Tumgik
#girl help i am about to go on another 4 hour deep dive to see if i can find any more leads about who the hell made this god damn remix
bmpmp3 · 3 years
Text
Hey girl. I am thinking about that mysterious remix of Monster by Meg and Dia again.
17 notes · View notes
ppangjae · 3 years
Text
NINETEEN | Jaehyun (TEASER)
Tumblr media
SUMMARY. He’s always wondered how it felt to fall in love. She’s always wondered how it felt to be loved. The soulmate timer embedded on his wrist stopped counting down. She coughs up cherry blossom petals. Somehow, boy meets girl, and they become two less lonely people in a world where everyone is destined to have and be a soulmate. 
GENRE. hanahaki disease!au | enemies to lovers!au | slight high school!au | college!au | fluff | angst
pairing. jeong jaehyun x fem!reader
word count. tbd
playlist. nineteen by sole | same by sole ft. thama | lovin’ u by sole ft. ph-1 
Tumblr media
Jaehyun always wondered how it felt to fall in love.
Too bad he’ll never know.
“Happy Birthday, Valentine boy.” He snaps out of his thoughts when a bouquet of white and red roses are slammed on top of his desk. His best friend, Yuta, earns a death glare from him. Yuta could only smirk, plopping his butt down on a chair he dragged from across the classroom. “How many admirers do you have this year?”
Jaehyun snorts, shaking his head. “One.”
“Only one?” Yuta’s eyebrows raise. He squints his eyes and dives deep into thought. “I wonder who it might be—”
“It’s you.” Jaehyun cuts him off, shoving the bouquet of roses into Yuta’s chest. He nods his head at the bouquet of flowers. “Aren’t you going to give those to her?”
“To who?”
It’s Valentine’s Day, the day Jaehyun dreads with his entire existence. It’s the day where all the soulmates gather together and go out on the cringiest of dates where they stuff each other with chocolates and flowers. It’s the day where he not-so-celebrates his birthday, thus, earning the nickname of Valentine boy. He’s not sure if he’s so deserving of such a nickname, hell, he’s not so sure if he’s deserving of even being born on Valentine’s Day. Being born on the day to fall in love is like a huge slap to the face because Jaehyun will never get close to the feeling of falling in love. 
“Y/N.” Jaehyun smirks.
“You and I both know I don’t like her like that.” Yuta sighs, looking down at what seems is his wrist. Jaehyun’s curious, several thoughts running through his head until his thoughts are answered when Yuta shows him the digits embedded on his wrist. “It popped up on my eighteenth birthday.”
Yuta analyzes Jaehyun’s expression. Talking about soulmate counters was a touchy subject for Jaehyun. Jaehyun stares at the tattooed timer on Yuta’s wrist, 62:04:52:01. Yuta has 62 days, 4 hours, 52 minutes, and 1 second until he meets his soulmate. Yuta holds in his breath, his nervousness vanishing the moment Jaehyun breaks out into a small grin. 
“Y/N isn’t your soulmate, then.” Jaehyun raises an eyebrow. 
Yuta shakes his head. “And that’s my current problem. I’m not sure how to tell her.”
“How are you so sure that she has some sort of feelings for you?” Jaehyun smirks. “Has she even confessed to you yet?”
He scratches the back of his neck. “Well—”
“Yuta?”
Speaking of the devil, you stand at the doorway, holding a letter behind your back. Jaehyun watches you as you awkwardly stand there, eyes wide and innocent, perfectly polished from head to toe. He knows that look, he’s seen it many times before. You’re in love. He can’t help but feel bad for you. 
You and Yuta have been best friends since you were both in diapers. No one ever saw one without the other because the two of you were attached together by the hip. Throughout elementary and high school, you and Yuta have been assigned in the same classroom. That is, until twelfth grade. It was a completely different shift, you had to make new friends, and being sociable alone was already difficult for you. Jaehyun, a trickster and someone you consider far from an acquaintance, makes your life ten times more difficult. But somehow, aside from you, he’s Yuta’s closest friend. People would often assume, if you and Yuta get along well, how different would it be between you and Jaehyun? 
“Looks like someone’s going to confess—”
“I am not.” You glare at Jaehyun. You muster up a smile for Yuta. “Yuta, is it possible if I can talk to you? Privately?”
“Yep, she’s going to confess—” Jaehyun snorts.
“I’ll meet you outside. You can wait for me there, I just need to have a quick word with Jaehyun—”
“What’s there to talk about—”
“Just go along with it.” Yuta says through gritted teeth. He faces you and smiles. “I’ll see you outside.”
You nod shyly, scurrying away. Jaehyun scoffs, shifting himself to face Yuta. There’s complete terror written all over Yuta’s face and Jaehyun can’t help but laugh. Yuta has never seen you as more than a best friend, unfortunately, but he has never found the strength or heart to tell you. He figured that somehow, you would figure it out yourself and move on to find the love of your life. But the more he kept his problems at bay, the more your heart yearned for him. Your feelings for Yuta are quite obvious, and it’s something that Jaehyun loves to nitpick whenever Yuta brings you up in a conversation. Maybe this problem he’s kept at bay is finally showing up for him to face head on. Maybe today’s the day where he has to reject you.
“What do I do?” Yuta panics.
Jaehyun shrugs his shoulders. “Simple. Reject her.”
“I can’t just—”
“You can—”
“I can’t!” Yuta exclaims. “She’s going to hate me forever. We won’t be friends anymore. I’ll lose her—”
“You must be a coward, then.” Jaehyun beats him to it. “Reject her and she won’t chase after you, she’ll move on with her life in peace. Don’t reject her and she’ll never move on, hell, she’ll probably think you like her back and will stick around—”
“I should reject her.” Yuta nods his head, pointing at Jaehyun. “But I—how—it’s not that simple as you make it seem.”
Jaehyun snorts. “Was love ever simple? Just show her your soulmate timer and that’ll be more than enough for her to figure out.”
“But I’m not an asshole.” Yuta frowns. 
“I would do it.” Jaehyun shrugs his shoulders. 
“You’re only saying that because you don’t know how it feels to have a—” Yuta blurts out until he stops himself. Jaehyun looks at him with a blank expression. Yuta clamps his mouth shut and lets out a sigh. “Fine. I’ll figure it out. It has to be done anyways. It was bound to happen.”
Jaehyun grins. “I’m glad you’re aware.”
“I don’t know what I would do without you, Jaehyun.”
And Yuta walks out of the classroom to find the perfect way to reject you without hurting your feelings. Jaehyun sits all alone in the classroom, his eyes settling on his wrist. He lets out a sad sigh, getting up from his seat to look out the window. Right outside the window, he spots you and Yuta having the conversation that you both were bound to have.
Love. Rejection. Jaehyun doesn’t know what or how that feels like.
Soulmates? Everyone on this planet is destined to have a soulmate. A hint of your soulmate’s existence comes in the form of a tattoo on the wrist, it could be any tattoo. Jaehyun’s seen them all. Initials, timers, step counters, first exchanged words, last exchanged words, you name it. 
“You’re only saying that because you don’t know how it feels to have a—” 
A soulmate.
Jaehyun doesn’t know how it feels to have a soulmate.
Tearing his gaze away from you and Yuta, he looks at his wrist again, revealing a soulmate timer. 
1497:14:02:28 — 1497 days, 14 hours, 2 minutes, and 28 seconds.
Jaehyun doesn’t know how it feels to have a soulmate because minutes after he turned eighteen, minutes after reaching the age where he’ll get a glimpse, a hint of his soulmate, the timer tattooed on his skin had stopped counting down.
Tumblr media
author’s note. yaaaaaa let’s get it another hanahaki!au. also, if you want to be a part of the taglist, please reply under this post so that i can access them all here! 
88 notes · View notes
honoredbastard · 3 years
Text
ෆ self indulgent and entilted
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
characters — bonten!rindou haitani  + *yakuro nanami (oc) .
content and warnings   — mentions of drugs ( yo sanzu ), clubbing, stalker mention, mention(s) of drugging, yelling, angst(?), swearing, and so on.
note  — sorry for the dark content hhhhh, it came with the idea of ackerman being a yakuza that hated bonten and wanted yakuro gone. it may actually be apart of the fic i’m outlining..... these men hold my heart and WILL NOT LET GO OF IT. also they just like dive into my brain 24/7. help i had a fit over what looked best for three hours- at this point i’mma probably make a lil sum’ for sanzu. i love this man and i can’t stop having him appear in my stories that involve bonten. like this guy is 24/7 in the back of my mind.
Tumblr media
                                         *Yakuro Nanami.                                            he/they/bun! 
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
                  Now playing ayanami  — by satin
rindou woke up first to yakuro wearing his bunny ears and a bunny pajama set that he seemed to just slip on before marching into bed. it was cute, but there was still smudges of makeup on his face and the dark circles of terrible inconsistent sleep. rindou sighed, brushing away blonde parts of hair that yakuro was chewing on. 
“yakuro.” rindou lightly pushed yakuro’s shoulder, trying to wake the boy in his semi bunny work attire. “rindou? rindou....” yakuro groaned, his head searched for rindou’s lap or hand that he could lean into. just exist near, to feel his skin and be aware of his warmth, that he was alive and not dead. that he stayed the whole night. “morning doll.” rindou smiled quietly, brushing his fingers over the boy’s hair. 
there was a knock on the door, “come in” as if that was a full offer to entangle himself with the couple he busted through the door and made a running start to jump onto the couple. “HI!” “i don’t do the touching, i’ll sit and pour you your drink and be your personal bunny. please treat the bunny well and we will have no problems. if they bunny feels uncomfortable the bunny has full rights to leave and find a new client. if you understand these rules please enjoy your bunny.”
yakuro stated as if he was at work. it was grilled into his brain and always had to repeat it infront of new clients. working at a bunny suit club was not it, almost rolling over onto sanzu. “bad work day?” “bad work day.” rindou confirmed sanzu’s suspicions with three simple  words. “yaku..” “no.” “yakuuu.” sanzu scooted in between the two, poking yakuro’s cheeks aggressively. he seemed sober, thank god. 
rindou shrugged the mans presence off and trudged to the bathroom to wash and whatnot. “you have another shift, ran told me to wake you up. “that’s not my problem. tell my boss to go fuck himself with a dildo filled with nails.” sanzu’s eyes widened, that was aggressive. although at the same time sorta funny?
“he said he’d cut off your shift times and cut back on how much money you make plus tips.” sanzu repeated what ran had informed him of, with a quite frustrated appearance.  “THAT FUCKER WILL NOT!” raising up from his laying position, yakuro ran into the hallway stumbling here and there from improper pace. 
“i’d love to see him try i swear if he even tries reducing my pay i’ll quit the whole fucking job how about that? i never liked this bullshit bunny shit anyways, it’s annoying when the customers try to touch and then you get stalkers.” yaku was mumbling to hell and back from his bosses call, waving to ran who nodded. making himself a bento before heading off on a small mission.
yaku threw open the washroom door and started searching for his bunny suit attire. the club’s theme was rainbow today so he washed a deep red suit with a black add-on tail and clip on black ears (which were foldable too. yakuro always folds one ear.) when yakuro made it back to his room, sanzu was gone and rindou was crouching near the bottom drawer.
“whatcha lookin for?” yakuro asked curiously, sitting beside the man who made a mess beside him “looking for a red suit now, i’m trying to match with you subtly.” cute- that was the only thinking yaku could think of this man who is a part of a criminal organization/gang. who woulda thought?
“i think you might be better with either a red with black tie or a deeper red of a suit.” yakuro suggested, getting up from his sitting position, joints cracking. “or black would go well, after all i’m only wearing red heel, a red body suit, and red makeup. the rest is black!” yakuro called out to rindou who was still crouched as he exited the room. taking into account his suggestions, he went with a more black with red accents attire.
           ާlocation, bunny palace! ෆ             late night, 11pm.
“here in bunny palace we have many bunnies to suit your taste! male, female, and even those who do not define themselves! run and created by the ackermans.” bunny palace is under the hands of those with the ackerman name. mikasa, the current owner, is softer on us than many. although the music blaring is not something you can get used to.
“hello! i’m moonie! it’s so good to meet you, are you new here?” yakuro was tired, it was about 4 more hours until he shift ended and he was already hungry again. salad’s really don’t fill you up especially when you wolf them down. his feet ached and cried out each time he took another step, he wanted to lay down and use rindou as his personal body pillow.... rindou! ‘i hope he’s okay.’ he thought, placing himself beside the very important client his boss claimed. “oh i am! it’s nice too meet you moonie.”
“it’s so good to meet you too! we have a few rules here that our bunnies tell each new client: i’ll sit and pour you your drink and be your personal bunny. please treat the bunny well and we will have no problems. if they bunny feels uncomfortable the bunny has full rights to leave and find a new client. if you understand these rules please enjoy your bunny. please keep touching to a minimal. do not force your bunny drinks or food. respect your bunny. is that doable?” yakuro asked with big puppy eyes, a big smile, and high pitched voice. “of course!” the customer happily said, hand already on his thigh.
i am SO uncomfortable was all that yaku could think about, his eyes flicking between the customer and each place his gross hands laid upon. squeezing every-so often like it was a pleasuring act for yaku. before he removed the man’s hand, he restrained himself. drawing a large breath before responding to the customer. “i’m so sorry sir! shall i get you something to drink?” yaku pouted, “if you’d like, moonie!” i’m saved.
yakuro smiled and stood up, “why of course! i’ll be right back!” like a breath of relief, he rushed to the staff room. he waved to some girls, “not on stage today moonie?” one asked, a baby stripper new to the bunny palace club. “yeah! boss was all: ‘act cutesy, be close, allow touching this once. there are really important customers here today.’ like thanks for threatening my paycheck and then saying that!”
“oh my, that’s rough babe. ackerman is always like that, it’s like she has a stick up her ass.” one of the older strippers that had been with yakuro since he started chimed in, “you’re right!” yaku chuckled, leaning closer into his vanity mirror to adjust his lipstick and have a chance to message rindou. 
40 missed messages. “i’m so fucked.” “why’s that babe?” “i may have forgot to message rindou telling him ackerman added hours onto my shift.” the room grew tense, “that’s awful? read his messages.” sei suggested, “might cool him off if he’s angry.
“alright!” yaku sighed with a smile, opening the messages. to his surprise, rindou wasn’t angry but instead worried that a client had gotten too touchy and triggered yakuro. after all, ran did inform rindou about the bits and pieces that sanzu did not tell yaku. “whew, i’m good! i’m safe. he’s just worried....” sei and bab took a loud sigh and began laughing. “BUT I’M FUCKED.” “really? that’s great! now go out! your client must be waiting.” 
yup the girls took it that way. “i will! don’t worry don’t worry. i just hope sanzu doesn’t buy the whole club.” “he won’t now go!” sei pushed out yaku who glanced over at the client who finished the previous bottle. his nose was red and was slightly swaying back and forth.
walking up to the bar, yakuro ran into polaris. “polar!” “moonie.” “can you get something for my client? he seems to be a lightweight.” “sure, i’m sure he wouldn’t mind beer.” polar sat down the cup he was wiping back and forth to keep busy.
“the bar isn’t very busy huh?” “oh no, it’s just we got our best girls today dancing and the waitresses and working ten times harder. it works out for both of them and neither of them have to fight each other about unfair pay. tomorrow you’ll be our best so good luck.” polar smiled earnestly to add to the words of encouragement, sliding over the foaming beer over the black marbled counter. 
“thanks! i’ll need it.” turning with the drink in hand, yaku noticed the man’s disgruntled face. he looked as if the whole world was going to blow up and he was watching the countdown. ‘act cutesy, act cutesy, act cutesy.’ it was a constant mantra in his head before he sat down and opened his mouth.
“what could be wrong sir?” yaku felt like rolling his eyes into oblivion, he could care less. “oh it’s just something wrong with the gang.” “oh my, a yakuza?” boring, yaku fake gasped handing over the bear to the angered man. “yeah!” he said pridefully with a chuckle, gulping the drink down and slamming it down. “something about bonten this and that and one of our men died.”
now that’s interesting. yaku felt like walking out to just go see sanzu, it felt like everything was reminding yakuro of him. hell even the purple lights were. but alas he was stuck eyeing the entrance while the man babbled on and on about this whole yakuza shin-dig he was in. he decided to slip off his shoes because the waitresses’ assured the man that they would handle getting drinks.
it felt like hours, drink after drink the world became more hazy. yakuro grew a high tolerance because of his job but he seemed to be losing himself while the client seemed more than sober. “you.. slipped somethin, huh?” the client beside him flinched, clenching onto his bag. “w-what? are you sure you don’t have a low tolerance m-mr. moonie?” the man stammered, through gritted teeth yaku managed to huff out a ‘whatever’.
“miss. ackerman set you up? thought so, the bitch never liked me because i have a bonten member for a partner. guess i’m finally leaving this hellhole. send her my best regards, yeah?” he asked with a agitated tone. his words were laced with threats, raising slowly. “mr. moonie?” “i’m leaving, i want to leave. i have to go see rindou.” he dug the acrylic nails that were done just recently into his thigh. fuck the shoes. 
whatever was in the drink didn’t seem strong but it had yakuro in and out of conscience. the man who was once his client seemed nowhere to be found, leaving a stumbling yaku to himself. sei noticed this and dropped her waiters plate, running over to the bunny who was just about to fall. “MOONIE!” 
          ާlocation, the bonten loft.             early morning, 3am.
blue eyes fluttered open, fighting the urge to close once more. “they’re awake! rindou, they’re all good!” a familiar voice echoed throughout yakuro’s head. his body felt numb, in an attempt to speak he noticed his voice was gone. every one of his senses felt like they were being drowned under water. his eyesight was the only thing that was significantly normal.
though his contacts seemed to be taken off, leaving the blue and purple hues of yaku’s true eye colour roaming free. rindou’s footsteps were heavy and had a quick pace, the vibrations went through the bed. “yaku?” his usual docile purple eyes were filled with worry and anger mixed together, forever burning until yakuro got better.
all the man managed to do was a weak smile, his eyes blinked slowly while he stared at rindou. the two conversed, rindou’s agitation growing as his jaw clenched harder with every muffled word sanzu spoke. “i am very upset sanzu, yakuro was drugged. AGAIN!” “we can’t do anything but sit it out! we don’t even know who it was. rindou you need to calm down.” sanzu too was frustrated beyong belief.
the whole loft was filled with tension that was denser than a brick wall. everyone considered yakuro a part of bonten after two years. he even got a bonten tattoo per mikey’s request. it lays on his right shoulder which he covers up during his job with makeup despite his hatred, it was the only condition ackerman gave him before he could work at bunny palace. ackerman and bonten hated each other, seeing a bonten tattoo at the ackermans would start a war. 
“he’s quitting that job and working at our club. this is the last time i’ll EVER see him like this again.” this wasn’t the first time rindou raised his voice when he was angered by the way yakuro looked in this condition. unable to move, speak, only look plainly at the wall with a weak smile here and there.
it tore him apart from the inside out each time, it did every member living in the loft. finally after whatever happened between those two. sanzu left, rindou left as well but returned with water and began to cuddle the numb and quiet yakuro.
33 notes · View notes
wiypt-writes · 3 years
Text
Riding On
Tumblr media
Ch 9- A Labour of Love
Summary: Fliss and Frank receive some news from Boston and Bean’s due date, arrives…and passes, with no sign of him making his bid for freedom just yet. Fliss is frustrated and poor Frank doesn’t know what to do for the best. 
Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, NO UNDER 18s!).
Pairing: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher
A/N:  Bean is just not playing ball, is he? As always, I hope you enjoy and I love reading all your thoughts.
Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.
Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist
Chapter 8
Touch me, take me to that other place. Teach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case.
Tumblr media
 August 2019
The alarm had become a bit of a pointless feature in the Gallagher-Adler household, certainly over the last 2 weeks or so. As Fliss headed into the final throes of her pregnancy, her sleep patterns were all over the place. So it was no surprise to Frank that he felt her climbing out of bed at little past 5 am. Blinking sleepily he made a noise of protest because, after all, it was a Saturday, and she chuckled and leaned over to gently kiss his head.
“Stay here.” she instructed, “I’ll be fine.”
He wasn’t going to listen, he really wasn’t but his eyes dropped shut of their own accord. When they opened again it was almost 10 and he gave a start, because Fliss was due to leave in little over an hour. She was off for a Pre-Baby pamper session with Verity, Roberta and Sian, which included a manicure, pedicure, haircut, facial and fuck knows what else. To be honest, Frank had zoned out when she'd reeled off the list of treatments last night over dinner and just nodded in all the right places because he wasn't interested if all truth be told. As long as she enjoyed herself. With that in mind, he jumped up and after a quick shower he headed downstairs.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked as he wandered into the back of the house. Fliss, who was stood by the bay window seat, her eyes roving over the garden, didn’t answer.
“Lissy?” He spoke again and she jumped slightly and turned to face him as he chuckled and crossed the room to give her a kiss. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Where’s Mary?”
“She went up to the stables for a lesson with Joanne before it gets too hot.” She replied, taking the peck he offered with a tight smile. Her voice was flat, emotionless and her entire demeanour unnerved him a little as he prided himself on normally being able to read her very well but at that moment he really couldn’t get a lock on her at all.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
“I had a message from Boston Police…about John.”
Frank made an angry noise in his throat “What about him?”
She looked at him and Frank felt his mind whirring about what there was left that the ass hole could possibly put her through. He was inside, for a long time and he wouldn’t be getting parole this time round either but when she answered, he hadn’t been expecting her to drop the news she did.
“He’s dead.” Fliss said flatly as she looked at Frank. His face contorted into a frown as he looked at her.
“Dead?”
She nodded “Apparently got in a fight with another prisoner and it got a bit nasty. He was stabbed and…” she swallowed “Bled out. Nothing they could do.” Frank watched her carefully as she was clearly pondering something. He wasn’t sure how she was going to be feeling here. She had been married to him after all but, well, Frank was struggling to feel anything other than a sickening sense of satisfaction. If anyone deserved to die it was that fucker.
“You ok?” he asked her as he stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug.
“Yeah. I feel nothing.” she said simply, pulling back to look at him. “Absolutely nothing. I’m not happy he’s dead but I don’t care he is, either, and I’m certainly not upset about it.” She paused, biting her lip “Does that make me a bad person?”
“Bad?” Frank spluttered “Fuck, no honey, of course not” She let out a sigh as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she snuggled her face into his chest.  “If you think feeling nothing makes you bad then me feeling what I do means I’m going straight to hell.” Frank moved and tilted her face to look at him with his finger a thumb gently holding her chin “He was a nasty, vile bastard Lissy, and he put you through so much, not to mention nearly fucking killing you less than a year ago. If anything you have a right to be throwing a damned party now.”
“Not sure you’d find many places with Congratulations Your Piece Of Shit, Wife-Beating Ex-Husband Is Dead banners or balloons.” she quipped.
“The internet is dark and full of terrors.” Frank smiled back and Fliss snorted at the Game of Thrones reference “Never underestimate it.”
She stayed silent for a moment before she pulled back and looked up at him. “You know what else I will never underestimate?” she asked, and Frank was pleased to note that familiar shine had returned to her face and eyes and he arched an eyebrow. “The power of a back massage.”
Frank smiled “Good job you’re heading off for one then isn’t it.”
“Hmmmm…” she teased, her hands tracing his chest through his t-shirt. “Thing is, unlike your back rubs this one won’t have a happy ending.” “It better fucking not do.” He shot back and she grinned.
“I should go get ready.”
“Ok, you want any breakfast before you go?” he asked and she smiled
“We ate, but there’s some pancakes in the oven for you, you just need to warm them up.”
He smiled “You’re too good to me.” “I know” she shrugged, standing on her toes to give him a kiss. With a chuckle he watched her leave, Thor trotting behind her before he let out a deep breath.
“Does that make me bad?”
The fact that she was even asking that, after everything, was enough of an answer in itself. Bad? There was nothing further from the truth and he hated that she had even entertained the idea. But, as Frank realised when he poured himself a coffee, now the bastard was dead, there was nothing else he could do to her. That particular shadow was now well gone.
And Frank didn’t give a shit whether being happy or, dare he say it, amused at the fact the fucker had died in prison, made him a bad person or not.
*****
An hour later Fliss was collected by Bill, the poor bloke was on drop off and pick up duty and Frank didn’t envy him dealing with all 4 of women. Out of courtesy, Frank had offered to run one way but Bill had waved his offer off, pointing out that he had to collect his mother later that afternoon from the aiport.
He walked out to the car with them, taking a side glance at his girl who was dressed in a pale pink and blue maxi dress, which was quite low cut and made her pregnancy boobs look fucking amazing. He smiled as he opened the door for her, Fliss sinking into the front seat- being basically 40 weeks pregnant and ready to pop awarded her certain perks such as her mother surrendering her usual position in the passenger side.
“Have a nice time.” He said, leaning over to give her a peck.
“We will.” She smiled “I left Mary some Mac and Cheese for lunch, she was asking before so I pulled it out of the freezer.”
Frank smiled “I’ll fight her for it.” “No need.” She grinned “I got you some out too.” “You spoil me”
Smiling, she reached up and cupped his cheek before he straightened up and shut the door. Once he was sure it was closed he jerked his head to Bill who was bent giving Thor a pat and signalled for the man to walk with him a little, taking a few steps away.
“Everything ok?” Bill asked.
“Yeah, well, sort of. She’s probably gonna tell you herself but just in case she doesn’t, she had a call this morning. John’s dead.” Bill blinked, before he gave a snort “Good.” “Yeah, that was kind of my reaction too.” Frank scratched at his neck. “Fliss, however, well she says she didn’t feel anything. Not happy, not sad, just complete indifference. Which, to be fair, is probably a good thing for her. I’m just a little worried she’s numb because it hasn’t sunk in yet.” Bill nodded “If she doesn’t mention it herself on the way I’ll tell V on the quiet when we get there.” “Thanks.”  Frank smiled as the two of them headed back to the car. Frank grinned at Bill, as he could hear the chatter from the 4 women even through the closed doors and windows of the car.
“Good luck!” he said, nodding towards the vehicle.
Bill snorted before he frowned a little “How come you haven’t gone with Steve and the boys up to the Water Sports centre?” “Mary didn’t want to.” Frank said “I think she’s still a little, self-conscious, I suppose is the term, around the twins but she’ll come round. You know what she’s like” “Well, when they move over in January she’ll have plenty of time to get to know them properly” Bill shrugged “Right, best get this rabble to the hotel. See you later son.” Frank smiled, nodding at him. As the Range Rover pulled off up the drive he tossed a hand at the tailgate before he looked down at Thor.
“Come on boy, let’s go find Mary.” It didn’t take them long to locate her. Having finished her lesson she’d been busy grooming Monty and then helping Joanne with a few chores, or bugging the shit out of her Frank suspected but Joanne was always so patient with her. The young woman was god-send, having really stepped up over the last 2 months especially. Frank knew why Fliss liked her so much.
He practically dragged Mary home, but it really was getting ridiculously warm and he wanted her to have a few hours inside to keep cool a little. In the end, as always, they haggled reaching a compromise that she could have a little while in the pool provided she sat in the shade quietly to eat lunch. As always he was roped into the pool with her, such a hard life he led, and after 30 minutes of teaching her how to dive they both climbed out and ate before changing and heading to the airport to collect Evelyn who was coming to stay for a while.
He greeted her with the usual nod and smile as Mary gave her a hug, before he took her bag from her and they headed back to his truck, Mary gibbering on about anything and everything, his mother listening and replying when needed. The last time Mary had seen Evelyn she had gone to Boston for the weekend the previous month, something that had set Frank on edge after the last time, but as Fliss had reasoned with him, he knew that he couldn’t allow that to stop him from letting her go. This meant that Evelyn hadn’t seen their house since they had moved in back in June. Mary showed her round, Frank following, and when they got to Bean’s room he saw her stop and look round, smiling softly.
“You’ve done a good job, Frank.” She turned to look at him and he smiled back.
“You sound surprised, mother.” “Not at all.” She shook her head. “I expected nothing less.” “Makes a change.” He couldn’t help the sarcastic shot back and she narrowed her eyes.
“Are we not passed the sniping yet?” she said, tiredly.
Frank held his hands up, “Sorry.” After she’d seen the attic and Mary’s room, they headed back downstairs, Frank showing Evelyn to the Guest Apartment over the Garage which he had put the finishing touches to the week before. Fliss had stocked the fridge fully for her, meaning she had everything she could need for snacks and drinks, and whatever else she needed for a comfortable stay. He left her to unpack, telling her to come over to the main house when she was done, which she did a little over an hour later.
Frank poured her a glass of white wine, and they headed outside, taking a seat at the table as Mary was in and out of the pool freely as the sun wasn’t quite as high as it had been given that it was half four in the afternoon. Evelyn took the opportunity to ask Frank if they were ready for Bean to arrive and he smiled, shrugging.
“As ready as we can be.” He said, “We’ve had all the hospital tours and found the place Fliss prefers so…” “Where have you chosen?” Evelyn asked.
“Bayfront in St Pete’s” Frank said, pulling out his phone “They have a suite called the Baby Place.”
He flicked through his phone’s internet browser to the bookmarked page and handed it to Evelyn who put on her glasses to scan the information.
"The separate family lounge offers some of the amenities of home, such as a game table, bla bla bla and room enough to host celebrations and enjoy time with loved ones." Evelyn read from the website. "It looks like a hotel not a hospital" she mused as she handed the phone back to Frank. "Well, that's kinda the idea mother." He said, tossing his phone onto the table. "It’s actually a state-approved level 3 Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centre." Mary appeared at the side of them, picking up her towel. "The program is one of only 12 in the state of Florida" Evelyn looked at her, cooking her head to one side as Frank gave a chuckle. "There is that too." He said as Evelyn turned to him. Mary, wrapped herself in the towel and hopped up onto his knee. "We originally discussed a birthing centre with the midwife but Fliss was too worried about what could go wrong or if she decided half way through she wanted an epidural..." he rubbed at Mary’s shoulders slightly, drying her off with the towel. “So when the midwife suggested this it seemed like a perfect compromise. She gets a private recovery area and should make her feel more at ease. She doesn't have fond memories of hospitals." He shrugged "Who does?" Evelyn looked at him, taking a sip of her wine. "Well Fliss has some particularly bad ones what with her back injury and operation, not to mention all the times he put her in one." Frank said, pausing for a second. That reminded him.
“Hey Stack, can you go grab me a can of soda?”
“Only if I can have one.” She bargained.
“Fine, but grab the no sugar. You’re already hyper enough as it is.”
Mary jumped down and headed through the door into the kitchen. As soon as she was out of earshot Frank looked at his mother.
“John’s dead.” He said bluntly “Fliss had a call this morning. He was stabbed in prison.” Evelyn looked at him for a second, before she gave a snort “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” She said sarcastically “How has Fliss taken it?”
“Well she wasn’t leaping for joy but she’s not upset, says she feels nothing.” He shrugged, looking up as Mary came back. She handed him a can as she hopped back on his knee and opened the other one herself.
Evelyn studied Frank for a second as if she was considering something before she smiled "I take it the fact she's due to drop tomorrow is the reason you're on soft drinks and not beer." Frank smiled "Just playing it safe. I mean so are you right? That's why you're here for the next 2 weeks." Evelyn shrugged "is it a problem?" "No." Frank shook his head before he grinned cheekily "Why do you think I finished the apartment above the Garage?" "Bill says in England they would call it a Granny Flat" Mary said as Frank gave a snort. Evelyn chuckled a little. "I’m aware of the terminology, thank you, on account of being from England myself." She looked at Mary "You know, people build them on their property when they want their elderly relatives to move in with them so they can look after them." she turned to Frank, smirking "So I'm honoured, Francis..." "I didn't build it just for you." He rolled his eyes "it was half done when we moved in so it made sense to finish it." He picked up his can "It’s a place for anyone to stay, although I'd be lying if I said you weren't at the forefront of my mind when we did it" Evelyn looked at him, shocked, "me?" "Yeah..." he shrugged, grinning "Fliss told me that I wasn't allowed to let you stay in a hotel or at Bill and V's now we have room so this was the best way of actually keeping you out of the house..." "Oh piss off!" Evelyn looked at him, slapping his arm as he laughed. She shook her head and before she could shoot a sarcastic response back, the sound of an engine coming up the drive hit Frank’s ears and a soft smile crept across his face. His girl was home. Thor gave a loud bark and stood up, running to the gate, Frank following him. He opened it, striding out onto the path through the lawn which led round the side of their house to the front. He smiled as Fliss pushed herself out of her dad's range rover and he instantly spotted that her hair was a lighter colour than it had been that morning and was flowing round her face and shoulders in perfectly styled waves. It was evident she had enjoyed herself, as she looked relaxed for the first time in weeks. "Well I would ask if you had a nice time." He smiled, dropping a kiss to her cheek "but I can tell from the way you're grinning that you did." "Oh it was amazing." She smiled as his hands fell to her hips. “Just what I needed. I feel relaxed and absolutely ready to push a baby out of my vagina.” Frank gave a loud laugh as he shook his head. “Well, your hair looks great." "Aww thanks Frank." Roberta slapped his shoulder as she walked past him into the yard. He rolled his eyes as Fliss laughed, tugging on Frank’s hand as she led him to the trunk of Bill's car. Bill was stood with it open as Verity and Sian were looking in each of the bags before Verity pointed at one and handed it to Fliss, Frank immediately taking it from her. He peered inside.
"Because you don't have enough toiletries" he deadpanned. Fliss shrugged. "The lavender stuff they said would help me sleep, which in case you haven't noticed I've been struggling to do over the last 2 weeks." "Hard not to notice when you wake me up at 3:30 am to tell me" "I did that once because I felt sick. And besides, you did this to me..." she pointed to her now really rather large bump "...you should also be feeling the consequences" Bill snorted as he shut the trunk of his car and looked at Frank as he glanced at the older man, almost pleading for help "Sorry lad." Bill chuckled "You got her pregnant and wanna marry her, she's your problem now." "She is here..." Fliss glared at her father. "Oh, trust me Titch, we are all well aware you are." "Rude" Fliss looked at her parents as they headed into the garden. "Steve and the boys will be here in about 5." Sian looked at Fliss having just got off the phone to him. "Said to tell you he is picking up some real meat on the way over...whatever that means Frank?" Frank laughed "he means fillet steak. I got Sirloin. A man's cut. He's being a pussy" Sian looked at Fliss who simply shook her head. "Meat is a big issue for Francis." She said sombrely, patting his chest.
“I just know what I like.” He shrugged. They made their way through to the back in time to see Verity giving Evelyn a warm hug in greeting. It made Fliss smile softly, noticing how different it all was to the stiff handshakes shared when they met for the first time little over a year ago.
Frank dropped a kiss to her cheek and headed inside to put her bag away before he came back down just as Steve and the boys turned up. Then the usual thing that happened at BBQs went ahead, the men crowding round the grill, the women bustling in and out of the kitchen setting out the sides and accompaniments, the 3 kids bombing in and out of the pool.
“You should have come with us today Mary.” Steve said to the girl as she sauntered past in her bathing suit. She paused to look at him.
“What did you do?”
“We did Kayaking, skiing, the boys went bodyboarding but I sat that one out.” Steve said.
“I didn’t know if I would like it.” She shrugged, dropping her eyes slightly. Frank watched carefully as Steve crouched down.
“Me neither, but you know what? It was fun, and the best thing is, if there’s something you don’t wanna do, you can sit it out and watch.” Frank could see from her face she was mulling this over. She looked at Steve “Are you going again Uncle Steeby?”
“Next Friday.” He nodded.
“Ok, I wanna go next time.” She announced. “Mind your manners.” Frank instructed, gently, pointing the tongues he was holding at her.
“Please.” She added. Charlie and Joel both erupted into noise, demanding that their father allow it and Steve gave a chuckle.
“You’re welcome any time Stack, as long as Frank and Fliss say its ok.” He said, standing up. “Fine by me. In fact you can keep her if you want.” Frank shrugged and Mary rolled her eyes.
“You always say stuff like that, pretend you don’t want me here but we all know the truth. You do, that’s why you’re adopting me.”
“Smart ass.” Frank narrowed his eyes at her as she stuck her tongue out and ran off. Bill and Steve chuckled as Frank shook his head, snorting.
“Thanks Steve.” He looked at the man who waved his thanks away.
“You know, she’s getting more like Fliss was every day.” Bill said “you want to watch that, Frank. She was a sassy little swine as a kid.” “Mary was already a sass bag before she met Fliss.” Frank shrugged, turning over the steaks on the grill. “Lissy just encourages it.” “Have you had any luck with her biological father?” Steve asked and Frank shook his head.
“We’re not expecting to yet. We’ve only given him notification of our intent. I suspect when Greg actually starts the process officially we’ll hear something.”
“But you don’t expect him to object?”
Frank hesitated before he shrugged “I can’t see why he would. He’s never been interested in her, at all. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a slight worry but like Fliss keeps telling me, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” “No point worrying about something you can’t control.” Bill said wisely, before he drained his beer “Right, I need another drink. Anyone else want one?”
“Yeah, I’ll come with you” Steve said “Frank?”
“I’m good, thanks.” “You can have one or two, surely?” Steve looked at him.
“Leave him alone.” Bill said, shoving his son on the shoulder, “That’s your sister and my little girl he’s looking out for…” “Fuckin’ pussy…” Steve snorted playfully and Frank threw the burger flipper at him.
Bill and Steve walked away, playfully squabbling and a few seconds later Frank felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around him from behind, Fliss pressing her lips to the space between his shoulder blades.
“Hey gorgeous.” He said, moving so she could slide under his arm. He pressed a kiss to her head “You ok?”
“Yeah, fine.” She smiled, looking up at him. “You know I really do I love your hair." He said, taking in the lighter colour even more in the now closing light of day. Over the past two years, her vivid auburn had gradually tone down and was now a light brown, laced with copper and blonde.
“Thanks.” She said, a little shyly and Frank frowned.
“Don’t you like it?”
“No, I love it…it’s just, well, actually it doesn’t matter.” “Lissy.” He looked at her sternly, and she sighed, her hands worrying one another so Frank put the cooking utensils down and took them in his. “Tell me what’s going on.” “John hated me changing it.” She shrugged “Which is why I went so bright red in the first place. Once I left him I just fancied doing something wild. I’ve always liked it a bit lighter. He insisted I kept it dark…”
“Well you can do what the fuck you want with it.” He assured her, “Unless you want to shave it all off. Then I might raise some objections.” “Sorry. She said gently and he frowned.
“What for?” “Raising him again” she shrugged “We’ve been together almost 2 years now and…” “Hey.” He said, “Don’t ever apologise. I’d rather you tell me when you’re feeling like this. You know that.”
“Of course I do, I just wonder sometimes if it’s ever gonna stop.”
“So what if it doesn’t?” Frank looked at her. She blinked and he shrugged “I’ve told you, you can always talk to me. Nothing you say is gonna make me mad.”
She smiled at him as he dropped his head, gently giving her a peck. “I know, I just get fed up sometimes. Stupid little memories and flashbacks.” “I know.” He smiled at her, kissing her head softly “But they don’t rule your life anymore, not like they used to. They’re just…”he hesitated “A minor annoyance, a bit like him really, insignificant.”
“He’s even more insignificant now.” She grinned “He’s fucking dead.”
At that Frank let out a snort “I take it you’re not longer feeling numb then.”
She shrugged “Mum said exactly the same as you before, that we should be throwing a party so…”
Frank chuckled again, pulling her into him even further as he turned back to the grill.
******
Despite it being her due date the following day there was no sign of Bean. And he didn’t make an appearance on the Monday either. On Tuesday they headed in for an assessment at the hospital, and after an examination the Midwife smiled at Fliss as she lay on the bed.
"Well, Miss Gallagher... he is in the right position." The midwife smiled. “Dropped and ready.” "He needs to hurry up." Fliss grumbled "He was due two days ago.” "Your due date is never exact. I wouldn't worry. His heartbeat is strong, he'll arrive when he is ready." "Already taking after his father." Fliss shot a side glance at Frank who raised an eyebrow. "Ok so if there's no sign of him by the morning of the 28th then just call" the woman said and Frank bit back a smirk at the look of utter disgust on Fliss' face "We'll check everything and do a sweep to get things moving." "Is there anything we can do?" Fliss practically whined "Spicy food? Pineapple? Speed bumps?" The Midwife laughed "I'm afraid they're only old wives tales. The only one with a shred of credibility is sex." Frank grinned and Fliss shot him a glare. "Semen contains prostaglandins" the midwife shot Fliss a wink "It can trigger the release of oxytocin which is a hormone that can help contractions." At that it was Fliss' turn to grin. "So all I need is your sperm and a turkey baster Sailor. Unlucky." Frank rolled his eyes and mentally cursed the midwife for her damned scientific explanation. "But in essence if your body isn’t ready to labour, nothing you do will necessarily get you going." She smiled "Sorry, you're just gonna have to ride it out." Despite the joking there was no activity in the bedroom that night other than a lot of tossing and turning as Fliss was really struggling to get comfortable enough to sleep. Frank hated seeing her so tired and fed up but when at 3:30 am he sleepily asked her if she needed anything she simply asked for a cuddle which he was more than happy to provide.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled.
“What for?”
“I know I've been a pain these last 2 weeks.”
“You’re heavily pregnant and fed up.” He said, kissing her head
“I wouldn't be able to do this alone. I don't know how my mum did.” She said softly. Frank sighed and pulled her closer, remembering how upset she had been a week or so back when their conversation one evening with Mary had turned to Frank telling her how he had been with Diane when she was born. Hormones be damned, it had set Fliss off about how nice it was that Frank had been there and stood by Diane and how she wished her own mom had that, but instead Verity’s parents had kicked her out and left her alone and pregnant at the age of 19.
Frank knew Verity had been young when she had Fliss, although he had never expressly asked he had worked it out from the fact she was 9 years Bill's junior. He also knew there was a lot of bad blood on that side of the family and that Fliss had never met her maternal grandparents, even when they reached out to her later down the line. She had rather impolitely told them to fuck off, Verity doing the same. When asked by Mary why she hadn’t forgiven them as they were family, Fliss had shrugged and simply replied that family isn't and never would be about blood, but instead it was about those people who saw you at your absolute worst and wanted you just the same. "You've nothing to be sorry for.” Frank gently soothed her, “And you're not on your own. You never will be." "I know." She looked up at him, smiling as he gave her a soft kiss.
Things continued much the same for the rest of the week. Every so often Fliss would get a twinge, and the pair of them would get excited, thinking this was it, only for nothing to happen. On the Friday, almost a week post her due date, Frank called the midwife who arranged for them to come in the next morning. Evelyn, who was being particularly helpful, even if Frank was loath to admit it cooked for them all that night, but Fliss had struggled to eat her meal, declaring she felt a bit sick. After a profound apology to Evelyn she announced she was heading for a bath and then going to bed.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Frank asked and Fliss shook her head.
“It’s not even 7. I might be back down in an hour or so if I feel better.” “Ok, can you manage-“
“Frank!” she said, exasperatedly. “I’m fine.” “Well, you’re-“ he began and Evelyn laid her hand on his arm and shook her head gently. For the first time in, well, as long as he could remember, he obeyed an order from his mother and stopped. “Alright. Just shout me then if you need anything.”
She gave him a kiss on his cheek, her way of apology for snapping and headed off.
“You won’t need that appointment tomorrow.” Evelyn said after a pause and Frank turned to her.
“What makes you say that?” “Because I felt the same the day before I went into labour with you.” Evelyn said “Queasy, tired, just generally off.” “Well, I hope you’re right because she’s fed up.” Frank sighed “He’s fully cooked now, just being a stubborn little bastard.”
“What was it you once said to me about an apple and a tree analogy?” she looked at him, arching an eyebrow and Frank snorted.
“Yeah ok, you got me there” he conceded.
Fliss didn’t come back down after her bath. Frank popped in on her a few times and she was simply led in bed, trying to get comfortable, tearfully complaining that her back ache was particularly bad. Frank led besides her for half an hour or so, gently working at the lower part of her spine that was giving her the trouble before he realised she’d fallen asleep. He left her to it, heading back down to his mother and Mary, before a few hours later, just before 10, they all decided to go to bed as it had been a long day. Fliss didn’t wake up when he slid in besides her, nor when he dropped a kiss to her cheek. He watched her for a moment as she lay, facing him, before he too closed his eyes.
***** His baby was sat on his knee, grinning up at him. He smiled down at the boy, whose hands were wrapped tight around his index fingers. He glanced up, looking around for Fliss but there was no sign of her. Nor Mary for that matter. Hoisting Alex up onto his hip he headed out to the garden and gave a start as he saw both Fliss and Mary floating face down in the pool.
“No, no…” he began to mutter, before his muttering became frantic yells “No, this…not my girls…not…”
With a start, Frank sat bold upright in bed, breathing deeply. He glanced at the clock on the side which read 23:30, damned he hadn’t even been asleep an hour! What the fuck…
He wiped his clammy brow and lay back, feeling Fliss stir besides him.
“Frank?” she asked softly, “Are you ok?” “Bad dream.” He mumbled, turning onto his side and sliding his arm under her neck, pulling her back into his chest.
“You wanna talk about it?” she asked.
He shook his head with the air of a small child, pressing his nose into her neck, breathing in her smell and comfort. As he nuzzled at her, he felt her sigh a little and push back further into him.
“Stop it.” She muttered.
“Stop what?” he asked.
“That, on my neck…”
“Why?” He teased, his nose being replaced by his lips as he gently trailed open mouthed kisses up to her ear.
“You know why…”
“You ready to try what the midwife suggested?” he grinned, his mouth nipping at her ear and she gave a laugh.
“I'm willing to try anything. Just make it quick, I’m not bothered about coming. I only need your sperm.” “Charming…” he snorted as she gave a soft chuckle. His hand that had been resting on her bump softly moved down a little as he shifted, snaking his leg in between hers, opening her up slightly. He hooked her leg up over his hip, his fingers softly trailing up her bare thigh, shifting her sleep shorts to one side as he slipped his hand gently into her folds. She bucked harshly.
“Easy baby.” he muttered.
“Can’t help it.” she let out a soft sigh “Sensitive…” With a smile, he used his other hand to tip her head round so he could catch her mouth with his own, kissing her gently, his tongue softly sliding against hers, swallowing the moans and groans she was eliciting as he worked her with his hand. Had she been a little more with it, she might have been slightly embarrassed at how pathetically short a period of time it was before he had her clamping down around his fingers, shuddering as her release washed over her, but she was too gone to care. She’d hardly even come down from her orgasm when Frank eased her shorts down, then his boxers and with a gently push forward slid into her, the pair of them letting out hushed sighs as he began to slowly slide in and out of her. There was no haste to his movements, no rush, nothing, it was gentle, sweet, loving as he kept her held close to him, his lips lavishing affection on her shoulders and neck. Before long he heard and felt he breathing falling into that tell-tale staccato panting and she let out a low, quiet but downright filthy noise from her throat and Frank’s lips curved into a grin against her neck.
“Come on beautiful…” he mumbled, the heat in his own belly was sending spikes of fire up and down his body as he fought to keep control for a little longer “Come on.” And she did, her head tipped back and with a stuttering whisper of his name he felt her tighten around him, her legs quivering as he himself came, his hips slowing to a stop as he gently bit down on her shoulder. The pair of them lay still for a while, his hand softly curving up and around her bump, over her hip, down her thigh and back again, gently repeating the motion.
“You ok?” he asked and she nodded, humming in contentment. He pulled out of her, righted their items of clothing as Fliss hardly moved. He kept her pressed close to him as he closed his eyes, drifting off again.
He was woken 3 hours later, just before 4 am by Fliss shaking his arm.
“Frank…”
He groaned but didn’t open his eyes.
“Frank…Bean…I think he’s on his way…”
He let out a grin and turned over “My sperms worked then…” he mumbled into the pillow.
Fliss looked at him, waiting for the moment her words registered in his sleep-addled brain, which happened roughly 10 or so seconds later when he suddenly sat straight up, turning to face her.
“Penny dropped?” she asked arching an eyebrow.
He blinked “He’s…” She nodded, “Yeah…” He blinked again before he swallowed, and with a grin stuttered out a single word.
“Shit!”
**** Chapter 10
66 notes · View notes
volahre · 3 years
Text
babe for the weekend - chapter 4
read on ao3 | 1805 words | rated Teen and up audiences for later chapters | Fox Mulder/Dana Scully | Weddings | set in late season 6 | UST | eventual resolved romantic tension
When an old friend from high school invites her to her wedding and she brings Mulder along as her plus one, Scully reflects on her life, her place in the world, how much she has changed and what she really wants.
I originally started this to explore the topic of growing up, aging and feeling like you are missing out within the character of Dana Scully, but it has become so much more than that - but read for yourself!
chapter four
Between the vineyards lay a small cottage with a large meadow which Dorothy and Robert had chosen to be the location for their celebration. The ceremony had gone smoothly, a teenage girl who turned out to be not only Robert’s niece but also a piano virtuoso contributed to the celebratory atmosphere with pieces by Handel and Bach.
“Champagne, juice, or mixed?”, one of the waitresses asked Scully once she had gotten up from her chair and straightened her dress. Smiling, she thanked the waitress and took one of the champagne glasses while waiting for Mulder to follow her. “To the newlyweds?” she asked once they stood facing each other. “And to love”, Mulder answered, looking straight into her eyes with an expression she could not quite read. It was new, something she had only seen appearing on his face recently.
“And how do you know Dorothy and Robert?”, an old familiar voice appeared behind Scully as she was waiting for the buffet. She turned around and saw Marcus speaking to Mulder. Great. She took a deep breath. “He’s with me”, she said and put on a smile, looking at the face of the man she once, though much younger, more inexperienced, and certainly more naïve had called the love of her life.
“Oh, Dana!” Marcus laughed. “It’s good to see you”.
She kept on the smile. “It’s good to see you too.” This really was strange, to say the least. What was she even supposed to say? Gesturing behind Marcus, she cleared her throat. “Have you…come here with anybody?”
“Oh yeah,” he replied, a particular glow appeared on his face. “Wife and two kids, they’re waiting at our table. I can introduce you later if you want”.
She nodded. “I’m sure we’ll find each other again.”
“But tell me about your company, Dana”, Marcus said before looking at Mulder. “Marcus Watson”
Mulder took Marcus’ extended hand. “Fox Mulder. Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Fox”, Marcus said. “I see you guys are not married yet?”
“No!”, Scully said, way too abruptly. Trying to conceal it with a laugh, she continued, ignoring the look Mulder gave her. “No, we’re not married.”
“I see”, Marcus smiled. “Where did you guys meet, if I may ask?”
“Oh, we met- “, Mulder started, but Scully interrupted him. “We work together at the FBI”.
“The FBI?”, Marcus appeared a little startled. “Last time I checked, I heard you went off to med school.”
Scully let out a small sigh. “I did, but I ended up in forensic science. But he,” she gestured at Mulder, “has a degree in psychology. Didn’t you do that too, Marcus? How’s it going with that?”
“Well, it’s going amazing, if you ask me! Got myself a practice set up and together with a few colleagues we’re focusing on dysfunctional families. But you, FBI, huh?”, Marcus looked at Mulder, who shrugged with one hand in his pocket.
“Well, I just hope I can help people find closure. And some minds are hard to get into, frankly. And sometimes it’s not even the minds as much as something greater than what could be limited to just one person.”
Scully looked at Mulder, surprised he had not brought up the specifics of what they did. “Mulder and I, we work together on a division called the X-Files.”, she said. “Cases that have been deemed unsolvable.”
“And you solve them?”, Marcus asked.
“Well, I’d like to think so”, Scully said, looking at the floor.
“Often times it’s about perspective,” Mulder said. “Some might appear unsolvable if you look at them from a traditional standpoint, but I like to think that if you go a little outside the box and look at them with an open mind you might actually find out the truth.”
“Ah, I get you, buddy”, Marcus said. “I have to deal with some real monsters as well, if you know what I mean!”, he laughed.
Scully frowned as Mulder laughed, though appearing highly uncomfortable. “Well, I suppose that’s different…”
“Come on, Mulder.”, she said, pulling him by his arm. “Buffet’s ready.”
They were seated across from each other at the end of a table full of people she didn’t know, which didn’t bother her much as she hoped it would spare her of more awkward conversations.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t think he would be like this”, Scully said later as they were eating their dessert.
“Hey it’s fine, Scully”, he said, grinning. “Sometimes your adolescent crushes grow up to become real monsters”.
She chuckled at his attempt to imitate Marcus. “Shut up, Mulder.”
“No”, he said, causing her to throw a confusing grin at him.
“You’ve got pudding on your face, wait”, he grabbed his napkin, and before she could say anything, he leaned over the table and carefully cleaned up the edge of her mouth. Remembering that she had to breathe, she took in a sharp inhale and felt a blush appearing on her face again. In the spot where his fingers had almost touched her, so close to her mouth, she felt a slight tingle.
“Thank you”, she said, hoping he would not question her blushing after him touching her. He had been invading her personal space for years and she had gotten away with barely blushing at most. So why was this happening now?
“I need to get some air”, she said quietly after finishing her dessert and got up, grabbing her purse.
“You okay?”, Mulder had gotten up almost as fast, his eyes filled with concern as they found hers.
“Yeah, I just need to get away from all the people for a bit”, she said, quickly looking away.
Her heels clicked on the asphalt as she walked down the little street that had led them to the location. After about two minutes, she found a bench with a view overlooking the hills. If she stayed for a few hours, she might be able to watch the sun go down from here, judging by the way it stood now.
Taking a deep breath, she took off her shoes and relaxed her back against the wood. The whole idea seemed like a mistake. Coming here after years of barely keeping in contact and therefore not knowing how to talk to anybody, bringing Mulder and putting him in an even more awkward situation than hers, it was like she had wanted to please people but had ended up just being selfish. Selfish, Dana. Her entire life, her entire career she had tried not to be selfish, always acted in the favour of others. But now her feelings, her fear had gotten in the way. Selfish.
She worried about Mulder. What was she even going to tell him? Sorry I’m behaving so weirdly; I just saw a guy I had a crush on almost 20 years ago and it made me realize that – but what had it made her realize? She had not come to any conclusion as to why the situation had felt so incredibly awkward, not just because of Marcus, but because of the combination of Marcus and Mulder. Apart from….no, definitely not. And this was certainly the worst place to consider the matters of her own heart. This was a celebration of love, but not hers.
Love. She recalled that moment in the hospital a few months earlier, when they were working in interior terrorism and Mulder had gone on a reckless spree diving right into the Atlantic Ocean, ending up drugged and exhausted. He had told her he loved her then, and she had brushed it off as a side effect of the drugs. But later, on her way home, she had recalled the moment with a particular sting in her stomach.
“Here you are”.
She looked up and saw the man in question standing there, his eyes – what colour were they now? – glistening in the light of the warm Californian sun.
“Oh hey”, she said quietly.
“The seat next to you taken?”, he said in his usual sarcastic tone but she couldn’t help noticing that there was also an obvious softness to his voice.
She chuckled. “Sit down if you want to,” she said, taking her purse so he had the space to sit.
“You wanna talk?”, he asked once he had sat down, putting his arm across the backrest behind her.
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “It’s just all so much…so much more than I expected. All the old feelings that never really went anywhere, so much left unresolved, washed out by years of growing apart.”
He nodded, that unreadable expression on his face again. “I’m sorry if this is too personal, but do you still like him?”
“No!”, she said just as quickly as she had earlier, almost as if she was speaking out of reflex. She despised herself. “No”, she said again, with a slight smile. “I think we really have grown into two completely different people with completely different lives. Plus, he seems happily married and has kids”, she sighed, realizing that this was another aspect in which she could never be quite like those people.
“Hey, shhh, it’s alright,” Mulder said, his hand gently rubbing her shoulder in small motions. As if her brain didn’t already feel like it had melted all sense of rational thought away, the electric signals he was sending through her body with his touch was doing the rest. Slowly, she leaned into his embrace and looked up at him. “I’m so sorry, Mulder.”
“For what?”, he said quietly. His arm had followed her and was now gently stroking her upper arm.
“For making you go through this crap”, she laughed. “You don’t know anybody, which arguably puts you in an even more awkward situation than me, and now I’m running away, and it just feels like I am making this whole thing about myself.”
“Now I’m gonna have to stop you right there, Scully,” he said, “you are not making this about yourself. In fact, I don’t think that many people even noticed you leaving. And even if they did, they probably think you just got a phone call or something. And hey,” he continued after a little pause, “I really don’t mind being here with you. Trust me. I’d rather do this with you than have you go through this on your own.”
“Mulder” she said and shook her head. “You’re unbelievable.”
“I hope I can take this as a compliment?”, he said, and she could feel him smile against her hair.
“Anyways, what I wanted to say…” he continued, “Weddings don’t have to be perfect, Scully, and it’s okay if you need some air sometimes. But as I was leaving, they were setting up the dancefloor, so I thought I’d let you know.”
She sat up and smiled at him. “Thank you.”
12 notes · View notes
Text
Part 4
Tumblr media
Summary: Soulmates have different ways of being connected to one another. Sometimes it’s through being able to write on their arms and having it show up on their soulmates. For others it was having their first words spoken to one another permanently tattooed into their skin. You had a unique connection with yours, one that you really hadn’t ever heard of happening before. Whatever song was stuck in your soulmate’s head was also stuck in yours and the same was for them. When Yoongi realizes one of his songs is playing on repeat in your head, he immediately takes to writing songs to communicate with you in hopes it will finally bring you two together.
Genre: Fluff. Just pure tooth rotting, sweet fluff.
Part 1      Part 2      Part 3     Part 5
Yoongi only slept for a few hours before he woke up and immediately started working on a new song for you. This one he wanted to make more light hearted and fun. And to do that he was going to bring up your questionable taste in music and how it was absolute torture some days listening to the songs that were stuck in your head. He laughs to himself as he writes the lyrics and picks an upbeat melody to include with it, hoping you know that this song was meant to be teasing and he wasn’t actually mad at you. As he is writing a song enters his head, letting him know that you must be awake. But he is not too thrilled with your choice this time. 
“Into the unknown? Really?” He sighs but can’t hide the fond smile that spreads across his face. “I’m a little offended you aren’t listening to my song but I mean hey, to each their own.” 
“Who are you talking to hyung?” Yoongi jumps and spins around in his chair to see Taehyung standing behind him. 
“Tae? What are you doing?”
“I came to make sure you had actually gone to sleep but I should have known.”
“Hey, I’ll have you know I slept for a solid 4 hours thank you very much.” Taehyung attempts to stifle a giggle as he is supposed to be scolding his hyung but one escapes him. “How’s the song writing going though?”
“It’s going really well. I had no trouble with this one. The songs are just coming naturally to me now.” 
“That’s great. I’m sure your soulmate loves being able to hear your songs and know that you are thinking about them.” 
“Always. I never stop thinking about them to be honest...” Yoongi trails off as if he is considering something.
“Is everything okay?”
“Can I talk to you about something... and don’t tell the other guys yet please?” Taehyung walks further into the studio sitting on the couch and patting the space next to him. Yoongi gets off his chair and sits next to Taehyung. “Yesterday.. I was reading the replies on my new song and this one stood out to me. I don’t know why. But I couldn’t help but feel maybe this person was my soulmate. But another part of me thinks I am just so soulmate deprived that I am trying to see them in everybody.” 
“Can I see the reply?” Yoongi opens up the fake twitter he made and Taehyung bursts out laughing. “Hyung.. your twitter handle. What the hell.” Taehyung continues laughing much to Yoongi’s annoyance. “’I’m not Min Yoongi’. That’s hilarious.” 
“I panicked trying to think of a quick name to talk to them okay?! Stop teasing me and give me my phone back.”
“No no! I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’ll stop.” Taehyung reads over the reply and furrows his brows. “I mean.. you really have no proof this person is your soulmate. Anyone could have written this comment trying to fool you.” Yoongi sighs.
“That’s what I thought. I knew I was just being crazy. But-”
“Wait a minute I’m not finished. What do you feel, Yoongi? Your gut and your heart will tell you the truth. Do you really feel that this person is your soulmate?”  Yoongi pauses for a moment.. remembering the instant spark he felt when he read your reply and the sense of happiness and calm that washed over him. 
“I do.” 
“Then that’s all you need to know.” Taehyung hands him his phone back with a gentle smile on his face. “But maybe talk to them a little bit more before you jump into this head first. I don’t want to see you end up heartbroken if it turns out this person isn’t your soulmate.” 
“That’s a good idea. Thank you, Tae.” 
“Of course! Now finish up that song and go to bed!” 
“Yes, sir.” 
Taehyung leaves and Yoongi sits back in his chair, putting the finishing touches on his song and posting it to Twitter. He goes to your page and waits to see a reply pop up, and when he does he is not disappointed. 
Tumblr media
“I told you all of those songs you were making me listen to were torturing him! Now look what you did. There is a whole song now dedicated to my ‘colorful taste’ in music. I hate you.” You pick a pillow off the bed and throw it at your friend who is laughing hysterically. 
“At least you made an impression on him! You’re welcome!” 
“I am not thanking you for this.” 
“Aw come on y/n. This song wasn’t meant to be mean! It’s very light hearted and fun. He’s fond of you. You can tell it in the way he raps about you. It might have annoyed him at first but now I think he kind of looks forward to it.” 
“Yeah yeah. Well at least now I can have this song stuck in my head now and not the one from Frozen you were blaring this morning.”
“Hey that is a fantastic song. It’s not my fault you have no taste.” You roll your eyes and go to leave a reply underneath.
Sorry. My friend did that to torture you it wasn’t me, I swear. I’d much rather have your music stuck in my head. 
You post it and get out of bed to get ready for the day when your phone goes off. You check the notifications and see a reply from the same account from yesterday.
“Huh.” 
“What is it?” Your friend walks over to you to see what you’re looking at. 
“This same account replied to me yesterday too..” Suddenly your friend starts laughing.
“‘Im not min yoongi’... That’s totally freaking Yoongi who does he think he’s trying to fool.” 
“What are you talking about? That is not Yoongi!” 
“I bet you my life savings that it is.”
“So.. $10?” 
“Shut up you brat!” Your friend tosses the pillow back at you and you both start laughing. “Think about it y/n. He probably felt drawn to you too and panicked making a fake account just so he could talk to you and see if you really were his soulmate.”
“Well why hasn’t he said anything then?”
“Because he isn’t sure if it really is you. He probably is afraid of getting his heart broken if it turns out you aren’t soulmates.” 
“But we are..” You say with a slight pout.
“We know that y/n. But he doesn’t. He’s taking a shot in the dark here.” 
“You’re right.” 
“What did he say back anyway?” 
“He said ‘lol what songs have you been torturing the poor guy with that he had to write a whole song dedicated to it’.”
“Okay I think this is his way of finding out if you really are his soulmate. If you tell him all of the songs I have been playing for you then he’ll know!” You take a deep breath and reply to him. 
Hollaback Girl, Most of the songs from Frozen, I think even a death metal song once. 
Hahahaha poor guy. Maybe you should give him a little break? Must be hard writing lyrics and producing songs with those playing in his head. 
I have been. Lately it’s been his songs stuck in my head except for the little slip up this morning.
What slip up?
My friend set into the unknown as the alarm to wake us up. 
After that you don’t receive another reply, and opt to go about your day as a means of distraction. 
Tumblr media
Yoongi drops the phone onto his desk. It’s you. After all this time he finally found you. Only his soulmate would know what song they had stuck in Yoongi’s head this morning. Without even realizing it a few tears have begun rolling down his face. They’re tears of happiness, of relief. Finally fate decided to grant him this one kindness and bring you two together. He doesn’t want to just outright ask you to meet him, there is still a nagging doubt in the back of his mind that maybe this is all just some prank, or a delusion. He knows he has to find a way to slip a meeting place and time into his lyrics. And he knows exactly how he wants to do that. It is with this thought in mind that he finally drifts off to sleep. 
The next morning he calls all the members and asks them to come to his studio. They are all now there sitting on the floor and couch looking at him anxiously. 
“I found my soulmate.” They all audibly gasp at this except for Taehyung who already knew. Yoongi wouldn’t have opened up to him before about it if he wasn’t already certain. 
“What?! Yoongi that’s great!” Hoseok exclaims while clapping his hands excitedly. “How did you find them?” Yoongi begins to explain the first interaction you two had, the feelings he felt. But then when he named the solid proof he now had everyone seemed to breathe out a sigh of relief. 
“Yoongi that’s great. Really you know we are all so incredibly happy for you. When do we get to meet them?” Namjoon asks. 
“See that’s the thing. I know I am probably being ridiculous for still having doubts. But before I officially meet them I want to write a song that would include a possible meeting place and time for us. I have an idea. I know it would be much easier to just fly them out here but.. I want to meet them first so I know. So I can be absolutely certain before I dive into this. It wouldn’t be the first time I thought I found my soulmate and it turned out they weren’t.” Namjoon nods in understanding. 
“So what did you have in mind?” 
Tumblr media
You are just about to go to sleep when your phone notifies you that Yoongi has posted yet another song. You open it and bring up the English translation. Your friend stayed the night with you again incase they posted another song, wanting to be there for you and help you figure out the meaning behind everything. You both have it open and are reading the lyrics and you are confused. 
“I don’t understand...” 
“What do you mean?”
“He’s writing these lyrics as if he’s already met his soulmate. He’s talking about how their love flows freely like a river, how they met on a crisp autumn night, how they walked among the cosmos. I... I really thought he was my soulmate but I was just fooling myself.”
“Y/n come on you can’t be that dense.” You tilt your head at your friend in confusion. “He is telling you how he wants to meet you! The first day of autumn is only a few days away. He wants to meet you then.”
“Oh...”
“And the part about the river... Maybe he wants to meet you at one of the Han River Parks.”
“There’s more than one park. How the hell are we supposed to find the one he is talking about? Unless...”
“Unless what?” 
“Cosmos. Those are a type of flowers aren’t they? Is there a specific park that is famous for them?” Your friend quickly turns to the internet to find out. 
“It looks like Guri Hangang Park is famous for the cosmos blooming in September. Many people love to go see the flowers blooming there during that time.” 
“I guess we’re going to Seoul?”
“I guess so.” You take out your phone and reply under the latest song Yoongi has posted.
I’ll see you soon. 
Yoongi reads the words over and over again and his heart is absolutely soaring in his chest. He finally gets to meet you. He was finally able to communicate with his soulmate through his music well enough to be able to meet you. The first day of fall is only a few days away. In just a few days he’s finally going to be able to meet you, his soulmate. The one person he was wanted to meet more than anyone in his life. He’s finally going to be able to hug you, kiss you, hold your hand, take you on dates and just be with you. He clutches a hand over his heart as he feels like it is going to beat out of his chest. 
I’ll be waiting. 
Taglist: @anoesjkaax​​​  @just-call-me-trash-can​ @thestral-balerion​ @xcastielbabyangelface​ @rukinamukami​ @r-e-d-i-s-h​ @heartblackerthancoffee​ @rosita7703​   @jacjacwashere​   @purpletigertaetae​  @woodstockisjustlikealittlekid​  @supernatural-bangtanboys​ 
(for some reason it won’t let me tag some people so if you asked to be added and you’re not on here I’m sorry :( I don’t know what’s up with tumblr.)
215 notes · View notes
Text
Riding On Ch9: A Labour of Love
Tumblr media
Summary: Fliss and Frank receive some news from Boston and Bean’s due date, arrives…and passes, with no sign of him making his bid for freedom just yet. Fliss is frustrated and poor Frank doesn’t know what to do for the best. 
Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, NO UNDER 18s!).
Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher
A/N:  Bean is just not playing ball, is he? As always, I hope you enjoy and I love reading all your thoughts. Chapter Song: Beautiful Day by U2 
Series Masterlist //  WIYPT Masterlist
Touch me, take me to that other place. Teach me, I know I’m not a hopeless case.
Tumblr media
 August 2019  
The alarm had become a bit of a pointless feature in the Gallagher-Adler household, certainly over the last 2 weeks or so. As Fliss headed into the final throes of her pregnancy, her sleep patterns were all over the place. So it was no surprise to Frank that he felt her climbing out of bed at little past 5 am. Blinking sleepily he made a noise of protest because, after all, it was a Saturday, and she chuckled and leaned over to gently kiss his head.
“Stay here.” she instructed, “I’ll be fine.” He wasn’t going to listen, he really wasn’t but his eyes dropped shut of their own accord. When they opened again it was almost 10 and he gave a start, because Fliss was due to leave in little over an hour. She was off for a Pre-Baby pamper session with Verity, Roberta and Sian, which included a manicure, pedicure, haircut, facial and fuck knows what else. To be honest, Frank had zoned out when she'd reeled off the list of treatments last night over dinner and just nodded in all the right places because he wasn't interested if all truth be told. As long as she enjoyed herself. With that in mind, he jumped up and after a quick shower he headed downstairs.
“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked as he wandered into the back of the house. Fliss, who was stood by the bay window seat, her eyes roving over the garden, didn’t answer.
“Lissy?” He spoke again and she jumped slightly and turned to face him as he chuckled and crossed the room to give her a kiss. “Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you. Where’s Mary?”
“She went up to the stables for a lesson with Joanne before it gets too hot.” She replied, taking the peck he offered with a tight smile. Her voice was flat, emotionless and her entire demeanour unnerved him a little as he prided himself on normally being able to read her very well but at that moment he really couldn’t get a lock on her at all.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
 “I had a message from Boston Police…about John.”
Frank made an angry noise in his throat “What about him?”
She looked at him and Frank felt his mind whirring about what there was left that the ass hole could possibly put her through. He was inside, for a long time and he wouldn’t be getting parole this time round either but when she answered, he hadn’t been expecting her to drop the news she did.
“He’s dead.” Fliss said flatly as she looked at Frank. His face contorted into a frown as he looked at her.
“Dead?”
She nodded “Apparently got in a fight with another prisoner and it got a bit nasty. He was stabbed and…” she swallowed “Bled out. Nothing they could do.” Frank watched her carefully as she was clearly pondering something. He wasn’t sure how she was going to be feeling here. She had been married to him after all but, well, Frank was struggling to feel anything other than a sickening sense of satisfaction. If anyone deserved to die it was that fucker.
“You ok?” he asked her as he stepped towards her and pulled her into a hug.
“Yeah. I feel nothing.” she said simply, pulling back to look at him. “Absolutely nothing. I’m not happy he’s dead but I don’t care he is, either, and I’m certainly not upset about it.” She paused, biting her lip “Does that make me a bad person?”
“Bad?” Frank spluttered “Fuck, no honey, of course not” She let out a sigh as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head as she snuggled her face into his chest.  “If you think feeling nothing makes you bad then me feeling what I do means I’m going straight to hell.” Frank moved and tilted her face to look at him with his finger a thumb gently holding her chin “He was a nasty, vile bastard Lissy, and he put you through so much, not to mention nearly fucking killing you less than a year ago. If anything you have a right to be throwing a damned party now.”
“Not sure you’d find many places with Congratulations Your Piece Of Shit, Wife-Beating Ex-Husband Is Dead banners or balloons.” she quipped.
“The internet is dark and full of terrors.” Frank smiled back and Fliss snorted at the Game of Thrones reference “Never underestimate it.”
She stayed silent for a moment before she pulled back and looked up at him. “You know what else I will never underestimate?” she asked, and Frank was pleased to note that familiar shine had returned to her face and eyes and he arched an eyebrow. “The power of a back massage.”
Frank smiled “Good job you’re heading off for one then isn’t it.”
“Hmmmm…” she teased, her hands tracing his chest through his t-shirt. “Thing is, unlike your back rubs this one won’t have a happy ending.” “It better fucking not do.” He shot back and she grinned.
“I should go get ready.”
“Ok, you want any breakfast before you go?” he asked and she smiled
“We ate, but there’s some pancakes in the oven for you, you just need to warm them up.”
He smiled “You’re too good to me.” “I know” she shrugged, standing on her toes to give him a kiss. With a chuckle he watched her leave, Thor trotting behind her before he let out a deep breath.
“Does that make me bad?”
The fact that she was even asking that, after everything, was enough of an answer in itself. Bad? There was nothing further from the truth and he hated that she had even entertained the idea. But, as Frank realised when he poured himself a coffee, now the bastard was dead, there was nothing else he could do to her. That particular shadow was now well gone.
And Frank didn’t give a shit whether being happy or, dare he say it, amused at the fact the fucker had died in prison, made him a bad person or not.
*****
An hour later Fliss was collected by Bill, the poor bloke was on drop off and pick up duty and Frank didn’t envy him dealing with all 4 of women. Out of courtesy, Frank had offered to run one way but Bill had waved his offer off, pointing out that he had to collect his mother later that afternoon from the aiport.
He walked out to the car with them, taking a side glance at his girl who was dressed in a pale pink and blue maxi dress, which was quite low cut and made her pregnancy boobs look fucking amazing. He smiled as he opened the door for her, Fliss sinking into the front seat- being basically 40 weeks pregnant and ready to pop awarded her certain perks such as her mother surrendering her usual position in the passenger side.
“Have a nice time.” He said, leaning over to give her a peck.
“We will.” She smiled “I left Mary some Mac and Cheese for lunch, she was asking before so I pulled it out of the freezer.”
Frank smiled “I’ll fight her for it.” “No need.” She grinned “I got you some out too.” “You spoil me”
Smiling, she reached up and cupped his cheek before he straightened up and shut the door. Once he was sure it was closed he jerked his head to Bill who was bent giving Thor a pat and signalled for the man to walk with him a little, taking a few steps away.
“Everything ok?” Bill asked.
“Yeah, well, sort of. She’s probably gonna tell you herself but just in case she doesn’t, she had a call this morning. John’s dead.” Bill blinked, before he gave a snort “Good.” “Yeah, that was kind of my reaction too.” Frank scratched at his neck. “Fliss, however, well she says she didn’t feel anything. Not happy, not sad, just complete indifference. Which, to be fair, is probably a good thing for her. I’m just a little worried she’s numb because it hasn’t sunk in yet.” Bill nodded “If she doesn’t mention it herself on the way I’ll tell V on the quiet when we get there.” “Thanks.”  Frank smiled as the two of them headed back to the car. Frank grinned at Bill, as he could hear the chatter from the 4 women even through the closed doors and windows of the car.
“Good luck!” he said, nodding towards the vehicle.
Bill snorted before he frowned a little “How come you haven’t gone with Steve and the boys up to the Water Sports centre?” “Mary didn’t want to.” Frank said “I think she’s still a little, self-conscious, I suppose is the term, around the twins but she’ll come round. You know what she’s like” “Well, when they move over in January she’ll have plenty of time to get to know them properly” Bill shrugged “Right, best get this rabble to the hotel. See you later son.” Frank smiled, nodding at him. As the Range Rover pulled off up the drive he tossed a hand at the tailgate before he looked down at Thor.
“Come on boy, let’s go find Mary.” It didn’t take them long to locate her. Having finished her lesson she’d been busy grooming Monty and then helping Joanne with a few chores, or bugging the shit out of her Frank suspected but Joanne was always so patient with her. The young woman was god-send, having really stepped up over the last 2 months especially. Frank knew why Fliss liked her so much.
He practically dragged Mary home, but it really was getting ridiculously warm and he wanted her to have a few hours inside to keep cool a little. In the end, as always, they haggled reaching a compromise that she could have a little while in the pool provided she sat in the shade quietly to eat lunch. As always he was roped into the pool with her, such a hard life he led, and after 30 minutes of teaching her how to dive they both climbed out and ate before changing and heading to the airport to collect Evelyn who was coming to stay for a while.
He greeted her with the usual nod and smile as Mary gave her a hug, before he took her bag from her and they headed back to his truck, Mary gibbering on about anything and everything, his mother listening and replying when needed. The last time Mary had seen Evelyn she had gone to Boston for the weekend the previous month, something that had set Frank on edge after the last time, but as Fliss had reasoned with him, he knew that he couldn’t allow that to stop him from letting her go. This meant that Evelyn hadn’t seen their house since they had moved in back in June. Mary showed her round, Frank following, and when they got to Bean’s room he saw her stop and look round, smiling softly.
“You’ve done a good job, Frank.” She turned to look at him and he smiled back.
“You sound surprised, mother.” “Not at all.” She shook her head. “I expected nothing less.” “Makes a change.” He couldn’t help the sarcastic shot back and she narrowed her eyes.
“Are we not passed the sniping yet?” she said, tiredly.
Frank held his hands up, “Sorry.” After she’d seen the attic and Mary’s room, they headed back downstairs, Frank showing Evelyn to the Guest Apartment over the Garage which he had put the finishing touches to the week before. Fliss had stocked the fridge fully for her, meaning she had everything she could need for snacks and drinks, and whatever else she needed for a comfortable stay. He left her to unpack, telling her to come over to the main house when she was done, which she did a little over an hour later.
Frank poured her a glass of white wine, and they headed outside, taking a seat at the table as Mary was in and out of the pool freely as the sun wasn’t quite as high as it had been given that it was half four in the afternoon. Evelyn took the opportunity to ask Frank if they were ready for Bean to arrive and he smiled, shrugging.
“As ready as we can be.” He said, “We’ve had all the hospital tours and found the place Fliss prefers so…” “Where have you chosen?” Evelyn asked.
“Bayfront in St Pete’s” Frank said, pulling out his phone “They have a suite called the Baby Place.”
He flicked through his phone’s internet browser to the bookmarked page and handed it to Evelyn who put on her glasses to scan the information.
"The separate family lounge offers some of the amenities of home, such as a game table, bla bla bla and room enough to host celebrations and enjoy time with loved ones." Evelyn read from the website. "It looks like a hotel not a hospital" she mused as she handed the phone back to Frank. "Well, that's kinda the idea mother." He said, tossing his phone onto the table. "It’s actually a state-approved level 3 Regional Perinatal Intensive Care Centre." Mary appeared at the side of them, picking up her towel. "The program is one of only 12 in the state of Florida" Evelyn looked at her, cooking her head to one side as Frank gave a chuckle. "There is that too." He said as Evelyn turned to him. Mary, wrapped herself in the towel and hopped up onto his knee. "We originally discussed a birthing centre with the midwife but Fliss was too worried about what could go wrong or if she decided half way through she wanted an epidural..." he rubbed at Mary’s shoulders slightly, drying her off with the towel. “So when the midwife suggested this it seemed like a perfect compromise. She gets a private recovery area and should make her feel more at ease. She doesn't have fond memories of hospitals." He shrugged "Who does?" Evelyn looked at him, taking a sip of her wine. "Well Fliss has some particularly bad ones what with her back injury and operation, not to mention all the times he put her in one." Frank said, pausing for a second. That reminded him.
“Hey Stack, can you go grab me a can of soda?”
“Only if I can have one.” She bargained.
“Fine, but grab the no sugar. You’re already hyper enough as it is.”
Mary jumped down and headed through the door into the kitchen. As soon as she was out of earshot Frank looked at his mother.
“John’s dead.” He said bluntly “Fliss had a call this morning. He was stabbed in prison.” Evelyn looked at him for a second, before she gave a snort “Couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy.” She said sarcastically “How has Fliss taken it?”
“Well she wasn’t leaping for joy but she’s not upset, says she feels nothing.” He shrugged, looking up as Mary came back. She handed him a can as she hopped back on his knee and opened the other one herself.
Evelyn studied Frank for a second as if she was considering something before she smiled "I take it the fact she's due to drop tomorrow is the reason you're on soft drinks and not beer." Frank smiled "Just playing it safe. I mean so are you right? That's why you're here for the next 2 weeks." Evelyn shrugged "is it a problem?" "No." Frank shook his head before he grinned cheekily "Why do you think I finished the apartment above the Garage?" "Bill says in England they would call it a Granny Flat" Mary said as Frank gave a snort. Evelyn chuckled a little. "I’m aware of the terminology, thank you, on account of being from England myself." She looked at Mary "You know, people build them on their property when they want their elderly relatives to move in with them so they can look after them." she turned to Frank, smirking "So I'm honoured, Francis..." "I didn't build it just for you." He rolled his eyes "it was half done when we moved in so it made sense to finish it." He picked up his can "It’s a place for anyone to stay, although I'd be lying if I said you weren't at the forefront of my mind when we did it" Evelyn looked at him, shocked, "me?" "Yeah..." he shrugged, grinning "Fliss told me that I wasn't allowed to let you stay in a hotel or at Bill and V's now we have room so this was the best way of actually keeping you out of the house..." "Oh piss off!" Evelyn looked at him, slapping his arm as he laughed. She shook her head and before she could shoot a sarcastic response back, the sound of an engine coming up the drive hit Frank’s ears and a soft smile crept across his face. His girl was home. Thor gave a loud bark and stood up, running to the gate, Frank following him. He opened it, striding out onto the path through the lawn which led round the side of their house to the front. He smiled as Fliss pushed herself out of her dad's range rover and he instantly spotted that her hair was a lighter colour than it had been that morning and was flowing round her face and shoulders in perfectly styled waves. It was evident she had enjoyed herself, as she looked relaxed for the first time in weeks. "Well I would ask if you had a nice time." He smiled, dropping a kiss to her cheek "but I can tell from the way you're grinning that you did." "Oh it was amazing." She smiled as his hands fell to her hips. “Just what I needed. I feel relaxed and absolutely ready to push a baby out of my vagina.” Frank gave a loud laugh as he shook his head. “Well, your hair looks great." "Aww thanks Frank." Roberta slapped his shoulder as she walked past him into the yard. He rolled his eyes as Fliss laughed, tugging on Frank’s hand as she led him to the trunk of Bill's car. Bill was stood with it open as Verity and Sian were looking in each of the bags before Verity pointed at one and handed it to Fliss, Frank immediately taking it from her. He peered inside.
"Because you don't have enough toiletries" he deadpanned. Fliss shrugged. "The lavender stuff they said would help me sleep, which in case you haven't noticed I've been struggling to do over the last 2 weeks." "Hard not to notice when you wake me up at 3:30 am to tell me" "I did that once because I felt sick. And besides, you did this to me..." she pointed to her now really rather large bump "...you should also be feeling the consequences" Bill snorted as he shut the trunk of his car and looked at Frank as he glanced at the older man, almost pleading for help "Sorry lad." Bill chuckled "You got her pregnant and wanna marry her, she's your problem now." "She is here..." Fliss glared at her father. "Oh, trust me Titch, we are all well aware you are." "Rude" Fliss looked at her parents as they headed into the garden. "Steve and the boys will be here in about 5." Sian looked at Fliss having just got off the phone to him. "Said to tell you he is picking up some real meat on the way over...whatever that means Frank?" Frank laughed "he means fillet steak. I got Sirloin. A man's cut. He's being a pussy" Sian looked at Fliss who simply shook her head. "Meat is a big issue for Francis." She said sombrely, patting his chest.
“I just know what I like.” He shrugged. They made their way through to the back in time to see Verity giving Evelyn a warm hug in greeting. It made Fliss smile softly, noticing how different it all was to the stiff handshakes shared when they met for the first time little over a year ago.
Frank dropped a kiss to her cheek and headed inside to put her bag away before he came back down just as Steve and the boys turned up. Then the usual thing that happened at BBQs went ahead, the men crowding round the grill, the women bustling in and out of the kitchen setting out the sides and accompaniments, the 3 kids bombing in and out of the pool.
“You should have come with us today Mary.” Steve said to the girl as she sauntered past in her bathing suit. She paused to look at him.
“What did you do?”
“We did Kayaking, skiing, the boys went bodyboarding but I sat that one out.” Steve said.
“I didn’t know if I would like it.” She shrugged, dropping her eyes slightly. Frank watched carefully as Steve crouched down.
“Me neither, but you know what? It was fun, and the best thing is, if there’s something you don’t wanna do, you can sit it out and watch.” Frank could see from her face she was mulling this over. She looked at Steve “Are you going again Uncle Steeby?”
“Next Friday.” He nodded.
“Ok, I wanna go next time.” She announced. “Mind your manners.” Frank instructed, gently, pointing the tongues he was holding at her.
“Please.” She added. Charlie and Joel both erupted into noise, demanding that their father allow it and Steve gave a chuckle.
“You’re welcome any time Stack, as long as Frank and Fliss say its ok.” He said, standing up. “Fine by me. In fact you can keep her if you want.” Frank shrugged and Mary rolled her eyes.
“You always say stuff like that, pretend you don’t want me here but we all know the truth. You do, that’s why you’re adopting me.”
“Smart ass.” Frank narrowed his eyes at her as she stuck her tongue out and ran off. Bill and Steve chuckled as Frank shook his head, snorting.
“Thanks Steve.” He looked at the man who waved his thanks away.
“You know, she’s getting more like Fliss was every day.” Bill said “you want to watch that, Frank. She was a sassy little swine as a kid.” “Mary was already a sass bag before she met Fliss.” Frank shrugged, turning over the steaks on the grill. “Lissy just encourages it.” “Have you had any luck with her biological father?” Steve asked and Frank shook his head.
“We’re not expecting to yet. We’ve only given him notification of our intent. I suspect when Greg actually starts the process officially we’ll hear something.”
“But you don’t expect him to object?”
Frank hesitated before he shrugged “I can’t see why he would. He’s never been interested in her, at all. I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a slight worry but like Fliss keeps telling me, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.” “No point worrying about something you can’t control.” Bill said wisely, before he drained his beer “Right, I need another drink. Anyone else want one?”
“Yeah, I’ll come with you” Steve said “Frank?”
“I’m good, thanks.” “You can have one or two, surely?” Steve looked at him.
“Leave him alone.” Bill said, shoving his son on the shoulder, “That’s your sister and my little girl he’s looking out for…” “Fuckin’ pussy…” Steve snorted playfully and Frank threw the burger flipper at him.
Bill and Steve walked away, playfully squabbling and a few seconds later Frank felt a familiar pair of arms wrap around him from behind, Fliss pressing her lips to the space between his shoulder blades.
“Hey gorgeous.” He said, moving so she could slide under his arm. He pressed a kiss to her head “You ok?”
“Yeah, fine.” She smiled, looking up at him. “You know I really do I love your hair." He said, taking in the lighter colour even more in the now closing light of day. Over the past two years, her vivid auburn had gradually tone down and was now a light brown, laced with copper and blonde.
“Thanks.” She said, a little shyly and Frank frowned.
“Don’t you like it?”
“No, I love it…it’s just, well, actually it doesn’t matter.” “Lissy.” He looked at her sternly, and she sighed, her hands worrying one another so Frank put the cooking utensils down and took them in his. “Tell me what’s going on.” “John hated me changing it.” She shrugged “Which is why I went so bright red in the first place. Once I left him I just fancied doing something wild. I’ve always liked it a bit lighter. He insisted I kept it dark…”
“Well you can do what the fuck you want with it.” He assured her, “Unless you want to shave it all off. Then I might raise some objections.” “Sorry. She said gently and he frowned.
“What for?” “Raising him again” she shrugged “We’ve been together almost 2 years now and…” “Hey.” He said, “Don’t ever apologise. I’d rather you tell me when you’re feeling like this. You know that.”
“Of course I do, I just wonder sometimes if it’s ever gonna stop.”
“So what if it doesn’t?” Frank looked at her. She blinked and he shrugged “I’ve told you, you can always talk to me. Nothing you say is gonna make me mad.”
She smiled at him as he dropped his head, gently giving her a peck. “I know, I just get fed up sometimes. Stupid little memories and flashbacks.” “I know.” He smiled at her, kissing her head softly “But they don’t rule your life anymore, not like they used to. They’re just…”he hesitated “A minor annoyance, a bit like him really, insignificant.”
“He’s even more insignificant now.” She grinned “He’s fucking dead.”
At that Frank let out a snort “I take it you’re not longer feeling numb then.”
She shrugged “Mum said exactly the same as you before, that we should be throwing a party so…”
Frank chuckled again, pulling her into him even further as he turned back to the grill.
******
Despite it being her due date the following day there was no sign of Bean. And he didn’t make an appearance on the Monday either. On Tuesday they headed in for an assessment at the hospital, and after an examination the Midwife smiled at Fliss as she lay on the bed.
"Well, Miss Gallagher... he is in the right position." The midwife smiled. “Dropped and ready.” "He needs to hurry up." Fliss grumbled "He was due two days ago.” "Your due date is never exact. I wouldn't worry. His heartbeat is strong, he'll arrive when he is ready." "Already taking after his father." Fliss shot a side glance at Frank who raised an eyebrow. "Ok so if there's no sign of him by the morning of the 28th then just call" the woman said and Frank bit back a smirk at the look of utter disgust on Fliss' face "We'll check everything and do a sweep to get things moving." "Is there anything we can do?" Fliss practically whined "Spicy food? Pineapple? Speed bumps?" The Midwife laughed "I'm afraid they're only old wives tales. The only one with a shred of credibility is sex." Frank grinned and Fliss shot him a glare. "Semen contains prostaglandins" the midwife shot Fliss a wink "It can trigger the release of oxytocin which is a hormone that can help contractions." At that it was Fliss' turn to grin. "So all I need is your sperm and a turkey baster Sailor. Unlucky." Frank rolled his eyes and mentally cursed the midwife for her damned scientific explanation. "But in essence if your body isn’t ready to labour, nothing you do will necessarily get you going." She smiled "Sorry, you're just gonna have to ride it out." Despite the joking there was no activity in the bedroom that night other than a lot of tossing and turning as Fliss was really struggling to get comfortable enough to sleep. Frank hated seeing her so tired and fed up but when at 3:30 am he sleepily asked her if she needed anything she simply asked for a cuddle which he was more than happy to provide.
“I’m sorry.” She mumbled.
“What for?”
“I know I've been a pain these last 2 weeks.”
“You’re heavily pregnant and fed up.” He said, kissing her head
“I wouldn't be able to do this alone. I don't know how my mum did.” She said softly. Frank sighed and pulled her closer, remembering how upset she had been a week or so back when their conversation one evening with Mary had turned to Frank telling her how he had been with Diane when she was born. Hormones be damned, it had set Fliss off about how nice it was that Frank had been there and stood by Diane and how she wished her own mom had that, but instead Verity’s parents had kicked her out and left her alone and pregnant at the age of 19.
Frank knew Verity had been young when she had Fliss, although he had never expressly asked he had worked it out from the fact she was 9 years Bill's junior. He also knew there was a lot of bad blood on that side of the family and that Fliss had never met her maternal grandparents, even when they reached out to her later down the line. She had rather impolitely told them to fuck off, Verity doing the same. When asked by Mary why she hadn’t forgiven them as they were family, Fliss had shrugged and simply replied that family isn't and never would be about blood, but instead it was about those people who saw you at your absolute worst and wanted you just the same. "You've nothing to be sorry for.” Frank gently soothed her, “And you're not on your own. You never will be." "I know." She looked up at him, smiling as he gave her a soft kiss.
Things continued much the same for the rest of the week. Every so often Fliss would get a twinge, and the pair of them would get excited, thinking this was it, only for nothing to happen. On the Friday, almost a week post her due date, Frank called the midwife who arranged for them to come in the next morning. Evelyn, who was being particularly helpful, even if Frank was loath to admit it cooked for them all that night, but Fliss had struggled to eat her meal, declaring she felt a bit sick. After a profound apology to Evelyn she announced she was heading for a bath and then going to bed.
“Do you want me to come with you?” Frank asked and Fliss shook her head.
“It’s not even 7. I might be back down in an hour or so if I feel better.” “Ok, can you manage-“
“Frank!” she said, exasperatedly. “I’m fine.” “Well, you’re-“ he began and Evelyn laid her hand on his arm and shook her head gently. For the first time in, well, as long as he could remember, he obeyed an order from his mother and stopped. “Alright. Just shout me then if you need anything.”
She gave him a kiss on his cheek, her way of apology for snapping and headed off.
“You won’t need that appointment tomorrow.” Evelyn said after a pause and Frank turned to her.
“What makes you say that?” “Because I felt the same the day before I went into labour with you.” Evelyn said “Queasy, tired, just generally off.” “Well, I hope you’re right because she’s fed up.” Frank sighed “He’s fully cooked now, just being a stubborn little bastard.”
“What was it you once said to me about an apple and a tree analogy?” she looked at him, arching an eyebrow and Frank snorted.
“Yeah ok, you got me there” he conceded.
Fliss didn’t come back down after her bath. Frank popped in on her a few times and she was simply led in bed, trying to get comfortable, tearfully complaining that her back ache was particularly bad. Frank led besides her for half an hour or so, gently working at the lower part of her spine that was giving her the trouble before he realised she’d fallen asleep. He left her to it, heading back down to his mother and Mary, before a few hours later, just before 10, they all decided to go to bed as it had been a long day. Fliss didn’t wake up when he slid in besides her, nor when he dropped a kiss to her cheek. He watched her for a moment as she lay, facing him, before he too closed his eyes.
***** His baby was sat on his knee, grinning up at him. He smiled down at the boy, whose hands were wrapped tight around his index fingers. He glanced up, looking around for Fliss but there was no sign of her. Nor Mary for that matter. Hoisting Alex up onto his hip he headed out to the garden and gave a start as he saw both Fliss and Mary floating face down in the pool.
“No, no…” he began to mutter, before his muttering became frantic yells “No, this…not my girls…not…”
With a start, Frank sat straight upright in bed, breathing deeply. He glanced at the clock on the side which read 23:30, damned he hadn’t even been asleep an hour! What the fuck…
He wiped his clammy brow and lay back, feeling Fliss stir besides him.
“Frank?” she asked softly, “Are you ok?” “Bad dream.” He mumbled, turning onto his side and sliding his arm under her neck, pulling her back into his chest.
“You wanna talk about it?” she asked.
He shook his head with the air of a small child, pressing his nose into her neck, breathing in her smell and comfort. As he nuzzled at her, he felt her sigh a little and push back further into him.
“Stop it.” She muttered.
“Stop what?” he asked.
“That.” She said, “On my neck…”
“Why?” he teased, his nose being replaced by his lips as he gently trailed open mouthed kisses up to her ear.
“You know why…”
“You ready to try what the midwife suggested?” he muttered, his mouth nipping at her ear and she gave a laugh.
“I'm willing to try anything. Just make it quick, I’m not bothered about coming. I only need your sperm.” “Charming…” he snorted as she gave a soft chuckle. His hand that had been resting on her bump softly moved down a little as he shifted, snaking his leg in between hers, opening her up slightly. He hooked her leg up over his hip, his fingers softly trailing up her bare thigh, shifting her sleep shorts to one side as he slipped his hand gently into her folds. She bucked harshly.
“Easy baby.” he muttered.
“Can’t help it.” she let out a soft sigh “Sensitive…” With a smile, he used his other hand to tip her head round so he could catch her mouth with his own, kissing her gently, his tongue softly sliding against hers, swallowing the moans and groans she was eliciting as he worked her with his hand. Had she been a little more with it, she might have been slightly embarrassed at how pathetically short a period of time it was before he had her clamping down around his fingers, shuddering as her release washed over her, but she was too gone to care. She’d hardly even come down from her orgasm when Frank eased her shorts down, then his boxers and with a gently push forward slid into her, the pair of them letting out hushed sighs as he began to slowly slide in and out of her. There was no haste to his movements, no rush, nothing, it was gentle, sweet, loving as he kept her held close to him, his lips lavishing affection on her shoulders and neck. Before long he heard and felt he breathing falling into that tell-tale staccato panting and she let out a low, quiet but downright filthy noise from her throat and Frank’s lips curved into a grin against her neck.
“Come on beautiful…” he mumbled, the heat in his own belly was sending spikes of fire up and down his body as he fought to keep control for a little longer “Come on.” And she did, her head tipped back and with a stuttering whisper of his name he felt her tighten around him, her legs quivering as he himself came, his hips slowing to a stop as he gently bit down on her shoulder. The pair of them lay still for a while, his hand softly curving up and around her bump, over her hip, down her thigh and back again, gently repeating the motion.
“You ok?” he asked and she nodded, humming in contentment. He pulled out of her, righted their items of clothing as Fliss hardly moved. He kept her pressed close to him as he closed his eyes, drifting off again.
He was woken 3 hours later, just before 4 am by Fliss shaking his arm.
“Frank…”
He groaned but didn’t open his eyes.
“Frank…Bean…I think he’s on his way…”
He let out a grin and turned over “My sperms worked then…” he mumbled into the pillow.
Fliss looked at him, waiting for the moment her words registered in his sleep-addled brain, which happened roughly 10 or so seconds later when he suddenly sat bolt upright, turning to face her.
“Penny dropped?” she asked arching an eyebrow.
He blinked “He’s…” She nodded, “Yeah…” He blinked again before he swallowed, and with a grin stuttered out a single word.
“Shit!”
78 notes · View notes
prettywordsyouleft · 4 years
Text
Forsaken | Part 10
Tumblr media
Summary: As one of the Forsaken, Jinyoung had no right to covet anything as his own. When he stumbles across you standing in the middle of the village he had plundered, the memories of old make him risk it all, clutching at the past in hopes for a better future.
Pairing: Park Jinyoung x reader
Genre: warrior au / star crossed lovers / angst / romance
Warnings: death, kidnapping, cursing, a myriad of emotions - this is a really sad love story.
Index: Prologue | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 
Tumblr media
“I don’t know about you but it feels so freeing to be out here like this,” you commented with a skip to your step, Youngjae casting an exasperated look in your direction as he hobbled along with a cane to support him.
“Oh yes, how very wonderful when there’s not a soldier in sight to protect us.”
“Precisely!” You spun around and then grinned at Youngjae. “We could even run away together now.”
“What about Jinyoung? Don’t you worry about his heartache?”
You grinned. “He’ll find me. He did after all these years.”
“You’re foolish to think the Gods above would give you another chance if you threw away everything now.”
“I know, don’t worry I’m joking. Being completely free right now is all a pipe dream. Especially since we’re not without a warrior either.”
“Please don’t go saying because you’ve played with some weapons that you can now protect us-” Angling Youngjae to the tree line, you pointed out the shadow that you had noticed following along twenty minutes prior. “Oh. Not you then.”
“Still, I have my dagger so if anyone tries anything in the village, mark my words, I’ll stab them with it! Fear not, Youngjae!”
“I still don’t feel comfortable with you, but knowing we have Jackson following us puts me completely at ease.”
“Why, because I’m a woman?!”
“No, because you’re used to stabbing trees and stuffed bags, not humans.”
“Come a little closer and I’ll stab you instead!” you grumbled, folding your arms across your chest.
Youngjae chuckled heartily then and with the look in his eye, you called it a truce.
You were grateful for Jinyoung letting you leave the base. You hadn’t thought he would allow you out of his sights ever again, not that you would blame him for being like that. Whilst you craved the world being brighter and fuller than it was within that mountainside, you knew you couldn’t cope without seeing Jinyoung for long either.
Half the reason you were moving so fast, you realised, was so you could get back to him before dark.
Still, it was nice to head out with Youngjae. You liked him a great deal and could tell you complimented one another as friends. You were excited that he was coming along with you on your escape to Nowhere, and were determined to protect him at all costs.
You weren’t joking when you said you would stab anyone who threatened his safety.
It was nice to be doing something outside of the forest boundary line though. If you could pull off this trip to town with Youngjae, then surely you would be up for more in the future. You were hopeful that once settled in your new place together that you and Youngjae could journey to gather supplies more often, and Jackson could do so at your sides, not lurking within the shadows as he had so far.
The trip to the village took most of the morning, and after grabbing the order and a meal at the inn, you headed back in the direction you had ventured from. It was an hour into your journey home when you were startled to find Jackson running out from under the cover of the trees towards you both, throwing Youngjae over his shoulder and grabbing onto your hand. Diving behind a derelict building and the verge of a tree line, Jackson signalled for you all to be silent as he peered out from behind the wall at whatever it was that threatened your travels.
“Must we-”
He silenced your hushed question and continued to look out towards the road. It was then that you heard thundering hooves, and with a glance around Jackson, you saw the flag of the Rebellion held within a couple of the riders’ hands.
They were another battalion. Pressing yourself against the wall as flashes of the day you were kidnapped plagued you, you weren’t even aware they had fully passed by until Jackson was shaking you out of your reverie.
“Y/N, we must hurry now!”
“Why did Jinyoung let me go out if he knew there could be a battalion on the…” You trailed off then, your thoughts racing as your eyes peeled in the direction of the camp. You started to run, panic coursing throughout you.
Jackson caught up with you and pulled you back to his side. “He’ll be okay; it was you he was protecting in the first place.”
“He sent me out because he knew they were coming?”
“We had a spy tell of our plans to leave the Rebellion. Jinyoung knew Argo and his hunting team would come to interrogate. If he found you there then-”
“Then?”
“It doesn’t matter. Let’s just hurry back to safety. Youngjae, come on!”
“Do you know who the spy is?” you asked once Youngjae was at your side and Jackson shrugged. “Well, surely you have suspicions?”
“The ones in the radio tower,” Jackson offered and Youngjae gasped noisily.
“BamBam and Yugyeom?! Surely not. They’re boisterous but good kids.”
“BamBam was the last to be transferred to our base. He’s always been a bit on edge. He’s the perfect suspect to me.”
“Maybe he has a reason. He doesn’t seem like someone who would do it just to have fun.”
Jackson sighed. “Either way, he broke Jinyoung’s trust and he’s not one to be all that forgiving about it.”
“Then we must hurry to-”
“To?” Youngjae repeated at your sudden stillness, reaching out for your hand. “Y/N?”
“They’re coming back,” you murmured, hearing hooves once more.
Darting to glance over your shoulder, you were confused when you didn’t see the horses on the path behind you.
“It’s an ambush. They knew something was up, after all,” Jackson murmured, kicking himself into gear again. “Come on into the trees, the horses will find it harder within here.”
“We can’t expect Youngjae to rush! Jackson, this won’t work.”
“Go on without me,” the latter urged and you shook your head, latching onto his arm and helping him through the bramble and roots.
“I won’t leave you!”
“Nor will I. We’ll stay together,” Jackson announced, eyes peeled towards the road.
It was tough going getting deeper into the woods and yet, it seemed to help you disappear from the army searching for you. Jackson made you hide when it was needed, and then efficiently assisted you both over the overgrown territory.
You could tell this terrain was tiring Youngjae. “I don’t know how much more I can handle.”
“We need to get to safety, Youngjae.”
“You need to, not me. I’m meant to be dead anyway.”
Jackson grunted. “No one’s dying today.”
“Besides, I’m also meant to be rid of this world and here I am. Come on, Youngjae, lean on me.”
For some time, you managed to travel without any intrusion. Being this deep into the forest meant you had no idea if you were travelling the right way, and the lack of lighting made it harder for you to rely on your compass. You were certain you had made it away from your attackers when you neared a road that separated the density of the trees. It was quiet, and Jackson nodded once.
“Follow after me,” he instructed lowly, cautiously stepping out onto the road. You followed, holding Youngjae’s arm in yours.
It wasn’t until you were in the middle of the road when you realised just how deadly this was about to become. The swoosh of an arrow hurtled passed your ear and you pushed Youngjae behind you, trying to find your dagger amidst the open fire. However, Jackson’s scream startled you, your eyes widening as you watch him fall to the ground.
“Well, looky here. I found a wandering shadow. And what’s this he brings into my pathway? It wouldn’t be what that silly cat thinks he could hide from me, now would it? Catch them, boys.”
“Run, Y/N,” Youngjae said with a shove but you didn’t budge, unable to uproot yourself from his side.
You weren’t cut out for this world after all. In the face of danger, your mind blanked and you couldn’t protect either of the men you had grown fond of. You weren’t prepared for anything. Much like the daze you had been in when the fires began to burn all around you in your last home, you were far too easy to catch and incapable of helping Jackson spluttering on the ground behind you as the rough men captured you and threw you on their cart alongside Youngjae.
Gripping at your compass, you closed your eyes and willed your voice to make it to Jinyoung.
He was your only hope now.
Tumblr media
The shock drove you into a dreamless slumber, in which you woke from when you were roughly tossed into some sort of holding cell. Youngjae landed with a cry beside you and you crawled over to his side, trying to check him over.
“How dare you hurt him, you monster!” you cried and the men merely laughed in good humour at your feeble statement.
“Did you hear that Tatum, we’re monsters.”
“Monsters seem to roam these lands a lot. Silly girl doesn’t know her place.”
“Rather be a monster than a prisoner, I’d say.”
“Don’t bother with them, Y/N. They are too rotten in the mind to care,” Youngjae breathed, trying to straighten up.
Your tears were falling freely. “I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“I didn’t do what I was trained to do by Jinyoung and-”
“There was no way you could have helped either of us in that situation. Maybe if you ran you would outdo them, but chances are, they would have caught you. It was what they set out to do in the first place.”
“We should have never left the camp.”
“It would have been a bloodbath if we hadn’t.”
You heaved out a shaky breath. “It could have still been.”
“Jinyoung is the cat he referred to. That man thinks he’s outwitted Jinyoung in some way. If Jackson is alive, he’ll alert Jinyoung, don’t you worry.”
“That’s what worries me. Jinyoung’s reflexes will react impulsively and we’ll all end up dead before we can escape this hell. We need to try and do something ourselves. If we can meet him in the middle, then maybe we have a better chance of getting away.”
“How? We’re locked up.”
“Not without back up,” you mentioned quietly, hiking your pant leg up just enough to show the hilt of your dagger. Youngjae grinned, reaching to smooth the fabric back down to conceal your weapon.
“What should we do next?”
Tumblr media
“Do you ever wonder what you would do in the face of danger?”
Glancing at the older woman across the room, you sighed. “I’m not sure.”
“You should have a plan, my dear.”
“Why? Those with power will always stamp out the weak.”
“Are you saying you’re weak?” she wondered, coming over with a tray of cut fruit. She set it down on the table and then smiled warmly at you. “You’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
“Maybe, but I don’t feel like I could fight.”
“If it meant your parents could come back?” she suggested and you blinked back the instant rise in emotions. “Or that boy, the one who owns your heart. If it was for them?”
“I wouldn’t hesitate to throw myself in harm’s way.”
“We should always prepare for the worst, and live for the best, my dear.”
“Hasn’t the worst already happened for me? I’m without them all.”
“You still hold onto your life, and that is most precious.”
“Some days…” you started, sighing heavily at her reproachful stare. “Grandmother, I really don’t get the lesson you are trying to teach me right now.”
“It’s okay not to have the answers in the beginning. It’s okay to feel hopeless. But I hope with time in your situation, you will know what your best move will be.”
Thinking of Jinyoung and how he always looked over his shoulder for what-ifs, you shook your head. “I can’t keep thinking like this. If something bad comes my way, then fate can decide if I’m worthy or not.”
“Why should you put such a burden on poor fate like that?!” she chastised, holding out a piece of pear to you. “Use your surroundings to your advantage. Think of what must be done to reach out and hold onto your loved ones again. One day you might be on your own without me in this world, and I need to know you will continue to fight even then.”
“What would I do in the face of danger?” you mused, taking a bite of the pear distractedly.
If it meant seeing your loved ones one last time, you hoped you would give it your all.
_________________
Part 11
All rights reserved © prettywordsyouleft
[GOT7 Masterlist] | [Main Masterlist] | [Request Guidelines]
61 notes · View notes
nanowrimo · 4 years
Text
10 Book Recommendations for Quarantine
Tumblr media
Looking for some books to help pass the time while you’re stuck inside? Young Writer’s Program participant Mahreema J. has you covered! Here are ten novels to read while you shelter in place:
Ok, so I’ll be honest. I LOVE it when my friends and classmates come up to me for a book recommendation! Its just the best feeling to know, that someone can trust your book taste, and trust you in what they are about to spend hours reading. No pressure!
So, you can imagine how ecstatic I am, right now, to tell you my book recommendations. I’ll admit, I have a super long TBR (To Be Read) pile, and some of them I know are amazing already (by reviews, teasers, blurbs, recommendations) and they are included here. The obvious books that have probably already been read by you were not included, so you see new books. 
So here are the books that I definitely recommend you check out! I also put in some books written by super talented young writers as well:
Series
1. Alex Rider by Anthony Horowitz (My Favorite!)
“When Alex Rider learns that his uncle Ian has been killed in the line of duty as a British spy—and not in a car accident like he's been told—everything changes for this otherwise normal teen. He is approached by Alan Blunt, head of a shadowy offshoot of MI6 known, who reveals that Alex has been unknowingly trained since childhood for the dangerous world of espionage.”
2. Maze Runner by James Dashner
“When Thomas wakes up trapped in a massive maze with a group of other boys, he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D. Only by piecing together fragments of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can Thomas hope to uncover his true purpose and a way to escape.”
3. Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
“Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen volunteers in her younger sister's place to enter the games, and is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy when she's pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives. If she's ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.”
4. The Knowers by Nina Martineck
“Skylar Rawlings knows that things are not right. The island she lives on is disconnected from everything, but she sees connections everywhere she looks. Her school says she has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, but she can concentrate on all kinds of things–if they’re interesting enough. Like her math teacher lying about this field trip to the capital, the average IQ on this island being too high to be chance, or that time slows, speeds up, and sometimes stops altogether. Skylar knows her education is misleading, most people are oblivious, and the world certainly can’t work like this. She knows she’s missing something. What she doesn’t know is that knowing has a cost.”
5. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
“The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, combines mystery, action, and thrills. This novel is the second in the Robert Langdon series, and begins with the murder of Jacques Saunière. Saunière led a double life. Professionally, he was a curator at the Louvre in Paris, France, but he guarded a powerful secret.”
Standalones
6. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
“Mainly, The Book Thief is about a girl who grows up with her foster parents in Germany, during the struggles of Germany in WWII. It explores the themes of war and death, and shows us the other side of the people under Hitler, showing us that not everyone hated Jews, and everyone had a hard time picking their side.”
7. The Secrets Within Me by Liana Ramirez
“For seventeen-year-old Magi Davis, everyone in her life knows her biggest secret, except for her... after Magi is almost murdered, her Egyptologist father takes her from their quiet rainy town in Seattle to Egypt in an attempt to seek refuge. After meeting R.J. Hicks, her father's witty business partner, and Carter McClain, the only person her age within miles, she quickly realizes that everyone in her life, including the neighborhood cat, has been lying to protect her from mythological forces that were once her father's bedtime stories. Now Magi must discover what her big secret is before an ancient deity kills her and everyone she cares about...”
8. Miss Peregrines Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs
“When Jacob discovers clues to a mystery that spans different worlds and times, he finds a magical place known as Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. But the mystery and danger deepen as he gets to know the residents and learns about their special powers and their powerful enemies. Ultimately, Jacob discovers that only his own special ‘peculiarity’ can save his new friends.”
9. 100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Emmons
“When 16-year-old poetry blogger Tessa Dickinson is involved in a car accident and loses her eyesight for 100 days, she feels like her whole world has been turned upside-down. Terrified that her vision might never return, Tessa feels like she has nothing left to be happy about.”
10. Leaving Wishville by Mel Torrefranca
“With time against him, and his curiosity stronger than ever, he knows what he must do. Leaving Wishville might be his only chance for freedom—but it may also cost him his life. A colorful and chilling debut, LEAVING WISHVILLE dives into a sea of forbidden curiosity, unavoidable grief, and the dangers of discovering the truth.”
Alright, so these are my top TBR books and top book recommendations. I hope you enjoy some of them. Obviously we all have different tastes, but after viewing/reading these books, I hope you find another book that you like from it. (By the way, a lot of these books are now movies, so make sure you go check them out AFTER you read the book!)
Thank you for reading, and enjoy your book!
Mahreema J. is a 12-year-old girl from England, with a deep passion for creativity and books. She has been writing since she could read and reading since she could write. She is currently writing a novel (unknown title) that will soon be published one day. She is talented at calligraphy, baking and other creative hobbies. And there’s nothing she loves better, than to sit and read a good book. Top photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash
58 notes · View notes
sweetmemories2606 · 4 years
Text
Gruvia Day 2020: Perfect Beginning
Morning, everyone!
Let us all celebrate the glory of today. A day which does not happen often, but is so special and beautiful.
I'm talking about Gruvia Day, of course. It is time to shower our ship with love and perhaps a little angst too.
Here's the info about the story: 
Title: Perfect Beginning 
Summary: Gray and Juvia's first date went perfectly, reminding her of a time when she had thought that a romance like this only existed in books. Finding herself happier than she had been in a long time, she wondered if perhaps their story could have a happy ending after all. 
Word Count: 2K
Genre: Fluff and (minor) Angst
Warnings: This one-shot is set on Ch 4 of Answers, thus I'd advise you to read at least the 1st chapter because there are MAJOR SPOILERS for the story.
Happy reading!
                                    __________________
                                    Perfect Beginning
                                        July 5th, X791
"This place is beautiful" Juvia looked around the field of sunflowers with a serene smile. They were just outside of Crocus, though this place was so quiet it felt like the city was far away.
“I’m glad you like it.” Gray watched her with a soft smile while he set the flowery blanket on the grass then put the basket filled with sweets which Mira had prepared on top of it.
After they had decided to get together the day before, he had asked her on a date to which she had enthusiastically agreed. Panicking because he had no idea what to do, Gray had come to Erza and Mirajane for help in the planning. 
Listening to their ideas, he hadn't been so sure until Alzack and Bisca, who had been listening to them, suggested that Gray take Juvia on a picnic. The couple noted how this is what they had done for their first date. Judging by how they were now happily married with a daughter, Gray sensed it was a good idea.
"So, who gave you the idea for a picnic?" Juvia asked, breaking him out of his thoughts. 
He raised a brow. "You don't believe I came up with this myself?"
She chuckled and shook her head. "Nope. I know you're not much of a romantic." 
He feigned disbelief and hurt. "Hey, I can be very romantic." Standing up and closing the distance between them, he snaked his arms around her waist. 
"Oh, yeah?" Juvia asked while her arms encircled his neck. They leaned in for a passionate kiss, then another. 
Everything felt so perfect, like a fairy tale. Juvia remembered a time when she had wondered if a romance like this existed outside of books.  
                                 __________________
                                    Many years ago….
"What are still you doing up, child?" Irene came into her room for the daily check up. Instead of being asleep like she was supposed to, Juvia had been reading a book. Immersed in the experience, she hadn't heard the older woman until now. 
"Sorry, Irene," The young girl whispered, putting the book on her bedside table. "I'll go to sleep now."
The Scarlet Queen glanced at the object, focusing on the title, before frowning. "Beauty and the Beast again? Aren't you tired of reading this one?"
Juvia shrugged. "It's my favourite." 
Curious, the older woman sat on the red chair beside the bed. "Why is that?" 
"Well…." The young girl was thoughtful for a moment. "Belle loves reading, just like me." 
"That is true," Irene smiled softly. "But what else?"
"I like that Beast lets her go even though he knows that she could break the curse." Juvia noted once a similar smile adorned her face. "It's like my mamma used to say, true love means putting someone else first."
The former suddenly seemed nostalgic and melancholic. "She was right." 
"Are you okay?" The latter was concerned.
"I'm alright," Reassured the older woman, but her sniffle betrayed this statement. 
Silence fell upon them as Irene was lost in thought and Juvia watched her curiously. Once she felt enough time had passed, the young girl posed a rather complicated but not surprising question. "Irene…do you believe that true love exists?"
It took the Scarlet Queen a while to respond. "I do."
Thoughtful again, Juvia followed up with "Then how do I find it?"
Irene shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know, child." Setting the book back on the bedside table, she stood and approached the bed. 
Glancing at the now frowning child, she offered a reassuring smile. "But I'm sure you will find it someday." 
Juvia's frown gave way to a hopeful look. "You are?" 
"I am," Irene nodded before leaning down to press a gentle kiss atop the girl's forehead. Then the older woman urged her to lie down against the pillow and placed the blanket over her. 
Once the child was comfortably settled, Irene stepped back and glanced at her softly. "Your parents..." Juvia's sleepy eyes immediately became alert. "What they had was true love, so I'm sure that you can have it too." 
                                   __________________
Thinking about her parents, Juvia pulled away from the kiss. Noticing her sadness, Gray immediately became concerned. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine," She reassured, but the tears that began falling suggested otherwise. He wiped them away gently, keeping one arm around her, holding her close.
Grateful for his support, she tried to compose herself in order not to ruin their date. This wasn't the time to think about her parents or how much she missed them. This was a day for her and Gray to enjoy themselves and explore the new direction which their relationship was taking.
Taking deep breaths, Juvia soon managed to stop crying and offered an apology. "I'm sorry."
"There's no need to apologise," He assured while wiping away the last remaining tears. "I understand." 
"Thank you," Able to smile again, she briefly glanced at the picnic basket then back at him. "Now, how about we really begin our date?"
Gray watched her for a moment. "Are you sure? Because if you want to talk about..."
Juvia shook her head. "Not now." Noticing his uncertain expression, she put on a brighter smile. "Right now..." She took his hand. "...I would like to enjoy the wonderful picnic that my boyfriend so kindly prepared."
He nodded. "Okay, then." After squeezing her hand, he led her to sit down on the blanket before grabbing the picnic basket. "You know, it feels weird to hear you call me your boyfriend." 
"Yeah, it does." Juvia agreed. Despite having fantasised for so long that they would get together, the term 'boyfriend' felt out of place.
There was a moment of silence while he took out the strawberry cake and cut up two large pieces. Accepting the plate he had offered, she added. "I won't do it again." 
Unexpectedly, Gray smiled. "Nah, it's okay. I guess I just need more time to get used to it, that's all." 
"That makes sense." Juvia nodded before diving into the cake. While enjoying the sweet, her mind replayed the wonderful moments that they had shared in the last 24 hours, specially their first kiss. 
                                   __________________
                                     One day before
"What's wrong, darling?" Juvia watched as Gray nervously ran his hands through his hair.
He had asked her to come with him outside the infirmary so that they could talk, yet he had said nothing.
"I need… I need to tell you something." He finally looked her in the eyes.
"What is it?" Heart hammering inside her chest; she hoped this was the long awaited moment of his confession.
"Well, I…You see..." Gray stumbled with his words.
"Perhaps we can talk later?" Juvia suggested, gently.
"No." He firmly denied. "I have to do this now."
She waited again. Nothing. "Maybe you could show me what you mean?"
During the time she had known him, it had become clear that he was more a man of action than words.
His eyes widened before nervousness morphed into determination. He moved quickly but cautiously. An arm wrapped around her waist, bringing her closer while watching her reaction.
Juvia smiled, arms instinctively encircling his neck. Then, his free hand reached for her cheek and softly stroked it for a moment.
Gray started leaning in. "Juvia, can I…."
She didn't let him finish. "Yes."
Their first kiss was passionate and even though it didn't happen the way Juvia had been dreaming of, she loved it nonetheless.
(Scene taken from Answers, Chapter 1)
                                   __________________
"What are you thinking about?" Gray asked after a few minutes, setting his empty plate aside. 
"I was just remembering when you kissed me the first time." Juvia chose to be honest. 
"Oh." A slight blush coloured his cheeks. "That was rather...embarrassing."
"It was very sweet," She softly remarked. 
"Thanks." Still blushing, Gray searched into the picnic basket for two caramade franks. 
Her eyes widened. "Where did you get those?"
"Gajeel found a store 2 days ago, so he told me about it last night," He explained while offering one to her. 
Accepting it, Juvia was genuinely surprised. "Gajeel...helped you with this?"
Gray chuckled at her reaction. "Yeah. He really cares about you, so I guess that's why he helped me make this date as perfect as possible." 
Taking a bite of the caramade frank, she reminded herself to thank Gajeel later for truly being her best friend. "That's good. I was hoping you two could get along." 
The ice mage smiled. "I know this is important to you, so I'll try." 
She returned it. "Thank you." 
                                   __________________
The rest of their date went smoothly and both had an enjoyable time. They got to know each other better, learning the most basic and trivial details such as their favourite colours. 
"I do love blue." She expectedly answered, making him laugh. "I figured." 
"What about yours?" Juvia questioned a moment later. 
Having finished eating,Gray moved closer to sit by her side. "Well, actually mine is silver."
"Really?" She stared at him in surprise. "May I ask why?"
Gray's expression turned melancholic once he answered. "It was my father's name."
This led into a conversation which they hadn't been eager for, but it was important nonetheless. He shared details about his parents, Ur and Deliora. 
Juvia was aware of most of his backstory, but there was new information such as the scarf which Ur had put around him and Lyon; it was the reason why he always wore one in the winter despite not feeling cold. The water mage also learned about his favourite childhood toy, a polar bear which had been gifted on his 1st birthday; as far as he remembered.
Gray even told her about the year before he joined Fairy Tail and the adventures he had. For once in his life, he opened up about everything, no reservations nor secrets. He trusted her fully. 
Alternatively, Juvia had to hide many details when they shifted the conversation to her childhood and family life. Trained to know how to lie and manipulate, she made her stories about growing up in an orphanage without anyone to call a friend sound sincere. 
It weighed on her conscience to be lying to him after he had been so honest, but there was no alternative. The truth needed to stay hidden, for both of their sakes. 
                                   __________________
Concealing her guilt was hard, but luckily Gray mistook this for sadness and held her in a tight embrace. His attempt to comfort her soon led to a make-out session and she found herself lying beneath him on of the flowery blanket. 
It was the perfect distraction from the complications of her life, so it's not like she was complaining. In fact, she was hoping their moment wouldn't have to end, but unfortunately their need for air eventually surpassed their desire for closeness. 
Gray got off from her and moved to lay by her side. Sweaty and breathless, they glanced at each other with mirroring smiles. "Wow. That was..."
 "I know." Juvia brought a hand to his cheek, stroking it gently. "Thank you."
"Of course." He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it, recalling that Lyon did that all the time and most women seemed to find it charming. 
Juvia smiled even brighter at this. "I really didn't expect you to be so..." 
He raised a brow in expectation. "What?"
She leaned in for a soft kiss. "Romantic."
Gray smirked. "I told you. I can be very romantic if I want to." 
"So you've never wanted to before?" She inquired, recalling their friends telling her how he was the least romantic person they knew. 
He fixed her with an adoring look. "I hadn't found someone worth being romantic for." 
It was the sweetest declaration, so she couldn't help it but to enthusiastically kiss him, to which he eagerly returned.
Even though he hadn't said those three words yet, Juvia knew that he was in love as much as she was. This made her heart swell with joy and reminded her of the first time she had watched two people fall in love.
                                   __________________
                                    Many years ago...
Juvia sat beside a great oak tree in the gardens, watching the couple embrace. Ajeel Rahmal, a young prince who had recently joined the Spriggan 12, held his now girlfriend, Nadia, tightly. Both seemed immensely glad and relieved after having confessed their feeling. It was the most heartwarming sight. 
"They look so happy," Juvia observed, smiling softly. 
"They do." Turning to her right, she found that Irene had returned from her brief chat with the emperor. The older woman seemed happy too once her eyes found the couple. 
Noticing them kiss, Juvia couldn't help but wonder. "Irene, do you think they will get married?"
Irene stared at her in surprise before raising a brow. "What makes you think that?" 
"Well, according to the books I've read, when two people love each other they get married," The young girl  innocently replied.
"Oh, yes." Irene nodded. "They always end like that, don't they?" She seemed lost in thought for a moment before sighing. "It's a shame that real life doesn't work that way." 
"What do you mean?" Juvia was confused, but also curious. 
The older woman was clearly trying to hide her bitterness, but it still showed. "Just that there isn't always a happy ending."
"I know," The young girl frowned. "My parents...They didn't get one." 
For some reason, Irene looked guilty for a moment. However, her expression soon returned to sorrowful. "They didn't." 
With the mood now heavy and gloomy, they fell silent. Their attention returned to the couple and both felt envious at their happiness. Then, once the silence was becoming unbearable, Irene offered the young girl an assuring smile. "But that doesn't mean that you can't have one." 
"So you think I can be happy..." Juvia glanced at the couple just as they laughed at something Ajeel had said. "...like them?"
"I'm sure you can." Irene knelt down to her level, placing both hands on the young girl's shoulder. "You're beautiful, kind and brave." She brushed back a strand of blue hair. "Just like your mother." 
"Thank you." Juvia blushed at the compliments. 
"I wouldn't be surprised if, someday, you found someone who will love you as much as your father loved her." Irene told her, genuinely. 
"And then we'll get married?" The young girl asked, hopeful. 
The older woman chuckled, then nodded. "Yes. Maybe you'll get a happy ending just like in your books."
51 notes · View notes
reddogf13 · 3 years
Text
Scarlet marks ch5
Tumblr media
Pennywise x Beverly
summery: who knew she would end up here? Beverly, having started her work in fashion as a young bright secretary under the older tom Rogan. now forced to sexually serve slimy old politicians under toms vicious grip for power and money. forced into following toms political flock to Derry. she runs into a familiar face, wearing a silver clown suit, out on a special hunt. (mainly smut
status: In progress
rated: M - fowl language, gore, and sex scenes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
previous chap: Scarlet marks ch 4
next chap:  TBA
_____________________________________
~ch:5 Twisted confession~
“Grey! Grey put him down! Stop!” Beverly repeated as she pulled on his arm, unable to budge his tall figure.
He let out a deep growling snarl before dropping Tom to the floor. Beverly taking the chance to separate the two. Leaving grey standing on the porch as she half dragged the coughing Tom into the living room.
“tom, let me go with him for tonight.” she whispered to him, getting in all she could before he would regain his breath and tell her to shut up. “we need the money right? I can get enough from him to last us a while. We can also use it for another business party. Let me go for tonight.”
his breath having been caught up, he glared at her before speaking roughly. “fine. Drain the bastard for all you can. Tomorrow I am calling in a favor to get him out of my town!”
she nodded with a sigh of relief. Rushing off to meet grey on the porch to close the front door and rush him down the steps away from the house. “you shouldn't have done that!” scolding him along the way.
“why not?!” he questioned. “you shouldn't have even stopped me. Why have him stay alive?”
“because I need him to take care of me!”
“HA! He hardly does that!”
“better then nothing and being left for dead on the street. I don't have anyone else in my life!” she heard him huff behind her on their way to his car. She assumed it was from out of annoyance that she didn't let him eat tom. Their talk going silent to heavy rain fall having them rush into the car. Beverly brushing her hair out of her face and straightening the wet locks the best she could to look somewhat nice after being drenched.
The drive was short to a lovely restaurant where they sat at a table warmed by a nearby fireplace. Their night starting with a nice wine and simple starter a large charcuterie board to share. She took most the fruit and cheeses while he ate the meats.
“why wont you leave Tom?” he interrupted the relaxed mood between them.
She closed her eyes to gain some mental energy for the argument ahead. Swallowing the current bite of food she had chewed through. “like I said, he takes care of me. I cant just up an leave either.” wanting the conversation to end there.
“why?”
“what do you mean why?”
“i can take care of you.”
his statement had her letting out a awkward chuckle. Dropping the smile on her face at seeing how serious his was. Staring at her unblinking in an expression of confusion mixed agitation. “... what about when you get bored?”
“what?”
“what happens when you get bored of me?” repeating her question. “What if I get too tired to do what you want? what happens if you find another girl you like more?” she continued. “When what you want changes, what will happen to me?” taking a sip of wine. “this is all thrilling … for now, but what about when a month passes? Or three? This isn't the first time I've had promise's of “being taken care of” by someone other then tom. You'll move on to do something else and I'll still have Tom. That's how my work goes, that's my life and nothing changes.” shrugging it all off to continue eating.
He didn't say much else after that, however his actions were speaking louder. Flooding the table with fancy orders that Beverly wasn't sure to do with. She ate from a few of the dishes as he kept up that locked on stare with a wide smile. Her eating slowed as her discomfort grew. She thought on why he was doing it. “hoping I'll runaway with him or showing off?” not thinking too long on it.
Full of good food they left together with another bottle of wine. Rushing back to the car through the lightly pouring rain. Beverly taking time to straighten out her hair again in the car. He turned to her with a smile “love the dinner? Want to go relax somewhere else before returning to the wagon?”
“sure, but where?”
“the peak, park up there and enjoy the view with our other bottle of wine.”
“heh, sure, clown.” chuckling in doubt that they were going there to enjoy the view. Relaxing the whole drive up to the lonely parking lot topping a steep hill. Looking out to the lights of Derry shining through the falling rain tapping along the car. The ferris wheel still spinning brightly as it wasn't yet time for the fair to close. Grey giving her a glass to pour the freshly opened bottle of wine into. Sipping their glasses in relaxing in the car. Both deciding to sit closer in the back seat wrapped closely together in greys jacket for warmth.
“so why was Tom in such a snippity mood today? If I offer high enough he just accepts my offer.” sipping on some wine. “Someone cancel today?”
“the political hunting trip took a nose dive when a bear came along.”
“oooh, sucks for them.” he snickered.
She thought to herself. “what extreme bad luck.” all those men taken out by one bear. “left food around and didn't see the bear coming?” she wondered. “they don't tend to walk without younger help though. They must get tired hoisting their guns and ammo around the forest.” taking a sip of wine. “my costumers seem to always have the worst bad luck. All disappeared over time after I arrived. Pennywise killed that one group a week ago. Now this group was eaten by-” her mind linking together that these events may not have such different circumstances.
Peeking at grey pouring the last bit of wine in his glass down into his wide open mouth. “no, couldn't be him the whole time.” she thought. “he started visiting me a while after my flow of customers slowed.” but his words from when they first started meeting came forth. “he'd been scanning the streets for a while. And only seriously as of recent.” but why? Her mind brought up. “because I arrived?” sipping some wine in thought.
“grey.” she spoke his name to catch his attention. “how long did you know I was working the streets?”
he swallowed down his mouthful of wine. “about as long as you've been here. I see practically everything, including all the ones you've served.” he gloated with mild aggression at the mention of past men being with her.
“you watched me work and got interested yourself?”
“oh yes, I couldn't pass up the opportunity.”
“must have been hard with how full my schedule was.”
“ah, wasn't too hard. Your schedule opens up … eventually. … they'll stop coming. … eventually.” his words starting strong then turning to a dying mumble. Turning his attention away from her to pouring another glass.
“that's not entirely true. Tom will always have friends to schedule at the house for me.”
“like who?” pausing his glass of Chardonnay at his lips.
Beverly didn't say immediately any names. “he has a huge book of contacts somewhere. Probably endless.” she tossed out. Going over how earlier today he subtly asked who was vising. She gave the groups specific names and what they were doing that day. Right before he left and the group died shortly after.
He laughed. “oh, with how old all his buddy's are they'll pass soon enough. Accidents happen all the time.” resuming his drinking from the glass.
“i guess.” she replied. Thinking over how it all seemed too strange to be just accidents. Had he been killing since she first got into Derry? Why? To have her 24/7? did he really want her that much? To pluck everyone off to make it so he was the only one? “surely that wouldn't work. He wouldn't make a plan like that. Too much work for me to be available for a few hours.” she thought as she drank her lovely wine. Glancing at him drinking his every now and again.
Looking between the lights and high above highlighted rainclouds from their seats. The quiet time again bringing to mind the circumstances between her, Pennywise, and her dwindling customers.
“you remember those men you ate a week ago? Were they the first you killed to keep away from me?”
“yes, why?”
“did you kill those hunters? It wasn't a bear, was it?”
“what, no?!” denying the accusation.
“a bear couldn't kill ALL of them. They each probably had a gun to shoot it. At least the bear would have been found dead to.”
“they're scrawny old men who need canes. They would have been a free meal to anything in the woods.”
“awfully convenient for them to be eaten. Same as that one business meeting being canceled when one suddenly crashed their car. Or all the ones before who went missing eventually.”
he huffed. “your overthinking it all. They're old and dying. As for everyone else, maybe they just ran out of money.”
“i don't think your being honest. You killed them all to free up time with me? Don't tell me I am overthinking it. Why do all of it?! I don't need you brushing me off, acting like Tom.”
something inside of him snapped at the accusation of treating her like Tom. He pinned her to the back seat and loomed over. Disguise shedding to reveal his silver suit and clown looks. Getting extremely close to speak at the side of her face, into her neck. “fine, you want to know why?” he began.
“You had all those males coming for you, getting in my way. Yes, I got rid of them all. Those when you first came, that crashed car, those dumb partyers and hunters. One by one so that only I could have you. And I'll keep doing it, even if I have to kill every male in Derry if I have to.”  his confession freezing Beverly in place. Grin stretching full of sharp teeth. “I stopped hunting children because, for a while I've been doing a different kind of chase. I've been looking for a mate and I chose you.” her Skin chilling as her face warmed from a strong blush. Speechless as she felt like she was floating in air.
“me?” was all her mind could bring forth. His hands squeezing her shoulders grounding her again to keep listening to his confession.
“the only one getting in my way is that thorn in my side, Tom.” the growl he let out vibrating through her chest. “you keep choosing that male over me when I've been giving so much more. You say you want to stay with him, but I know better.” taking a deep inhale at her neck, he continued speaking. “All those rounds together to break you away from that spineless fool to become mine. your body's accepted me already, I can always smell it on you, The heated lust for me to bed you.  I can even smell it on you now.” he growled deeply.
Flustering her to heavily swallow from nerves. Burning a bright red that had her face feel on fire until the cool touch of his hands brushed her face. “does my female want me to knot her down right here?”  he breathed hotly at her neck. That sweet smell flowing off him to intoxicate her body. Heightening her want of him to take over already.
She shifted her hips against his with a quick nod. “yes.” she quietly spoke out. Permanently quieted with a deep kiss backing her into the seat. Giving into him stripping them both down in seconds. His hips pinning hers back with each firm thrust. His arms crossing past her head to claw into the leather. Growling and drooling excitedly over the pleasure coming over them. Slipping out for a moment to change positions. Flipping her down into the seat before thrusting back into her. Her legs already quivering under the pleasuring thrusts he wildly gave her. Biting into her neck and shoulders to leave more reddening marks.
She whimpered and moaned out as the towering male above thrusted her down. Clawed hands gripping her shoulders to press his weight down. His thumbs rubbing deeply into her shoulder blades for minor relief from what little pain he was causing. Holding her steady for each firm thrust sliding himself deeper. She could feel his length twitching and squirming the whole way to its goal. Beverly could hardly open her eyes under it all. Submitting to his domination of fully claiming her again like he did not long ago.
He didn't take long to ensure his knot was locked deep down into her. Not lessening his pace between the loads he spilled. Her hand gripping into the seat they were spread out upon. Not wanting him to ever stop, to keep going as long as he wanted until he filled every part of her. Struggling underneath his grip to rile him up further. His hands gliding down to wrap his arms around her waist. She rose up to shiver in her new position on hands and knees. Legs feeling like jello as her body threatened to collapse under the reoccurring waves stunning her body.
She kept wanting to say something, but the words could never escape her. Breathing in his sweet scent or moaning out in shivers. Almost collapsing again by him filling her with his hot seed. She wanted more from him with the words finally able to come out. “m-more, I want more.” skin prickling at the base of her neck from his hot breath.
“I'll give you a lot more.” letting out that deep guttural purr that had her collapsing back down off the heavy vibration. Losing her voice below him to non stop moaning through the hours he kept up the joyful ride. When he stopped she tiredly looked up to him, exhausted after so many hours but wanting far more.
He grinned down to her and helped her up. “lets get back to the wagon. Lot more comfortable there then in a back seat.” causing her confusion on how exactly he was going to drive with them stuck together. He got most their upper ware on to move them both to the front seat. Buckling them together with her stuck on his lap for the drive. He needed to wipe the window clear the steam they caused was so thick.
Beverly thought it was both hilarious and thrilling to drive this way. Hopefully a cop wouldn't pull them over before reaching the wagon. Getting in and out of the car was a small mission in itself. Soon as the door closed behind them it was right back to what they were doing earlier. Across every furniture he could steady her on before making it to where the bed was.
Biting to marking across her in his wild claiming of her on the bed. Him taking full control as Beverly relaxed for him to do so. When she felt his cum spilling over to flow down her thighs did she feel satisfied in gaining enough. Knowing her body was ready for sleep he lessened his motions to nest them both down into the bed. Resting over her to lick at the scratches he caused. Calming Beverly into a blissful sleep for the night.
The next morning she woke without him sleeping over her. Gazing around she found him not too far, standing naked cooking something at the stove. “morning.” she yawned with a stretch, hissing at her sore muscles protesting.
“morning. I am making us a nice hearty soup.” he smiled.
“sounds nice.” she smiled back. Blushing at feeling the apparent sticky slickness coating her legs.
“he-heh, want a bath before breakfast to get all that off you?” teasing her.
“yeah, but I'll need help to the bathroom.” holding out her arms as he came over to help.
Carrying her to a nice hot bath covered by rose petals. “I'll come back after I fix up the bed.” leaving her to relax in the bath.
Alone she lathered up with some flowery scented soaps. Thinking back to all that happened last night. His confession of killing every male that planned to be with her. Destroying all of toms connections and that the only reason tom's really alive is because shes been choosing him. Somewhat glad, but also disappointed that pen was holding back on toppling Tom because of her. “do I want him to?” she thought in questioning herself. He was leaving the choice, to join him, to her but would she rather he just kill Tom despite her protests?
“does he really want me?” was her next thought. “tom started the same. All the gifts, fancy dates, then when he finally had me-” sickened at the thought. “maybe its best I stick to Tom.” thought process broken when Pennywise entered to help her from the tub. Getting her dried and wrapped into a towel.
“muscles feel any better?” giving her a quick kiss on the lips.
Joking with a return kiss. “yeah, I can probably pick up a spoon without an arm cramp.” hugging his shoulders as he carried her to bed. Settling back on the fresh clean bedding he changed. Watching the lovely view of his shifting muscles from him walking back to the cooking food on the stove. Shifting in stirring the hot food on the nearby stove. A tempting idea filling her mind to call him over. “pen, come here for a sec.”
10 notes · View notes
cosmiclatte28 · 4 years
Text
Secret Love Song (ten x you)
here we go!
ps. Ten is a WayV and SuperM idol here, while Yuta, Jaehyun, and Johnny are not idols! Thanks
Song : Secret Love Song from little mix and Jason Durelo lol Derulo xD
warning : tiny bit of insecurities, lots of fluff, happy end.
CHITTAPON IS JUST SO SWEET!
─── ・ 。゚☆: *.☽ .* :☆゚. ───
You make your way slowly back to your small studio apartment. You rush from the nearest bus stop, walk through the cold winter night, reach the front door and then take the lift to your room. Today has been tiring, your neck and lower back are aching from sitting on stools for hours and reaching your clients body as you inject safe permanent inks into their skin. Yes, you are a tattoo artist, working in a superior tattoo parlor, where hygiene levels are guaranteed safe and the drawings are not regrettable. Well, your clients paid a hundreds of dollars to have a 4 inch tattoo! You have to admit, being a tattoo artist in a high-class studio gave a fair amount to pay your rents, eat decent foods, and spend some money for your happiness. You sigh when you remember that the flat fee for this month has been raised, and you know you will need to either find a new living space or work extra hours to pay for the extra cost.
You stretch your neck for a while as your fingers type in a six digit combination to open the door to your heaven: the bed. Once you close the door behind you, you take off your coat, carelessly toss your bag to the sofa, and free yourself from your boots. You make a quick attempt to untangle your scarf and dive belly first to your soft mattress. A sigh of great relieve escapes your mouth and you find your eyelids super heavy. You would totally fall  asleep within five seconds if your bizarre phone did not disturb you.
Your hand blindly searches for the rectangular noisy object and when you find it, the ring has ended. You groan in frustration, but your fatigue drowns you back to slumber. This time there was a short beep five times in a row, and you know that is your boyfriend messaging you. Your mind fights over waking up to call him back, or just drive your tired eyes to sleep and deal with him later when you're fresh. You decided to do the latter, but today must not be your day. Your phone rings again and your finger slides to pick up his call.
"What?!" You snapped.
"Woah, easy... Did I call the wrong number?" the man on the other hand takes his phone away from his ear to check the caller ID. He shakes his head when he ensures this is the right number.
"Sorry... I-"you yawn and he stays silence until you continue, "I just got home, and your calls postpone my -so needed- sleep..."
He smiles to himself when he heard your yawns and slurs.
"Okay, I'll just tell you I'm busy for the next three days. I'll call you back, I need to do my make up now. Bye!"
You did not reply him, your brain didn't actually understand anything he said, you've lost yourself into the dreamland after finishing your sentence. You sleep through your dinner time, only to snore deeper as the night darkens.
__
One man sits stiffly on his chair in the powder room. He is waiting for his stylist to come and do his make up before he steps into the stage filled with a crowd dedicating their life, money, and time to support him and his group. He shakes his shoulder a bit to throw the pressure away, why did he feel like he committed a great sin for calling his girl just to disturb  her from sleeping.
"Who is that Ten hyung?" Yang-yang who happens to catch a few of Ten's surprised action earlier asked.
Ten turns his head to face the youngest boy, he's about to open his mouth before the tallest and loudest man cuts his answer "It's (y/n) of course," Lucas offers his big smile while slapping Ten's shoulder.
"Stop it Lucas, I might poke his eye because of your sudden slap when I am drawing this eyeliner." The stylist who has been working hard to polish this pretty eyes of Ten, scowls at Lucas.
"Sorry, but it's true right?? It's (Y/n)???" Lucas takes a seat on one of the free chairs in the powder room. He's ready to go on stage already.
Ten shakes his head in disbelief and nods, "Yes it's her. Happy?"
Yang-yang smiles and drags his chair closer, "So... what happened? Spill the tea!"
Lucas also has his eyes bigger twice as much in size and his back is straightened, he is ready for the gossip!
Ten smacks his lips when the last stroke of light lipstick was applied; he checks himself on the mirror and nods an approval for the stylist to go. "Thank you!"
Now when nobody else is in the room, Ten finally opens his mouth.
"I called her at the wrong time I think... She snapped at me because she said I disturb her sleep?"
The two younger men pretend to understand though really they don't have a single idea why Ten must look this nervous just because his girlfriend snapped. Hey, every person has a bad day right?
Ten stares into the two soul across him and he face palms himself mentally when he realize there was no way Lucas nor Yang-yang understands his worry.
"Forget it, both of you are not helping." Ten pushes himself from the chair to put on his golden jacket.
"We're putting on mikes and in 7 minutes, you're going Live." The stage director opens the door right in time and a swarm of crew help the members put on their mikes.
Ten glances at his phone for the last time, there his smile rises when one notification pops from none other than you.
From: mon petit cœur
"Burn the stage,love! Bad Alive deserves the spotlight. <3"
Ten knows he doesn't have to reply that message, but the heavy weight in his heart is gone as he takes a deep breath and joins his other brothers to the side of the stage. They chant their group cheers and soon take over the stage.
--
You're awakened by your alarm clock around seven at night. Your head feels dizzy and you know that's probably because you skipped dinner. You force yourself to open your eyes. Your fingers expertly open the messenger application and through your squinting eyes, you type a short message to your boyfriend. Well, you promised him you won't miss their first stage of Bad Alive, and so here you are! seated on your worn-off sofa, an apple on one hand and the small TV provides you music and pictures. You focus yourself on the screen when you can see your boy and his team already shown for the interview at the screen. You fix your position, increase the volume, and you're totally awake when the stage shows your favorite group of all time.
The three minutes performance was over. You get up from your position, walk to throw the apple core away, and you grab your phone back.
To : Ten
"Amazing job you did there, my body's burning,
Guess I can save money from not using any more heaters.
Going home? <3"
You want to meet Ten so bad, it's already one month since you two didn't see each other. He has intensive practices for the comeback. Not that you're not understanding or selfish; You just wish he can make some time to come tonight, because you need someone to listen to you.
Your phone bleeped after an hour. Ten must've finished all of his works and probably already seated in the van, ready to leave the venue.
From: Ten
"Glad the song kept you warm. Sadly I've told you earlier in the call I cannot make it home these three days. Next week I also have another stage performance. I'll let you know when we can meet. How's today?"
Your shoulder slumped, you ghost you finger over the call button. You want to call him right now, but dating an idol is not that simple. If some manager or stylist caught you in the act, they might tell this to the director board and you know how this will end. Yes forced break up!
You left him on read. You glance at the clock on the dining room. It's already nine, you have some place to go. You dress yourself in a warm jacket and you leave the empty room. You hail a cab and direct an address. Your phone vibrated and you picked up a call.
"Hey! Where are you now?" Ten asks
"I'm going out for a while, why?"
"Oh, where are you headed to?"
"Ummm Johnny's, I forgot he invited me over for wine and cheese. Wanna join?"
"Is this Saturday Night already?"
You chuckled, "Yes Mr. busy, this is a Saturday Night."
"I'll see how the meeting with SuperM goes, til then have fun and be safe, Love you!"
"He's a nice brother, don't worry I'll be okay. Wait I have to get off the bus."
Ten waited for you on the other side of the line. He likes to make sure you're okay on the road. He busies himself with a strand of loose thread on his jacket and holds the phone close to his ear. His smile returns when your breathy voice greets him back.
"Woah, sorry there were several people going down too.
I'm only 3 minutes away! Are you in the office yet?"
"I'm entering the lobby, need to rush to the lift and see if everyone's there already."
"Okay, guess I'll end the call here. I can see his house already."
"No, I'll wait until you are in his house. Besides my notification just notifies me Taemin hyung is late."
"Well, I'm here already. Johnny's by my side."
"Alright, trust you. Tell him I miss him! Okay then, enjoy your night.
Call me whenever you need my help. Love you!"
You smile at his small attention, "Thanks Ten, Love you too! Good luck with the meeting."
The phone call ended
You enter the kitchen of the small house your brother and his fiancée bought. Johnny is five years older than you, and that's why he has been able to take care of you ever since the two of you were young. Johnny's wife happened to be staying in her mother's house because she had to look after her younger cousins. Johnny cannot join her because he needs to supervise his office. So here you are, the two of you meet one another for a siblings quality time.
"Tonight's special is Cabernet Franc," Johnny said after examining the bottle and taking the cork off.
I push him my empty glass and he fills in both glasses with the red liquid.
"Cheers," You both chime and clank the glass.
Moving on to sit on the comfortable L-sofa, you make yourself comfortable before finally starting to chat and talk about life. A soft music was played on the background, some classics because both of you felt like it.
"So, how is your day?" asked Johnny.
You gulp down the rest of the wine and roll your eyes, "Bad. Worst!"
Johnny straightens his back, "Ten? Or Work?"
You run your eyes right and left, taking a moment to think which one of them is bothering your mind. You smile when you know the answer, "Both!"
Johnny only raises his brow and you know the queue to spill everything out. Your mind went back to earlier this morning, where you woke up late and missed the bus to your office. You had to take the cab, since Ten was busy with his performance schedule today. You had to spend a good $20 to make it on time. You did arrive on schedule; the shop was opening as per usual. You greeted your co-workers, Yuta and Jaehyun.
The three of you have been working together since this parlor opened, there were no other worker here because we don't need that much! The people who step through the door were usually a regular or have made an appointment. However, today was totally irregular!
You remember the horror of Jaehyun's face when he entered the employee room with terror. Yuta was working on a customer's drawing and you were washing and cleaning the pen.
"We sorta have a problem here, there were three girls wanting to get a tattoo done without any appointments."
Yuta raised his brow, there must be something next that will surprise them both.
"They're minors. I've told them to come back when they're older, but they insisted."
"Let me talk," You place your pen down on a table and take the queue to talk to the girls. Well, Jaehyun is a softie, he cannot be strict especially to high-school girls.
You caught the three girls giggling over a picture on their phone, and you quickly snatched it away from her hand. They gasped and protested on your action, but you were taller than them.
"Sorry, but it was not appropriate for you to secretly take pictures of another person. This, I'm sure you took them secretly earlier. You're violating someone's privacy." You said as you deleted the pictures of a candid Jaehyun.
"If you're here only to take inappropriate pictures of my co-worker, leave immediately and don't ever come back. And you're clearly not 18 yet, the law stated you must be 18 to have a tattoo. Til then, let's wait patiently. Come back only when you are 18 and permitted to have ink on your body. Good bye." You returned the phone and shrugged your shoulder to the exit door.
The three girls have fires in their eyes and they were clearly killing you in their heads, but you're not afraid of babies like them.
"You're mean! Just wait for our revenge!" One of the girl stomped her feet in anger and ordered the other two to follow her and they left the parlor.
You let go a breath you held back earlier, then you decided to take the welcome desk for a while.
Just when you thought nothing else will go wrong, that's where you were fucked. Across you stood your nightmare. The enormous man across you smiled secretly when he found you greeting him.
"Well, welcome back Sir Dimitry, I believe you're here for a touch up?" You ran your eyes through today's schedule. Sadly his name was not there, but he was a regular and he's the Russian gang leader here, who roamed around Incheon at night. You knew better not to mess up with him, but that was not what bothers you.
He Is big and scary, the first time you saw him was when Yuta has to do a big dragon on his well built arm. That day you were occupied with another client, but although you were focused on doing your work, you can't help but feel his gaze on your body. Yuta and Jaehyun were aware of this, and since then they always try their best to take his project and they always lied you're busy or occupied. You're thankful for them. The two men were not so pleased to work on his skin too, for his drawings were always big, disturbing, and scary. However, he was the most generous tipper, and that made them close their mouth and ears (because he used to answer calls and believe me your ears won't stay cold listening to his choices of bad words).
"I haven't made an appointment yet, and I came here for a new drawing. I've had one in my mind and I believe you can finish tracing it in a couple of minute." The big guy leaned forward on the table.
There were two other people coming in and Yuta happened to pass by. You threw him a "help" sign and Yuta bit his lips, "My client is here already... I'm sorry, try Jaehyun."
Yuta took his customer to the studio and Jaehyun appeared beside you.
Jaehyun glanced at the clock, then looked into the Russian man's blue eyes "I'm sorry sir, but today we're a bit tight. You can come back here tomorrow say around one? I'll take your order, do you want a new drawing or retouch?"
The man hit the table, "I believe this lady over here is free right now, I don't see any client waiting for her. That guy is clearly your job Jae, I saw his tattoos those were definitely yours."He smiled winningly.
You cursed in your heart, well today you happened to have no appointments, you're only making templates. You closed your eyes, inhaled, and looked at Jaehyun. You nodded your head to tell him you'll be okay and you'll take him. Jae could lost his eyes from the shock when you sighed and told the big man, "Alright, I am free for two hours. Before that let me remind you I cannot do strong and big inks."
The Russian man smirked like a cat who won a fish, you took him to the processing room and he explained you what he want. You went to your professional mode and focused clearly on making his dream comes true. You were bargaining with him to make the designs smaller and less bold, he finally gave in. You worked your drawing quickly and after he agreed, you prepared your tools.
To make it short, it was the longest two hours in your life. He was clearly stealing views of you concentrating, and he was throwing so many offensive and disturbing flirts. You almost lost your cool when he joked about how hot you would look like on bed. You promised you held yourself from not forcing the word "bastard" to his neck and you clearly knew Yuta and Jaehyun were both busy keeping eyes on you. You're focused on making a word out of Russian alphabet you didn't know.
"I am attached, so please stop. You're going over the line already." You exhaled when he tried to touch your lap. You quickly pushed his hand away and you rushed your work.
"I said stop! You're harassing me!" You tossed the pen to your metal tray, and you pushed your chair back. He was not totally harassing you physically, but he was mentally fucking you. You saw his tent and you decided you'll stop your work. Well you finished it right on time though.
"I can file a report and you can be trialed." You stood up from your stool, but he held you back faster.
"Let go off her," Yuta threw him a deadly gaze and swatted the man's hand.
"You won't, they wouldn't care. Look this tattoo's amazing. I'm leaving you 500! Take the change." He forced the bills in my hand and made his way out.
You stood there surprised and petrified. You're ashamed of yourself, but what would your boss say if he found out a client was not satisfied because the girl artist did not want to work on his body. You'll lose your favorite job, and no you don't want that to happen yet.
Yuta and Jaehyun comforted you and ensured that you were not assaulted physically or even harmed. You shook your head and a tear fell on your cheeks. "I am embarrassed of myself, I feel bad for Ten... and Fuck I blew up my relationship."
Yuta ensured nobody will know, or you hope so. The day continued and after some more picky madams with boring gossips, you went home with....well an extra $300. You actually hated the money, but 300 is a big number, you can either put it on donation or pay your rent. You decided to put it in the cashier box though, let your boss decide. Usually a 100 bucks is already a big tip, this is triple! But thinking back of his actions, you hate everything.
"You sure you're okay?" Johnny reaches for your hand and takes a good look on your body.
You giggle, "It's fine, he almost reached for my lap but I was faster! But his mind, I can't control that..."
Johnny nods, "Just avoid him okay, or tell your boss you cannot take him. Moving on, tell me about Ten!"
"About Ten, I just hope dating an idol can be more public." You swirl your wine that had been refilled.
Your mind one again brought you into a daze, you remembered two years ago when Ten knew you from his tattoo appointment. You were responsible for his temporary tattoo for a comeback. He knew you from Taeyong, fellow SuperM member who made the 'UNDER STAND' tattoo with your help. Ten likes the result and he asked Taeyong where he got it done.
To make it short, you frequently see one another from discussion, drawing, and planning. Ten and you learned about one another quickly while he was on his ink bed, and you're focused on drawing his perfect sketch on his arm. The meeting became frequent after three months where he needed another tattoo for a comeback.
After returning about ten times to have a retouch or a new design, Ten finally earned your number. From there, everything was so fast and you're suddenly on your third year of dating an international famous idol! You thought you were ready for everything, not going public, staying home most of the time for dates, wearing masks and keep being undercover, even having sleepless nights while waiting for his message when he's away on a world tour. You can go on with the list, but you decided to focus on the good things more.
You were okay with Ten being away from his phone most of the time. He always did his best to send you an update about him, be it one emoji, a selfie, or a whole long ass paragraph of how his day went. He couldn't call you that much because someone might eavesdrop.
So far, no one thought Ten is having a secret love relationship. There were small fights, but both of you can talk it out together with cool heads and bonded stronger after the fight. Ten could see you and him being a family in the future, he even boldly told you his parents can't wait to meet you.
You were okay with all of the relationship, you were okay with his fans, you supported him on concerts and voting, you basically love him too with all your heart. Only one thing actually made you sad.
"What is that one thing? Not posting it in social media?" your brother teases you.
You lean on the soft cushions; your finger carelessly fiddles with the tassels hanging around the blanket Johnny had wrapped around you. You toss your look to his curious face.
"I want to walk under the cold winter air beneath the romantic lights, hand in hand, warmth shared from I don't know his heat pack in his pocket maybe... Then imagine the Christmas Carols are softly whispering in the night, mistletoe is everywhere. It doesn't have to wait until Christmas... I just want it whenever we can." You plop a cheese into your mouth. Your eyes were glassy when they look into Johnny's
Johnny pulls you closer and you instinctively lean in and let him caresses your back.
"You're tipsy, can you still walk?"
You shot your eyes open, the hell did your brother just kicked you out? Hey it's night already! Shouldn't he let you sleep in??
"I am not going home! It's dangerous! What kind of brother are you? Telling your little sister to go home at this time." You hit him repeatedly.
Johnny rolls his eyes, you clearly had too much!
"WALK TO THE BED SIS, WALK TO MY ROOM AND SLEEP PROPERLY." Johnny stresses each of the word in case my ears did not caught them.
You look at him blankly and Johnny knew you're gone already. He swiftly picks you up and carries you to the bed. Nicely he tucks you in and he cleans up the mess in the living room.
He notices his phone vibrating; noticing it was Ten, he picks up the call.
"She's sleeping in tonight, you're on the dorm right?" Johnny asks.
Ten answers him his schedule for the week and how he's not going home. He also told Johnny what happened earlier this afternoon. Johnny smirks as he whispers a code to Ten.
__
Two weeks passed by, you already forgot your grudges to Ten. You try to be considerate to his hectic schedules. One cold afternoon, just after you finished working on your last client for today, you take your time cleaning the tools and sterilizing them. While humming to Love Talk, your favorite song, Jaehyun peeks from the curtain door.
"(Y/n), someone's looking for you." Jaehyun drags the curtain open. You pause your activity, for a moment; your eye brows quirked. You focus your mind to see if you missed an appointment, but no you're positive no one called you for a session this afternoon.
"Hmm, we still have time before closing time, so okay I'll take it."
You leave the room to see your client and you're surprised to see your boyfriend sitting on the waiting room.
"Ten!" You squeal out of surprise and joy. You run to hug him, well it has been three weeks since you last saw him in tangible state. Three weeks of video-calls and texts were quite satisfying, nevertheless.
Your boyfriend hugs you back and engulfs your smaller figure. He inhales the sweet scent of your shampoo he missed and how he wished the time can stop here right now.
"You're here for a new tat?" You ask after breaking the hug.
Ten shakes his head, "No, I got dismissed earlier and I want to pick you up!"
You blushed, hey that's so sweet of him. Unlike other boyfriends, having Ten walking in the sidewalk without his manager and body guards is a rare occurrence. Ten was always in the van or swarmed by fans! This afternoon however, here he is standing with a long winter coat, face hidden under a cap and a mask. He did not wear anything eye catching to avoid the media and saesangs. He did it! He made it here in your office without any missing piece or a trending twitter hashtag!
"Well we have another 20 minutes before my shift ends; do you need any help for a tattoo?" You smile at him. Hey planning a tattoo with Ten is always wonderful.
"You know we can always draw them together at home." He smirks and brushes my hair away from my face.
"Okay then, wait for a moment as we're tidying up." A big smile erupts from your lips and your heart is full of flowers!
--
"Good bye Jae, Yuta!" You wave your hand as the two men let you leave first while they close the doors.
Ten is already waiting for you on the front porch with his hidden face. You place your mask over your face too. You stick yourself next to Ten to hug his arm, his heart softens at the sight, how a soft girl like you can work as a tattoo artist with Yuta and Jaehyun (who both have enormous prints on their bodies).
Without any warning, Ten takes one of your hand into his, he holds yours tightly and slips them to his jacket pocket."It's a bit cold right? Now where should we go?"
Your eyes widen, usually he always brings you home directly since he cannot be in public for too long.
"Shall we just go home? I can cook dinner." You sound confused by his offer tonight.
Ten shakes his head, and drags you without any clue where are we headed.
You are so stunned when you find yourself finishing a nice dinner course at a new restaurant. Luckily it was not crowded yet and no one seems to notice Ten, but dinner was not the end of the surprise.
You stand frozen under the dazzling disco ball, beneath your feet are colorful light up tiles, surrounding you are the moving body of half-conscious people, and your ears are slowly aching from the loud music.
"Ten, can we go somewhere quiet, I can't talk." You lean in closer to scream into his ear and your boyfriend pulls you out of the crowded space.He brings you to the bar and helps you sit on one of the stool.
"One bourbon for me, and a vodka for this pretty lady." Ten smiles to the bartender.
After he takes his sit next to you, you raise your brow. He knows that code and he quickly reaches for your hands.
"You don't like dancing in the club? It's a Sunday Night, I thought some drinks won't hurt right?" Ten knows you're not new to these kinds of places.
You let out a free laugh, "I do love dancing in the club, I'm just surprised why you're suddenly doing this. Plus if you told me, I could have prepared for better attire!" You hit him playfully.
Ten takes your hand into his, "Well, you look great already, plus we must not catch attention right." He leans in closer to you.
Your eyes slowly move down over his nose and finally on his lips. Maybe it was the way they glistened under the dim light, or the tenderness you miss, or just simply his lip bites he always did when he's nervous! You feel gravity pulling you closer just to taste a tiny bit of it, but Ten moves back quickly when the bartender returns with two glasses of our drinks.
"Thank you!" Ten hands over the cash and offers you your glass. You found yourself stupid for almost kissing him in public. Rule number one of dating an idol is to never kiss on public.
"Sorry," You look everywhere but his eyes and gulp down your shot.
Ten just nods beside you and there was a bit of a tension between you and him. Maybe you're still embarrassed of your action, but Ten is actually enjoying your braver side.
"Let's hit the floor. I really miss dancing together." Ten easily picks you out of your stool and lands you gently on the floor. One shot of vodka won't make you drunk yet, but you spent your youth dancing on the dance floor, so this is nothing for you.
The DJ was wonderful tonight; his choices of songs are perfect and as the two of you are getting more and more heated up under the throbbing lights. The dance floor was crowded and there was not much space left. You share his body heat, you can feel his breath tickles your neck, and you can once again see his plump cherries. You drive your mind elsewhere, and move your body to the rhythm. You smile at him and he smiles back at you, with one deep glance the two of you inches closer and closer.
Your eyes grew heavy, vision dark, you let your other senses work, and you feel that warm plump lips touching yours. You caught your breath and after some time, he pulls back. The loud sound blasting through the speaker slowly disturbs your hearing again. You open your eyes slowly and stare into his deep eyes. He places his hands over your waist, pulls you into his arms, and the two of you sway to the loud slow music the DJ offers.
You're no longer thinking straight. You bury your face into his chest, you trust yourself into his lead and a single tear fell down.
When you hold me in the street
And you kiss me on the dance floor
I wish that we could be like that
Why can't we be like that, Cause I'm yours.
You know this is everything you need to face when dating an idol, and you cannot hate him for this. It was your decision to say yes to him. Your head spins, your ears deafened, your vision darkens, and you no longer feel your feet.
You lost your conscious; all of a sudden you're already lying down on your bed. Turning your head to the side, you see Ten sleeping by your side hugging you loosely while taking in calm and relaxed breath. You grit your teeth as you try your best to softly turn your body to face him.
In his warm embrace you snake your hand to ghost over his godly face to brush away the golden locks away from his eyes. You stare at his innocent face, you're overwhelmed. It's been a while since the last time you has Ten by your side when you sleep. He was always busy and thousands of miles away from you in a different time zone. You touch his cheeks and wipe a tear running down from your eye.
We keep behind closed doors
Every time I see you, I die a little more
Stolen moments that we steal as the curtain falls
It'll never be enough
Just the sound of his relaxed breathing and the slight touch of his arms over your waist, you finally found the missing warmth and peace you've always craved for bedtime. Having Ten lying next to you tonight sparked a small fire in your chest. You feel safe and you're so emotional. You snuggle closer to him, Ten stirs in his sleep but did not wake up, instead he naturally finds your body and fixes his posture to a comfortable position. You face his chest, right where you can see the tattoo you nicely did on his left chest (where he worked so hard to get his mom's permission) you smile when you remember how happy he was when he sneaked out to meet you to deliver the happy news.
Your heart flutters, he did not need to wake up to fit you into his embrace. Your relationship fits like a puzzle where each pieces were so different that you won't make mistakes. You want to believe that Ten is the one destined for you and so are you to him!
It's obvious you're meant for me
Every piece of you just fits so perfectly on me
Your mind plays thousands of silly scenarios. Most of them were happy, but you cannot lie that the darkest corner in your brain still repeatedly tricks you with nightmares. It was not the first time you have dreams about his fans finding out your relationship, you cannot imagine their faces and you cannot imagine living with the constant fear that one of those fans might kill you out of obsession!
Your insecurities also snatch your confidence away whenever you see Ten standing on a stage with another "oh so perfect" girl idols or models or hell actresses! Not to mention the flirty look those back up dancers always toss to your man. Well, they might be throwing flirts on him because they did not know Ten is attached already; however, even when they know 90% will fight harder and the rest 10% will let go. You're living in fear, in terror that one day when you wake up Ten can no longer be beside you.
You break your own promise about always telling one another your fears and struggles. You hide them behind your cheerful smile, you blame yourself for over thinking, and you make sure Ten will never know that. You are learning every day to put the negative thoughts away and focus on the good ones. Ten needs your support, Ten loves you, and you believe that. You can sleep a bit after convincing your heart that the man hugging you here is an angel made for you!
Every second, every thought, I'm in so deep
But I'll never show it on my face
Your eyes flung open when you feel the sudden drop of temperature. Your hand reaches to your side in panic and you peek to see that it's no longer occupied. You stretch yourself to wake up, Ten might be away already for his schedule. You take your phone to see any message he probably left, but there were none. You glance to the door, it was closed. There are no traces of Ten, not his shirt, not even his phone.
Once the room door was opened, your nose is filled with a fresh smell of bacon and eggs. Your smile returns when you see Ten only in his boxer and apron. You can hear your washing machine working and when you look at the door, you smile when you see a pile of your laundry and his outfits are there.
"Morning princess, I'm sorry I have to run the laundry for my clothes...since someone happened to spill a drink over me yesterday and I'm not going back to the dorm with a smelly outfit." Ten explains while flipping an egg over. He sets the fire to a lower heat and turns his body to see you.
You can only smile like a dumb love-struck girl (which is not wrong). You make your way to jump and hug him. Ten automatically receives you in his arms and you dip your head down to greet your lover with a sweet morning kiss. In between the sweet kiss, you can see Ten smiling like he enjoys these kinds of cheesy morning things.
"You better stop kissing me," Ten speaks up on our short breaks, he kisses you one more time, "Or I will burn the eggs."
You laugh and toss your head back, you take your queue to jump off him and Ten quickly saves his egg from burning. "Just right in time," He smirks when he plates the last egg on the dish.
"Please take your seat miss, breakfast by your hottest man is ready." He sits down across you with one plate of the same menu. From your request, Ten did not take off his apron. No you do not need a distraction this early!
Your mind records every single moment Ten giggles and laughs, his wake up state is already so lovely and you cannot imagine how perfect your mornings will be if the two of you finally tie the knot and live together. You can only keep that in your small heart, a really simple dream you wish you can achieve. Living with Ten for the rest of your life, why? Because you know he is the man made for you. But are you the woman made for him?
You finish your breakfast and as the washing machine finished its job in drying the clothes too, you hear his phone rings. Ten glances at the buzzing noise. You toss him a small smile before leaning in to kiss him and walking away to take the laundries. You pick up his shirt, Ten does his duty to wash the dishes and pan he used.
"Let me iron this quickly," You disappear to at least send him off to work in a nice attire.
Ten places the last dish on the drying rack and he starts to pack all of his stuffs, he brushes his hair and teeth, puts his cap back on and his eyes soften when he sees you coming back with a neat shirt.
He finally takes off his apron and with your help, put on his tidy sweet smelled shirt. Secretly Ten loves your laundry soap and that's one reason why he used your washing machine. He wants to smell like you!
"So, when can I see you again?" You ask as you fix his collar. You're facing him and only inches away from his nose.
Ten smiles and puts his hands over your waist, he leans in to stare deeper into your eyes, "Whenever you want miss! I'm only one call away," he winks.
Both of your face are slowly erasing the gap between you two and just as you close your eyes his phone abruptly kills the mood. You pull your face back and you can see Ten cussing at the caller.
"Damn Lucas! Such a mood breaker! I told him I am coming in 10 minutes," Ten presses the red button and pockets his phone. You burst out laughing, of course it must be Lucas!
"Well, guess you will want to go before Kun calls you! Thanks for yesterday and today and everything!" You hug him and bury your face on his chest. "I wish you can come often and do my dishes!" You taunt your tongue.
Ten ruffles your hair and kisses your forehead for the last time, "Okay, I need to go now. You also need to prepare yourself for work."
You nod and note the time, it's an hour to the store opening hours, you need to get ready.
"Bye love, take care! I love you." Ten walks to the exit after putting on his coat and shoes.
"Love you more!" You stand by his side facing by the exit door.
"Love you most," he winks and finally pulls his cap to cover his face and puts his mask on. He finally turns around and walks to the lift.
You return to your room, taking a bath and getting ready for another long week. You believe if you can get through this, your dream of living with Ten will be clearer and brighter.
Your day goes on and you cannot lie whenever you see him on social media, a website, a magazine, or a music show, even from the talks from your customers, you cannot throw the disturbing insecurities away from your mind.
Is our love hopeless?
Will the world accepts me as his significant other?
Will his family love me?
Will he even stay by my side, or will he found someone new who is better than me?
Those are the things you cannot spill to him that haunt you every time he is away.
You play with the promise ring Ten gave you on your two years anniversary. The dark minds foreshadowing your mind suddenly disappear just as you remember the same words Ten always recites, "You're the puzzle that fits into me, why would I let you go? Trust me and wait for me, I love you more than anything!"
With that, your smile erupts back into your face and the rainbow in your heart plus mind is back. You know you just have to trust Ten the same way he trusts you! Life will bring you two together if it is meant to be, and fate will also play a part.
Because Trust is everything you need for an everlasting love story right?
35 notes · View notes
Text
Tabaco y Brea part 4
Pairing:Javier Peña x f! reader
Rating:T? IDK WHAT THE RATINGS ARE
Words: 2.0k
A/N:enjoy this because everything gets intende after
Warnings: eating? swearing, banter, use of the word gringo, fluff. If you think I'm missing something let me know.
Summary: soft moment between the boys and reader.
Part one part two part three
Tumblr media
Connie must be a saint if she has put up with this idiot for years.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
This is probably the tenth time you ask Steve this, but judging by how he fidgets with his hands and rolls his marriage ring every single time, he's not sure about his answer, even though it's always the same. You can see his nervousness as he sits in front of your desk again.
"I've told you I am! Could you quit it already?"
To say your relationship with him developed a lot in the last few weeks is an understatement. You started to like him the second he helped you with paperwork but now that you know him more you realize he's a perfect balance that you and Javier needed. He's as crazy as you are, maybe even more, but at least he doesn't get to screaming match with either of you two.
Not yet, at least.
Your partner doesn't seem to have accepted him completely still. Every time you're working on your desk with Murphy, Javier huffs and rolls his eyes. Each time you try and include him in your new dynamic, he waves it off and says he has "better things to do". He narrows his eyes and presses his lips together when the two of you laugh about some idiot joke Steve said and a voice at the back of your head tells you it has something to do with the things Helena said to you, but you shrug it off. Diving too deep into those thoughts will only make things worse.
Despite this, you and Javier haven't fought so much the last couple of days, Steve interfering when things start to get heated. He stands between the two desks holding his arms up towards each of you as if either of you were about to jump the other. It's a funny visual, needless to say. He's the tallest of the three, so he towers above your heads and tries to calm you down.
Despite this, you can't help being a little protective over him. 
"Steve, we're going undercover, not shooting our way in"
He's a little hotheaded himself, that much you've realized from the stories he has told you about his job in Miami. And you may be quick to go into fight mode, but only when you see there's no other option. Javier, surprisingly, is the calmest. Who would've thought?
Steve groans, exasperated. He lets his head fall back and grabs at his hair, pulling slightly. Javier snickers at his reaction.
"Relax gringo, she's just pushing your buttons"
Well, he's not entirely wrong. Steve lifts his head to look at you with a raised eyebrow. You give him a sheepish smile and shrug.
"I might be, but your Spanish is shit and we need to speak a lot in it for this mission"
At that, Javi loses it, throws his head back laughing and grabs his belly with both hands, stamping his feet at the floor. You snort, trying not to laugh at the offended look Steve is giving you, his cheeks red with embarrassment and his arms crossed over his chest.
A glint of mischief appears in his eyes accompanied by a half sided grin.
"I will be staying at the hotel, remember? You and Javi are going to the dance club"
Javi doesn't seem to give a shit about his comment and keeps laughing his ass off. 
You're  not sure if Steve had realized about your feelings, he hadn't said anything directly to you yet. He made comments insinuating it, teased you about the "lust-filled" eyes you'd give Javi in the middle of an argument, but he had never asked you or mentioned it straight up. If he had, you couldn't help but think how ironic it was that everyone that got semi-close to your relationship could figure it out so quickly and Javi hadn't in the nearly two years you've been partners.
You feign annoyance by letting out a groan and hitting your head with your desk, but the truth is a knot makes its way in your stomach at the mere thought of going to a dance club with Javi.
"He doesn't even know how to dance!"
"Hey! I do know how to dance!"
He does, you just like teasing him about it. He demonstrated his skills pretty well at your first year's Christmas party, with one of the good-looking girls that the soldiers from the academy invited. It was an initiation of sorts for both of you, at one of the officers' houses close to the base. After dancing with almost all of the girls there, the soldiers dared Javi to take shots of Aguardiente and he was too happy to accept. Hours later, he was sick as fuck and spent the night throwing up at the communal bathroom. He woke you up as he started dry heaving, and you stayed with him until the sickness passed and took him to his room, all sweaty and green. You don't think he remembers a single moment of it.
Steve shakes his head, smiling. You smile too.
"Yeah, two-step, you good Texan boy. That doesn't come in handy this time though"
Javi gives him the finger by way of answer. You break down in laugher, covering your mouth to lower the noise. Javi may be skeptical about Murphy, but they banter like an old married couple already. At least their dynamic isn't as explosive as yours, theirs is easier going.
"You're gonna enjoy yourself one way or another Bera, don't play dumb" Javi says, amusement dripping from his voice. You shrug with a barely concealed grin in your face. Steve frowns at you.
"What do you mean?"
Javi turns to look at him, shaking his hands in front of his face.
"She goes there every weekend she can!" he raises his arms over his head and you have to bite your lip to not start laughing again "She takes the bus on Friday night, which is a 7 fucking hours long trip and stays there until Sunday night and leaves for another 7 hours long trip. And she goes to the salsa clubs, so she's familiar with the zone"
Steve looks at you with disbelief plaguing his eyes. You smile cheekily and extend your hand towards him. He grabs it and you pull him forward, making him bend over the desk and get closer to your space.
"If you saw the way they move Miami" you whisper, "you'd understand why I flee from here every chance I get"
Salsa in Cali is different from any other place you've been in. They move more the half down part of the body, they dance faster than others, sexier. Not for nothing they have the Cali Fair in December, where many salsa artists start their career. 
Javi clears his throat and you let go of Steve immediately, blushing. He frowns at Steve and he just sits back down in front of you, adjusting his shirt. Thank God he didn't use suit every day, you hated when every agent wore one. The three of you stuck with jeans and t-shirts. Steve was apparently the polo shirt kind of guy, which was fine by you. Bogotá was mostly a mild weather city, but this time of the year was the worst.
"So what's the plan again?" Javi asks. He had been distracted since you came back, and you understand why. The whole issue with Helena was not something he would forget easily, though after you helped him everything went smoother and she acquired the visa request pretty quickly. 
You extend your hands in your desk and do a show of being done with his attitude, but he knows it's just to bother him. 
"We're supposed to arrive and book rooms for one night." Steve frowns, seemingly not liking that idea "the club is close, so we will have to set up the base there and communicate with you through walkie talkies. If anything goes sideways," you point at Murphy, "you have to act the fuck up and run to save us" He chuckles.
"You make it sound so easy" Javier sighs. You wish Murphy could go with you, but unfortunately, the new Siboney Club doesn't let any man or woman that goes alone inside, and you can't go with him instead of Javi, he would stand out like a sore thumb. The club is not so far from the Comuna 3, and you're guessing that has something to do with why they're meeting there. Murphy will be 6 minutes away, so everything must be okay with him and the other soldiers as back up if anything goes wrong.
You hope it doesn't. 
"You want some?" Javi asks as he extends you a wrapped bundle of meat empanadas. He had left to go to Salomé earlier, returning with a sour look and bags of food hanging from his arms.You figured he had stumbled upon Alexander, Cata's grandson, whom he doesn't like one bit. He didn't say anything but came into the room mumbling under his breath about a"stupid pretty spoiled bratt". 
"Give them to me!" You shout as you jump to grab them. Both men laugh as you move all the papers and unwrap them in your desk. You probably shouldn't be eating there, the smell will spread all over the office and you'll have to deal with it all day.
You stop caring as you take the first bite. Steve gives you a funny look, his eyebrow raised. Then you realize he most likely has never had one and shove the bundle towards him.
"Pick one," you say, grinning at him. "And I assure you life will be different from now on"
He looks at you, doubtful, but grabs one nothingless. Javi stares at everything with amusement glinting in his eyes. His chest fills with warmth every time you get enthusiastic for something as simple as food. Every day he hopes you will stay that way, untainted by all the shit you have to go through in this job, and tries to take the hits himself.
As Steve takes the first bite, you can practically see sparks fly from his body, licking his lips as he represses a groan.
"This is fucking great" he says once he swallows. You pump your fist in the air.
"Of course it fucking does. It's Colombia, Murphy, live a little and try new things."
He bows to listen to you. Javi can already picture how you're gonna get him to try the craziest things just as you got him too. Mild jealousy invades him, but he shrugs it off.
You start eating, letting out obscene sounds at every bite you take. Heat rises from his chest and he turns around to read the reports you last wrote and check everything's fine. He can't concentrate though, his mind wandering to places he shouldn't allow at every groan you make.
Steve stands up from his chair, leaning over your food and extending his hand to take another one. You bat his hand away and pull the bundle closer to you.
"Give me more!" He demands, pushing your arms away. With quick reflexes, you wrap them up again and throw them to Javi, and he catches it mid air with an amused smile playing at his lips.
"Leave my food alone!"
"You have to share!"
"Go buy your own!"
You wrap yourselves in an easy banter about food, Javi chuckling from his desk as he looks at the two of you. The way you act so loose around Steve sets him on his nerves, but he's willing to try and accept this if it means you'll have an easier time around here. 
"Leave her alone Murphy" he finally says, command evident in his voice. Both of you turn to look at him, and you smile as he gets uncomfortable from the power of both your stares. Despite this, he doesn't yield.
Steve falls back into his chair without looking away. Now, Javi grabs the bag again and hands him a different bundle of empanadas.
"I figured she would want you to taste them," he says, nonchalant. Stunned, you take your own food as he hands them back to you and returns to read the reports.
You turn to look at Murphy with your mouth open. He only smiles and winks at you.
Now he's sure he understands what the thing between you two is about.
----
Taglist:
@fioccodineveautunnale @storiesofthefandomloversreblogs @thisisthe-way @marydjarin @synystersilenceinblacknwhite
56 notes · View notes
Text
Task: Character Playlist Deep Dive
Playlist: Blaine Valentine’s Character Playlist
Number of Songs: 15 (as of July 2021)
Length: 53:48 (as of July 2021)
Triggers: Physical illness, death, mental illness, violence
Track 1: Wake Me Up When September Ends- Green Day
Blaine’s mother died of cancer when he was only 4 years old. Like Billie Joe Armstrong’s father, she died in the month of September. When she died, Blaine’s innocence and empathy died as well. Remembering the few memories he has with her upsets him deeply. It’s a type of deep pain he doesn’t know how to express. Whenever the anniversary comes up, everyone closest to him knows to leave him alone; he just wants the month to be over. 
Track 2: I Am Machine- Three Days Grace
After his mother’s death, Blaine became emotionally numb and initially hated what had become of him. He went through a stage of emotional turmoil as he grappled with understanding what was going on. He missed being happy-- and feeling anything at all, for that matter. He didn’t know how to fix this, so he often lashed out in order to feel something, anything. Eventually, he learned to accept what he couldn’t change, but this song is meant to reflect the time before he came to terms with himself. 
Track 3: Behind Blue Eyes- The Who
Blaine has never met another person like himself in real life. As he got older, he found an online community for people with ASPD and was able to diagnose himself, but before this, he felt very alone and misunderstood. Once he got past his stage of complete emotional numbness, he began to feel his emotions on a duller scale than prior. But this wasn’t enough for him to be normal. Once he was in therapy, he began mimicking the emotional reactions of those around him and wearing a “mask” to hide his true thoughts and feelings, but this wasn’t enough to make him normal either. He wasn’t normal, but no one knew what it was like to be him. 
Track 4: Super Rich Kids- Frank Ocean & Earl Sweatshirt
Blaine grew up without a mother. Though his father was physically there, he became emotionally distant and had to work long hours to support Blaine. As a result of his dad’s excessive working, he grew up with money. He isn’t the richest person around, but he’s always been able to get what he wants materially and takes great advantage of his privilege. He has expensive clothes and drives a fancy car, but this isn’t enough for him. He’s always been missing something he can’t quite hold. 
Track 5: Do It All The Time- IDKHBTFM
Blaine is highly self-centered. He does what he wants whenever he wants, within reason of course. Whenever he’s deciding whether to do anything, his first question is “Will this benefit me?” For the most part, nobody has ever stopped him from doing what he wants, so he sees no reason to stop himself from doing it. The song itself is a critique on people who are spoiled and privileged, but Blaine fits this bill perfectly. 
Track 6: Emperor’s New Clothes- Panic! At The Disco
This song, though not an exact fit to his life, is a further expression of his self-centered mindset and hedonism. when he was a teenager especially, he had a strong desire to climb the social ranks and take everything he thought rightfully belonged to him. Blaine’s family didn’t come from money; both of his parents were first-generation college graduates and the first lawyers in their respective families. His logic is that they worked hard for what they achieved, so he might as well take advantage of that and use their success as a stepping stone for his own future success. 
Track 7: Lose It- SWMRS
When Blaine was a sophomore in high school, he had his first relationship with a girl named Hadley. Hadley was a junior and the student body president. He initially pursued her because he wanted to increase his social status, but he ended up really liking her. It wasn’t quite love, but it was the closest he’s ever felt to romantic love. When he found out from a friend that she had cheated on him, he was angered beyond belief. Music was the thing they bonded over the most, so there was a period where he couldn’t listen to any of his favorite songs because they reminded him of her and the betrayal he faced. 
Track 8: Antisocial- Ed Sheeran & Travis Scott
You can’t have ASPD without antisocial behavior. Even though he talks to people and has a circle of friends, Blaine is highly introverted by nature and generally wants to be left alone. He does have people that he likes to keep around and hang out with, but he doesn’t need others to survive and he only wants to hang out with people on his own terms. With how busy he is with law school and internships/externships, he is perfectly okay on his own most nights.
Track 9: Kill Somebody- YUNGBLUD
One of Blaine’s most dangerous symptoms of his personality disorder is his intrusive thoughts. These thoughts come to him randomly without rhyme or reason. Sometimes they’re as minor as shoplifting a bag of chips from the convenience store, but other times they’re as extreme as killing his friends and family. He’s able to dismiss the more extreme thoughts by talking himself through it, but that doesn’t stop them from popping into his head. 
Track 10: Bored- Tessa Violet & MisterWives
Blaine is chronically bored. He’s constantly looking for things to do to stimulate and excite his brain, because when he lets himself be bored for too long, he becomes restless and irritated. However, he often finds himself doing repetitive behaviors, which only worsens his irritability. The only real way to quench his boredom is to engage in reckless behavior. 
Track 11: Feelin’ Low (F*ckboy Blues)- Peach Pit
Blaine isn’t a romantic person. Between his overall dull emotions and his unresolved trauma from his first relationship, he doesn’t think he’s capable of falling in love. Whether or not this is true is still up for debate, but he also doesn’t want to try. His logic is that a one-night stand can’t betray your trust. There have been certain one-night stands who were particularly good in bed, who he considered sleeping with more than once, but in the end, his “logic” gets the best of him and he moves on to the next girl. However, no matter how many girls he hooks up with, he always feels like something is missing.
Track 12: Stinkfist- TOOL
This song is a representation of the way in which Blaine constantly seeks out new thrills in order to satisfy his chronic boredom. Every-day life bores him, so he goes out seeking stimulation by destroying things around him. However, there’s only so far he can go before he gets bored again. His intrusive thoughts are always telling him to go deeper and deeper into illegal activities, but his logical side must pull him back so he doesn’t go over the edge and end up injured or arrested.
Track 13: Wrecking Ball- Mother Mother
The emotion Blaine has the most frequent spikes in is anger. His anger spikes, combined with his chronic boredom, result in a lot of destruction. He wrecks things around him, both physically and metaphorically, for no reason other than that he can. Like a wrecking ball, he swings aimlessly, not necessarily caring what gets destroyed or who gets hurt in the process.
Track 14: Killer In The Mirror- Set It Off
In February 2021, Blaine began taking boxing lessons. Boxing has helped him release his pent up anger without delving into illegality. When he boxes, he thinks of those who have crossed him and imagines that he’s beating them to a pulp. Not only is the song about him boxing, but it also represents the way in which life has toughened him to the point where trusting people isn’t easy and he feels he’s the only person he can truly rely on for the important things in life.
Track 15: Talk To You- Ricky Montgomery 
This is another track to reflect his feelings about his mother. In recent months, Blaine has found himself thinking about her more and more. He knows he can’t change what happened, and he doesn’t want to change anything about himself, but he often wonders what his life would have been like if she hadn’t died. He wishes he could talk to her one last time and know whether or not she’s proud of him. 
1 note · View note
theatrediva1975 · 4 years
Text
Coop | Seal Team
Summary: Bravo 4 makes a trip cross country following the events of “Never Out of the Fight”, S2, Ep22.
Pairings: Trent Sawyer, OC Zoe “Coop” Cooper
Zoe Cooper let out a shaky breath as she turned the key in the ignition and her Jeep engine quieted in the dark outside her bungalow. Letting her head thump back against the leather headrest, yet another tear rolled down her cheek. After all these years, she thought that this - saying goodbye - would get easier. But it didn’t. How could it? These were kids she was losing. No matter how hard she tried, how hard her team fought, it was just never enough for so many of these kids they were trying to help, to save. The drugs and the violence - they were losing more than they were saving most days.
She knew she was winding down. After all these years working with so many troubled kids, each loss weighed heavier and heavier on Zoe’s heart. Losing Miguel tonight...she shook her head, trying to erase the image of the 15 year old as the light went out of his eyes.
Zoe took a deep breath and got out of the Jeep, grabbing her bag from the back seat. She was halfway up the walkway when she looked up and saw soft light streaming out her living room window. She didn’t recall leaving a light on when she left at first light. She had wanted to get some painting done at the studio before she headed to the outreach center for what she thought was a short afternoon but turned into a ten hour long nightmare.
Looking back out to the street, Zoe didn’t see anything much out of the ordinary except for a blue sedan parked across the street. Turning back to the front door, she uncapped the mace on her key ring but changed her mind. Instead, she reached into her bag to put her hands on her Smith & Wesson. Only two scenarios came to mind - either her ex had shown up for a booty call (fat chance) or someone had neatly broken in and announced themselves by leaving the lights on while they tossed the joint. Whichever one, she was ready for either.
Quietly sliding the key into the lock, she found it already undone. Strangely, as she cracked the door open, she smelled something delicious coming out of the kitchen.
Definitely not her ex.
He could burn water.
So, burglar who cooks dinner as a way of saying sorry?
“You can put that away,” the voice said.
That voice.
No, it couldn’t be, Zoe thought. Could it?
Taking another step into her living room, Zoe froze in place as the body that the voice belonged to stepped around the corner.
“Hey Coop,” he said softly.
Zoe took one look at the clean shaven face and short hair…
And busted out laughing.
Looking nearly the same as he looked when they first met all those years ago, when he was starting BUD/S and she was tending bar in that dive just off base, stood Trent Sawyer.
Rolling his eyes at her, Trent shook his head, spread his arms out and turned in a circle in the dining room archway. “Go ahead, yuk it up. But this is actually what I’m supposed to look like. Not the long haired hippie freak look you love so much,” he joked with her, a small smile on his face. Man, he had missed her laugh.
But then the laugh began to fade out and the look on her face - one of surprise and joy at his arrival twisted into one of pain and misery as her laughs turned into sobs. In three strides, Trent was in front of her, wrapping his arms around her waist as she collapsed against his chest. Not completely sure what was going on, he just held her tightly until she was ready to tell him what was going on.
After several minutes, and no signs of being cried out, Trent bent down and picked Zoe up, bridal style and sat down on the couch in front of the large picture window that dominated the front of the house. Now set in his lap, Zoe curled in even further into Trent’s chest. He slowly ran his hand up and down her spine, hoping to soothe her a bit, calm her down. He rested his cheek atop her head and whispered affirmations, letting her know he was there, she was safe and that he had her.
Always.
He cupped the back of her head with his right hand, kissing her forehead as another wave of emotion hit her. He ran his left hand lightly up and down her right arm, noticing a few new pieces of art that hadn’t been there the last time they saw each other. It had been nearly two years after all. He had been spun up to Liberia, Estonia, South Sudan, the Triple Frontier, deployed to Afghanistan - again. If he was honest, he probably could’ve come to visit after the helo crash but he had felt compelled to stay close to home while the team recovered. He and Coop had talked and she understood his need to stay close. Then Alanna died, they lost Adam in Mumbai, deployed to Mexico, almost lost Sonny, Clay, Ray. Now Swannie. It had gotten to be too much and he needed time.
So after visiting his mother, he got on a plane and landed in San Diego seven hours later, rented a car and was digging up the rock in the Coop’s backyard with the spare key in it without really thinking about it. It had always been like that between them. Just show up. No questions asked. After another few minutes lost in thought, Trent noticed that Zoe’s breathing started to even out. While there were still a few hitches in her breath here and there, she seemed calmer and Trent started to wonder if she had fallen asleep in his arms. It wouldn’t be the first time. But after another minute, Zoe lifted her head. “Hi,” she smiled sadly, her voice barely above a whisper.
Looking into her bright blue eyes, Trent pushed a strand of her black hair behind her ear. “Hi. Surprise,” he chuckled.
Zoe smiled a little brighter in response to the levity.
“Definitely. And one I needed tonight,” she replied, as she tucked her head back against his chest.
“You hungry?” Trent inquired. “I managed to scrounge together the ingredients for some spaghetti.”
Zoe smiled into his chest and hugged him a little tighter. “Do you mind if we just sit like this for a little longer?”
“Bad day?”
Tears threatened again as she nodded. Curling further into Trent’s chest, Zoe took a deep breath and said, “Can’t talk about it yet.”
Pressing his lips against her forehead, Trent simply nodded, learning long ago that Zoe wouldn’t talk until she was ready to. Her stomach, however, had other ideas, growling loudly. Trent chuckled. “When was the last time you ate?” he queried. Zoe shrugged her shoulders. She honestly couldn’t remember. A scone with her coffee at the studio? Some chips or a bite of a sandwich at lunch?
Zoe lifted her head to once again look into Trent’s eyes. She lifted her right hand, lightly running her finger tips along his jawline. She smiled softly, remembering the clean shaven young sailor who walked into the bar she was tending in Coronado all those years ago. They had clicked immediately. She had been dating...Matt? Steven? Bodhi? Hell, she couldn’t remember after all these years. Didn’t matter. She had been involved with someone, Trent had had a girl “back home” but they still clicked and started a friendship that had outlasted every other relationship both of them had had. He was her rock, and she believed she was his, though he’d never said it out loud. Hell he was here, wasn’t it.
Wait, she thought. Why was he here?
“What’s with the babyface?” she questioned.
Heaving a heavy sigh, Trent dropped his eyes. “Funeral,” he answered.
Before he even knew what was happening, Zoe flipped up and straddled Trent’s lap, wrapping her tattooed arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as she dared. “I am so sorry,” she cried. “God, I suck. Here I am, freaking bawling and mopey and you spent all day on a plane to get here to get away from all that and I just...just, ugh, I’m sorry!”
Trent chuckled at her. His Zoe. Just like that, she could flip that switch and all of a sudden, BAM! All that focus was on someone else now, her own pain and heartache forgotten. His arms snaked around her waist and held her just as tight as she held him. It always amazed him how they were the only ones who could do this for the other - hold each other tight enough to glue all the broken pieces back together.
They sat like that for another few moments until Zoe’s stomach once again made it’s displeasure at being empty known. Both chuckling, they pulled away from each other after a brief forehead bump and got up off the couch.
For the next hour, the two old friends sat at Zoe’s dining room table, eating spaghetti and a small Caesar salad Trent had thrown together with what was left in Zoe’s fridge. As they were loading the dishwasher, she turned to Trent and asked the question she always hated asking when he came to visit. “So,” she began. “How long do I have you for?”
Turning back to her from the stove, Trent smiled at her. “Return flight is on Monday at 1:20 pm.”
Zoe’s head snapped up so fast, Trent thought she would give herself whiplash. “I have you all weekend?” she asked incredulously. Rarely did his schedule allow him the opportunity to spend more than 24 hours with her. Now she had him for 3 and a half days. She jumped up in his arms, wrapping her legs around his waist like a koala bear. It was his favorite thing in the world when she did that.
“Yep, all weekend,” he managed to get out, given the squeeze around his neck.
Zoe felt lighter, just a bit. While she was pretty sure there was going to be a funeral that weekend, at least he would be with her. She always felt like she could get through anything as long as she had her best friend by her side.
“Coop…” Trent whispered. “Can’t...breathe!”
Rolling her eyes, Zoe pulled back, releasing some of the tightness in her hold on him. She was, foolishly, she knew, scared that if she totally let go, he would disappear and that was not something she could handle right now. He was there and she was going to take full advantage of having him by her side the next few days.
Knocking her forehead against his, she let out a sigh that turned into a full blown yawn. Trent chuckled at her. “Am I boring you already? I can always get on the next flight back to Virginia Beach,” he kidded with her, even as he pulled her even more snugly against his body, hoping she understood he was just messing with her.
As he suspected, she again adjusted her grip around his neck in protest. “Not happening, big guy. You’re mine until 1:20pm Monday afternoon. And not one second sooner,” she protested. Unfortunately the force of said protest was nearly drowned out by another yawn.. Trent looked over at the clock hanging on the dining room wall and saw that it was after midnight now. No wonder she’s exhausted, he thought. With whatever it was that happened today, combined with the time, he knew he needed to get her to bed.
“Come on, Coop, time for some sleep,” Trent informed her.
Not even bothering to set her feet on the floor, Trent flipped the switch on the wall and walked back into the living room, flipping the wall switch in there as well. He carried Zoe down the hallway to the bedroom and unceremoniously dumped her on the bed. Zoe answered with a small howl of complaint. “Rude,” she snapped at him, as he chuckled at her.
“Go get changed,” he ordered. Sticking her tongue out at him, Zoe started walking towards the en suite when she stopped in the doorway. “What’s wrong?”
Zoe turned back to Trent with the same sad look that had haunted her face earlier. Tears threatening to spill again, Trent walked around the foot of the bed and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them soothingly. Letting out a shaky breath, Zoe quietly began to speak.
“His name was Miguel. He was coming to the center this afternoon to help tutor some of the younger kids,” she said with a small sob. “He was so good with them. He made doing homework fun for them. He would do these little puppet shows or come up with silly songs to sing to them to help them memorize how to do a math equation. Sometimes, I would stay late and paint at the center and he would hang out and ask me all kinds of questions about art and painting and history. He was such a good kid” Tears were freely flowing down her cheeks again. “It was a fucking drive-by. He didn’t deserve...in the middle of the street for Crissakes…surrounded by strangers,” she choked out. “Trent, he died in my arms.” Now fully sobbing, Zoe sank to the floor, in the doorway of her bathroom, repeating one word.
Why...
Once again, Trent felt more than a little helpless. All he could do was hold her, and hope that the newly broken pieces could somehow fit back together, but he knew that wasn’t how it worked. All he could do was sit on the floor with her, stroke her hair and hold her tight until she was able to cry it all out.
Slowly, Zoe’s uncontrolled sobbing started to slow. Her breath continued to hitch every so often. Trent had to admit, this was not the most comfortable position but he refused to move until Zoe did. He was a SEAL after all. He had been in much, much worse conditions. At least here, there was air conditioning. The hardwood floors sucked though.
Trent felt Zoe going limp in his arms, so he looked down to see that she had, indeed, cried herself to sleep. Not wanting to spend the night on the floor if he didn’t have to, Trent began to stand up and move Zoe to her bed. She flinched and grabbed the front of his shirt tighter. “It’s ok, hon. I’m still here,” Trent said. “I’m not going to leave you.”
“Better not,” Zoe sleepily mumbled.
Smirking, Trent started to pull the covers down the bed, laying Zoe down on the cool sheets. “Sweetie, let’s at least get these jeans off of you, ok?”
Zoe just grunted at Trent. Shaking his head in amusement, Trent gently stripped her out of her jeans. He left everything else as his because, frankly, he valued his life. The one time he thought he was being helpful by taking her bra off when she had passed out after a long night of tequila, her foot connected with his junk and he swore he didn’t sit right for a week. So, friendship ended at taking her jeans off.
Zoe was still whimpering in her sleep, so Trent decided to just kick off his shoes, take off his own jeans, and crawl in next to her. As he was getting ready to turn the light off and climb into bed, something caught his eye. Zoe’s tank top had ridden up just a little, just enough for Trent to see a tattoo he never remembered seeing.
It was his insignia. Well, the Bravo insignia.
And it was right on her ribcage.
As he got closer, Trent saw that underneath the small insignia it said “TSB4”.
Trent Sawyer. Bravo 4. His initials and his call sign.
“Hey,” Zoe sleepily called out.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Trent replied as he turned off the light on the bedside table. In the dark, Trent got settled in bed and pulled Zoe’s back to his front, winding his right arm around her waist. Zoe ran her hand down his arm, over the scars no one else ever wanted to look at or acknowledge, let alone touch. But Zoe? She never shied away from touching him there. She always said it meant he lived. She touched it because she could, because he was still here.
Trent lightly kissed the back of her head as Zoe linked her fingers with his. “Love you,” she said sleepily.
“Love you, too,” Trent answered, as he squeezed her just a little bit tighter into him, drifting off to sleep with Zoe in his arms was always the best night's sleep he had.
14 notes · View notes