster you go, the louder he gets and it thrills you beyond anything to hear how vocal he is in his pleasure that you are granting him, and when he cums it is with choked grunts as he presses his forehead against yours and his eyes close up tight.

In your grip you feel how his cock pulsates and his entire body trembles in ecstasy, till he goes completely still and mostly limp in your hand, but still there’s some stiffness that says he could easily go a second round, and that intrigues you for future references, because you could definitely go again, too.

After nearly a minute of huffing for air, he speaks, “Bloody hell, love, that was… fantastic.”

“Hmm likewise,” you muse and kiss him which he welcomes.

A couple of minutes pass in silence as you both catch you breath, when a thought strikes you.

“What… what are we gonna tell Lemon?”

“Oh abso-fucking-lutely nothing!”

“What, really? You’re ok with keeping this a secret from your brother, of all people?”

“Yes! He’ll get all smug and say shit like told you so.”

“Oh? He predicted this?” You grin a little.

“Well not this exact situation, but yes, I may have told him how I find you so attractive, and he might have told me you feel the same sort of attraction to me.”

“And how did he know that?”

“You know Lemon, he’s stupidly amazing at reading people, so it might have been obvious to him.”

“And you don’t think it’ll be just as obvious to him that we practically fucked?”

There’s a moment of quiet as Tangerine considers the outcome of this, then-

“Ah shit.”

Because yes, Lemon will absolutely know.

#bullet train #tangerine #tangerine/reader #bullet train tangerine #tangerine bullet train #tangerine x reader #tell me what you think!

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rocknroll7575 · 3 months

Text

Knight of Olympus: Titans Lullaby - Chapter 3: Cursed Kisses

The three sat around the table as Jaune had finished telling the two what had happened when he left the Cabin and what The Oracle had said to him, and they focused on deciphering the prophecy.

Chiron turned to the young blonde, "What was the first line of the prophecy?" he asked.

"To the Knight, who bears a broken heart and two bloody hands," Jaune repeated. "That's me, no doubt about that,"

"Yes, and the reason she called you that was because of that friend you were forced to kill, correct?" Mr. D said.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah," He replied. "The second line was, "Come and fight, and seek the place with the whitest sands," any idea what that could mean?"

Chiron seemed to be in deep thought, "There is one place that comes to mind, and it's not a beach," He said.

"Where?" Jaune asked.

"White Sand National Park in New Mexico," Chiron replied. "It's a place where some of the Titans and Titaness who didn't take sides during the war are currently staying, they simply have been wanting to live in peace... but, with Kronos returning, he may go there, and try to recruit them,"

Jaune nodded in understanding and recited the next line, "Travel southwest and you shall find the banished mother," Jaune repeated.

"New Mexico is southwest, but... who could this "banished mother" be?" Chiron asked.

Jaune shrugged, "beats me, you know Mr. D?" Jaune asked, turning to the wine god.

Mr. D finished his can of diet coke and looked at Jaune, "I'm afraid not, after all, none of them are truly banished, we Olympians have been leaving them alone since they haven't posed a threat," Mr. D said.

"Like all the rest, face to face with the one who shall become another," Jaune repeated, "But who could that be?"

"Luke?" Chiron asked, "Unlike everyone here, you're the only one who has yet to meet him,"

Jaune sighed, he had been informed about Luke, and the things he heard were a mix of good and bad, but mostly bad since he had left camp and sided with the Kronos, so it wasn't far-fetched that he would run into him soon. "But then what about the line of "one who shall become another"?" Jaune asked.

"That I am afraid, I don't know," Chiron replied.

Jaune let out a sigh, "Well after that, the next line is, "Find the blade, and Hades will make you a deal" but who is Hades?"

"He is king of the underworld and ruler of the dead," Chiron told him. "But he doesn't have a blade, he has his helm of Darkness, but..."

"He could be making a new weapon that would put him on par with Zeus and Posiden," Mr. D said. "They wouldn't like that at all,"

However, in the back of Jaune's mind, he couldn't help but think of his own missing blade, Crocea Mors, and remembered it had no doubt fallen to the bottom of the ocean, and that was fine by him... he didn't want to have a weapon that took the life of a friend.

"Accept the trade and two fates you shall seal," Jaune repeated. "But whose fates will they be?"

Chiron shook his head, "That I don't know either," He said.

Jaune sighed and continued, "Atop the oldest mount, you will beat the mad titan bloody," Jaune repeated. "12 by your count, and a king's name you shall muddy,"

"Atop the oldest mount? Could it mean Mount Othrys?" Chiron asked.

Jaune raised a brow in confusion, "Mount what?" he asked.

Chiron looked at him, "Mount Othrys, it was the base of the Titans during the First Titan War" Chiron told him, "In the First War, it was assaulted by the Olympians, where Zeus used Kronos' Scythe to cut him into a thousand pieces, and cast him into Tartarus, and it predates Mount Olympus,"

Jaune nodded, "So if it's there, then who's the Mad Titan?" he asked.

"That is another one that bothers me," Chiron said, "The "Mad" part could mean they are angry with the gods, or it could mean they were driven to madness, so the wording is confusing," Chiron said.

Jaune sighed nearly getting fed up with the vagueness, "Ugh, ok... what about the last line? 12 by your count, and a king's name you shall muddy,"?" he asked.

"The only 12 that come to mind are the Gods, and the king, of course, is Zeus," Chiron said, "But the big question is how would you muddy his name?" she asked.

Jaune shrugged, "I have no idea... the last thing I would want to do is piss off the king of the gods," Jaune said.

Chiron smiled, "Indeed," he said. "Well, worry not Jaune, eventually, the Oracle's words will make sense as the journey continues, but for now, get some rest, and we'll choose the Councilors going with you on your-"

Jaune shook his head, "No," Jaune replied. "I need to do this alone, I'm not bringing them along on something this dangerous," Jaune told Chiron.

Chiron sighed, "A quest is usually done in threes," Chiron replied, "You have to take-

"NO!" Jaune cried as he stood up from his seat.

This outburst shocked Chiron and even Mr. D the two as they looked at the young man.

Jaune looked at them with an angry look, "Look, they are just kids... let them be kids, even for a little longer," Jaune said.

Jaune's thoughts trailed back to his at Beacon, his carefree memories, and the brief relaxation of Atlas with RWBY and Penny. All the Good he could do, even if it was just walking kids across the street.

He thought about all the horror and pain he witnessed during the fall, the destruction of the Mistral villages, the guilt he felt because it was his fault Weiss was stabbed, the hopelessness he discovered when he learned the truth, the guilt he felt for being mad at Oscar, all the deaths caused by Tyrian in Mantle, and finally, the killing of Penny.

None of it should've happened. None of that should have become a reality and yet... because of other people's actions, because of an evil ancient woman and a man willing to rope young adults into an endless war, it did happen.

Jaune wasn't going to let that happen, not anymore.

Percy, Annabeth, Thalia, Will, Clairesse, Charlie, Drew, and every other camper here... they were just children.

"I'm not letting any more children get roped into a mess that was never theirs to begin with..." Jaune said sadly as he turned away to go back to his room...

That was all last night, and currently, the young blonde knight was finishing getting packed while being supplied with some Money, both for the human world and the Magical world, this time, he was also granted to use a Van that they use to transport their jam, thanks to his age and knowing how to drive a car.

Once outside of the Big House, Jaune saw Chiron waiting for him. "Setting off?" He asked.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah," He replied.

Chiron nodded, "And you are sure you don't want to take some campers with you?" He asked.

Jaune nodded, "Like I said, no more kids getting roped into this mess," Jaune replied.

Chiron nodded, "Very well," he said. "Be safe and remember to be careful, the monsters of this world are far more dangerous and some even have intelligence, so do not underestimate them," Chiron finished.

Jaune smiled, "Don't worry, I've faced my fair share of dangerous monsters, and none of them are putting me down, I still got things I need to do, here and in my world," Jaune told him.

Chiron smiled at him and gave him a quick nod, "Very well then, but I think you'll need these," Chiron said.

Chiron then opened his hand and in his palm was a dark orange bracelet and a dark orange pen.

The bracelet had a symbol of a fire in the middle of it, and the pen looked like the ones you'd see in an office, the ones you click to write with.

Jaune was a bit confused as to why he would need them. "Uh... what am I supposed to do with these?" He asked.

Chiron chuckled, "Gifts from a certain Goddess," He said with a knowing smirk. "The bracelet is a shield, tap the symbol once and it will transform,"

Jaune grabbed the bracelet, put it on his left wrist, and then tapped the symbol, only for a shield to appear, unlike the round shields that the rest of the campers had, the shield looked just like his old one, of course, it wasn't his Emblem on the front but Hestia's and Jaune was impressed.

Chiron smiled at Jaune's reaction and handed him the pen. "Click it and it shall turn into a sword," He told Jaune.

Jaune took the pen and did so, and when he did, the sword took form, he noticed that it had dark red leather wrapped around the handle, and the blade looked different, it didn't look like Celestial bronze, no the blade was black and appeared like it was charred wood. He noticed that there appeared to be small cracks in the blade, but they looked more like decoration than actual cracks.

"Say Fotiá," Chiron told him.

Jaune nodded and looked at the blade with a smile, "Fotiá," He said.

Suddenly the blade burst into flames and Jaune was in awe at the sight before him, and that's when he noticed the cracks of the blade, had begun to glow, like hot embers.

"It's beautiful," Jaune said with a smile.

Chiron nodded, "Indeed," He said. "Now, just say the words again and the flames will turn off, and simply press the bottom of the pommel and it will turn back into a pen," He said.

Jaine recited the words and when the flames turned off, he pressed the bottom of the pommel and the blade did as Chiron said it would, and was now back to simply being a pen.

Jaune smiled, "This needs a name," Jaune said.

Chiron smiled, "And what would you name it?" The Centaur asked.

Jaune thought for a moment before the image of Hestia appeared in his mind, and he could not stop thinking about her beauty, that is when he decided on the name, he would name it after her beauty.

"Beauté brûlante," He said.

Chiron nodded, "I believe that was French you spoke," He said.

Jaune nodded, "In my world, it's southern Valerian," Jaune replied. "It means Burning Beauty,"

Chiron chuckled, "A fitting name for a gift from the goddess of the hearth," He said. "Now then, best to get going, you'll find a map in the Van that will guide you to White-Sand National Park, and know that I'll be praying for your safe return," Chiron told him.

Jaune nodded, "Thank you, Chiron," Jaune had said.

The two parted with a handshake and Jaune left for the Vans, and there he was given the keys for one, and Jaune got in, started it up, and drove off.

As Jaune drove out of Camp and onto the main road, he eventually stopped and looked at the map, and he saw which road he needed to take to get on the Highway. Jaune then folded the map back up and started the van back up, and drove off once again, this time, with some music.

He switched through the stations, not finding the right song, till he heard one that kind of caught his ear.

"Don't wanna be an American idiot~!"

Jaune didn't like it and switched the station, only for Thalia's head to appear right next to him looking at the radio, "Aw! I love that song!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Jaune screamed.

With the sudden scare, he began to swerve the Van out of control and both he and Thalia began to scream as he kept turning the Van wildly before he quickly slammed on the breaks, the Van halted abruptly and Jaune was yanked a bit forward, but because of his seatbelt, he didn't hit the dashboard... like Thalia.

Jaune looked at the young Demigod with a dumbstruck face, "THALIA!?" He cried, "What are you doing here!?"

Thalia groaned in pain before sitting in the passenger seat and looking over at Jaune, "We're coming with you and- ugh! My head...!" She groaned.

Jaune glared at her, "Listen, I don't need-!" Jaune stopped himself and realized what she had said. "Wait... what do you mean "we"?"

Suddenly, the back door of the van burst open and Jaune saw two figures popping out. Jaune quickly undid his seatbelt and got out of the van, running over to the back to see who else had been in the van, when he reached the back of the van, he saw Will throwing up and Drew rubbing her head.

"WILL!? DREW!?" Jaune cried.

Drew looked at Jaune with a bashful smile, "Uh... Hi Jaune," She greeted.

Will simply gave him a wave as he was still throwing up.

Jaune sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Get back in the van, I'm turning around and taking you three back to camp," He said.

Thalia got out and looked at him, "No way! We're coming with!" She said. "We heard everything last night and you need help!" She said.

Jaune shook his head, "No, No I don't" He said and he turned to glare at the daughter of Zeus, "And how did you three know about this?" He asked.

Will turned around and looked at him after his puking session, "When you didn't show up last night for extra practice, Drew and I headed over to the big house and that's when we saw the Oracle give you a prophecy, and then we heard you, Chiron and Mr. D talking about it," He said. "Thalia caught us but we told her to keep quiet and we heard everything," Will said.

Drew looked at him, "We also heard how you didn't want help, but with where you're going and the things you might face, you're gonna need our help," She said.

Jaune groaned, "Look, I don't want you three in danger, which is why I didn't want to take anyone along," He said. "I know monsters are attracted to Demigods and they might be attracted to me because of my aura, so the more of us there are, the more we draw attention to ourselves, especially you," he said pointing to Thalia.

"Me?" Thalia asked.

"Look, all I know is that your... grandfather, might try to get to you," He said. "Which is why you were supposed to stay at Camp," he said with an angry tone.

Thalia glared at him, "Look, I can't just sit around and do nothing after so long!" She cried. "I need to be out here and help the fight!"

Jaune growled, "What you need to do, Thalia, is stay at camp and stay safe! You're still trying to readjust from not being a tree! You need time to regain strength!"

"I don't need time to do anything! I can fight just fine! What I need to do is find Luke and make him pay!" Thalia growled.

Jaune was confused as to who she was talking about, all he knew was the threat of Thalia's grandfather, Kronos. He had no idea who this Luke guy was. "I could care less why your out here! You need to be back at camp!" Jaune cried.

"Why do you care!? This isn't even your world!" Thalia cried. "This is my world and my fight! And you are not going to top me!"

Jaune at this point had reached his breaking point, "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA JUST WHAT YOU ARE GETTING YOURSELF INTO!?" He cried with fury. "DO YOU HAVE THE SLIGHTEST WHAT THE HELL IT IS YOU PLAN ON DOING!? YOU ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT KILLING SOMEONE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT IS LIKE!?" He asked.

Thalia was taken aback by his outburst and slowly she shook her head, Jaune wanted to yell at her and tell her he knew exactly what it was like but he stopped himself, something was holding him back, he didn't know why he stopped himself from hitting Thalia with the reality of what she wanted to do... but he did.

Jaune took a deep breath in and then let it out, he leaned against the van and let out a sigh. "Just get in the van and let's get going," he said.

Drew looked at him with a raised brow, "Y-You're letting us come with?" She asked.

Jaune nodded slowly, "You're already here so, might as well let you tag along," He said, "But there are rules... you do what I say and you do it no matter what, I tell you to run, you run, I tell you to leave, you leave, got it? Do not risk your lives for me, that is the most important rule of all, understand?"

The three nodded in unison, however, they couldn't help but feel a pit in their stomach form, as they wondered why Jaune was so easily accepting this possible future demise.

Jaune nodded back, "Good, now get back in the van, and let's get going," he said.

All four got inside the van and Jaune started it up and Thalia quickly changed it back to the previous station where they were playing another song she liked, so they left it on there for now as they drove farther away from camp. Jaune was still not happy the three had snuck on he was sure he would be getting an earful from Chiron, and even worse, he was worried that he couldn't keep them safe...

But he would have to try his best.

XXX

After an hour of driving on a back road around New York City, Will and Drew had fallen asleep with Thalia still awake in the passenger side, still listening to the Radio with Jaune. However, Thalia looked over to Jaune and decided to break the long silence between them.

"So... what was that all about?" Thalia asked him.

"Hm?" Jaune asked.

Thalia sighed, "Don't play dumb, what was that about knowing what it was like to kill someone... Have you... killed anyone" She asked.

Jaune let out a long sigh, "I... I don't wanna talk about it," Jaune told her.

Thalia could see that there was a story, a dark one, but she wasn't going to pry, she didn't want to upset him.

However, Jaune now had a question for the demigoddess. "Who's Luke?" Jaune asked.

Thalia looked at him with a raised brow, "Chiron didn't mention him?" Thalia asked.

Jaune shook his head, "No, only told me about Kronos," Jaune replied.

Thalia looked away from him and out the window, watching the woods pass by. "Luke... he was my friend, more than that, he was like family," Thalia began. "Before we ran into Annabeth, He and I were on the road for a long time, we had each other's backs and kept each other safe, and when I gave up my life to save him and Annabeth, I thought that he'd still be the guy I knew... the selfless hero who'd protect Annabeth and be the good person I knew he was... but I was wrong," She finished.

Jaune glanced at her for a quick second, "What happened?" He asked.

"He stole my father's master bolt, planned on giving it to Kronos, then he poisoned Percy and ran away, only for him to then poison me while I was still a tree and put the camp in danger, nearly got Annabeth killed, and destroyed the only safe place for people like us... he betrayed everyone, he betrayed me," She seethed. "I want to make him pay for everything he's done and I want- I need to be the one to kill him,"

"Why?" he asked.

"Because Annabeth can't do it," Thalia said. "She looks up to look, she thinks there's a way for us to talk some sense into him, but I know he's too far gone," She finished.

Jaune wanted to think she was right, as his thoughts drifted back to Cinder, and he knew it was far to late for her to ever be redeemed, but then he thought of another person he had recently worked with who had helped hurt him and his friends. Emerald... she had changed, she had helped them, and while he couldn't say he had completely forgiven her, unlike Cinder, she wasn't too far gone, and is she could change, perhaps there was hope for this Luke guy.

"No one's too far gone, Thalia," He said. "Trust me on that," He said.

Thalia wanted to believe him, and a small part of her did, a small part of her said that Jaune was right, that she and Annabeth could find a way to get through to Luke, to bring him back to their side, but another part of her, told her that Luke was beyond saving, that he was and is going to pay for all the terrible things he had done.

Thalia sighed, not knowing how to feel and not knowing what to do, but she would figure something out, she had to because she only had until she turned 16.

As the Demigoddess was in deep thought, something suddenly hit the Van, and the two jolted but Jaune kept the van straight, despite the sudden hit. The jerk of the Van woke up Will and Drew and they quickly looked around before turning to Jaune and Thalia.

"What was that!?" Drew cried.

"I don't know!" Jaune responded.

The Van was struck again and the four were jerked around once more, but then Jaune and Thalia turned to the left side of the Van only to see another van hitting them, however, this one was black with a Scythe symbol on the side of it.

Jaune gritted his teeth and quickly pressed on the gas, trying to speed up, but the other van kept keeping up with them and swerved out, before turning back and hitting them, this time, the Van was nearly thrown off the road, and not wanting to crash and get the three younger teens injured, Jaune slammed on the breaks as the other Van sped in front of them before coming to a halt.

Jaune, Thalia, Will, and Drew looked out the front window and saw the doors of the black van open, and coming out of it was a group of people, clad in what appeared to be swat-like armor, and with one woman, with Raven hair and lavender eyes, stepped out in front of all of them and Jaune noticed that strapped to her side was a sword and based on the shape of the sheath, it looked like a scimitar.

"Who the hell is that?" Thalia asked.

Jaune's eyes remained on the figure and the men behind her, and he then looked at the three, "Stay in the van, all of you," He said

Will looked at Jaune, "No way! Jaune, we can help!" he cried.

Jaune looked back at him, "No, not yet, not until we know what the threat is," he said. "Once you can see what we're up against, then jump in, but only then, understand? No taking any risks," He said.

The three wanted to argue, but Jaune undid his seatbelt, quickly got out of the van, and closed the door, he looked over to the military-looking group with an expressionless face, and the female leader looked at him with a sinister grin.

"Ah, it seemed our information was correct," She said. "The man from another world... Jaune Arc,"

Jaune glared at her, 'If they know who I am then she's not human,' He thought. "Maybe... who are you?"

"I'm afraid that does not matter," She replied, "What matters is you... And the daughter of Zeus," She said.

Jaune glared and not missing a beat, he grabbed the pen from his pocket and activated the sword, but did not utter the words to activate the flames. Jaune stepped forward a few feet and looked at the woman, "Leave or else," He warned.

The woman smiled and drew her scimitar, which was celestial bronze, and pointed it at Jaune, "I was afraid you'd do this the hard way," She said. She then turned her head to look at the soldiers with a smirk, "Kill the other two demigods, bring me Thalia Grace and Jaune Arc," She ordered.

The Soldiers behind her drew their own swords from their backs and charged at Jaune, with great speed that didn't seem human.

Jaune activated his shield and took a fighting stance. "Fotiá!" Jaune cried.

Beauté Brûlante burst into flames and Jaune quickly cut through one of the soldiers and instantly, they burst into gold dust. Jaune saw another coming and blocked their attack with his shield and saw another coming right at him, Jaune pushed the first one and turned to the second soldier charging in and blocking their sword with his own.

The first soldier saw an opening and kicked Jaune in the side, sending him flying into a nearby tree and then falling to the ground. Still, Jaune quickly got back up only to see both soldiers charging in at him one pulled their sword back to go in for a stab, but Jaune moved his head to the side and the sword stabbed the trunk of the tree, and Jaune quickly stabbed them in the stomach and they evaporated into gold dust like the last one.

The second soldier slashed at Jaune, but the young knight ducked under the swing, only for the soldier to grab the collar of Jaune's armor and throw him back toward the road, Jaune tumbled on the ground, and when he stopped, he began to slowly get up only to see that more soldiers quickly surrounded him.

The female leader stepped forward and looked at Jaune with a smug smirk, "Come on now, don't make this harder than it has to be," She said. "Keep struggling and I'll kill one of the kids right in front of you," She said.

Jaune growled and he quickly got up, and raised his shield, looking at each guard, ready for one of them to strike, however, one got shot with an arrow and another had a dagger in their back. Jaune quickly turned his head to see Will and Drew out of the van and with their weapons, and that's when he saw Thalia in front of them, with electricity buzzing out of her eyes and around her spear, and she charged at the soldiers, pulling back her spear and when she had closed the gap between her and them, she quickly stabbed them in the chest and they burst into dust, and quickly slashed at a second, cutting its neck and also causing it to become nothing but gold vapor.

Will loaded another arrow and shot at another soldier, however, the soldier grabbed it before it could hit him, dropping it, before running toward the son of Apollo, when the young boy saw the incoming threat, he prepared another arrow and aimed as fast as he could.

As the soldier closed the distance, Will fired an arrow but the soldier sidestepped the attack and raised their sword to bring it down on Will, but the young boy rolled out of the way as the sword struck the pavement.

Will quickly notched another arrow and fired it at the left side of the soldier's head, finally hitting them and causing them to burst into dust.

Meanwhile, Drew picked up her second dagger and quickly came face to face with another soldier, who tried to slash at her, but Drew quickly bent backward and dodged the attack, and quickly took a few steps back and prepared to fight against her foe.

They swung at her but she used both daggers to block his attack quickly pushed the sword away, and slashed at him with one dagger, which he managed to deflect, but she used her second to stab them, in the leg, causing them to kneel in pain. Drew pulled back her first dagger and stabbed the soldier in the face, and much like the rest, caused them to fade into dust.

Back with Jaune, he walked toward the female leader and easily dispatched one soldier who tried to slash at him, but Jaune parried the attack with his shield and then stabbed them in the chest, and kicked them off before they evaporated.

The female leader smiled at Jaune and took a fighting stance as she saw the blonde approaching her. "Alright then, let's go little mortal," She said.

She charged in and swung at Jaune, but Jaune blocked the attack with his blade, and the woman pulled her blade back to strike again, this time, Jaune blocked her stroke with his shield and quickly swung at her, but she quickly backed up and weaved away from Jaune's attack. She swung at him again, and this time managed to hit him in the shoulder, however, the attack didn't hit due to his aura. Like Thalia before her, she was confused and Jaune used her stupor to slash her across the stomach quickly, and he managed to make her bleed, as Ichor, the golden blood of the Titans and gods, seeped from the wound, however, the cut was not as lethal as he had hoped.

The woman backed away and looked at her cut, she felt a burning sensation from the wound and chalked it up to the fire magic imbued into the blade, but she couldn't care less about that right now. Using two fingers, she wiped it up, looked at the golden blood on her fingers, and smiled. "It's been so long since I had bled," She said before her lips slowly formed into a smirk and she wiped the golden blood on her lips, creating a disgusting makeshift gold lipstick. "I'll tell you my name, Jaune Arc, and perhaps later, your friends will tell you who I am," She said sinisterly

Jaune took a stance, ready to fight, as the flames of Beauté Brûlante roared next to him, "I don't have all day lady," Jaune replied.

The woman giggled, "Of course," She said, "I am the Titan Theia, Goddess of sight and vision," She said.

Jaune was confused as to what weight her name held, however, it was Will who recognized her name, "Your Hyperion's wife... which means you're also Helios's mother!" he cried.

Jaune looked at him with a confused expression, "Who?" He asked.

Will shook his head, "Long story, but just know that she's part of the first generation of Titans, like Kronos," he told Jaune.

Theia glared at Will, "Correct spawn of Apollo, and to correct you, Ex-Wife to Hyperion now," She spat, "Damn weak fool he is,"

"What are you doing here?" Thalia said as he joined Jaune's side.

Theia smiled at the demigod, "Lord Kronos wanted me to bring him Jaune Arc, after all, a man from another world, who is not bound to our laws is... oh so useful," She said with a chuckle.

'Not bound by our laws?' Will thought. 'What does she mean?'

Jaune also caught onto her words, wondering what she had meant when she had said he wasn't bound by their laws.

Theia however, didn't let them ponder the question too long as she spoke up once more, "But here I am with not only him standing before me, but the daughter of Zeus as well, oh my what a lucky day this is," Theia said as her eyes now looked to the young punk girl. "Lord Kronos had plans for you, Thalia Grace,"

Thalia glared at the female titan, "Well he can shove those plans right back up his ass," She told Theia, "I'm not going to be his pawn!" She cried.

"Are you so sure?" She asked. "Your friend Luke seemed so sure you would come over to us, after all, do you not want the power of a god, little half-blood?"

Thalia stiffened up a little and Jaune noticed this, and he began to grow worried, so, he quickly stepped in front of the younger teen and glared at the Titan.

Seeing him step in front of Thalia, Theia smirked at the sight. "Oh my, how cute you are, protecting Zeus's offspring!" She mocked, "Jaune Arc, protector of half-bloods! Such a nice ring to it~!" She taunted some more.

Jaune glared at her and prepared to fight, "If you're done trying to piss me off, then let's get this over with," He said.

Theia chuckled, "Oh no! No, no, no! I don't want to end this so soon!" She said. "I think I'll have a little fun with you~!" She said.

Suddenly, she waved her hand in the air and suddenly, she was invisible. Seeing this happen, the Demigods and Jaune looked all around for any small sign of her or waited for her to attack, however, instead of attacking any of them, she reappeared in front of Jaune, shocking the young knight just enough for her to grab him by the head and pull him into a kiss.

Seeing this, Thalia glared at the titan and tried to jab the Titaness, only for Theia to break the kiss just in time and quickly step back from the group.

Theia snickered as she licked her lips and looked at Jaune with a smug expression, "Mhm~! Quite tasty for a mortal," she said.

Jaune was confused as to why she kissed him and she touched his lips only to see her bloody ichor lipstick had stained his lips.

Theia sheathed her blade and she stared at Jaune, and her eyes glowed a bright lavender color as the white of her eyes became dark the night sky. "Με αυτό το φιλί, σε βρίζω, Jaune Arc," She said. "Το μυαλό σας θα στοιχειωθεί από τρομερά φαντάσματα!"

Jaune was confused as to what she was saying but even before he could ask what she was saying, she began to slowly fade away, her eyes still locked on him and her smug smile still gracing her lips.

"Αντίο Jaune... Ελπίζω να σας ξανα γευτώ πολύ σύντομα~!" Theia said, licking her lips once more before fully disappearing.

Jaune was confused about what Theia had spoken and turned to the three demigods with a raised brow, "What did she say?" he asked.

Thalia glared at him and huffed before turning around and heading back toward the van, while Drew tried to hold in a bit of laughter, but was trying to calm herself down, as she walked back to the van.

Will looked at Jaune with an uneasy smile, "I don't know if you are the luckiest guy on earth to be kissed by a Titan, or if you are the unluckiest person to ever live," He said as he walked back to the van as well.

Jaune's eyes widened with worry as he turned back to the three and chased after them, "H-Hang on! What the hell did she say!?" he asked.

Jaune eventually got his answer as they all piled back into the van and Jaune simply grumbled in annoyance, wondering if she had actually cursed him or simply tried to scare him, but Jaune knew that from this moment forward, things were just going to get harder as the journey continued.

He just hoped that they all would make it there in one piece and not run into any more big dangers like Theia, but even with that small hope, Jaune knew the chances of that were slim to none.

XXX

How was the third chapter everyone? Did you enjoy it!? It seems Jaune now has another ancient deity lusting after him! Seems like the Arc charm is backfiring here on Earth eh?

I was wondering which Titan to make Jaune's enemy for the first half of the story and I thought that Theia was a good fit since I don't think we have a lot of female Titans in the main books and since she is the titan goddess of sight and vision, her powers would be sort of illusion based and with the curse she put on Jaune, things are only going to get worse for him.

Yay! Jaune is going to be psychologically tortured! Ha, such a classic trope!

However, I will say this, She is not the banished mother nor is she the Titan that Jaune is meant to beat bloody.

Anyway, here are the translations!

1. Με αυτό το φιλί, σε βρίζω, Jaune Arc, = With this kiss, I curse you, Jaune Arc,

2. Το μυαλό σας θα στοιχειωθεί από τρομερά φαντάσματα! = Your mind will be haunted by terrible ghosts!

3. Αντίο Jaune... Ελπίζω να σας ξανα γευτώ πολύ σύντομα~! = Bye Jaune... I hope to taste you again very soon~!

With that, thank you all for reading, and I hope to see you all in the next chapter!

#rwby #jaune arc #pjo fanfic #pjo series #rwby x pjo #thalia grace #will solace #drew tanaka #greek mythology

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happyk44 · 8 months

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Lmao more about Grover aging at a rate of 0.4 instead of directly by half (12/28 = 0.4285). This is also assuming that Grover is only aging physically slower, but his mental/emotional capacity ages chronologically and with experience.

But anyway Grover has to get a fake ID to go to bars with Percy. When Percy turns 21, they realize ah shit Grover looks 16ish once they pull up to the club and immediately get turned away. Grover does have an official ID with his actual birthdate. In the past as a Keeper for Percy, Bianca and Nico, he also had a fake ID with an adjusted birthdate for whatever age he was supposed to be. He doesn't have either of those IDs anymore (he had to get a new one for B&N because Percy's would've put him at 14 and he needed to be put into 12 year old Bianca's class), so it's not like he handed over the fake one.

But the bouncer gives him a once-over and is just, "yeah no". They try to argue but the bouncer is like "if you wanna fight on this, I'm gonna keep your ID and call the police" so they give up (or rather Grover makes Percy give up because he got that look in his eyes and getting arrested on his birthday is not a birthday gift Grover wants to give).

In the end, they skulk around to some minimart and grab one of each alcoholic bottle with a weird name or label that they can find, are grateful the cashier doesn't seem to care that Grover looks 16 and barely even looks over his ID when he flashes it. Then they huff it back to Percy's apartment and taste test each drink on the floor of Percy's bedroom, because the whole point of going to the bar was to taste something that wasn't cheap beer stolen by the Hermes cabin.

Grover has a wildly fantastic tolerance for alcohol and Percy discovers that he is a lightweight.

The next time they try to go to a bar, Grover is sporting a temporary glamour from the Aphrodite cabin to make him look older. About half way through, they ring up Annabeth to make her do the math on how old Grover would have to be to actually look 21, and then the math on how long that would take because neither of them can subtract double digit numbers. Percy rediscovers he is a lightweight and, when the glamour finally starts to wear off, has to be carried back to his apartment by Grover, which makes for a ridiculous image of what appears to be a disabled 15 year old carrying around a grown man who won't stop talking about how much he loves his friends, including said disabled 15 year old.

#percy saying aww i love you to grover in public while holding his hand or smth #and the clerk or whoever is just like aww i wish my brother was like you and percy who is and looks 25 just says oh no we're best friends #about grover who is 41 but looks 17 and the waitress is just like... oh 😂 i mean 25 and 17 from a romantic view is very much 🤪#but as friends it's not so bad - like if i had a 25 year old coworker that i was friends with when i was 17 that would be pretty content #them in the middle of the start of adulthoold and me right at the beginning of the beginning - a lot of my friends in uni were older than me #anyway tag time and then i should plug in my phone lmao it's at 6%#grover underwood #percy jackson #happy talks pjo

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art-but-only-sometimes · 4 months

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Stardew Valley 20 heart headcannons!

LOT of posts coming. tumblr has a word count and won't let me go past a certain amount. :/

Not trying to complain about the stuff that ConcernedApe has done. Which is incredible by the way I wouldn't even be making this post without how much ConcernedApe has worked on the game over the years but…. HEADCANNON. I REEEEEEEEEALLLLLY wish the heart events in Stardew Valley went up to 20 hearts for romancible characters. (unless there is already a mod that has it and I just haven't found it yet lol)

Like you have the normal 10 hears for non-romanceable characters. Then you have romanceable characters. The highest reasonable level that I know of is level 16. But that's after you get married. I wish that you ask a bachelor/bachelorette to be your boyfriend/girlfriend at level 10 and then you go through the level 10 to level 18 heart events as you are dating. Then you get the blue shell from the mariner and propose to them at level 18 so that you can get to level 20 and be married to them. Like you spend a bunch of time getting to know and befriend them and get a bunch of heart events levels 0 to 10 and then one or two heart events when you are dating them. Idk I'd like it to be more balanced.

Elliott first!

Elliott: 12 heart event: You go into Elliott's cabin on the days he's playing piano. He's happy to see you. He asks if he can play something for you. You sit next to him on the piano seat and he plays a song. You lean closer to him, and the song ends. He asks you if you like the song (that was beautiful/ I can think of something more beautiful) if you choose option A, he kisses you. If you choose option B you kiss him.

14 heart event: (same as the canon event) Elliott goes on a book tour to promote his book, he's gone for 8 days then comes back in the morning and sees the player.

16 heart event: Elliott feels a bit bad for leaving you alone at the farm. So he has a surprise for you. Head to his cabin at 6pm and meet him inside. If you do get there at 6 he has made a candle-lit dinner for you both.

18 heart event:(Part 1) You go over to Elliott's cabin and he seems to be having a conversation with someone over the phone. Which he was able to get after his book started doing well. He seems upset. After he hangs up he sees you at the door. He looks surprised, he doesn't want you to see him upset. (Who was that?/Are you alright?) Either one gets a response. Elliott was talking on the phone with his mother. Who called him about how proud she and her family are about how well his book is doing. You're a bit confused about why he is upset. He explains that he is upset because his family didn't care about his career before. But now that he's doing well they care a lot. Elliott says that he had thought about inviting them here but he didn't want to spring it suddenly on the farmer. (if you don't mind then neither do I/ you should invite them only if you feel comfortable). Either way, Elliott thanks you for listening to him. He says he'll ask them to come next week.

(Part 2): Elliott comes over and says that his family is coming tomorrow at 10am via the bus. The farmer meets Elliott at the bus and sees Elliott's parents. After introductions are made Elliott and The farmer show Elliott's parents around town. Meeting people throughout the day and Elliott's friend as well like Leah and Willy. At the end of the day, Eliott's parents say that it was nice to meet the farmer and say that Elliott has been doing very good for himself. They leave on the bus, and Elliott looks a little sad. He says he was hoping for an apology but didn't get one. The player looks a little sad too and gives Elliott a kiss on the forehead. He asks the player if they'd like to come over to his house for a bit because Elliott would like some company. The player agrees and they both head over there.

~ Marriage~

20 Heart Event: be home at 10 pm, after a long day of work Elliott and you get ready for bed. You both get into bed as Elliott tells you about how the two of you don't have time to talk at bedtime. Since he's busy with his book and you with the farm/mining/etc. He really enjoys the time he has with you. He asks you if you'd like him to read to you. (Yes I'd love that actually/ I'd actually just love to talk to you.) Either way, you two spend time together until you both fall asleep.

If you can think of any heart events for Elliott, feel free to add them in!

#stardew valley #stardew valley elliott #sdv #sdv headcanons #stardew valley headcannons #heart events #videogame headcannons #headcannons #stardew #valley #game #farming sim #farming simulator #elliott

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pluto44 · 6 months

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ALTERNATE ENDING / WHAT IF?

Pairing: Coriolanus Snow x Lucy Gray

Warnings: none? just Snow being Delusional

Summary: Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray leave district 12. What kind of trouble might they run into?

Authors Note: Hii!! this is my first time writing anything like this. I wrote this after watching the movie and wanted more from Lucy and Coriolanus!! so i wrote this for fun. I’ve only watched the hunger game movies so some of this might seem out of character to the book readers out there? this is more of a what if? kind of fic. I changed a few of the details so that Coriolanus and Lucy would end up together. But don’t worry Coriolanus will still be jumping to conclusions, just for different reasons. anyways please enjoy, and i’m open to constructive criticism. i’d also like to know if you guys would like for me to continue writing more for this fic between Coriolanus Snow and Lucy Gray?

Word count: 1670

“You know what I won't miss? people” he muttered.

“People aren’t so bad,” she looks at him. “It's what the world does to them, like all of us in the arena. i think there’s natural goodness born into us all”Coriolanus let out a sardonic laugh.

“No really,” Lucy says. “you either cross that line, into evil, or not. and it’s our last work to stay on the right side of that line.”

Coriolanus shook his head. “it’s not always that simple.”

“I know. I'm a victor” she smirkes.

Coriolanus stops behind her, picking up and examining a pile of wood. Lucy walks ahead of him.

“Sure would be nice to not have to kill anyone else up north though, huh?” she grinned.

“Threes enough for me.”

Lucy stops in her tracks. “you killed three…? Who's the third?”

“what?”

“ The person you killed Coriolanus. you said you killed three people i only know about two."

He steps towards her. “Can you help me get this off?” attempting to change the subject.

“Do not lie to me.” They both stand there for a moment. Both waiting for the other to respond.

“there was bobbin in the arena and mayfair. So who's the third?”

He takes her chin into his hand, tilting it upward. “my old self. I killed him so I could come here with you.”

The rain was pouring. Coriolanus suggested that he and Lucy should stop at the cabin to wait out the storm.

“We’re gonna need food and we can catch some fish while we’re here”

“There's some rods under the floorboards if you wanna.”

“these ones?”

“mhm” she nods.

opening them up Coriolanus freezes. Staring straight at him were the guns the mayor had everyone looking all over for.

Lucy takes notice of his change in demeanour.

“what is it?”

“it’s the gun” he lets out a small sigh in relief, picking one of them up.

“the one you fired at mayfair. spruce must’ve known about this place. if you destroy that gun you're free. you can go back home. will you?” she says nervously, afraid of his answer.

Coriolanus takes a moment, admiring the gun in his hands. “no more loose ends” he smirks.

“besides me.”

His head shoots up. “Besides you? you wouldn’t tell anyone.” he chuckles.

“of course not” she nervously smiles. silence fills the room before Lucy breaks it.

“ i’m just gonna go dig up some katnis” she says, quickly opening the door again.

“Lucy Gray” he calls out.

“But it’s still raining?”

“Well I'm not made out of sugar”

Grabbing her coat and a knife she hurriedly runs out the door.

Coriolanus stands there for a moment, thinking to himself.

“Why was she acting so different?”

Lucy Grays POV.

I ran. I ran until my lungs felt like they’d burst and my legs felt numb. My vision was blurred, i didn’t know why until i realised i was crying.

My legs started to slow, making me push them harder. I didn't want to stop, but my body was forcing me to, until I came to a complete Halt.

Coriolanus was lying to me, and I don’t know why. I crouched down trying to catch my breath through my broken sobs.

“I can’t trust him. I don’t wanna leave Coriolanus, but why was he lying to me? Why? Why?” I thought to myself.

I sat against a tree so I could rest. I let the rain hit my face as I stared off into the woods, feeling completely numb.

End of POV.

When the rain started to subside Coriolanus began to wonder what was taking Lucy so long.

“She looked like she was in a hurry,” he thought to himself.

“Was she angry with me? Maybe she needed my help?… or what if she somehow fell into the lake?… or Maybe the mayor traced us here, and they found Lucy.”

Coriolanus was on edge. The thought of Lucy running into trouble without him being there made his heart ache.

Images of Lucy struggling and calling out for him flashed through his mind. Trying to find a more rational reason for why Lucy Gray was taking so long, was now out of the question. He finally had enough and swung open the door, with determination and his gun in hand.

“Lucy Gray?” He called out

“Lucy Gray where are you”

He looked towards the Lake looking for any ripples. Any signs of lucy. But none.

“Hello!” He yelled out walking deeper into the woods.

“Hey has something happened? because if something happened we can talk about it!”

“Are you hiding from me?”

*Silence*

“Luc-“

He cut himself off, taking sight of the bright orange scarf he gave to her. Fear washed over him.

“What if something happened to her?” He thought to himself.

He bent down picking the scarf up, when a snake appeared from under it. Biting him.

“Uughh!” He winced in pain.

“Lucy Gray!” he called out again. but he was met with silence.

Coriolanus was beginning to spiral.

“how could i let this happen.” he thought to himself.

All he could do was laugh in disbelief. While grasping at his head attempting to ground himself.

tears trickling down his face as he slowly pickes the scarf up off from the ground, and he puts it up to his nose, deeply inhaling the rose scent left by his mother.

“Someone must’ve hurt Lucy Gray. My Lucy Gray.” he thought to himself.

Coriolanus was angry with himself, Lucy Gray was all he had at the moment. After all of the lengths he went through to insure her safety, he failed.

*crack* The sound of a branch snaping caught his attention.

He quickly stood up, grabbed his gun and pointed it in the direction of the sound. slowly he stepped forward holding his breath. Anticipation weighing on him.

*crack* that sound again, but coming from a different direction.

He caught glance of someone running. He couldn’t make out who it was but all he could think about was Lucy Gray. So he pulled the trigger.

A scream followed by a loud thump from the direction his gun was pointed.

Coriolanus ran towards the sound. Not knowing who it could be. But he stopped.

“Lucy Gray?” his face went pale.

“Get away from me!” she yelled at him holding the wound on her left thigh.

He quickly gets on his knees to help, but she refuses.

“No! please” she pushes his hands away, forcing distance between them.

“Let me help you Lucy Gray please”

He reaches out his hands putting them on top of hers to apply more pressure and she winces.

“Ok, just keep a tight hold on your thigh like this, alright?” He looks up at her for her assurance, and she complies and hesitantly nods.

Coriolanus carefully picks Lucy up and begins to move

quickly.

“I'm so sorry Lucy Gray, I didn't know what I was thinking”

Lucy tightly shuts her eyes, groaning in pain.

“we’re almost there Lucy Gray just hold on.”

Approaching the cabin, Coriolanus kicks the door open, not wasting any time and carefully sets Lucy onto their shared bed.

He runs to his bag bringing it over to the side of the bed as he crotches down, levelled with her wound.

“Let me see” he says, reaching towards her hand before she flinched away.

emense guilt began to wash over Coriolanus as he looks down.

“I can't help you if you won’t let me touch you, Lucy Gray.”

She looks away from him facing the wall.

He sighs. “I'm so sorry. I don't want you to be afraid of me... Will you please look at me?”

She turns her head towards him in frustration.

“Who was the third?”

“what?”

“who. was. the third. Coriolanus.” her voice shook with anger.

“Tell me who else you killed, and I'll let you help me.” tears began to well up, as she tried to hold back her sobs.

Coriolanus’s head drops down to the floor. Silence filled the room as Lucy waited for his answer. Then he finally spoke.

“Sejanus,” he mumbled.

Lucy looks at him confused. “but he was hung at the hanging tree-“

“because of me.” he blurts out.

“I-.” he cuts himself off trying to find the words.

“I couldn't save him.… he was calling out for me. He needed my help and i stood there and did nothing. ” He says as he buries his head into the mattress while he grips Lucy’s dress, his knuckles turning white.

Her eyes soften. “His death wasn’t your fault Coriolanus. there is nothing you could’ve done differently that could’ve saved him.” she says caressing the top of his head with her free hand.

“I'm so sorry for doing this to you Lucy Gray.” he looks up at her.

She takes in a deep breath switching her tone of voice . “Let’s not talk about that right now. you’ve still gotta patch me up” she anxiously smiles.

“No Lucy.” Coriolanus stands up from the side of the bed and sits down next to her. taking her chin into his hand, and tilting it upwards he says, “What I did to you is unforgivable, and I'll spend the rest of my life making up for it.”

Lucy softens under his touch. Gently closing her eyes as he pulls her face closer to his. anticipating a kiss she holds her breath, but quickly pulls away.

“Lucy Gray.” he says softly, taking her face into his hands again.

“Open your eyes for me” he says, caressing her cheek with his thumb.

She takes a deep breath before slowly opening her eyes again, and is met with his.

“ I would never do anything to hurt you. you know that right." She nods her head slowly in agreement.

“good.” he pulls her in and their faces collide, melting into one another. Their lips moving with each other in sync. Lucy deepens the kiss eager for more. but he pulls away, leaving them both breathless.

“Now let me stitch you up.”

#the hunger games #coriolanus x lucy gray #coriolanus x reader #fanfic #the ballad of songbirds and snakes #lucy gray baird #coriolanus snow #lucy gray x coriolanus #snowbaird #snow #the hunger games the ballad of songbirds & snakes #tom blyth #coriolanus snow x reader #snow x reader

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ecstacy-appleofmyeye · 2 months

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cabin 12//dionysus children headcanons

a/n: the hcs will be edited and updated as i come up with more of them

warnings: mentions of alcohol consumption, mentions of smoking weed

dionysus kids get the least elegant and most humiliating claiming ever.

they show up at camp and mr d's already claimed them, before trying to trick them into bringing him wine. when chiron comes in and stops them, mr d sends them away to their cabin.

it definitely feels weird knowing that their dad is a few meters away from them, when all their friends complain that they've never even seen their godly parents.

their hair is a burgundy/bronge colour, usually curly. for some their eyes seem purple in certain lighting, but they're most green or brown.

not very athletic. they prefer ditching training and just laying around, either at the strawberry fields or in the woods with the satyrs.

they like collecting grape vines and making ropes with them. for no particular reason, they just do it to keep their hands busy when they're bored.

a lot of dionysus kids have bipolar or bpd.

these kids can use mania better than others, tho it came with the expense of their own health.

they like hanging out with the demeter cabin at the strawberry fields.

they love junk food.

they also can't keep their cabin clean to save their lives. on inspection days they just shove everything under or in their closet and call it a day. the next day it's worse.

dionysus kids either love or hate drinking wine. some find it the best alcoholic beverage and others think it's disgusting (but they drink other stuff).

a common misconception is that dionysus kids are irresponsible alcoholics when in reality they rarely drink. but when they do drink, they consume gallons of alcohol.

some get easily drunk and the rest of their siblings tease them for it.

some of the older siblings smoke weed with demeter kids.

they all have weird hobbies or small collections (one of the reasons why their cabin is always so clustered)

(another reason is that they're lazy as fuck and can't bother cleaning up if it's gonna get dirty again anyway)

at the back of their cabin is a watermelon garden. it's been there for decades, though no one knows who started it, and they keep it for the sake of keeping it.

dionysus kids are very good with woodworking and some with carpentry. im sure there's at least one shelf dedicated to their works.

they are very proud ppl. not like ares kids, or to the point of being arrogant and self-centred.

they're the second cabin with the most queer kids (I think that dionysus was said to be the protector of trans and intersex kids).

dionysus kids are those weird kids at the playground that would look at you straight into your soul and eat dirt or sand without breaking eye contact.

they often get compared to foxes and crows.

their motto is (along with apollo kids) go big or go home.

they never go home (i dont even think they have one)

always prepared for every holiday. and i mean every holiday.

they had a pet snake they named Snoodle but they got found out and they had to leave it out in wild 😔

it's still roaming in the forest and it became a (sort of) cryptid.

#the-tower's-archive #percy jackson #dionysus cabin #dionysus cabin headcanons #cabin headcanons

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dramioneasks · 5 months

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Christmas Fics 2023 (Part 9):

Anything by MissiAmphetamine (Kaleidoscope) - T, one-shot - Just a fluffy little one-shot written while recovering from Christmas lunch, based on an accidental prompt by Pidanka, 'Anything'. Draco Malfoy, Auror, is assigned an unwanted partner; Hermione Granger, formerly working in the Artefacts and Evidence Department.

mercy in the snow by hauntedopal - M, one-shot - A work trip on Christmas Eve goes awry. “This is all your fault,” Hermione hissed. “You’re quite right, Granger,” drawled Malfoy. “It is my fault we found this pathetic excuse of a cabin to shelter in during this snowstorm. How horrible of me.”

A Christmas Confession by vellichorwrites - E, one-shot - “Gran—Hermione.” Her name sounds like a vow on his tongue. Sweet and earnest and desperate. Christmassy Dramione.

(And at Christmas you tell the truth) by Sienna_Black - E, one-shot -Muggle AU where Draco and Hermione meet as teens, fall in secret love at first sight, but are both convinced they have been ‘Friendzoned’ by the other. It all comes to a head when a handsome sports star enters their lives four days before Christmas.

EVERGREEN by fleurdejasmine - T, WIP - Instead of going to Azkaban, Draco Malfoy is sentenced to manual labor. Banned from using magic, he takes odd jobs to meet the requirements of his punishment. Like a muggle. The last place he expects to work is at Hagrid’s Christmas tree farm. He’s humiliated, exhausted, and bitter at the world. Hermione Granger’s frequent visits aren’t helping, either.

Cheap Wine by Lia_Redrose - M, one-shot - Draco and Hermione Malfoy have been married for some time now. They have to attend a gala for Christmas. Surprises await :)

Ashes & Soot (The Santa Clause au) by undercoverdrxco - T, one-shot - “I’m Draco Malfoy. Not Santa Clause.” He insisted while shaking his head, looking back up to her face. She didn't falter at all, her consistent smile began to irk Draco entirely. “Obviously.” “Old Santa is gone and someone must step up. You were obviously chosen, Draco Malfoy.” Trixie told him with a sparkle of magic in her eye. Draco swallowed a laugh that would have been loud and in her face as she continued, “Please, put on the suit.” - Or the one where Draco Malfoy becomes Santa Clause

Mind The Gap by SunflowersXx - G, one-shot - How on earth did Hermione Granger end up in the same tube as Draco bloody Malfoy, two weeks before Christmas? In which Hermione runs into Draco on the tube and they spend the next two weeks crossing paths on their morning commute and it all feels just a little like their knitted strings were meant to tie into a neat little Christmas bow.

Life Changing Mistletoe by MidnightPhilosopher - T, one-shot - Draco stumbles upon Hermione out in the garden during the Yule Ball. They get caught under an enchanted mistletoe. Draco tried to convince her that a kiss would be the fastest way out of the situation. It also puts them in a whole different sort of situation. Last fluffy day of Tumblr 12 Days of Christmas

A Perfectly Normal Christmas by Kayka - T, one-shot - Hermione should have realized Christmas was doomed when the mistletoe spontaneously caught fire. This was all somehow Draco Malfoy's fault, and now she can't seem to stop running into him everywhere.

The Malfoy Clause by d_read64 (76ducky64) - E, 7 chapters - Draco knew that, upon his father’s death, he would have to take over the Malfoy Estate. What he did not know, however, is that included in his newfound responsibilities is becoming the pinnacle of a muggle holiday once a year. Or: Draco discovers he must become Santa Claus to save the Malfoy Magic all while navigating his enormous crush on his holiday-loving friend, Hermione Granger. Inspired by The Santa Clause!

Darry Christmas by Starlight934 - G, one-shot - Draco Malfoy spends his first Christmas at the Burrow. He is nervous but he has Harry at his side and nothing could make him happier. Come with them and the Weasley family to enjoy a Darry Christmas

#christmas #dramione

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theforesteldritch · 4 months

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it would be so funny if demigods from camp half blood had tumblr during the lightning thief lol

3 notes

🦉owlbugs Follow

Not to little sisterpost on main but guess who's little sister led our team to win capture the flag :D

#sisterposting #proud big sibling noises #yeah she used the new camper as bait but it was a brilliant move tbh

5 notes

🦉owlbugs🔁summerlov1ng

💐summerlov1ng Follow

actually DNI if you defend or associate with the new kid (percy? I think thats his name) for what he did to clarisse + like as a child of the big three he shouldn't even exist, idk why everyone seems so ok with that. not defending what clarisse did, but he destroyed the toilets and broke her spear which was wayyyy out of line.

🦉owlbugs Follow

what

#why do people on campblr have the most insane takes known to the gods sometimes #sometimes demigods don't know what they can do yet it's chill it's fine #you can't tell people to not interact because you don't like another camper lmao

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🍓wheatgermofficial🔁cabin4-heritageposts

🍓wheatgermofficial Follow

Monsters love me for my transgender swag and niche knowledge on wheat and various grains

👤totallynotamonster Follow

come to the woods unarmed at night

🍓wheatgermofficial Follow

hmmm

👤totallynotamonster Follow

there will be wheat and perhaps various grains

🍓wheatgermofficial Follow

wheat and perhaps various grains you say 👀yippee!

🏞️camphalfblood-heritageposts Follow

Campblr heritage post (demeter edition)

🪴cabin4-heritageposts Follow

Cabin 4 heritage post

🍓wheatgermofficial Follow

who made this account and why

#there are only like 14 of us in cabin 4 #and only like 5 on tumblr who did this lmao

71 notes

🐎is-the-pegasus-video-cute Follow

Pegasus admin intro post! I'm James, from the Aphrodite cabin, and I help take care of the pegasi at camp. On this blog I rate pegasus videos and talk about pegasus care. I am not a professional ‼️I just have some experience with pegasi and enjoy educating demigods about them.

Rating system:

Cute

This pegasus appears to be well cared for, isn't showing distress, and is being interacted with in an appropriate way!

Wild

This is a wild pegasus doing what wild pegasi do, no concerns here

Unclear

Based on the video, I couldn't make a determination either way

Not cute

The pegasus is distressed, in an unsafe situation, not cared for properly, or isn't being interacted with properly. It might be being ridden unsafely, placed in a stable without enough room to stretch its wings, etc.

#not pegasus

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🎉underwhelmingrayofsunshine🔁forging-pvp

🎉underwhelmingrayofsunshine Follow

can i do some straight up jorking it in my capture the flag armor,,, time sensitive question btw

🔨forging-pvp Follow

no. curse of Hephaestus!!!!!!! 🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🔨🔨🔨🔨🔨🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🗡️🔨

🎉underwhelmingrayofsunshine Follow

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unclaimed-failgirl🔁

🌌unclaimed-failgirl Follow

can my demigod parent claim me so I can get out of the hermes cabin please i am so tired of having the wet sweaty socks someone hung on their bunk in my face all night

🌌unclaimed-failgirl

this is not implying anything about hermes kids btw. this is implying things specifically about Travis Stoll, whos bunk is right next to my sleeping bag

#fakeposting #percy jackson #is this anything

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yawnzzznnn · 5 months

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🛷Home - Seungheon🛷

🛷Special Thanks Too: 4_Evaa Seungheon, 8turn

🛷Note: Tomorrow is Christmas Eve!! And or today is Christmas Eve depending on where you live but.....MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!! Tomorrow the last prompt will go then y'all won't hear from me for either a day or two.

🛷TW: mention of eating : hot cocoa : mentions of deer : mentions of foxes :

🛷Taglist: @bunnie-stay-p1ece - @mxlly143 - @jisvngc0re1 - @soul-is-a-strange-kid

🛷Prompt: home

12-23-23

Seungheon and the rest of 8Turn were allowed to visit there loved ones for Christmas, going on a small break, Seungheon invited you to his parents house, along with your family, all staying in a calm cabin in the woods, snow all over the ground making the tall trees look beautiful, deer scattered about in the big backyard, a few snow foxes walking around here and there.

Seungheon walked into your room, which was next door to his, his straight face forming into a soft smile as he saw you sitting on a chair next to the window, watching a small family of deer, "do you want hot chocolate?" He asked softly, gaining your attention you turned around and looked at him, "from whom?" You asked tightening your blanket around yourself.

"Our moms" he said, walking up to you he wrapped his arms around your shoulders, pulling you so that your head rested on his lower stomach. He bought one of his hands to your freshly washed hair, "are you getting one?" You asked leaning into his touch, "well, if you wanted one I was just gonna sip off yours" he admitted shyly, you giggled "ok then, yes I'd like one" you said Seungheon smiled and nodded.

After a minute of cuddling he parted from you to get your hot chocolate, coming back almost 10 minutes later with a festive mug, "here you go" Seungheon said softly, handing you the warm mug "thank you" you responded taking a small sip before offering some to Seungheon. The both of you sat in silence for a minute enjoying one anothers presence.

"I enjoy this" Seungheon said barley above a whisper, looking over at him curiously you made a 'what' sounding hum, "being here, with you, my family, your family. Not having to worry what the internet thinks of me, not having to steadily practice and, being able to eat freely" Seungheon said, a small smile growing on your face, "your right you do seem a lot more relaxed" you smiled at him, in response Seungheon smiled back.

"You know...having you here with me and my family is like being at home" he said a blush forming in his face as he admitted his feelings, his words made your heart swell, "I understand what you mean, it's so cozy here" you giggled, Seungheon nodded agreeing with you. Both of you got silent, leaning back into one another "Kids!" Your mom screamed "dinner!" She finished calling you both down.

#x reader #seungheon #seungheon x reader #Seungheon x you #Seungheon imagine #Seungheon one shots #Seungheon reactions #8turn #8turn fluff #8turn head cannons #8turn imagines #8turn one shots #8turn reactions #8turn seungheon #8turn x reader #8turn x y/n #8turn x you #8turn Seungheon x reader

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winchester-girl67 · 2 years

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Don’t Say A Word (Part 7)

Summary: The reader wakes up in a sticky predicament when her period comes early and Dean makes a run to the store to get her everything she needs.

Masterlist

Pairing: Bodyguard!Dean x reader

Square: Quote E: @supernatural-jackles 1. “Why does everything have to be a struggle with you?” 8. “Permission to hug you?” 12. “I could kiss you right now” Shark week @spnfluffbingo

Word Count: 1,717

Warnings: language, a little angst, bickering, shark week (mentions of menstrual blood and cramps), Dean being super sweet, pining, cuddling, slow burn, fluff

A/N: I feel like Dean would be a really good cook. Written for @supernatural-jackles’ Tell Me a Story bingo, quotes are in bold italics, and @spnfluffbingo.

_____

But things weren’t alright when you woke up later that afternoon. Dean’s hand laying limp in your hair and a warm stickiness growing between your legs. You quickly realized two things, he had passed out next to you as he comforted you to sleep, sitting upright against the bedframe with his neck bent awkwardly, and your time of the month had come early.

You slipped out of bed pressing your knees together, not that it helped much, as you tried and failed to untangle your hair from Dean’s bulky fingers. You startled him awake when you ripped a few strands free and ran for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind yourself.

“Y/N?” Dean called groggily, stumbling after you and tapping on the bathroom door.

“Go away,” you shouted through the hardwood.

Just as you thought, you had your period and the one thing Dean hadn’t stocked up on in the cabin was feminine hygiene products. And you hadn't seen any in the bag of Auburn's things that he'd brought either.

“Are you sick?”

"No."

"Okay. How's brunch sound?" Was he always thinking about food?

"I'm not hungry."

"Such a pain in my ass. Why does everything have to be a struggle with you?" Dean muttered to himself, thankful the door didn't carry his voice so you didn't hear. "Y/N, just come out and tell me what's wrong. Is this about last night?"

"No. I-I... got my period." You admitted through the door, sighing and feeling your cheeks heat up despite the fact that he couldn't see you.

"Oh," was all Dean said. You heard him lean against the wall.

"Yeah and it just so happens that's the one thing you didn't plan for. If you catch my drift." You explained, trying to figure whether or not a wad of toilet paper would suffice for the time being. Seeming how it was only single-ply, you didn't think so. Why would he skimp on the ply?

"Fuck. There's a first aid kit under the sink. Do you see it?" He questioned, awaiting your response.

"A band-aid isn't going to help worth shit, Dean." You groaned when a cramp hit you from out of nowhere and you held your lower stomach.

"There's large gauze pads, just take a look." Dean shouted back through the door, surprisingly trying to be helpful.

You found the gauze pads, but had a whole other issue when you realized you'd forgotten to bring a change of clothes. The other problem being that in the duffle of Auburn's clothing there wasn't much else that'd fit you.

"Dean."

"Yeah?"

"I need some pants... and underwear. Could you- Could you bring me some?" You sighed, not wanting to leave the bathroom and swallowing your pride in order to ask him for help.

"Absolutely. Hang on, sweetheart."

You heard him walk away, returning a minute later and tapping on the door again. You cracked it open an inch and he held out the clothes for you to take. A pair of Auburn's skimpy panties that would have to suffice and some dark coloured sweats that obviously belonged to him. You didn't protest since they were soft and you needed something comfortable at the moment. The alternative being skinny jeans two sizes too small.

"All good?" Dean asked, leaning up against the wall as you emerged from the bathroom.

"No. Those pads are a very temporary fix, Dean." You emphasized hoping he'd get the hint, but he gave you a puzzled look that made you think he didn't. "You really have no idea, do you? Haven't you ever had a girlfriend to tell you about this stuff?"

"Not really."

You thought it was funny how his cheeks turned rosy and he avoided eye contact. He was embarrassed, which actually made you feel a little better; seeing his hard resolve slip away.

"Your mom then?" You asked with a softer tone, watching Dean shake his head, "Sister?" He shook his head again.

"My mom wasn't really around growing up. It's just been me and my brother mostly. And I don't do relationships." He explained, shrugging and shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, you're one of those guys." The type of guys that didn't commit and only hooked up.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He questioned, squinting his eyes at you.

"Nothing," you shook your head and shrugged elusively.

"Clearly." Dean rolled his eyes, hardly brushing it off.

He looked a little saddened by your comment and your brass attitude wavered briefly. Maybe he had a legit reason for ‘not doing relationships’, you didn’t know and if it were anyone else, you might’ve cared to ask. But Dean wasn’t a guy to sit around sharing sob stories, even if he were with a friend. So you didn't ask, but searching his green eyes for answers wasn't getting you anywhere either.

"Alright, you stay here. I'll make a run to the store. Do not under any circumstances answer the door to anyone." Dean ordered, pulling on his boots and grabbing his jacket and wallet from the couch.

"Aye, aye, Captain." You saluted.

"Fucking, dork." Dean smirked, wiping away his smile with a palm before you saw. "Try not to make a mess in the meantime."

"Screw you, it's natural, Dean. Plus, you're the one that didn't think about a monthly cycle while stocking up for two months with a female client. This was bound to happen one way or another." You crossed your arms and raised your brow.

"Are you done, princess?" He asked, clearly unimpressed with your mood swings. Watching as you winced and rubbed your lower stomach.

"Just for that, I'm gonna sit on your pillow."

"You do what you gotta do, darlin'. There's painkillers in the kitchen cupboard." Dean mentioned, pointing towards the cupboard next to the fridge. "Are you one of those girls obsessed with chocolate?"

"Not sure there's a girl out there that doesn't like chocolate." You smiled widely at the thought, your Y/E/C eyes gleaming up at him.

"I'll take that as a yes." Dean grinned, genuinely showing off his pearly whites for the first time. He actually had a nice smile when he didn't force it.

"That's a fuck yes." You laughed and Dean chuckled.

"Alright. I won't be long, sweetheart."

_____

Dean kept true to his word, gone for only a half hour before he was back, arms loaded to the hilt with paper bags when he entered the cabin. You ran over to help when you saw him juggling the bags and struggling to shut the door. Dean rushed past you and over to the kitchen, dropping his full load down on the counter in a nick of time.

"I forgot to ask what it is you, uh- use... So, I got you a grab bag full of goodies here." Dean said sheepishly, beginning to pull stuff out of the bags to show you. You thought he looked a bit like a child looking for approval, it was cute but you shook the thought from your mind. "We've got a variety pack of both tampons and pads, some with wings, and some without wings; you're going to have to explain the difference on that one because the clerk was not helpful at all. Also, a heating pad for your cramps, a fresh pack of panties, I guessed your size, and what I think should last two months, but is probably only a week's supply of chocolate." You eyed the huge bag of chocolate that he set on the counter and he shrugged, "It was a small store. That's all they had."

"A five pound bag of chocolate chips?" You gawked. "I could kiss you right now."

You swore you saw Dean blush, but he turned away from you too quickly to tell. He'd bought what you thought was most likely the entire feminine hygiene aisle and you couldn't stop picturing him conversing with the store clerk about maxi-pads; who in your mind was a teenage boy with less in depth experience with women than Dean.

"Thank you," you said, grabbing one of the boxes and the pack of underwear, heading towards the bathroom.

You doubled back to peck a kiss to Dean’s cheek before he knew what hit him. That time he undoubtedly blushed and you sprinted into the bathroom before he could react. You took a well needed hot shower and cleaned up, taking slightly longer than you intended. And when you emerged, Dean had something bubbling on the stove.

"Just in time. I made you some of my world famous spaghetti sauce and linguini because apparently I picked up the wrong box when I was stocking up the place. But it looks the same, s'just flat noodles instead." He rambled, examining the box as he continued to stir the pot.

"As long as I can twirl them on my fork, I’m happy." You smiled, breathing in the delectable scent. Your mouth watered and you realized it had been a while since the last time you ate a full meal.

"Definitely still twirl-able," Dean chuckled, turning off the stove and dumping the pot of boiling pasta into a strainer in the sink. "Grab a plate."

_____

"Why are you being so nice to me?" You asked, helping Dean clean up after your early dinner. "I mean, we still hate each other, right?"

"Right," Dean said, deflating a little and chewing on his lip. “It's gonna feel a hell of a lot longer if we're at each other's throats the whole time though."

"That's true. I suppose we could extend our truce for a few days." You shrugged and he seemed to like that idea.

"Wanna watch some TV?"

You settled onto the couch which was more comfortable than it looked, despite the duct taped patches on the arms.

"Comfy?" Dean asked.

"Mhm," you hummed, curling your feet under yourself and gripping the material of your sweatpants. You always got a bit touch starved when your time of the month hit and you glanced over at Dean. Remembering the way he comforted you the night before, something you craved more than any ill will you held for him at this exact moment. "Dean. Uh, I know it's not really in your job description but, um... permission to hug you?"

"Permission granted, sweetheart."

_________________________

A/N: Read part 8 here

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Forever SPN: @hobby27

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neutron-stars-collision · 2 years

Text

Waiting for the Night

Bruce Wayne x F!Reader

Chapter 13 - Forbidden bliss

Masterlist; Chapter 12 Summary: Unable to make peace with the recent events, you make your way back to Wayne Tower to check up on Bruce. What follows makes it extremely difficult to stay unattached... Warnings: 18+ (I mean it, that's it, your only warning, just in case you've missed my not-so-subtle hints); swearing; tiny bit of angst because it's them. Author's Notes: I'm sorry, both for how long this is (hello, 10k, I've missed you 🥲) and how long it took me to write it. I do hope it fulfils some expectations though. It's a scene that had been in my outline from day one, the scene that I had been daydreaming about from mid-March roughly. Writing it down wasn't all too easy for those same reasons but I did try... And I don't hate it, that's for sure. With that said, I hope you won't hate it either 🙈 Enjoy this whole spectrum of human emotions, and let me know what you think? 💕 Taglist: @thecraziestcrayon, @kookiewastolen, @imimsy, @tuskens-mando, @sugarcoated-lame, @blue-aconite, @hypnoash, @rabbitdictionary, @nicklet94, @mcrmarvelloki, @shimmeringgrim, @ttae-yong, @freyadruid, @siriuslydestiny, @ms-dont-care, @raphaelaisabella

(gif credit @casian)

You never made it home, choosing to wander the streets washed with rain and allowing the downpour to soak your clothes. It hardly mattered when it seemed impossible to escape the thoughts that plagued your mind, rousing anxiety and forcing you to question every decision. At least in the rain, shivering and tired, you had other things to worry about than Bruce, Alfred, and how come you had found yourself stuck somewhere you never wanted to be. Where did you make a mistake? When did you fuck it up?

So, you walked onwards past the trains that could take you home and past the cafes, which could serve as a haven. A couple of times, you had contemplated calling Bruce, if only to check whether he returned home and got the needed rest. But then you always managed to talk yourself out of it, unable to shake off the doubts about whether he would even want to talk to you. Because who were you for him? A nuisance, quite likely.

It was five in the morning when you finally managed to follow the logic and entered an all-night diner to order a cup of coffee and dry off. One glance at the television screen still reporting on the chase downtown was enough to trigger the decision-making process. It was not a process anymore, for when the newscaster switched the topic to the explosion at the Wayne Tower, you asked for the tab. It was pointless. You could never sit by idly and pretend everything was fine when it was not. Even if the price for admission of the truth could be your sanity. Even if, perhaps, you were giving in to the feeling which would be best ignored.

By the time you made it to the tower, the dawn was creeping on the horizon, bathing everything in a chilly glow which could be easily mistaken for hope. That is if one could still believe in it. Letting out a sigh, you quickly climbed the steps and followed the familiar routine, checking half a dozen times whether there were no witnesses. Bruce had enough attention for the day, if not for the month. Luckily, there was no one watching as you slipped in through the door and closed them behind your back.

The darkness of the foyer was no longer that intimidating as you easily navigated through the space to the lift. The smokey undertone of the air made you frown as you pressed the button taking you to the study and leaned on the cabin wall. It all could have been a mistake. Major one. The knot in your chest tightened, making it harder to breathe and pretend like you did not know the odds. Odds such as Bruce being asleep or simply unwilling to see you. The encounter at the hospital did not go down too well either. You could not ignore or forget it, blissfully visiting him as if he asked you to. But now that you were close enough, you could check on him, you could not talk yourself out of it. No matter the price or the embarrassment that would likely follow.

All thoughts were wiped clean as the lift stopped, and you opened the crate, immediately noticing the darkness of the study, interrupted only by the dancing flames in the fireplace. Yet it was not quiet, the faint noises drawing you into the room and behind the pillars. Your gaze fell upon Bruce, kneeling on the wooden floor in the centre of what appeared to be a spray-painted mind map. He was shirtless, facing the other side of the room and unaware of the company. The mind map was lit by a series of mismatched lamps, gathered around the perimeter and complete with a series of photos and documents. You quickly understood that you were looking at the case, pieces of the puzzle spread out on the hardwood floors with a nearly maniacal level of detail. As if he did not care that the spray had damaged the wood or that it was too late for him to figure things out. As if he could not stop thinking about it, driven close to the edge of madness. If not already past it. Damn it.

Your shuddering exhale was a giveaway even before you found the words to say. Bruce whipped around to face you as if burned, his mouth agape in shock.

“What are you doing here?” the harsh edge to his voice made you wince as Bruce glanced at the mind map and then back at you, evidently feeling guilty.

Nothing made any sense, but now you could no longer run, so you strode forwards, inching that little bit closer to where he was standing. Checking twice whether you had not crossed the lines on the floor, you allowed yourself a bite back:

“I could ask you the same thing” upon your incredulous look, Bruce visibly shrunk, dropping his gaze to stare at the ground “Thought I’ll check up on you… Now I’m glad I did” that was enough taunting for the occasion, quickly replaced with a slight frown “Alfred is going to be pissed about the floors, you know,”

Unable to stand still for much longer, you knelt on the floor, reaching out towards the markings. They seemed permanent enough to withstand mild pressure. Yep, Alfred is going to be very annoyed. The next time you looked up from the map, Bruce was staring at you, his gaze indecipherable. Feeling the heat of his eyes take you apart, you glanced down again, involuntarily letting your gaze skim over his bare chest. The muscles and the bruises all drew you like a magnet.

“I… I’m trying to understand him,” Bruce spoke suddenly, throwing you out of the strange ruminations into the darkness of your situation.

You partially welcomed the change, the opportunity to breathe a little deeper and focus on something else.

“Riddler?” sliding onto your backside, you sat on the floor and regarded him curiously.

It was as if your question had opened the metaphorical “floodgates”, for once Bruce started speaking the stream of words would not stop. Chaotic and frantic, yet raw and painful at the same time:

“Yes, he made us visit the old orphanage my father established under the Wayne Foundation and it… There was this movie, a clip from the day he announced he was going to run for mayor and on the wall, it said… It said something about the sins of the father and that I’ll have to pay, but how can I pay when I don’t even understand it?” he finished out of breath, panting as the outpour of emotions had left him nearly empty.

That was enough. You were up even before you knew you had moved, the heart pounding hard in your chest. Careful not to destroy his work, you crept closer and placed your hand on his shoulder.

“Bruce, breathe” lowering the voice to a soothing whisper, you zeroed in on the sofa near the fireplace and tugged on his hand to show the intent, “Come, sit with me,” the gentle tone was surprising, even to your ears.

You had no idea where it came from but somehow knew that trying to understand it would hurt even more. Instead, you waited for Bruce to acknowledge your plea and offered him a smile, fingers curling around his in what was becoming a familiar motion. He followed you after a second of hesitation, glancing with surprise at the daylight streaming through the windows:

“It’s dawning,” the matter-of-fact tone soon broken by a distressed ramble, “You should be sleeping or… Or-” shutting him up with your fingers against his lips, you pulled him onto the couch.

Perhaps surprisingly, Bruce did not fight you, instead settling onto the cushions with a defeated sigh. His eyes still fixed on your face as if hoping to commit it to memory. It was too easy to offer him a smile, tracing the shape of his lips with your fingertips and then over the curve of his jaw.

“I’m exactly where I should be” once you whispered the words, you knew they were true, “What happened?”

You could tell Bruce wanted to argue. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, never uttering more than a syllable. And then he slumped lower, his head dropping on the backrest. Once he started speaking, you had to creep closer to hear him:

“I was with Gordon. We were trying to catch Penguin, to somehow prove he’s the rat” the dark tone made you frown as you folded your legs and waited patiently for him to continue, “But then it all went to shit,” Bruce chuckled lowly, the sound devoid of joy.

You could not help but join him in the expression, leaning back as well. Close enough he could rest his head against your shoulder should he want to. Why would he? It was stupid. You were stupid. Ignoring the desire to groan with frustration, you filled in with a question:

“The chase? I saw it on tv” you never got to tell him off for it.

It did not matter anymore, but still, you made sure to convey the warning in your glare as Bruce gave you a cautious glance and nodded.

“Yeah, I… And you were right; it’s not Penguin. Turns out I’m an idiot” as if acting on impulse, he reached out to squeeze your knee before retreating, evidently sure it was not the right thing to do.

The distraction worked if that was what he was aiming for, making you blink twice, eager to clear your head and understand what he was saying. Once it clicked, you could not hold back the sigh:

“Sometimes definitely, but those riddles are confusing. Anyone could get it wrong” your fingers twitched in your lap, having a mind of their own, so you folded your arms across the chest to stop yourself from making mistakes.

Bruce was still staring at the ceiling, taking long pauses between the answers as if the whole act of speaking took too much energy.

“Not me. I should be smarter than him” the defiance in his voice at any other moment would have irked you.

This time, it only increased the ache in your chest and made you shiver. The anxious thoughts were not going anywhere, promising to drive you insane should this stretch on for a little longer. You pushed it away, any time but now.

“You’re not superhuman, Bruce,” whispering the words you could have predicted they would not do.

That he would argue. Yet nothing prepared you for the vacant look he gave you next, the ice cold of his blue eyes piercing right through your withering hope and turning it to dust.

“I should be better than this,” emphasizing to berate himself, even more, the emptiness in his gaze gave way to the same pain you saw hours ago in the hospital, “It’s clearly all my fault” as if punctuating the sentence, Bruce lurched forward, resting elbows on his knees.

Staring at the floor. Anywhere but at you. Closing off, raising the walls you secretly hoped had been long past you. But, as long as Bruce did not tell you to leave, you would stay. You would keep on trying. Slowly, you mirrored his position, all the while letting your feelings into the argument:

“I beg to differ. You’re already doing more than enough. No one expects the son of Thomas Wayne to hunt criminals after hours, and yet here you are. Bruising and bleeding for this city,” Bruce did not move, so he decided for you.

Ignoring the alarms blaring in your head, you reached toward him, coaxing him to meet your gaze as you pressed your palm against the blooming bruise on his ribcage. One of the many you tended to only days before. His skin was warm beneath your hand, raising with each shuddering exhale. It was almost grounding. If you were to ignore the heart hammering in your chest and how Bruce stared at you. He seemed grateful, but at the same time, the heat in his gaze was impossible to name. And terrifying, too. He pulled you in with every beat that went by without either of you moving, making it so much easier to caress his skin slowly. Aiming for reassurance while driving yourself mad.

Whatever it was, it passed the moment Bruce spoke up again, too lost within his pain to listen to a word you said:

“But it should’ve been me tonight. Not Alfred” you could feel his muscles tense underneath your touch as Bruce tightened the fists, his face once again closed off from anything but self-directed spite, “He’s never done anything wrong but still had to pay for my mistakes,”

It was hard to find something to say. Anything that could make him feel better when it seemed like Bruce was too deep in misery to care about anything else. The ache in your chest threatened to overcome your logic soon should you stay, but there was no alternative. You could not leave him. Your heart would not let you.

You did not notice when Bruce moved, so once he placed his head on your shoulder, you almost jumped out of your skin. Swallowing down the gasp, you slowly soaked in the feeling of the pleasant weight. Before you could get too comfortable, his whisper threw you right out of it:

“I’m so fucking tired of it all” it was not even what he said, but rather how he said it.

Utterly defeated and unwilling to fight the darkness within him.

Your hands clenched into fists in your lap as you asked:

“Of what?” the small voice sounded almost foreign in your ears.

Everything felt out of your depths. As if you tried swimming with the sharks and were about to meet your demise. Yet there was nowhere else you would rather be but with Bruce, feeling his soft hair brush against your neck and the warmth of his breath against your skin. Bruce swallowed hard.

“Losing everyone I care about. I used to think I’m over it all, but I’m not. I can’t- Loneliness terrifies me, but I can’t keep letting people in, only for them to get hurt or… or worse” with each word, his breath grew shallower, tinting the words with pain and lacing them with tears.

Once he finished speaking, Bruce was stifling sobs. You did not need more than that to find another buried spark of courage. Reaching out for his hand, you relaxed his fist and whispered:

“Hey, look at me,” gently tilting his chin so that he had to meet your gaze; your heart breaking over the tears shining in his eyes and falling down his cheeks “For whatever it’s worth, you’re not alone. I’m still here, and I’m not going anywhere” your voice broke at the end of the sentiment, betraying the truths you masked with the simple reassurance “I know I’m not anyone important, but I’m here” not trusting yourself to keep on speaking, you squeezed his palm and offered him a smile.

Ignoring the heart hammering in your chest and the tightness around the ribs. Pretending not to feel the warmth spreading across your body upon one, simple look at Bruce. Denying what you told him was a substitute for something else, something you were scared to think about.

Your crisis did not matter now. Especially not when faced with the heartbreak painting across Bruce’s face. He shuddered, the silent tears streaming down his cheeks. And then he broke, letting out a whimper which was soon swallowed by a sob, wrecking over his body as Bruce crumbled in on himself. You could only push yourself closer and gather him into your arms, allowing him to lean on you.

His crying must have drowned out the sound of your heart cracking in two, for you sure felt it break. But you held on, running your hands over his back, whispering nonsense into the crown of his head. You did not count the minutes passing by as you sat with Bruce, opting to keep your eyes closed and your mind focused on him. It was too late anyway. You have already moved past the point of turning back. He was too important, and you would have to pay for letting yourself care.

After a while, Bruce’s sobs have subsided, allowing him to deepen his breaths and relax in your embrace. With his arms wrapped loosely around your waist and the head nestled in the crook of your neck, you did not want to move. Instead, you shuffled a little closer still, choosing to pay no mind to the fact that your folded knees were partially in Bruce’s lap and let go of his hand to trail your fingertips up his forearm. The gentle touch made him sigh and tremble, somehow burying further into you. You allowed him to do just that, content to sit there and cradle him for as long as Bruce would let you. Nothing else mattered, not really. Not when you felt like you had already lost.

It took him another half hour or so to break the heavy silence. He raised his head from where it rested on your shoulder and pressed a kiss to your cheek so suddenly that you might have missed it. You did not, staring like a frightened animal straight into Bruce’s reddened eyes as he seemed to take you in, arrested by an invisible force. As if sensing your growing panic, he cupped your face cautiously, letting his fingers skim over your cheek in a simple caress. It took a lot of resilience to hold back the gasp building in your throat.

“You’re more important than you know” Bruce’s sudden admission was the one to break you out of the stupor.

Rather harshly at that. Your mouth opened agape as you processed what Bruce said and compared it with the depth of fondness you could see in his gaze. Both did nothing to slow the blood rushing through your veins or ease the worries. Because what if you were about to fuck it all up? What if he was only saying it because it sounded good? What if it wasn’t true?

It was the fear fueling your reply when you spoke:

“Bruce, I’d rather you didn’t say things you don’t mean” desperate to hide the vulnerability of the moment, you ended the eye contact and chose to stare at your lap, “Not right now,”

The addition came out strained with the weight of another realization. It was only now that the proximity of your bodies caught up with you, making your face heat up. With your legs folded, you were just a mere step away from what would constitute sitting in Bruce’s lap. His face was inches away, too reachable and tempting to do things that could not be undone. And it was beginning to seem like Bruce was no longer terrified of the closeness. No longer scared of you.

“Why?” his questioning whisper created another crack in the wall of defences you tried to enforce.

You were slowly running out of those, unable to fight the rebellion taking place within your heart. The heart wants what it wants, right? Fuck.

It was almost terrifying to raise your head and look at Bruce, never anticipating what you would find in his eyes. The way he stared back seemed impossible to name or mirror, showing you utmost affection and warmth. As if he did not hold any inhibitions anymore, accepting the pull between you for what it was. And for what it could be. Taking a deep breath, you chose to face it head-on:

“Because I feel like breaking all the rules I ever had”

Between the last syllable and the next heartbeat, Bruce crashed his mouth into yours, forcing a gasp out of your throat. For a quarter of a second, you considered letting the fear and doubts win this one and push him away. But the heart was victorious as you shifted onto your knees and buried your fingers in his hair to bring him closer. As if eager to contradict everything you thought you knew about him, Bruce was the one to deepen the kiss and run his tongue along your bottom lip, increasing the hunger coursing through your veins. There was none of the previous shyness in his actions as Bruce placed his hands on your hips and pulled you down to straddle his lap. None of the previous uncertainty in the teeth nipping at your lips, tearing whimpers out of your mouth, and breaking through the anxieties.

The selfishness woke up next, helping you admit that this was what you wanted. Why shouldn’t you reach out for it? Accepting his subtle guidance, you broke the kiss to take another deep breath and settle on Bruce’s lap, looping your hands around his neck. Before you could reach out to capture his lips again, he tilted your chin, the searching look in his eyes asking a silent question. It was a way out, an opportunity to back off. Maybe even pretend it did not happen or blame it on the recent week. Only you found that you did not want to. Not when Bruce was so close and looking at you like no one ever did. Your lips twisted into a smirk as you nodded and pulled him in for another kiss.

This time it was much slower, your tongue exploring the inside of his mouth and drawing out soft noises from Bruce. With his hands firmly planted on your hips and the thumbs tentatively brushing over the skin underneath your shirt, you felt the storm in your head quieten. As if the chaos was easing, and all that was left was a pleasant hum. As if it was meant to be, almost. Choosing to follow the rare, hopeful thought, you slid your hands down his neck and the broad shoulders to rest over his chest. Taking each kiss for what it could be – a chance to be with him, even if for this one moment.

Soon it became a familiar game, the silence interwoven with broken gasps and desperate whimpers. Your hands wandering over his skin, caressing each bruise and scar, and inching down his chest to feel the firm muscles underneath your palms. Bruce was not far behind, taking his time to take whatever he could from the kisses you gladly gave him, occasionally brave enough to toy with the hem of your shirt, earning your grin. You were happy to follow it with a precise peck on the corner of his mouth and then trail your lips to the edge of his sharp jaw, following the path you had trodden before. If only to distract yourself from the warmth incessantly pooling between your thighs and pulsing with the need, that would soon become unbearable.

It was too easy to lose yourself in the process, finding the perfect spots to make Bruce breathless and trembling. His hesitant fingers wandered further beneath your shirt, creating goosebumps in their wake. Until all you could think of was getting rid of the excess clothing and feeling his skin on yours. Learn how he sounds when he begs. That thought made you grind on his thigh, biting the skin over Bruce’s pulse point until he was gasping and digging his fingers into your sides. In the morning, you would be both bruised. But it did not matter. Once you allowed yourself to have this, the needs have been awakened for good.

Pulling back a fraction to finally look at Bruce, you were welcomed with a fascinating sight. His hair was in disarray, falling over his eyes; pupils blown wide and consumed by lust; the lips swollen and red, still tasting like you. He was beautiful. It was a thought and a sentence you smothered with effort, unwilling to taint the mood with what could be too profound. So, instead, you met his gaze with a smirk and allowed your fingers to toy with the band of his trousers and scratch down the thin line of hair covering his abdomen above it.

That is until you saw Bruce’s eyes widen, his hands suddenly reaching out to rest on your wrists, stopping all the intents you could have had. A question bloomed on your lips, but before you could say it, Bruce spoke, his voice wavering and raspy:

“I- I’m not sure- I’ve never…” faltering with frustration etched onto his face, he tried again, looking down upon his lap as if embarrassed to say it, “I’m not sure what to do…”

The resignation rang loud and clear as if Bruce was beyond convinced that his revelation would change your mind. That it was the last straw, and with it out in the open, you would leave. Despite the seriousness of the moment, you could not help but smile, shaking your head lightly at the idea. Idiot. It was nothing you did not expect, and even if – so what? You wanted Bruce, exactly as he is, not a seasoned lover. You just had to make sure he understood as much. Hooking your fingers over his chin, you tilted his head up to force him to meet your gaze:

“Hey, that’s alright” pouring the reassurance into your voice, you sent him a smile and added, “I don’t mind. Do you want to?” there, the most important of questions.

The one you had to ask and the same that could break you. Yet when staring right back into his blue eyes, you knew it would not. There was nothing but gratitude and desire there, written out for you to see for yourself. Bruce smiled bashfully, the pink tint on his cheeks close to a fixture by now. He swallowed hard, gathering courage, and replied:

“Yes, I… I want you” it was nothing more than a whisper, but it felt like a heartfelt confession.

You knew that it was one, too. Ignoring the chaos within your head, you leaned forward to press a kiss on his forehead and offered a wicked grin, giving into the feelings. There was only one answer you could give him.

“I’ll show you then” a quick look at your surroundings helped to take another decision as you stood up from Bruce’s lap and instantly tugged his hand to join you, “Just not here. Come on,” upon his questioning glance, you added with the mischievous glint in your eyes “I’d rather Dory didn’t walk in on… that”

You did not need to turn around to know what his sharp gasp meant. Bruce’s grip around your hand never loosened as you led him up the staircase and down the corridor. He did not protest when you entered his bedroom and closed the doors behind you quietly. It was challenging to remember that it was already morning, and soon the halls could be alive with the sounds of Dory’s bustling around. But it did not matter. Nothing but Bruce did. Once inside his room, you switched on the bedside lamp to provide a warm glow and turned to face him.

As if slightly frozen by nerves, Bruce was motionless, standing by the door, eyes darting between you and the bed, cheeks blushing red. That would not do. Closing the distance, you took hold of both of his hands and smiled lightly:

“Alright?” the simple question lightened up his face and made you beam.

Bruce reached out to brush the stray strands of hair behind your ear, caressing your temple in the process. The affection in his gaze had the potential to drive you mad with fondness.

“Yes, just… Just nervous” nodding once with a shy smile, Bruce leaned in to place a kiss on your forehead.

And adding to the issues piling up in your heart. Those had to be ignored for now. There was one last thing you had to tell Bruce before you would let the emotions and needs take the lead.

“It’s okay, I’ve got you” choosing to gaze up at him with the feelings present in your eyes, you lowered the voice to serious timbre, making sure he was listening “If at any point you want to stop, tell me. Just because you said yes once, doesn’t mean you can’t change your mind” and then, if only to hear another verbal consent, you added, “Understand, gorgeous?”

Where once there were eye rolls whenever you used nicknames, Bruce was now smiling, cupping your face tenderly, unable to look away from you if only for a second.

“Yeah, I… Thank you” it was the whisper that did it, sealing the deal in the best way.

Though there was no need for his gratitude. Not now, not ever. It was not why you were there, why you were doing everything for him. But it also had to wait for later.

“You’ll thank me later if I do everything well,” breaking through the seriousness with a wink and a hidden innuendo.

Bruce did not miss it, somehow enforcing the blush covering his cheeks. Before you could comment on it, he pulled you close, winding his arms around your waist and making you huff out a happy giggle. One shared look was enough for him to lean down and capture your lips in a drawn-out kiss, tasting and learning which of his moves earned your reaction. His teeth nibbling on your bottom lip did it. As did the careful way Bruce held you against his chest with his hands splayed over your hips possessively, yet not inflicting any pressure. But instead of moving away, you clung closer to him, looping your arms around his neck and burying your fingers in his hair. If only to pull at the strands lightly whenever Bruce hit the right spot. Or just as a way of spicing up the moment. Soon enough, you were both panting and gasping, utterly drunk on kisses and each other.

Without waiting for Bruce to lose his cool again, you gently steered him towards the edge of the bed, pushing until he was seated and gazing up at you with surprise and awe. It was impossible not to beam at him, running your fingertips over his sharp features and brushing the hair away from his eyes. A sudden strike of inspiration made you lean down to press a quick peck on his forehead before taking half a step back and throwing Bruce a wink. You did not have to ask to know that it was best to take things slow, and so, that is what you planned to do. Firstly, by assuring you no longer had the upper hand by being more dressed.

Keeping your eyes fixed on Bruce, you slowly unbuttoned your shirt, allowing the material to slide down your arms to pile up on the floor. Now you were even. Well almost. You wanted to leave the bra for a little longer, not quite ready to give him everything just yet. Without missing a beat, you grinned wickedly at Bruce’s widening eyes and spoke up:

“Do you like what you see, buttercup?” winking at him again, you strode forward, closing the distance to raise his chin with your finger.

Forcing Bruce to face you, no matter the pink hue spreading along his cheeks or the pupils dilating as he took in the sight. You could almost feel his eyes wandering down your torso, drinking in what was revealed and slipping over the skin as if he was aching to touch you. Darting back to look at your face, Bruce swallowed hard and reached out to place his hands on your hips, still below the band of the trousers. He met your gaze before whispering:

“You’re beautiful” the words left his mouth in a rush, tumbling over each other as if he was holding on to them for too long.

All witty comments disappeared from your head when you processed what he said. Only the affection was left in their place, making your face warm up and eyes glaze over. The emotions seemed impossible to name, so instead of finding a response, you straddled Bruce’s lap and kissed him gently. Letting him take the gratitude and fondness directly from your tongue and swallow them whole. He did not need further encouragement, immediately letting his hands wander over the curves and valleys of your body, caressing your skin. The feeling of his warm palms over your back made you gasp into his mouth, hungrily clinging to his body, craving the warmth and the safety he provided.

No one has ever said it like that. Sure, offhand comments and sweet compliments were building up your confidence. But it has never been this simple, this straightforward. As if Bruce believed it and was willing to show you by any means possible. As if he meant it. It changed pretty much everything.

Before you could process the emotions, Bruce broke the kiss with a sigh and started trailing kisses down to the edge of your jaw and then towards the spot underneath your ear. The same one that made you moan and clench your thighs days before in his bed. This time it was not any different. Your mouth fell open in a shallow gasp as he sucked on your skin, letting his teeth catch on it and inflict a bruise. The pain making you choke back another sound and latch onto his shoulders, digging the fingernails into his skin. So you had something to hold on to as Bruce followed the first bite with many more, tracing the path of your veins down your neck. Edging your sanity towards a fall from which it would never be recovered.

With his hands holding you close and the pleasure of his mouth ravishing your neck as if you were his work of art, needing completion even if it was the last thing he ever did, you could feel the steady pulse building between your thighs and in your veins. Once Bruce had reached your collarbone and licked over the faint red mark he inflicted, his hands continued their tentative exploration, grazing over your stomach and up over the ribs. Stopping at the edge of your bra to skim over the fabric, showing slight shyness in his movement. You did not mind it, allowing yourself to get lost in the sensations, in the firmness of his warm body acting like a lifeline. Even without any words spoken, the act felt like a confession. Like an admission of vulnerability and willingness to give him everything you had. Just this once.

As if reading your mind, Bruce raised his head and met your dazed look with a bashful smile before slightly changing his grip on your body to lay you on the covers beside him, switching the position. A surprise noise escaped your throat as you relaxed on the mattress, taking him in as Bruce knelt above you, so stunning in the warm glow. On its own accord, your hand reached out to touch him, your fingertips running along his abdomen, eliciting a change in his breathing. It was simple. Bruce grabbed your wrist gently, leaning down to press a kiss to your knuckles as he shifted to hover over you, curious fingers tracing the outline of your bra yet again. You grinned.

“You can take it off, you know” it was easy to take pleasure in his embarrassed expression.

It was an invitation as much as you could muster, taking hold of his hand to guide it to the clasp on your back.

“Can I?” Bruce whispered the question with a breathy voice, caught somewhere between fascination and uncertainty.

You did not waste time shooting down any qualms he could have had.

“I want you to” squeezing his palm you let go, beaming at him as he fumbled with the fastener before managing to open it.

The shyness in his eyes was endearing, making it hard for you to look away from his face as he gently pulled down the straps from your shoulders and removed the bra, tossing it on the floor next to your shirt. Never the one to shy away from showing your body, you could feel the slight tinge of hesitation rise in your heart as Bruce’s gaze roamed over your naked torso. Actually looking and seeing rather than consuming and judging for what you could never be. Ignoring the desire to close your eyes and make the discomfort disappear, you waited with bated breath for his next move. Entirely at his mercy.

A shiver ran over your spine at the thought, shaking hands searching for something to hold. Bruce noticed the tremor, immediately offering you his free hand while his other palm began tracing invisible pathways over your skin. Starting at the hollowness between your collarbones and running down the length of your sternum, creating goosebumps in his wake and making you tighten the grip over your joint hands. There was something almost mesmerizing in how Bruce looked and touched you, tenderly and without any sense of possessiveness yet entranced. As if with every passing moment, he was falling harder- No.

Shaking off the dangerous thread of thoughts, you guided Bruce to veer away from safety, positioning his hand to cup your breast. Upon his silent question, you only nodded, your head falling back on the mattress as he swept his thumb over your hardening nipple. The slight chill in the air and the pressure of his calloused fingertips were enough to make you writhe. Your mouth opened in a quiet moan, the arousal seeping into the fabric of the panties. Soon you would need him to touch you elsewhere. But for now, you were willing to get lost in this. The teasing brush of his fingers over your breasts and stomach making you squirm. The steady look in his blue eyes slowly consumed by the blackness of his pupils. The promise of satisfaction laying just around the corner.

You tugged on his hand, urging Bruce to lean over you again and raised your chin to crash your mouth into his. Letting the hunger and feelings lead the way as you prodded his lips to open before slipping your tongue in. Slowly curling it around his and sighing at the way Bruce leaned into you, his hands never stopping to caress your body, putting your skin aflame. Without breaking the kiss, you slid your hands down his stomach, once again grazing the edge of his trousers and then lower. Only to find Bruce already hard. The corner of your lips twisted in a smirk against his mouth. Careful not to pressure him in any way, you broke the contact with your teeth tugging at his full lower lip, bruised from kissing, and met the delirious gaze with a confident look:

“Bruce, I need you to touch me” the husky tone of your voice made you huff out a dry chuckle, aware that there would be no pretending about the effect he had on you.

His eyes widened, the familiar worry resurfacing as if Bruce was still doubting whether he was enough. The idea alone sounded like a joke, yet you stifled the desire to laugh. Taking hold of his hand, you slid it from where it was palming your breast down to the band of your trousers and below. Bruce swallowed hard, sucking in the air sharply as if unable to breathe, but still followed your guidance.

“Here,” stopping just over the edge of your underwear, you whispered the word.

His fingers traced the material as Bruce seemed to consider something before admitting sheepishly:

“I don’t know how to…” there was that same anxious glimmer in his eyes.

The one that told you he was half expecting you to back off at any given point. The one that suggested despite his beauty, Bruce was not used to being wanted. Not used to being the one people desired. You had to prove him wrong.

“I’ll show you” offering him a gentle smile, you guided his hand underneath the panties.

Inadvertently gasping, once you felt the warmth of his hand over your skin, slowly diving between your thighs as you spread your legs. The darkness of his pupils nearly swallowed Bruce’s irises; his lips parted as his fingers dipped between your folds. Making you bite your lip to stifle the noises and focus on him. On how he gasped as he felt the wetness coating your slit, his eyes widening, only for Bruce to stutter out:

“God, you’re-” grinning wide, you pressed your fingers against his mouth to shut him up, already preparing the reply.

“Mhmm. Soaking wet, for you,” once Bruce held your gaze you offered another mischievous smirk.

The pink tint on his cheeks was back with vengeance. Bruce’s breath hitched as he allowed his fingers to delve in, spreading the arousal over your throbbing parts. It already felt good, even as you patiently steered his touch to brush over your clit and then down to your entrance. Nodding upon his unspoken question, you released his hand to let Bruce take over and relaxed into the mattress. As much as that was possible with the fire raging inside your body.

A plethora of curses rose in your throat as Bruce started circling your clit, finding the rhythm that had you bucking your hips into his hand. Despite his shyness, he did not hold back, quickly meeting your parted mouth with a hungry kiss, taking over the words and praises. You circled his bicep with your hand, holding tight, bruising his skin, while your other palm found solace on the nape of his neck. Holding him close enough that you could chase his lips and whisper appraisal into his ear. Just like when Bruce finally delved his finger inside you, making you bite back a sharp moan and pull him close to huff out:

“Just- Yeah, like this” the breathy response was all you could manage as he continued the tempo, taking your cues to heart.

Later, once you could speak again coherently, you would have to tell him how he might be the most attentive man you had ever been with. If only to make him blush like that again. For now, it was enough to grab a fistful of his hair and give them a slight tug, pulling Bruce in for another fervent kiss. Gasping into his mouth and curling your tongue around his to give him a fraction of the feeling back.

The coil in your lower stomach kept tightening with every minute Bruce spent coaxing the shivers and moans out of your body. Upon adding the second finger and curling them inside you, he broke the silence with a simple question:

“Does this feel good?” he met your gaze, blue eyes now so dark that you felt like you could drown in them if you kept staring at him.

Yet it was impossible to look away. At his slightly furrowed brow and how he was focused only on you. At his bruised lips and the beauty chiselled into his sharp cheekbones.

“Fuck- Yes, it does” the curse wove itself into your answer as you dug your fingers into his bicep and closed your eyes upon the darkness gathering around the edges of your sight.

The last thing you noticed were the hints of a cocky smile building in the corners of his lips. He knew what he was doing, even if it was a first. As if sensing your incoming ending, Bruce intensified the moves, leaning in to plant kisses on the crook of your neck while his thumb kept stroking through your folds. Fingers so close to the spot inside you that would make you scream, perfectly spreading the arousal and intensifying the need flowing in your veins. Your body tensed like a bowstring, overwhelmed with Bruce. You came with his name on your lips and your fingers buried in his hair. Whispering nonsense until you could no longer form words and focused on breathing him in. Letting the high he gave you wash over your body like the ebb tide.

If he was caught aback by your reaction, Bruce never showed it. He placed a final kiss underneath your ear and raised his head, slowly meeting your gaze as you opened your eyes. The curious glimmer was there, eager to ask but not knowing how. Luckily for him, you had it covered.

“You’re a natural, darling” grinning you took hold of the hand he withdrew from your pants, “You’ve just made me come” without waiting for Bruce to react, you raised his fingers to your mouth, sweeping out your tongue to lick off the remains of your demise.

Never breaking the eye contact either, in time to see them widen as Bruce gasped sharply. He seemed frozen for a beat, unable to move or breathe, dark irises consuming you whole with the zeal of a starved man. By now, you knew he would be capable of it. It was time. But before you could tell him as much, Bruce covered your mouth with his, kissing you with familiar devotion and dedication. A broken whimper planted itself on your tongue as he licked over your lower lip and buried his fingers into your hair, grazing your cheekbone and temple. Making you feel wanted, maybe even loved. Not that you had much experience on that topic.

One painful thought was the more reasons to break the kiss and use his body as the perfect leverage to switch the position so you could be on top. A smirk was only the natural reaction upon seeing Bruce speechless yet again. Rising on your knees to look down upon him, you asked:

“Do you still want to continue?” not wanting to pressure him with your touch, you let your hands rest by your sides.

So he knew there was time to back away if he wanted. But he did not seem keen to change your plans as Bruce reached out to grab both your palms and squeezed them gently.

“Yes, I… I want you” the softness in his eyes had the power to kickstart your heart as he added, voice wavering with feelings, “I want to feel you everywhere” trailing off sheepishly, Bruce seemed to lose the momentum as if worrying that he took it too far.

You had to prove him wrong without any time wasted. Squeezing his hands back, you leaned in again, low enough to brush the shell of his ear with your mouth and whisper:

“Perfect, because I want you inside me” dropping your tone to a seductive timbre, you kissed his ear and straightened back up to add, “Soon, if that’s okay,”

Bruce nodded eagerly. That was all you needed. Sending him another bright grin, you slid off his lap and onto your feet, slipping off the trousers and inviting him to do the same with your palm outstretched. He took it without hesitation, only showing the tell-tale signs of nervousness when he pulled down his sweatpants, letting them join the discarded clothing on the floor. You quickly tuned in to what could be bothering him, your gaze wandering over his body with curiosity. Noticing the toned thighs and fitting black briefs. Now you were truly even, hiding behind nothing but the fabric of your underwear. And it was terrifying. It seemed like he, too, had insecurities, turning away from your taxing gaze, his cheeks dusted pink.

Confirming your earlier deductions, you could tell that, one – Bruce was already aroused. And, two, he had no room for doubts in that area as far as you could see. Soon enough, your face was burning as well, desperate for any means of ending the awkwardness. You found it in the slight shake of his fingers, the trembling hand begging for your attention. Taking a step forward, you took it between your palms and met the familiar blue eyes, now clouded with unease:

“Is it alright if I touch you?” the nervous timbre found its way into your voice as you asked.

As much as you still were filled with the need for him, eager to find a way past the sudden obstacle, you had to make sure Bruce was happy with it. That he really wanted you to continue.

“Yeah…” nodding stiffly, Bruce seemed to maul over his thoughts before admitting, “I’m just… I’m not used to people looking at me like that” he met your gaze with a crestfallen sigh, quickly adding an apology, “Sorry, I’ll get over myself now,”

Using the permission he offered, you closed the gap between you to a minimum and placed your hand over his heart, feeling the beat speed up in response. The compassion flooded your chest as you looked at Bruce, eyes roaming over the brilliant blue eyes and handsome features. You entangled your fingers with his, keeping the grip loose yet still present and gave him a warm smile:

“There’s nothing to get over” rising on your toes, you pressed a kiss to his forehead, already knowing what to tell him and how to (hopefully) soothe his insecurities, “Trust me, I know what you mean, but… Christ, Bruce, you’re so beautiful I don’t even have to words to express it” faced with his sceptical look, verging on willingness to believe you and being unable to, you just shrugged, offering an alternative with your hand still placed neatly over his heart “So let me show you instead,”

“Okay” this time, he did not hesitate, squeezing your hand within his grasp before releasing it.

A grateful grin you sent him made Bruce smile shyly, which you had to count as a win. Even if a small one, for a start. With both hands to aid your needs, you allowed them to caress his torso, skimming over the scars and the bruises. Gently brushing along the muscles on his stomach and testing the territory as your fingers traced the faint hair trail leading down to the briefs. Bruce shuddered upon your teasing but did not move away, deepening his breath with eyes half closed. It was not difficult to let the emotions back into your voice and actions, letting your hand travel lower as you met his dark gaze and whispered:

“Because I haven’t wanted a man this much for a long time. You’re all I can think about, Mr Wayne,” leaning close to press your lips to the corner of his mouth as your hand palmed him through his underwear.

Bruce gasped sharply, moving his head to chase after your lips and kiss you earnestly, proving your suspicions yet again. It was, without a doubt, going to be fun. Especially when knowing what you did about his… likes. The list was growing, even if only in your mind. It was easy enough to let him ravish your mouth as if his life depended upon it, all the while tentatively letting your hand explore him through the material. Simultaneously making Bruce bite hard into your lip, eliciting a whimper and making you press your palm a little harder against him in response. Breaking the kiss, Bruce met your gaze, the darkness of his blown pupils assuring you of what you already expected. He wanted to continue. You were happy to give him just that.

“How- How do you want…?” his tongue caught on the words, but Bruce got them out and glanced at the bed if you needed clarification.

The thoughtfulness made you smile as you quickly went through the options in your head before replying:

“Sit down, just like before” you nodded towards the mattress and gave him a final peck on the lips, “I’ll take care of you,” letting the whisper fill in the spaces between your bodies.

You waited for Bruce to cross the space, hesitantly settling on the bed with his back against the headboard before you slipped off the underwear and grinned at his dumbfounded look. Once again, he was rendered speechless, his cheeks burning from excitement and shyness you hoped to eradicate soon. But for now, it was enough to have Bruce watch you with that hunger in his eyes, staring as you crawled upon the bed and straddled his lap, immediately diving in for a kiss. Your own way of expressing what you saw in his gaze. You kissed him feverishly until he had been reduced to gasps, and his fingers were digging into your waist. Until Bruce had to be the one to lean back, desperate for oxygen yet unwilling to let go of you. That is when you met his gaze and wordlessly asked for permission to get rid of his briefs before taking them off and sealing the deal by taking hold of his hand and placing a kiss on his knuckles.

Only then did you allow yourself a shameless look, your gaze drifting from his burning cheeks to the bruised, kissed mouth and down the chest, marked with pain and history. He did not disappoint, making you swallow hard upon the sight of his member. Definitely, undoubtedly ready for you. Fuck. Ignoring the desire to stare, you dragged your eyes to his face again, willing to get rid of his doubts with a beaming smile and a lingering kiss on his cheek. Bruce chased after your mouth, catching your lower lip between his teeth and nibbling upon the tender skin. Adding on to the steady fire in the pit of your stomach and making the desire wet the slit between your thighs. Unable to hold back the frustrated groan, you broke the kiss to pant out a one-worded question:

“Yes?” you half-expected him not to understand it, considering coherence was nowhere to be found.

But Bruce knew what you meant, leaning close to rest his forehead against yours, his arms coming around your body to cradle you flush against his chest. The lust in his eyes made the breath catch in your throat, the butterflies in your stomach wreaking havoc.

“Please,” his husky voice was the metaphorical nail in the coffin.

Once you heard the desperation and need in his voice, you knew it was over. There would be no more pretending, no chance of playing it all off under the guise of ‘no strings attached’. There were strings, too many of them to count. Ignoring the desire to say three words too much right there and then, you leaned to an inch of space between your lips and spoke:

“Anything for you,” you meant it.

When you met Bruce’s gaze, you knew he understood it too, effortlessly closing the gap between your faces and kissing the confessions off your tongue. Lost in the kiss, he never noticed when you raised your hips and used your free hand to guide him inside you. Lowering down onto his length with a hiss that Bruce soon mirrored, gasping as he ended the contact and opened his eyes. A brief look of surprise flashed across his face as he seemed to take in the sensation, giving you a moment to settle with your arms on his shoulders, gazing down upon him. It was for the best you could not see what your eyes showed. Otherwise, you risked panic and worried Bruce would see that, which you did not dare acknowledge. That there was so much more to it than a release of pent-up sexual tension and a moment of comfort. That you already wanted more.

Because it felt right, good, as you allowed his length to fill you in, satisfying the need you stifled for much too long. His arms tightened around your waist as Bruce held you close, his eyes never leaving your face. Mouth parted and the shallow breaths sparse as if they needed too much effort on his side. The wave of affection rose in your chest as you cupped his cheek and grinned.

“Alright?” simply asking because you could, and he was there.

Smiling back at you even through the daze. Filling you in better than anyone before. That sanity and pretending were long out through the window.

“Yes, yeah,” especially as Bruce gave you a breathy chuckle after the reply and started trailing kisses down the curve of your throat, making it harder to speak, let alone think.

So, you did what you knew best, throwing your head back to expose more skin for his use and started moving. Slowly rising on your knees to create pleasant friction and then falling back down, accompanied by Bruce’s panting. His hot breath fanned your skin, flushing the warmth over your torso. Guided by his wordless cues, you build up a rhythm, rocking into him with a languid pace, willing to extend the bliss for the both of you. With his lips kissing a pathway down your sternum, the brave tongue sweeping across your sweaty skin and the euphoric bliss of the shared moment, you could no longer escape it. The feelings kept pouring into your heart, taking apart the act and the pretending, till it was just you and Bruce, joined in the most intimate of embraces.

Desperate to keep the anxiety at bay, you tilted his chin to meet his lips, giving him the scattered words and sounds the best you knew how. Without confessions and promises, that would destroy everything sooner or later. As if sensing your change of heart, Bruce did not allow the kiss to transform into another make-out and met your gaze. The blue depths pulled you in as always, making you lose the rhythm. Bruce was the one to surprise you by taking the initiative and thrusting inside you, eliciting a sharp moan out of your throat and making you dig your fingers into his shoulders, marking the skin.

You could see it in his eyes and feel the tension in his body soon after as Bruce whimpered and tried to hide his face in the crook of your neck. You did not let him, sensing the shame coming off in waves as you forced him to meet your gaze again and breathed out the encouragement:

“It’s alright. I’ve got you” sealing the words with a gentle kiss, you made sure to rock forwards again, letting Bruce inch closer to release he was approaching, “Let it go,” the dilemma ebbed away as the familiar darkness took its place in his eyes.

That was exactly why you chose to do two things at once. Or three, perhaps. Your lips quirked into a cheeky smirk that Bruce never noticed. Without a preamble, you pushed him with your hands firmly pressed to his chest, grinning as his back hit the mattress and made him gasp. With him lying down you could easily find a deeper angle, his length hitting that sweet spot at your core. Another moan broke through the quiet. Bruce’s eyes squeezed shut as his mouth opened in a breathless groan. Just as you could feel him giving in to the orgasm, you whispered:

“Good boy”

He shuddered, your name on his tongue as he came inside you, making you inch closer to your release. Fighting the trembling body and using your hand to stimulate the clit, riding him faster to chase your selfish pleasure. Bruce did not seem to mind it, his hands caressing your breasts. His eyes acted like a lifeline to pull you through whatever came next and back to safety, back to his arms.

You did not know what the trigger was, only that one moment you were grinding into him and the next you were collapsing onto his chest with his name like a mantra on your lips. Having already recovered, Bruce wrapped you in his arms and held you close, helping to ride the high till it eased and your bones turned into putty. Not wanting to let go just yet, you only raised your head to find his eyes and asked:

“Are you okay?” brushing the sticking strands away from his forehead and letting your fingers gently caress his cheek.

Feeling the faint stubble, and the sharp bones, his gaze still hazed over, drawing you like a moth to a flame. But it was wrong. You had already burned to ash minutes before and now could only stare, making peace with the fact that nothing would ever be the same. Never again.

Blind to your struggle, Bruce gave you a beaming smile, his hand steadily running down the curve of your spine.

“Yeah, it’s… It’s been amazing” it seemed like Bruce was not getting rid of the blush anytime soon.

Still, it was impossible not to share the slightly bashful grin and crawl up a few inches to steal a kiss from his lips before replying:

“Brilliant,” and you meant it, even if already feeling the repercussions of what you did not regret.

No, it wasn’t shame, either. More like the inability to shut up the part of your brain that was increasingly convinced admitting you felt something more towards Bruce would be like signing your death warrant. That nothing good could come of it, no matter how hard you tried. People like you did not deserve it. Just that.

Unable to ignore the unease, you shot him another smile and slowly untangled from the embrace, rolling off his body to rest on your side next to Bruce. Desperate for a distraction, you were raking your brain for something to say when he broke the silence:

“Is it- Was it… good for you?” finally getting out the words, Bruce turned a darker shade of scarlet yet still tentatively reached out to pull you closer.

You could not hold back a smile, feeling your chest warm up at his thoughtfulness, especially with the awkwardness that must have been nagging at his brain. Drawing into his side, you settled your head against his chest and snuggled, already knowing the response:

“More than that” there was no point pretending as the words poured right from your heart and into your mouth, “You were really good to me,”

Better than anyone ever before.

“Because I couldn’t last long and-” hearing the uncertainty rise in his tone, you raised your head again and interrupted him with your fingers pressed to his mouth.

There was no place for this here, with you. Not from Bruce, who already proved to be so much more than he dared believe. So much better. Once you had him quiet, you placed your head back on his chest and spoke:

“If this was your first, then I’m jealous of anyone who’s going to be with you next,” absentmindedly tracing the scars on his abdomen and letting the realization sink in.

The realization that it was true. You could do nothing about it without risking too much.

“That’s assuming there will be anyone else” Bruce’s quiet voice over your head was enough to make the breath catch in your throat, unwilling to believe you understood him correctly.

Could he mean it? You could not dare face his gaze again, so you stayed frozen in your spot, stopping the caress and choosing to stare at the wall instead. Mulling over the responses before settling for something that seemed good enough.

“Bruce…” the hint of a warning you did not mean yet chose to give anyway, “If you’re thinking what I assume you’re thinking, then don’t. I don’t want to have this conversation now” the tiredness seeped into your tone as you finished the sentence on a sigh.

Cuddling closer to what felt like safety. Closer to him.

“Why not?” even if, currently, Bruce was asking inconvenient questions.

Stifling the groan and biting hard into your lip to let the pain hide the ache of your cracking heart, you buried your head in the crook of his neck. Pressed your lips into his collarbone as Bruce’s arm tightened around your waist. Only when you felt like you could breathe again you opened your mouth:

“Because we could make promises we cannot keep” squeezing your eyes shut, you felt a stray tear trickle down your cheek.

When the morning light began falling through the crack between the curtains, you were both asleep. Denying the beginning of a new day and the traitorous passage of time.

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the-cult-of-russo · 1 year

Text

Just Beneath The Flames (Part 11)

Pairing: Billy Russo x Reader

Warnings: cursing, smut at some point probably lmao, zombie shit, typical canon violence. You know the drill.

A/N: I giveth and I taketh away lmaoooo Honestly, no fucking clue where this is going, I’m along for the ride just like you guys are. Settle in for some angst and shit.

You almost didn’t get this chapter today, I’ve literally only just finished writing it. I wound up with writer's block like a quarter of a way through and started to think the story was doomed. I got there in the end though looool I’m not sure if chap 12 will be up tomorrow though as I haven’t even started writing it yet and I have an appointment to have my bloods done tomorrow and I still feel like shit so… lmao

—-----------------

You strolled around the perimeter, knife in hand as your eyes swept around diligently. It had been almost three weeks since you all moved into the oversized cabin and you’d all settled in nicely. The place was huge, the lower floor comprising of a massive living area, complete with large plush sofas and a big fireplace. The large kitchen was on the other side, the whole floor being open plan except for a couple of closets. The top two floors were bedrooms, each floor having a large bathroom. The Liebermans, Matt and Foggy had the rooms on the second floor while you were on the top floor along with Frank and Karen, Curtis and Billy. You hadn’t expected to share a room with Billy, especially after the disaster of the kiss you’d shared, but it still took some getting used to having your own room. You missed sharing a tent with him, the comfort it would bring you. But you knew even if you had to share a room here, there would be no comfort to be found. Not anymore. In the three weeks that passed, Billy had become more and more distant with you to the point he barely even spoke to you anymore. You’d accepted the fact he hadn’t actually wanted to kiss you, accepted the fact he’d used your feelings to get you to do what he wanted. None of that mattered in the grand scheme of things because the friendship you’d had with him, the bond you’d formed, it meant far more than any feelings you may have developed for him. But that bond seemed to not exist anymore and that hurt you more than anything. You’d hoped that once you all settled in, maybe he’d warm back up. Even if he hadn’t wanted to acknowledge the kiss, you thought you’d eventually be able to speak to him again in a way that had you two back on good terms, but it hadn’t happened. You’d come back with the others and you’d all set up and with each passing day, he spoke to you less and less and you really couldn't figure out just what you’d done to deserve it.

It hadn’t escaped the others how he was behaving either. You’d seen the frown on Frank’s face when Billy would purposely brush you off if you tried to initiate some conversation with him, seen how he’d glare at Billy. You saw the curious looks from the others and the sad look on Karen’s face and you weren’t sure what to do with it. It made you feel isolated and lonely, just like the odd one out all over again. The others cared and they made an effort, especially Karen. She’d taken up your time with Billy’s absence, keeping you company and you loved her for it. Frank was also never too far away and always making sure you were okay and you’d even made a habit out of hunting with Matt and you enjoyed his company. But none of that compared to what you’d shared with Billy. He was their family first and you knew if he turned around tomorrow and said he wanted you gone because he was sick of looking at you, they’d have to let it happen. You hated feeling this alienated all over again. A week after being here, Karen and you had been in the kitchen cooking dinner with actual electricity which had been a trip and she’d told you not to let him get to you. That he was just dealing with a lot after the whole Rawlins thing. You’d allowed her words to comfort you, naive and stupid that was all it was. You’d let it because you’d seen him sometimes when he didn’t know you were looking, that lost faraway gaze he held like he didn’t know what to do with himself. You knew it wasn’t easy, even if he had finally gotten what he wanted. That was part of the problem. Because once it was done, there was an air of finality to it all, a feeling of being adrift at sea once the long-term goal had been reached. So you’d waited patiently, stupidly hoping that one day he’d flash you that smile of his and say something playful just like he used to, but he just pulled away further. You’d given up hope now, it was pointless. You didn’t think you were a coward. You’d faced a lot of shit head-on with this new way of life, but the idea of confronting him outright wasn’t something you could bring yourself to do. The only conclusion you could draw from his behavior was that he knew how you felt about him, used it to his advantage and then regretted it, worrying he’d given you false hope or something. And now he just felt awkward being around someone he knew liked him as more than a friend. You couldn't blame him entirely. You knew you’d feel just as awkward if it turned out Matt or Foggy liked you that way although you wouldn't be such a rude dick about it. This past week he’d gone from being distant to occasionally being rude and you’d gotten sick of it. You missed him, missed your friendship and the comfort it had brought you.

You rubbed your eyes tiredly, watching as the sun came up. You’d been taking watch more and more lately, your nights plagued with nightmares and bad thoughts. People hadn’t caught on at first, not noticing you offering to switch your shift with others and they’d been so grateful for the rest they hadn’t questioned it. But now, a few weeks in, you saw their concerned gazes when they realized you’d been on watch all night and barely had any sleep after. Once the sun was fully up, you sheathed your knife and trudged your way back to the house. The place itself was pretty perfect and you and Frank had even been talking about hitting up a garden center soon to get some fences put up and see if they had any crops to plant. It would be your dream to get that all set up, be more self-reliant. You guys could really make this place a home, you just wished you didn’t feel so empty inside. As you got around to the front of the house, you saw Frank and Billy through a couple of trees as they stood by the truck parked on the side of the road. Billy glanced up, his eyes locked onto yours and it made you bristle and you looked away quickly. Part of you wanted to be petty because of his behavior recently, to not look away until you made him feel awkward, but you couldn't. Your embarrassment over knowing that he knew how you felt about him and about the kiss outweighed the pettiness you felt. Annoyance prickled at you though at the idea of him trying to steal your garden center run off you. You’d barely been going on runs since you got here. Frank had given you excuses at first, saying things like there wasn’t enough room in the truck or he needed you here to keep an eye out. You’d bought it the first few times but started to get suspicious when it happened every single fucking time. Your suspicions were founded though as you overheard Billy telling Frank one day that he wouldn't be going on a run if you were there. You realized then that Billy had been the reason you were now excluded from runs. You tried not to let it bother you as you busied yourself here with all there was to do setting the place up and you still had your hunting, but it stung. This run though was yours, it was your idea to go and look for crops, to be able to grow your own food. You’d brought the idea to Frank and like fuck you were letting Billy kick you out of it.

“Y/N!” you heard Frank call out as you walked to the front porch. You turned around and he gestured with his head for you to come over. You felt your body tense tightly, much the same way Billy seemed to as he gave Frank an unimpressed look. You trudged over as you prepared yourself for what he was going to say. If he told you that you’d be staying back from the run, you’d end up resorting to violence.

“What’s up?” you asked as you got to them, making a point to not even glance Billy’s way. Frank's eyes flit over your face in a way that made you stuff your hands into your pockets and shrink a little.

“Karen said you took watch again last night,” he murmured, a concerned almost fatherly tone to his voice.

“Yeah?” you asked, looking confused as you shrugged at him.

“I think it’s great you wanna help out and all but… but I think you need to take a break,” he frowned.

“I can handle it, Frank,” you sighed.

“Of course you can,” Billy scoffed and your eyes snapped to him with such fire behind them he actually recoiled for a second.

“Something you wanna say, Russo?” you asked scathingly and he once again looked taken aback by the harshness of your tone for less than a moment before his face hardened.

“You’re gonna wind up getting us all killed,” he growled.

“Seriously?” you asked with an eye roll.

“You’ve been on watch every night for almost a week straight and you have an hour sleep at most after. What happens when your body gives out from exhaustion? What happens if you fall asleep when you’re supposed to be keepin’ us safe?” he asked roughly.

“Do you think I’m that stupid? Do you really think I’d do it if I didn’t think I could handle it, that I’d put everyone at risk?” you asked, offense coloring your face. Even if you wanted to escape your treacherous thoughts, you wouldn’t do it at the expense of your group's safety.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” despite his shitty attitude lately, you really hadn’t expected such malicious words to leave his lips and you felt white hot rage flow through you, your ears ringing. Before you knew what you were even doing, your knife was unsheathed, gripped in your hand as you took a menacing step towards him. Frank quickly got between you two, shaking his head.

“That’s enough, guys!” he chided with a deep frown. Your eyes hadn’t left Billy though and a slow and dark smirk spread across his face, he looked almost amused at you with your knife, something sinister shining behind his dark eyes.

“You really think you can stand there and judge me for the shit I’ve done? For failing the people I cared about? Maybe you should take a long look in the mirror, Billy, ‘cause I’m not the only one that’s failed people,” you hissed viciously. His smirk melted right off his face, his eyes flashing dangerously as he stood up taller, but Frank put a hand on his chest, shoving him back roughly as he still stood between you. At the back of your mind, you felt a pang of guilt knowing the people you were referring to were the family of the very man who was currently trying to break up the fight between you. Frank either didn’t connect the dots or he didn’t bother to look into it.

“I said enough!” he bellowed. He gave you a very unimpressed look before he turned and looked at Billy. You smirked inwardly, noticing the look he directed at his best friend was scathing, much worse than the one he’d given you. Billy’s eyes hardened, the two men glaring at each other for a moment and you had a feeling they were doing that thing again where they spoke without words. Either way, Billy scoffed and shook his head, giving you one last glower before he moved away, stomping to the trees. You noticed then he had his bow and arrows with him and in spite, you hoped he wouldn't find a damn thing when he went out there.

Frank sighed deeply, his body relaxing once Billy was gone and you sheathed your knife roughly, still feeling anger at how Billy had treated you. You didn’t want to stick around and get a lecture from Frank about your attitude or about how you’d been taking watch too much so you turned on your heel and started walking to the house.

“What the hell happened with you two?” Frank asked, stopping you in your tracks.

“I don’t know, Frank. He’s your best friend, why don’t you ask him?” you asked sourly, turning to face him once more. He was frowning as he looked at you.

“I tried askin’ him. Tried ‘til I was blue in the goddamn face but he just says he don’t wanna talk about it, so I’m askin’ you,” he said pointedly, raising a brow and you clenched your jaw. You were a little surprised he hadn’t told Frank about the kiss or anything, figuring as his best friend, he probably would have. The only reason you hadn’t told Karen was because it was weird considering Billy had been her family way before you’d been in the picture, but you’d wanted to tell her just to get it off your chest.

“Before you guys hit Rawlins, he kissed me. He kissed me and then when you guys came back out, he was different,” you muttered. Frank blinked rapidly, confusion and shock all over his face as he glanced to where Billy had disappeared through the trees before back at you. It seemed like you rendered him speechless for a moment and you didn’t want to stand here and talk about the fact you’d been kissed by someone you cared about, only to end up treated like this.

“I don’t know what the fuck is going on with him or why he’s being such an asshole, but keep him the hell away from me. If he tries to use my past against me like that again, you won't be around to stop my knife being buried in his neck,” you hissed, turning around and stomping over to the porch and up the steps. You knew it wasn’t true though. No matter how much he would hurt you, you knew you could never hurt him like that, not physically at least. And you’d feel bad for how you spoke to Frank later, knowing he was only trying to help. You were over it all.

It was only as you got to the top of the porch stairs that you noticed Zach was sitting on the porch with a comic and he gave you a sad smile. You felt a bit shitty then behaving that way in front of him and you gave him a weak smile in return, feeling yourself deflate before you slipped inside. You ended up hiding out in your room for a while, not wanting to bump into Billy when he came back from hunting. After a few hours of you laying on your bed feeling sorry for yourself, your door knocked before Karen slipped inside, giving you a tentative smile. You smiled back, sitting up and leaning against the headboard as she moved inside and sat on your bed.

“You should have told me that Billy kissed you,” she frowned, being blunt like she always was. You hadn’t expected her to come in here and talk about that, you’d figured she was just checking on you.

“Frank told you then,” you murmured, feeling the heat creeping into your cheeks.

“Of course he did. I feel awful, Y/N. All this time I’ve been making excuses for him and it turns out he kissed you, which just makes it even worse what he’s doing now,” she huffed, shaking her head. While it was slightly embarrassing she knew, you were partly grateful because now you could vent to her about it all. You’d been keeping it all locked inside and it had been killing you.

“I just… I don’t get it. At first after he… and how he acted after… I just thought that he didn’t like me that way, that he kissed me just so I wouldn’t go near Rawlins. We both know what he’s like, he’s not above lying or manipulation to get what he wants. If he thinks he’s doing the right thing then it’s worth it to him. And the idea of him using my own feelings against me sucked but I got it, I wasn’t mad. When he started pulling away I figured I made him awkward. Like he saw me as a little sister or something and he knew how I felt now so he was uncomfortable. But now he’s just acting like an asshole and honestly, it doesn't matter how I feel about him, I don’t think I deserve that,” you frowned, hurt lacing your voice. She scooted closer to you, taking your hand that had been anxiously picking at a thread on your jeans.

“You don’t deserve that. I really don’t know what’s gotten into him. I didn’t know him before… before the Castles, but Frank told me he hadn’t been the same since what happened to them. And before the world fell, he didn’t really do relationships, he was a bit of a player. He finds it hard to let people in, to trust them. It took him a while to even accept Matt and Foggy. But with you… he just clicked with you and sometimes, it was like he trusted you just as much as he trusted Frank. It surprised all of us. I don’t… I don’t understand why he’s doing this now,” she muttered sadly.

“I really thought we could try to get our friendship back on track. I thought that maybe if he warmed up a bit, I could show him I could hide my feelings and we could move past it all. But now… he knows I care about him yet he’s hurting me and I’m not gonna sit there and let him,” you sighed and Karen squeezed your hand.

“Maybe I could talk to him-” she started softly and you shook your head quickly.

“No. No, it’s too awkward. I’ll just stay out of his way and hopefully he’ll stay out of mine. Maybe he’ll stop being an asshole and we can go back to being strangers,” you muttered tensely. The idea made your chest ache but it would be better than whatever the fuck this was now. You hated him being so cruel to you like this and you knew it would only make things bad for everyone else in the group. You weren’t the type to sit there and let someone be rude to you, no matter who it was. You knew if he kept up with his bullshit, the pair of you were going to have some very bad fights and you didn’t want the others to have to put up with that, especially not the kids. You changed the subject after that, asking Karen what she was planning for dinner and luckily, she’d let you steer the talk away from Billy. After a while, she left but not before informing you that you wouldn’t be on watch tonight so you knew you were in for a rough night. Deciding not to dwell on it, you got off your ass and left your room since you had laundry duty. Karen had offered to do it for you so you could get some rest but you had politely declined. If you slept now there would be no way you’d sleep tonight.

You went downstairs and grabbed the large basket that held all the dirty laundry in it, hauling it up before you left out of the back door in the kitchen. The creek that had been near your old camp ran through here too and wasn’t too far from the back of the cabin. You’d all decided it was best to clean the clothes there instead of using the water in the cabin as you didn’t want to push your luck with it. You had no idea if it would crap out on you eventually. When you got to the creek, you tried to let the sounds of nature soothe you as you got to work. You emptied the clothes from the basket, a bar of soap in the bottom of it. The air was cold but the water was colder and you tried to ignore how it bit into your hands as you started to wash the clothes, wetting them before getting them soapy and rinsing them again. It took what felt like forever and your hands were numb when you were done. You tossed the wet clothes back into the basket haphazardly before making your way to the side of the cabin where a makeshift clothesline hung between the trees. You got the clothes off it that had been drying since the last laundry shift, them taking longer to dry in the cold. You chucked them in a pile on a rock before you started to hang up the newly wet clothes and then you started to fold all the other dry clothes up neatly, sorting them into piles before putting them into the basket. You picked up the basket and started making your way around the front of the house, but as you got to the corner, you noticed Billy sitting on the porch steps. You quickly ducked back behind the corner before he saw you, rolling your eyes at your own cowardice to even face him. You felt too raw and you didn’t want to have to deal with him being cruel to you again. You heard the front door open and close and you hoped Billy had gone inside, but you were wrong.

“Hey, uncle Billy,” Zach murmured and it sounded like he sat beside Billy.

“Hey, little man,” Billy replied softly. You glanced to the other end of the house, deciding on just going around the back and through the kitchen. You had no desire to stay here and listen in. Well, you hadn’t until Zach said something that made your feet take root to the floor.

“Why are you so mean to Y/N?” he asked bluntly. Your hands tightened around the basket and you could just imagine the curious look on the boy's face. You hated that it had been something he’d noticed, hated the tension the group could see. Billy was silent for a long moment and you started to wonder if he would even answer him. You wouldn't lie and say you weren’t curious about his answer, wanting one yourself.

“It’s just… grown up stuff,” Billy replied tensely and you had to clamp your mouth closed as you almost scoffed at the cop out answer.

“Grown up stuff?” Zach asked, he himself sounding like he knew it was a pile of shit.

“It’s complicated, alright?” Billy sighed.

“How is it complicated? You used to be close friends and now you’re just mean to her. She never smiles anymore and she's always just sad. Sometimes… sometimes she cries when she takes watch at night,” Zach murmured sadly and your head whipped to the side as if you’d be able to see through the building right to him. You felt shame burrow deep inside of you that he somehow knew about that and you could hear your heartbeat in your ears.

“What?” Billy asked slowly.

“Sometimes… I can’t sleep at night. So I sit by my window to look at the stars and… I’ve seen her sometimes… crying by the trees,” Zach answered quietly. You swallowed thickly, cursing yourself for being so stupid. Although in your defense, you’d hardly expected anyone to be able to see you. It hadn’t happened too often but sometimes the whole thing got too much for you. It hadn’t just been Billy to make you cry but it hadn’t really helped with all your already existing issues. Billy didn’t reply to that and you wondered what was going through his head. You hated the idea of him having more ammunition to throw at you at some point, the idea of him throwing this in your face would be humiliating.

“I might not be a grown up and maybe I don’t get it ‘cause I’m a kid but… mom always tells me and Leo to be kind to people, that they have their own struggles. I don’t know why you and Y/N aren’t friends anymore but you might wanna be kinder to her. This new world is scary… you don’t know how long she’ll be around,” with those ominous parting words you didn't think a kid would be capable of, it sounded like he got up and went inside. You heard Billy blow out a breath and you frowned to yourself, forcing yourself to walk to the other end of the house to go through the back, not wanting Billy to catch you there. You’d thought the kids were doing okay but the way Zach spoke made you think he was becoming a little jaded and you hated it.

You walked through the back door and surprisingly, Zach was already in the kitchen with Sarah and Karen who were getting started on dinner. You felt your cheeks flush at remembering his words and he came over to you, giving you a smile.

“Can I help?” he asked, glancing to the basket in your hands.

“It’s okay, I got it,” you said, a grateful smile on your face. He frowned a little though and you felt bad.

“Actually… you could take these up. These are for everyone on your floor,” you murmured as you got out the clothes that belonged to everyone on the second floor. He grinned then, looking happy to be useful and you wondered if he was starting to feel a little like a spare part here. If he was getting to the age where he wanted to start to feel useful and to be doing stuff to help out. He took the pile of clothes at the same time the front door opened. Your eyes flit over to see Billy come in but you looked away before he saw you, not wanting him to start anything. You could feel his eyes burning into you as Zach took the clothes before he trotted off up the stairs.

“Dinner won’t be too long,” Sarah murmured, squeezing your arm as she smiled at you and you nodded.

“I’ll just finish up with these,” you replied. As you made your way to the stairs, Billy was now nowhere to be found so you mused he’d gone to his room. You went to the third floor, going into the rooms and placing people's clothes on their bed. The rule was that if they were in the room, you didn’t just walk in, but you knew everyone else was downstairs so it was fine. You went in and out of the rooms before all that was left was yours and Billy’s clothes. You decided to go and put yours away first, getting it out of the way. You walked into your room, setting the basket on the bed before you put your clothes away. You stared at the clothes in the basket left, a dull ache starting in your chest. One hand came up to the necklace still around your neck that you hadn’t been able to bring yourself to take off. It was comforting and painful all at the same time with it still on and your fingers toyed with the moon pendant for a second before you sighed and slipped it back under your top. You grabbed the basket with one hand, Billy’s clothes in the other. You knew he was in his room so you’d just leave them outside. You would have done anyway, not wanting to just walk into his room even if he wasn’t in there. Just as you got to his door, it opened and you blinked up at him as he looked mildly shocked to see you. Your jaw set then, your eyes averting his. A petty part of you wanted to toss his neatly folded clothes to his feet but you pushed it down, holding his clothes out to him without looking at him or saying a word.

“Thanks…” he murmured, his voice soft and quiet as he took them from you. Not wanting to stick around in case he decided to start being a dick again, you turned away and started walking down the hall.

“Y/N,” his voice stopped you and you tensed, knuckles turning white with how hard you were clutching the basket. You turned around apprehensively and he was standing outside of his door. His eyes didn’t land on you, looking everywhere else instead as he stood there rigidly and rolled his shoulder.

“I uh…” his mouth floundered for a moment and stupid hopeful part of you wondered if he might apologize for how he’d been behaving after Zach’s words. That maybe it had shown him just how shitty he was being.

“It… it doesn’t matter,” he muttered, his brows creasing a little. You shook your head, a bitter smile painting your lips before you turned away once more and made your way down the stairs. You should know better than to be hopeful about anything. You tried to ignore the stinging disappointment as you went and put the basket where it belongs in the kitchen before walking into the living area where everyone usually had dinner. There were three big sofas and two armchairs but it still wasn't room for everyone. The kids were in their usual spot on the plush fur rug by the fireplace as they ate, their parents on one of the sofas. Matt and Foggy were on another sofa and Curtis was sitting in an armchair. Karen was handing out food, Frank on the last sofa with a spot for her and for Billy and you took residence on the other armchair that you’d practically claimed as yours. You gave Karen a smile as she handed you a bowl of soup and you dug into it. You all ate together but you didn’t sit around waiting for everyone to be seated to eat. Billy came down a few minutes later and you felt your appetite wane as he glanced over at you. He moved over to sit with Frank who gave him a look before Karen gave him his soup.

The next day, you were standing by the truck as you made sure you had all of your stuff ready. Dinner the night before had been as awkward as it usually was when someone was purposely not talking to you but you had decided to just ignore it. You were excited for the run today, your run, and you and Frank were by the truck as you waited for Micro to come out as he’d be joining you both. You had no idea if you’d find what you were looking for there but it was worth a try and you were excited to just get out for once. You were sick of Billy stopping you going on runs. Micro came out, a lopsided grin on his face directed at you and Frank as he came over, shuffling the backpack on his shoulder.

“We ready to go?” he asked. He also looked excited to go out. He hadn’t been in a while as he'd been with Sarah but you were pretty sure she was feeling a little smothered since she’d been adamant he came along.

“Yep,” you grinned as Micro hopped into the bed of the truck, excitement thrumming through you as you glanced to Frank. He had a weird look on his face like he was deep in thought and you are about to ask him what was wrong. That was before the front door opened and you looked over, seeing Billy walking right towards the truck, his knife and gun on him. You narrowed your eyes, head whipping to Frank who shifted on his feet.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” you muttered to him and he gave you a sheepish look, unable to meet your eyes.

“He really wanted to come,” he shrugged and you scoffed.

“And I’ve really wanted to go on a bunch of runs since being here and I’ve not been able to go ‘cause his Highness didn’t want me there,” you hissed. His eyes snapped to you then, shocked and slightly guilty. You’d never told Frank you’d overheard his conversation with Billy that day, you’d just allowed him to feed you his bullshit excuses until you stopped bothering to ask to go along.

“Y/N,” Frank started, guilt coating his voice but he was cut off as Billy finally got to the truck.

“Ready?” he asked, looking at Frank and not at you.

“You’re not coming,” you bit out, giving him a sour look. He dragged his dark eyes to you then, an amused and patronizing smirk on his lips.

“Is that right?” he asked teasingly and your eyes narrowed to slits.

“We could use another set of hands here, Y/N,” Frank tried to soothe, giving you a look that asked you to drop it.

“Then ask Matt to come,” you muttered blandly.

“Sorry, sweetheart, but your little blind boyfriend’s busy,” Billy smirked coldly and your brows almost flew off your head as you looked at him.

“Jesus Christ, that's enough! Stop with the jealous, petty bullshit, Bill. And Y/N, I know this is your run but I could use his help. You’ll go off with Micro to get your shit, I’ll take Bill to help with mine. Stop actin’ like a pair of fuckin’ kids,” Frank snapped, giving you both a firm look before he hopped into the driver’s side and slammed the door. You pursed your lips feeling like a scolded child but through the embarrassment, your brain wondered why Frank told Billy to stop being jealous. You didn’t even spare Billy a look as you moved around to the other side of the truck, opening the door and climbing in. You figured Billy would hop into the truck bed and sit with Micro and you were looking forward to the distance. It didn’t happen that way though as he grabbed the door as you tried to pull it shut and you squinted at him.

“Move up,” he smirked. You were sure your right eye twitched but not wanting to annoy Frank any more than you had, you shot him a glower before sliding up next to Frank in the middle of the seat. Billy climbed in after you and you found yourself smushed against Frank’s side just so you didn’t touch Billy. You didn’t miss the shake of Frank’s head as he sighed, giving Billy a look over your head before he put the truck in drive and pulled out.

The ride was too uncomfortable. You knew if it had just been you and Frank it would have been full of talk and banter, it would have been a good time. But this run you’d been looking forward to was now tarnished by the long-legged asshole sitting next to you and you knew he’d sat next to you just to piss you off as he sat there with his legs spread, taking up as much room as possible. You wanted to kill Frank for agreeing to let him come. The trip seemed to last forever and you decided that on the way back, you’d be sitting with Micro in the truck bed. It was less comfortable in the physical sense but there was no way in hell you were doing this again. Halfway there and Frank and Billy started talking among themselves about nothing in particular and you tried to tune it out as you wished for the truck to speed up. But then Billy shifted, his leg knocking into yours and your head snapped to him, eyes narrowed to slits as annoyance prickled you all over. He looked at you, his face impassive as his cold eyes pinned you in place. You refused to look away though, glaring at him and at your unwavering gaze, he raised a brow before an amused smile curled on his lips that had you almost throttling him.

“I swear to god, Bill. You wanna act like a damn child, I’ll treat you like one. You need me to turn this truck around and take you home?” Frank asked annoyed, a stern face as he glanced over to Billy who blinked at his friend, mild shock on his face. It didn’t last too long then as defiance crossed his face, his eyes hardening as he glared at Frank who was simultaneously glowering at him and trying to keep his eye on the road. When Billy didn’t move an inch, Frank slammed on the brakes so hard you yelped, hands reaching to the dashboard so you didn’t hit it and you heard Micro shout something from the back.

“Get in the back with Micro,” Frank demanded and you blinked at him before looking at Billy who snorted.

“That’s a joke, right?” he asked, sounding far too amused. Frank didn't laugh, didn’t even crack a smile.

“Does it look like I’m fuckin’ around to you?” he asked and you were surprised by the severity of his tone, the harsh look directed at his friend. Billy also looked shocked before he scoffed, shaking his head before he got out and slammed the door hard before he climbed into the back. You finally felt like you could breathe and you slid over, able to now sit comfortably without squashing Frank. You weren’t sure why you were the one feeling embarrassed, after all, it was Billy who had been acting like a child. But the whole thing made you feel a little awkward and uncomfortable. Frank looked in the rearview and once he saw Billy was situated he started driving again.

“You can punch him if you want, I wouldn’t blame you,” he muttered after a while. You smiled to yourself, leaning your head on the cold glass of the window.

“I doubt it would help,” you shrugged, although with the way you were currently feeling, you knew it would probably make you feel a bit better.

“Want me to do it?” Frank asked, a sly grin on his face. You had no idea if he was serious or not but you snorted and shook your head.

“I’ll get back to you on that one,” you smiled and he chuckled. You relaxed in your seat now and felt much better. You hoped once you got there, Frank would keep him the hell away from you.

“I know… I know you’re probably mad at me for lettin’ him come. In my defense, I told him no a million times but we know what he’s like. Woulda fuckin’ turned up anyway, figured it’d be easier this way. Asked him to behave himself but I’m not sure why the fuck I thought he’d listen,” he frowned with a shake of his head.

“It’s fine, as long as he sticks with you, I’ll be okay,” you murmured. While you weren’t exactly happy with Frank letting him come, you knew he was right. And you knew you were putting Frank in a tough spot here since Billy was his best friend. You were surprised he’d been sticking up for you as much as he had been but then again, Frank was a good man and even though Billy was his best friend, he wouldn’t stand there and let him be a dick for no reason.

When Frank finally got to your destination you leaned closer to the glass to see it. The building was huge, looking almost like a large greenhouse, the whole place made of glass and metal beams. It was surrounded by a high chain link fence and Frank pulled right into the car park. You hopped out of the truck as the others all got ready and you noticed a few large trucks on the far end of the car park, Micro saying something about how they might have shit in them from the last delivery. Frank was telling everyone the plans but movement through the glass at the front of the store caught your eye. You couldn't see through the glass as it was covered in grime, dirt and what looked like blood. You stepped closer, trying to see if you could gauge how many of the dead might be in there but then your eyes widened as you got a little closer and you took a quick step back.

“I uh… we might have a problem,” you muttered, eyes not leaving the building as the guys all turned to you.

“What is it?” Frank asked, the three men moving to stand next to you.

“Holy shit,” Billy breathed at the same time as Frank’s “What the fuck?” The dirt from the windows was being smeared away, revealing a sea of the dead inside that were pawing at the glass. There were so many and you felt yourself deflate a little. You knew someone had to put them here, just like the ones that had been locked in the carpark at the baby store. With how dirty the glass seemed though, this seemed to have happened a while ago. You really wished people would stop locking herds away like this because you seemed to end up having to deal with it.

“Guess we ain’t goin’ in there,” Billy mused darkly and you tried not to let the disappointment eat at you too much. You should have known something would go wrong, you’d been far too hopeful that you’d be able to get some crops out of this.

“Well… we could still look in the trucks, right? I mean, there might be some stuff there?” Micro asked hopefully. You nodded numbly, letting Frank put his hand on your back as he guided you away from the dead that seemed to be mocking you from behind the glass. Frank tossed Billy the truck keys so he could drive it up closer to the delivery trucks with them being so far away and you walked with Micro and Frank to them. Your annoyance of Billy’s presence had all but dissipated with how despondent you felt over this. When you got to the trucks, Frank used his knife to jimmy open the back door, pushing the rolling door upwards to reveal piles of bags. He hopped inside and you moved over to the door, noticing it was full of compost as Frank climbed over the bags and rummaged around.

“Nothin’ else in here,” he muttered, just as Billy parked up and came over.

“The compost is good though. Even if we don’t get any crops today, it’d be handy to have for when we find some,” you mused, trying your hardest to look on the bright side. Frank gave you a smile, grabbing a bag and handing it to you and you moved to put it on the bed of the truck. Billy went and opened the second truck as Frank handed you another bag and you continued to load a few into the truck bed. You were curious about what he’d found but didn’t want to ask him. You didn’t have to wait for long though.

“Buncha seeds, but they all look like flowers,” he frowned, hopping out of the truck. You climbed inside to check yourself and he looked almost offended. It wasn’t that you didn’t believe him but you wanted to check he hadn’t missed anything. He hadn’t been the one to arrange this run, the one to be so hopeful about finding things to be able to be self sustainable. You grabbed the packets, looking them over quickly and discarding them as you went. Roses, tulips, forget-me-nots. You huffed a sigh as you tossed them, getting frustrated when you found nothing useful. A loud shrill sound made you drop a packet as you jumped and you quickly jumped out of the truck.

“David! What the fuck?!” Billy yelled and you soon realized that Micro had opened the last truck, only to set the alarm off. It was loud and made your brain hurt and you covered your ears as a frantic looking Frank moved over to the front door of the truck. The door wouldn't open and he ripped his jacket off, balling it around his hand before he punched the window to break it. He quickly unlocked the door, hopping in as he tried to kill the very loud noise that would be drawing in dead ones from a five mile radius. Another noise hit your ears then as you watched the men clamber to try and shut the truck off and you stepped away from the truck, the noise itching the back of your brain as it was familiar to you. You couldn't place it. But then you heard it again even louder and your eyes drifted to the front of the store, horror sweeping right though you when you saw a large crack that seemed to spread from the bottom where the roamers were hungrily hitting the glass at the noise, all the way up, getting bigger and branching off. For a moment, you froze completely, eyes wide as if waiting for a tidal wave to sweep you up and carry you out to sea.

“Guys?” you called out, your chest feeling tight. They didn’t hear you over the alarm and they were already yelling at each other as they tried to turn the alarm off.

“Guys?!” you bellowed more forcefully, just as the alarm stopped going off and your ears felt weird at the sensation.

“What?” they all called back simultaneously.

“We’ve got a bigger problem,” you swallowed thickly, your voice wobbling a little. The grave nature of your voice had them all rushing from the front of the truck and as if waiting for them to arrive, the glass at the front of the store shattered into a million tiny little fragments. There was a beat of silence, everyone stood in shock, before a wave of the dead poured out. This was the most you’d seen in a very long time. Blind fear rushed through you, making you feel cold and your feet took root to the floor as Frank started yelling to get in the truck. Billy suddenly grabbed you, hauling you up like a sack of potatoes before he hopped into the bed of the truck with you, Frank driving and Micro in the front. The tires screamed as he put his foot down and the truck spun around since it had been facing the wrong way and you almost flew right out of the truck until Billy grabbed you, forcing you to sit on the floor.

The truck stopped and Billy started shooting some of them as they advanced, getting them in the head as they fell to the floor.

“There’s too many,” you muttered to yourself, shaking your head as your eyes flit around. They were blocking the entrance and you knew even if you used your bow and the others all used their guns, it wouldn’t be enough and would only leave you with no ammo.

“Hold on!” Frank called out and you knew he had his window open since you heard him clear enough. You didn’t have time to process his words before he accelerated again and you gripped the side of the truck to steady yourself as he took off. Your heart was hammering away, hoping he wasn’t choosing to mow through the dead. There were so many of them, you knew the truck would get stuck. Instead, Billy suddenly shoved you to lay on the floor, his body over yours and before you had a chance to understand why he'd done it, you felt the impact as Frank rammed right through the fence, plowing it right down. The truck slowed for a mere moment before he tore out of there and the deafening chorus of the dead started to fade away as you lay there. Billy rolled off you, the pair of you lay side by side as you panted and you felt dizzy from the adrenaline of it all.

“Fuck,” he muttered breathlessly and you nodded at the sentiment. After about five minutes of Frank speeding down the road, he eventually slowed before he pulled over. You knew the dead wouldn't catch up and you could only hope they wouldn't all stay in a clump and come your way at some point, but you thought the cabin would be far enough away that you’d avoid it.

“Everyone alright?” Frank asked as he climbed out of the truck, Micro following suit. None of you had been close enough to the dead to have been hurt but you appreciated Frank asking anyway.

“Other than the heart attack I’m currently having? Peachy,” you snorted as you sat up. Billy sat up to, running a hand through his disheveled hair. With that drama out of the way and the threat in the distance, the disappointment clung to you desperately once again.

“I’m sorry, Frank,” you sighed with a deep frown. Not only had you been the one to convince him to come here and it turned out to be a bust, but you all could have died over this.

“Nah, none of that bullshit, alright? It was worth a try. And besides, we got… we got the compost so, it wasn’t a complete waste,” he smiled at you but his words were firm.

“That wasn’t all we got,” Micro grinned and you all turned to him then as he grabbed something from his pocket. He held out a packet and you took it, a beaming smile splitting your face when you saw it was potato seeds.

“Where did you-? How?” you asked, turning your happy face to him. He looked so proud of himself.

“They were in the last truck, managed to grab ‘em before all hell broke loose,” he snorted. You hopped over the side of the truck, grabbing him in a hug that made him laugh.

“Thank you,” you grinned, squeezing him for a moment before you let him go. Frank clapped you on the back as Micro climbed into the truck bed once more.

“It’s a start, right?” Frank asked, a genuine smile on his face at your happiness. You nodded, clutching the packet tightly in your hands. It was a start. It might not have been all you’d hoped for but it was more than you left with. You really couldn't wait to get started with planting. You hoped one day, you’d have a bunch of crops and you wouldn't have to worry about food so much. As you got into the truck next to Frank, you smiled down at the packet in your hand, thinking about the future and that maybe, you might all have a chance at a real life after all.

Taglist: (if you’ve been asked to be tagged and aren’t here, it wouldn’t let me tag some people.)

@firexfate

@blanchedelioncourt

@ariesbutalibra

@sunshinedaisies-anddeath

@snowkestrel

@music-indie-tv

@idaofinfinity

@sweetserendipity65

@ramadiiiisme

@k-marzolf

@celestialams

@woowwwee

@noortsshift

#billy russo imagine #billy russo fanfic #billy russo x reader #billy russo

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thaliaisalesbian · 10 months

Text

i get myself twisted in threads

Chapter 9: and the last thing you wanted

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

Steve knows when he wakes up that Nancy and Jonathan stayed.

Nancy’s curled into his good side, and she and Jonathan are holding hands across his body.

It’s hard not to want to fall asleep again, or at least pretend until they get up and leave for school.

They don’t want him. Not even as a friend.

This is just… pity. Or something. They feel bad because he’s hurt, they don't actually care about him. And why would they? He was a terrible boyfriend, apparently, and just shitty to Jonathan. They don't have any reason to like him; it’s not like he's given them any.

'Then why have they hardly left your side since you woke up?’ Maybe they think they owe him, maybe it’s to keep the kids out, but he’s not entirely stupid. It’s not because of him.

(He can't let himself hope. Maybe they’ll tell him he's wrong… or maybe he’s exactly right and things will go back to normal soon.)

He can’t get out of bed without waking one of them up, and he doesn’t want to talk right now.

So he’ll pretend for a little longer, go back to sleep and imagine that maybe this is something he could have.

It’s easily the middle of the day when he finally sits up, alone in the bed. His jaw is aching, so he must have been trying not to scream in his sleep.

He ignores the pulsing hurt that seems to spiral from his heart down through his wounded side when he realizes that the spots to either side of him have long since gone cold.

They have school, and they wouldn’t want to stay here for him all day anyway.

Irene might be here—he always seems to sleep through her visits, though. Probably for the best; he knows that Joyce has changed out the catheter once or twice, but it’s usually Irene who does it and he'd rather not be awake for that.

El, then? She's usually here.

Or maybe Hopper took her back to the cabin. He should be fine on his own now, right? The fever broke, and sure he’s still a little unsteady on his feet but he can handle it. Especially with the IV pole to lean on.

He’ll go back to his house today, probably. Going back to school will be a little harder, but he’ll figure something out. He always has before.

He still has to find out what Hopper told the school happened, so he can stick with that story.

He pauses to catch his breath, leaning against the wall, before he tries to go into the more open living room and kitchen on his own.

“Do you think he’s awake yet?”

“He’s recovering, Nance, he’s going to sleep a lot. It’s normal.”

Nancy and Jonathan? Why are they here? Why did they stay?

“Steve!” Nancy’s in one of his sweatshirts, his swim one from sophomore year, with his name on the back. “You’re awake!”

Steve shoves that to the back of his mind. She grabbed clothes for him, it was just in that pile.

(He's ignoring that Nancy would have had to look for that sweatshirt—he hasn't worn it in a year at least and it was no doubt buried under everything else.)

He’s probably going to get that a lot this week.

“Yeah,” Steve looks between her and Jonathan. “What about school?”

“We’ve got passes for the rest of the week,” Jonathan says. “Hopper told them you were kidnapped and having concussion and other recovery issues. He and Mom are working today through Saturday.”

Oh. So that’s why they’re here. Because Joyce or Hopper can’t be.

“Are you okay to stand?” Nancy’s hovering, and she’s not usually someone who hovers. With Mike and Holly, maybe, but certainly never him.

He untangles his legs from the blanket and stands to prove he is.

It doesn’t matter anyway, because Jonathan ducks under his good arm and takes some of his weight.

“We’ve got more soup.” He offers. “Or I could make grilled cheese.”

Grilled cheese sounds like something he’ll throw up right now.

No thanks.

“Soup is fine.”

He doesn’t know what else to say. Maybe if he still had a fever this would be easier. At least when he’s got a fever, he’s got an excuse for not saying anything.

Nancy turns on the TV; one of those daytime shows he’s never paid much attention to.

He doesn’t ask what they were doing, or why Nancy’s wearing his sweatshirt, or where El is, or even just to change the channel.

Steve doesn’t know where he stands with them right now and it’s weird. Usually, it’s not this hard; he knows the script when he’s dropping off or picking up the kids and that’s easy enough.

He can't figure out why they’re being so nice about it all. No one else is here.

They don't have to pretend.

(Steve refuses to let himself think that they're not pretending, or feeling guilty. Not after what they said, even if he wasn’t supposed to hear it.)

He doesn’t want to say or do the wrong thing, though, and make the niceness go away. He wants to keep it while he can.

It's better just not to say anything, especially because he has no idea what the wrong thing might be.

finish on ao3 or continue reading

Jonathan keeps an ear trained on the living room as he reheats the soup. Steve had been more unsteady on his feet than he’d likely wanted to admit, his face nearly grey when he stood up. Steve hasn’t said anything, but Jonathan knows it has to hurt. Steve doesn’t seem willing to admit that, though—he can understand not wanting to let on in front of the kids, but he seems to think he still needs to hide it around them.

Nothing but the TV.

He brings three bowls out, so it’s not him and Nancy watching Steve eat in silence.

This is already awkward enough.

“You don’t have to stay with me.” Steve doesn’t look up at them, staring into his bowl. He hasn’t had more than a few spoonfuls. He’d gone weeks without proper food, of course he can’t get through a whole bowl of soup quickly. “I’ll be okay. I can probably go back to my house today, anyway.”

“No!” Nancy looks like she’s going to start lecturing. “Steve, you’ve got twenty stitches in your side, you can hardly walk, you’re not going back there alone.”

“I’ll manage, I’ve done it before. Broke my ankle playing basketball freshman year and handled the stairs alright with crutches.”

“By yourself?” Jonathan can’t even picture his mom making him do the dishes while on crutches.

“Yeah. Why would my parents come home for something as small as a broken ankle?”

“Steve.”

“It’s fine, Nance—Nancy—it was three years ago.”

“Steve." She repeats, like she can change his mind.

“Can we go for a drive?” Steve sets the bowl aside. “I won’t try to leave or anything, but I want to do something.”

“I guess that’s okay.” Jonathan says, before Nancy can shut the idea down. “I’ll drive, we’ll put one of your tapes in.”

“Jonathan, what? Why would you agree to that?”

“You can’t tell me you wouldn’t get bored sitting in a house all day.” Even though he knows that that’s not what’s going on here; it’s close to lunchtime for the kids at school and he suspects Steve knows that. It’s a nice enough day that they’ll probably be eating outside, and if Steve wants to drive by and see that they’re okay he’s not going to argue with him about it.

Or maybe Steve wants to see Hawkins free of vines and black goop, and driving around town will help him more than staying inside.

Either way, Jonathan’s not about to deny him something as simple as sitting in a car.

“Steve, you’re still hurt, it’s not safe.”

“I’ll be sitting in a car, Nancy. I won’t even be driving.”

“Jonathan, what would your mom say?” She turns to him, trying to get her on his side, and he knows she’s just worried about Steve, but making him stay here isn’t going to help anything.

“She probably wouldn’t mind, as long as we’re careful.” He shrugs. “Besides, I can guarantee that at least one of those kids forgot their lunch.”

Steve perks up a little at the mention of the kids, and he sees the moment Nancy realizes what’s really going on.

“I bet it would be nice for El if we brought her something to the cabin, too.” She suggests. “She and Hopper have spent so much time here lately I doubt they have the fridge stocked much.”

“We could pick up groceries?” Steve’s sitting a little straighter now, even though it looks like it hurts. “I try to do a weekly run because Hopper is busy and I like to teach El to cook different meals.”

“A small one, maybe.” Jonathan agrees. Letting Steve take care of the kids—even if he's not supposed to be doing anything—is probably the best thing they can do for him right now.

“You’re not going to let me cook, are you?”

“Not standing, anyway.”

It’s not as awkward as it was just an hour ago when Jonathan pulls Steve’s good arm across his shoulders, taking as much of his weight as Steve will let him.

Nancy watches Steve in the rearview mirror. He’s hummed along to a few songs, nothing like the way he used to sing while he drove, loud and outrageous just to make her laugh. He’d wanted to be alone in the backseat.

His knuckles are white clutching onto the extra lunches they’d made. She’d made, while Jonathan had helped Steve change and clean up a little.

They go to the middle school first. Steve doesn’t even have to roll down his window and shout to get the kids’ attention from where they’re eating on the curb, because they know Jonathan’s car as soon as they see it.

“Steve!” Dustin crams in first, shoving Steve against the door, ignoring his wince, or maybe just not catching it. “Are you supposed to be here? Are you okay?”

“Move it, nerd!” Max pokes at Dustin until he lets her get close to Steve, too. “He wanted to see me, we all know I’m his favorite.” Lucas climbs in after her, but he just sits on the seat quietly.

“No, I am!” She’s afraid she’s going to have to step in for a minute, but Steve dissolves the fight before it really starts.

“I don’t have favorites, shitheads.” He tosses Will one of the bags out the window; at least he and Mike aren’t fighting to get in the car too. Then she’d really have to step in and rescue Steve.

“Just don’t tell them that you’re my favorite, kiddo.” He stages-whispers to Will, and Dustin falls back into Max dramatically. She rolls her eyes and shoves him off towards Lucas.

“No! Steve! I’m supposed to be your favorite! I met you first!”

“And I’m the one who helped you with the bus!” Max pushes Dustin a little harder, that time.

“Well, he helps me with basketball, so I think I win.” Lucas doesn’t even try not to look smug, and god, Nancy never thought she’d see the day where her kid brother’s friends are fighting over who Steve Harrington likes more.

Mike rolls his eyes at all of them, but he’s always had a thing about Steve, so she’s not too worried about that.

“How long do you have before class?” Jonathan asks Will.

“What? We’re not going back to class! We can spend the day with Steve, right? And go to the arcade or something?”

“No, we can’t. Steve can’t go to the arcade, he’s hurt.” Max elbows Dustin maybe a little too hard.

“You’re going back to class.” Steve fixes them all with a look she’s only ever seen on her mom and Joyce Byers before. “I just wanted to—”

“Come check on us?” Will finishes quietly. “Thanks, Steve.” He reaches through the window to hug Steve as best he can. “Come on, guys, we don’t want to be late to class. Thanks for lunch.” He hugs Jonathan through the front window, too, and waves at her. Mike doesn’t bother, following him immediately.

Max takes the other two bags, and Nancy pretends not to see Steve tugging her braid gently and kissing her head.

It’s not like Billy Hargrove is the shining example of a wonderful older brother, after all. They’ve never gotten the full story about that night out of the kids or Steve. At least, she hasn’t. Maybe Joyce and Hopper know more.

Lucas and Max have to pull Dustin out of the car to get him to leave, and then all three of them watch as they drive away.

None of them speak until Jonathan puts the car in park again. Nancy wants to ask Steve why he keeps looking at them the way he does. It reminds her of the days after Tina’s party, when sometimes she’d catch him looking at her with a tired kind of sadness.

Like he was just waiting for her to decide when she’d leave.

“You’re not going in, Steve, Nancy will and you and I will stay out here.” Jonathan clicks the locks on the car door when they park. Steve could pull it up easily and get out anyway, but he doesn’t. He’s pale, and not entirely focused.

“Okay.” She glances at Jonathan, but he seems determined to see this through, even if Steve looks like he’s drained now.

Maybe they’ll talk. Maybe Jonathan will be able to get Steve to say something, anything, and they’ll be able to figure things out.

“Tell my mom what we’re doing, would you?” Jonathan leans over to whisper in her ear. “I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Nancy nods, kissing him quickly. She doesn’t want Steve to know they’re talking about him like this, even though if he were paying attention he’d know anyway.

She’s got a list, from Steve. He hadn’t been able to write it down, so she’d had to do it for him.

“Nancy!” The store is empty, so Joyce hurries over when she walks in. “Is something wrong?”

“No, no, nothing’s wrong. Steve wanted to go for a drive and we checked up on the kids at school. He wants to go see El now, and wants to bring her something.”

“That’s sweet of you, to drive him around.” Joyce visibly relaxes when she realizes nothing is going on. Nothing bad, at least. “How has he been?”

“Jonathan’s been helping him walk, and he’s been a lot quieter than usual.” She double checks the list as they walk the store. “I think checking up on the kids made him feel a little better. If it were up to him, I don’t think they’d leave his sight.”

“I was the same with Will, at first.” She laughs a little. “You should talk to him.”

“I know.” She wants to, but she doesn’t know how to bring it up.

‘Hey, Steve, I’m kind of actually a little bit in love with you, and Jonathan, and Jonathan loves you too, and we both want to date you.’ seems like it would be a little overwhelming.

But between how he’s been acting and the look in his eyes, she doesn’t think he’d believe her.

She's pretty sure he still thinks they hate him.

It all feels overwhelming, even for her, and she’s usually pretty decent at handling this stuff.

Okay, not really, but she would like to think she’s gotten a little better.

“I hope you’re not letting Steve cook.”

“Jonathan’s already told him he has to sit on a stool.” Joyce shakes her head.

“Have you told Hopper about this?”

That’s what she’d been forgetting.

“I’m sure he won’t mind.” Joyce is quick to assure her. “Steve is at the cabin most days as it is. That’s the last of your list, dear.”

“Thanks, Joyce.” She manages to fit all of the bags on her arms. “I’ll see you tonight, probably.”

“Don’t plan on it; El is likely to want to keep Steve for the night and don’t think Hopper and I haven’t noticed how you and Jonathan haven’t left him unless we make you.”

Yeah, they have been pretty obvious about it.

“And, Nancy,” Joyce starts, “You can’t let this linger. I know none of you are ready to talk about whatever issues you’ve had lately, but sometimes there isn’t a right time to have a conversation, there’s just a time.”

Joyce is right. Nancy doesn’t know how she knows, because she hasn’t said anything and she’s sure Jonathan and Steve haven’t, either.

That doesn’t matter, because she’s right. They'll have to talk soon. They’ll have to find out what, exactly, Steve overheard and what he thinks they meant and correct it. But she doesn’t want to hold that conversation when he’s practically bedridden, not if she can help it.

No one had ever told her that growing up would be this complicated.

<- 8 10 ->

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