#happy: please tell the class why the chance of them being fired for hurting mr. parker is miraculously not 100%

[theonewiththefanfics]

Thick And Thin (one-shot)

Synopsis: He never thought his wife would ever even think about divorce. They had problems, which is why they were at marriage counselling. But he never knew her heart had broken a long time ago. And he’d been the one to break it before they even got together.

Pairing: Harry Styles x fem!Reader

Genre: aaaaaaannnnggggssssttt baby, just wanted to write something that’d rip your heart out :)

Warnings: swearing, pain, kinda depressive (??), can’t think of anything else really, but please let me know if there is, also not my best work lol :D

Word count: 7102 (let’s start off the New Year with loads of pain :) )

Italics are flashbacks

“I want a divorce.” 

           Never in Harry’s life did he think he’d have to hear those words. Not after everything they’d been through, not after all of the effort he’d been putting in to save their relationship.

           Those words had not only stunned him but their marriage councillor, the woman’s mouth open mid-word, as she tried to comprehend what was happening. Harry was fairing even worse. It was like his brain was short-circuiting, synapses broken and no longer sending any signals. 

           “Mrs Styles, I know it’s difficult,” the therapist tried to diffuse the situation. “But the reason you’re here is to avoid this specifically.”

           “I don’t remember how you smell anymore,” Y/N continued not listening to the woman, voice like a black void, but her Y/E/C eyes rimmed with tears. “Or taste. I don’t remember how it feels to have you pressed up against me or what it’s like to hear your voice. I… I don’t have anything to cling onto anymore.”

           “It’s why we're here!” he cried through clenched teeth, slipping on his knees before her, hands grasping Y/N’s in a vice-like grip. “It’s why we’re trying.”

           The laugh she let out was detached and without any love. “We tried it your way, Harry.” She’d never called him Harry before. It was always Lover. “And it’s not working for me. It hasn’t from the start. We’re… we’re so unhappy. And I don’t want that for you or for me. We deserve happiness. But I don’t think we can give that to one another anymore.” She took in a shaky breath, looking down at Harry’s hands in her lap. “When I thought of it, at first I felt horrible. I wanted to throw myself off somewhere, but the more I sat on that thought, the more relieved I felt.”

           He couldn’t believe what he was hearing, didn’t want to believe it. “Relieved?” The word felt like acid in his mouth.

           “Yes,” she nodded. “Relieved. Because this choice won’t make us hurt one another anymore. This gives us a chance to have a fresh start.”

           “I don’t want a fresh start! We said – we said through thick and thin.” He was grasping onto the last straw he could find. “This is the thin, but we’ll get through it.”

           “Harry, I already broke through the thin. And now I’m drowning. And when the thick comes, I’ll either be frozen under it and watch you walk further, or I’ll surface somewhere, and I don’t know on which side of the shore I’m gonna be on and where you’ll be. And if you try to get me, you’ll start drowning too. I don’t want that.”

           “But that’s what marriage is! Going through the tough shit together!”

“Harry… I already asked Lionel to draw up the papers. The first draft is done.”

           His blood froze in his veins.

           “When you said to sit down and write one thing that makes me happy about the relationship,” Y/N was looking at the therapist now, “about the person, I – I couldn’t. Because I kept thinking back to the start, to the beginning. That’s what made me happy. But now…” She glanced at Harry. “If there was one thing, I couldn’t do to you, not in a moment like this, is lie. I just… I don’t remember how to be happy with you.”

***

They’d started out as the cliché of best-friends-lose-contact-only-to-be-reunited-and-not-let-their-chance-pass-by-and-fall-in-love. She was ten when she’d moved in next door to him and he was twelve when he’d seen the three vans full up to the house, a little girl hopping out from one of them. Harry watched as she rushed up the doorstep and put in a key, unlocking it and a new chapter of her life with it. Little did he know she’d unlocked a new chapter of his life as well.

She was the new kid at school, and despite the fact that he was a year above, he sat down next to her at lunch.

“ ’M ‘arry,” he said through a mouthful of a sandwich. “Saw you move in yesterday.”

“Yeah,” she nodded. “I’m Y/N.”

And that was the start of a blooming friendship.

On her eleventh birthday, he gave her a handmade bracelet. She gave him a kiss on the cheek as a thank you, making Harry blush all shades of pink and red.

He was thirteen when he had his first real kiss on his birthday. Y/N had simply tried to peck him on the cheek, but he’d turned his head, and her mouth had ended up on his. She’d walked away with a shy smile and ears on fire.

She was thirteen when a boy first asked her out. Harry was the first person she told him about it. That was the first time his heart broke.

When he was fifteen, he got his first girlfriend. Y/N was fourteen when her heart broke for the first time.

           And then he'd gone on X-factor and with that forgotten about her. She called him, texted him, messaged him on social media, but usually, she’d maybe get only one picture or a small ‘miss you too’ as a response. So, after a whole year apart, she gave up. What was the point of trying to save anything when he didn’t want to?

           He moved on and became an international superstar. Y/N moved on and graduated top of her class, got into her first-choice university, and graduated with a first as well. He had some relationships here and there, while Y/N had had a steady relationship since the second year of uni, but when she decided to go to a different one for her masters they amicably broke up.

           Eight years later she was sitting at a café in London, laughing with her ex-boyfriend and catching up, as he explained how what Criminal Minds showed wasn’t really what was taught in his criminology degree classes.

           “I’m still saying I dated real-life Spencer Reid,” Y/N chuckled, sipping on her gingerbread latte. “Don’t give a shit, I need something to flex with.”

           Harry had then walked inside the café, shaking off the snow from his boots when a familiar laugh he hadn’t heard in ages invaded his senses. It was almost like he’d stepped into a dream. 

           When his green eyes befell on the owner of the voice, he had to take a double-take. Somehow in his brain, he’d expected the fifteen-year-old teenager, a t-shirt of his face on her body, as she’d cheered him on when he’d gone onto his first concert as part of One Direction to be sitting in the chair, not the grown-up woman.

           He’d still checked in with Y/N through what she posted on her social media, but as much as he’d promised not to have the celebrity life sweep him away, it had. Harry sometimes had two concerts a day, and he barely had a moment to take a bite of food. And he hated to admit it, but Y/N simply slipped from his life. And he didn’t bother to put in the effort to pull her back.

           A huge wave of guilt and longing rushed through his body as he glanced at the woman, her face lit up by joy as she and the man before her continued on with their conversation.

           Someone tapped on his shoulder, making him turn around and face another customer. “You gonna order anything?”

           For a moment Harry stuttered. He could walk away without inserting himself back into Y/N’s life, but he didn’t want that. He’d missed her. Harry didn’t even realise how much he’d missed her.

           “You go ahead.” He motioned with his hand. “I’m still thinking.”

           Harry took in a deep breath and then walked towards where the pair was sitting. 

           The man’s eyes flitted up to see who was towering over Y/N, only for them to widen, and his mouth hang open. 

A sense of pride filled Harry's chest at the reaction and maybe quenched a little bit of the jealousy invading his body. He used to be the one who made Y/N laugh until she had to tell him to stop or she’d pee herself. He was back to take up the role.

           “You okay there, Dan?” she chuckled. “Don’t tell me there’s a ghost behind my back. I told him not to walk out of the flat wit –“ Y/N had turned around and almost choked on her drink. “Oh my god, Harry! Oh – hi!” She jumped up hugging him, feeling how his body shook with laughter at her reaction, strong arms weaving around her middle. “Holy shit, it’s really you!”

           “Yeah, ‘s me. Who else?”

           “I didn’t know you were back in the UK.”

           A warmth spread through his chest, as he reluctantly pulled away from the hug. “Been checking in on me?”

           Y/N rolled her eyes, sitting back down, but pulling up a third chair for Harry to sit upon. “Dan’s a huge fan.” She motioned with her head to the man. “When we first started dating, I thought he was only doing it because we used to be friends, and he hoped I’d set you up or something.”

           Harry masked the choke of envy by clearing his throat and letting out an awkward chuckle. “Hope I’m not interrupting a date or something.”

           “A catch-up date, but not a date date.” Dan lifted his brows at Y/N, who gave him a ‘don’t start this’ look to which he threw up his hands in surrender. “I’m just making conversation.”

           “You’re being annoying, that’s what you are.” Y/N flicked a crumb from the table towards him. 

           It was in that moment that it truly hit how much he’d missed, and it hit him hard he no longer knew the person who once was his best friend.

           “You’re different,” Harry said, looking over at her trying to keep the lump in his throat from making his voice break. 

           Y/N shrugged, eyes twinkling. “I mean it has been almost a decade. I do hope I don’t look the same as I did then. Otherwise, the pain of braces was of no use.”

           “No,” he chuckled shaking his head. “’S not that… It’s like you’re a different person.”

           “I grew up,” she said, sipping on the last bits of her drink. “ ’M not the same fifteen-year-old you saw last.”

           He nodded and bit his lip. But the thing was, Harry wasn’t the stupid sixteen-year-old that left the fifteen-year-old her either. This time, he wouldn’t let the chance at happiness pass him by when he could’ve had it all along. 

***

           He sat across from Y/N at the large marble table and watched, heart bleeding out in his chest as she put her signature on the papers, her attorney fishing out something from his briefcase and handing it to her under the table. He saw her shoulders shudder before she placed a maroon rectangle with a golden inscription on it in her own purse. Harry wanted to vomit. It was her new passport, where her surname no longer matched his, where he no longer existed, inscribed into the document as her spouse. 

           “Mr Styles?” Y/N’s lawyer pushed the papers his way, the pen laying atop them. “’S your turn.”

           ‘Your turn’, as if it was a game of spin the bottle or UNO. 

           “Don’t make me,” he choked out, pleading with Y/N one last time. “Please don’t make me do this. Don’t make me give up on us.”

           Her words were worse than a knife to his soul. “You can’t give up on something that’s no longer there.”

           When they’d been at the stage of negotiation, he’d kept pushing for giving her at least half of his income, to give her one of the houses they owned together, but she’d turned everything down.

           “I didn’t marry you for your money, Harry.” He’d expected her voice to be full of venom, but it wasn’t. It was sad, resigned. “I don’t want what you’ve earned.”

           “Let me give you at least something.”

           “I don’t want anything from you. If it makes you feel any better, you can donate whatever amount you wanted to give me. I don’t care. All I want from this is for you to sign the papers.”

           “And if I can’t?”

           Y/N sighed, looking down at the table. “Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

           That’s when her attorney had cleared his throat. “Mrs Sty – Y/L/N. Legally, according to the prenup, you are entitled to half of Mr Styles estate as well as twenty percent of all his earnings.”

           But Y/N just shook her head. “I only signed those documents because that’s what he and his agent wanted. I never asked for it or anything or the sort. Donate it, for all I care. Buy a new house, Harry I literally don’t want to know what you do with your money.” Y/N took in a sharp breath and calmed herself down. It’d been the first time Harry had heard any sort of emotion from her since she'd spoken those horrible words. “I just want this over with.”

           And now, he was at the moment of the end. He just never thought their story would end with broken hearts and ripped up futures.

His handwriting was barely legible at best of times, but right now it seemed as if a toddler had tried to forge it with how much his hand shook. When the pen dropped, so did his shoulders, and he saw Y/N’s drop as well.

           Harry’s with weight from the love lost, Y/N’s with relief, for now their broken hearts wouldn’t hurt one another no longer.

           His lawyer handed him over a new passport as well, where Y/N was no longer written as his spouse. The urge to rip it to shreds was almost uncontainable. He hated it more than the divorce papers.

***

           They’d been dating for a little over two years when he decided to propose, only every plan he had was miserably ruined by some outside force.

           The first time he’d decided he’d do it at a romantic dinner. Harry had found out Y/N wasn’t a fan of huge romantic gestures, so he wouldn’t get on one knee and draw everyone’s attention. He’d simply take her hand in his, kiss her fingers and ask. 

           But as they’d sat at the table enjoying their meal and talking, he noticed Y/N become quieter and quieter. A frown morphed on his face.

           “You alright, Lovie?”

           “Umm,” Y/N’s brow creased even more, and she dropped her fork. “I umm I don’t know. ‘M feeling kind of funky?”

           “What’dya mean?”

           “I – “ Y/N opened her mouth but didn’t manage to get anything else out as she jumped up and rushed towards the ladies room.

           Harry quickly dropped his own utensils and rushed after her, not bothering with the yells of the woman who was looking at herself in the mirror, while his girlfriend threw up her guts inside one of the toilets.

           A member of the staff had run to see what all the commotion was about, but when he saw Y/N half inside a stall, half outside, Harry’s hands keeping her hair away from her face, he went back out and immediately grabbed the first aid kit they had in the kitchen, handing it to Harry along with a cold wet towel.

           Y/N shuddered, leaning against the stall wall sweat glistening on her face, as he pressed the damp cloth against her skin. She gave him half a smile. “Told you not to get the shrimp.”

           “I’ll get the cab, Lovie.” He smoothed away the once meticulously styled hair, which was now stuck to her damp skin. 

           But she shook her head. “Not yet.”

           “Why?”

           “Because I’m about to puke again.”

           In the end, she threw up two more times, her stomach really not agreeing with the entrée. The waiters kept apologising the whole time, and the chef had stopped cooking, the restaurant immediately taking action and refunding everyone who’d ordered anything with shrimps in them.

           When they’d gotten back home, Y/N was so tired and felt so sick, Harry could only help her get out of the dress, clean her up with a warm towel and wrap her up in her favourite pyjamas before curling up together on his bed and falling asleep, making sure if there was a moment, she felt nauseous again, he was by her side. She needed his help more than he needed to propose.

***

           He threw himself into his work like a madman. Day and night, he was either at a studio, on a filming lot, in between meetings or interviews. The media buzzed about how his marriage had fallen apart, even though Y/N hadn’t made a statement or spoken a word to anyone, and neither had Harry. But he guessed the emptiness of his ring finger gave everything away.

           He refused, however, to speak on it. As painful as it was, he was still in love with Y/N. She hadn’t chosen to be in the spotlight, it was Harry’s world, not hers, so he respected her decision to be quiet and remained so himself, save for one single post his management had asked for him to put up. It'd also been the last time he'd spoken to her.

All he received was a simple text message 'do what you have to do'.

           A couple of months down the line though, something came up, and Harry couldn’t keep his tongue behind his teeth.

           It was an article in The Sun, a photograph of Y/N plastered all over the front page with the words ‘Gold-digger Y/L/N finally seen out after divorce with Harry Styles.” He’d snatched the paper right off the stand and flipped it open, frantic green eyes scanning the words.

           ‘Despite it only being two months since the two childhood ex-best friends broke up, Y/N Y/L/N was already seen in the company of a man, sharing a drink, and giving one another flirtatious smiles. An inside source tells us, how she hadn’t even been that upset about the divorce and has been going out and having fun with many male companions, one of them being her ex-boyfriend from university times.’ 

           ‘Harry Styles, known for his time in the pop boyband One Direction and for his solo endeavours in music as well as dabbling in acting, broke everyone’s belief in true love after being seen in public without a ring. This prompted an announcement that the four-year relationship and two-year marriage to who was once his best friend had ended and the two had decided to get a divorce. Although the post showed a picture of their silhouettes holding one another with their foreheads together, and his statement showed nothing but love and respect for his then-wife, sources say Y/N had been controlling and obsessive over her then-husband and hadn’t wanted him to leave to pursue his career, stifling his growth.’

           He didn’t bother to read any further, as he pulled out his phone, calling Jeff immediately to figure out how to make all of it go away, how to do at least one thing right.

           “They’re dragging her name through the mud!” he sneered, not even caring he was bumping shoulders with people, and if the paparazzi would dare spin a story of the state he was in at that moment, he’d sue each and every one of them personally. “I have to do something. Fuck, Jeff, I love her! I can’t let them paint her like this. Y/N – “ he choked back a lump. “She never asked for this. Didn’t ask for anything. And that man – that was Dan, okay. I know him. Yes, he’s her ex, but they don’t know anything!”

           “Harry I’ve sent them cease-and-desist letters already.” Jeff tried to ease him. “But… she’s no longer your concern Har.”

           The words hit him like a bullet and ripped a hole in his chest just like one of them would. “You might still love her,” Jeff’s voice was solemn. “But Y/N is no longer yours to protect.”

           “I can’t just let them talk shit about her,” Harry whispered back.

           His friend sighed on the other side of the line. “I know. Which is why we’ll deal with it. But you have to start letting her go.”

***

The second time Harry wanted to propose was about a month later, and Christmas was right around the corner. They’d decided that Christmas Eve would be spent with his sister, her boyfriend and Anne, while Christmas Day they’d go to Y/N’s side of the family. 

Although they’d settled on one gift each, Harry had been carrying around that small box for what felt like an eternity. And it wouldn’t really be a gift, given how he’d wrap it and hang it in the tree.

“It’s an ornament,” he’d say to her, a smug smile on his lips, as Y/N would roll her eyes at him. “Just because it has your name on it, doesn’t mean it’s immediately a present.”

And then she’d open it, and would gasp, and Harry would slide down on his knee, press a kiss to her ring-free finger before asking that fateful question. 

But just like before, his plan didn’t come to fruition. 

           He’d asked his mother to hang up the little box, so there was no chance of Y/N seeing it in his hands, but what he hadn’t thought of was Gemma’s boyfriend had decided on the exact same plan of action.

           When Michal had dropped down on his knee, Harry’s sister’s trembling hand in his, he couldn’t do that to them. As much as he wanted to marry Y/N, he couldn’t take away Gemma’s moment. So while Y/N was preoccupied with looking at the gleaming diamond on Gemma’s finger, Harry plucked down the box from where it’d hung and placed it on the side no one could see, before he could put it in his bag.

           “ ’M sorry, honey,” Anne had said to him over coffee the next morning. “I didn’t know Michal would do that.”

           He’d just shaken his head, no hurt in his heart. “Great minds think alike. Our moment will come. ‘M happy for Gem. Besides, if he hadn’t done that anytime soon, I would’ve needed to have a stern talking.” 

***

           What his sister said to him made him think he had to be living in a simulation, because it couldn’t be true. Y/N couldn’t be getting married. Not this soon. Not ever. Not to someone who wasn’t him. It had been barely a year since he’d signed the death sentence to his own happiness.

           Harry shook his head. “You’re lying. Tell me you’re lying, Gem.”

           “I’m not.” Her voice broke as she said it. “I saw her at a café. Saw the ring… the man who gave it to her. Harry, I’m so sorry.”

           His mind reeled with questions he wasn’t sure he wanted answers to. Was that why she’d really divorced him? Had she been cheating on him and just needed an excuse out of their relationship to jump into the new one? He was away so much on their relationship, he wouldn’t have been surprised if someone else had swooped in and tried to win her heart.

Harry’s mind was one of the greatest things he’d been blessed him, but also one of the worst curses bestowed upon him, as it weaved a story of Y/N and the man who’d now put a gleaming ring on her finger.

           He was away, like always, doing something he could do another time. She was on her own, keeping their bed warm with just her body, fighting for their relationship on her own, while he made plans once more to go to a different part of the world and leave her behind again.

           Y/N pulled herself out of the bed, sighing and rubbing her face. She opened their closet only to be greeted with Harry’s half empty. Maybe that was the moment she decided to find someone who’d fill it and wouldn’t leave it permanently empty, Harry conjured up.

           She’d dress in a soft jumper and some jeans, a large cardigan hanging over her body and would go to a café for her morning drink. And that’s where she’d meet him. The stranger that would take her out of the lonely life she’d been living. The stranger that would make a smile bloom on her face and her heart stutter once more. The stranger who would show her the love Y/N deserved to have.

           Harry had to shake his head to get rid of the thoughts before they ventured into a worse territory.

           No. Y/N wasn’t like that. No matter what, she would never cheat on him. She had enough dignity for herself and respect for him, even though in his own mind, Harry didn’t think he deserved it. 

           Although he didn’t have a right to, nor was it the sanest move (and if someone saw him doing it, there would probably be a slew of articles), Harry got into his car and drove to where Y/N’s apartment was, and when she opened the door after hearing seven loud knocks, he stepped inside without even waiting for her to invite him. 

           “You’re getting married?”

           She crossed her arms. “It’s none of your concern.”

           “It’s been barely a year! I refuse to believe you’ve moved on so fast.”

           Maybe he was kidding himself, and Y/N truly had, but as much as their marriage had fallen apart, he did have the honour of having known her and having figured some things out deeper than others would.

           Y//N scoffed. “I was proposed to. And I said yes.” The words were like venom entering his veins. “If I wasn’t, then I wouldn’t have agreed to it. And as I already said – it is none of your concern.”

           Harry stood there, watching as she dragged a hand down her face, eyes flitting everywhere he wasn’t. It told him everything he needed to know.

           “You’re not happy,” he whispered stepping forward and reaching for her hand. “I know how you shine when you’re truly happy. This isn’t it. Why are you doing this?”

           “That doesn’t matter.”          

           Harry was so confused, at a complete loss at what Y/N was saying. “So, you’ll what? Get married to him and be miserable? Why the hell did you divorce me then?”

Y/N sighed. “Being unhappy with him isn’t as unbearable as being unhappy with you. Because with you, I know what it feels like to truly fully loved. Which is why it broke me when you stopped.”

           “I never stopped!” Harry whisper yelled, anger coursing through his veins at her words, because they were lies. “Why do you think I dragged us to marriage counselling? Why do you think I kept fighting for us? For you?! You were the one that gave up!” 

           “You weren’t there when I needed you.” 

           Harry blinked rapidly, not understanding what she meant.

           “You left me for ten years. You forgot all about me until that day at the café. Not once did you message me or call me or even send fucking snail mail. I was the one putting in all the effort, I was the one who was trying to keep you in my life, but you didn’t want it. Just like it was when we were married.”

           Rage bubbled under the surface, but he kept it at bay. That was not how he’d get Y/N back. “How?” he asked calmly. “How did I not want it?”

She scoffed shaking her head. “It was the same as it was ten years ago. With the movie, the new album... You were always at the studio or hanging out with your castmates. When I asked for you to free up one night, one single night, you didn’t come back until three AM, drunk off your ass, and I had to take care of you. I asked for one night. And you didn’t even give me that. So forgive me for not feeling like you still loved me.”

           “Why didn’t you talk to me then?!”

           “I did!” This was the first time he’d ever heard Y/N yell, before kneading her lips tightly together and then continuing more quietly. “But you never heard me. Not really. You heard what I asked, and promised to be there, but when the time came… something more important always came up. Something that always deserved to have the promise you gave me to be broken.” Y/N gave him a sad smile. “Do you remember when you first asked me out? And I said no?”

           Harry nodded. “You said that we just got one another back and didn’t want to have anything rip us apart again. Didn’t even want to chance it.”

           “And you said it was exactly why I should give us a chance. That we’d finally found one another again and shouldn’t let the opportunity go…” She tilted her head. “Guess we should’ve listened to me. I included.”

           He couldn’t believe her. “Is that really your takeaway here? You were right?”

           “But I was.” Y/N shrugged. “Look at where we are now. You forgot me for basically ten years.” She shrugged, stepping away. “Give it some time, and you’ll forget me for the rest of your life. Besides, we’ve not known one another longer than we have. So, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

           “Why did you then? Go out with me?” Harry swallowed the lump in his throat. “Get married to me?”

           For a moment Y/N just looked at him, Y/E/C eyes boring into his green ones. “Because I’d once again convinced myself I was important to you, just like I did when we were teens. And in my head, I had dreamt up that maybe I’d be important enough for you not to forget me.”

***

The third time did the charm though.

           They were both sleepy, under the covers of Harry’s bed, eyes barely keeping open as they were determined to finish Elf.

           Y/N had her cheek pressed against his chest, bare body next to his naked one. She hated sleeping in pyjamas (unless they were staying over at one of their parent’s places,) because she said it made her feel like the clothes were suffocating her. Harry didn’t like sleeping with pyjamas because all he wanted was to fully feel the skin of his lover next to his. 

           Snow fell behind the large windows of his London penthouse apartment, covering the city in a white blanket. It rarely snowed there, so he watched with warmth in his heart as the flakes fluttered to the ground.

           It was all so calm, so serene, that Harry realised that’d been the moment he’d been waiting for. No need for fancy dinners or present it as a loud gift. Being together was a gift enough.

           “Lovie?” he asked, nose hidden in her hair. “You awake?”

           All he received in answer was a small hum. She was on the verge of passing out, but this was the moment, so, he whispered the question, voice so low as if he was asking the dark to marry him not Y/N.

           He couldn’t look at her, afraid of what she might say, afraid she might say no, think back to the times he wasn’t there for her, think of all the reasons why he wasn’t good enough for her, and would only bring her sorrow. 

           “Lover.” Her voice was as soft as a summer’s morning. “Look at me. Please.”

           It was one of the most frightening things in his life, as he did so. 

           Y/E/C eyes met green. What he saw on her face allowed his heart to calm down a little.

           “Is the Sun the closest star to us?”

           That he hadn’t expected. “What?”

           “Does it rise in the East and set in the West?”

           “Y-yes?”

           Her hand cupped his cheek, and he melted against her. “Then why are you asking me a question you know the answer will be the same as to those?”

           “Can I put the ring on your finger then?” He was more excited than about anything in his life.

           Y/N shook her head, bringing his lips to brush against hers. “Don’t need a ring. Just need you to kiss me.”

***

           The wedding was far away from the city so that no one from the press could even think about following her or her entourage. The guest list was small, compared to the three hundred people Harry’s and her wedding had had.

           Anne had told him not to go. He wasn’t invited, and neither was she or Gemma, for obvious reasons. As much as Y/N loved them, she knew it’d hurt the two women, but it would hurt Harry more. So seeing her stepping out of the car, dressed in a cream wedding gown, a veil covering her face, made flashbacks appear behind Harry’s eyelids.

           She’d worn an off-white gown before as well, dusty rose to be exact. And Harry’s bow tie had matched it. Y/N had never liked the thought of wearing white at her wedding. 

           “Listen, if it’s white, I’ll most definitely spill something on it,” she’d told him as both of them had been flipping through some wedding magazines. “You know me. But if it’s some other colour, there’s a bigger chance no one will notice when that happens.”

           It didn’t seem right to him. It was like a bad fever-dream like he’d had that one time, and Y/N had had to listen to him babble about the hallucinations dancing in front of him because of the high temperature.

           Her gaze remained on the ground, or maybe on the bucket of white roses in her hands. She hated white roses.

           A woman in a pale blue dress straightened out the back of Y/N’s dress and the train of it, and he watched as her mother came to stand beside her daughter, giving her an elbow to grasp onto.

           All he wanted was for Y/N to be happy, and it hurt to think it wasn’t with him because Harry believed it was supposed to be him. 

           He took in a shaky breath and got out of the car just as Y/N had walked up the steps and disappeared behind the double doors.

           It was going to be him.

***

Harry knew he wasn’t the best husband in the world. He was away for a lot of time, and as conceited of an excuse it was, his job did entail going out to parties, mingling with other people living the high life, and being seen with certain celebs.

           Y/N was never one for it. She always supported Harry, but she didn’t like going out and spending time with people who didn’t care for her existence. Well, maybe they did, but only in a sense that she’d been the lucky bitch who’d snagged up the Harry Styles.

           But if there was something Harry did was love, and he loved wholeheartedly, which is why it absolutely destroyed him when he’d gotten back home one evening and heard Y/N crying in their bathroom.

           She’d never tell him, but it was because no longer did his pillow smell like him. Harry had been away for so long, that the essence of him that’d soaked into their sheets was no longer there. And it broke her to pieces.

           When he’d get home, he’d be so tired, he’d crash on the couch, only tiptoeing his way into their shared room to go to his closet and get some clean clothes in the morning. He’d look over at his sleeping wife and allow a blissful smile to bloom on his face at the sight.

           He was so lucky to have Y/N back in his life. He was so lucky she’d accepted him and fallen for him as he’d fallen for her. He’d silently move over and press a kiss to her temple, before going back down and off to work once more. Only he wouldn’t see the dried tears on her cheeks.

           So, when he’d found her curled up in the tub, hands in her hair, face hidden by her knees, frame trembling like leaves in a storm, he instantly dropped to his knees, ignoring the sharp pain shooting through his bones, as he pulled Y/N into him.

           “I can’t, Harry,” she choked out, shaking her head. He knew it was bad. She never called him by his name. “I can’t do this. I’m so alone. Even when you’re here, I’m alone.”

           Harry had had his heart broken before, and always he wondered afterwards if someone took it out of his chest at that moment, what kind of a sound would it make. Or maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe it’d be as silent as the tears running down his face at Y/N’s confession.      

           “Maybe,” he swallowed harshly trying to keep his whole body from shaking, from showing the fear her statement instilled in him. “Maybe we need couple’s therapy.”

           “What?” her eyebrows had shot up to the middle of the forehead.

           “Y/N, we’re clearly having problems. I – I know I need to work on things, but you’re also not telling me how you’re feeling. Maybe we just need some help.”

           She didn’t really know what to respond. In her mind, Y/N had somehow conjured up an image that if she ever got married, they’d be happy. Sure, they’d fight and have rows, but they’d always be able to work things out on their own. Not once in her life, did she ever think she’d need to go and see a marriage counsellor to help her save her marriage.

           Her own parents much like Harry’s had gotten divorced. Hers had tried therapy. It’d been their last resort. It didn't work. So, when he’d mentioned it to her, that’s what made her decide it was truly over. 

           Y/N nodded, bringing him in for a hug, and felt his body melt into hers with relief.

She’d try, for Harry, but her mind was already made up.

***

           So he stood outside the doors, listening for the line of ‘if there is anyone who opposes this union speak up now, or forever hold your peace’. His hand grasped the handle, ready to push, but… he couldn’t. He’d ruined her happy ever after once before. He couldn’t do that again to her.

           Tears streamed down his face as he pocketed his hands and ventured away from the ceremony. The ceremony where the love of his life was promising to cherish someone else, to fight through thick and thin with someone else, to make someone else happy, while her own happiness suffered.

           Harry sat in his car, waiting for her to exit, a smile on her face as she’d hold the hand of who now was her husband. That'd be the moment he'd let go of her. But when the doors sprung open, she was alone, hands clutching onto the front of her dress, as she rushed down the steps and back inside the car she’d arrived in.

           For a second he sat in his vehicle, stunned beyond belief at what had happened, at what, as horrible as it sounded, he hoped had happened. When a man, hand in his hair ran outside as well, the same woman in the pale blue dress rushing out with him, Harry knew.

           He was basically a madman on the road, breaking almost every possible law as he tried to catch up to the car Y/N had jumped in. 

           His mind raced with the possibilities of where she could’ve gone. The airport, her family’s summer house in Winchester, honestly anywhere in the world, but Harry shut up his mind, and allowed his heart to make the decision.

           It didn’t seem like Y/N had premeditated fleeing from her wedding, which meant she’d need her stuff. And that meant going to her apartment as quickly as possible before someone came to look for her.

           The way he parked was probably illegal leaving the car basically in the middle of the road, but Harry didn’t care much as he frantically rushed up the steps of her apartment complex. He was scared that if he knocked, she wouldn’t open, thinking it might be someone from the wedding, but he didn’t need to be afraid of it, as he saw Y/N, her hair still styled as it had been for the ceremony, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, a suitcase in hand exiting from the flat.

           “Why didn’t you do it?” he breathlessly asked, startling her and making her drop the keys.

           Y/N’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? What are you doing here?”

           Harry stepped closer, hand cupping her cheek, insides trembling from all of the emotions coursing through his body. “Why didn’t you do it? Marry him? Why didn’t you say yes?”

           “I – “ Y/N choked on her words. “I couldn’t say yes. It didn’t feel right.”

           “Why?”

           “Because it wasn’t you, I was saying yes to.”

           That was all Harry needed to kiss her like he'd done once before. And this time, he wasn’t going to let her go. He’d made that mistake twice. He would never repeat it again.

           “I love you,” he cried through a laugh. “I love you. I love you. I love you. And I’m never letting you slip through my fingers ever again.”

           “How can you even think about loving me again after what I did to us?” she asked, pulling away from his lips.

           Harry chuckled, shaking his head. “You’re talking like I ever stopped. Through thick and thin. It’s what we promised. Think and thin, my Lovie."

***

           A sixteen-year-old Harry and a fifteen-year-old Y/N laid outside in the grass of Harry’s garden; eyes trained onto the dark night starlit sky above. It was the day before his life changed forever as did hers.

           “Do you believe in soulmates?” Harry asked, trying to catch a glimpse of a shooting star.

           Y/N scrunched up her nose. “No. I don’t think I do. And I don’t think I want one.”

           “Why not?”

           “What if they’re old and in their thirties? Or dead?”

           Harry snorted at her response.

           “And you?” Y/N turned her head to look at him. “Do you believe in soulmates?

           He bit his lip and nodded. “I think I do. I think it’s two people who’ve been brought together, and no matter what happens will find their way to one another. Through thick and thin.”

"And what if one of them breaks the other's heart?"

"That's the thin." He looked at her. "And you don't give up then. It's when you need to love them even more."

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take):

Everything tags: @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @magicwithaknife @ollyoxenfrees @bnhvrdy @tvwhoresblog @celebsimagines @thatkindofgurl​ @sj-thefan​ @teenwolflover28 @lestersglitterglue​ @im-squished​

Harry Styles tags: @sarcasticallywitty15​ @breezykpop​ @girlboss99​ @harrystylesdoesntknowiexist​ @alliyjane​ @sirtommyholland​

A/N: Happy 2021 everyone! Hopefully things are better this year, and everyone stays safe and sound.

P.S. my tags are always open :)

P.S.S. please don’t repost my fics on other platforms without specific written permission. Reblogs are a okay :)

#Harry Styles #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x fem!reader #harry styles x reader smut #harry styles angst #harry styles and you #harry styles and reader #harry styles and y/n #reader insert #harry styles reader insert #harry styles fluff #harry styles smut #one direction #one direction imagine #1d #1d fan fiction #harry styles fandom #harry styles fan fiction

[anagentinwriting]

Lifeline - Part 5

Summary: (First Responders!AU) Moving to Los Angeles and living with your brother, Thor, was never part of your plan nor was being a 9-1-1 dispatcher, but plans change when you are faced with your own emergencies. In your case, it was leaving behind a relationship that wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. Will this be the fresh start you were hoping for or will your past find a way to catch up with you?

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Odinson!Sister Reader

Word Count: 4500+

Warnings: Language, drinking, angst, fluff

Lifeline Masterlist / Main Masterlist

After a week of taking call after call, it was nice to get together with the girls. It wasn’t going to be a late-night, but after last weeks rough call, you just wanted to get out of your head and blow off some steam with Nat and Carol at Happy’s Hydrant. 

The Hydrant was the place to be tonight. You couldn't remember it ever being this busy, but it was a Friday night. There were always women hoping to get with a man in uniform and men hoping to get lucky with a badass woman first responder. For some, it worked like a charm, but for others, while they had to work a little harder to get some action. 

You leaned against your pool cue, watching Nat lineup her stick to the corner pocket with Carol observing from the side, sipping on her beer. Nat took the shot but missed the pocket, forcing a smirk across your lips. Nat stood up straight, rolling her eyes at you.

“Can’t win them all,” you teased, eyeing the table to find your next shot. 

Billards was your bar game. When you were attending New York University, you worked at a bar and hustled to make a few extra bucks. Guys would often undermine you at first, but you weren’t afraid to show them what you could do.  

“Hey, sweet thing, you like playing pool,” a guy said behind you as you leaned over to take a shot. 

“It seems that way, doesn’t it,” you replied, rolling your eyes. He placed a hand on your lower back, making you tense up and let out a sharp breath. You stood up straight and turned around to face him. He was standing closer to you than you expected, and you could smell the overconsumption of alcohol on his breath.

“I’ll bring the balls if you bring your rack.” He bit his lip, his eyes drifting to your chest.

“You sure you have the balls to handle me because that line was fucking terrible.”

“Do you want to find out?”

“No.”

“Come on, girl.” He stepped even closer to you, making the back of your thighs hit the pool table. He placed his hands on your hips, and you froze in place. Your heart pounded, feeling every nerve in your body firing, telling you to run, but your mind filled with fear. You squeezed your eyes shut, trying to get away from those thoughts, but deep down, you knew one wrong move or smartass remark would make things worse.

“Can you...Can you please get your hands off of me,” you gulped, letting out a shaky breath.

“What’s that sweetheart?”

“Get your hands off of her asshole. She’s not interested,” Nat's voice hit your ears, and you felt the weight in front of you disappear.

“Yeah, take a walk prick,” Carol shouted beside you. You opened your eyes to see the asshole retreating away, letting out a relieved breath. “How you holding up, girl?”

You shrugged. “I’ll be fine. Sorry, I kind of froze up there.”

“Don’t apologize, dude was an asshole. You’re still trying to find yourself and get your confidence back,” Carol replied, patting you on the shoulder. “You’ll find it, and when you do, we’ll be right there with you.” You nodded, crossing your arms across your chest. “If you’re interested, Val teaches a self-defense class, well it’s more of a boxing class at Jabari Tribe Training Center. We could even go with you,” Carol offered, earning a nod from Nat. 

“I’ll think about it.” You shrugged, staring at the floor.

“You know what, girls, this calls for shots,” Nat commented. “I’ll be back.” She disappeared to the bar, being greeted by a few guys offering to buy her the shots.

“Hey, YN.” You peeked up at Carol before your eyes drifted back to the floor. “Promise me you won’t let that asshole ruin your night.”

“I promise.”

“Good. And not all guys are like him; some are just drunk assholes who think just because they wear a uniform, every woman wants to sleep with them when really they aren’t interested,” She sighed, staring at you. “How about we start another game then?”

“Um...yeah, let’s do it.”

______

“YN, why can’t you let me win for once?” Carol whined, leaning against her pool cue.

“Practice more, and then maybe you'll have a chance,” you smirked, feeling better after a couple of shots and another beer later.

You lined up to sink the number 8 ball in the corner pocket when someone out of the corner of your eye caught your attention. You gulped, turning your head in their direction to find Fireman Rogers. “You’re sort of ruining my concentration with your staring.”

“Didn’t know I had that effect on you.”

You scoffed, taking the shot and missing the pocket. “That’s on you.” You didn’t miss the slight nod from him and the ever-growing grin appearing on Carol’s face, watching the two of you interact.

“Ouch!” He held a hand over his heart, smirking at you.

You watched Carol sink one of her three remaining stripes into the pocket but failed to get the other two in. You nodded to yourself, setting yourself up to get the number 8 ball in the same corner pocket. Shooting a quick glare towards Steve, he held up his hands, trying to hide his smile by taking a sip of his beer. You hit the white ball, sending it right towards the number 8 ball, sinking it into the corner pocket.

“Well...that’s game. Rogers, you’re up. Time for you to take on the champ.” Carol walked over to him, forcing the pool cue to his chest until he grabbed it, and she shot you a quick wink over her shoulder before disappearing into the crowd.

“Smooth,” you whispered under your breath.

“What was that?” Steve questioned, leaning a little closer to you.

“Bring it, Rogers.”

_______

With one last hit, the number 8 ball sunk into the center pocket. “And with that, the champ remains the champ. Good game though, you weren’t...bad.”

“Not bad, huh? Maybe you caught me on an off day.”

“Will save the rematch for another day then.” You put the pool cue back on the wall and went to your usual table, taking a seat on one of the high stools. You take a sip of your beer, noticing Steve taking the chair across from you.

“How did you get so good at pool?”

“I worked at a bar in college and got really good at it. Even hustled a few people to get some extra cash.”

“Did they deserve it?” He asked with a chuckle. 

“Of course,” you smirked, taking a sip of your drink. Your eyes traveled around the bar, spotting your brother with a group of ladies. It still baffled you how he could finagle himself into any group, whether it was to make friends or take someone home. In this incident, it looked to be taking someone home. Thor wrapped his arm around one of the ladies and headed out the door.  “Well, I’m in no rush to get home now.”

“Why is that?”

“My brother just walked out the door with his latest conquest.” His eyes traveled to the door. “Now in the morning, I will have to make small talk with her, and poor Darryl is gonna have to hear them…” you shake your head, not finishing the sentence. “Good thing I got him noise-canceling headphones.”

“Good thing.”

“How are you liking the 107 so far?”

“It’s...” Steve started only to be interrupted by Sam.

“Okay, so Thor just left with the woman I was hitting on all night. Can’t your brother give another brother a chance,” Sam added, taking a swig of his beer. 

“That’s my brother for…”

“Steve, I heard you just got your ass handed to you in pool. Way to go, girl.” Bucky held up his hand, and you high-fived him. “Steve’s good. He always kicks my ass.”

“Well, that’s because you suck at it,” Sam added.

“Well, at least I can get a woman to go home with me.”

“That’s cold.”

“You can’t get every woman to go with you,” Nat added, taking the stool next to yours.

“Wanna bet.” Bucky licked his lips, earning a scoff from Nat. “Listen here, everyone. I am about to share Mr. Barnes Fling Tips 401. That’s right, this is senior college level, no freshman 101.” He takes a drink of his beer. “First: Get the lovely woman’s attention; catch her eye at the bar, smile at her, send her a drink, whatever you need to do to get her to notice you. Number two: once she notices you, disappear for a little while to see if she looks for you. Then, when she least expects it, go over to her and introduce yourself. Then, this is where the real flirting happens; smirk at her, put a hand on her thigh, bite your lip, any of the telltale signs you’re interested. Then finally, she will take your hand, and that’s when you take her home. We both have meaningless sex and then move on. We both get exactly what we wanted.”

“You’re terrible.” Nat rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest.

“Says the female version of me,” he smirked.

“You wish, because then maybe, just maybe, I would give you the time of day and sleep with you. But, you’re not worth it. I don’t think I could ever sink low enough to sleep with you.”

“Ouch, doll, ouch.” He held his hand over his heart, feigning hurt in his eyes.

“I would feel bad, but we both know you don’t have a heart when it comes to women.”

“One right after another. You’re on fire, Red.”

“I don’t have time for this. Come on, YN, let's go get another drink.” Nat grabbed your hand and pulled you to the bar with her.  

“Is it just me, or was that a whole lotta sexual tension right there?” Sam asked Steve as soon as Bucky stormed off.

“I would say so,” Steve nodded in agreement.

________

You classified yourself as a people watcher, and you always found it interesting to watch people interact with one another. You'd often see the people looking to hookup. A bachelorette party with an overly flirty bride to be who may or may not make a mistake tonight. Those people who came out to drink for fun; those that drink because they have a problem; the new parents that needed to get out of the house, or the couple still getting to know one another. You never met any of these people in your life, but you couldn’t help but create their life story. 

It was like the couple sitting close together in the booth to your right. They were falling for each, whether they planned it or not. It was easy to tell with the way they looked at each other. You felt that way once, too. The feeling that you and him were the only two in a crowded room. You thought it was love, but looking back, maybe it was something different. Something toxic, like a poisonous gas entering the air without you knowing, and sooner or later, you're gasping, trying to find the last bit of oxygen. But, it’s no use because you’re trapped, and every breath you take only makes you weaker and unable to move, and eventually, it ends up taking everything from you. 

“Hi, again.” Steve takes a seat on the stool next to you at the bar, pulling you out of your head. “Everyone keeps leaving me, and I didn’t want to look like that loser in the bar sitting by himself.”

“So you came over to join me? Who was sitting by herself looking like a loser?”

“Yeah, but now we can be losers together,” he chuckled, making you smirk. 

“Speak for yourself,” you chuckled, picking at the label on the beer bottle.“You and Bucky became fast friends.”

“Yeah, well, we have known each other since we were kids.”

“Wait, you grew up here?” You turned your heads towards him, narrowing your eyes at him.

“No in Brooklyn. Brooklyn, New York.”

“Get out--” you hit him on the arm “--I used to live in Brooklyn.” 

“Really? Small world,” he smiled, leaning in a little closer to you to hear you better over the music playing on the jukebox. “What made you move out here?” 

“Story for another time,” you pointed the tip of your beer bottle at him. 

He nodded, “So why a 9-1-1 dispatcher?”

“You’re full of questions, aren’t you, Steve?” 

He shrugged with a small chuckle. “A few.”

“Did you get dragged out tonight, too?” You asked, taking a sip of your beer.

“What makes you think that?”

“Think it was so our friends could get a little action.” Your eyes traveled around the bar to see Bucky leaving with a redhead, and Nat had her hand on a guy's bicep with a flirty expression on her face. You had no idea where Carol went, and Sam must’ve left after realizing his luck ran out. Poor guy.

“So it would seem,” he smirked, glancing around the room. 

You felt your phone vibrate, and you glanced down, seeing a message from Nat. 

Nat: Heading out! Hope you can find a way home ;)

YN: Yeah, it’s called an Uber

Nat: (rolling eyes emoji)

“And with that, my ride just left.” You locked your phone, sliding it back into your pocket.

“Yeah, my ride left about five minutes ago.” Steve sighed, staring at his beer bottle. “What do you say about getting out of here?” 

You glanced at him underneath your eyelashes. “I hope you know you're not getting in my pants.” 

“Oh, I know, I didn’t mean it like that, but maybe another time,” he winked, forcing you to crack a smile. 

“Smooth, Rogers. Smooth,” you commented. “And here I thought you were a goody-to-shoes.”

“Most people do, but I am far from it.”

“I am seeing that now,” you chuckled, swallowing the little bit left in your drink. He nodded, glancing around the bar. “Are you ready?”

“For what?” 

“To get out of here?”

“I didn’t mean…” His head snapped to you with raised eyebrows.

“I know, another time,” you teased, seeing the corner of his mouth turn up. “Are you coming because your half-full beer says otherwise?”

He looked at it, then back over at you. Something in his blue eyes shifted from playful to curious in a matter of seconds. “Let's blow this popsicle stand,” Steve smirked, downing the rest of his drink. 

“Easy there, don’t want to have to carry you out of here,” you commented as he reached behind him and slipped on his jacket. 

“Haha.”

You felt the chill in the air as soon as you walked out the front door of the bar. It felt like fall was just around the corner, and it only brought goosebumps to your skin.  

“How far is home?” Steve asked.

“About thirty blocks north, but you don’t have to walk with me. I just figured you didn’t want to look like a loser sitting at the bar by yourself.”

“Thanks, I appreciate your concern, but I don’t mind. I have nothing waiting for me at home, and this way, you have some company.”

“Or do you just not want me to get mugged or something?”

“Maybe that too,” he chuckled, slipping his hands into his jacket pockets. “So you live with your brother? Why don’t you have your own place?” 

“I’ve been looking, and I did find one I love. The only problem is I don’t know what to say to Thor.”

“I’m sure he’ll understand.” He added. “It will probably be hard for him at first, but it’s always hard to start over,” Steve mumbled like he knew from his own experience. 

“Yeah, but you haven’t experienced softie Thor.”

“Softie Thor?”

“Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but he still sleeps with his baby blanket. He calls it Mjolnir, and it has all kinds of different hammers and tools on it. He says he doesn’t have it anymore, but the last time I saw it, it was hiding under his pillow.”

“Really?” he smiled, shaking his head. “The big guy. Yay, tall--” he gestured with his hand “--blonde hair, god-like deep voice girls fall for, and he still sleeps with a blankety?” You nodded. “Yeah, I can say I have never seen that side of him.” He chuckled, shaking his head.

You rubbed your upper arms, hoping to keep the chill at bay but having little to no success. You always seemed to forget to grab a jacket before going out. “Why did you transfer to LA from Brooklyn?”

“Now, look who is full of questions?”

“Call me curious.” You shrugged, catching his eye before his return back to the ground.

“Fine, but then you have to answer one of my questions.” You nodded. “Okay, well, I transferred because I needed a new start after some bad stuff went down.”

“Why, what happened?”

“Trying to pull a fast one on me. I like it, but my turn.” You let out an annoyed sigh. “What did you do when you lived in Brooklyn?”

“Fair question." You nodded. "I was an ER nurse. It was both stressful and satisfying at the same time. On the one hand, I didn’t know what was going to come through the doors, but on the other hand, bringing someone back on the brink of dying gave me a rush. I can’t even explain the feeling; I loved my job.”

“Then, why leave?”

“I needed a fresh start.” You glanced over at him, and he nodded, biting his lip. “Looks like we left for the same reason.” 

“Maybe this is fate's way of telling us we both deserve a second chance.” 

“If you believe in that sort of thing,” You shivered, running your hands over your arms to get them to warm up. 

“Here.” Steve started pulling off his worn-out brown leather jacket and offering it to you.

“No, you keep it. I don’t want you to get cold.”

“Don’t worry about me? I’m like a body heater.”

“Fine, but if you get cold, you better tell me.” You slipped it on, feeling the warmth envelop you. His scent on his jacket made your insides twist. You pulled it tight around you, feeling your body warm up in an instant. 

“I will,” he smiled, putting his hands in his pants pockets, shrugging.

You walked in silence for a block or so when you stopped at the crosswalk, waiting for the walking figure to appear. “What was it like growing up in Brooklyn with Bucky?”

He chuckled. “Well, it’s a funny story actually because it all started in grade school.” He glanced at you as if asking if he wanted to hear it. “I was drawing on the playground one day at recess. And at the time, I was a sickly little kid, and my mom told me I couldn’t play sports because I had a lot of health problems when I was younger before I became this.” He gestured to himself, making you roll your eyes. “Anyways, I was drawing, and these bullies came over and stood in my light and poured water over my notebook…”

“Those assholes.”

“Yeah, right,” he chuckled, scratching the back of his head. The crosswalk person appeared, and they started walking again. “I was never one to back down from a fight, so I stood up to him. He pushed me, and I fell, but I got back up and tried to push him, but ended up getting pushed down again, this time landing in a mud puddle. Then, Bucky came over, and straight-up punched this dude in the face. I think we were six at the time.”

“Oh my god, are you kidding?” Your mouth dropped over, and you covered it with your hand.

“Wish I was. Bucky told him to pick on someone his own size and sent him crying. After that, we became pretty good friends.”

“Do you still have the never run from a fight mentality?” You eyed him over and noticed him keeping a close eye on you.

“Yeah, I just don’t like bullies.” He shrugged as comfortable silence fell between the two of you once again. “You said you needed a fresh start. What were you running from?” You stared hard at the ground, biting your lip, not sure if you wanted to lay it all out for him. “Question for another time. How about a counter-question,” he hummed, thinking it over as you watched him mull over what to ask next. “How was it growing up with Thor?”

“Thor and I were never close growing up, which is crazy considering I live with him now. He was my older brother, he had his friends he always hung out with, and I was the younger sister. What older sibling wants to hang out with their younger sibling unless their parents ask them to? We got along, but I grew up being close with our adopted brother Loki. When Thor graduated from high school, he tried college but found it wasn’t for him, and then one day decided to move to LA and become a firefighter. After he moved, I didn’t talk to him much. Loki and I stayed in Brooklyn, I got my nursing degree, and he went into Broadway production. We were a scattered out set of siblings, living on two different coasts.”

“If you and Thor were never close, why move here and live with him?”

“I knew he would help me find myself again.” 

“What do you mean by that?”

“Thor was the brother that wasn’t afraid to make a fool of himself to get me to laugh or feel better. He could get things off my mind when I needed to, plus he’s easy to talk to. Loki’s more of the conservative brother that has a plan and can be a diva at times. I love them both, but I knew starting here would be the fresh start I needed.” You shrugged in his jacket. “I think you owe me at least three extra questions.” 

“Depends what you qualify as a question.”

“Oh, is that how it’s gonna be, wise guy.” You pushed him on the arm. “My turn to ask, let’s see, hmmm.” You tapped your chin with your finger. “How did you and my brother bond so fast?”

“I don’t know. It’s what you have to do in this job, trust your team. Besides, like you said, your brother is easy to get along with after you get past his ego.”

“He does have a big ego,” you nodded with a chuckle.

“What’s the hardest part about being a 911 dispatcher?”

“Really? Already asking a question. I think you still owe me a couple, but I’ll oblige.” You took in a deep breath and let it out, thinking it over. “When the caller hangs up, and you never know what the outcome is. Like, am I making a difference, am I helping? Being a nurse, I knew the outcome because I was there for everything, but here, all you can do is send help. I could look at the records and see what happened, but what if it’s not the outcome I hoped for.” You stared at the ground in front of you. “It’s almost like never finding out an ending to a movie or a book. I want to know what happened, but maybe it’s better left not knowing. After they hang up, sometimes you don’t get time to process it because there is another caller with another emergency.” 

“I get it. Sometimes what we do can be a horror movie. It can give us nightmares if you can’t save someone or can’t get there in time,” Steve’s voice drifted off. “You can play it over in your head to figure out what you could’ve done differently, but sometimes the ending you wanted to happen was never going to happen.” He stared wide-eyed at the ground before glancing your way. There was something different in his eyes, like a nightmare he never quite escaped. “And you’re right, it’s one call after another with little to no recovery time in between.”

“But, then you get those calls where everything goes right, and it makes everything you’re doing worth it.” You shot him a warm smile, earning a nod from him.

“Have to say I agree with that.”

Both of you remained silent for a couple of blocks. These careers were tough to talk about. Everyone called you heroes, but sometimes it was hard to feel like a hero.

“Why did you want to be a fireman?”

“Simple, I like helping people, but like any job, it takes a toll.” He shrugged, glancing at you. “When your adrenaline is pumping, and every nerve in your body is firing. There is pressure put on us, and we never know how things will turn out, but we have to assure those we are trying to save that they are going to be okay. It’s like in a moment's notice we have to drop everything because we are the only help that is coming, and we have to try and save them from what could be the worst moment in their life.”

“It’s almost like you rehearsed that. Did you...did you rehearse that?” You joked, forcing him to crack a smile.

“Shut up, so what if I did.” He nudged your side, making you laugh out loud. It was a real laugh, the kind you haven’t had in a long time. It wasn’t a simple chuckle or a forced giggle, but for the first time in a long time, it sounded happy. Maybe, this is what Bruce was talking about when he told you to talk to someone. Weirdly enough, you did feel lighter, like some of the weight was lifted off your shoulders with this one conversation. 

You came to a stop in front of a cozy little townhouse Thor and Darryl rented. It wasn’t huge. It was a two-bedroom home that an elderly couple raised their little girl, Hope, in. You only met Hank Pym and Janet van Dyne a few times, but they were a lovely couple that decided to rent out that home and retire next to the ocean. 

“This is me.” You waved your hand at the house and started pulling off Steve’s jacket when he stopped you. 

“Hold on to it for me.  I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

“Awful sure of yourself, what makes you think I want to see you again?”

“A guy can hope, can’t he. If it helps, my jacket looks a hell of a lot better on you.” 

“It’s helping,” you breathed a smirk, pulling the jacket around you. “Goodnight, Steve. Thanks for the talk and the walk home.”

“Glad I could help. Have a nice night, YN,” he waved, watching you walk up the steps and use your keys to unlock the door. You opened the door and turned around to find him waiting for you to safely get inside. 

“I want you to know, I am still holding you to answer one question,” you added, opening the door wider.

“Look forward to answering it,” he smiled as you walked in and shut the door behind you.

______

AN: Thanks for reading Part 5! This is probably a chapter you all have been waiting for...more Steve action! Haha! What did you think of the round of twenty questions?! We got a little bit more backstory on her, and a little more about Steve. He left to get a new start, too, any theories as to why?! I mean, I know, but I'm curious where your heads are at! Also, I don't know much about billiards/pool rules, it's basically what I have learned through watching people play it, so if it’s totally off my bad! Again, thanks for reading, reblogs, likes, and comments always welcome!

#steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #Steve Rogers x Female Reader #steve rogers au #marvel #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #marvel au #firefighter!bucky #firefighter!steve #modern au #steve rogers series #captain america #captain america x reader #chris evans #chris evans fanfiction #firefighter au #Avengers #avengers au #avengers fanfiction #first responders au #steve rogers fanfiction

[hopeless-starry-kingdom]

you broke me first | Peter Parker

Summary: You have to remind Peter it was his fault you were broken up

read part 1 and 2 here !

song: you broke me first by Tate McRae 

a/n: happy valentines day!! hope everyone’s day was good and here is the last part of this mini series :))))

Maybe you don't like talking too much about yourself

But you shoulda told me that your were thinking ‘bout someone else

“If you guys are going to make out can you at least do it somewhere else. I’m eating.” MJ put her book back to her eye level as you and Harry pulled away from each other. You blushed and Harry smirked before throwing an arm over your shoulder.

“C’mon, MJ. Don’t be such a cockblock.” You slapped Harry on his arm and he laughed. “If you want I can set you up with one of my friends.”

MJ put her book down and pretended to think about the offer. “A rich daddy’s boy with two functional brain cells, who’s also a fuckboy. I’ll pass” She smiled sarcastically at Harry and he chuckled.

“Have I ever mentioned I like your friends?” You giggled at him and shook your head. MJ flipped him off and you had to bite back your laugh.

“Stop patronizing her.” You tried to be stern but the smirk on Harry’s face paired with MJ lips twitching up didn’t help your case. “Yes madame.”

Or your phones been off for a couple months, so you’re callin’ me now

He leaned down and pressed his lips to yours before turning back to eat his lunch. You smile was big as you stared at him but something caught your attention. From behind him you saw Peter, Gwen, and Ned walking. Gwen had her arm wrapped around Peter’s arm. Ned was talking to Gwen about something and Peter was already staring at you. You gave him a small smile and a head nod before turning back to your small group.

“Hey, did Mr. Harrington ever say when the essay was due?”

“I cant keep going. My brain is fried.” You groaned as you flopped down on MJ’s bed and rested your arms over your eyes to block the light from coming in.

“Yeah, i’m pretty burnt too. You hungry? I can order some pizza.”

“Please?” You begged and sat up as MJ was looking for the number on her phone your phone buzzed with a message. It was Harry.

Can you come over tomorrow? I wanna spend time with you <3

You bit your lip go hide to hide the smile that was threatening to come through. Harry was always so sweet with you. He had a cocky front that he showed everyone else, sometimes with you as well. But you knew deep down he was a teddy bear. Texts like this showed that. And even though Harry explained to you that his father never showed him love, and continues not to, he doesn’t see a reason not to show love.

But I ran out of every reason

“Hey, can you please stop sexting Harry? I’m trying to hang out with you.” A pillow collided with your face and you gasped.

“MJ! I’m not sexting Harry. He wants to know if I can hang out tomorrow. It’s sweet.” You quickly responded back to his text and told him you could.

“You two are disgustingly cute. It makes me sick. And tell him to stop hogging you, I feel like he’s always with you. Does he not know he has to share?” You threw your head back and laughed at her.

“So now i’m an object of sharing? Nice to know.” You laughed and soon MJ was joining in with you.

Took a while, I was in denial when I first heard

That you moved on quicker than I coulda ever, you know that hurt

“I’m happy for you, Y/N. I know the whole thing with Peter had you in a funk..” You looked down at your hands and nodded. You still thought about Peter often. Soley because you had him in some of your classes and you constantly saw him around school. But you never thought of him like you used to. You stopped loving the way his smile reached his eyes and lit up the whole room. You stopped loving his curls. You stopped loving his unconditional kindness.

It was over now, officially. You weren’t hurting anymore and it felt so amazing to say it. The storm had passed and had taken Peter Parker with it. You were happy now with Harry. So extremely happy. You didn’t actually think it was possible but after giving the relationship a chance, you couldn’t believe how happy you were with Harry.

You never wanted to depend your happiness on soley being in a relationship. You were better than that. But you were finding you were happy by yourself and with Harry. It was the best middle ground. You thought you had to depend on Peter or a relationship to be content. And it definitely wasn’t true.

“I’m just glad that it’s all over with. And Peter was an asshole to you.” You both laughed at her statement.

“Yeah, i’m glad it’s over too.” She smiled at you before tapping a button on her phone.

“Hi, I’d like to place an order for delivery.”

Swear, for awhile, I would stare at my phone just to see your name

Gwen Stacy gasped as she read the note that fell out of her locker. It was the fourth one this week. And she couldn’t count how many she got over all. Apparently she was a dirty two-faced snake. She preached girl supporting girls but to everyone else she stole someone’s boyfriend which didn’t exactly sit right with the girls of the school. Gwen didn’t mean for it to happen and she tried explaining it to some of the girls in her art class but they just rolled their eyes at her.

“Another one? Let me see.” Peter grabbed the note and read over it before tearing to to shreds.

“Yes, another one Peter. In fact the fourth one this week. And maybe if i’m lucky i’ll get one tomorrow and see what else the girls have to say about me in the girls restroom. I can’t keep doing this Peter.” Gwen slammed her locker and held her head in her hands.

“Ok, well i’ll go talk to Mr. Harrington. Or even the principal. I’ll tell them that it’s been getting out of hand and—”

“No, Peter. That’s not what I mean. I mean I can’t do this. Us.” Gwen crossed her arms over her chest and refused to look at Peter because she knew if she did she’d melt.

“W-what? Gwen, what do mean?”

“Peter I cant keep living like this! People hate me all because you broke Y/N’s heart. And I can’t blame them either becuase you left her for me, you broke the poor girl. I’d hate me too.”

“They’ll get over it! It’s none of their buisness.” He reached over and tried to grab the girls hands but she instantly pulled away.

“Peter, I really like you. I do. But with college applications coming up and school’s scouting, I can’t risk letting this affect me getting into NYU. I don’t have the time for petty school drama.”

“Gwen, cmon. Please, I really like you too. I can figure something out.” He pleaded. He couldn’t let Gwen go, not after everything that happened with you.

“I’m sorry, Pete. I really am.” She leaned up and kissed his cheek before smiling sadly at him. She turned with her books in her hand and walked away.

Peter groaned and kicked the locker next to him. It created a dent and some people began to whisper and point. He sighed before walking to his first class.

‘Did you hear what happened????’

You furrowed yourself brows at MJ’s text. You quickly looked up and seen your teacher pointing to the board and explaining today’s lesson. You placed your phone in your lap as you typed back a response.

‘Hear what? Did Flash trip and fall into the trash again?’

You looked up again and pretended to take notes and waited for her to text back. Once you felt your phone buzz your eyes nearly bulged out of your head

‘No! Though that would make my day— Gwen broke up with Peter! Some junior over heard it from their locker and started to spread it. That’ll show him!’

You gulped as you put your phone away and stared ahead. Peter no longer had Gwen. Peter no longer had the girl he left you for. She ended it with him. You had a mix of emotions. For one you wanted to rub your relationship in his face. He left you for someone and now they broke up with him.

You couldn’t believe how much it back fired on him. You wanted to laugh in his face and call him a huge idiot. You wouldn’t ever dare think of leaving him. He got his karma.

But you also felt a little sad for him. Gwen broke up with him. You couldn’t imagine how upset and sad he was feeling. But you couldn’t shake the feeling of it being his fault. Becuase maybe it was.

The rest of the week was filled with gossip about Peter being dumped by Gwen. The girls said he deserved it but also thought it didn’t excuse Gwen either. She noticed she still got stared in the hall but the whispers stopped and so did the writing in the restroom. It was a start.

They scoffed at Peter and made sure to give him a dirty look. Peter wasn’t feeling too good either. He couldn’t belive he lost you and Gwen. Ned tried to reasure him that it wasn’t meant to be. All Peter did was smile and nod. And then he saw you smiling and laughing with Harry. Living your best life and he felt jealous and angry. Jealous and angry that you were happy without him. And jealous and angry that Harry was the one to kiss you and give you hugs from behind.

That should be me.

He hated himself for thinking that. He broke up with you. He left you. So why was he thinking about you like he had in the past? It dawned on him for the next few days that letting you go was a mistake. He didn’t actually like Gwen, he liked the idea of her. The popular, girl next door version of Gwen Stacy is what he liked. Sure, Gwen was funny and nice and smart but so were you. And much more in his opinion.

He was an idiot who let you go because he liked the idea of someone. He chose that over loving you.

“The blood drive took way longer than I thought.” You pressed your phone against your ear with your shoulder as you began to enter your locker combination.

“Well saving lives isn’t a two second process miss Y/L/N.” You rolled your eyes at Harry being sarcastic.

“I can’t believe your missing school to attend one of your dads meeting in the Upper East Side.” Harry chuckled and shrugged.

“What can I say? I’m a buisness man too.” Harry’s father glared at him as they walked in the halls of the conference room. He knew that was his way of telling Harry to get off the phone.

“Hey, babe. I have to go, the meetings starting soon. I’ll see you tomorrow. Stay safe.”

“Bye, Harry. See you.” You smiled as you hung up the phone and pocketed your phone. You were excused for two of your class periods and now had to be at your next one as the bell rang. You quickly grabbed the books you needed and slammed the locker shut. You gasped in surprise when you seen who was behind the locker.

“Peter? Um, what are you doing?” You looked around anxiously to see if any other students noticed you and the curly haired boy standing within a few feet of each other. They had.

“H-how are you?”

“I’m good? Do you need something? I have physics next and—”

“Your teacher will kill you if you’re late.” He chuckled as he nervously twiddled his fingers. You didn’t laugh though. “How-How’s being able to drive now? I bet it feels like you have a ton of freedom.”

“Peter, i’m sorry if this sounds rude but what do you want? You’ve made it pretty clear these past few months you don’t want anything to do with me. So what do you need? Is this about you being you-know-who?” You whispered the last part to make sure no one heard. “I promise I won’t tell Harry or anyone else.”

“No! It’s not that it’s... Okay I know this might sound so crazy and insane but please, just hear me out.” He had his puppy dog eyes on and you couldn’t ever resist them. What was a few minutes?

“You have like two minutes before I have to go.” You glanced at your phone for the time.

“Okay, sweet. First off I want to say how sorry I am for the way I treated you, Y/N. It was so shitty and I just tossed you to the side. I will never be able to forgive myself for that but I was hoping... maybe you can?”

You smiled at the boy once you realized what he was doing. He was giving you a formal apology. Though it was long over due you knew you couldn’t hold a grudge against him. You just weren’t that person. And you were finally over Peter. It was all working out.

“Of course, I can forgive you, Peter. Thank you for apologizing. It does mean a lot. Well i’ll see you around?” Peter’s brows furrowed before quickly shaking his head.

“Wait that’s not all.” Your looked at him quizzically and urged him to continue. “I was wondering I-if you’d like to give us, me and you, another try. At dating, of course.” He smiled at you and suddenly you were no longer smiling. You took a step back as you stared at him in disbelief.

How dare he? How dare he break your heart and then come running back to you the moment Gwen breaks up with him. You were his second choice and that hurt. And to top it off, you were with Harry, happily.

“How dare you, Peter Parker?” Peter gulped as he recognized the anger and disappointment in your tone.

“Becuase shit isn’t going your way, you think this is okay?” You voice was now raised and now suddenly everyone in the hall turned to face you two.

“Y/N, please. Just let me explain—”

“Now suddenly you’re asking for me back? Could you tell me where’d you get the nerve?” You spit and Peter didn’t think he’d ever seen you so mad.

“I made a huge mistake. I miss you. I miss us.” He tried pleading but you scoffed

“You can say you miss all that we had but I don’t really care how bad you’re hurting, Peter. Not when you broke me first.”

There were tears in your eyes and your heart was heavy. How could he do this to you? You were over him now and then he comes and pull this stunt. You were also very angry.

“Y/N, please. I—”

“I don’t want to heart it, Parker! Leave me alone! I mean it, Peter. Don’t talk to me anymore, don’t look at me in the halls or in our classes. Don’t even think about me. It’s over Peter. Find your dignity while you’re at it.” You spat and purposely pushed his shoulder roughly with yours.

You tried to ignore the whispers as you started to speed walk to the nearest restroom, your class long forgotten.

You tried to hold in your sob as your thoughts began to eat you alive. But you couldn’t hold back as it pried its way to the surface. You didn’t care about if the floor was dirty as you slid down to hug your knees. All you could think was screw Peter Parker. This wasn’t the Peter you knew. Peter would never publicly humiliate you and turn you into a joke. But he did.

What did you think would happen?

I’ll never let you have it

What did you think would happen?

You had to remind yourself that he in fact did do those things. You were a game to Peter, it seemed. His second choice. And it hurt, you hate to admit that it hurt.

“Y/N.” MJ walked into the bathroom and sighed when she saw you on the floor.

“I-Is the whole sch-school talking ab-about me?” You hiccuped and she placed a hand on your knee and gently rubbed her hand back and forth.

“The only thing they’re saying is how Peter’s a jackass and you don’t deserve that.” You sighed and nodded and tried to brush your tears away.

“I just can’t believe he would d-do this to me. It’s like i’m a jo-joke.” You sniffled and MJ scoffed. “He’s such a dick. Once I get my hands on him—”

“No, MJ. It’s fine. I gave him a piece of my mind already.” You smiled weakly at her and she helped you off the floor. She shook her head with a scowl and then snorted.

“What?”

“Once Harry hears about his little stunt, Peter is done for.”

Your eyes widened as you thought about Harry. He tolerated Peter because of you and once he hears what happened, you have a good idea what he’d do.

“My god, I have to call him. But he’s in a stupid high class professional meeting.” You whipped out your phone and went to his contact. You couldn’t call him but you thought a text should be enough until you see him later.

‘Don’t freak out...Peter asked me out again

BUT!!!! I obviously said no and handled to situation!

So when you come to school tomorrow and hear about the drama pls don’t pummel Peters face in ??? <3’

“Hm. That should hold him off. Let’s skip class and go watch the cheerleaders fall from their pyramid.” You tried to keep a straight face but ended up laughing.

“Yeah, i’m down for that.” MJ smiled at you and started to walk out of the bathroom.

You sighed and thought about if Peter was hurting right now. But then you shook your head.

But I don’t really care how bad it hurts

When you broke me first

He broke you first and now he had to deal with the aftermath, not you.

#peter parker #spiderman #peter parker blurb #peter parker x reader #peter parker x y/n #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker imagine #peter parker x you #harry osborn #spiderman far from home #spider man: homecoming

[winryofresembool]

Things We Lost in the Fire, ch 38

aka Caleo uni au

Fic summary: Calypso starts studying at a new university, but to her annoyance her new flatmate is a loud mouthed mechanic who also likes to sneak his dog in whenever. But as she learns to know him better, she realizes they might have more in common than what she first thought. Eventually, even the darkest secrets come out…

Chapter summary: A new semester is starting

A/N: We are finally done with the holiday chapters! When it comes to this chapter, I'd like to state that I only have some experience from a couple of Finnish universities so I really don't know a whole lot about how certain things work in practice in the States, so please ignore the possible inaccuracies for the sake of this fic. It feels weird after a couple of 'bigger' chapters to have a bit more 'fillery' one... but... but... there's Caleo in the beginning?? So I hope you'll enjoy nevertheless. I wish I could spread even more love towards this ship because they deserve it but sadly there are only so few hours in a day. The fandom seems so quiet these days...

Anyway, enough rambling! Now let's get to this chapter, and the usual reminder: I love to hear what you think! All comments are much appreciated :)

Words: 2500+ 

Genre: romance & hurt/comfort

Warnings: none

previous chapter / AO3

...

”Is something the matter? You look quite unhappy.”

Leo felt arms sneak around his shoulders from behind while he was sitting on the common area sofa, staring at his laptop with a frown. Some of the speaker’s reddish brown hair fell in front of his face, the smell of cinnamon drifting into his nose, and for some reason that alone was enough to relieve some of Leo’s uneasiness. The small, pale hands found their way down his biceps and stopped there, but he wasn’t going to complain. If he was honest, he was really happy about Calypso’s growing confidence when it came to the physical affection, because it told him she really trusted him. Sometimes he was still amazed that he out of all the people had managed to break the ice around her.

Before Leo let himself get too lovestruck, though, he reminded himself why he was staring at his laptop in the first place. The new semester was starting and that naturally meant new courses, new assignments, new texts to read and… new emails from his professors. One specific email had managed to twist his stomach quite badly. In it, the professor from his chemistry lab class had asked him for a meeting, and Leo assumed he wanted to discuss what had happened on the exam day. Wishing that he could just ignore that said message, he turned his attention back to his girlfriend.

“Just uni issues… nothing more severe this time,” Leo replied half jokingly. The holidays had given him some perspective on what really was important to him and failing a class didn’t feel quite as big an issue anymore. It was inconvenient, yes, on a few levels, but not entirely unfixable.

“Oh?” Calypso finally let her hands slide off of him and sat down next to him. She seemed a bit relieved that this was about the university and not something that was out of her reach, and if Leo was honest, he couldn’t blame her. “What kind of issues?”

“A professor wants to meet me face to face tomorrow. Probably to talk about my recent chemistry lab test or something like that.” He shrugged nonchalantly.

“Hmm… Isn’t it quite unusual for them to give special focus to a single student at this stage?” Calypso asked.

“Apparently they still do that in my department. Who knows, maybe they think I’ve caused them enough trouble by now and want me to quit.”

“But what happened in your lab test was not your fault. Do you think you are any closer to being able to finish it in case you get another chance?”

When Calypso was looking at him with those almost chocolate brown eyes, he felt that it wasn’t impossible.

“Some smart person once said that I need to believe in myself more, so that’s what I need to learn to do. After that… it might be possible.”

“I’m glad you’re listening to me at least sometimes.” Calypso gave him a lopsided smile. “The fact that you know what you should do means that you’re already on your way there.”

“Yeah. I guess so.” Wanting to talk about something else, Leo asked: “Well, what about you? How are you feeling about the upcoming semester?”

“I’m feeling… pretty good about it, you know? Sure, I’ve been reading our course plans and it sounds like our professors are planning to make us work like every day is an exam day and we have some group assignments and important presentations coming up, but… I really like learning? And I like listening to the conversations between our professors and my fellow students during our lectures because it’s something I never got to do when I was stuck at home… I feel like I get new points of views from them all the time. And Annabeth is a really big help; she knows everything about everything so if I ever feel like I can’t follow the lectures, she can always clarify them to me.”

“I have a hard time imagining you not being able to keep up with the professors… but yeah, it’s good you can ask for her help if needed.”

Calypso nodded.

“You know, I’m glad you two got your issues sorted out in the fall,” Leo added as an afterthought.

Calypso looked up at him with a slight frown as if she had completely forgotten about what exactly had happened in the fall. “Oh, right, that. I feel like it was just one big misunderstanding. Both of us realized that we can’t get stuck on something that happened so long ago.”

Leo couldn’t deny that he had also felt a bit jealous of Percy when he had first found out about his and Calypso’s past, but she had clearly moved on, so he wasn’t holding a grudge anymore either. Calypso had decided to date him, and that’s what mattered.

“Yeah, I know from my personal experiences that ain’t worth it,” he replied.

Calypso leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“I have a… maybe a bit weird question. Do you believe in some kind of greater power? You know, like gods?”

Leo wondered why she would ask that. “I dunno. Maybe. I’m not really strongly for or against that. I think I’m the kind of person who needs to see it to believe it, but I don’t think it’s impossible. But why do you ask?”

“This will sound extremely cheesy but sometimes I wonder… if there was a reason why we two met. Like some greater power that pushed us together for some reason.”

“Wow. I don’t know if any greater powers had their fingers in that but I am glad that it happened.” Leo threw his arm around her shoulder and wondered briefly why it felt like such a natural thing to do. At one point he had been too intimidated to initiate any kind of physical contact but now that they were more open with each other and she had seen him in some of his worse moments – he didn’t mind anymore.

“Yeah. Me too.” Calypso whispered.

Only the buzzing of the fridge and some other kitchen machinery could be heard on the background while the flatmates were simply enjoying each other’s company, resting their heads against each other, but eventually Calypso suggested:

“Hey... I think I need something that will allow me to disconnect a bit, so… how about some Friends?”

Leo didn’t have anything against that suggestion. In fact, he always enjoyed the TV show or movie nights with Calypso, for various reasons. “Sure. That sounds great to me. You know I’m always ready to roast my homeboy Chandler.”

“I know you are.” Calypso nudged him and took the remote control to find the right episode. As they started watching and commenting on it (he always enjoyed how snarky Calypso’s comments could be), Leo almost forgot about the upcoming meeting with the professor.

…

The next day, Leo found himself in the building where the office of his lab professor was located. At the breakfast table he had practiced the meeting with Calypso, and Jason had also joined him a bit later to wish him luck. To Leo’s relief, he did seem a lot happier than when he had seen him before the holiday break, but he still didn’t talk a whole lot about his current situation. Leo himself decided that it was better if he didn’t guide his friends too much so instead he did a quick recap on the recent developments in his own life – without mentioning his new relationship status. Luckily Jason didn’t ask, as he seemed to be more worried about Leo’s upcoming meeting.

As he was waiting for the professor to arrive, Leo kept glancing at his clock nervously. The man was already a few minutes late. While Leo knew that wasn’t anything unusual in the university world, as the professors tended to be busy, he still kept wishing he could get the meeting over with as soon as possible. His leg started bouncing again on its own and his fingers were tapping against the wooden handle of the chair. Suddenly he didn’t feel quite as sure about what he was going to tell the professor as he had felt earlier.

Finally, he was pulled from his thoughts by a loud ‘ahem’.

“Mr. Valdez? Sorry I’m late, my meeting with a couple of coworkers got a bit long,” the professor said.

“That’s… that’s fine,” Leo stuttered. Some months ago he would probably have said something snarky as a response but right now he knew better than to take any risks.

“Go in, go in, so we can have a talk,” the professor encouraged. Unwillingly, Leo followed him into his office and had to be told to sit down before he even realized that there was a comfortable looking arm chair right next to him.

“So…” the professor started once he was seated behind his desk. “You probably know why I invited you here.”

“I… I do have an idea…” Leo said hesitantly, looking everywhere in the room except the professor. The man had a lot of engineering related books in his bookshelf, a big stack of papers - probably students’ assignments - and a fancy looking calculator on his desk. Behind him on the wall there was a single photograph of his family. Pretty much exactly how Leo had imagined the said professor’s room looking.

“I will be direct with you. Your achievements in the lab classes - or lack thereof - is a cause of confusion for us. In almost all of the theory related classes, you are on the top of the class – despite the occasional reports that your behavior towards the lecturers could use some improvement.” The man raised his eyebrow, but Leo thought he could see a glint of amusement in his eyes. That didn’t last long, though. “However, until now we have been willing to overlook that because of your talents. Maths, physics, chemistry… those things you clearly don’t have any issues with. But already for the second year you have been avoiding the lab classes for which you have been signed up and last fall you even left the chemistry lab test before you managed to get it completed. I’m sure you are aware that if you want to move onto the more advanced classes, you need to complete the mandatory ones before you are allowed to do that.”

“Yes, sir, I’m aware of that,” Leo replied stiffly, wondering briefly when was the last time he had called anyone sir, other than ironically.

“In that case…” His voice turned less formal, more fatherly as he continued, which surprised Leo. The professors he was used to dealing with were usually not all too nice to him, although he was willing to admit that some of it was probably deserved. “Can I ask you, is there a specific reason why you haven’t attended the lab classes?”

Leo wondered if he should come up with a quick lie. It wouldn’t be the first time in his life that he would have to do that in order to protect himself. However, the professor really seemed sincere and concerned about him and in a way his expression reminded him of Jo’s when she was expecting him to open up. Perhaps that’s why he ended up deciding to answer honestly:

“Yes. There is.”

“And? What is the reason?” The professor raised his eyebrow.

Leo inhaled deeply before forming his response. “I’m afraid of fire. Yeah, laugh ahead, but it’s true. I can’t deal with anything that requires heating because of some nasty as hell childhood trauma.”

To his surprise, the professor didn’t get angry at him for talking to him in such a manner. Instead, he furrowed his eyebrows.

“And you’re still planning to make mechanical engineering your career? Despite your fear?”

Leo nodded slowly. “Yeah. Building and fixing inanimate objects is the only thing I’ve ever known how to do. I was basically born with a hammer and a wrench in my hands and I was capable of building toys for myself when I was like four. After an accident…” He refrained from mentioning his mother because he couldn’t guarantee he would be able to stay calm if he brought that up. “… I haven’t been able to light up a match or anything like that. But almost five years ago, two awesome women adopted me and one of them is a mechanic. She reminded me what I really love about tinkering and it was then that I decided that I wanna keep trying. It’s a process but I am working on it.”

The professor smiled a little. “You know… a lot of our students were unable to take the chemistry lab course in the fall, so we decided to organize another course now in the spring. As it happens, there’s still some room for new people in it. So, if you’re interested, you’re welcome. But remember, you would need to attend all the mandatory classes and complete the tasks that you are assigned, no exceptions. That means we will not be going easy on you just because of your fear.”

Leo’s eyes widened with surprise. He hadn’t expected to get a chance like that.

“Woah, thanks sir! I won’t let you down!”

“That’s good to hear,” the professor nodded approvingly. “Can I ask you a question, though? Why do you want to become a mechanical engineer? I mean, what exactly is it that fascinates you about it, other than the influences you have gotten at your home?”

Leo imagined that the professor could probably see the bolts and nuts moving in his brain as he formed his answer. “I… I wanna learn to develop products that will help us make the world a safer, more sustainable place for us. We engineers, if anyone, can develop technology that will help us achieve that goal. But that’s not all. I also wanna learn more so I can help to share the information forward. I wanna show kids who come from similar backgrounds as I that they should keep on dreaming. There was a time when my mom ate porridge - only porridge - for her meals so she could pay the rent when her business was slow, but she still kept doing it. Because that’s how much she cared about her job. And I want to continue in her footsteps.”

The professor shifted on his seat. “That is an admirable goal, Mr. Valdez. I hope you will succeed. Remember, you do have the skill – you just need to know how to use it.”

“Yeah… Thanks professor.”

“No problem. Don’t forget the class enrollments end tonight so you need to be fast if you want to participate. That’s all for now. Good luck in your future endeavors.”

“Thanks. I’ll go enroll myself then. Bye for now.”

“See you, Mr. Valdez.”

Leo breathed a long sigh of relief the moment he stepped out of the professor’s office. The meeting had gone way better than he had dared to expect. He hadn’t thought he would get another chance so fast, but was grateful for the opportunity. Now, he would only need to kick his fears into the deepest pits of Tartarus, as Calypso would say.

#caleo #leo valdez #calypso #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #trials of apollo #my fics #caleo uni au

[dragoqueen]

Whoops! Wrong Way 7/8

Summary: Peter has been living at Avengers Tower for 2 years, known to the workers and Avengers as Peter Parker-Stark-Rogers.  When his teacher announces that they're going on a field trip to Avengers Tower, or SI,  he's going to have to attempt to survive a day of embarrassment and keeping a secret identity.

Words: 2278

“Parker!” Flash calls from across the hallway, “you. Here. Now.”

Peter quickly walks over to Flash, peering cautiously around the hallway in a search for cameras. Flash seems to realize what he’s doing and also looks for cameras. Upon spotting one he grabs Peter and throws him into an empty storage room with no cameras. “What the heck was that in there?” 

“W-what? What are you talking about?” Peter stutters. 

“You know what I’m talking about! That stunt you pulled with the Avengers? Making everyone think that they know you and with the Avengers? Making everyone think that they know you and have some sort of training with them. I’m not falling for it. You better fess up now or you’ll regret it.”

“Flash, I- I really don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fine then, have it your way, Peter.” 

The first hit comes, causing Peter’s spider-sense to flair up. Warning! incoming  hit, face. But he can’t do anything about it. From there, each hit comes one after another. Finally, when Peter’s slumped up on the floor in a fetal position, Flash decides he’s done. “Have fun missing out on the rest of the trip, Peter,” he says, leaving the room. 

I… I just have to ask FRIDAY for help. She’ll send help. “F-FRIDAY?” Peter says to the ceiling.

“What do you need, MiniStark?”

“Can you ask MJ or Ned if they can meet me in whatever room this is? Tell them discreetly and make sure no one sees them leave.”

There’s a pause and for a second Peter thinks he’s doomed to lay here until his healing gives him enough strength to find someone. But then, he hears FRIDAY’s voice, “they have been informed and are coming your way.”

“Thanks FRIDAY” he manages to say before blinking once… twice… then, darkness. 

___

“Ter…? Eter…?” what? What’s the noise, Peter thinks to himself. 

“Peter, can you hear us?” 

Slowly, he opens his eyes, quickly moving his hand up to shield himself from the bright lights. “Shoot, FRIDAY can you dim the lights please?” he hears MJ say before the light in the room seems to go to a darker glow, allowing him to open his eyes again. He looks around. In front of him are his two best friends. “Guys? What happened? How long was I out?”

“Only for about 30 minutes. FRIDAY alerted us that you were hurt and needed us. The intern lab part of the tour is almost over, are you okay?” “I, uh… I guess? I think so.”

“What happened?”

“I… it was… nothing I just…”

“It was Flash wasn’t it?”

He sighs, “yeah.” 

“Y’know, Stark’s going to kill him.”

“NO! Please, no. Dad can’t know. He will kill him and I can’t deal with that. People will find out about my relationship with the Avengers and then they might figure out that I’m Spiderman and I don’t want to deal with that. Once I graduate and I finally decide it’s okay, I’ll reveal my identity. Until then I just want to be me, Peter Parker. Ordinary kid who might’ve sort’ve gotten accidentally bit by a radioactive spider.”

“I know Peter, but… I think he might already know. FRIDAY?”

“Boss and SSMWP (Star Spangled Man with a Plan) have already been alerted. Baby Monitor Protocol, Baby’s Gotta Boo-Boo has been activated.”

Peter groans, “I’m surprised they’re not here already. They’re probably working on getting Mr. Harrington fired and Flash expelled and took off recommendation for any good college in the country.” 

“He deserves it. But we need to get back to the class, do you think you can walk?” Slowly, Peter uses the wall and MJ to stand up. He takes a single step forward, testing his ability to walk. Finally, when he realizes he’s able to walk, he lets go of MJ and takes a few steps on his own. He spreads his arm out and does a quick spin to face them, waving his hands almost as if to say “ta da”. “Great, you can walk ya dork. Guess that Spidey-healing of yours works faster than I thought.”

“Yeah, Uncle Bruce has been working on protein shakes and bars for me that increase the speed of it. Do I have any bruises that are visible?”

“You have a scar above your eyebrow and a small bruise on your arm, but that’s it.”

“Thank goodness. Let’s get back to the tour group before anyone else figures out that we’re gone.” 

“Alright, but take it slow okay? We don’t need you passing out again.”

“Aye-aye captain,” he says, giving her a mock salute. 

Before they leave MJ hands him a bottle of water and a protein bar. The protein bar was made specifically for Peter and helped with his enhanced metabolism and healing. Both MJ and Ned, as well as the Avengers when they were out with Peter, had them on hand. He eats it quickly, throwing away the wrapper in the trash and chugging the rest of the water as they leave the room to resume the tour.

They make their way back to the tour, quietly slipping in to the back seemingly unnoticed as the rest of the students watch Bruce give a demonstration on one of the intern’s newest projects. Mr. Harrington looks at Peter, giving him a stern look before quietly making his way over to him and pulling him to the side, “where were you, Parker?”

“I, I was in the bathroom?”

“You were not in the bathroom for 30 minutes. Flash informed me that he saw you trying to steal files from one of the rooms, is this true?”

“No, sir! I would never do such a thing. And anyways, all of the files are digital so I would have to hack into the SI mainframe and with FRIDAY that’d be nearly impossible.” “Listen Peter. You’re a good kid. Really smart. In fact, I have no doubt that when you go to college you’ll have no trouble getting an internship here. But, Stark Industries doesn’t accept high schoolers, no matter their smartness. This lie has gone far enough. Once we return to school you and I will be having a conversation with the principal as I have no other choice but to recommend you for expulsion.”

“But, sir! I’m not lying! Has nothing here you’ve seen today proven that?” “Peter, hacking into an AI and paying off the staff to pretend to know you isn’t proof. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if you were exempt from any chances of receiving an internship at Stark Industries. Now, go join the rest of the class. We will talk about this later.”

Peter slowly retreats back to Ned and MJ, head staring at the floor, trying not to make eye contact with Flash or Bruce. When he reaches his friends MJ gives him a questioning look, “Harrington is going to try and expel me,” he whispers.

“What do you mean? Why?”

“For lying and “trying to steal SI files.”

“But you aren’t lying, and why would you steal files? Ned asks. 

“I don’t know. Let’s just… try and make it to the end of the day. I’m sure Dad or Aunt Pepper will clear it up and I’ll be fine. If not, well, I guess it’s time to actually go to MIT.”

“Dude, no. You can’t leave us.” “I’m not saying I am, but if I get expelled it’s not like I’ll have a choice. You guys can still come over and we can still hangout. Just… not at school.”

MJ sighs, “Stark better be able to figure this out, otherwise I’ll fight the school myself.”

“Thanks MJ,” Peter grins, turning back to focus on what Bruce is talking about. 

“... so, that’s why we now have a testing room with bulletproof glass. Now, if you guys want to wonder around a bit, just try not to disturb the interns to much and leave if they say you’re bothering or distracting them.” he spreads out his arms, motioning for them to wander around the room.

The group disperses, walking around to look at different projects and some asking a few questions. Even Flash and goons look interested in what the interns are working on. Bruce walks casually over to Peter and his group, “hey kid. Where were you? Was my presentation really that boring?” he asks.

“Nah, got held up. Although, I’m sure it was great. Did Dad sign you up for this?” “Unfortunately. Except I’m not trying to embarrass you. However, there is another… surprise for you?”

“What is it-” he’s interrupted by a voice from across the room shouting, “Petey!”

Peter turns and sees Morgan running over to him. The interns around the room smile, used to the presence of the young Stark around the labs and actually enjoying her benign around. She was sweet and their favorite of Stark’s kids, after Peter. “Hey Morgana! What are you doing here?”

“Me and Happy are playing hide and seek! I decided to come see you.”

He laughs, “does Happy know you guys are playing hide and seek?”

“Nope!” she giggles. 

“Come here M,” MJ says, opening her arms towards the little girl. 

Morgan squeals in delight and runs to MJ, happily being picked up and swung around a few times before settling on her arms. Peter smiles before looking up at the nearest camera, “Hey FRIDAY, can you tell Happy that Morgan is down here in the Coffee Induced lab?”

“Of course, MiniStark.” she replies. 

While they’re waiting for Happy to meet them they begin wandering around, chatting with a few of the interns and entertaining Morgan. A bit before Happy finds his way to the lab, Mr. Harrington spots the trio carrying around the young Stark and quickly makes his way over to them, “Mr. Parker, what is the meaning of this?”

“You mean the child?” “Of course I mean the child. Who is she and why is she in this highly dangerous lab?” “Sure, it’s actually fine. She’s Stark’s daughter and actually hangs out in the labs a lot. With adult, or teen, supervision of course.” one of the nearby interns chip in. 

“Well adult supervision or not, a child should not be in a lab.”

During all of the commotion, Flash has taken a notice to Morgan. He instantly recognizes her from different press and runs over, “Hey MJ, why the heck are you holding Tony Stark’s daughter?” “Because she wanted me to hold her, why else Flash?” “You shouldn’t be holding her. She’d probably be way more comfortable in the hands of someone more higher-class then you. Isn’t that right, Morgana?”

“It’s Morgan! And no. I prefer MJ. she’s a lot nicer than you, meany.” Morgan snaps. 

At that moment, Happy finally appears from the elevator, out of breath. He spots the situation and quickly runs over to the group, relieved to see he didn’t completely lose Morgan. “Morgan! Peter! Thank God I found you all. Morgan, what are you doing down here? You know you’re not supposed to be in the labs without supervision.” “But Petey and his friends are down here, so it’s fine!” she says. 

“Come here, let’s get you upstairs and get you a snack, alright?” “Yay! I want Uncle Bucky’s cookies!” she exclaims, quickly transferring herself from MJ’s arms to Happy’s arms.”

“Thanks for helping Peter, I’ll see you tonight, alright?”

“Alright Happy, see you later!”

The rest of the class, having turned their attention to the commotion happening with Stark’s kid, just continues staring. How does Puny Parker know Tony Stark’s daughter? And how does his friends know her too? Mr. Harrington, still in shock, hasn’t been able to say anything at all. Flash, on the other hand, has a bucket load of things to say, “what the actual fuck Parker?”

“I- uh, what?”

“What the fuck is happening here. First the stunt with the scanners. Then pretending to know the interns. And then the thing with the nerf gun battle. How the actual heck are you doing this?” “Maybe he just wasn't lying, Flash.” MJ says, noticing that Peter seems to be at a lack of words at the moment.

“No, regular interns aren’t able to do this stuff. Regular interns don’t know the avengers and Tony Stark’s daughter. So what’s happening.” “Flash, I really don’t know what to tell you. I’m an intern here, you know this, or should. That’s all.” Flash tries to continue the conversation but Mars announces that they now have the chance to attend a Q & A with the Avengers themselves, causing everyone to rush over to the elevator, chatting amongst themselves about meeting the Avengers and the different questions they're going to ask. Flash glares at Peter before whispering, “when we get back to school, you’re dead Parker. Especially after I expose you in front of the Avengers at the Q & A.”

Peter watches in disbelief as Flash moves back to his goons and chats with them like nothing just happened. He looks to his friends for support. MJ shakes her head and wraps an arm around his shoulder, guiding him over to the group as they pile into the elevator. Ned offers him an apologetic smile. While in the elevator MJ promises to not let Flash get anywhere near Peter while Ned comes up with suggestions to let Peter stay at Stark industries when they leave so that he won’t have to interact with Flash when they get back to school. None of them notice the lack of Avengers in the Q & A room until a door slams open by the stage scaring everyone, including Peter. 

#avengers #domesticavengers #avengerfanfiction #avengerfanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #peterparker #spiderman #peter parker #spidermom #spiderson #irondad #super family #superfamily #marvel

[twilightwriter]

HIKING — [ EMMETT CULLEN] / [ IMAGINE ]

So this was one was long as fuck because, I have no fucking clue, I was motivated and in the mood for writing and shit — but thank you so much for requesting!

 CONTENT[S] : Fluff, the mentioning of blood, swearing.

You didn’t know how Emmett Cullen did it, but he somehow managed to talk you into a hiking trip to neighboring mountains in Forks, where a trail on the edge sat. 

And of course, without a doubt you accepted the invitation. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity after all. And you’d never again get the chance to explore different parts of Washington as much as you’d want to if you just kept to the same old boring towns, shopping areas, and most importantly, high school.

“Sure, why not?”

“Great!” Alice squealed, pleased by the acceptance of their generously eager invitation before squeezing your fragile body in her arms. “Don’t forget, tomorrow morning – we’ll take care of all of your equipment. We wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

You nodded, eager to get to the next class before the bell rung a third time; knowing your ass, you’re most likely to get into some kind of predicament. You and nature sometimes didn’t mix. The seagull attack on La Push, the wild badger that you tried so desperately to get out of the road on your way to Bella’s house. “I’ll set my alarm for tomorrow. You won’t be disappointed.”

And before they took their leave, you were greeted by a sweet kiss from your boyfriend, Emmett, who sported a boyish grin. You would’ve smacked him on the shoulder for expressing so much public displays of affection on school grounds, but you were too awestruck. You bid them goodbye for the day.

The family had taken care of the equipment expenses for you despite you denying their generous offers. At the moment you wished that you could express to him that you didn’t really like the mountains—the heights, the acceleration of freezing cold in harmonic combination of the usual Forks weather paired with ice and snow. Between the Olympic Mountains and the Pacific Beaches, the view was beautiful. You knew that once you got back to school you would have quite the tale to tell about your adventures with the Cullens to Jessica and Angela.

Yeah, not good for a human. The group trudged up steep mountain and loose rock. You were almost jealous that Emmett and the rest of his family were making more progress than you were in this circumstance; however, you sought to not complain throughout the trip.

“You doing okay down there, [Y/N]?” You heard the voice of Emmett calling down to your struggling form about two hours into the climb, determined, you grasped a nearby rock that looked somewhere near steady enough to climb onto, and unfortunately it wasn’t. Your limbs burned in exhaustion without the proper break.

Because of that you knew that your legs would give out soon. You plastered on an expression of feigned happiness and hollered back to the best of your ability. “Yeah! I’m f—WOOAH!”

And they did. You ended up stepping onto the wrong thing and glissaded down the mountain for a few seconds, scraping your knee up against a sharp snow-covered stone on your foreleg. After yelping in pain, you were prepared to descend downward, until a hand caught your forearm mid-fall and wrapped around your dainty wrist within an instant. The force was hard enough to break bones but somehow, this wasn’t the case. It was almost like he was terrified of the idea of you falling and him not being able to catch you.

He could smell the pungent scent of vital fluids invading his senses, slowly trickling down your leg from the inside of your hiking pants. Sought to at least cover it to a degree where it wasn’t smelled by other immortals from miles away. You could sense the feral portion of himself slowly making its way to the surface, but it suddenly subsided. Like it never existed to begin with.

If you didn’t thank vampire reflexes then, you’d certainly be thanking them now – the familiar hand was none other than Emmett Cullen’s. In spite of the immense pain that had made itself more known you were pleased to find that someone was at least paying attention to you down here. “You need to be careful there, Mrs. [L/N],” the dark-haired male teased as he pulled you into the hardness of his arms.

“Shut up,” you pouted, grasping onto his biceps as quickly as you could. Not wanting to fall the distance a second time. Your heart had jumped into your chest when you looked down at how far you’ve come. This said fall would’ve certainly been fatal. You’d clung so tightly around the man’s neck, you were certain that you’d strangle him. Your knuckles were a tainted pale white as you feared the worst for yourself. “I think we should go home for the day, I’m tired.”

The way to the Cullen residence was quick and efficient as it always was, no hassle nor complaints further. You were being carried onto the back of the strongest like some sort of Koala. And to compare body sizes, you could tell that your boyfriend was enjoying this far too much for his own good. A fire crackled in the near distance, distributing heat that you could only ever appreciate during times like this. Cold winters in Forks were never your forte, but if it meant sticking around with the one coven that you grew fond of, then so be it.

There he settled you down onto the couch in the living room where he examined your injury, rolling the denim fabric up your foreleg to inspect the damage done, causing your features to contort into one of displeasure. “You should be more careful of your surroundings.”

“It wasn’t my fault,” you argued, you’d noticed Carlisle had returned with the kit to help clean your wounds. But his eldest son insisted on doing it himself whilst you continued. “I—I was tired and I didn’t know that the stones weren’t steady.”

A shake of his head, though he was more of the class clown of the family, you’d never seen him so concerned before until now. This was entirely foreign to you and for the first time you felt babied by someone aside from your parents. You could feel the stinging of the peroxide and the light pricking of skin when he removed excess flesh from your wound as well as any rock that was leftover.

The scene in front of you nearly made you sick as he finished wrapping you up. With that in mind you kept to yourself for a while until you heard him speak up again. “You could’ve told me that you were tired and I would’ve carried you the rest of the way—”

“I didn’t want to complain because I knew that you’d want me to experience the trip. And I didn’t want to be some kind of burden.”

There was a silence after these words were said and what you didn’t expect, was for Emmett to encase his cold arms around your physique and draw you in closer to himself. It was his little way of comforting you and to say the least, you were grateful for this. He ensured to be careful and very much aware of your injury, and placed a palm against it to prevent future swelling whilst his other found purchase coiled around your waist.

“I hope you’re staying over. Because we’re going to be here for a long time, [N/N].”

#edward cullen #alice cullen #jasper hale #rosalie hale #emmett cullen #carlisle cullen #esme cullen #twilight #stephenie meyer #twilight saga #i suck ass at this wtf #romance #vampire #novel #twilight imagine #twilight renaissance

[ververa]

Like Mothers, Like Daughter

A/N: You have no idea how nervous I am right now, but I said I’ll post the first part, so I’m keeping my word, even though I feel like it’s not good enough. It has been rewritten at least 10 times and this is only some kind of introduction. For now it’s just my precious little Ellie. There’s no Mildred and no Wilhemina yet. But they’ll appear soon, I promise. Just bear with me, please 🙏🏼 Many thanks to @awildgothappeared​!!! Thank you so much for helping me with this series and thank you for convincing me to post this part!!! I’d probably never decide to do it if it hadn’t been for you Stevie <3  This story truly means a lot to me and all three of them - Ellie, Millie and Mina have a special place in my heart. They’re my new holy trinity. I put a lot of effort into this story - that’s why it’s taking me so long. 

Anyways, I hope you will all enjoy it!!! And just in case, I am sorry if this is shit, cause I actually sort of feel like it is 🙈 Also if anyone has any thoughts/suggestions/opinions do let me know!

Words count: ~3k

Tag list: @midnight-lestrange​, @natasha-danvers​, @stopkillinglilyrabe​, @welshdragonrawr​, @saucy-sapphic​, @yang12e​, @xixxiixx​, @pradababey​

Seemingly nothing had changed. Life was going on as it used to before, its usual way. Some governess would wake Ellie up at 7am, it wouldn’t be the same one who was there the previous evening. No, because for some reason the former one wasn’t suitable for the position. None of them were, because it was truly impossible to measure up to Mrs Staple’s expectations. Ellie knew, because she had been trying to ever since she had learned to speak. It didn’t matter how many languages she mastered or how good her grades were or that she became a champion of the fencing team. The woman, she was supposed to call her mother, would never be satisfied, the same as she would never be happy with the work all those governesses did. Some of them were fired, because they truly were useless, others were just unlucky and had a horrible timing - it really was an unpleasant experience to get in a way of annoyed Mrs Staple‒

Ellie stopped getting attached to them a long time ago. Not that she actually had a chance to. In fact, she didn’t even bother to remember their names any more and decided to give them numbers instead. Though sometimes, she did wonder where they find all of them. How many well-qualified governesses could be there in town? Where did they all come from?

That morning, the governess was bearing a name “241”. Quite impressive. Ellie thought as she was brushing her teeth. But it wouldn't last for too long. Perhaps it was only until the evening or maybe afternoon - depending on Lillian’s mood. And then the poor woman would have to leave, quicker than she appeared, just like 240 other women before her. That's how it worked with her mother. The demonic, callous woman really knew no limits.

Ellie was barely twelve, yet she was well aware what motives drove her mother's behavior. Each action had a perfectly explainable reason. The desire for power, the need of being in control. Though, the truth was, Lillian wasn't in a place to be a decision making one. She had never actually had a say and she knew, for a fact, that she would never have. She wasn't even close to it. She wasn't Staple, not by blood. And yet, despite this, she always introduced herself using her husband's family name - being boastful and vain as ever, nearly driving her only child apoplectic each time.

Lillian wanted to matter so badly, even if just for a moment, but still her actions, words, commands meant less than nothing. Even Ellie, though still a child, had more power than the cruel woman. And that's why Lillian hated her. She hated her only daughter, because Ellie was born Staple, she was born to the purple and carried an incredible power within her small body–

And all that appeared to be a good enough reason to terrorize 240 babysitters, who would not be needed at all if Lillian could just bring herself to care about her only child in the first place. But she couldn't and she didn't. She never wanted to have children, definitely not a girl. Maybe a son. Maybe–

If Ellie was a boy… maybe she'd be able to care, to love her child. But even then it wouldn't be the unconditional type of love. It would be yet another transaction, the tying agreement, which would, of course, be in her interest. Just like her marriage and all the relations within the family. But Ellie wasn't a boy and she didn't matter as much as a male successor would and so Lillian didn't care. She did what was expected of her, she gave birth to the next successor, and that was it. All she was willing to do and there was no way she'd put any more effort into it. She gave her husband what he wanted and was the least bit interested in her child's future. Lillian was too selfish to care, too busy fighting for her own position to even think about Elizabeth.

Ellie's father always told her that everyone had a little bit of the light and dark in them. People were complex like a cosmic system, both inside and outside. She liked that comparison.

"None of us are just black or white, or always right and never wrong. We have a universe within ourselves. We all have a little bit of the sun and moon inside. Everyone has good and bad forces working with them, within them and against them"

She believed it, but as much as she tried - she couldn't find any kind of light within her mother. There was nothing, just coldness and hatred - guiding her through life, leaving her blind to everything, but her selfish needs and whims.

"Elizabeth," her teacher's voice would bring her back to reality. And the day would carry on, as usual.

Ellie would participate in her classes and then have lunch downstairs. She would eat alone, as her father would be still at work and Lillian wouldn’t even bother to join the girl, preferring her own company over watching her little defeater, a perfect copy of her husband. Or maybe if they were lucky enough, the governess would keep her company. Though even if she would, even if somehow lady “241” would manage to keep her position and call it a day - Ellie probably wouldn’t decide to talk to her anyways. Why would she, knowing that the woman would soon disappear from her life forever?

But Ellie didn’t mind being on her own at all. She already got used to it. She had been a homeschooler since… always. She had been under lock and key her whole life, because that was their way of keeping her safe. That’s what they told her at least and she accepted it. That was the only way of living Ellie knew and she completely settled into it. She didn't ask, she didn't question their motives. She let it be, because there was nothing she could do. She didn't want to do anything.

She liked her life, well, she thought so leastways. She had nothing to complain about. She was safe, warm, had her books and her piano. Her teacher, constantly-changing governesses and servants provided some kind of company - preventing her from loosening her grip on reality completely. Her life wasn’t all that bad. Yes. It could have been worse after all. And homeschooling wasn’t the end of the world, right? It had both positive and negative sides, as everything - just like her father said. And that’s what Ellie was focused on.

After lunch her lessons would continue. The teacher would ask about some mathematical equations and she would solve all of them, before unerringly answering all subsequent questions. Ellie was a clever child and a fast learner. She was also stubborn and aimed at mastering whatever she wanted to perfection. She had to be good enough, she had to measure up, prove herself. And she was doing her best, steadfastly.

Everyone was foretelling her a bright future. She could do anything she wanted, those who didn’t know certain things were convinced of it. And those who knew the truth, the reality, the true meaning hidden behind the Staple’s name and the family roots - remained silent. Ellie was only a child after all, besides no one wanted to have a problem with her father, or even worse - with her grandfather. But they didn’t need to talk about it. Ellie, as a highly intelligent girl that she undoubtedly was, knew. She knew her future was doomed, because she was a prisoner, just like her father and grandfather, even her mother and the rest of the family. They were all prisoners, shackled with invisible cuffs - the life-long deal their ancestors had made ages before. They were prisoners to the nonreversible decision.

It may seem quite dramatic, sad even to some people, but they didn’t understand it. They never cared enough to comprehend the deep meaning behind the family’s actions, perhaps too ignorant or narrow-minded to decipher it. But they didn’t matter. Their opinions were irrelevant. 

Ellie never had a problem with that. She never truly allowed herself to think about the future, but she didn’t need to worry, not just yet. She had her father - her guardian and friend - who was there to keep her safe. He always knew how to make everything better. How to fix what appeared to be unfixable. And he was there at all times. He was there to hold his little girl, the apple of his eye. He was there to teach her and guide her. To grant Ellie the love and approval she couldn’t receive from Lillian. He was there, so that she could have a happy and peaceful childhood. And all that made Ellie feel lucky. Not all kids had what she did. Not all children were able to experience this kind of love. She knew. Elias told her about those children - left on their own, without anyone who would look after them, or love them the way he loved her. Whenever she remembered all those stories something inside her hurt. Her heart - it ached, every time Elias was telling her about that one little girl.

Ellie undeniably was compassionate and sensitive, her soul was still pure and free, untainted. She didn’t have to bear the burden of her decision, she didn’t have to carry it on her own like her father. That’s why she couldn’t understand his breaking down. She couldn’t figure out the reason for his tears, when she gave him one of her teddy bears, saying he should give it to the little girl. Ellie couldn’t know. Not back then.

And then, when her lessons were over, their butler - Leonard would take her to the fencing classes. That was the only time Ellie was out, freed from the thin walls of the castle they lived in. She always cherished every second of it, because every moment of freedom was like an incredible adventure.

She had been training for years, because fencing made her stronger and showed a certain set of thinking skills. The classes would go great, as always. Ellie as a wonderful fencer would win some clash, but she wouldn't even think about it, already engulfed by anticipation of the evening.

Ellie’s favourite part of the day was dinner. No, not the dinner itself - the whole process of it. The anticipation and preparations. Their servants would be preparing everything, putting a lot of effort into details, so as to avoid getting in trouble with Lillian. She was fabled for her choleric nature and no one wanted to be reprimanded. That's why they always did their best, striving to meet Lillian's expectations and avoid unhinging her.

The table had to be polished until it gleamed. Table covers had to be clean and smoothed. Dinnerware and cutlery had to be polished to a high gloss. And napkins… napkins had to have the right colors, because colors couldn't clash. After all those years Ellie learned the process by heart. She remembered everything, every little detail and the order of all those actions.

A plate in the middle. A napkin on the left, then forks - salad fork and dinner fork. The right side was where a dinner knife, dinner spoon and soup spoon were placed. And then glasses - a water glass and wine glass - on the right, above the spoons. It wasn't all that hard to remember. It definitely was far more complicated when it came to the formal dinner place setting, but when it was just the three of them - Ellie and her parents - the servants didn't have to worry about it. Informal setting was enough, unless Lillian decided differently.

By the time the table was set, Ellie would be fully in on her anticipation mood. After all it wasn't about the dinner or setting the table, it was about her father finally coming back home. Elizabeth would wait impatiently - pulled up to comfortably sit on the windowsill of the living room window. She did it every evening. Awaiting her father's car to turn into the driveway. Waiting for him to cross the doorstep and take her into his arms as he always did. She anticipated having dinner with him and then spending hours on talking and listening to his stories.

Ellie waited. One hour passed. Then another. Lillian gave up and ordered someone to bring her dinner upstairs, as she wasn't going to eat with Ellie even under those circumstances. They complied, Lillian got her dinner and finished it, while Ellie kept waiting, not moving from her spot even for a second, so as not to miss the moment of Elias' arrival. She waited, but he didn't come back. She fell asleep eventually and Leonard carefully carried her to her room. His heart was breaking for the girl, because he knew exactly what was happening. He already knew what Ellie didn't or maybe she did. She did, perhaps, but refused to accept it…

She kept waiting. For hours, days, a week. Whenever she heard some car, she would rush to the window, hoping it was Elias. Ellie found it hard to focus on anything else. She barely ate and sleep, she just passed out from exhaustion basically every evening. Each time Leonard would take her upstairs and tuck her in bed. Though in the morning she'd be back downstairs, most likely wearing one of her father's hats or shirts - almost three times too big for her- but it didn't matter. She didn't care. If she could, she'd most likely not only wear his clothes, but also spend every minute of the day in her spot on the windowsill.

Where did he go? Why didn't he come back? Every part of her aching heart couldn't accept it. She needed him… who would protect her now? Who would be there for her? Where did he think he's going and why couldn't he take her with him? He always did. They always did everything together. And then he was gone, just like that–

Honestly, she knew he wouldn't come back. She knew, but she didn't want to let go, not yet. She wasn't ready to do it.

And it was okay. Ellie could say it by the way their servants looked at her - so sympathetically. They hurt too. Perhaps not as much as she did, but they did in their own way. The only person who seemed to remain untouched was Lillian.

Even then, all she could think of was herself. She didn't display any kind of emotions. She wasn't sad or hurt and she didn't even try to pretend that she was.

"Will you finally pull yourself together?" Lillian growled, sipping on her drink, not even looking at Ellie "He won't come back. Ever."

Ellie frowned a little. There were a lot of things she could tell her mother, a lot of mean and hateful things. Though it didn't feel okay. It didn't feel like her, so she didn't. She held it all back, responding with simple "Why do you have to be like that?"

"Like what?" Lillian asked, looking at her manicured nails, acting the least bit interested in what her daughter actually had to say.

"Why can't you at least pretend that you care?"

"Don't be pathetic, Elizabeth."

Ellie sighed. There was no point in continuing the conversation. She wasn't pathetic. It wasn't pathetic. Feeling was a human thing, right?

A few days later a tall man dressed in black suit brought Elias' stuff from his clinic. They packed it all in a box. Over 20 years of his research, his work, his life - were enclosed in just one box. Leonard carried it to Elias' office and Ellie followed. She needed answers that no one wanted to give her, so she hoped she'd actually find something in the box. And she did. Her father left her a note–

Seemingly nothing had changed. Her body was still susceptible to pain, still breakable. It had to eat and breathe air and sleep. It still shuddered, as it had shuddered before. She still had to learn and she did, as she had done before. Life was going on, its usual way. Nothing changed - and yet everything was different. People, manners, course of boundaries. And amid it all her soul traipsed elusively. It disappeared, then came back, drew nearer and moved away from reality. She hurt, she cried. Feeling like an alien - at times certain, at others uncertain of her own existence. Trapped in her own grief and pain.

Ellie had been raised in a box - her father's castle, a perfect world he created just for her. But life was more than that. Life was different and not at all perfect. In truth it seemed to be far more unfriendly and sinister than she may have expected. She found herself lost in the new reality. The reality without her father. The world she knew had been shattered, completely destroyed. And learning to live all over again wasn't all that easy, but she was strong. Elias taught her how to be strong and she knew she could face all the obstacles. She had to - for him.

She was born into this goddamn family and that was the only thing she couldn't change. Though all the rest, everything else depended on her. He hadn't taught her all the things she knew without a reason…

"In life there are only two permanent things - happiness and existential pain. Life likes to gratify and hurt. It's a venom that heals and a rose that pricks. At times it's pretty good, although sometimes it's quite bad. And future matters are unforeseeable…" Elias' note said.

And so despite the pain she still believed there was more good than bad in life. She just had to look hard enough - like her father said.

#ellie staple #dr ellie staple #wilhemina venable x mildred ratched #Mildred Ratched #wilhemina venable #sarah paulson imagine #sarah paulson fic #like mothers like daughter #part 1

[parkerpeter24]

best friends or more (part-3)

Pairing ➳ peter parker x reader

Warnings ➳ angst, fluff, feelings..?

Word count ➳ 2088 (I know, I know.)

Italics ➳ flashback

So, this is for @angelinathebook’s writing challenge and I hope you guys enjoy it even thought it’s crap. ❤

Series masterlist | Main masterlist

Peter couldn’t feel his legs anymore. For the past fifteen minutes, he had been chasing these smugglers who were selling illegal, alien weapons to the some robbers and thieves. He didn’t know much about it, but he knew that it was wrong and that he had to stop them because it was his responsibility.

He hadn’t picked up his phone in the middle of all the running and chasing making you and Ned all worried for him. After the third time, your call went to his voicemail, you sighed and slammed your phone into the kitchen counter.

“(Y/n), don’t worry, he’ll be okay,” Ned whispered in reassurance. You nodded your head, not sure if you believed him or not.

Peter had been careless, reckless and sometimes even stupid when it came to the lives of the people of his city, but he was never careless enough to leave like this without telling you, or anyone else.

You already disapproved of this “Spider-man plan” of the two boys. It was bad enough as it is that you were at this party and now that Peter had left, you found interest in MJ’s political views and her comments about some of her favourite books.

You spent some time with Liz and Betty, not really paying attention to whatever they were talking about. Almost an hour later when Peter still hadn’t returned, Flash started to make fun of him in front of all the people.

“Don’t forget to call me if he calls you.” Ned was leaving the party because the plan had gone downhill and now most of your class thought of you three as a loser, which they probably did before as well, so, whatever.

“That’s the first thing I’ll do.” You smiled thankfully as he walked back towards the streets that led to his house. It was way too early for you to want to go back home, plus you were enjoying the conversation with MJ so you went back inside.

Peter, on the other hand, wanted to prove that he could be trusted with new missions and dangerous situations when it came to the safety of the little guys. He sighed, tracing the path through which he chased the bad men. Suddenly his foot bumped with something, it wasn’t a rock. It was smoother, and it was glowing.

Peter picked it up and examined it, he had never seen anything like this. It was a purple coloured gem-like material and he could almost hear a soft buzz coming from it.

He tried to listen carefully, bringing his ear closer to the thing but before he could hear anything, a sharp tune, his ringtone, went off.

He looked at his phone to find out that Ned was calling him, “Hey, Ned. I’m on my way back to the party.”

“Where the hell have you been?” You crossed your arms over your chest staring into the eyes of none other than the masked hero of Queens.

“I was a little busy stopping a grand theft--”

“Of what, a bicycle?” You interrupted him with a question, raising an eyebrow at him as he landed fully on the fire escape.

“Whatever” Rolling his eyes, he stood beside you and wrapped an arm around your waist. You felt a little tingly where his arm rested but dare you to remove it, “I was looking forward to this.”

“You sure you won’t drop me on the way?” You hesitated for a moment, looking down at the distance between you and ground and what impact a fall from this high could cause.

“Well, it is my first time taking a person along on a swing purposefully.”

“What?!” Your eyes grew wide and you looked at his mask, scoffing, “I’m not going with you now!”

He laughed a little, making his grip a little firmer around your waist, “Come on! You gotta trust me.”

You shrugged, “How does It feel? Swinging around from building to building.”

“It’s kinda like Tarzan, only without the trees” He laughed.

Peter had heard much from Ned about what happened at that stupid party and his first instinct was to see if you were okay. But instead of calling you, he swung towards Liz’s house as fast as he possibly could.

You had left the house, politely denying MJ’s offer to drop you home but now that you were walking all alone in the streets of Queens, let me rephrase that, the dark, lonely and chilly streets of Queens you wished you had accepted that offer.

Hands clenched around your coat, you walked in the deadly silence. It was like the people had suddenly disappeared. Maybe you were exaggerating, but being there, at that moment, it scared you to your very soul.

There was something about Queens, something so eerily adaptive that made you rooted in the town. Peter too was one of the main reasons. He made you happy and you would stay forever if he wanted you to.

While you were lost in your thoughts someone tapped your shoulder making you flinch and turn around.

Peter gave you that cheeky smile, “Hello! I just saw you from afar and,” he pointed a thumb behind him and said before you could put words to your questioning thoughts, “You look stunning!” You laughed, looking away to hide the fact that you were blushing, “Care if I join you?”

“Please do.” You nodded, walking further. He walked beside you as silence settled between the two of you before you decided to ask, “What happened to you? You never showed up to the party as Spider-man…”

He casually shrugged it off like it was no big deal and gave you a tight-lipped smile before saying, “I-I just couldn’t do it.” You smiled at your friend giving him a pat on the back.

“Well, I’m proud of you for trying.”

The weekend passed in a blink and it was time to face school again. You made your way towards your lockers first thing, but you couldn't find Peter waiting for you like he usually did if he came in early. You didn’t mind it though, moving for your first class of the day.

The first time you saw Peter that day was in Mr Turner’s class. He was hitting something kept on the table and soon Ned joined him. That day he hadn’t even acknowledged you standing in the far right corner near the window.

There were no signs of Peter and Ned at lunch as well but you were glad to be accompanied by MJ. But what you were not glad to know of was that Peter wasn’t going to DC this year for Decathlon.

You knew exactly why he did that, but it would’ve been nice if he just told you about it.

You left the school canteen earlier than usual because you weren’t feeling that hungry today and made your way towards the library but you were stopped in the way, seeing Peter and Ned hiding behind the lockers.

You were so confused as to what was going on. Peter left Ned alone as you watched him disappear behind the corner that led to the storage room. He ran back to Ned after some time and they started whispering something to each other. What kind of conspiracy was going on without you?!

Finally, you got the chance to confront him after school as he stood beside the gates, “I heard you’ve left Decathlon?”

He turned around with wide eyes, “Oh, uh- I just, it’s because of the--”

“I know why! But why didn’t you tell me earlier? I had to find out from MJ!” You complained. Peter squinted his eyes on you.

“W-why are you acting like that?”

“Acting like what? I just want to know what is up with you!” Usually, you wouldn’t raise your voice at him but it seemed like he was distracted. He wasn’t even looking at you, just staring in any random direction.

“Look, (Y/n), I-I gotta go. We can talk about this later?” He uttered, not even waiting for your reply, and ran off.

You huffed. Was there something still left to talk about?

---

Peter was really happy to see you at his doorstep. He was looking for a chance to apologize to you anyway and now that you were here he invited you in gently rubbing the back of his neck.

It was 12 a.m. but it wasn't unusual for both of you to see each other at such a late hour. You always kept your window open for him and he was always ready to answer the door and welcome you with open arms.

but the expression on your face, that he caught as soon as the lights turned on, said that you were not happy or even sad. It seemed as if you were still mad. And you were! The question started nagging you and you needed answers.

Why didn't he tell you that he liked Liz, or about that glowy thing, or even about quitting decathlon? He was hiding something from you and you didn't like it. You felt like he couldn't trust you with his secrets anymore.

There was never any place for secrets between the two of you. There never had been. You told him everything but now was different. He was definitely hiding something from you.

You made your way inside his apartment, “What is it that you’re not telling me?”

“What?” He asked, genuinely confused.

Peter was just trying to protect you from the crazy things going on in his life, but he never considered that he would hurt you in doing so.

“You are hiding something from me! What is it?” You demanded, crossing your arms over your chest. Peter shrugged, going to sit at the edge of the couch.

“I’m not hiding anything from you.” You scoffed loudly hearing that response from him.

“Oh, really?” It made you so mad that Peter, not only your crush but your best friend, didn’t trust you enough. You just felt left out, “Pete, I feel like we’re not even friends anymore! You’ve been acting so different since that party.” You cried, throwing your hands in the air, “I saw you in the hallway today, hiding behind the lockers with Ned. Seriously, what are you hiding?!”

Peter stared at you with frowned eyebrows, “But (Y/n), I told you already that I’m not hiding anything.”

“Then tell me what happened on the night of Liz’s party. Why didn’t you show up?”

He sighed, accepting the fact that it was impossible to hide something from you. He made you sit on the couch as he explained what went down that night and that he was hiding behind the lockers from the bad guys. He told you how he found the glowy thing and that he was trying to find out what exactly it was.

You were shocked, to say the least, and angry. How could he be so careless, “Oh god, Peter you’re so stupid!” You said as tears pooled in your eyes, “You could’ve been killed!”

“I know that!” He huffed out somewhat frustrated, “I just wanted to prove that I’m worth more than what Mr Stark thinks. He just keeps treating me like some kid who has no idea what he’s up to, but (Y/n), I know what I’m doing okay? I have it all planned out!” His voice quivered as he let out the last sentence. You felt your heart clench at the sight of him. You loved Peter, maybe a little too much, and you wanted to tell him that he didn’t need to prove his worth to anyone. And that’s exactly what you did.

You walked over to where he was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and placed your hands on either side of his face. You looked deep into his brown, familiar eyes, “Hey, you’re worth everything, okay?” You smiled through the tears, “And you don’t need to prove it to anyone”

He looked at you and whispered with a soft smile, “Thank you.”

“Don’t get used to it though.” You chuckled softly, wiping the tears from his cheek. “It was stupid what you did back on Friday night.”

“I know. Totally stupid.”

You both laughed awkwardly looking into each other’s eyes when you realised that your hands were still firm on his cheek and the proximity between you has increased at an alarming rate.

And the next thing you know, his lips were on yours.

Permanent taglist: @ariistotles @deans-daffodils @spidey-reids-2003 @tommysparker @smilexcaptainx @god-knows-what-am-i-doing @allegra-writes @rubberducky-jrr @purefluff @clara-licht @darlingspidey @anjali750 @opheliaaa @in-a-lot-of-fandoms-tbh @the-crazy-fanfictionist @fanficparker @clover-roseee @halfblood-princess-505 @chaoticpete @t-monosapiens-h @tom-holland-is-spiderman @stareyedplanet @sunflowerhollands @averyfosterthoughts @katiejupiter @theamazingtomholland @miraclesoflove @tombob2005 @call-me-baby-gir1 @marylimlp

Peter Parker taglist: @cherryredparker @mirukobecomingbothered @starlight-starks @parkers-thoughts @chewymoustachio

Bfom taglist: @notasofti @itsbuckyb1tch @negando-lo-negativo @xnnskwjeheb2j @hollanddolanfangirl @kingbuckyx @virtualarchitectureartbagel @dorbiksbitch @namoreno @kathleenbriar @silver-winter-wolf @choices97

#peter parker #peter parker x reader #peter parker fluff #peter parker drabble #peter parker imagine #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker x y/n #peter parker x you #lenas300challenge #cookie’s fics #cookie’s writings #cookie writes #tom holland one shot #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland imagine #tom holland fluff #peter parker angst #tom holland angst #tom holland x y/n #tom holland x you #tom holland blurb

[missdawnandherdusk]

I’m Haunted

Draco X Gryffindor!Reader

Part One    Part Two    Part Three    Part Four    

Part Five    Part Six    Part Seven    Part Eight

Part Nine   Part Ten     Part Eleven

Summary: Your world was perfect for a shining moment. Then that moment ended. You and Draco are tested against the true evils of the world and unforgivable curses.

A/N: To all of you who thought that last chapter was cute and fluffy had me cackling because I knew this was coming and I would say I’m sorry but that would be a lie. This is heavy angst and oh my goodness it feels good to write angst again. And this isn’t the entirety of the angst I have planned for these two. Anyway, I love you all so so much! This is also live on AO3! Also if you want a song to listen with this please enjoy Haunted by Taylor Swift

Warnings: Since this chapter is angsty I do want to warn against those of you who might trigger with depression or have self esteem battles. There is also sexual harassment but though it is terrible, it’s not the main focus. There will be resolve though, I promise. You battle is not over. Always keep fighting.

“You’re creating a draft dear,” Narcissa spoke softly, not looking up from The Daily Prophet.

“He hasn’t responded to my letter. And I still hear word that he is with this... this Lupine, the daughter of Jezebel herself!” Lucius sneered. “This is why I didn’t want to send him to that school. The fool Dumbledore doesn’t know how to run it properly.” Venom dripped from his words.

“Dumbledore has nothing to do with your son’s affair,” Narcissa noted.

“He’s making a fool of the family name Narcissa!” Lucius roared. “After everything that I have done for that boy!”

“Then why are you sitting here scolding me and not scolding at him?” She looked up from the newspaper with a stern cold glare.

“I’m going to put an end to this. This girl will rue the day she ever decided to talk to my son,” Lucius stormed upstairs, planning for the trip ahead.

“Just another Christmas,” She sighed and picked up the letter from Draco that she had received earlier and tucked it away before her husband could see it.

~

Mother,

I am sorry. But I won’t stop. This is my life. 

Happy Christmas

Draco

~ ____________________________

A new song began once more, and Draco and I fell into step again. Hermione and I shared a passing smile as we passed another on the dance floor. The same shining look was shared in our eyes.

As the second, or maybe third, dance ended, Draco led us over to the table where Harry and Ron were sulking. Knowing better than to poke a sleeping bear, I sent Draco off to get drinks as I sat and rested, catching my breath.

“This is unbelievable. Hermione and Krum, you and Malfoy, is the entire world ending?” Ron muttered.

I laughed and patted his arm.

“It’s your own fault she’s not here with you.” I pointed out.

“What’s what supposed to mean?”

Ron didn’t have my attention though. Instead, my eyes met someone else’s. Blue, but older, crueler. My mood darkened as did my look as both Ron and Harry noticed.

“What is he doing here?” Harry asked standing.

“I’ll... I’ll be back,” I gritted out, standing.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Ron asked as I kept walking, not bothering to answer him.

I held my head high and took a deep breath, sifting through the thoughts, insults and curses that flitted through my head. I kept a cool distance between us, but it wasn’t enough. I could feel the hatred radiate off of him and seep into my skin.

“Mr. Malfoy,” I clenched my fists. “I wasn’t aware that you were coming tonight,”

“Obviously, you foolish girl,” He snapped and it had the effect of a slap to the face. His voice was the same as being dragged under the ice of a frozen lake: cold and unforgiving.

“My apologies.” I hissed taking another deep breath through my teeth. “But I do believe that parents were not invited tonight as it is a chance for the students from different schools to get to know another,” A placid smile graced my wicked tone.

“Mind your tongue little girl, you speak of things you do not understand,” He had the same look on his face that Snape did when he berated me in class, but this malice had no intention of construction behind it.

“And how would you know what I understand?” I answered coolly.

“Your foolish mother hid you away from our world. You do not belong among us and you do not belong with my son.” His words burned like acid on my heart.

“You have no authority over me, nor do you have authority to tell me who I am or where I belong Mr. Malfoy.” I retorted, determined and stubborn.

I wouldn’t show him that he got under my skin. I wouldn’t.

“Good night,” Mocking a bow I turned against my better judgement and headed back towards my friends and the fervor of the party.

“And where is my son now Miss Lupine?” There was a wickedly malicious tone in his words as a familiar grin curled on Lucius’ face.

I kept walking, however, pushing the conversation far from my mind and tried to find Draco and pull him away from this place and from his father. He deserved to be happy for a night and not have to fret about his father.

Harry looked like he was about to plan murder and Hermione’s face was crestfallen, as if she were close to tears.

“What?” I asked, harsher than I meant to.

“You need to see this,” Hermione whispered softly, taking my hand and leading me out of the Great Hall and to a side hallway that lead to the classrooms.

_____________________________________

Draco went over to the table with refreshments and waited beside Krum to get drinks, exchanging pleasantries.

“Imperio,” Draco froze.

Set the drinks down and find Pansy Parkinson. His father’s voice was in his mind, but this time he couldn’t ignore it. He had to obey.

Draco did as he was told. He found Pansy, who was smiling wickedly at him. 

“Finally come to your senses then?” She purred.

Say yes. The voice hissed

Draco nodded.

“This is going to be so much fun. I am going to break her,” Pansy took Draco’s hand and led him to a hallway.

You will do whatever Pansy wishes from you. You will not question. You will not disobey.

But what about her? Who was Pansy talking about? Draco asked the voice of his father.

YOU WILL NOT ASK QUESTIONS!! The voice roared.

Draco complied. Something nagged at him, however. A loose thread that he pulled at. Her. Who was she? Why did he care? Why did she make being with Pansy feel wrong? Who was she?

Pansy pulled him close and pressed him against a wall. Her lips were on his and he couldn’t let go that this was wrong. This isn’t who he should be kissing.

You will not defy me. Kiss Pansy back. The voice hissed.

Against his will, Draco’s hands cradled Pansy’s face as he kissed her back, not letting go that this was wrong.

________________________________

I stopped.

My entire world stopped.

My breathing stopped.

My heart stopped.

“I’m so sorry Y/n,” Hermione whispered as she rubbed my arm.

I shook her off, tears pricking my eyes and anger growing in my chest as my breathing quickened.

“This... this can’t... he wouldn’t.” I breathed out.

__________________________________

Draco’s concentration broke as he heard her voice.

“He wouldn’t,” The voice said, sorrow coating them.

This was her. He knew it was her. The murkiness in his mind faded as he thought about knowing it was her. With the fading of muddiness came a burn that replaced it.

You will obey. His father hissed in his mind

You won’t hurt her! Draco roared back. Not... not her. Liquid fire coursed through his veins.

Lie to her. Tell her you don’t love her. Tell her she means nothing. Tell her she is worthless, and it was all a ploy. A trick. Nothing more than to watch her break into nothing before you.

Draco let go of Pansy and pushed her away, turning to her. A few short steps and she was a lot closer. Yet, she backed away, tears streaming down her face.

“I trusted you!” She screamed at him. “Was this all just a game!?”

Her words cut deep. They cut deeper than the ties that bound him to his father. This pain that her voice held, the pain that it caused him was stronger than anything he had ever felt.

Tell her it was a game. His father’s voice was fainter now.

No. Draco snarled, the defiance burning his insides.

“I loved you Draco! I let you in! For the first time in my life I let someone in! And you...” The agony of her words broke every chain, but the first three words freed him entirely.

I love you too, He thought softly.

“Y/n,” Draco whispered.

He watched as tears streamed down you face.

“Don’t,” You hissed. “Just... don’t even. Whatever this was... it’s over.”

Without a second going by you tore off the necklace that he had given you that morning and threw it at his feet before taking off down the hall, away from him. And he was frozen in his place, ringing in his ear, a headache piercing his mind but what brought him to his knees was the severing of something much more precious and breaking of something more sacred.

____________________________________

Again, I ran away from a fight

And I ran.

And ran.

Until the lights were far gone and I was alone.

Thoughts and doubts and demons were swirling in my mind. The same ones I had spent years controlling. Ones that I had spent years overcoming. Becoming stronger than.

And now their bonds were broken, and they were free.

You’re nothing and you always have been. You really think that anyone wants you like this? I told you that you’d never be happy. I don’t know why you ever tried. Every time you love someone you get hurt. You’re not meant to be happy. There’s no point.

I screamed a plea as I fell into the snow, my fingers digging into my hair, dislodging it painfully from the bun it was in, not that I noticed.

“There is a point!” I cried out, tears streaming down my face.

On my knees I curled up small, hunching over, sobs wracking through my chest.

“I deserve to be happy!” I screeched. “I like me! I love me! I am something worth living for!”

Again, and again I tried in vain to fight back against the demons that yanked me to the depths of hell.

“I know who I am! No one can take it away from me!” I bawled.

But did Draco just take it from you? That was the thought that had me on my knees. You trusted him and he ripped you to pieces. I told you not to trust anyone.

Draco. Draco... Draco.

“Draco,” I whimpered. “Why? Why? Why!?” Another strangled cry left my throat.

_____________________________

Draco miserably looked up, face to face with three furious Gryffindors and their wands.

“You absolute piece of shit!” Ron yelled. “How dare you!?”

“You don’t understand!” He leapt to his feet. “Merlin, I have to find her.” His thoughts began to race as he tried to think of where you would run to.

“Not a chance Malfoy,” Hermione sneered. “You’re not going near her!”

“And are you going to stop me?” He snarled, drawing his own wand.

Ron stepped in front of Hermione and Draco paused, taking a deep breath.

“Something... controlled me. It was in my head. I couldn’t fight it.” His eyes met Hermione’s. “I would never want to hurt her, not like this, not ever. Please Hermione,”

“And why should we listen to you?” Harry demanded. “You lie all the time. This could just be another Slytherin ploy.”

“Because I might have lost the one girl I ever loved and who ever loved me. Please,”

Draco’s wand slipped through his fingers and hit the ground with a deafening clatter as he rose his hands in surrender.

“Please, Harry, I love her,”

The three lowered their wands, in utter shock. 

“Herm-own-ninny,”

Tension broke as everyone turned to face Krum.

“He’z telling ze truth. Zomeone ‘laced an Imperius Curse on ‘im. I waz ‘side him when it ‘appened, zough I wazn’t quite ‘ure wot did ‘appen, bu’ I am now.” Krum’s accent was laid on thick as he explained quickly.

“Go!” Hermione yelled at Draco, throwing him his wand and glaring down who he assumed was Pansy behind him. Not that he cared. He had to find you.

____________________________________

“Y/n!” The voice was muddled in my mind. “Y/n, I know you’re out here! Please!”

“No,” I murmured. “Not him, not now,” I begged.

“Merlin, Y/n,” The sound of footsteps in the snow halted, but I could still feel him move closer.

“Go aw-way,” I breathed out, my fight gone.

“Y/n, where’s your wand?” His voice was hesitant and cautious.

“M-my r-r-room,” I answered miserable. “L-leave me al-l-lone,”

“Y/n... please,”

His voice was so near. As if he were kneeling next to me. If I opened my eyes and reached out, there wasn’t a doubt that I could touch him.

“You took everything” I whimpered. “I... I have nothing. Your father was right...” 

“My father?” He asked.

“He was here tonight...”

“Blood hell!” Draco snapped. “It was him! How dare he!”

A frustrated roar left Draco’s lips and pierced what was left my soul as I curled up smaller. My finger curled into the dirt below me, the coolness of it was almost refreshing. Awareness dawned on me that I felt feverish. My hands splayed out in the dirt, grasping for the chill. Anything to take away the heat.

My mind began to think outside of numbness.

...dirt?

“Why didn’t you tell me he was here?” Draco demanded, but I paid him no mind. My eyes flashed open, looking down at dirt and grass, in the dead of winter.

“He cursed me! I never thought... the gall,” Draco hissed.

“Draco,” My breathing quickened as my anxiety heightened with my breath. “The ground Draco,”

He wasn’t listening, instead, he was ranting on about something that didn’t hold my attention at the moment.

“Draco!” I yelled.

Blue eyes snapped to mine, filled with craze and worry and anger. 

“The ground,” I gaped. “What... what did you do?”

.

.

Part 13?

Tags: @un-limiteddd @geekysimmerthings @coffee-addicti @ilikestuffproductions @msmcsmutt @ravn-87 @artemismohr18 @whygz @crazywritingbug @dolphincommander @bisexualbumblebeesstuff @fuzzy-panda @bitemebro522 @zombiesnips-blog @jillanaholland @shookyungsoo @savingdraco @welcometomyworldwithoutrules @akari180 @slytherin-emerald @chaotic-good-gemini @memalfoy-spidey @theres-a-dog-outside-omg @queenfeatherwings @fanficflaneuse @go-whovian-universe @spicyshenanigans @darling-im-not-okay-i-promise @dietkiwi @katsukink @takemetothekingdom @strangerr-things @tmnt-queen @mccloudchloe @hxneybgb @justsomerandomgur​ @belcvayelena​ @moviesbooksandfandoms​ @howdycharlie​ @littlethingsinmymindla​ @xtrashmouthxtozierx​ @cocochanelthepupper​ @ninacotte​ @mccloudchloe​

#draco malfoy #draco x reader #draco x gryffindor!reader #draco x y/n #draco malfoy x oc #draco malfoy x reader #draco malfoy x y/n #draco malfoy x #draco m #draco speaks #slytherin x gryffindor #ron weasley #slytherin #weasley twins #hermione granger #gryffindor #hagrid #ravenclaw #hufflepuff #harry potter #pansy parkinson #lucius malfoy #malfoy #narcissa malfoy #yule ball #triwizard cup #triwizard champions #triwizard tournament #hogwarts #hp x reader

[kaemulti]

(this is for the like five people who liked my post about me writing this 😤✊🏾and i have an AO3 account but i don’t want my kpop fan life and my non kpop fan life to clash right now so hopefully i can post the chapters for this fic here. i hope i’m doing this right, i literally got tumblr like a month or two ago so pls be nice 💀💀)

DEADLY DANCE:

—————————-

Story Summary: Korra Kuruk is an eighteen year old agent of The Air Temple Agency that has been tasked with bringing a rival company’s top teen agent to justice for her crimes. Korra, code name Water Tribe, must figure out what the true identity of the elusive Metal Bender is and what heinous acts her villainous agency is currently planning. How will Korra handle finding out her target is the one person she least expected and what will she do when that same person needs saving?

Deadly Dance : Chapter One : Little Miss Perfect

Kuvira shut her eyes tightly, taking a deep breath through her nose until it filled every inch of her lungs. She slowly let it out once she couldn’t take in any more oxygen and opened her eyes with new determination, deep breath centering her thoughts and calming any nerves that might be lingering. She could feel the whole room’s eyes on her, whole class practically on the edge of their seats as they watched her prepare for the final part of the combination. Kuvira smirked, an evil, sly smirk that would have easily given away her true personality if any of her peers were actually that observant. Fortunately, they were all far to enthralled with her movement, eyes widening as she extended her arms and raised her head. A beat, and she was off, turning and waltzing like she was floating through the air as the music rose in volume. She could feel the sweat running down the sides if her face, causing her skin to itch, but she couldn’t care less, she was electric right now, practically on fire as she completed all the steps without a hitch. Her face never broke from the innocent and vulnerable look of the character she was playing. Her limbs were long and free, passion practically seeping from every pore as the combination came to a close. She ended the fouetté sequence flawlessly, face refusing to show how increasingly uncomfortable her pointe shoes became pain an afterthought to the captivating performance she was seconds away from nailing. With one last turn, she took her ending position, chest slowly rising and falling as the music faded away to silence.

“Absolutely fantastic as always, Kuvira! Everyone please give her a round of applause.” The teacher said enthusiastically, smile wide as she praised her best student.

Kuvira smiled softly as she bowed for the applause from the class. The praise was cut short as the third period bell had rang, meaning they had spent their five minute time period for changing back into their normal clothes watching Kuvira complete the combination.

“Oh, spirits! That’s the bell, sorry I kept you everyone! Hurry and change, those of you headed to lunch should be fine but I’ll write slips for anyone who is going to a class period! Hurry, hurry! Great work today!” The teacher said as her students scrambled around the room.

Kuvira quickly dropped to the floor, hastily taking off her pointe shoes and shoving them into her dance bag. She jogged to the dressing room and begun to change, ripping off her constricting tights and deciding to exchange her bra for her leotard to save time. She finished pulling her skirt on and adjusted her turtle neck, haphazardly slipping on her sneakers as she rushed out of the door.

Luckily for her, the lunch room was only a couple doors down, unluckily for her however, she didn’t pack a lunch and waiting in the line is known to take half of their lunch period. She pushed passed some students in the hallway, raising the tone of her voice to give half hearted apologies as she did so, not that they knew that of course. When she finally made it to the lunch room she scanned the area for the table with her friends, smiling once she caught sight of them.

Being at this school was her least favorite thing ever so the fact she had actually found a couple people that cared enough to talk to her had been a blessing.

“Nice job today, Kuvira!”

“You totally owned that combo! I wish I could dance like that!”

“You should be proud of yourself.”

The praises weren’t new to her so Kuvira simply offered a smile and a couple thank you’s as she reached the table.

“Well if it isn’t the swan princess herself.” Wing teased as she sat down.

“Haha, very funny, Wing. I told you not to call me that when we’re not in practice, especially because we aren’t even doing that ballet this year.” Kuvira said light heartedly as she pulled out her makeup compact.

“My apologies, Great Uniter.” He said with a bow and smirk. The Avatar ballet had been widely requested by everyone in the dance department and Kuvira was beyond happy when she got picked to play the avatar’s ultimate rival, The Great Uniter.

“How was class?” Baatar asked shyly, barely making eye contact with her as he did so.

“It was fine, my feet are killing me but ballet is my second favorite dance class so I don’t mind.” She replied sweetly as she put on her eyeliner.

“I’ll never understand how you can do that so flawlessly, are you just perfect or something?” Wei asked as he practically inhaled one of his spring rolls.

“I wouldn’t say “perfect”, just skilled.” She lied, adding a sharp tail to the liner. She was playing a character right now and, sadly, acting cocky wasn’t in the script.

“I just don’t get how she got here so fast!” Korra panted, placing her backpack on the floor as she slumped on the table. She had gotten lost in the sea of people all trying to get to lunch on time from dance and had to race to avoid the hall monitor.

“Maybe you’re slower than you thought.” Mako joked, offering her part of his sandwich like he always does. He loved Korra to death but that girl was so frantic she basically forgot her lunch three times a week.

“Must you bully me after I almost got trampled in the hallway, again?! I’m hurting.” She pouted, taking her half of the sandwich from him and eating most of it in one go.

“Maybe if you actually started telling Mrs. Xiao when you have five minutes left of class you’d be here on time.” Asami smirked, not even looking up from her chemistry homework to tease the panting girl.

“I would have but she was too busy watching Kuvira prance around the room.” Korra said with her mouth full, rolling her eyes as she thought of the older dancer flawlessly completing that day’s combination.

“I’ll never understand why she gets under your skin so bad, Kor, she’s literally an angel. Honestly, I don’t even think she’d hurt a fly if she had the chance. Besides, you guys are rivals in the ballet, not real life.” Bolin said, blowing on his noodles to cool them down before sucking them up violently.

“And I don’t see why you don’t, just look at her! Being the center of attention every chance she gets.” Korra pouted, gesturing to the girl doing her makeup in her small hand held mirror a couple tables down.

“Are you gonna leave your hair like that the whole day?” Huan asked Kuvira, face contouring to a grimace.

“Shoot, (spirits, she wishes she could’ve cursed) I didnt even notice, thanks, Huan.” She said, placing the compact down so she could dig through her bag for a brush. She always forgot to take her hair out of her ballet bun and Huan, being the guy who was absolutely incapable of staying out of other people’s fashion choices, never let her forget. Kuvira still remembers how she had to force a smile and act like she didn’t want to bust his jaw that one time he said she looked like a snob when her hair was up.

He was right of course, but it still annoyed her.

Kuvira pulled out the brush she was looking for and set it on the table as she started removing the bobby pins from her hair. She smiled a bit to herself as she got the last one out, her favorite part was next, letting her hair down as she felt everyone watch.

She let the bun unravel as she gracefully shook her head, long, dark waves cascading down her back, almost reaching her butt. Honestly, she needed a trim, she’d have to remind Unalaq to make time in her schedule to get one.

Kuvira picked up the brush and ran it through her hair just enough to make it look neat but not enough to brush out the waves. She could feel several eyes on her, both male and female, as she did so. Kuvira wasn’t oblivious, despite how she acted as her character, she knew she was way above average in looks and she liked the eyes on her, craved them even. She opened her eyes and smiled as she caught Baatar looking at her.

Kuvira liked catching him watching her the most because she knew he’d never have a chance with her, no matter how much he wanted one.

“Looks like the line is shorter now, I’m gonna go grab lunch.” She said sweetly, quickly whipping her head around to eye how many people were still waiting in the line. She was fast enough to identify ten sets, five more than last time, of eyes on her before they frantically looked away as she searched for eye contact. She stood up and flipped her hair, strutting to the lunch line with an innocent smile.

“Ok, but it’s not her fault she’s gorgeous, Korra, that’s hardly a reason to hate her.” Bolin said, back at their table, pulling Korra out of her daze as she watched the older girl strut to the lunch line.

“I never said I hated her, she just...bugs me...” Korra replied, crossing her arms with a huff. Ever since the first day Kuvira had transferred to their school something about her seemed too good to be true, leaving a nasty taste in Korra’s mouth when interacting with the older girl.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a crush on her, Kor.” Asami said, finally looking up from her, now finished, homework to quirk her brow at the pouty girl.

“Wha-no. No! I do not have a crush on little miss perfect, sprits!” Korra said, annoyance clear in her voice as she furrowed her brow at her friend’s accusatory tone.

“Whatever you say, you should really just ask her to the formal in two months.” Mako said before he drank from his water bottle.

“I will not! I don’t even like her like that. Tui and La you guys are impossible!” Korra said, standing up from her seat and heading to the lunch line—because she was hungry! Not so she could stand next to Kuvira, she had more dignity than that thank you very much.

“Hey, Kuvira! How are you today?” Ms. Li, one of the lunch ladies said sweetly.

“I am great, Yuyan, thank you for asking. How about yourself?” Kuvira replied politely. That was one thing Unalaq could never shake from her, her manners for people less fortunate than she was. She had spent a lot of time talking to the school staff when she first got this assignment, she would tell her bosses it’s so she could find her target quicker but that was all a lie. To most, she might be considered to be on the wrong side of history, even if she thought that was nonsense, but that didn’t mean she was soulless. She only wanted the best for these people, why would she be cold if she didn’t have to be?

“Well, I could be better, these kids really don’t know how to say a simple please and thank you. It, um, it gets to you sometimes, you know? But, hey, I guess it could always be worse. Thank you so much for ask—Oh! That reminds me, me and a couple of the other lunch ladies made this for you, since you are such a big help around here.” Ms. Li said, reaching behind her to grab a small chocolate cupcake before handing it to Kuvira.

“Thank you so much, it looks delicious.” Kuvira said, accepting the sweet treat and placing it on her tray with the rest of her food.

“Of course! Anything for our favorite student. Congratulations on getting the part of The Great Uniter by the way, we look forward to seeing you shine!” Ms. Li smiled.

Kuvira smiled brightly as she punched in her lunch number, swiping her school card quickly. She appreciated the praise and she new she deserved it, but too much of it could make her uncomfortable. She said one more thank you to Ms. Li and headed back to her table.

As she was walking however, she almost ran right into someone who was clearly not watching where they were going. If she had been anyone else, her tray would’ve went flying, along with the items on it, and there’d be a huge mess, luckily she wasn’t anyone else. She was Kuvira, member of the Metal clan, the most highly trained spy organization in the world, and she’d be damned if she let her special cupcake get squashed. She easily spun around the person, gracefully hoping one of the railings to catch her airborne tray, every single item she had purchased returning to their places. Well, all except her juice box, which was still airborne, about to land on the ground behind her. She whipped her head back around and made a move to catch it but instead saw her onstage rival, The Avatar, played by Korra Kuruk, hopping the same railing to catch the juice box before it hit the ground, her own lunch items fully intact on her own tray despite the vigorous movement.

“I am so sorry about that! Here, wouldn’t want you to lose this.” Korra said apologetically as she held out the juice box to a wide eyed Kuvira.

As soon as they made eye contact Korra seemed to have picked up on what had actually happened, her own eyes going wide as Kuvira snatched the juice box from her hands.

Before either of them could say anything, the pieces finally falling into place and their initial shock quickly flipping to furry, the fire alarm went off, blaring loudly in everyone’s ears and causing several people, excluding Korra and Kuvira of course, to flinch in their seats. They had been trained better than to get startled by a sudden noise.

“Ok, ok, everyone please grab your phones, and I mean only your phones, and exit the building!” One of the lunch monitors said, ushering kids out of the back entrance so they could head to the field.

Both girls glared at each other, breath heavy in a rage as they did so, before going their separate ways to their respective tables. Kuvira grabbed her phone and followed Baatar out of the lunch room, not bothering to look back at Korra. Nobody at her table asked questions, not having been paying attention to Kuvira when she left the table.

Korra however, returned to a table full of wide eyes and slacked jaws, her friends having watched the whole ordeal after Korra bailed at the mention of a crush.

“That was some ninja shit, Korra! Wh- How- When! When did you even learn how to do that?!” Wu asked, most likely coming off of his hall monitor shift to eat lunch with them moments before the alarm sounded.

“Movies. Come on, we need to get outside.” She said, anger clouding her eyes and lowering her voice. Nobody asked any more questions and, even if they wanted to, Korra was already walking away, one foot out of the door

One thing’s for sure, Korra now had more reason than ever to hate Kuvira.

Kuvira was undoubtably the Metal Clan Protegé that Korra was tasked with arresting for crimes against the environment and the less fortunate.

#lok #tlok #the legend of korra #legend of korra #korra #korra and kuvira #tlok kuvira #kuvira #the great uniter #great uniter #korvira #korvirasami #kuvira week

[iamthelostsundrop]

Apologize

ALRIGHT FUCKERS IM GONNA WARN YOU RIGHT HERE THIS PROBABLY WILL BE TRIGGERING TO SOME!!! Avoid if you are triggered by anything related o Abusive Relationships, Abuse, Trauma involving being harmed by someone else, Domestic Abuse, Domestic Violence or ANYTHING RELATED YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!!! THIS DOES NOT HAVE A HAPPY ENDING

This was a cola with my very best friend who does not have a tumblr, we will call her Lady Of Slytherin. Thank you Lady Sly for helping me relate this twisted masterpiece.

Dabi X Reader 2400+ words enjoy our filth

🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥☄️🔥

You’d been through so much together. Every time he fucked up, you gave him another chance. You fell for the puppy dog eyes. Those blue eyes that you got lost in every time. You couldn’t say no to him. But this time, Dabi had gone too far, and you didn’t think you could come back from this.

You met him at a bar of all places. A skeevy bar your best friend Himiko convinced you was the best place to meet guys after your last break up.

“I promise, (Y/N), this place is awesome and I promise you’ll find someone.”

You rolled your eyes at her but continued to let yourself be dragged towards the alleyway and the sign lighting up the dark with neon letters that spelled BAR. “Yeah. Right”

The place was creepy to say the least; no more than five people in the whole place. Of course this would be the place your friend dragged you to. She was always finding these backwoods, out of the way places to go.

You instantly went up to the bartender and ordered a strong drink. You sensed you were going to need it. Toga was already off in the corner talking to some guy with blue hair whose face you couldn’t see. He seemed agitated and kept gesturing back to you. You hurried your head in your drink and quickly ordered another. You weren’t getting a very good feeling, but you still took the moment to look around at the other patrons. There was Himiko and the blue haired young man in the corner. A tall man in a top hat and tailcoat like he was going to perform at the circus later. One man seemed to have some sort of animal like quirk, his body resembled a lizard. The bartender himself seemed to be made of blue black swirling mist. Finally the last patron was a young man, about your age, with patchwork skin. You looked over at him with interest, he was cute for sure. Maybe this bar wasn’t such a bad idea.

Toga skipped back over to you with a mixed look on her face. “So. I may have gotten into a little trouble for bringing you here but that’s okay. Boss said you could stay since you’re quirkless.”

You gave her a perturbed look, but before you could speak she grabbed your arm and dragged you to each bar patron and introduced you. They all seemed friendly enough, Spinner and Mr. Compress anyway. Tomura didn’t seem too excited about you being there, like you’d intruded on some secret boys club. He kept his face hidden from you, but you didn’t mind so much. You were a guest in their bar, you’d be respectful of their wishes. Toga had explained this was the meeting place of their secret club. You were fine with that. When she pulled you back to the bar, you noticed the handsome man again. “Whose that?”

Toga looked over to the man and rolled her eyes. “That’s Dabi. Tall, dark and brooding.” A dark and excited look passed her face “Just your type” Before you could speak, she had you by the arm and dragged you over to him. “Dabi. Meet my very bestest friend ever, (Y/N)” she said, unceremoniously pushing you into the chair next to him.

You stared daggers into your best friend, who of course ignored you. “Sorry. Toga is a bit much” The young man gave you a curt smirk, looking you up and down with those piercing turquoise eyes. “Don’t, worry about it. I’m used to her brand of fun. Nice to meet you.” He gave you a dashing smile, and you melted. “Kuroguri, why don’t you get the lady another drink”

From that moment on, Dabi had you eating out of the palm of his hand. You became a regular at the bar the League inhabited. They all knew you by name, and even Shiggy got used to you being around. Once he and the others knew you wouldn’t turn them in to the heroes they all relaxed a little bit.

Toga was over the moon when you started hanging around more, and she teased you endlessly after that first night when you let Dabi escort you home. “I know you would like him! I am the best matchmaker in the whole world.”

You didn’t want to admit it, but she was right. You and Dabi got along swimmingly, which you would have never expected given his bad boy persona. You had always been the goody goody girl. Straight A’s, Perfect attendance, all of that. That changed when you started seeing him. He'd show up at your window while you were getting ready for class, comment on your schoolgirl skirt and inevitably sweet talk you into bed and convince you to spend the day with him. When he couldn’t convince you, you spent your day in class daydreaming about the night before. You spent all of your free time at the bar with the league. You’d even gone so far as to help them out with menial tasks such as fetching specific things they needed for their plans Ana’s even doing a little bit of spying on the UA kids.

You tried your best to please him and keep Dabi happy, but it wasn’t always easy. He was moody sometimes and you didn’t do what he wanted quick enough and he got annoyed and cranky. If he was having a particularly bad day, he’d take it out on you. Depending on how bad it was, he would yell, push you around, squeeze your arm or wrist so hard that you bruised or got a sprain. It always seemed worse whenever you were watching TV together and Endeavor appeared. A severely sprained and bruised wrist taught you very quickly not to ask Dabi why the sight of the No. 2 hero made him so mad and you never brought up the man around him either.

Despite all this, Dabi had never seriously hurt you. After every incident, he had always apologized and it led to fantastic makeup sex. You didn’t mind, you loved him. He made you feel so very much alive. He made you feel like the most beautiful creature on earth whenever he’d talk to you in that sweet little way that he only reserved for you, kiss you until your knees buckled in bliss. You would do anything for him, set the whole world on fire and bring him Endevor’s head to see that smile that Dabi would give only you; you weren’t stupid enough to take on the flaming bastard, you knew very well that it would end badly for you and lead the heroes back to the League. Even if you were caught and tortured, you’d never betray the man you loved and your new friends.

But then came that day that changed everything forever. It had been an honest mistake. Just because you were helping the League, didn’t mean you were completely heartless. So when you saw a man in a wheelchair at the nearby market struggling to reach some things, you immediately went over to help. He was very good looking, but had nothing on Dabi of course. This guy had the wholesome good guy act going on, so it wasn’t a turn on for you

He thanked you profusely, looking rather sheepish over the fact that he needed help with doing some basic tasks. He admitted that while the accident that put him in the wheelchair had happened some time ago, he was still trying to adjust to doing things differently.

You smiled, amused by his bashful expression and offered to help him around the store. He agreed and you two were off. As you helped him shop, you learned he had a brother in high school and you could hear the pride in his voice as he talked about his little brother taking up the family mantle. It made you wish your own family had talked about you that way. Once finished, you helped him secure his bags and walked him out of the store, bidding him farewell as he wheeled away.

But little did you know that someone had seen the entire interaction as teal eyes ablaze with fury watched you from the alley as you walked towards the bar. After everything he had done for you, after sticking up for you, after convincing the others to let you stay, after all the love he had given you, this was how you repaid him? Forget about the League punishing you for this serious transgression, he’d punish you himself and he’d make sure you wouldn’t forget it.

He hit you when you least expected it. You had said goodbye to the man in the chair and made your way to the bar, taking a shortcut you knew would get you to your boyfriend quicker when you were hit from behind, hard. You were knocked off your feet and you skidded on the unforgiving ground a few feet away from where you’d been standing. Head pounding, you turned to see your attacker, surprise in your eyes slowly turning to terror. You’d never seen Dabi this angry before. His eyes seemed to glow with fury.

“Babe, what-“ He cut you off with a blow of cold fire directly to your left, destroying a trash bin.

“Don’t you babe me you treacherous slut” he seethed as he walked closer to you.

You scooted away from him, purse forgotten on the ground. You were so confused. What was he talking about?

“You think you can just go around flirting with heroes whenever you want?”

What? Flirting? Wait.

“You mean me helping that man back there? He was in a wheelchair and he was struggling with his things. I’m not a hero but I’m not heartless, Dabi. I wasn’t going to stand by and wat-“ The ground next to you exploded in blue flames as he cut you off again.

“You’re not listening here babe,” The patchwork villain kneeled down and put his face next to yours and a tight hand on your upper arm. “You’re my girl. That means,” the cold heat creeped up to your shoulder and down to your fingertips as he ignited your arm. Before you could scream, his free hand covered your mouth. “That you’re mine. You do as I say. You go where I tell you to go. You talk to who I say you can talk to. No one else. Listen babe. You don't have friends anymore. Just me. You’d have nothing without me. I took such good care of you, loved you when no one else would. And then you go and throw it all back in my face by acting like a worthless whore for some paralyzed ex hero who probably can’t even get it up anymore. Got anything to say in your defense, fucking whore?”

You were speechless. What the hell was he talking about? You stumbled over your words before you finally said something.

“I’m sorry. I didn't know. I thought I was being nice. It won't happen again. I promise!” Tears were pouring down your face as you silently begged for him to let you go, to turn back into the man you knew and loved, not this terrifying stranger before you.

“You’re damn fucking right it won’t happen again, bitch. Because I’m going to give you a little reminder of just who you belong to, one you won’t ever forget. Then no one but me will ever want you!” An evil grin overtook his face, distorting his face, the flames making him look like a demon from hell sent to torment you.

Searing pain laced through your arm as the scent of burning flesh filled the air, the sound of sizzling flesh was drowned out by your blood curdling screams of agony. You writhed and wordlessly begged for release, but Dabi refused to let go, squeezing his hand even tighter until you felt your arm snap and the flames delve deeper than your skin, searing the muscle and tissues beneath.

When he finally let go, you fell back against the ground, hardly registering anything else but the overwhelming pain that flared with every breath she took. She dared to look at her arm and what she saw made her nearly vomit. Her arm had been burnt nearly black, blistering blood oozed from the handprint on her arm. He had branded her, like she was some sort of cattle. If infection didn’t kill her first, she’d possibly have to remove her arm, as he had basically reduced part of her arm to nothing more than a charred piece of meat. She couldn’t even feel anything below her arm anymore. She stared up at him in disbelief through her tears. This wasn’t her Dabi, she didn’t know this animal that had hurt her so badly. She let out a broken sob, attempting to scramble away.

That one pitiful sound seemed to snap Dabi from his fit of madness as he stared down at you with wide eyes. He saw what he had done and felt sick. He had always sworn to never be like Endeavor and yet, he was no better than the flaming bastard. He reached a hand towards you, trying to pull you into his arms. “Y/n… I’m so sorry… I… I didn’t mean it… I didn’t mean to hurt you like that…. Come on, we’ll go inside and get you fixed up, everything will be alright. I’m so sorry… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

You stared at him in a haze of pain. Forgive him? Did he honestly think that you were going to forgive him for this? He burned your fucking arm! You’d probably have to get your arm amputated if you even wanted to survive this. He swore to you so many times that he would never hurt you again. You should leave, get as far away as humanly possible. But… As you stared into his remorseful and terrified face, you began to doubt yourself. Could you really leave him now? Now after everything he had done for you? He loved you right? You loved him still, it was just an accident. Unable to speak, you merely nodded, giving him your silent forgiveness. You whimpered in pain as Dabi carefully scooped you up and carried you back to the bar. The pain was worth it, he was worth it.

Why? Because you loved him.

#dabi x reader #yandere dabi #dabi #domestic violence #domestic abuse #abuse #abusive relationship #trauma involving domestic abuse #mha #my hero academia #mha x reader #boku no hero academia #bnha dabi #mystories

[ellebabywrites]

The Hitman - In Exodus

Type : Oneshot (Part of The In Exodus Series) // Angst // Fluff // Smut // Cartel!au

Warnings : angst, death, cussing

Author Note : This took me far too long and had my anxieties far too high. I’m finally happy with how it turned out and hope you all enjoy it too !! Please give me some feedback because I’ve worked so hard on this chapter..

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀*⋆.*:*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆**･ﾟ: *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:*⋆.*:･ﾟ.: ⋆*･ﾟ☾

The smell of freshly baked croissants flood the streets, a sign that the Bakery is about to open and the day beginning. Shutters rise and doors open. The busting workers of Exodus bracing for the day ahead; a day of sales to kids who can barely walk straight with the amount of poison saturating their bloodstream; a day of fighting with the guy from down the road who insists that things were ‘cheaper last week’; a day of overworking for much less of a profit than it’s all worth. Living the dream.

The bakery was different though. Something about it felt like home, and everyone treated it as such. It was the only building for miles that wasn’t painted in graffiti, the only business that was doing well for itself, a little slice of goodness in the middle of all that bad.

That’s what everyone thinks anyway.

Across the street, Jongin is watching through the scope of his rifle. Watching the Baker unlock his doors and flip the closed sign to open. He scoffs. Such a poser.

Saying Jongin enjoyed his job would be pushing it; how much enjoyment can one really get from taking a life without being a psychopath? But he’d be lying if he said that he wasn’t looking forward to taking out this one particular man.

He watches the Baker great the first of his customers with a toothy grin, hugging Mrs Jamison when she comes in for her regular morning pastry. If only Mrs Jamison knew all the dirty things that man had been doing with the hand she shakes so willingly.

The town’s beloved Baker wasn’t nearly as squeeky clean as he liked everyone to believe. After hours, he found himself in SUjU territory, hanging out with drug runners, dancing around the subject of Exodus till the haze of alcohol took control, divulging any and all information that might get him another drink.

Pathetic Jongin thinks, noticing how the Baker danced around his customers with such fictitious glee, as if he hadn’t sold them out a hundred times over.

Again, not to say EXO were any better, but surely there should be some sense of town loyalty right? Jongin thinks so; making this particular betrayal all the more infuriating and his death all the more inevitable.

Jongin lines up the crosshairs of his gun against the Baker’s head, having the courtesy to wait for the shop to empty. One. The corner of his lips pull into a smirk, the buildup of adrenaline flooding his veins working as his own personal high. Two. Is it sick to say he can’t wait to kill this guy? Maybe? He deserves it Jongin thinks, afterall, he did try and ruin their business for a few shots of tequila. Thr…

“Hey Joey!”

So close…

“Well this is a surprise! How’re you today darlin’?”

Usually, you would only visit Joey’s bakery at the end of the week, needing some sort of sugary treat to get through the piles of work you had to do; but today your classes were cut short and you were gagging for something with chocolate.

“Our professor had to leave early and a girl needs her goodies!” You joked, leaning against the counter.

Joey had been a staple in Exodus for your entire life, the man was everybody’s uncle, everybody’s friend, you could talk to him about anything and your weekly visits had become a huge part of your routine.

“Good job I’ve got a whole bunch for you to choose from duck,” Joey laughs at how your eyes quickly scan over the trays of baked goods like you were a starving puppy, “Ooo I know what you should pick, I need someone to try out my new brownie recipe!”

Fuck. Joey moved away from Jongin’s line of fire just enough to grab the box of brownies from behind the counter, the perfect shot ruined by a few brownies.

“Well if you made them Joey then I’m sure they’re absolutely delicious!” you coo, giggling at how easily you can make him blush.

Just as you were about to leave and the Baker to return to the firing line, a rush of people came flooding into the small shop, putting a stop to whatever chance Jongin had at completing his mission right now.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Nini groans in frustration, packing up his equipment quickly as to get away unnoticed, “he was right there, I could have had him!” It was frustrating sure, delaying his plans a few more hours before there would be another chance to take out his target; but there would be another chance and Jongin would get the job done. So while the sweet-toothed girl had momentarily saved old Joey’s life, it wouldn’t last much longer.

---

The clock read 11:57pm as you were hunched over on the living room floor, trying to finish this essay that you’d definitely not been putting off for weeks…

“Need ...sugar ...immediately..” you whine, dramatically throwing yourself across the floor to grab the box of brownies Baker Joe had gifted you earlier in the day. Mmnn, indulging yourself in the chocolatey goodness, you decide now is the perfect time for a break, only 6,000 words left to go anyway…

Completely oblivious to the ramifications those few brownies had had on the day for more than one party, you munched away the last of them, licking the crumbs from your fingertips and moaning at the euphoria a simple treat could bring.

‘Breaking news tonight : Beloved Exodus baker found dead. The 56 year old’s body was discovered an hour ago near his home, cause of death is officially named as a GSW through the neck…’

A chill runs up your spine as the news plays quietly from the television. Baker Joe was dead. Someone had killed him! You’re confused and hurt and angry all at once. Why would anyone want to hurt Joey? He was one of the only decent people in this shit-show of a city and now he was gone. Your eyes wander to the now empty box of goodies, the bakery’s logo printed on the front in swirly gold font and you feel the sudden need to cry, so you do.

---

Who did this guy think he was? An MX falcone wandering the streets of Exodus without a care in the world, stealing from the market stalls as he sauntered his way through the crowds. Minhyuk is his name. When Baekhyun had gotten word of their latest visitor, Jongin was immediately sent to take care of it. Honestly what did they think was going to happen? That they could just hang out in Exodus without consequence? That no one would be the least bit suspicious?

“You like the farmers market huh,” Jongin keeps a trained eye on Minhyuk as he moves from stall to stall. There were far too many people around for a direct hit so all he could do was watch and wait for the perfect opportunity.

“Why the fuck are you here?” He mumbled in annoyance, MX were getting far too comfortable for anyone’s liking; it was like the calm before the storm, except the storm was standing right in front of him chatting about produce with Mr Kim.

Suddenly, Minhyuk takes a sharp left, making his way out of the bustling crowd towards the alleys. He’d been made. Fuck. Following as quickly as he could, fighting his way through the sea of people, Jongin tries to keep up.

“Excuse me, I’m trying to get to…”

Minhyuk is fast, but maybe if you weren’t standing in front of him, blocking the way, Jongin would have been able to get him.

He doesn’t immediately recognise you. Your hair is tied differently and you’re wearing a different coat, but once Jongin places you as the girl from the bakery, he’s immediately on guard. Twice now you’ve gotten in the way of a hit. Could it just be a coincidence? Sure Exodus is small, you’re bound to run into the same people more than once. Baker Joe’s was a town staple and the market is always busy, but what are the chances? Jongin tries to side-step passed you, eyes scanning the crowds for Minhyuk, but you move along with him.

Holding out a map in front of him, you try again to ask for directions but Jongin doesn’t have time. He doesn’t have time to entertain the possibility that seeing you again could be anything but a coincidence, not when he’s about to lose yet another target.

“Move!”

You watch in astonishment as he pushes you out of the way before storming off. What an asshole you think; all you needed were directions, a simple no would have sufficed. Then again you’d come to expect nothing more from the people of Exodus. Sighing, you carry on your way alone, soon forgetting about the rude man you had met on the street.

---

8am lectures were the bain of your existence, but Professor Jeong’s class was always worth it.

Armed with a large cup of coffee and a stack of notes to aid you through, you made your way to an empty space near the front of the lecture hall. Biology never came easy to you, but the drive you had to succeed more than made up for it.

“Sorry I’m late guys,” Professor Jeong rushed into the busy hall, his own cup of coffee balancing on a pile of books clutched between his arms, “I got caught up with Professor Lyn, he’s such a ...fungi!”

The room fills with groans and muffled laughs at the attempt of a joke so early in the morning, but the Professor didn’t seem to mind. “Okay I’m sorry, let’s get into today. Can anyone tell me where we left off last week? Y/N?”

From the back of the room Jongin notices you.

“Oh you have to got to be kidding me..”

Once again, you happen to show up right in the middle of a job. There had to be a reason. There was no way this could be a coincidence anymore. Were you following him? Working with MX? Trying to get intel on EXO? Jongin didn’t know, but at this point he didn’t care. You were a problem.

Jeong was another star poser in Exodus. The esteemed environmental science professor, that drew students from across the country just to take his conservational bio class. The hotshot teacher who was already in the running for tenure. The slimy asshole that used his connections in the science world to help EXO’s competitors recreate their patented drug.

This was supposed to be an easy hit, wait till after class and use the pocket knife hidden in his belt to slit the professor’s throat before next period. But now, Jongin had to put those plans on hold so that he could figure out what to do about you.

---

Following you was far easier than Jongin had anticipated, thinking that he’d be kept on his toes trying to avoid getting caught, but you seemed completely oblivious to the fact that someone had been following you, watching your routines and judging them oh so harshly.

He kept his distance at first, observing from afar as you went about your daily activities. But soon enough, Jongin found himself immersed in the story that was your life. On the sidelines, a spectator, keeping mental notes of your behaviours.

Keeping space between you, Jongin follows you down the familiar street. He knows exactly where you’re going, the same place you’ve gone to for lunch every day that week. After your first class of the day you head straight to Lou’s café to grab something to eat and get some studying done. Like clockwork, the only thing to change was your order. Jongin would never admit that he’d grown to enjoy the establishment himself, but it was one of the least tedious moments of the day.

With the sky starting to darken in the cold weather, you fumble around your bag for your wallet amongst the loose scrunchies and old receipts, Jongin scoff in disbelief.

“How have you not been jumped yet?” He mumbled to himself. Before you’ve even walked through the café doors you have your money in hand, out in the open for anyone to take. Jongin had picked up on the blissful ignorance you had in regards to the danger in Exodus, instead, choosing to carry on carefree. Stupid he thinks.

Standing in line a few spots behind you, he watches as you let person after person cut in front and he just doesn’t get it. You only have an hour before the start of your next class and yet you’re willingly letting yourself be pushed back? People were clearly taking advantage of your kindness, but you were either incredibly stupid or didn’t care. When the older woman in front of you is a few dollars short, you don’t hesitate before lending her the difference, even putting back your own drink just so you could afford to help her. How could someone so generous be apart of something so evil? Then again, most of Exodus were playing that game.

Grabbing a coffee of his own, Jongin sits a table over from where you plant yourself, what had become your regular spots. Finding amusement in the way you struggle to fit both of your study books in the small space.

Now, only a short while before you needed to be back in class, you attempt to get as much work done while shoveling food down your throat as you could. Jongin thought it was hilarious, bar the tuna mayo that is. “Tuna? Really? It’s 11am jesus christ!” Maybe it was easy for him to judge you from a distance, but out of all the things he’d learnt, your love of tuna was the worst.

He watches your face scrunch and eyebrows furrow as you try and absorb the information, recognising the same study book you’ve been working on all week, the one for Professor Jeong’s class that you’d been struggling with. The pages covered almost entirely in highlighter with notes and doodles littering the margins. Cute.

You just seem so harmless. No matter how hard he tries Jongin just can’t seem to figure you out. Perhaps MX were blackmailing you? Maybe they had something that forced you to be their spy? It was the only explanation he could think of, because it just didn’t seem plausible that the girl in front of him, furiously editing her notes for the hundredth time that hour, the one with drops of mayonnaise left over on the corner of her lips, could be willingly working with the notorious MX. But you were involved somehow, of that he was sure.

---

The library is quiet, the sound of rustling papers and hushed whispers being the only source of noise. Luckily, it was busier than usual due to the wave of group projects being assigned, it made it easy for Jongin to blend in.

He watches you curiously from behind one of the bookshelves, trying to understand why you haven’t slapped the asshole beside you yet. He’d been cutting you off and putting you down every chance he could.

“I just think if we..”

“Seriously Y/N don’t strain yourself, I think we’ve got it.”

Asshole.

Even Jongin wanted to punch this guy. Being the only girl in the group, the others found it easy to dismiss everything you offered.

“Why doesn’t she say anything?” Jongin wondered, once again you were letting people walk all over you.

It’s not like you particularly enjoyed being treated that way, in fact you were daydreaming about slamming said assholes’ face into the wall at that very moment, but you couldn’t do that. This project defines your grade for the semester and you couldn’t afford that kind of taint on your record. So you bite your tongue. Act none the wiser and count the seconds before you could go home and be done with them all.

Across the library you spot Minho, the cute senior who’d been working as the student librarian for the last month or so. He’s scanning out returns at the desk, eyes glancing up occasionally, you presume to keep an eye on things . God he’s cute. When he spots you staring and then takes a look at the rather heated debate going on between your group, he decides to save you from the disarray, waving you over.

“My hero,” you tease, almost running to where Minho is.

“It was getting too painful to watch! What’s he ranting about this time?” He teases playfully, knowing all too well the constant tension in your study group.

“Ugh I don’t even know, it’s so much easier just to tune him out,”

Jongin’s teeth clench watching the exchange between you and the librarian. The childish giggling, the ‘accidental’ touches, the lingering stares. Disgusting.

“Who even is this guy?” If he didn’t know any better Jongin would think this was jealousy, but he did know better, so all of these unfamiliar feelings had to be from just how pitiful the sight was. This guy was clearly flirting with you, the blush on his cheeks and sweaty palms said as much, but from everything Jongin had learnt, you weren’t going to reciprocate. Tragic.

“Are you kidding me? Why is she twirling her hair like that!? He’s not even her type! He’s... he…” his mumbled ranting cut off by the sound of you laughing across the room. “Well if that is her type then no wonder she’s corrupt.”

He watches the pair of you for a little longer before the need to throw up eventually overtakes his need to stay, deciding he could catch you up later and spare himself the torture of sitting through whatever this was.

---

The open sign light bounces off wet concrete, illuminating your face with such a subtle glow of pink that Jongin could barely make out the streaks of tears running down your cheeks. He almost missed you sitting crouched over on the pavement, the smell of smoke being what made him stop. Why is she crying? He thought to himself, seeing you curled up in a ball, cigarette dangling from your fingertips haphazardly concerned him. Jongin didn’t have to wonder for too long though, the closer he got to you the clearer he could hear your muffled cries.

“Stupid fucking Geord,” you cuss, taking another long drag to calm your anxieties, “takes all my ideas, monopolises the entire presentation and then my contribution isn’t enough!?”

Jongin had come to know the infamous Geord all too well this last week, the pompous ass that had belittled you in the library, the snotty rich kid with mommy issues that just loved being right. Honestly the fact he hadn’t killed him yet was an accomplishment in itself; but still, seeing you clearly so upset gave Jongin a weird feeling.

You were either getting much better with your performance skills, or he was actually getting mad for you…

With each sniffle, each tear drop, Jongin felt his resolve breaking away and being replaced with a type of anger he’d never felt before. Why did he care that you were crying? Why was it affecting him so much? He didn’t know, but it took all his strength not to go find Geord and make him regret whatever he’d done.

As quickly as you put out the cigarette that was now burning short, you’re reaching for the box to light another. You only really smoked when you were feeling particularly stressed, Jongin hated it. Ironically it was the most disgusting thing he’d ever seen; painting the walls with someone’s brain was nothing compared to the strong stench of nicotine that passed your lips.

For a second Jongin lets his mind entertain the thought of approaching you, but the professional side of him reminds him who you were. This could be a trick...She’s not an idiot. Then he considers calling you out. Drawing his gun and putting an end to MX’s game once and for all, besides, he’d been observing you for a week now and he couldn’t afford for his attention to be diverted any more, he still had the good old Professor to end.

Before he gets the chance to do either however, you stand up. Taking one last drag before stomping out the flame, your hands carelessly wipe at your face in a feeble attempt at clearing the remnants of your breakdown.

“I’ll be fine, let’s just go home,” you whisper, more than familiar with putting yourself back together and wanting nothing more than a hot bath and warm bed.

---

When you first noticed that the new guy on campus was following you, you tried not to think too much of it. In all honesty, you were far too busy trying to keep on top of everything to pay much attention as to why you were being followed. Knowing the people in Exodus, you figured it was just his creepy way of flirting, or at the very worst he was planning on robbing you, not that you had much to take anyway. But as the days went by and the presence of your stalker persisted, you were growing frustrated. It’d been a stressful week and the last thing you needed was some guy watching your every move.

After getting the results back from Professor Jeong for your group presentation, you weren’t exactly in a ‘good mood’ and the looming shadow of the man trying to be inconspicuous as he followed you home, was the last straw.

"How much longer are you planning on following me?” You shout over your shoulder, not having the energy to even face him. When you get no response, you reluctantly decide to turn around to stare him down.

His chocolate coloured hair is pushed back exposing his forehead, eyes golden but harbouring so much animosity that they could have turned black, the jacket adorning his shoulders almost blending him into the dark street behind. He was handsome, strikingly so.

“Look dude it’s been a long day, can’t you just lay off the stalking for one night?”

Jongin stiffens at your words. So you did know he was there? And chose now, while you were both alone in a dark street, to confront him? God she’s stupid.

“Sorry Darling, can’t do that,” he insisted, watching how your shoulders slumped and fingers twitched at the side of your coat.

“Of course,” sighing deeply, too tired to argue, you decide to continue on towards your apartment, stalker be damned.

“Aren’t MX getting bored of this game yet?” Jognin calls. He figures if you already knew he was following you, then now would be the perfect time to put an end to it. You were alone after all.

When he sees you freeze at the sound of MX, he takes a tentative step closer, you’re still turned away from him, just a few steps ahead. “I mean, were you really the best they could do? We expected more.” The smirk on his face when you turn to him, wide eyed and lost for words, only grows at your reaction. Gotcha.

“What are you talki..”

“Come on now Darling, we both know what’s going on here.”

“I promise you we do not.” You’ve heard whispers of MX around town, while you didn’t know much, you did know that if this guy thought you were somehow apart of it, then this was a dangerous misunderstanding.

“You have a choice.” Jongin takes another step closer, “You can leave, now, and make sure MX stay out of Exodus for good,” Reaching under his jacket, he grabs the gun that’s been burning through the back of his shirt since you called out to him, “Or I can send them a message myself. Choose.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about!” You tried to keep calm, swallowing the lump forming at the back of your throat. When you spotted the gun being pulled from his coat, it was like a pin dropped and the reality of the situation finally began to sink in.

Exodus is a dangerous place. Exodus is full of dangerous people. You were standing alone with a strange man that you’d just yelled at, that had been following you for god knows how long, a gun pointed at your face and not a soul in sight that would help you.

He doesn’t flinch when you jump back, his smirk doesn’t falter when you start begging for him to listen. In Jongin’s mind, the fact you’d acknowledged his presence at all was enough to prove you were involved.

“Please, please, just listen to me, t-there’s been a mistake, I d-don’t kno…”

“Oh my god shut up!” He yelled over your desperate cries, “It’s over! Done!”

“I don’t know who you think I am, b-but my name is Y/N I grew up a few towns over with my parents, I-I study Conservation Biology at the university because when I was little I saw a film about sea turtles and now I love them.. I...” you read somewhere that telling a killer personal information about yourself would make them less likely to kill you; so, with your hands held up in surrender, you start begging, pleading, letting slip every boring and mediocre fact about yourself in hopes that the handsome stranger will let you live.

Jongin was taken aback to say the least. Never had a target begged for their life quite like  this before, but the more you rambled on and the more tears that fell down your cheeks, he couldn’t help it. He believed you.

This is a mistake... Did I mess up here? Fuck! His mind raced to find a way out of this, but his composure was breaking down with each second you plead your case. How could he have gotten things so wrong? Looking at you now; scared and shaking, there was no way you could be with MX. Jongin’s mind quickly looks back on all the time he’d been watching you, at school, at the library, with friends, home alone... Is it possible he let feelings cloud his judgment? No… Jongin didn’t have feelings.

Bang.

In a split second the air was slashed with bullets, plastering the wall behind you with open wounds. Your body drops to the floor, hands covering your ears like a scared child at a fireworks display, your screams piercing through the air.

Jongin doesn’t even think about it before he’s at your side. He fires back some warning shots, just enough to cover the pair of you so he could pull you out of there, but you were frozen in place.

“C’mon we need to get out of here! I can’t get a clear shot!”

Jongin hoisted your trembling body into his arms, waiting for a gap in the bullet wave before rushing out of the street. Weaving between the crumbling buildings, waiting in the shadows for a free moment to sprint out of there to a nearby underpass. It was sheltered and open, meaning Jongin could keep a solid eye on the surroundings while still keeping you safe while he let himself freak out a little.

As soon as he puts you on the ground you melt into the concrete, hugging your knees to your chest and crying into them silently. It’s all too much. How did this happen? Yesterday you were failing Bio and trying to avoid the creeper puppy boy that’d been following you. Now…. you were pretty sure you were going to die tonight.

“Fuck...fuck..fuck, fuck, FUCK!” Jongin paces back and forth, using the barrel of his gun to scratch away the headache slowly spreading across his temples. How could he have messed up this badly? He’s the best… at least... he was the best.

With every footstep he takes you flinch a little, hyper aware of the gun swinging from his hand, fingertip dancing along the trigger. You still don’t know who he is or why you’re there but you’ve seen enough to know to keep quiet. So you stay sitting on the ground, letting the tears melt into the fabric of your jeans, watching the state of panic escalate in the man in front of you while your own turned into something akin to resentment.

After almost half an hour of silently waiting for some sort of direction, you’ve had enough. Eventually Jongin had stopped pacing, choosing to lean up against the wall with head in hands, instead. In your mind, you have nothing to do with this. There is nothing connecting you to whatever chaos was happening here. You had no reason to wait around to get shot.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?!” He shouts, annoyance bubbling beneath his skin.

“Home.”

“You can’t!” Pushing himself off the wall, Jongin reaches for your arm in an attempt to keep you still. You try to shake him off but his grip is too strong.

“I DIDN’T ASK FOR ANY OF THIS!” You’re screaming at him now. Tears no longer from fear, but anger. You feel trapped in whatever this was and it wasn’t fair, you just want to go home.

“Yeah well tough shit Darling, because unfortunately you’re my responsibility now and it’s my job to make sure you don’t get yourself killed!”

“I can take care of myself! I’ve been doing it long enough!” He rolls his eyes at your response, growing tired of trying to be the good guy for once. “Let me go! I’ll be just fine! Like always!”

Finally loosening the grip on your arm, Jongin let’s you storm off. Waiting, only out of spite, for you to be out of ear shot before cussing out loud at himself.

---

Somehow you managed to drag yourself to class. The events of last night still burning fresh at the back of your mind, but you were desperate enough for a distraction that even Professor Jeong’s morning class was worth that extra effort.

Barely able to keep your eyes open with the little sleep you were actually able to get, it takes you a moment to recognise the familiar body that plants themselves in the desk next to yours.

Jongin doesn’t look at you. Maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s nerves, but he keeps his eyes trained on the professor’s desk up front, waiting for his cover to be inevitably blown all for the sake of keeping you safe.

“Good morning class!” The professor’s abrupt entrance pulls your shocked and frustrated gaze from burning holes in the side of Jongin’s neck. His tan skin glowing under the plain white tee he’s wearing, hair falling into his eyes softly, contradicting the hard image he’d worn the night before. Does he have his gun with him? You wonder, letting your eyes wander to the waistband of his jeans, remembering how he’d pulled the weapon from them the night before. Stop! You hope he doesn’t realise you’ve been blankly staring at his crotch, mind racing with questions, you don’t even know his name.

“Today we’re picking up the remaining presentati…” When the admirable Professor meets eyes with Jongin, smirking from his seat beside you knowingly, he loses all train of thought.

It’s a feeling Jongin had missed. When a mark knows they’re done for, that he’s coming for them. When their eyes double in size. When fear pales their skin. When they lose all hope of fucking over EXO and getting away with it.

“T-today..um…” You can see the Professor eyeing your seat partner nervously, stuttering over his words. You’d never seen Jeong like this before, he looked terrified, and after last night it didn’t take a genius to figure out why.

Jongin shifts in his seat, enjoying the effect his presence has on the esteemed scholar. While Jeong tries to regain some semblance of decorum, Jongin wraps one of his arms around your shoulders and squeezes tightly, keeping eye contact with the professor, claiming you.

“What are you doing?” keeping your voice low as to not draw anymore attention to you both, you try to push Jongin’s arm away from you, only for him to put it right back.

“My job. Now be quiet.” He hisses, hiding the harshness of his voice behind a sickly sweet smile.

Professor Jeong spends the entire lecture avoiding your side of the room, refusing to make eye contact, completely ignoring you. You try not to take it personally of course, it’s definitely not because of something you did, that you know for sure; but for once you actually know the answers to some of these questions and want to participate.

“I told you, I can take care of myself!” you grumbled, again trying to physically get Jongin away from you, but he just smirks. Like he was enjoying it. Like this was all just some big game and not the life threatening situation he’d made it out to be the night before.

And you would probably believe that were true, if it wasn’t for his nails digging so sharply into your shoulder.

By the time class finishes you want to run a million miles away. The pressure of Jongin’s arm around your neck you’re sure will leave you aching for days; but as long as he’s far away from you, you can deal with it. You all but sprint out of the lecture hall, forgetting all about your next class and heading straight home; taking a back street you hope he hadn’t seen you use before.

“What the hell is this?” You mumble to yourself, pushing down the fear as far as you can in hopes the empty space will leave room for answers. You’re so caught up in your head, trying to figure out what you did to deserve this, you don’t even realise that Jongin’s been on your tail the whole time, watching you freak out and creep around like the amateur he now knows you are. It’s not until he steps into your building’s elevator with you that you realize he’s there.

“Jesus! Fuck, can’t you leave me alone!” He was exhausting; flattering when you thought it was a puppy crush, less so now you know he wanted to kill you.

“I can’t,” Jongin leans against the side of the elevator, growing tired of the chase.

“Why?! You’re the only one stalking me here!”

“Oh Darling, you have no idea.”

“Then explain! Because I’m tired of this! I have work to do, classes to study for, and I can’t when you’re scaring my teachers and dragging me through shoot outs!!”

Jongin understands why you’re annoyed. He gets it, he messed up and now you’re in danger. But to admit that outloud… to admit that to you… he’d rather not.

He doesn’t give you an answer, finding his reflection in the steel doors far more interesting, chewing the inside of his cheek and fixing his jacket over and over.

When you finally reach your floor, it becomes a race of wills to get to your apartment. Jongin trying to force his way in; you trying to lock him out. You sprint for the door, key in hand; almost managing to slam it shut in his face before Jongin’s hand pushes it back open, forcing himself through the small gap and locking you both inside.

In a second he’s slamming your back against the door with his hand covering your mouth, keeping you in place with the weight of his body, trying to work up the nerve to finally tell you the truth.

“I’m not going to hurt you, but you need to listen to me just for one fucking second… My name is Jongin, okay?” he asks, face dangerously close to your own. You manage a weak nod under his hold, terrified but needing answers.

“I made a mistake. I...I thought you were working with MX,”

Your eyes widen at the second mentioning of the infamous gang, more confused than ever as to why he thought you would ever be involved with them. He didn’t even know you.

“There’s rumours they’re coming for EXO territory..”

He’s with EXO. The realisation floods through your body like a lightning strike, frying your nerves, limbs locked in place while the rest of your body falls limp into his arms. EXO. The kings of this city. The reason shops close early and children aren’t allowed out after 9. The  doctors responsible for prescribing the death, the destruction, of a city once so healthy and vibrant. Monsters, as far as you’re concerned.

“They must have seen me tailing you and after last night, I think you’re a target.” Jongin watches as your eyes well up with tears, red and swollen as you choke back the sobs you so obviously want to release. It doesn’t affect him… it doesn’t make him angry… he doesn’t want to wrap you in a hug and take it all back… right?

“So as much as you don’t like it, I’m here. I messed up so I need to fix it, because this isn’t a game and this isn’t a joke. If they think you’re with us they will kill you. Milk carton kids, where are they now, 27 club dead.”

You wish he was a better actor. That he could hide the shame, guilt, pain he feels for putting you in this position better. That the cold exterior he wears so well didn’t have quite as many cracks, because then maybe you could tell yourself that everything was going to be okay. But if Jongin looks scared, then you’re absolutely terrified.

Blinded by the fear, your body reacts before your mind can catch up. Fists pounding into his chest weakly as the sound of your sobs rip into his heart. You’re in hysterics, screaming at him for an answer to questions still lodged at the back of your throat. Jongin doesn’t break down with you, as much as his body tries. Instead he just grabs your wrists, stopping their assault and pinning them into his embrace. His hold the only thing keeping you standing as you finally let the last walls crumble, letting out every tear, every scream, every desperate cry for it all to be some twisted dream.

Jongin doesn’t know how you both ended up on the floor, your head buried between your knees as his hand finds itself brushing through your hair. Somehow you manage to calm yourself down, letting the sobs turn to whimpers and cries to sniffles. Finally numb after the dust settles in your mind, you force yourself to look back up at Jongin. He looks how you feel, just doing a better job at hiding it; you don’t miss the concern that washes over his face and maybe that’s why you decide to let him stay. If he was so determined to fix what he’d done, you weren’t going to stop him. At least not tonight.

“I need to sleep,” you say weakly, standing on shaky legs but brushing off Jongin’s worried hands when he tries to help, “you can stay on the couch.”

---

Tiptoeing across the living room, shoelaces dangling from your teeth while your hands clutch onto your books; you’re desperately trying not to wake a sleeping Jongin. His sprawled out body half falling from the couch, you admit he looks a lot cuter when he’s sleeping.

Before you can stop it, one of your shoes drops from between your teeth, making Jongin jump up at the sound.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled, rubbing the fatigue from his face, stretching back into his familiar hard persona.

“Uhh, going for breakfast?”

“Did you not hear me last night!” It didn’t sound like a question. His voice raising ever so slightly in frustration as he stands to tower over you. Failing miserably at being as intimidating as usual, with his hair a mess and cheeks puffy.

“I heard you,” you say, pushing your feet into the fallen shoes before giving him a chance to stop you, “I’m just not going to hide away like a victim when this is your mess.” He stiffens at your words, ignoring the cut they etch into his heart, instead focusing on your relentless stubbornness in such a risky situation.

“If they catch you out alone they won’t miss another shot!” Jongin clenches his jaw when you roll your eyes at his remark, unsure of what he can do to change your mind.

“Look if you’re so worried, you’re more than welcome to join me,” you offer, determination radiating off of your face in such a way that Jongin finds himself unable to argue.

---

For the next few days Jongin stays by your side, sleeping on your couch, going to breakfasts, your classes, all to make sure you were safe.

He walks the familiar routes around town with you, not from a few paces back this time, but shoulder to shoulder. Sitting beside you in Professor Jeong’s early morning classes, Jongin was having far too much fun watching the colour drain from his face each time he showed up to one of your lectures to kill him just yet.

Everything became a threat to your safety. As far as Jongin was concerned, your life was in danger and MX could strike at any moment…. Even if it had been quiet since the shooting… it was better to be safe. That’s what Jongin told himself everytime he stayed a little longer.

“Hey Y/N!” Minho waved at you from across the library, he was reshelving returns when he spotted you studying at your usual table.

Jongin felt his ears burn red at the sight. Jaw clenching when he sees the boy walk over. Eyes narrow in judgment when you return his warm smile.

“Hey Minho, how are you?” It’d been a few days since you’d last had the chance to talk with Minho, him still as handsome as ever, but your heart not jumping quite so high at the interaction.

“I’m good, are you? I’ve missed seeing you around lately..” Minho let’s his words fade noticing the glare he was getting from the man sat beside you. “Oh I’m sorry, I’m Minho, Y/N’s friend!”

Jongin glances at Minho’s outstretched hand between them, choosing to throw his own over your shoulder rather than shake it.

“I’m Kai, Y/N’s boyfriend.” He smirks at the shocked expression that Minho wears, ignoring your startled one in favour of silently challenging the boy to leave.

“Oh...oh uh… Nice to meet you, I’ll see you guys around..”

Jongin keeps you close till he’s sure Minho has gone, only loosening his grip when he feels you nudge him gently.

“What the fuck was that, Kai?” You’re more amused than angry, but you’d never let him know that, enjoying seeing the varied emotions you can bring out of him now, when  he was supposed to be a stone cold killer.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” feigning innocence, Jongin tries to go back to reading the book he’d randomly grabbed from the pile in front of you both.

You scoff at his reaction, or lack thereof, staring at him quizzically till he finally gave in.

“That guy is sketchy! I’m here to protect you right?  So I’m protecting you. Good?”

“Minho is not sketchy,” you giggle and Jongin can’t help but smile at the sound, “and who is Kai?”

“It’s what my friends call me!”

---

“Hey!” Jongin had appeared out of nowhere, pulling the cigarette from between your lips and stomping it out. With Geord goading you relentlessly for the last hour of class, you were desperate for a smoke. You would argue that those little white sticks of bliss were the only thing keeping you from ripping his throat out.

“It’s disgusting,” he says, leaning down to your height so he could look you in the eye, “why do you do this?”

With a deep sigh, you stuff the near empty packet of unlit cigarettes back into your coat  pocket, storming away in frustration, knowing he’d follow you.

“Wait, I’m serious!”

“I like them!” you shout back, thankful the streets were empty so you could argue in peace.

“They’re bad for you you know!” he teases, laughing when you throw your middle finger up behind you.

“My cigarettes are better for me than you are!” Teasing back, you finally turn to face him, a cheeky smile on your face.

---

“We got him.”

While making dinner for the pair of you, Jongin’s phone buzzes on the counter, a string of messages coming in from someone called Minseok. You tried not to be nosey, sitting on the counter beside him while he cooked, but he didn’t even glance at it.

“Wasn’t MX. Some small town nobody trying to prove himself.”

“Jongin”

“Call me when you get this”

“Boss wants you back asap”

The thought of Jongin leaving had never even crossed your mind till then. It hadn’t been that long at all, but it felt like an eternity since he’d first come into your life. Maybe it was selfish to want him to stay.

Jongin had recently started to open up to you more about his work with EXO. He was their protector, he kept them safe. You didn’t see him as this dangerous monster anymore, he was just Jongin, Kai, the one who took care of things. Just like he’d been taking care of you all this time.

You knew deep down that when he left you’d probably never see him again; if what EXO suspects is true and MX really were making their way into Exodus, then there was a storm coming and Jongin would be right in the middle of it. He wouldn’t risk getting you anymore tangled in EXO’s mess.

“Here, try this,” Jongin held a spoon up to your mouth expectantly; pretending he didn’t see Minseok’s messages, pretending you didn’t see them either, holding on to this reality for just a little longer.

---

“We need you back Jongin,”

After ignoring Minseok’s messages a few days ago, Jongin couldn’t ignore another call from the boss.

“Jun I have to pr..”

“No you don’t! We took care of the shooter, the girl will be fine! EXO needs you, I need you!”

He doesn’t want to leave. Jongin doesn’t know what it is that makes him want to stay near you, keep you safe, go to breakfasts at Lou’s - but the thought of leaving it all behind makes his heart twist and turn in unimaginable ways.

His whole life had been about EXO. They’re his friends, his family, and he would never abandon them. But somehow he’s made a new home with you, in his heart at least. You feel like home. Sitting on your living room floor watching Blue Planet feels like home. Falling asleep on your shoulder in the middle of your lectures feels like home. EXO have been his entire identity for so long, but now there’s this other life, another door, and Jongin was finding hard to resist stepping through.

“Be back today. We have work to do.”

After Junmyeon’s orders, the frustration coursed through Jongin’s body with such force he hadn’t even realised he’d thrown the phone till you were beside him, asking what was wrong.

“I...I have to leave.” He couldn’t look you in the eye. He didn’t want to see the betrayal, the disappointment, the pain reflected in them. “It’s my fault you’re in danger and now I have to leave you…”

He doesn’t know that you know.

“I..I’ll be okay Nini.. I can look after myself remember?” Your voice is weak but you do your best to convince him; as much as you want him to stay you know that’s not an option, and you know he knows it too because he can barely look at you right now.

“Y/N… I don’t want to leave..”

It broke your heart but there was no other choice. You had to let him go. The boy you’d tried so hard to avoid just a few weeks ago, you now didn’t want to see go.

“I know..” You cup the side of his face, forcing him to look at you as you spoke, “but they need you Nini...” It was hard to keep how you were really feeling hidden, especially when he looked like he was about to break, “You’re the best Nini, they deserve the best.”

He knew you were right. He needed to be there for EXO, his family. Things in Exodus were about to get a lot messier and the fallout would be astronomical, if he wasn’t there to do his part there’s no telling what could happen, then you really would be in danger.

Leaning into your touch, Jongin grips onto your hips like it was the first time not the last, pulling you flush against his body. Memorizing the shape of your hips, touch of your skin, smell of your shampoo. Locking you inside his heart. Melding the memory of you into his soul so that this wouldn’t be the last time. He would forever be with you and you would always be there for him, long after he’s gone.

Looking at you would be too much, he might not be able to force himself away if he saw your eyes. Saying goodbye felt too final, like the end of something that never really was. Instead Jongin buried your head into his shaking chest, placing a gentle kiss to the top of your head, pretending he can’t feel your tears soaking through his shirt, before turning away and walking out of your life forever.

#in exodus #the hitman #in exodus the hitman #exo #exo au #exo imagine #exo fanfic #exo fic #exo reation #exo scenario #kim jongin #jongin scenarios #jongin reaction #jongin imagine #jongin fic #jongin au #exo kai #exo jongin au #exo kai au

[comradekatara]

Pls tell me random things about the modern au

sure!

please keep in mind this is not chronologically-ordered because i am far too pomo for (scoff) linear narratives

(* = chell’s contributions)

suki drives a truck, and said truck is a legend

azula goes to harvard, despite her objectively terrible character (ohhhh shots fired!!!!) 

zuko doesn’t try very hard in school, because he knows that if he were to actually try, he would feel worse about azula being better than him (he’s not living under ozai’s roof––anymore––so it doesn’t matter) but it’s way too easy to trick her into taking naclo, which is where he shines. it drives her crazy that he won’t tell her his score. “you just wont tell me because you know i did better than you” “….maybe :)” “UGH ZUKO JUST TELL ME WHAT YOU GOT!!!!!!!!” 

the day before aang’s first day of high school, sokka gently tries to inform him that he is too old to be wearing heelies 

toph isn’t allowed on any sports teams due to her blindness, so she fights the administration every single day, and (physically) fights random people just for fun, and they so desperately want to punish her for it but she is a genius wunderkind pride & joy of their institution and they know that unless she gets really out of line, their hands are tied. but they still refuse to let her play sports 

“suki’s nervous because today’s the day of the Big Game,” sokka tells zuko. zuko can swear he said the same thing yesterday. and the day before that. and the day before that. it is always the day of the Big Game. when zuko asks katara about it she rolls her eyes and says, “don’t be stupid, the Big Game only happens once a year.” and so, the concept of sports continues to wear on his sanity 

azula’s all, “i swear to god, if sokka is valedictorian i will burn EVERYTHING to the GROUND” and zukos like “why do you even care youre not even in his class” (but it’s the PRINCIPLE of it, zuzu!!!!!!!) 

aang has a really big dog named appa, and a flying lemur named momo. no one questions this 

it is very apparent to everyone except for mai and zuko that mai and zuko are not happy together. mais not “in love” with “ty lee” what an idiotic thing to even suggest 

toph’s favorite joke is stumbling into nothing and then yelling “OW! watch where you’re going!” to which zuko sighs and says, “toph theres no one there�� and tophs like “no i can swore i bumped into something” and zukos like “no. u didnt. u know u d––” “mustve been your closet, then. EYOOOOO” 

sokka refuses to admit to himself that the reason he “doesnt do” relationships is to keep himself from getting hurt (see: yue). katara not so gently reminds him that if he truly “didnt do” relationships, then why does suki practically live in her house. 

katara thinks clubs are stupid and school spirit is lame but then she finds out that their school doesn’t have a straight gay alliance so she starts one. no one joins except for toph, who just sits there in the corner and eats peanuts with a wide smile, staring straight ahead. 

in his senior year, aang finally gets to be the mascot the night of the Big Game. everyone comes back just to support him. zuko has not set foot in his hometown in at least three years, but he’ll be damned if he doesn’t support aang’s dreams. (plus he’s pretty sure katara would kill him if he didn’t.) once the Big Game starts (the first and only Big Game zuko ever attends), sokka notices zuko staring really intently at the field, and that he has been for about a half hour now. he’s like “whats….goin on??” and zuko mutters, “i’m trying to figure out what sport theyre playing.” sokkas just like “oh my god” 

suki and sokka miss their prom because they got too invested in their game of monopoly. toph humbly accepts their crowns in their place. the teachers are just like “wait who even let her in here isnt she a freshman” 

katara plays hockey. azula does track and kickboxing. they are both fierce, violent, and terrifying. both katara and azula tried to join suki’s roller derby team, but suki wisely rejected them both because they were, in her estimation, “not a good culture fit.” she told them the team was already full.*

zuko, suki and toph are in a band. their music is very lyrical and also very screamy (only suki and toph get to sing, natch). believe it or not, aang is their biggest fan. aang plays the triangle and the flute and the harp, which you might think would not exactly fit with their style, but they do invite him onstage for gigs sometimes and somehow the combination is excellent.*

katara is a mediocre student. zuko is great in his literature classes and his art classes and kind of tragic at everything else. nevertheless, they try to study together. mostly katara just comes over to zuko’s house and scuffs up his coffee tables and eats a lot of food out of the fridge. zuko considers this direct action against his terrible father, and he loves it*

azula is obsessed with sneakers. yeah that’s it that’s a whole bullet point*

suki’s truck is disgusting and made up of a seemingly boundless mess, but there are three recurring themes that are most apparent when you enter: weed, construction equipment for some weird building project she never tells anyone the details of, and other girls’ underwear*

katara thinks sokka is a narc for having gotten jet suspended. “he called in a BOMB THREAT, KATARA” 

sokka is the head of the science club. because he loves science. toph and suki are also in the science club. because they love watching (and listening to) things explode. 

everyone agrees that debate should be renamed “sokka and azula fight for 90 minutes.” azula spends a week drafting up a foolproof argument, manipulating the whole class into picking said topic, and then pretending its unrehearsed, and sokka spends no time in saying “nope. thats wrong.” on days where he chairs the debates, azula always wins because he’s forced to remain impartial, and no one else can out-debate her. it is on those days that he goes home and proceeds to rant about how everything azula said was wrong and why. 

katara and azula also fight, of course, but never in a structured setting. sometimes it ends in bloodshed. toph enjoys egging them on way too much. 

sokka is constantly misplacing his possessions. that is, when neither zuko nor suki are around to personally keep track of all his belongings. he loses his phone about twice a day. he’s checking the chem lab to see if he left his phone in there, but azula is already there, presumably to work on a lab. she offers to call his phone for him, and he types his number into her phone because she is too embarrassed to admit she already has his number (and a tracking device in place but thats not important). unfortunately, azula is the one to locate his phone, so she sees that her contact name is, “ZUKO’S SISTER??!??!!!!???!???!!??!!!!?” she has never been more offended in her entire life. 

katara is always threatening to beat up anyone who so much as looks at aang funny. no one would hurt aang, though. everyone loves aang. 

sokka loves art class. he also hates art class. he likes that he has a structured time and space in which to paint, and he loves painting. he hates that his paintings always turn out looking like wet garbage, especially compared to those of the guy who sits near him, who clearly is not even trying. he is the rich to sokka’s jeff. at least in sokka’s mind. sokka will oft complain about “that asshole who thinks he’s too good for art class,” but suki pays him no mind and rolls her eyes. until one day, when sokka and suki are being particularly annoying and making out in the middle of the hallway, which is particularly upsetting for zuko because a) that is Hot Guy From His Art Class and b) he will either have to wait for them to finish or politely ask them to move, as they are right in front of his locker. he says, “do you mind moving?” and he means this as politely as possible, but sokka is like “wow what a haughty bitch” so he just holds his index finger up as if to say “one second” and that is that is such an asshole move that zuko has no choice but to yell “what the fuck?!?” far too loudly. it leads to a kerfuffle that eventually lands them both in detention (suki was an innocent party and sokka is more than willing to take the fall for her.) their detention becomes a breakfast club meets war balloon, and sokka actually sort of tells someone about yue. that’s weird. why’d he do that? neither of them know. zuko has no idea what to say. well, this is awkward. another half hour passes. sokka idly mentions that they could totally find a way out of this room by crawling through the vents and then climbing the beams in the gym and after that it’s only a matter of finding an open window––and not getting caught. this is a joke, a completely hypothetical joke, of course. zuko’s like, “let’s do it.” sokka’s like “oh shit this bitch is crazy,” but, y’know, they pull it off. they run out of the school and keep running and only stop when sokka has the dawning realization that if any of this goes on his permanent record that definitely lessens his chances of getting scholarships. but zuko assures him that mr. bumi doesn’t actually give a fuck, and then offhandedly mentions that he sort of gives him the creeps, and sokka wholeheartedly agrees. this prompts more and more conversation, as they just kind of wander about various streets. once they finally realize that it’s gotten completely dark around them, it occurs to them that they may as well have stayed in detention. 

people won’t shut up about the shit that went down at post-prom. “did you see when that one guy…??” “yeah dude that was wild.” suki just smiles knowingly, and so her friends are all “oh did u hook up with ty lee again?” and she’s like “even better. i won monopoly.” 

katara hates zuko for incredibly petty reasons. like, “he took the last popsicle out of her fridge” petty. then, she very obtrusively finds out that hes gay and is immediately like Oh We Are Friends Now. zuko’s life has suddenly become so much more convenient now that katara is no longer being mean to him that it actually takes him a while to realize that katara is being actively nice to him. 

they talk about waves in physics, and it shakes toph to her core. later that day, she asks sokka to explain what colors are to her. he does not do a good job. starts talking about plato’s allegory of the cave, and the double slit experiment??? what??? zuko explaining that “colors are a feeling” is only marginally more helpful. so toph ultimately enlists suki’s help in explaining to her which colors are lame and which colors are dykey. suki immediately says “flannel.” 

so yes aang may have technically stolen momo from the zoo but its not his fault because momo followed him home and refused to leave his side!!!! 

once mai grows out of her “everyone is an idiot and i hate the world” phase, sokka realizes that she’s actually really cool. they hang out constantly. they have a weekly board game night, and they take turns hosting, which is hilarious because mai lives in a mansion and has an actual butler. their secret handshake is needlessly complicated. zuko tries to pretend it isn’t weird. but…. it’s weird right?? and like, it’s weird that no one else thinks it’s weird???? ……..why does no one else think it’s weird?????

azula is, of course, valedictorian, and her speech is about as bone-chilling as you’d expect. her jokes are too cruel to land. she namedrops harvard about ten times. she manages to squeeze in an offhanded dig at sokka, which makes katara nearly fight her onstage. at the afterparty, azula overhears a conversation wherein one meathead jock whose name she never learned says to another meathead jock whose name she never learned, “oh, but remember that speech from last year??? it was so funny.” this prompts her to have a little too much to drink, which only sokka notices (he showed up for katara and then he was dragged to the party by his friends), so he ends up driving her home. as a graduation gift to her, he says, he changes her contact name in his phone to “Azula.”

sokka has en english teacher who really has it out for him. katara tells him she had him before and wishes she could punch him in the face, and that it’s not his fault that he’s doing poorly in that class. still, sokka begs zuko to tutor him in english. zuko’s just like “you’re perfectly fine at english pakku just sucks” but he agrees to tutor him anyway. sokka’s grades do not improve in the slightest, but he does not care.

the week in which SAT results are expected to arrive, azula is weirdly vigilant about the mail. she makes sure to check the scores and then put it back in the envelope before anyone sees that it was opened. she very casually asks zuko “so what did you get?” and zuko just kinda shrugs impassively and walks away. azula smiles to herself. 

katara comes home one night to find mai and sokka watching a movie on her couch. (the movie is phantom thread and there are tears of laughter streaming down both their faces by the time it’s over.) she’s like “oh hey guys i saw both your girlfriends making out with each other at a party twenty minutes ago,” and sokkas like “for the last time, katara, suki’s not my girlfriend!!” and mai just angrily shushes her because she’s talking over the johnny greenwood score!!!!! smh.

toph never stops yelling at the administration for their ableism. and you’d best believe her valedictory speech blows everyone else’s out of the water. 

#woah this got long #this is what happens when u cant move from bed and u also refuse to do real work i guess #modern au #ur welcome for this novel #asks #sinxaschwarz

[p-artsypants]

Bad Day (2) Evening

Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien's luckiest day ever! Except it wasn't, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.

Ao3 | FF.net

Part 1 Part 3

After school, Lila was quick to find Adrien and latch onto his arm. Then she practically dragged him out of the building while the collective student body chanted after him.

“Dump King! Dump King! Dump King!”

Adrien got in the car, followed by Lila.

Nathalie turned in her seat to look at him. “What happened to your face?”

As he opened his mouth to answer, Lila blurted out. “He got in a fight.”

“A fight?!” Nathalie shouted, aghast.

“No I didn’t!” Adrien protested, in horror. “I got hit with a soccer ball! I swear!”

Lila rested a hand on his arm. “It’s okay Adrien. You shouldn’t lie about this. I know you and Nino are friends, but he still should be punished for hitting you.”

“But—!”

“Nino? As in Nino Lahiffe?”

“That’s right.”

“Mister Agreste will not be happy to hear about this.”

“What are you doing?!” Adrien grit, hissing at Lila.

Lila smiled at him darkly, and whispered. “You picked your team, Adrien. I swore to tear Marinette down. You’re going down with her. Maybe next time you’ll think twice before you sneeze blood all over me.”

“That was an accident!” He hissed.

“Then why did you turn to face me?”

“You’re ridiculous!”

“Oh, you want to see ridiculous? I’ll show you ridiculous.” Then she turned away from him, getting out her phone.

It was a threat, nothing more. Lila couldn’t possibly ruin him anymore than she just did. Right?

Although, with the way today was going, who knew?

As they travelled to the photo shoot, Adrien trained his eyes outside, noticing a lot more pigeons than usual.

“Great...” he muttered to himself. If this was the return of Mister Pigeon, again, he might get the chance to see Ladybug. But given Mister Pigeon’s track record, the fight probably wouldn’t even last long enough to talk to her.

And given the way things were at this moment, it wouldn’t be wise to ditch a photoshoot. Even for something like Mister Pigeon, which would only take a second.

Ladybug could handle this one on her own. This, he was sure of.

So, dejected, he just sat back in his seat and tried not to think about the pain in his foot, or in his nose, or the anxiety of potentially getting pulled out of school.

Marinette was Ladybug.

With a growing horror, he realized this news didn’t give him the same joy it had this morning. It had sunk in now. Of course Marinette was Ladybug. It was like a truth he had always known.

She was there when he was proclaimed the best pooper in the school. She saw him take a soccer ball to the face. She saw him standing in front of everyone with a tampon up his nose. And he had totally disappointed her when he told her he couldn’t come over tonight.

She was probably disgusted with him. And he couldn’t blame her either. He was pretty disgusted with himself.

—

The makeup artist was angry. She all but yelled at him when he sat in her chair. Something about carelessness and stupidity. Ruining a work of art, and wasting everyone’s time and effort. Each word made him slump farther and farther into his chair.

He felt utterly worthless.

It was an outdoor shoot. But fortunately, it was a very fast photoshoot. Whether it was because of the overwhelming amount of pigeons absolutely everywhere, or because of his uncontrollable allergies, he didn’t know, and he didn’t care.

But by the time he was ushered back into the car, his eyes were almost swollen shut, and his nose bleed had come back from all of his sneezing. He had wiped most of his makeup off too.

“Don’t worry Adrien, I’ll make sure to finish the shoot. Your father needs a model he can count on after all.” Lila beamed at him, her silent threat coming through her tone.

She was trying to usurp him as Gabriel’s top model.

Well, she could take his job, for all he cared. Being a full time student, model, and superhero was never easy. He didn’t really care for modeling that much anyway.

But it was the only thing he and his father shared anymore.    

And he never ever wanted to disappoint his father. Modeling felt like he was needed, like he served a purpose in his family. Like he earned the luxury he lived in. Without that, what did he have?

He returned home, pinching his nose shut with one hand, and holding his school bag with the other. At least he was home now. This was a ‘safe place’.

Except Gabriel stood on the stairs, glaring down at him. “Adrien.”

The boy slumped, completely defeated. “Father.”

“I’m disappointed with you.”

“What’s new?” Adrien shrugged.

Gabriel scowled, and Adrien shut his mouth.

“As you know, I monitor your social media activity. You were recently tagged in some photos on Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s Instagram, wearing clothes I don’t remember designing. Care to explain?”

“What? Oh! Yeah, Marinette designed them! She asked me to come along for the shoot to give the model some pointers, and then our friend Alya suggested I wear the clothes too, to show how unisex they were. Aren’t they awesome?”

Gabriel sighed. “While Marinette’s designs were very well executed and the photos well done, you breached your contract.”

“My contract?”

“Yes, your modeling contract.”

“I have a contract with Gabriel?”

“Of course you do! You get paid, don’t you?”

“I thought...it was just an allowance?”

“No. Your wage is split between a monthly spending and savings.”

“Oh…I had no idea.”

“Hmm, interesting. Then why is your signature on the bottom of the contract?”

Adrien hunched his shoulders. “…I guess I didn’t read it.”

Gabriel pinched the bridge of his nose. “Unbelievable. You know, I’d fire you if you weren’t my son.”

Adrien winced. “And…since I am your son?”

“You’re suspended, indefinitely. Until I figure out a way to get you to behave the way you’re supposed to.”

That hurt. He had been trying to please his father in every way possible, bending to his whims, being so obedient that it hurt. But he continued to fall short.

“Father, please...I just wanted to help a friend. I didn’t think you’d mind...I’ll do better, I promise.”

For the first time in the conversation, Gabriel came closer and examined him, tilting his head up with a finger.

“What happened to you? You look like death.”

“Lila Rossi says he got in a fight with Nino Lahiffe.” Nathalie provided.

“That’s not what happened!” Adrien corrected, loudly. “I got hit in the face with a soccer ball!”

“By who?”

“Doesn’t matter, we were playing soccer, and it was an accident. The nurse looked at it and said it wasn’t broken, just bruised.”

“Then why did Lila say you got in a fight?”

“Because she’s mad at me! She’s causing drama because after I got the soccer ball to the face, my nose started bleeding and then I sneezed blood all over her.”

Gabriel sneered. “That’s the poorest excuse I’ve ever heard.”

“It’s not an excuse! It’s the truth! Call anyone else in my class and ask! They’ll tell you!”

“Quiet Adrien!” Gabriel demanded. “I don’t know what wrong with you today, but this streak of disobedience ends now! You embarrassed me at that photoshoot. And I got a very disturbing phone call from one of your teachers today, something about you proclaiming yourself as ‘dump king’ and sticking feminine products up your nose!”

Adrien wanted to die in a hole.

“You realize such behavior not only reflects badly on you professionally, but also our family, my company.”

“I know…”

“Then I expect there to be no more problems.”

“There won’t be. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today…just…unlucky.”

Gabriel sighed. “I can’t stand to look at you anymore. Go take some benadryl and lie down. I know it makes you drowsy, so I won’t wait for you at dinner.”

Adrien huffed, shouldering his bag, and started up the stairs. “Fine. I want this day to be over with already anyways.”  

—

In his room, Adrien dropped his bag on the floor. Homework could wait. It was only Friday after all.

“Aw, don’t beat yourself up, Adrien. Your father’s expectations are so ridiculously high, I don’t think Jesus could reach them.”

Normally, that would have made Adrien bark a laugh, but now he only hummed. Looking outside, he could see the pigeons still ruling over the streets.

There was no way Marinette was having problems with Mr. Pigeon. Right?

“We have to go out there, don’t we?” Groaned Plagg.

Adrien sighed as well. “Yeah, come on. Claws out.”

Chat Noir popped open his window, and launched himself out into the evening city.

Using his baton, he found that Ladybug was out and about, and he bounded out to her.

She was in a park, sitting on a bench, ice cream in hand, absolutely surrounded with birds, while Mr. Ramier sat next to her.

Wait.

Mr. Ramier?

Chat landed by the bench, a cloud of feathers fluttering up into the air as the birds scattered. They didn’t go far though.

This, of course, let Chat explode into sneezes.

“Hey kitty cat.” Ladybug smiled.

Wiping his nose, he looked to Ladybug and Mr. Ramier, with a look that was nothing but done. “What’s with all the birds if you aren’t akumatized?”

Mr. Ramier laughed. “Isn’t it miraculous? Columba palumbus are on a momentous migratory flight. Once in a hundred years, they assemble like this! Isn’t it wonderful?”

Chat sneezed again. “Great.”

Ladybug giggled, a sound that was still wonderful, even in his funk. “Once I found out what it was, I decided to wait until you showed up, so you wouldn’t go akuma hunting in this.”

He sighed, sitting on the bench next to her. “Thanks for the consideration.” He said flatly.

Ladybug reached up with her free hand and began to pet his scalp. “Oh what’s wrong kitty cat?”

“Today sucks!” He announced, and then quite dramatically flopped onto her lap, whining lowly in his throat.

“Aw...poor kitty.” Ladybug coddled him like a toddler throwing a tantrum. “Would a bite of ice cream help?”

“Always.”

“Say ‘ah!’” She got a bite on her spoon.

“Ah!” He opened his mouth wide, towards her.

Which ended up being the perfect target for the pigeon flying up ahead.

Bullseye!

Chat scrambled off of Ladybug’s lap, spitting and scraping his tongue with his fingers.

“What was that?” Asked Ladybug.

“That goddamn bird shit in my mouth!” He said between sputters. “Can’t I just enjoy some stupid ice cream!?” He shouted at the sky.

Silence, except for the birds fluttering away.

“Chat…”

He held up a hand to stop her. “Don’t worry about it, Ladybug. I’ve just had a very frustrating day, and I…I need some rest.”

She pouted, and held up her ice cream. “You can still have some.”

He shook his head. “I’m afraid I’ve lost my appetite. But thank you. Sorry…for ruining your bird fest, Mr. Ramier.” With a little salute, he pole-vaulted away.

But in his room, once de-transformed, Plagg started cackling like the pest he was.

Adrien had it with the little creature and snatched him out the air, stormed over to the window, and chucked him outside.

Of course, being a flying kwami and able to phase through solid objects, it wasn’t but a few seconds before he was back in Adrien’s face. “Hey, what’s the big deal!?”

“I’ve had enough, Plagg! I don’t need you laughing at me! I know my life is some sort of joke to you, but I really don’t need it right now!” Tears gathered in his eyes in frustration. “You were right, okay? All my good luck is gone! And I can’t even enjoy the fact that one of my best friends is the love of my life!”

Plagg sighed. “Geez kid, don’t get all weepy on me. I can’t stand it.” He floated up and nuzzled against his cheek with a purr. “I just thought the pigeon thing was funny. Like, holy cow, that’s unfortunate.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and went into his bathroom, opening the medicine cabinet.

“But really, today was not as bad as it could have been.” He shrugged.

Adrien slammed the cabinet closed and glowered at the kwami. “I’ve been humiliated in front of my classmates, twice, I broke my toe, I got my face smashed with a soccer ball, I hurt my crush’s feelings, I dissed my best friend, I failed my test, I got targeted by the biggest liar in school, I basically got fired, and I might be pulled out of school! The pigeon thing was just the icing on the cake! Am I missing anything?!”

Plagg thought for a moment, and then said, “no, I think that’s about everything.”

Adrien popped two benadryl, and then flopped onto his bed with a moan. “I’m going to sleep. You can try to wake me up if there’s an akuma, but I won’t hear you.”

“Tch, whatever drama queen.”

A few minutes later, the medicine took effect and Adrien slipped off to dreamland.

#miraculous ladybug #fanfiction #ladynoir #chat noir #ladybug #adrien agreste #lila rossi #plagg #marinette dupain cheng #adrienette #bad day

[iliketowrite1996]

Raising Jasmine Allen-Rogers

story for @areubeingserved-too

TRIGGER WARNINGS AND THEMES- heartbreak, loss of a spouse, loss of a parent , making mistakes, growing up 

Summary- a look back into moments that stood out to Steve as he raised his first child- Jasmine Allen-Rogers.

AGE 1

‘’Happy birthday, Jazzy!,’ Bucky coos, setting his goddaughter in the new ride-on fire truck that he and Nat got her for her birthday.

‘’Aww, she loves it,’’ Sam comments, taking videos of his ‘’niece’’ as Tony and Pepper move the boxes out of the way for her to ride around the living room of Tony’s place.

Jasmine is all smiles as she is pushed along by her dad, who is enjoying the sound of her laughter.

‘’Just wait until she’s sixteen and I get her a real car,’’ Tony pipes up, only half joking.

‘’She’s not even out of diapers yet,’’ Steve snorts, picking her up out of the toy to press a kiss to her forehead, ‘’Come on, chickadee. Let’s go get ready for cake.

Had anyone told Steve a year ago that he’d actually have the strength to be happy after losing Petra, he never would have believed them. It took months for him to feel like himself again, and even then it was primarily for Jasmine’s benefit. His daughter is his favorite person, his best girl. He maintains that without her, he’s not even sure he would have wanted to have faith that things could one day be better.

‘’I love you, Jazzy,’’ he kisses her forehead once more before taking her upstairs to where he and her both sleep,, the room that one day was an office in Bucky and Natasha’s place and the next was a makeshift bedroom for Steve and his daughter.

Jasmine looks up at him with brown, almond-shaped eyes, giggling to herself as he gathers the wipes and a new diaper.

It’s the little things like this that make him miss Petra- how she was supposed to be here with him, and how she was supposed to have a chance to see their daughter.

Life doesn’t always work out as planned, though, so here he is.

It's been a journey but he’s grateful for Jasmine, his biggest blessing.

Tonight as she lays her head down to sleep, Steve stands over her crib and gently rubs the dark, jet blackc curls that adorn her tiny head.

‘’I’ve got you Jazzy. Always. You’re my best girl.’’

And he means it because even if his life didn’t turn out as he planned, he has Jasmine.

That’s good enough for him.

AGE 5

Steve Rogers hates field trips. Absolutely abhors them. They are the bane of his existence, and he wishes he could have signed off on the permission slip and had Jasmine go with Nat.

But Nat works nights and she needs to sleep today, so Steve is taking his day to volunteer to go with the kindergartners to the apple orchard.

Somehow, he ended up with four kids in tow- Jasmine, DeShawn, Lexi and Blake. Because Lexi’s sister, Lena, threw up on the  bus and Ms. Carrington is watching her and giving her sips of ginger ale from a vending machine and Steve wouldn’t mind letting two more kids tag along, would he?

‘’Mr. Rogers, I’m tired,’’ Blake groans, pulling on Steve’s jacket as they continue their way to where the hay ride is.

‘’Blake, we’re almost there, buddy. Grab Lexi’s hand.’’

Steve is holding Lexi and Jasmine’s hands, and Lexi and Jasmine are holding Blake and DeShawn’s hands, respectively.

‘’I’m hungry, Mr. Rogers, when do we eat,’’ DeShawn questions politely before looking at Jasmine, ‘’Guess what?! Mommy packed me a bologna sandwich and cookies!’’

‘’Ooh! Daddy gave me a Lunchable,’’ Jasmine proudly announces, and Steve is almost glad that she looked up at him with those puppy dog eyes and asked if he’d be their chaperone.

That is, until Blake is crying because the hay is itchy, Lexi is crying because Blake’s crying, Jasmine is falling asleep, and DeShawn is sitting there and taking it all in with wide eyes.

Steve Rogers. Hates. Field trips.

Later that day, though, they are all on the bus. 

He’s telling the kids a story and Lexi and Blake are happily listening from the seat in front of him while Jasmine sits in his lap and DeShawn is silently dozing off next to him.

Later that night, after showing uncle Bucky and auntie Nat the pictures her dad took on his phone, Jasmine and Steve retire to their place for the evening.

When his kindergartner is laying down,head on his shoulder, and falling asleep, she whispers, ‘’Today was the ebay day ever.’’

And, yeah, okay.

Maybe Steve Rogers hates field trips a little bit less.

AGE 7

‘’I did not know what to do, so I called you. I know Mother’s Day is a sensitive subject for you both, but I-’’

‘’It’s alright, Mrs. Lang. Really. I appreciate it. She can come to my class and do some work.’’

‘’Thank you, Mr. Rogers. I'm really sorry,’’ Jasmine’s first grade teacher looks into the classroom. Before telling her to grab her math packet and following her dad to his classroom.

‘’Am I in trouble?’’

‘’No, no Jazzy. You’re just going to come with me and do some work for awhile, okay?’’

‘’Okay,’’ she nods decisively, ‘’Can I sit at your desk while you teach?’’

‘’Of course, chickadee,’’ Steve pulls out his key to unlock his door, letting his daughter enter and set up shop at his desk before his fifth graders come to art today.

It isn’t until after everything is said and done with this class, that Jasmine speaks up again.

‘’My teacher is letting everyone make Mother’s  Day gifts, and I am the only one that doesn’t have anyone to make one for.’’

She says it every casually, Steve thinks, as she works on her math packet.

‘’Oh,’’ he begins, ‘’How do you feel?’’

‘’I know you said mommy loved me and that she’s in heaven now but sometimes it hurts, daddy,’’ Jasmine confesses, ‘’Because I love auntie Nat and auntie Pepper and auntie Patty, but I want my mommy, too, sometimes.’’

Steve can relate to this- he lost his mother young, too, and he wishes he could make this pain go away for Jasmine, but all he can do is be there for her.

‘’Listen, Jasmine. I know nothing I can say can make you feel better, but I am here for you. No matter what. Got it?’’

‘’Got it,’’ Jasmine nods.

The conversation is far from over, but he senses that she doesn’t want to talk about it anymore right now, so he doesn’t push it.

He does, however, convince Nat to take Patty, Pepper, Deshawn’s mom, Jasmine and herself for a girls’ day brunch, with Bucky, Tony, Sam and Steve floating the bill.

She may not have a mother, but she’s got mother figures who love her very, very much.

And, for now, Steve sees her smile as a personal victory.

AGE 14

It’s the night before the wedding. Steve Rogers is going to marry you,tomorrow morning, and he can hardly step.

In typical Steve-Rogers-fashion, he forgoes the bachelor party and spends the evening bonding with Jasmine. It’s their last night together as a dad and daughter duo, and he wants to make the most of it before you all become a family of four tomorrow.

It’s when it’s time to go to bed that she pauses at the doorway of the kitchen, turning to face her dad, ‘’I like her, dad. She’s really nice, and really smart and pretty.’’

‘’I think so, too, Jazzy,’’ Steve smiles gently at his daughter, ‘’I’m glad you agree.’’’

‘’You remember what you said a few months ago, about how she isn’t going to replace my mom but you still mean that, right?’’

Losing her mom without having really known her has been more difficult for Jasmine lately. She adores you, and she loves Nat and Pepper and DeShawn’s mom. In fact, she was the one who asked Steve if he was going to ever propose to you last year. But now, the fat that you will soon be her stepmother becomes a reality and she’s a bit unsure of what this all means for her.

‘’Jasmine Allen-Rogers, I am never going to forget your mom. I might have lost her, but I have you. Me getting married doesn't change how much I love upi. And I’ll never stop telling you memories about your mom as long as you want to hear them.’’

‘’Promise?’’

‘’I promise. Remember what I said a few years ago, about you being my best girl? I meant that, Jazzy. Now, we’re just adding my wife-to-be and Olivia. I love all three of you. You and me, though? We’ve been in this thing together since day one. I’ve got your back, Jasmine. All the time. ‘’

‘’Thanks, dad,’’ Jasmine nods, a small grin sliding onto her face, ‘’I love you, dad. Good night.’’

‘’Night, Jazzy. See you tomorrow.’’

Tomorrow, Jasmine and Steve both cry as he pulls her to the dance floor for their dance to ‘’Isn’t She Lovely?’’, the Stevie Wonder song that he played the day that he brought her home from the hospital after painstakingly setting up their new home at Nat and Bucky’s place.

She;ll rush off the floor a few minutes into the song, grab Olivia’s hand, and make you sob at how sweet your little family is.

Later that night, Steve will carry Olivia to your hotel room and you’ll be walking behind him, arm around your new step-daughter’s shoulder as you guide them to where the four of you will spend the night before you and Steve leave for your honeymoon tomorrow.

And as the four of you fall asleep, Steve will have a smile on his face, because now his next chapter of life begins…

And he is grateful for his three best girls.

AGE 16- 

‘’Tell me what happened again?’’

‘’Dad, please don’t make me go through this again.’’

‘’She clogged the sink and we didn’t know what to do so we panicked and here we are,’’ Olivia deadpans as you stand off to the side, trying to hide your giggles as Jasmine glares at her younger sister.

It’s her first time babysitting. She insisted that she could handle it, and she is very responsible. James, being a toddler, needs way more attention than Olivia so you figured it’d be fine.

‘’Well, all kids are accounted for, so I guess I can’t be too upset. I just want to know why,’’ Steve pinches the bridge of his nose, ‘’The dinner dishes are in the pool.’’

‘’Because I needed to clean them,’’ Jasmine shrugs, ‘’When we clogged the sink, we figured this was the best way to clean it up.’’

‘’We have a bath tub, honey,’’ you remind your oldest daughter, ‘’Why didn’t you use that?’’

‘’... This seemed like the easiest way to bathe James, clean the dishes, and not clog the tub,’’ Jasmine admits, looking to what seemed like such a good idea at the time.

Jasmine has always been a pretty quick thinker, Steve knows, even if her methods don’t always make sense to him. So, he’s sure that to her putting the dishes in the kiddie pool made sense.

‘’You didn’t actually bathe your brother in the backyard, right,’’ Steve inquires.

‘’No, no. He said he wouldn’t take a bath until you got home anyway. So he kind of just played while we did the dishes.

‘’On the plus side, the house is still standing,’’ Olivia reminds you all, trying to help her older sister, ‘’So there’s that.’’

Steve’s not sure whether to laugh or to shake his head. It is the first time that Jasmine has ben tasked with watching her siblings for this long, by herself, but he couldn’t even have begun to think that something like this would happen.

Still, he knows how hard she tried. She wants to prove how responsible she can be before she heads off to college in only months,

So he smiles, kisses her head, and thanks both her and Olivia for doing a good job, hugging his oldest kids.

Today, they’ll finish taking the dishes back in the house. Tomorrow, you show her how to fix the sink.

Forever, Steve continues to be impressed with his daughter’s quick thinking skill…

And thankful for the ray of joy that God brought to his life in his family. 

AGE 21

Jasmine Allen-Rogers rushes into her apartment on a Friday night, tears streaming down her face as the wind outside blows, howling like she feels ready to.

As soon as she is in her door, she tosses her book bag into her chair, climbs into bed, and calls her dad’s number.

It rings a few tie, but he finally picks up, ‘’Hey, Jazzy, what’s up?’’

‘’Daddy, he broke up with me. DeShawn dumped me.’’

There’s a shift on the other line, and Jasmine can hear Steve sigh, ‘’Jazzy, honey, I’m so sorry.’’

‘’He met me on campus about a half hour ago. We got lunch together, and he told me that he just doesn’t have time for a relationship right now.’’

Jasmine and DeShawn had been dating since they were sixteen, which was a little under five years ago. Now, the twenty-one-year old feels like her heart has been ripped out of her chest.

‘’Do you need to talk to me? Do you want-’’

‘’I want to know why I don’t feel as bad as I think I should. I love him, dad. So why doesn’t this hurt more than it does?’’

Steve pauses at that before leaning back against the couch.

Jasmine has always been brutally honest. After high school, she and Steve sat down     and had conversations about how she is officially an adult and she will have to make more decisions on her own.  That conversation only made her bluntness even more apparent, and Steve can’t tell if she’s trying to be brave because she wants to or because she thinks she has to.

‘’Do you think that the two of you were growing apart,’’ Steve questions, mouthing the word ‘’Jasmine’’ to you at your look of concern.

‘’I think that we were trying to stay together because we didn’t want to break up, but we also didn’t really want to be together anymore. I love him, but I’m not the same person that I was when I was sixteen. And neither is he,’’ Jasmine confesses, looking up at the ceiling, ‘’And it hurts, but we’ve been together for years...so why doesn’t it hurt more?’’

‘’There’s no set amount of time or intensity of pain, Jazzy. You feel what you feel about this breakup, and it is valid,’’ Steve reassures his daughter, ‘’Do you need to talk about it?’’

‘’Can you put me on speaker?’’

Steve does, and you immediately say hello to your daughter, ‘’Are you alright, sweetheart?’’

‘’I… I really don’t know. I feel upset but not heartbroken. I just really want to say that I love you both, and thank you for being here with me. It made it easier to let DeShawn go knowing that I have you guys to lean on,’’ she sniffles.

‘’Darling, we’re always here for you. You know that. Olivia is just a video chat away at school, and your younger siblings would gladly talk to you on the phone,’’ you remind your oldest daughter, smiling when she giggles .

‘’I love you guys,’’ she breathes out, ‘’I just want to talk about something else.’’

‘’Your dad burned dinner las night. Again,’’ you pipe up, much to Steve’s chagrin.

‘’I had to stop Natasha from cutting her hair! She’s the busiest four year old I’ve ever met!’’

Jasmine laughs then, and you can practically hear the worry rolling off of her in waves as she releases the sounds.

A sound that Steve has always loved.

Maybe his life didn’t turn out the way he hoped for it to, but it’s still amazingly blessed and that’s a lesson that he knows that Jasmine is learning, too. So as the two of you continue to talk to Jasmine on the phone, he makes note of two things-

One- He’s even more in love with how you speak to Jasmine as if you gave birth to her yourself, and

Two- He thanks God for all of the life lessons that he gained from raising Jasmine Allen-Rogers.

Because he thinks, much like Olivia, Jasmine has turned out just fine.

DISCLAIMER- I own no rights to any Marvel characters or their fictional worlds, planets, galaxies, countries, cities, etc.

@ashanti-notthesinger @destinio1 @afraiddreamingandloving @airis-paris14 @syreanne-deactivated20200521 @chaneajoyyy @90sinspiredgirl @shemiahsmelanin @zillmonger @skysynclair19 @marvelpotterlove @constantlycravingtheunknown @imaginewhoever @wakanda-inspired @pocmarvelworks @theunsweetenedtruth @dreampovx @adrioola21 @supremethunda @thisiskayesworld @mcusocialimagines @priya212  @kumkaniudaku  @airis-paris14 @alexundefined @fonville-designs  @dramaqueenamby  @mellowjellow6 @oceanscorazon @nerd-lovely @fonville-designs @akimi-youngblood @yoyolovesbucky @fd-writes @areubeingserved-too​ @areubeingserved-too​ @thisbrokencapuletx-blog @squeackygee @melidris1  @honeydew-melanin @id-rather-be-an-outsider @andreasworlsboring101

#steve rogers imagine #steve rodgers imagine #steve rogers x you #dad!steve rogers

[queeniewritesce]

Recommendations (2/2)

This is part 2 of my entry for the @mrs-captain-evans 2,5K followers Writing Challenge. 

Summary: Twitter is a strange place. But once in a while, you connect with someone.

Word count: 2,484

Warning: mild language, 35 seconds of angst, could be less if you read it fast.

The heavy double-paned door opened with a jingle and a creak, letting the cool air from late November enter the small café on Arrow Street. You didn’t bother looking up from your laptop, where you read an article about penguins instead of finishing grading yesterday’s pop quiz.

Procrastinating was your new favorite pastime since decreasing your online presence. Not that it stopped the ache you still felt every time you opened Twitter to post a new article, which was the only content you shared nowadays. Gone were the jokes geared towards your students, pictures of Captain Hook, or commenting on the everyday shenanigans of the White House and Congress.

The less you shared, the less you cared, and the only reason your profile was still up was because of your job.

You checked the time on the bottom left of the screen. Professor Kincaid’s class had been canceled and you had one hour to kill before your own class started, which prompted you to run to Bean There for a fresh pot of coffee and one huge Boston Cream doughnut.

As you read about penguins kidnapping other chicks if they own young died, you got wind of the murmurs and rushed voices going on around the room.  You tried to tune them out, young people got excited about anything but they seemed to get louder and louder with every passing moment. You located your bag seating by your feet and was looking for your headphones when a pair of black boot cladded feet stopped in front of you.

Pursuing your lips, you let the ears buds fall back inside the pocket but didn’t bother to look up. If your assumptions were correct, the owner of those boots was the cause for the raucous around you.

“Y/N…”

Yep, the voice and the boots belonged to the same person.

Tears made your eyes sting and you blinked to prevent them from falling. You minutely shook your head, not knowing exactly what you’re trying to convey; that this was not the place or that you’re not, would never be, ready to talk to him.

“Please. Can we talk?”

The hurt in his voice gave you pause. Why would Chris feel anything but pride at playing you as he did? Did he want to do a coup de grâce to your ego?

Keeping your eyes downcast, you lowered the screen of your laptop, glad you hadn’t bothered with the power strip. Shifting the electronic around you other stuff took more time than intended but after a few tries, you zippered up your bag, grabbing some money out of your wallet and dropping it on the table.

You got up and your nose pressed against the most muscular chest you ever saw. He was so well built that you could see the hard contours of his pecs through the thick cream sweater he was wearing. The smell of his cologne hit your nostrils and you almost swoon, finally looking up.

He shouldn’t be allowed the whole package, that was so unfair to you.

Deep blue eyes framed by thick eyelashes stared back at you, the lower half of his face covered in fine auburn whiskers that couldn’t be more than two weeks old at the most, looking so soft that you had to restrain yourself from reaching out and running the tips of your fingers through them.

“All I am asking is for a chance to explain myself.” Strong fingers reached for you, encasing your small hand in his as if he really wanted you to stay. You scoffed at the notion, this man really knew how to play you. Did he get off in toying with you?

Your scared eyes looked from his eyes to your clasped hands and back again, silently begging him to let you go. He mouthed a soundless no and stepped towards you, bridging the already small gap between your bodies.

Later, if someone asked you why you did it, you would blame your next course of action on the overwhelming need to escape.

“Look, everyone, it’s Chris Evans.”

Chris’s eyes widened and a different kind of hurt clouded his vision. Betrayal. He let your hand go.

Good. Maybe know he would understand exactly how you felt.

A round of applause broke out around the café and the whispers were now cheers. The discretely held cellphones now pointed straight at the man in front of you.

Move, get out. Your feet took their sweet time obeying your brain, but soon you’re grabbing your coat and your messenger bag and making a beeline to the door, not bothering with actually putting on your coat before the full brunt of Boston’s late autumn slammed into you. You powered through, running through the streets that led you to your office, not once looking back, certain Chris would not follow.

Entering the gray building that housed Media Studies and Social Analyses, you allowed yourself to slow down and take a breath. Safe.

The lights stayed off when you entered your office, the loaded mahogany bookcases and dark upholstery making the room more ominous than it truly was.

You let your bag slide to the floor near your desk, not really bothering with damaging the electronics inside.

Heavy feet carried you to the sofa under the balcony window, where you sat with unfocused eyes, mind running a mile a minute trying to understand how your life became a drama movie in just a few short months.

What was Chris doing here? You thought you made your feelings clear when you blocked him. The pain ebbed away after a few weeks, diluted to an ache that accompanied you day and night. For a fleet moment, you had entertained the idea of a relationship with Chris. Not Evans. Just Chris, the wholesome and funny guy you got to know during those four months you spent trading messages with. But that guy didn’t exist, he was just a persona, one more character created and well played by Chris Evans. Right?

There was a knock and whoever was outside didn’t wait for an answer before your door was pushed open.

Professor Travis stuck his head inside your office, a scowl on his face.

“If I hear one more student going off about the Oscar worthy drama on the media department I’ll flunk them and fire you, we’re not a telenovela. Fix whatever this is or convince him to stay away, I got your next class covered.”

He pushed Chris inside the dimly lighted room, raised his eyes brows pointedly at you and left, the door closing firmly behind him.

Silence stretched around you, uncomfortable and unnerving.

His hands stayed on his pockets, heavy coat looped around one arm while Chris took inventory of his surroundings before focusing on you, his gaze never wavering.

“Can I sit?”

You didn’t expect the croaked voice, nor the way it warped around your heart.

Two fingers pointed to the chairs on the other side of the center table. A safe distance, an actual barrier between you.

Of course, he decided to sidestep the table and sat opposite you on the love seat, his knee almost touching yours.

“What you did back there was treacherous and mean.” He faced forward, fingers drumming on his knees. “I guess I deserved it.”

“You did.”

“I never thought those would be the first words I’d hear you say direct to me.”

You cocked your head, not sure what to say to that.

“I mean, I thought about our first meeting, how you would be surprised but also happy I wasn’t a serial killer, just a dumb actor with too much free time on his hand.” He let a dark chuckle. “I never expected you to out me to a room filled with twenty-somethings years old and run away.”

What did he mean by thought about you? You admittedly had mulled over the idea more than once, wondering if you would click on the real world as much as you did online. Even created a list of topics you could revisit from your online conversation, mixed with silly questions you’d never asked him, like blueberry or chocolate chips on your pancakes? Could this man, so famous he couldn’t even walk into a coffee shop without being recognized, also be so committed to the idea of meeting you?

No matter. He still deceived you.

“I asked you once if you were catfishing me. You said no.”

Chris whole body faced you and he trained his eyes on you.

“I wasn’t. I looked up what that word means. I don’t fit any of those boxes. I’m not in it to hurt you. I never said I was someone else. I just never told you my last name.”

“Or who you actually were.”

He huffed.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong. I shared with you exactly who I was. Am. My opinions, my true likes and dislikes. I didn’t sugarcoat it or played dumb, I didn’t hide behind a forced laughed or a sound bite. You got Chris, the whole unadulterated version.” His expression hardened. “It’s not easy to open up like that when people expect you to be a certain way, act another way. Since you teach about expectations and the effects mass media has on other people, I believed you’d understand why I had to hide behind a pseudonym.”

It was not the first time you wondered what was like on the other side of the fishing lenses celebrities were under. You taught the basics of how media twisted and organized exactly how the public perceived being famous, asking your students to always remember no matter how famous someone was, there were first and foremost a human being.

“I understand why you did it, that doesn’t change the fact that you lied to me.”

“I never lied to you.” Chris rebuffed.

“You told me you were a flight attendant and you worked for Delta.”

“No, I didn’t. You assumed all that, I just never corrected you.”

“I…”

He was right.

You remembered all the times he changed the subject when you discussed his work and you honestly believed he was embarrassed about his job. You never asked what he did, or what he was doing in Atlanta for so long.

You felt the hot flashes of embarrassment creeping up your face and you hung your head low. Were you really so obtuse?

“I’m sorry.” A staggered breath left you. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask and assumed.”

“I have my own share of the guilty Y/N. I wanted to tell you, I wrote hundreds of messages but I could never send them. I was terrified you wouldn’t believe me before I could send you proof. And then I told you my name and it got comfortable, I wasn’t lying, just leaving out some stuff.”

“A lie of omission is still a lie in my book.” The serious tone of your voice washed over Chris and he winced.

“I got that when you blocked me.”

Once again the room was quiet save from the filtered shuffling of feet coming from the corridor.

As a true scholar, you analyzed all the information he gave you, looking for strong points and flaws on his reasoning. It all checked out. You wouldn’t have believed him. He never outright lied to you. 

There was only one question left unanswered.

“Why are you here Chris?”

His smile warmed you, made you want things that you shouldn’t. Images fleeted through your head, other times when he could smile to you like exactly like he was doing now.

“I’m here because I spent all summer and most of autumn inside a hot as hell costume, my hair dyed blonde, stuck inside a hangar filled with fake debris and green screens, and the only thing that kept me sane was that when I was on my breaks or done for the day I would open Twitter to a new message from you. I’m here because you were my island of calm while I drifted with anxiety.” Two fingers slid under your chin and he gently made you look at him. “I’m here because I like you.”

“You like me?” You repeated and he nodded. 

“I do. You’re funny, wicked smart but you don’t take yourself too seriously unless you have too. You admitted to being a nerd, which if I didn’t make myself clear during the whole Hubble debacle, so am I.” He pointed to black baseball hat he was wearing and you saw the NASA logo. “On a shallower note, you’re way, way more beautiful than all my previous teachers combined. If all professors look like you, I might even give this whole college thing a try.”

Well, wasn’t he a smooth talker. Your smile now matched his. 

“So do you like me like me or like me as in she’s okay?”

“Baby, you’re so far removed from okay, it might need a visa to visit you.”

The room filled with your laugh, your heart finally free of the hurt you carried the past few weeks.

He liked you.

“You’re not a nice guy.”

His smirk told you he knew exactly was this was going.

“I’m kind of an asshole.”

“I’m not denying that one.” He pouted and you wanted to kiss him. “So, not a nice a guy but not a complete asshole, so not a bad guy either.”

He got closer, his fingers playing with a loose tendril of your hair, the other hand fastening on your waist.

“That considerably narrows down your options, uh?”

His smile was contagious and you grinned back, shyly nuzzling his chest.

“How about you? You know, if you’re still interested.” You beamed at the man in front of you, bitting your lower lip.

“Let me show you how interested I am.”

The words were barely out of his mouth when his lips descended upon yours. He poured himself into the kiss, months of wanting you, feeling close but so far away. He fell for you during those late nights you stayed up texting, giving his heart and mind and receiving yours in return. He kissed you gently, slowly coaxing your mouth open, his tongue brushing yours.

He trailed his hands up your back to bring you closer and you shivered, settling contently against his chest, your fingers making their own journey to the back of his neck, brushing your hands on the hair there.

“How about that date?” Chris said against your mouth. “Let me take you out to dinner.”

“How about I cook for you instead? My house, 8pm?”

“I’ll be there.”

Disentangling yourself from his arms, you grabbed a notebook from your coffee table, writing down your address and handing it to Chris, kissing him on the cheek.

“Now go before Professor Travis forgets how much he likes us and I lose my job.”

You moved from the sofa, putting some space between both of you. You grab your bag, checking to see if your syllabus for the next class is still there.

“Y/N?”

“Uhm?” You’re sure he’s gonna kiss you again when he comes closer, his lips brushing the shell of your ear.

“One thing though.”

“What?”

The feel of his breath when he speaks so close to you gave you goosebumps. You’re ready, so ready to be kissed again.

“You gotta unblock me on Twitter. I only ever want one person to block me and believe me, you’re not him.”

#Chris Evans Fanfic #Chris Evans Fan Fic #Chris Evans Fanfiction #chris evans x reader #chris evans x you #mrs-captain-evans #writting #writting challenge