#i’m exhausted and hungry but i also don’t want food

[say-al0e]

Dealing with the remnants of someone else’s life is fucking impossible.

#my dad passed yesterday and i’m having to sort through his stuff #and it’s kind of insane because he was a hoarder who hadn’t touched my bedroom since i left fifteen years ago #literally there is still a box of rainbow goldfish on the nightstand (obviously mice have gotten to it but still) #i got a bunch of photos because i had little evidence i existed before age like thirteen #and all i really wanted from his house was a photo of me and my grandmother #his siblings are going to make it impossible for this to be easy because his brother is like nothing in this house is yours except the #photos that’s it you have no claim to anything because this is my land take your photos and leave #and his sister is the worst #lots of family drama and honestly i don’t want any part in it #and everyone has so much to say about me and the way our relationship ended fifteen years ago but that’s on him not me #but i don’t want anything i just want this to be done and to go home #i want it to be over with #i’m exhausted and hungry but i also don’t want food #i’m not grieving but maybe i am i don’t know #I just want to leave now #txt

[sleekswosobession]

a bit hot

barça fem x teen!reader

request: here

A/N: yesterday i was in shambles trying to write this.. i keep getting sickness i write about 💀food poisoning next 😃

TW: Vomit, passing out, illness

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It all started with a small headache, it was one you could tolerate, probably just a bit of exhaustion and would go away once drinking water. The thing was though, it didn’t go away.

It was hot in Barcelona, 37° C hot. Water intake for everyone was high, and you were being made to drink extra water by not only the physios, but also your Captains.

Honestly, you thought everyone was feeling like this if you’d been drinking the most and still feeling headachy. You persevere though determined to not let a bit of pain decide how the training goes.

But when ignored, problems only get worse.

It only takes half an hour for your overall health to decline, and obviously people notice. How couldn’t they when it looked like you couldn’t even think straight.

Which is true. You don’t recognise what’s happening until Alexia is pulling you away and inside the air-conditioned room.

“Dios Mío. What are we going to do with you.” Is the first thing she says, putting you in the direct line of 18° coolness blasting. It isn’t enough though.

You feel yourself growing tired, your head dropping every few seconds.

“Hey, hey. Stay awake for me yeah?” Your captain asks you. The only thing you are capable of doing is groaning before ultimately passing out, falling into her chest.

- - - - -

When you wake up again, you’re in a different room. A fan blowing on you and a UV line dripping into your skin. Alexia is also there, who has been joined by Marta and Mapi.

You feel sick to your stomach, shutting your eyes in hopes of holding anything inside back. Conceal don’t feel right? That’s what Elsa says.

You hear footsteps cautiously approach, you don’t have to open your eyes to know it’s Alexia.

“Nena?” She whispers quietly, placing her hand on your still slightly warm skin. You shake your head, trying to suppress any indicators that you were about to throw up. She knows better, Mapi knows better, Marta knows better.

The other captain throws Alexia a puke bag who holds it in front of your mouth.

“Come on, I know you don’t want to but please. You’ll feel better.” You give into her and into yourself. Retching into the bag, making all the girls in the room cringe at the sound.

Once you’ve pulled yourself together, Alexia closes the bag and disposes it in a bin in the corner.

“Are you going to throw up again soon or no?” She asks, sparing a glance at the other two.

“I should be fine, thanks Ale.” Your voice is hoarse and slightly cracks.

“Ok, good.” She leans against the table you’re on thinking about what to say next. Marta beats her to it.

“Why didn’t you speak up about how ill you were? We would’ve brought you in sooner.” You sigh.

“Well I thought we were all going through that! I had been drinking more water than you guys yet I’m still the one who is plugged into a machine?”

“You have to promise to tell us next time ok?” Alexia asks, you nod.

“Bebita, I have Ingrid ready in the car when you feel well enough. The doctor said you could take the UV out when you wake up” You smile at the thought of getting into your bed at home.

“Ok, thanks Mapi.” She pats your leg smiling.

“We’ll talk about this another day ok? Go home, get rest. You are not going to be training in conditions like these over the next few days. Some investigators are looking into why this has happened so they might want to talk to you at some point.” She finishes curiously.

“Well, sounds fun. I wanna go home now.” Mapi nods, helping you stay up and walking toward the car where Ingrid is already situated.

- - - - -

When you get home you’re exhausted, hungry and sweaty.

“Come on elskling, I’ll run you a bath while Mapi gets you some light food. Then you can sleep for however long you need. Is that ok?” Ingrid says, pushing you inside.

“Mkay, thanks Ingrid.” She kisses your temple placing the training bags she was holding in her room before going to the bathroom to start a cool bath.

“I won’t make you anything warm, do you want a salad?” A salad does sound good, and refreshing.

“Sounds good.” She leads you to the bench, the cool countertop doing wonders against your warm skin.

She gets the salad ready rather fast, it’s not that big, but definitely enough that you won’t go to sleep uncomfortable.

Soon after eating your food, Ingrid comes back.

“Bath is ready when you are.”

You nod, legs still shaky so the couple helps you to the bathroom sitting you down.

“You’ll be ok?” Ingrid asks feeling your forehead, still cringing slightly.

“Yeah, I will. Thank you both… this means so much to me.”

“Don’t worry bebita, it’s the least we can do.” Mapi says smiling.

They both take your silence as a que to leave the room so they do. The bath relaxes you, and takes away most of the uncomfortable feelings inside.

When you’re done, you change into shorts and an old shirt, walking out slowly to the living room where Ingrid is reading a book and Mapi is playing with Bagheera.

Ingrid notices you first.

“Do you want medicine? Then you can sleep.”

“Yes please.” She gets up, going to medical cabinet pulling two paracetamol out and handing them to you with a glass of water.

“Drink.” You do as told and you finally let the exhaustion of the day come up to you. Before you realise what’s happening, Mapi has lifted you up and is taking you to your room.

“If you need anything, we’ll be here. Promise.” She whispers, putting you to bed. You smile up at her before falling into a peaceful slumber.

———————————————��—

thanks for all the love and support guys, i hope that i can post the other fic tonight so you get 2 in one day 😘

#woso #woso community #woso x reader #woso fanfics #barcelona femeni #barca femeni #barcelona femeni x reader #barca femeni x reader

[astarionapologist]

My head too is full of bg3 so I'm gonna go ahead and suggest/ request a Halsin x female Tav fic, smut is very welcome hehe :)

Also I'm of the opinion that this man definitely has a breeding kink so if that's something you would write, I'd be really happy about it ^^

Have nice day :)))

OHHH FUCK YEAH DADDY HALSIN ‼️‼️

but no seriously he’s such a big sweetie pie I love him sm

Warning 18+ minors please don't interact!

Includes breeding kink and biting and soft horny Halsin

Nature’s embrace: Halsin x reader

After you finally arrive to baulder’s Gate your next mission is the most important one yet! It’s time to go find a nice spot to set up camp. Exhausted and tired of walking Astarion begs you to take a break! Stay at a tavern for a bit! Stay under some shady buildings! Hells under some trees maybe! Point is he’s done for the day and is begging you along with the rest of the group to agree with him for break. In which you all decide to rent out a room for a couple nights in the Elfsong tavern.

After unpacking and changing out of your armor into more casual clothes your realized how starved you were after such a long journey here. Little did you sense the tall rugged elf was beside you.

“Hungry aren’t you?” He says grabbing both your shoulders in an attempt to scare you.

You let out a shriek and push him away from you unaware of who it truly was.

“GAH HALSIN- you can’t do that to people!” You huffed

“I’m sorry little dove, I couldn't resist, and I overheard the growl of your stomach. It seems you're in need of your next meal. Would you care to join me downstairs? I wouldn't mind covering the expenses, of course."

“Oh? Sure that sounds great thank you! I’m starving! I need to get my hands on something to eat soon or I’ll go crazy” You said slightly daydreaming of all the tasty food you smelled walking past the kitchen to the rooms upstair.

“Me too” Halsin whispered under his breath as his eyes traced the outline of your body.

Your cheeks blushed as you overheard this but since he wanted to be quite the jokester earlier you decided to pay him back~

“What was that? You said as you looked up at him purposely with big doe eyes

“"Oh, uh, me too. I find myself quite starved. To uphold our strengths, we should venture forth and procure something to eat, don't you think?” He said with a hint of panic in his voice

He lets out a small sigh “Let us be on our way”

The two of you head down stairs and sit down at the bar table. You order a bowl of mushroom stew with a wine to complement the mushrooms undertones. Halsin unsurprisingly orders a large juicy steak with a heaping pile of steamed vegetables on the side. Along with you he decides to order a glass of wine. Enjoying each others company you finish your dinner together and decide to head back upstairs. However almost everyone was already asleep in their sections of the floor.

“Ahhh it is getting late little dove, you should go and get some rest. We can always chat more some other time.”

You would be foolish to deny the small trace of sadness that lurched in your heart as he spoke. Unfortunately, your eyes held a bit of sadness that the old Druid could easily detect.

“Oh dove but please don’t worry, I promise we can spend more time together just the two of us eventually if that’s something you’d enjoy?”

You look up at him and give him a small smile and nod.

“Yes I would love that, your company is more than wanted.”

He smirks a little and smiles back. The two of you walk back upstairs to call it a night after enjoying your evening together. Finally, in the comfort of your bed, you slowly drift off to sleep... That is until the middle of the night when you wake up, startled by the sound of commotion near one of the beds beside you. You open you eyes to see Halsin getting ready to leave to who knows where.

“Halsin?….” You whisper at him

“Oh no.” He clears his throat

“My sincerest apologies, I did not mean to wake you from your slumber.”

You get up and sit towards the edge of the bed, you’re a bit groggy still but you decide to ignore it worried your companion is in trouble.

“What is it? Is something wrong? Why are you up so late? You asked in a hushed whisper as you turn on a dim light next to you.

As you look at him, the tall elf blushes, realizing his problem is now more obvious to you. You slowly looked down to see a large tent in his pants. How his crotch looked painfully erect it was almost begging to be attended to.

“Ah… I see…”

“I’m so sorry- it’s just the city is so stressful and I’m having trouble adjusting… not to mention how you-..” He stops talking and swallows a bit of fear as he realizes he just mentioned you.

“How I?” you blush a bit already knowing what he means. Unsurprising enough, Halsin and you have always had a habbit of giving each other bedroom eyes from time to time. You've always noticed how often he’d look at you, especially how his eyes would stare at your ass and thighs. However you both never really acted on anything, you were always too busy on the mission at hand….that is until now.

He sighs “Please you tease me enough as is…. The way your hips sway as you walk… your deep and longing stares….it all drives me mad.”

He turns away from you and says, “I never wanted to do or say something because I thought the timing was always off... And I understand if you wish to ignore me now. I am sorry for disturbing your rest.”

You get up from your bed and hug him from behind.

“Halsin… please don't leave, I would love to be able to spend the night with you… if you’d allow me?”

He chuckles “If i’d allow you?”

He grabs you by the wrist and twirls you to face him. Then he quickly picks you up carries you on one of his shoulders.

“I hope this will suffice as an answer.” He says with a light growl

He takes you to more secluded part of the floor away from any of your companions. He carefully plops you onto a large bed and begins undressing himself. When he’s finished he carefully picks you up yet again and plops you down on his lap.

He looks deeply into your eyes as his hands graze the first button on your shirt. You carefully nod and take a deep breath as he takes no time to undo all the buttons of your shirt. Luckily for Halsin you typically always sleep in your dress shirt and nothing else.

His eyes lit up as he saw the perkiness of your breast appear from underneath your shirt. Without wasting time he takes one into his hand and plays with it while taking the other one into his mouth. He swirls his tongue over your sensitive nibble slightly grazing it with his teeth. This earns a slight low moan from you as you wrap your arms around his shoulder.

He releases your breast from his mouth and kisses you deeply and hungrily. He grabs you by the hips and ass and slowly begins to move you across his large muscular thigh.

“Ha-… halsin.. please I need more,” you say as you grind needily on his thigh.

“You’re not ready, I don’t want to hurt you little dove” he says while kissing your cheek

He then slowly moves you off his thigh just enough for him to stick two fingers inside you. You gasp and hold onto him tighter as he slowly pumps his fingers into your soaking wet cunt.

He uses his other hands to spin small light circles around your clint and begins to speed up his fingers as he continues to pump them inside of you. By now yours seeing stars as you tilt your head back breathing deeply as you feel the druids fingers deep inside you. He can tell you’re close by the way you begin to tense up around him. He curls his fingers making sure to rub you sweet spot of yours to allow him to hear the wonder sounds you make as you come undone around his fingers.

You take a deep shaky breath and looked back into his eyes.

Gods. He thinks to himself, he could have easily finished just watching you come undone by just his fingers alone.

He flips the two of you over so that you’re now underneath him. You moan as you feel his tip rub against your hole.

“Are you ready? I don’t want to hurt you.” He says attempting to suppress how needy he truly is.

“Oh god yes, please hurry! We’ve both waited long enough.” You begged

He carefully slides in slowly so you can take your time adjusting around him. With a small hiss, he bottoms out and is completely inside you. He pauses for a moment kissing your forehead before he slowly begins to move. A slow yet deep pace was set as the druid gripped your hips hard as to not lose control.

You bite his neck in order to keep quiet, yes your other companions are sound asleep and unable to see the sinful acts that are taking place however you still attempt to keep quiet. The sound of skin slapping slowly starts to get louder as Halsin begins to speed up. You look up and make eye contact with him, his eyes are glowing a beautiful shade of gold.

“You drive me wild little dove…. I want to fill you up so badly.” Halsin grunts as he continues to pound deep into you.

“I want to see you squirm underneath me full of my cum…. I want…. Nothing more than to see that.” He huffs and growls out the last part.

“Fuck Halsin… I need you, I need to feel all of you, I need to be filled with you.” You say in between gasps

You’re both extremely close, he grunts as he feels how you quiver and shake around his angry and sensitive cock. He grips your hips tighter and begins to pick up the pace, lifting one of you legs up in the process. You let out a whine as you feel yourself getting closer and closer. Then suddenly a heavy feeling of pleasure consumes your body. You shake and grip his body as he continues to pound his way through your orgasm. When a deep and heavy grunt he finished deep within your cunt, making sure to get every drop deep within you. He pulls out and collapses next to your exhausted figure.

He pulls you in tightly to his chest and kisses your forehead before gently rubbing circles on your back. You slowly drift off to sleep as you hear him quietly say

“Goodnight my little dove”

HOLY FUCK I ACTUALLY FINISHED THIS

like always I did not proof read 👆but I still hope you enjoy, sorry if this was a little rough it’s my first time writing smut.

#baulders gate 3 #bg3 #bg3 blogging #bg3 tav #smut #halsin bg3 #bg3 fanfiction #bg3 fic #halsin x reader #halsin #druid halsin #halsin x tav #halsin smut #bg3 smut #halsin x reader smut #smut fic #smut fanfiction #smut smut smut

[mviswidow]

afterglow

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Word count: 1k

Summary: Coming home from a mission to your girlfriend, Natasha.

As you wait outside the mission debriefing room, you see Steve and Natasha wrapping up their meeting with Fury.

Steve comes out first, chatting with you briefly before heading out of the building.

You watch Natasha and Fury speak through the glass door, the corner of your lips quirking up the slightest bit when Natasha catches your gaze.

While you check your watch for a moment, the door creaks open, and Natasha strides out, “Y/L/N.”

“Romanoff,” You respond with a nod.

A smirk plays on her lips as she brushes past you and you catch your lower lip between your teeth for a moment.

You want to watch her walk away, but Fury is waiting, so you push the door ajar and settle in for your mission debrief. Your mind is tired from working overtime while on a week-long solo mission and you crave the comfort of home. Despite your exhaustion, you focus on your meeting and get through it as quickly as possible.

The ride home is a blur that you forget all about the moment you step into your apartment and are welcomed by the familiarity of the space. As you slip your shoes off next to the door you smell pasta cooking and smile, following the pleasant aroma into the kitchen to be met with your girlfriend standing in front of the stove.

“Hi, dorogaya,” Natasha grins at the sight of you and greets you with a much-needed hug. The sound of her voice was a comfort in itself.

“I missed you so much,” you sigh, closing your eyes and letting yourself relax into her arms, your body aching with new injuries and exhaustion.

“I missed you too,” she hums, kissing your cheek and your lips with a tenderness reserved for moments with you.

After nudging her nose against yours, she pulls away, “D’you get hurt?”

“I managed to get out mostly unscathed…”

Natasha raises an eyebrow at you knowingly and you chuckle, “Just a couple of scratches and some bruised ribs.”

Her discontent is evident on her face and you press a kiss to her lips in a feeble attempt to distract her, “I’m fine.”

“You’ll have to let me take a look at it later,” she insists softly.

“Okay,” You nod, and press another kiss to her forehead. “What about you, are you injured at all?”

“No, I’m alright,” she assures you, which earns her a smile.

Natasha seems to remember that she’s cooking and turns back to the stove to stir the pot, “I put the spaghetti in just before you arrived and I’m about to start making the sauce you like, go get cleaned up before dinner.”

You head to the bedroom and are indulgent in your shower, standing underneath the warm and gentle stream of water a little longer than necessary as it relaxes your tired muscles.

With your towel wrapped around you and your wet hair dripping onto your shoulders, you enter the closet and find yourself reaching for Natasha’s clothes.

You slip on an oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants before treading back into the kitchen to find Natasha plating the spaghetti. Your stomach rumbles eagerly at the sight of food.

“Thank you for cooking, ‘Tasha,” you smile as you sit at the table.

“Of course,” she kisses the top of your head, setting down your plate before sitting across from you.

“I didn’t know you also had a mission this week,” you remark, twirling the spaghetti on your fork.

“Neither did I,” she chuckled. “It was last minute, only lasted two days.”

You hum in acknowledgment as you chew.

“I honestly appreciated the distraction,” she continued. “Being here without you is depressing. I don’t like waking up to an empty bed.”

“Neither do I,” you know the feeling all too well. “I’m so relieved to be home. You have no idea.”

“I have some idea,” she teases.

Dinner is over quickly, as you’re both hungry, and you do the dishes together in a well-practiced routine before settling into bed.

You think she’s forgotten, but she brings up your ribs the moment you lay down.

“I’m tired,” you groan in response at her request to lift your shirt. When you swat her hands away she playfully pins them down.

“Don’t fuss.”

A blush grows on your cheeks rapidly as Natasha smirks at you, knowing she’s won. She takes advantage of your flustered state to finally take a look at your injury.

Her eyebrows are pulled together as she frowns, inspecting the swelling and lightly pressing on your discolored skin. Your muscles contract painfully in an effort to squirm away from the contact on your injury and she mumbles out an apology when she hears your breath hitch as you shut your eyes tightly before leaning down to kiss your ribs very gently, “You have to ice this before we go to bed.”

Before you can make an excuse to get out of it, Natasha is already getting up to get you ice.

She returns with an ice pack and helps to make sure it’s not too cold. When she’s sure that you’re comfortable, she lets you pull her into your uninjured side. You feel her melt into you and warmth spreads through your body, despite the feeling of the cold ice.

You kiss the top of her head and Natasha drapes her leg over yours. You wish you didn’t have to worry about keeping the ice pack in place so you could hold each other closer, but you’re more than happy to settle with what you have now.

Natasha’s warm breath tickles your skin and your hand makes its way underneath the hem of her shirt to rub her back, occasionally lightly scratching up and down with your nails.

The way she sighs lets you know that she’s content and you smile to yourself, relishing in the moment. You try to forget that you’ll ever have to leave Natasha’s side again but you can’t help counting down the days until your next mission anxiously.

Neither of you has very much energy tonight, but you’re perfectly happy just laying in bed with the woman you would soon ask to marry you.

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #mcu #marvel #wlw #black widow #natasha romanoff x fem!reader #scarlett johansson #black widow x reader #natasha romanoff imagine

[javarium]

Serenity | Pedro Pascal.

Warning(s): | Female Reader, Legal Age Gap (Pedro is current age; Reader is 22+)

Note(s): Also, I really love Pedro’s hair in this gif. And his sweater. We love cozy sweaters. And him in general. Sue me lmfao. Might turn this into a series (short stories) if I feel good enough. I’m a slow-ass writer that’s for sure lmao

****

After spending almost a year apart, with nothing but simple video calls and two, one week-long surprise trip to see him in Alberta six months apart, Pedro was more than happy to be done with filming and walking through the front door of his home.

“I’m home!” he calls out into the empty expanse of the home you both share.

You don’t answer, but Baxter does.

The Continental Giant rabbit happily hops to him to greet him home, standing on his hind legs to prop his front ones on Pedro’s leg. He loves the sweet animal almost as much as he loves you.

The man chuckles and sets his bag down, running his hands and fingers behind Baxter’s ears and across the soft coat of black fur. The massive rabbit closed it’s eyes, greedily taking in the pets and rubs from his owner’s boyfriend.

“Holy shit!”

Pedro’s hands stop rubbing the giant rabbit the moment he hears your voice. Baxter, being so tuned into the emotion in the sound of your voice, gets down and hops out of your path as you rush down the stairs and right into your boyfriend’s arms. Your laughter is contagious, and Pedro laughs along with you as he twirls you around in the air like a princess.

He sets you back down on your own two feet, but his arms never leave you. Instead, they wrap around your torso and waist even tighter as he nuzzles into the crook of your neck. Pedro’s large hand cradles the back of your head, holding you steady against him. After so long being apart, being unable to cuddle or hug you, kiss you or make love to you, he was more than ready to savor his time with you, relish in your presence and the heft of your body nestled against his own.

“I missed you,” he mumbles. Pedro presses a sweet kiss on your shoulder.

“I missed you, too,” you mumble in reply.

You had missed him so much. The last year had been awful without him. You missed his warmth and cuddles. You felt… bare without him, constantly missing his touch and his warmth. After being together for as long as you have, the world felt… empty. It didn’t seem as bright without him — not as funny. Pedro’s smile always lit up the room. And while he was away, your home was dull, not as vibrant. You missed him and his jokes, his humor and his lightheartedness filling the house with jovial laughter.

“I’m never leaving home again,” he declares. You giggle as Pedro’s lips press against your cheek.

“Never?”

“Never.”

He reluctantly pulls his arms away and gives you an Eskimo kiss.

Lord, you’ve missed him so much.

“I am hungry though,” he says, hands gently grasping your biceps. “Got anything to eat?”

His stomach growled faintly, making you snort.

“What? Plane food not good enough?” you tease.

“It left much to the imagination,” he responds jokingly.

“Well, it’s not much, but there are a few bean burritos from Taco—“

“I’ll take it.”

You laugh as he barges past you and into the kitchen, Baxter eagerly hopping along, hot on his trail.

****

When midnight rolls around, he’s the one that’s awake. Even after his plane trip, he doesn’t seem to be tired. All the exhaustion and tiredness from earlier seems to have vanished.

You’re the one that’s asleep, cheek smushed against his chest. His right hand is holding your left, resting on his waist as you sleep. It was like an owner and their cat: he didn’t want to move an inch, wanting to simply watch and admire your beauty.

There wasn’t a moment Pedro didn’t miss you. Every time he’d settled into bed at night or woke up, his first thoughts were of you — of how he hated the fact you weren’t with him. Pedro missed having you next to him in bed. He missed the warmth of your arms being draped around him as you slept, tucked into his neck and snoozing away in dreamland. He missed you not-so-stealthily sneaking up on him and surprising him with back hugs.

You were such a big part of his life that he physically felt the emptiness from you not being with him.

He closed his eyes and pressed a featherlight kiss on the top of your head. He rested his cheek atop your crown, tightening his hold on you.

“…’dorable.”

Pedro snickers. “You’re awake?” He presses another kiss to your forehead.

“Gotta pee…” you mumble, digging your nose into the fabric of his sweater, not wanting to get up. “And hungry too, ‘parently.”

“Want anything specific?”

“….” You grumble. “Pizza. Totino’s.”

“The square ones on the freezer?”

“Mmhmm…”

Pedro would’ve let you lay on him longer, also not wanting to get up, but then he heard your stomach let out a loud growl. It made him snicker again. He pried you off of him gently and pulled you by your hands to your feet.

“Go to the bathroom. I’ll fix it,” he tells you.

“Fix two.” You clear your throat. “You’ll need your own.”

Sleepy as hell, you ended up being in the toilet room longer than you would’ve. By the time you came back out, the pizza was half done and Pedro had a grin on his face. He wraps his cozy-sweater arms around you and pulls you to his chest.

“Taco Bell break?”

“No…” You giggle. “Just kinda sat on the toilet until I woke up enough.”

“You do that shit way too often. What if you fall over and hit your head?”

“That’s the point. Concentration to prevent that makes me be awake.”

You stay huddled together against the island counter until the pizza finishes. The beeper makes you jump and Pedro laugh, but when he forgets the potholder and cusses, it’s your turn to laugh.

He watches as your eyes crinkle while you laugh, bending slightly to hold your stomach. Your hair falls around your cheeks, adorably accenting your face. Your laughter dies into a toothy smile, tears at the corners of your eyes. You glow. It’s not the kitchen light — the color is wrong — that shines around you. It’s something else. His eyes don’t fool him. An aura of happiness surrounds you, and Pedro swears that you’re nothing short of an angel, one that’s meant for him and him only.

He’s missed this. He’s missed you. He’s missed your laughter. He’s missed the way your eyes crinkle at the corners as you break into a fit of giggles.

“Come on, let’s eat,” you say. “I’m starving.”

“You’re always starving.”

“I know. It’s a hard knock life,” you reply in a faux depressed-like manner, making him break into laughter.

The Totino’s was pretty good. It left you warm and fuzzy and full, lulling you back into a sleepy state. Pedro’s cozy sweater you wore did nothing but add to the desire to fall asleep.

Wiping the excess cheese off into the trash with a paper towel, you put the two pizza plates next to the sink. You’d do the dishes tomorrow.

A soft grip on your bicep made you turn around. “Come on, mi amor,” he murmurs, sweetly kissing the side of your head. “Let’s get you to bed. You look very tired.”

You couldn’t argue and let your boyfriend wrap his arm around your shoulder to lead you to bed.

You looked tired enough that Pedro decided against asking you to brush your teeth, especially with the way your eyes kept shutting and your head bobbing back and forth.

He couldn’t help but wonder to himself what in the world had you done all day to make yourself so tired??

You’re asleep instantly at the moment your cheek rests on his chest, the room peaceful and quiet; the serenity of his home perfect after the noise he encountered on his way home.

Pedro’s arms wrap around you, and before he falls into slumber, he acknowledges that his life is pretty damn perfect.

#pedro pascal #pedro pascal x reader #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x y/n #fluff #comfort #real person fiction

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Lost 3

Warnings: non/dubcon, mentions of loss, grieving, death, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

Characters: nomad!Steve Rogers

Summary: You move into a shared flat and encounter a mysterious man.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

When your shift ends, you leave the shop, heading down the same way you came. You stop at the corner of Mason and think better of going that route. You take that man’s advice and go along Doxtator instead. It’s quieter, there aren’t as many businesses so not as many people loitering and tossing cigarette butts.

You come up to the shared house and enter through the side door as usual. You wouldn’t call it routine yet, you haven’t been there long enough, but a ripple of deja vu comes over you. You keep your head down as you enter the kitchen. As you do, there’s another person in there.

You don’t know if you should say hello. You haven’t seen this man before. He must be one of the others. He pulls a box of rice crackers out of the cupboard and ignores your presence. You follow his lead and don’t say a word as you set your bag on the counter and pull out the drawer. You write your name on the few items you got from the store before you left; a box of cereal, a carton of milk, and some packets of ramen.

You put it all away as the other resident traipses off down the hallway, shuffling footsteps reverberating off the shabby walls. You shut the fridge as you hear the outside door open and shut. As you turn, the other man enters; the big one with the shaggy hair. S as you think of him.

He nods at you as you fold up the paper bag and shove it in the bin. He goes to the cupboard and opens the door. He sighs and takes out the same box of crackers as the last man. He shakes it and tuts. You see then the S marked on the side.

You leave, not wanting to get involved. You feel bad that someone else took his food but you also don’t need the drama. You hate conflict. At least now, you know to watch your things. Maybe later you’ll sneak out and retrieve your ramen so you can preserve a few meals.

You’re not very hungry. Your appetite is sparse these days. Maybe it’s this place. You can’t quite settle in, maybe because you hope it’s only temporary. Yet, you can’t say if that’s because you’re holding onto hope that by some miracle you could go back to your former life or that you might even forge a new one.

You lock the door and turn on the standing lamp. You fold your coat over the metal frame of the bed and sit to untie your shoes and peel off your socks. You change into a loose pair of sweatpants and a plain tea with a Pepsi logo on it. Not your clothes, another set of charity tatters.

You lay down and stare at the wall. You used to have a television in your room. You’d watch the old sitcoms they replayed on the public access channel. Or you’d listen to music and knit something. You had at least a dozen scarves more than you needed. You might be able to afford some needles and yarn after your first pay.

The cone of light casts a low haze through the tight space. Your eyes slowly close as thoughts of shutting off the lamp fade into your subconscious. You’re asleep before you can feel yourself drift off.

🚪

You wake to a strange sound. Your eyes flick open to the yellow lamplight as you lay stiffly on your back. You groan as your cramped muscles tug. You stretch and the bed frame creaks with your movement.

The scratching continues. You’re not surprised. You would expect mice in a place like this. There were some at the shelter too. They mostly left you alone, just skittered by as they searched out crumbs.

It gets louder as you sit up, tilting your head as you try to loosen the knot between your shoulders. You stand slowly, daunted by the pang across your hips. The mattress is thin and you can feel the frame on the other side.

“I know you’re awake, sweetie,” the voice startles you as it slips beneath the door. You stop your arm midreach as you go to click off the lamp. You peek over and see the shadow shift under the door. “Sweetie? I can see your light’s still on, why don’t you open the door?”

You don’t know the voice. It’s pitchy and uneven. The sickening tune behind it makes your stomach wrench. You stay far from the door as the handle jiggles, the deadbolt keeping it from opening.

“Sweetie. I just wanna talk. You don’t have to open the door. Just talk to me…”

You hug yourself and gulp. There were men in the shelter who tried to talk to you, the ones who got too close, who would stand over you while you slept. You were lucky they went away when they were caught.

There’s another shift and the floorboards groan. You hear an odd scuff and see something slide beneath the door slowly. Little by little. It’s a hand mirror, just thin enough to fit. Oh my god.

“Sweetie, I wanna know your na–”

The click of a mechanism and the grind of hinges interrupt your unwanted visitor. The mirror stills and the floor creaks again. You chew your lip as you listen with bated breath.

“Oh, hi,” the same voice greets someone.

“Go,” the deep voice orders gruffly.

“You can’t make me–”

“What are you doing out here?” The other man asks. You recognise S’s timbre.

“N-nothing. I live here too. I can be in the halls,” the strange man responds.

“I’m trying to sleep.”

“I wasn’t making noise.”

There’s a pause. Footsteps follow, getting closer, and you hear the squeaky voice utter a ‘no’ as the mirror wiggles slightly then is kicked further inside, scuttling over the floor.

“What the hell?” S growls, “you leave her alone.”

“I wasn’t bothering her–”

“I know what you were doing. I know who you are. What you are. So go before I crush you like the worm you are,” S’s words make even you shrink in fear.

“Ha, you think you deserve her. Because you look like you do,” the other man accuses, “you don’t scare me.”

“I don’t care if I scare you, I’ll break you in half if I see you at her door again,” S sneers and there’s a thump on the door, followed by an ‘oomph’. “Got it?”

“Got… it,” the breathy hiss chokes out, “let me go.”

A sudden scramble of footsteps, as if thrown off balance, clatter across the floor. They continue, quicker and quicker until you can’t hear them. You hear a sniff, then a sigh. A shadow appears at the bottom of the door.

“Hope you’re okay in there,” S says, “I’ll keep an ear out for that creep.” He pauses as if waiting for an answer but you can’t find one past the hammer of your heartbeat, “have a good night.”

The floor groans with his weight as he retreats and his door gently clasps. You can’t move. You lean into the wall and let your legs fold as you slide down onto your bottom. You’ll leave the light on for tonight. You don’t think you can face the dark.

#steve rogers #dark steve rogers #dark!steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #nomad!steve #drabble #series #the lost #avengers #captain america #mcu #marvel

[stellamancer]

considerate (reader x satoru gojo)

notes: blah blah blah comfort fic. lmaoo. um, i love steamed buns. i bought some frozen pizza buns from my local japanese grocery store during the writing process. they are indeed good. if you have never had them i hope you get to try one day.

contains: f!reader (inferred to be wearing lingerie), tsundere-ish reader, eating food, gojo. part of the infinite loop fic verse

wc: 2k || read on ao3 (account required)

All you want to do is sleep.

It’s been a rough week— three difficult missions back to back with no time to rest in between. By the time you’d finished the last one, you were practically dead on your feet. It’s times like these that you’re glad for the room you have on the campus of Jujutsu High; you think you’ll collapse before you can make it back to your actual apartment.

In fact, you almost do anyway– you’re barely through the door of your room when the exhaustion tries to take you by force. It takes every fiber of your being to at least shed your curse-stained clothes before you become one with the bed.

Your sleep is blissfully empty.

And it ends far too soon.

A loud series of knocks forces you from your slumber. You groan and pull the pillow over your head as if it’ll make the sound stop, but it doesn’t. After a few minutes of constant, incessant banging, you finally give up and crawl out of bed.

There’s only one person you know who would relentlessly pound someone’s door and when you throw your door open you find him— Satoru Gojo on the other side. He’s dressed casually, comfortably in sweats and a hoodie, for a day off, sporting tinted glasses instead of that blindfold he likes so much.

“What?” you demand.

Gojo peers at you over the top of his glasses, lips twitching as if he’s trying not to smile. “You need a minute?”

Your eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. “What are you talking about?”

The smile finally makes its way onto his face and you can’t help but feel annoyed. Gojo points at you with a long, slender finger and says. “Matching set, huh?”

It’s then that you realize that you are only wearing your underwear.

Embarrassment surges through your body. You had forgotten that you hadn’t bothered changing into any sort of sleepwear— you’d only taken off your dirty clothes. Mortified, you slam the door in Gojo’s face.

If thoughts could kill, one of you would be dead on the floor right now; you haven’t quite decided who yet.

You shuffle around your room and throw on the first set of comfortable clothes you can find. Just as you’re fitting your head through the sweatshirt you hear him knock again.

“I’m still out here!” he hollers.

“Get lost!” you snap.

“But I brought food!” he whines. “I brought steamed buns!”

His words make you pause. When was the last time you ate? Yesterday morning? You don’t feel particularly hungry, but that could be because you just woke up.

“They’re getting cold!”

You weigh your options. Accepting food from Gojo is far from the worst thing in the world. It also saves you the effort of going to find something; it’s your day off, and the less you have to move the better.

With a heavy sigh, you finish dressing before opening the door again. The second Gojo comes into view, he beams at you and holds up a plastic bag from FamilyMart. You reach for it, but he raises it up, keeping it out of your grasp.

“Now, now,” he tuts as if he is reprimanding an overeager child. “I was thinking we could share. There’s way too many for one person, don’t you think?”

You don’t know how many steamed buns are in there, but you’ve seen Gojo eat: you know he could polish off that whole bag. Honestly, you probably could too. “Wanna bet?”

Gojo grins. “Sure. If you can’t finish them all then you have to spend the entire day with me.”

Not the way you’d want to spend your day off. “And if I can?”

“Then you get to have all the steamed buns I bought!” he says cheerfully. “Awesome prize, right?”

You scowl. “No, that's a shit prize and you know it.”

“Okay then, what kind of prize would you prefer?” There’s something ominous about the way Gojo’s looking at you right now; he’s smiling but you feel almost as if you’re looking at some sort of feral predator. Letting you choose your own prize sounds like some sort of trap and you wouldn't put it past him to twist whatever you choose to suit his own agenda.

“...can I think about it while I eat?” you ask.

“Sure.” Gojo shoots you a knowing smile, fully aware of the fact that you're just trying to buy time to figure out how to get out of whatever he's scheming. He hands you the bag of steamed buns and pushes past you into your room, settling himself against the wall opposite your bed.

You peer into the shopping bag and even though he said he’d brought steamed buns there’s other stuff in the bag. Some other miscellaneous snacks, candy and a few bottles of water and Gojo’s favorite brand of cola. A little excessive, but then again, everything about Gojo is excessive. You fish out the paper bag holding your food and hand the rest to Gojo before plopping back onto your bed. Knowing who bought them, you expect to find only red bean buns and custard buns in the paper bag; after all, his sweet tooth knows no bounds. But, to your surprise, there’s actually a bit of variety. You recognize the smooth tops of what are either red bean buns or custard buns, but also the crimped tops of what are likely pork buns as well as…

“Pizza buns…?” you mutter quietly, fishing one from the bag. Similar to the pork buns, they have a crimped top, but instead of a pale off white of a regular pork bun, the bread is a pale orange color.

Gojo chuckles and you look up at him. There's a cocky grin plastered to his face. “They are your favorite, aren't they?”

You gawk at him, heartbeat stuttering a little in your chest. He’s right; they are your favorite, but you’ve only ever mentioned it a handful of times.

It’s… surprising that he even remembered.

Gojo always manages to catch you off-guard when he remembers the little things like this. It really shouldn’t surprise you; he’s the same way with his students, and yet…

Your heart skips yet another set of beats.

“Did you finally fall in love with me?” he asks, sounding infinitely amused.

His question reminds you that, surprisingly thoughtful or not, Satoru Gojo still remains to be the most annoying man in existence. “Absolutely not.”

“Well, if you say so…” His tone makes it clear that he doesn't believe you and you know better than to try and convince him otherwise; Gojo can be as delusional as he wants. “Better eat up before they get all sad and cold!”

“Yeah, yeah…” You grumble. “Thanks again.”

You shove the pizza bun in your mouth. It's the perfect temperature: hot but not enough to scald your tongue. You finish it in a few bites and grab another. From the looks of it, there's probably a little over a dozen steamed buns in the bag. You think that's doable as you polish off your second bun (a juicy pork bun).

As you start to eat the third (a cheese curry bun), you notice Gojo staring at you over the top of his glasses. His eyes, unnaturally bright and blue as always bore into you; and something about his gaze is almost expectant, waiting— for what you don’t really know. It’s kind of weird, honestly, you would have expected him to play with his phone or whatever, not just… watch you eat. Without averting your gaze, you slowly take a bite into the steamed bun.

Gojo continues to watch you.

Creepy.

You keep staring back at him as you finish the third bun and you don’t break eye contact as you reach in for another one. Gojo continues to watch you, his expression focused. You’re starting to get a little unnerved now. It doesn’t even seem like he’s blinking. You shift a little to the left and his eyes follow the movement.

Halfway through the fourth bun (a custard bun), you decide to finally say something. “Do you have to stare?”

Gojo snickers, mischievous. That never means anything good. “Yeah? I mean, I have to make sure you eat them all, don’t I?”

“...do you think I’m going to shove them in my shirt and hide them or something?”

For a split second, his expression falters, the briefest look of shock crossing his features before he snorts. “You’re welcome to try, but it’s an automatic loss if you do!”

You roll your eyes and shake your head. No way that you’re going to waste perfectly good steamed buns. That just means you’ll have to ignore Gojo’s incessant starting.

Which turns out to be easier said than done.

After your fifth bun, you’re starting to feel a little uncomfortable. Almost like you’re an animal in a zoo. Not only that, but you’ve noticed that Gojo’s been slowly moving closer. He started over against the wall, but now he’s practically at your feet, staring up at you. HIs pupils are blown wide and it’s almost like he’s staring into your soul.

You stop eating.

You wait for Gojo to say something, some smartass remark or tease you about being full or something.

He says nothing.

Gojo only continues to stare at you, silent as his eyes look impossibly bigger. It doesn’t just look like he’s begging for one of the steamed buns, but for something else. Your heartbeat echoes in your ears as you try to figure out what it could possibly be. With each second, the thumping grows louder and louder and Gojo seems to be moving closer and closer despite being still firmly planted to the ground.

Is it you that’s inching toward him now?

The realization startles you. Why would you even—? Panicked, you reach into the bag and pull out a bun at random and shove it in Gojo’s face. He makes a surprised sound but it’s muffled by the bun.

“Just take one already!” you exclaim, pressing it to his mouth as hard as you can without smashing it to pieces. It occurs to you that he might gloat about you feeding him by hand but you’ll deal with that later. You need to get him to stop looking at you like that now.

He laughs, triumphant as he removes the bun from your grasp and takes a big, big bite out of it. “Looks like I win. As usual.”

You merely grumble, watching as he polishes off the steamed bun in no time flat. He holds out his hand, wiggling his fingers and you hand him another. It’s fine. Just because you can finish all these steamed buns doesn’t mean that you should.

As for having to spend the entire day with Gojo… You try to look on the bright side and tell yourself that there are worse fates out there. After all, you could be working.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Gojo asks mid-bite.

“I don’t really wanna do much of anything,” you grouse. You suppose it’s nice of Gojo to ask, when you know the reality is that you’ll be at the mercy of his whims for the rest of the day. Mentally, you brace yourself to be dragged around Tokyo, shopping or whatever it is he likes to do on his time off.

Gojo chuckles softly and the sound of it makes your stomach drop. You don’t like it. Something about it is dangerous. “Okay, let’s just stay here then, play a video game or something.”

You can’t help but stare at him. Then you think of the snacks and drinks he brought along and the fact that he’s dressed more for lounging than going out. You wouldn’t put it past Gojo to intend to occupy your entire day, but could it be that he planned to just hang out in your room the entire time? Playing video games or watching movies because he figured you wouldn’t have the energy to go anywhere.

No.

There’s no way that the most selfish and annoying man you know is that considerate.

Gojo tilts his head to the side and offers you a gentle smile, eyes glimmering behind his glasses. You swallow thickly, nervously, ignoring the odd feeling in your chest. There’s just no way.

No way at all.

after many hours of playing video games with gojo you muster the energy to tell him you want to go out to eat. he pays. it's not a date (it's so totally a date).

#gojo x reader #gojo x you #satoru gojo x reader #satoru gojo x you #jjk x reader #infinite loop!verse

[absurdthirst]

Unexpectedly Reunited {Joel Miller x F!Reader}

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 15.5k

Warnings: No Outbreak AU, cheating, infidelity, surprise reunions, flirting, mentions of loss of a child, seemingly unrequited love, past crushes, abandonment, fingering, vaginal sex, rougher sex, oral sex (female and male receiving), cum eating, feelings, miscommunication, angst, degrading comments

Comments: Running away to the Cape, you find someone you had never expected to see again. Joel Miller. The blast from the past manages to heal your broken heart and you learn where life has taken him to bring him here.

Co-written with @storiesofthefandomlovers

**Follow @absurdthirst-writes and turn on notifications to stay up to date on all new fics.

|| MasterList || Joel Miller MasterList ||

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

"You motherfucker!" You yell at your boyfriend who is currently buried inside of the co-worker he told you to not worry about despite you discovering him in your bed after you decided to surprise him with lunch since he works at home. He scrambles, pulling out of Sienna and you shake your head, "it's over. Get your shit out of my apartment. Today." You shriek and he covers himself up with the blanket you got from your mom for your birthday. 

"Baby please. Let me just-" He tries to explain but you cut him off. 

"Today, Jason. Today!" You yell, spinning on your heel and you rush out of your apartment with tears in your eyes. You sob as you get into your car, the lunch abandoned in the kitchen and you're no longer hungry. You sit there for hours, watching from afar as Jason moves his stuff from your place and you call your mom to tell her what happened. 

"I always told you he was a piece of shit, baby. He's an asshole. You're better off without him. Better to find this out now instead of later." She says softly. "Your aunt has that place on the Cape and she's in Italy for the next two weeks. Why don't you go there? Go relax and get out of town. Take time to get yourself together." She suggests.

The Cape, the idea has a certain appeal. Texas is currently hot, too hot, and you don’t want to be anywhere near your old group of friends and acquaintances. People that know Jason. People that might pity you, or secretly approve of him cheating on you. You imagine walking along the beach and letting the salty air seep into your skin. Maybe read a few books in a lounger and find some bar where you can just have a few drinks. Or, the house is nice, maybe you will just sit out on the deck and drink wine. “I guess. If I leave now, I could be there late tomorrow. Are you sure she won’t mind?” 

Your mom snorts through the line and you can imagine her face. “Of course not. Get your bag packed and get on the road. The key is in a little box on the garage door. Combination to open it is 9-26-13.” 

You sigh, watching as Jason closes the truck of the car with the last of his stuff. “Thanks mom, I’ll be on the road in twenty minutes. I don’t want to spend a night in that bed. I’m going to have to order another one.” 

When you arrive at your aunt’s house; you are exhausted and waste no time showering and getting into bed. The emotional drain of the past 36 hours is too much and you take a nap. When you wake up, it’s late and you have some of the snacks you brought with you while on the road. You’ll go food shopping tomorrow. You eventually fall back asleep, eager to explore tomorrow which comes far too soon when you’re woken up by drilling. You startle awake, checking the clock to see it’s 7:30 am and you whine, rubbing your eyes as you shuffle out of the bed, ready to reprimand the asshole who is drilling next door.

“Goddamn header.” Joel grunts out a curse, taking his hand off the hammer drill he had been using to wipe the sweat that is rolling into his eyes. “Send me some fuckin’ lumber that’s straight and I’ll fix the goddamn thing.” High up on the scaffolding, he’s cursing everyone from the lumber distributor to himself for taking this job. It’s been a shit show and it doesn’t seem like anything is going to go his way today.

You wrap your robe around yourself and huff as you stomp outside, raising your hand to cover your eyes from the early morning sun as you look up at the scaffolding. “Excuse me!” You yell and Joel continues drilling. “Excuse me!” You yell again and the drilling continues. “Fuck me!” You scream and the drilling stops. 

“That’s a mighty nice offer darlin’ but I barely know you.” Joel jokes as he removes his headset. 

“Why the hell are you drilling at this time in the morning?” You yell at him and he sets the drill down so he can climb down the scaffolding to talk to you. You wait, tapping your foot impatiently. 

“I was hired to do this job. I have a permit. I am starting early to avoid the rain this afternoon. Not that I have to explain myself to - wait…do I know you?” Joel asks, frowning as he removes his sunglasses to get a better look at you.

When it dawns on him who you are, his eyes widen and he murmurs your name. Never expecting to see you again. “Holy shit. What are you doing on the east coast?” He asks when he can speak again. The last time he had seen you was at his wedding. After that day, you had just….ghosted him, making him feel like your friendship had meant nothing.

As soon as he says your name you recognize him. “Joel? Joel Miller?” You gasp in shock. It’s been a while since you’ve seen the man that was your teenage crush. He was your next door neighbor and a lot older than you but you always had such a massive crush on him. You became friends after you got back from college to live with your parents again and that’s when you truly fell in love with him. Then he met Helen and you knew he would never feel the same way. Resigned to being his friend, you supported him but always secretly hoped he’d realize what was right in front of him. He didn’t and you ended up leaving town after watching him marry Helen on a beautiful summer day. He’s just as handsome. Shit, just as sexy. “I- this is my aunt’s house. You know the one who is a journalist.” You explain, “I- I came here to escape the Texas heat.” You lie, “what the hell are you doing here?” You ask, genuinely curious how a typical Texan like Joel is in the northeast.

Joel’s expression shutters, his eyes flattening slightly and he grunts. “Work.” He lies, having sensed you are lying too. You have puffy eyes, like you’ve been spending a lot of time crying, though you’re still just as beautiful as the last time he saw you. “Like I’m tryin’ to do now. But it’s a bitch and-“ he twists his neck towards the dark clouds rolling in from the west. “I want to get this sealed up before the rain starts.”

You nod, “I understand. Sorry for yelling. I just got in last night from Texas and I’m exhausted from driving nonstop. I didn’t expect the work to be done so early. I’m awake now, so carry on. I’m gonna get some coffee. Anywhere local you’d recommend?” You ask when his eyes meet yours once more and you are taken back by how handsome he is. Your memories did him no justice.

He feels bad for being rude, sighing slightly and wiping his forehead again. “Two blocks over there’s a dinner called The Fungus Among Us.” He tells you with a grin. “Vegan place, really into mushrooms, but they have great coffee. You just have to use their non-dairy creamers.”

The last person you expected to frequent a vegan cafe is Joel who used to enjoy platefuls of barbecue at the family cookouts back when you were younger and you chuckle, “you gone vegan on me?” You ask and he shakes his head, “no. Still love some ribs but I can appreciate good coffee.” You hum and he shrugs. “I’m gonna go get changed. You want me to bring you a coffee back?” You offer, wanting to make up for being rude.m

“I’m good.” He looks up towards the sky again. “Too fuckin’ hot for coffee up here.” He looks back down and smirks slightly. “Hurry up before you get wet. New England summer showers are no joke.”

You nod, “I’ll be fast. I, uh, I’ll see you around. It was great to see you again.” You wave awkwardly at him as he flips his sunglasses back down. You aren’t sure if he’s married or has kids or what his situation is so you don’t want to overstep by suggesting a reunion of some kind. 

“See you around, sweetheart.” Joel says and you offer him a smile, “bye Joel.” You say as you head back into your aunts house to get ready.

He won’t deny that he watches you when you re-emerge from the large cottage next door, or as you walk down the street. His eyes follow you as he takes what he tells himself is a five minute break. He was rude to you. And the Joel you had known wouldn’t have done that. He sighs, twisting around and trying to pop his aching back before he glances at the cloud again. They are rolling in fast and he only has about twenty minutes to finish up for the day. “Shit, Miller, get to work.”

You return back with your coffee - a good recommendation from Joel - and you’re disappointed when you don’t see him working. You feel the droplets of rain and decide to have your coffee then go grocery shopping after the rain has come and gone.

****

The drilling happens a little later around 8:45am the next morning and you look out of the bathroom window to see Joel working on the house. He lifts his shirt up to wipe his face and you can’t deny that your jaw drops. He’s still as sexy as you ever thought he was but then you remind yourself that he’s married and you shake your head to clear your lust. You decide to walk to the coffee shop again and head outside just as Joel jumps from the last section of scaffolding. “Sure I can’t get you a coffee?” You ask him, “I’m gonna head over there now.”

“I think I owe you a drink, since I was kind of an ass yesterday.” Joel admits, shuffling slightly and wiping his hands on a work rag before tossing it down. “I’ve got a few minutes, can walk over there with you, if you want?” He leaves it up to you, knowing that you might not want to do anything more than be nice.

You offer him a smile, “I’d like that.” You say and he nods, grabbing his keys and he yells out to his partner to keep an eye on things. You walk along with him and you’re quiet for a minute or so before you ask “so how long have you lived here?”

It takes Joel a moment to think back and he sighs. “Fuck.” He snorts. “Nearly ten years? Hard to think about but I’ve not even seen you in nearly twenty-five.” He wants to ask why you just stopped talking to him and coming around after he had married Helen. He hadn’t even been able to tell you that she had been a few months pregnant because his wife had wanted to keep it silent until after the first trimester. 

"Has it really been that long?" You shake your head, "I- wow. It feels like yesterday you were just getting married. Is Helen enjoying it here?" You ask, not noticing his lack of wedding band but you haven't really had a chance to look at his hands.

Joel snorts. “Helen left me when-” He breaks off and there’s that familiar ache in his chest at the thought of Sarah. “A year after we got married. Don’t know where she’s at, don’t really care, if I’m honest.” She had abandoned her child, something that he could never understand or accept. “What about you? Sure you’re married and happy, husband on a business trip and you decided to take a vacation?” 

It’s your turn to snort, “no. No. I, uh, I haven’t been married. I - I walked in on my boyfriend fucking his coworker in my apartment so I told him to pack his shit and be gone by the time I get back. Decided to take a break to avoid the pity looks and whispers around town.” You confess, glancing down the street as you adjust your purse on your shoulder.

“Wow. You must have been with a real douche bag.” Joel scoffs. “I can’t believe anyone would be stupid enough to cheat on you. There’s no fucking way he’s right in the head.” He shakes his head and huffs. “Idiot. I’m sorry, I know you don’t want to hear that. But that bastard didn’t deserve you.”  

You offer him a self deprecating smile. “I appreciate you being pissed for me. I pretty much cried the entire way to the Cape. I- I thought he was gonna propose. I’m an idiot. I believed all his lies and I- I thought he was going to be the one.” You shake your head at your own stupidity. “Well, at least someone to spend the rest of my life with.”

“You’ll find someone better.” He predicts. “Someone who cheats on you isn’t worth your time. Or your tears.” Joel looks over at you and gives you a small smile. “Maybe you’ll find one of those romance story type guys here on the Cape.” 

You chuckle, “who is already married or has more skeletons in his closet than a haunted house. I think I’ll accept the reality that I’m destined to be alone and I think I’m okay with that. It’s not too bad. Getting to do whatever you want without answering to anyone. Romance is - it’s just something they sell to give people hope.” You confess with a sigh, “I’ll stick to reading about it in novels.” You chuckle softly and turn into the coffee shop, about to open the door but Joel does a little jog to open it before you can. “Don’t lose hope. You never know who’s gonna appear.” He says and you bite your lip as you brush past him, knowing he’s the man you’ve always envisioned when you read those romance novels.

The inside of the cafe is trendy, quirky. It seems like a place where Joel would look completely out of place with his buttoned up shirt and jeans, heavy boots. No one has given him shit about it and been friendly, even though he stays away from a lot of their menu. “Have you tried the muffins? They are pretty good.” 

You shake your head, “no. I had the chia pudding the other day.” You giggle when he wrinkles his nose. “The blueberry muffin sounds good.” You hum, crossing your arms, “and a latte. You seem like a black coffee kind of guy.”

“Only way to drink coffee.” Joel agrees with a smirk. He guides you to a table and pulls out a chair for you. “I know you probably like all those syrups and half pump venti shits.” He rolls his eyes, although he likes the way you sound when you snicker. 

“I’m a vanilla girl.” You reveal and Joel raises his eyebrows playfully. “For my coffee order.” You clarify with a smirk and he walks over to the counter to order your drinks and he returns with a blueberry muffin for you. “You didn’t have to pay.” You shake your head and he shrugs, “to make up for the early morning wake up calls.” He explains and You offer him a soft smile, reaching out to touch his hand, “thank you. I- I’ve missed you, you know?”

“You missed me so much you just….disappeared?” Joel asks, wanting to know why. “I tried calling you a couple of times. Wanted you to come out with me and Helen to dinner. You just didn’t ever call me back.” 

You sigh, withdrawing your hand. “I…it was complicated.” You glance around the coffee shop, feeling his eyes burn into you. “I couldn’t stay after you…I had to get out of town and figure out what I wanted. I’m sorry I disappeared but it was for the best. You had a new life…a wife. You didn’t need me hanging around.”

It’s not an answer that satisfies him, but from the set of your jaw, you won’t give him a proper explanation. “I- you missed a lot, obviously. I had wanted to tell you that Helen was pregnant. We weren’t announcing it before the ceremony.”

You swallow harshly, not realizing that he’s a father. “Did Helen…you have a - wow. That’s - I didn’t know. No one told me - my parents didn’t tell me anything. I asked them not to.” You finish with a murmur, shifting to sit back and look at Joel just as they call his name to get the coffees.

Joel stands up, happy to go get the drinks and muffins so he doesn’t have to show how that idea upsets him. Why does he care after twenty-five years? He shouldn’t. Bringing the tray over to the table, he sets it down and doles out the items quietly.

You bite your lip as you look at him, he’s broader than ever. He was gorgeous when he was younger and he’s still gorgeous with the grays scattered in his hair. “Is your kid in the Cape or elsewhere?” You ask him, wanting to change the subject.

Joel frowns slightly, looking down at his coffee. “No.” He tells you. “She- she died. Twelve years ago. It’s why I moved here. I couldn’t live in Texas anymore.”

Your brow furrows as you gasp softly. “Oh. Oh Joel. I’m so sorry. I- shit. Me and my big mouth. I’m so sorry. Oh God. That - that’s terrible.” You choke, squeezing the coffee cup in your hand as you see the devastation in his eyes.

“It was a long time ago.” The wound is still fresh and if it were anyone else, he wouldn’t even bring it up. But you had never met Sarah, you didn’t know how wonderful she was.

“I’m sorry Joel. I know that doesn’t mean shit when you endure that kind of pain but…I really am sorry.” You say and reach out to squeeze his hand again. “I understand why you left to come here.” You tell him and his dark eyes meet yours, clouded over with the pain of losing a child. “Do you…do you maybe want to come over for dinner sometime? Catch up properly? I meant what I said. I’ve missed you.”

His immediate response is to tell you no. That it wasn’t necessary, but he can’t get the words out. “Sure.” He figures it’s a nicety. That you are saying that and then you’ll politely avoid him.

You sip your coffee as he goes quiet. Joel was never one for small talk. “So have you got a wife or girlfriend here?” You ask after a few moments, wondering if that’s why he was hesitant to accept an offer to catch up over dinner.

“No, nothing like that.” He shakes his head, frowning slightly when he remembers Tess. He should have been better to her, but he ran out of time. “Not anymore,” he adds, looking back down at his cup. “So how long are you here?”

"Two weeks. Figured that was enough time for the dust to settle and for that asshole to get his shit out of my apartment." You sigh, looking down at the table before you flick your eyes up to meet his. "I really am sorry we lost touch. All I can say is it's complicated and too much time has passed to dig into it all again."

“Yeah.” Joel just shrugs. “It’s in the past.” He knows he’s changed a lot from the man you used to know. He’s harder, his heart is cold and most times people are wary of him. “People change, move on, whatever.”

You frown at his pessimism and you know he’s changed but he always used to be so playful and fun. Life has been hard for both of you, especially Joel. You finish your muffin and soon you’re walking back to your aunt’s house. “You wanna come for dinner tomorrow?” You offer, not wanting to end this interaction on a spur note.

“Sure.” He finds himself agreeing, not minding your company and he would love a meal he didn’t cook for himself. Or Ellie cooked. “Oh- uh, I should have told you. Can someone come with me?” He asks, not sure if you’d want a kid around.

You are surprised but don't ask who, wondering if he has a friend or something. "Uh, sure. Yeah. That's fine. Any allergies or things they don't like?" You ask, wanting to be sure before you plan what you want to cook.

“Nahhhh.” Joel snorts, shaking his head at the crazy things that Ellie has eaten. “She’ll eat anything. Nearly indestructible stomach, I swear.”

You are curious, barely able to swallow down the inquiries but you manage and offer him a smile, "sounds good. Wanna say seven?" You ask and he nods. You stand on your aunt's driveway and Joel rubs the back of his neck. "I'll see you tomorrow." He says and you rock on your heels, crossing your arms. "See you tomorrow, Joel." You smile and watch for a second as he spins on his heel and makes his way back to the neighbor's house.

****

“So whoooo are we having dinner with?” Joel rolls his eyes and ramps down the urge to bite back with something sarcastic. That would only make the girl more curious about who you are. 

“She’s an old friend.” Joel explains, “she’s in town and I thought I might be good to not have to put up with your shit cooking for a night.” He reaches over and pulls on her ponytail, grinning when she scowls and slaps his hand away. 

“Hey man, not my fault your cooking tastes like shit. You taught me.”

You wipe down your apron as you watch the water boil for the pasta. The doorbell rings and you take the apron off, making your way over to the door to open it to greet Joel and his mystery guest. You had purposefully avoided looking out of the windows this morning when Joel was working. You are shocked when you see a teenager with Joel, having convinced yourself it was another woman and he was trying to hint at it but you didn't pick it up.

“Woah. She’s a babe!” Ellie’s eyes widen and she sends Joel a smirk. “No wonder you didn’t talk about her. You gotta date, old man? Why the hell are you bringing me with you?” 

Joel rolls his eyes and reaches up to smack the back of Ellie’s head. “Behave.” He warns her before apologizing to you. “Sorry. She’s feral. Not a goddamn manner in her body.”

You fluster at the girl's compliment and you look at Joel with a chuckle, "don't worry. I've had worse with my cousins and their kids." You promise and step aside so that he and the kid can enter. You tell her your name as she walks past you and she offers you a grin and tells you her name is Ellie. "Hope you like chicken parm." You hum as you shut the door behind you.

“I love anything that he didn’t cook.” She hooks her thumb over at Joel and smirks. “He thinks heating Chef Boy-r-dee is a good meal.” She tells you, knowing that Joel is shuffling in embarrassment and not caring a lick. She likes to bust his balls.

You chuckle, remembering how hopeless Joel was in the kitchen. He even called you up one night to ask you to rescue the meal he was trying to cook Helen for a date night. It had been hard to help but you would’ve done anything for him back then. Still would if you’re honest. You ask Ellie what she wants to drink when they enter the open plan kitchen. “Damnnn. This is a nice place you got here.” Ellie says and you shake your head, “it’s my aunt’s. I live in Texas.” You explain and Ellie glances at Joel. 

“Texas, huh?” She says, raising her eyebrows and Joel ignores her. 

“Yeah. Joel and I used to be neighbors.” You explain a little more.

“So you can tell me what he used to be like?” She asks conspiratorially. “Before he became so boring.”

You lean in conspiratorially towards Ellie. “He’s always been boring.” You whisper playfully and Joel rolls his eyes. 

Ellie nods, “makes sense.” You chuckle and Joel huffs, biting his lip to smother his smirk. 

“Joel has always been a good guy. Grumpy, but he has always done the right thing.” You say, “and he tries to let everyone think he’s a grumpy bastard but he’s actually got a good sense of humor.” You say and Ellie shakes her head, “he doesn’t laugh at my jokes!” She whines and you smirk, “oh he’s laughing. Just on the inside.”

“No, I’m not.” Joel grumps and huffs, trying to hide a smirk. He likes to bust on Ellie as much as she busts on him, just in different ways. If he tries to be too soft with the girl, she will shut down. “Hope it wasn’t too much trouble for dinner. We would have been good with pizza.”

You shake your head, “it’s nice to cook. I am usually so busy with work and my ex…he was a vegan which made it almost impossible to cook what I know but I love cooking. I’ve missed it. Hopefully it’s good.” You say and turn back to the stove to put the pasta on to cook. “You want a soda?” You ask Ellie, knowing Joel will want a beer. The teenager nods and you hand her a soda before handing Joel a bottle of beer. “Go sit at the table. Dinner will be right up.” You say as you set your glass of wine down.

“Ellie and I will clean up.” Joel offers. He might suck in the kitchen, but he knows how to clean up a mess and it wouldn’t be fair to expect you to wait on them. “Sound good?”

“You’re my guests.” You protest but Joel shakes his head, “we can do the dishes.” You sigh, knowing you’re best to not argue, and turn back to the stove. It doesn’t take long for you to set the serving dishes on the table. “Dig in.” You order and Ellie groans, “shit. That looks good.” 

“Ellie.” Joel warns softly and you chuckle, “hopefully it tastes good.”

“I'm sure it’s great.” Joel tells you with a quick smile as he cuts into the chicken cutlet. “Thank you, it’s nice to have a good meal.” He admits. Often times it was something from a box or fast food for them. “And did you remember what beer I drink? Or was it a lucky guess?”

You bite your lip and fluster slightly, “I, uh, I remembered.” You confess, having remembered every detail about the man opposite you. Your heart is still thumping when his dark eyes meet yours. 

Neither of you notice the way Ellie smirks as she cuts into her chicken. “This is fucking awesome. You’re a great cook. Right, Joel?” Ellie hints at her foster dad.

"Huh?" He's been trying not to make it obvious that he's having a moment with the chicken farm. Looking up, he sees that he's being asked a question. "Yeah, oh yeah, it's delicious." He praises. "I don't know if I've had chicken parm this good in forever." He promises.

Your stomach twists with their praise, pleased they are enjoying it and you dig in yourself, hungry after cooking for most of the afternoon. “So Ellie is your daughter?” You ask Joel and Ellie snorts, “he wishes. I’m just his foster kid. He and my mom were friends and when he found out I was in home after home, he took me in.” Ellie says and you smile, “always knew you were a softie.” You tease and Joel grunts his response.

The truth was more complicated and filled in infinitely more guilt. Joel had gone down a dark path after Sarah had died. He was Ellie's mother's dealer. Giving her the drugs even though she was using more and more and that it could kill her. He had told himself that it wasn't his problem until he had learned about Ellie. He had started avoiding the woman's calls until he learned she had died of an overdose. No other family other than Ellie, it had felt like it was his fault so he had done the work to become the kid's guardian.

You can sense there's more but you don't push. The three of you have small talk, Ellie mainly asking questions about what Joel was like when you knew him back in the day and you explain that you were good friends until he got married and you decided to leave town. "You left? And didn't keep in touch?" Ellie asks with a frown and you tap your fingers on the table, "it was complicated."

Joel snorts and doubts that, but he doesn't voice it. You keep saying it's complicated, but you won't even say more than that to him. Ellie rolls her eyes and sighs. "Just say you love him already. There. Done." She turns to Joel and pitches her voice up slightly. "Joel, I was in love with you so I couldn't stand to see you married." She says, pretending to be you before she looks back over at you with a shake of her head. "Now. Was that hard?"

Your jaw drops slightly as the teenager calls you out and reveals the reason you left within an hour of meeting you. "I, uh, it - um -" You stammer and Joel shakes his head. 

"Ellie. Don't be rude." He reprimands her and she waves her hand towards you, "I'm right, aren't I?" She asks and you stand up, grabbing your plate. 

"I have dessert. You like chocolate cake?" You ask and grab the teenager's plate.

“Stop being a little shit.” Joel hisses the moment you disappear out of sight. “She doesn’t love me. She’s just getting over a break up.” Ellie’s grin falls and she looks upset over her comments. “And you have to open your big mouth.”

You sigh as you cut into the cake you bought earlier and serve three plates. You carry them back over to the table on the tray and Ellie’s eyes widen as she takes it in. “Holy shit, that looks delicious.” She says and you chuckle, “I didn’t make this. I’m not a good baker.” You confess as you sit back down.

“I doubt that.” Joel tells you. “I’m sure you are a good baker, but Ellie never turns down cake.”

“I never do either.” You wink at Ellie, wanting to lighten the atmosphere and you dig into the cake. After the cake is eaten, Ellie tells you about her school and how she wants to learn to play the guitar. “Joel used to play guitar.” You reveal, remembering how you used to hear him practicing in his bedroom.

“You never told me that.” Ellie sounds downright offended that he had never told her about his musical proclivity. 

“Haven’t told you a lot.” He grunts, smirking slightly when she pouts at him. 

“But you can teach me, and then I won’t have to pay someone.” 

He chuckles and raises a brow at his foster kid. “I’ll take payment in the form of chores being done on time and completely.”

You chuckle and realize that Joel is just as soft as you remember him but he’s covered by a hard exterior…like a piece of candy. Sweet but sour. “Deal.” Ellie says despite knowing she will slack a little bit she hopes Joel will at least teach her the basics. “So are you gonna be seeing Joel again?” Ellie probes and you shrug, “well, he’s working next door so I think it’s inevitable.”

Joel rolls his eyes at the scheming tone of the girl’s voice. “Maybe I should ask you when you are going to see Vanessa again.” He huffs with a small smirk. “You seemed to be really into hanging out with her.”

You lean in a little closer with a smile, “who’s Vanessa?” You ask and Ellie blushes, “she’s, uh, she’s this girl from math and she - she’s really pretty.” Ellie murmurs and you reach out to touch her arm, “then maybe you should tell her that.” You suggest and Ellie rears back and shakes her head. “Oh no. No. I, uh, I don’t know if she likes me.” Ellie confesses and you say, “well, you’ll never know unless you ask.” You suggest softly and Ellie bites her lip until her expression hardens a little, “I could say the same thing to you guys.” She says, looking between you and Joel. 

You shake your head, “we are friends. Have always been friends.” You say and don’t notice Joel frown slightly. “Anyway, I, uh, I’m sure you have an early start. Do you want to take the rest of the cake home? I won’t eat all of that.”

“I know the kid will want it.” He won’t admit that he might go to the kitchen in the middle of the night to sneak a piece. “Come on.” He motions towards Ellie. “Let’s get in there and clean up. Show our appreciation for the good meal.”

Ellie, for once, doesn’t groan about doing dishes and you already have most of it in the dishwasher so it’s only the serving plates and plates you ate off of. “It’s okay.” You try to argue but Joel and Ellie already have a well rehearsed wash and dry system. You stand there with your glass of wine and admire Joel.

You had obviously washed as you cooked, so there weren’t as many dishes as when Joel decides he’s gonna actually cook. Once the last one is washed and handed off to Ellie to dry, Joel rinses the rag and starts to wipe down your counters. “Tell you what?” He jokes. “You feed us like that and we’ll do all the dishes every time. Might even do your laundry too.”

You chuckle and hold your hand out towards Joel, “that’s a deal, Miller.” You joke and he squeezes your hand, sending electricity up your arm at his touch and your heart thumps. You stare at him for a moment until Ellie clears her throat and looks between you with a shit eating grin until Joel lets go of your hand. They finish washing up and you hand them the box of cake to take with them when you escort them out of your house “it was great to meet you, Ellie.”

"It was pretty cool to meet you too." Ellie smirks. "I think I'll probably see a lot more of you too." She predicts before shooting out the door. "Thanks for the food!" She shouts as she waves the cake box over her head.

You chuckle when Joel rolls his eyes, “she’s a handful.” He says and you reach up to squeeze his shoulder, “she’s a good kid. And you’re a good man for taking her in.” You say and he leans in to softly kiss your cheek. 

“Thanks for dinner, sweetheart. See you around.” He winks at you and you fluster, nodding before you shut the door. Your heart is fluttering, the ghost of his kiss on your cheek and you know that your love for him has never gone away, it’s just been concealed. 

**** 

The next morning, you’re woken up by Joel and his crew again and you sigh, getting ready for the day. When you open the curtains, your jaw drops as you come face to face with Joel working , his shirt looped into his jeans. “Shit.” You hiss, your stomach twisting with arousal as you watch his shoulder muscles move.

Joel sees the curtains opening on the bedroom you are obviously using in your aunt’s house. He looks back down at the board he was nailing into place and smirks. It was hot as hell today and that might have prompted him to take his shirt off. All the while, telling himself that Ellie’s prodding about how much you two obviously liked each other was a bunch of BS. You had been friends. He’s sure he had taken his shirt off around you at some point, so why shouldn’t he be comfortable.

Your mouth is dry as you try to discreetly watch. You hadn’t seen Joel without his shirt off and the muscles moving has you wanting to get back into bed and imagine Joel in it with you. Instead, you force yourself to get ready for the day and brew some coffee. The doorbell rings around mid morning and you brush yourself down as you move to open the door. “Joel. What’s up?” You ask, his shirt still off, he’s covered in some kind of grease, and you swallow harshly. “I hate to ask this but do you think I could use your shower? I got grease all over me from trying to fix my tool. Can I - I’ll be quick.” He asks and you nod, “of course. It’s upstairs to the left.” You say, “I can run your stuff through the washer if you want?” You offer.

“Thanks.” He shoots you a grin. “I appreciate it. This job has been nothing but a pain in my ass, but at least the view is nice.” He tells you, aware that he’s flirting, but he can’t help himself. He’s been thinking about you all day. Wondering what you’ve been doing.

You bite your lip as he grins at you and you aren’t sure if he’s flirting or not. You watch him as he carefully makes his way upstairs after taking off his boots at the door and you try to busy yourself by making some iced tea for when he’s done showering. Logically, you know he doesn’t have a spare set of clothes yet you’re still surprised when he appears with a towel wrapped around his waist and you swear your heart stops. Fuck, he looks gorgeous. You want to lean in and lick the drops of water speeding down his chest and stomach to be absorbed by the towel.

Joel shuffles slightly. “Sorry. I didn’t think about the fact I had nothing to put on.” He admits, rubbing the back of his neck. “And I- I swiped some of your deodorant.” He chuckles awkwardly. “Probably the best I’ve smelled all day.”

“That - That’s okay.” You nod, torn between stepping forward to rip the towel from his body and running to your room to disappear. “I, uh, I made some iced tea if you want some.” Joel nods and you pour him a glass. “I’ll put your things in the washer.” You hold your arms out and take the dirty clothes, quick to walk into the laundry room to put his clothes on to wash.

He hadn’t missed the way your breaking hitched, and he reasons that Ellie was right. You want him. Instead of drinking the tea, he puts it down and quietly follows behind you. Crowding in behind you as you close the lid to start it and smirks when you gasp as you turn around. “Sorry, realized I forgot to give you everything.” He rasps out, reaching for his towel. “Can’t forget that.”

Your eyes widen and you bite your lip to stop the whimper escaping. Joel is naked. In your aunt’s laundry room. You spin around and place the towel in the washer before pressing the button to start it. His hands find your waist and he pushes up against you, “Joel.” You whimper, “I- oh God.” You gasp when he kisses your neck. 

“I want you.” He confesses, “you want me, darlin’?” He asks and your knees would buckle if he didn’t have you pressed up against the washer. 

“I need you. I’ve wanted you since I met you.” You confess breathlessly.

His hardening cock twitches against your ass and he groans. “That is why you left.” He huffs. “Fuck, I wish I had known.” He squeezes your hips and then slides his hands around so he can unbutton your jeans. “I would have taken you to bed before I met Helen. Always thought you were a pretty thing. Never seemed like you wanted more with me, so I didn’t push.”

You turn your head to kiss his jaw. “I thought you thought of me as the dumb kid next door. Never saw me as the woman I became. I thought you just saw me as a friend. When you told me you were engaged to Helen - I - I couldn’t stick around and watch you be a family.” You confess as he pulls the zipper down and you gasp when he shoves your jeans down your thighs, his hand quickly pushing into your panties to rub your clit. “Joel.” You moan, reaching up to turn his head so you can press your lips against his.

He knows that this will change everything but he’s tired of being alone. Tired of the regrets he has and you have always been one of them. His work rough fingers press and rub your clit while his other hand slides under your shirt and pushes your bra up so he can fondle your tits. “Never thought you were a girl. You aren’t that much younger than me. Hated how much I wanted you. How much I thought about you.”

You gasp when he rubs your clit just right and you grind your hips back against his aching cock. “God. I- I thought about you all the time.” You confess and reach behind you to grip his cock in your hand. “I want you, Joel.” You whimper, needing to feel him inside of you after so many years of wondering what he would feel like.

“Then you’ll get me.” Joel promises. “Right after you cum on my fingers.” He twists his wrist so he can push two thick fingers inside you and rub your clit with his thumb. Groaning and twitching in your hand when your walls squeeze his fingers tight. “I’ll fuck your little pussy right. Make you forget all about that douche bag in Texas. Show you how a man should be treating you.”

His words send a whine up your throat and you squeeze his cock in your grip as his fingers stretch you out. “Oh God. Jo- Joel.” You gasp when his thumb presses harder against your clit. It’s more than you’ve felt in years while having sex and you are grateful for his hand squeezing your breast to keep you upright and pressed against the washer. “Shit. That - it’s so good.” You pant, knowing that Jason never made you feel like this. He never used to finger you until you came, just until you were wet. You’re a little embarrassed when you look back on it later to say that you came astonishingly quick, clamping down on his digits with a moan of his name.

“Good girl.” Joel moans when he feels your body tense and shake. “Fuck, your such a good girl for me. Bet you taste delicious, don’t cha?” He groans, the slickness coating his fingers makes it easier to work you through your orgasm until he feels your knees buckle and you collapse against the washing machine. “Fuck. You needed that, didn’t you. Still want me to fuck you or do you need a cigarette?” He jokes. He’s throbbing in your hand, but if you don’t want to go any farther, he won’t push. He doesn’t want you to regret it or feel like he’s taking advantage of your broken heart.

You squeeze his cock again, "don't you dare stop, Miller. I- I've wanted you for forever. I need you inside of me." You plead breathlessly, pussy still fluttering around his fingers, "please." You add pathetically, needing this even if it's one time.

“I’m so fuckin’ glad you said that.” Joel confesses as he pulls his soaked fingers out of you. “Otherwise I was gonna need to jerk off right now.” He kisses your neck and pushes your feet apart with his own to spread you out. “It’s gonna be quick.” He warns. “Been a long fuckin’ time for me.”

"I don't care. You can cum inside of me." You promise, bracing yourself on the vibrating washer as he positions himself at your entrance and starts to push inside of you. You whine when his cock slips inside of you, already stretching you out. "Fuck. You are so big." You moan, knowing that you've never had anyone this thick inside of you.

​​Joel groans your name roughly, rolling his hips until they are pressed against your ass and both hands are filled with your tits. “So goddamn tight.” He rasps in your ear, twitching when you clench around him. “Better than my dreams, better than I could have ever imagined. So tight around my dick.”

You reach behind you to tangle your fingers in his damp hair. He starts to move inside of you, a whine escaping your lips as the friction is delicious, and you rest your cheek on the washer. “Soooo gooood.” Your voice vibrates too and Joel chuckles darkly, making you clench around him again.

He moves his hands down to grip your waist, holding tight to you as he braces his legs. Starting to rock into you faster and harder to make your body slam against the machine you are leaning against. “Fuck baby, you’re goddamn perfect.” He grunts out, gritting his teeth. “Touch your pretty little clit while I fuck the shit out of you.”

You cry out in pleasure, your hand shaking as you push it between you and the machine to rub your clit. “Fuck Joel. Joel. Oh shit.” You practically sob and his fingers dig into your flesh, likely leaving bruises you’ll cherish. “Harder.” You demand, wanting to feel him for days after he leaves you.

He growls, deep in his chest and his pace increases. Slamming into you harsh enough that he rocks the machine. Loving how you take him and beg for more, how tight your cunt gets when you spasm around him. “Gonna cum.” He warns, feeling his body starting to tense. “Need you to cum, sweet girl.”

You rub your clit a little faster, wanting to cum before he does and his grunts echo in the laundry room, getting deeper and faster along with his thrusts until you fall apart. A cry rips from your mouth as you clamp down on him, practically shaking against the vibrating machine as you climax around the man you’ve wanted for so long.

As soon as you clench down around him, Joel is lost. The strangled groan pushes out of his throat as he buries his cock just as deep as he can. Painting your walls with hot spurts of his seed while he grinds into you and whimpers your name. Overwhelmed by how perfect you feel around him.

You pant, resting against the washer as Joel twitches inside of you, his lips kissing along the back of your neck. You are speechless. No one has ever fucked you like that. Your legs feel like jello and you know you'd collapse if it wasn't for him keeping you pressed against the machine.

Panting, Joel presses against your back, kissing along your neck as he tries to catch his breath. He’s out of practice, but the way your legs still shake makes him think he did it right. “Fuck.” He chuckles. “We shoulda done that years ago.”

You chuckle softly, "yes but you were married." You snort and Joel caresses your side. "I think I'm gonna need a nap after that." You confess and he smirks against your skin, reluctantly pulling out of you.

“Well, I can’t go back to work with no clothes on.” He reminds you with another chuckle. “Why don’t we take that nap?” He’s already told his crew what to do and he doesn’t want to leave you right now. Caressing your back, he watches his cum start to well up at your little hole, trying to push out.

You smile, reaching behind you to unclasp your bra after he steps back from you and you finally feel like you can stand up. You toss your bra and shirt into the laundry basket along with the rest of your clothes after using your panties to wipe his cum from between your legs. “I need to pee and then we can nap.” You say, leaning in to kiss his cheek. “You wanna head upstairs while I pee?” You ask.

“Yeah.” Joel smirks slightly when you wobble as you walk to the hall bathroom and he strides into the kitchen to grab you a bottle of water before heading upstairs to the bedroom you are using. Feeling great and hoping that you enjoyed yourself, he’s gonna have to ask you when you come up.

You struggle to get upstairs but you do it, finding Joel sitting on the edge of the bed, still naked and you admire him for a second. The sun coming through the curtains highlights the gray in his locks and you find yourself falling for him all over again. You shift to lay down on the bed, closing your eyes, “you’ve worn me out, Miller.” You joke playfully.

“You’re worn out?” It’s fucking ridiculous how he wants to touch you again, even though he knows it will be at least half an hour, maybe more before he could get it up again. “And here I was thinking about eating your pussy.” He flips back on the bed beside you. “Guess that’s out.”

You open one eye, “now I didn’t say I was that worn out.” You tease, shifting onto your side and opening both eyes to look at him. “I would happily cum on your tongue if you want to do that.” You murmur, reaching out to caress his chest.

“Figure I owe you that much.” He grunts. “Fucked you over a washing machine. Not exactly the classiest first time.” He shoots you a grin. “Shoulda been in the bed of my truck.” He leans in and presses his lips to your as he rolls you onto your back and covers you with his body. “Wanna find out how you taste. Used to think about it when I had my dick in my hand.”

​​You reach up to caress his shoulders and back, “the bed of your truck. The stars above while the radio plays. That might’ve been something I dreamed about a lot.” You confess as he kisses along your neck. “I want to suck your cock too. Imagined it so many times. How you’d look, how you’d sound.”

“Fuck.” He groans, imagining it. “You’d look so fucking pretty like that.” He agrees. “But right now, there’s no way I’m gonna get hard, baby. I’m old.”

You scoff, “you’re not old. You just need some time.” You murmur, caressing his back as he slides his hand down your side. “We have time.” You promise softly despite knowing you are on borrowed time in your aunt’s house. “Now…you mentioned something about eating me out?”

He laughs as his tongue slides between your breasts, looking up at you with a grin that makes him feel younger, lighter. “I was telling you that you were going to scream my name.” He boasts, kissing across your belly as he shuffles down the bed to move between your thighs.

You grin as you watch him until he kisses your inner thigh and your mouth falls open with a moan. “Joel.” You sigh when he kisses along the sensitive skin until you are moaning his name as his tongue slides through your folds. “Fuck.” You tilt your head back, sitting up on your elbows.

He hums, knowing you are watching him but his eyes are closed as he tastes you. Enjoying the musky, tangy taste, even mixed with his own cum. Using his hands to push your thighs apart more, he flicks his tongue over your clit before sliding down and pushing his tongue inside you.

You gasp in delight as his tongue curls deep and you shift your weight onto one elbow so you can reach out and tangle your fingers in his hair. "So good baby. So good." You coo, rocking your hips up slightly to push his tongue deeper.

Joel groans into your cunt as he tongue fucks you enthusiastically. Loving your responsiveness and how you moan his name. His fingers dig into your hips, dragging you closer as he feasts voraciously without even wanting to pull away to swallow, his spit and your juices sliding down to soak the bed under you.

"Oh God." You pant, chest heaving and you let go of his hair to squeeze your breast, pinching the nipple while his nose presses against your clit. "That - ohhh just like that." You cry as his tongue curls just right with his nose pressed against your bundle of nerves.

He hums, rubbing his broad nose against your clit to give you more. Desperate to hear you cum again and to feel you soak his face. He feels so fucking alive right now between your thighs.

"Shit. I'm - you're gonna make me cum, Joel." You pant, thighs clamping around his face as he sends you over the edge. "Fuck!" You squeal as you soak his face, almost suffocating him with your thighs as your stomach clenches with your orgasm.

Joel groans, his softening cock starting to twitch and harden. Loving how wet you are getting and how much you are soaking him. Working you through it, his eyes are fixed on your face while you moan and cry out for him.

You collapse back onto the bed, gasping to catch your breath and you swear your heart has stopped from how hard you came. It’s more than anything you felt with Jason. It’s all consuming. “So good.” You finally murmur, loosening your grip on his face as your legs come down to lay flat on the bed when he rests his chin on your mound.

He smirks, looking at your blissed out face. “Good to know that it was good.” He strokes your thigh and your hip with his hands. “Now we can nap.” He teases, winking playfully.

You shift onto your side after he snakes from between your legs to flop down on the bed beside you. “You don’t want me to-?” You ask, noticing his semi. 

“Nap first then maybe you can ride me.” He says, closing his eyes and you nod, shifting to curl into his side, watching him for several moments until you eventually drift off to sleep. 

**** 

You aren’t sure how long you’ve been asleep but you wake up to Joel snoring. You chuckle softly, knowing he would never admit to snoring, and you watch him for a moment, unable to believe you’re here with him. Your gaze slides down his body to his hard cock resting on his belly and you grin, carefully shifting to be able to kneel over his body. You gently grip his cock and lean down to take the head into your mouth, wanting to surprise him when he wakes up.

Joel grunts, the wet heat and suction around his cock pulling him out of the nap he had been enjoying. Confused for a moment before the last few hours come rushing back to him and he groans out your name. Reaching down to cup the back of your head as his eyes open. Seeing you looking up at him with a smirk in your eyes.

You take him deeper, gripping the base of his cock as you widen your jaw and choke for a second. You haven’t sucked a cock like Joel’s before and it takes you a few tries to get him down your throat without gagging.

“Good girl, fuck, watch you take that.” He marvels. Reaching around to caress your jaw and feeling the way that your jaw unhinges. “Couldn’t wait, so eager for it that you had to wake me up?” He teases.

You moan around his cock, closing your eyes as you take him deeper, your saliva dripping down his length and you pull back after a moment, working his cock with your hand. You twist your wrist and dribble some more spit onto his cock. “I couldn’t resist.” You confess, pumping him as you lean in to suck on the head, pressing your tongue against his frenulum.

“Shit.” Joel hisses, his toes curling in pleasure and his thighs tensing as his body responds to your tongue. “Cock hungry.” He grunts. “You gonna swallow? Or are you gonna tease me and not let me cum in your mouth?”

You pull back again, pumping him a little faster. “You wanna cum down my throat or do you want me to ride you? Your choice, handsome.” You coo, “I can do whatever you want. Just want you to feel good.” You promise, taking him back into your mouth.

“Fuck.” It’s such a tantalizing choice but he knows he lasts longer the second time around and then he’ll be done. It would make your jaw ache and he doesn’t want that. “Ride me, baby.” He groans. “Want to see you bounce on my cock.”

You don't argue despite wanting to watch him as he cums down your throat. You let his cock drop from your mouth and you shift to straddle his thighs, shuffling closer until you can wrap your fingers around his slick cock and position him. You sink down onto him with your eyes fixed on his, that dark gaze sends a shiver down your spine as he stretches you out. "God, Joel." You whine softly, placing your palms on his chest.

“Fuuuuuuuuck.” Joel goans out, his fingers digging into the soft flesh at your hips while you clench down around him. You’re even tighter in this position and he has the bonus of being able to look into your eyes. See your face. “Does that feel good, baby?”

"Joel. It's...shit. It's so good." You confess breathlessly and your nails dig into his chest a little as you start to rock your hips. "Shit. How does it feel so good? Never been like this before." You confess as your eyes meet his and your heart pounds in your chest, silently giving you the answer to your question.

Bracing his feet on the bed, he rocks his hips up to meet you when you lift off of him. Making both of you groan at how good it feels. “You look so good on my dick.” He groans. “Your ex is a fucking moron.” He doesn’t want you to think about that asshole, but he wants you to know that it wasn’t you. One hand slides up to cup your breast, squeezing gently. “Never wanna leave this pussy.”

His words make you clench around him and you whimper, falling forward to press your chest against his so you can kiss him. Your lips pressing against his and you tangle your fingers in his hair as he thrusts up into you. His arms wrap around you and you kiss his jaw when you pull back to take a breath. "Never want you to stop fucking me."

Joel grunts, shifting to take control. “Good-“ he pants. “Good thing I last the second time.” He starts rocking his hips up, pinning you to him as he fucks you. “It’s why I wanted you to ride me. Probably take me an hour to cum.”

You are surprised by that. Most men you've been with tend to leave you unsatisfied after finding their own orgasm. "Fuck, really?" You gasp and he chuckles, thrusting a little harder. "Yes. Gonna make you cum over and over again." You cry out when he hits deep, nudging your cervix, but you love it. "Yessss." You hiss, "do that again baby."

Joel groans and does as you demand, snapping his hips up sharply so he can push against that spot again. He might be getting older, slower, fall asleep after dinner in his chair, but he’s not going to disappoint you. Not when he has this time with you like this. Trying to give you the same performance if he had fucked you years ago. “That?” He teases. “I’ll do that as much as you want.”

The sound you let out is between a wail and a moan as he hits that spot again. “Oh shitttt.” You hiss, lost in the sensations. “Again. That- again.” You beg and he does it, making you shake above him. “Joel. Oh shit. Baby. I’m gonna - you’re gonna make me - fuuuu-” The word fading into a choke as you clamp down on his cock, soaking him as you shake above his body, your fingers tugging on his hair.

This time he slows down, rocking you through the pleasure slowly and finally stopping when you slump down into his chest. He’s still hard, buried inside you, and he hums softly as he lets you catch your breath. “That’s good, baby?” He asks quietly. “You want another one?”

You lean back to look into his face. Fingers coming up to trace the lines that have been etched onto his skin over the years you’ve not seen each other. He’s still just as devastatingly handsome though. Every line is a story you don’t know about. “Yes.” You murmur, pressing your lips to his and you shift to sit up, wanting to ride him again. Your hips rock as you reach for his hands, joining them with yours to give yourself something to hold onto as you rock on his cock.

This time, you ride him. Truly ride him. You roll your hips and circle them around and make him groan. He squeezes your hands, but he doesn’t urge you to go faster. Knowing you will cum again before he does. He doesn’t want to hurt you or wear you out, so he’s just along for the ride. Aware that the sounds from next door have stopped and the guys have gone home.

You tilt your head back as you rock your hips. It’s slower, not as frantic, and you love the way he groans when you grind down onto him. “So good Joel. God, I- I can’t believe it’s so good.” You confess, squeezing his hands before you let go of him and lean back to place your hands on his thighs, grinding forward onto his cock.

He chuckles and watches you with a sense of wonder. “It’s because you’ve not had good sex in a long time.” He downplays his prowess because all that matters is that you enjoy yourself. “God, your pussy is fucking magic.” He moans quietly, twitching violently in the warmth of your walls.

You whimper, loving how he looks beneath you, and you moan his name again, “can you-?” You reach for his hand to bring it to your stomach, sliding it down to rub your clit and you moan when he rubs it just right. “That’s it baby. Shit.” You pant, rocking a little faster and you are soon clamping down on him again, head tilted back as a choked cry escapes your lips.

Joel watches you through heavy lidded eyes as you come apart again. Enjoying the pleasure you take as much as you do, although your body is the one shaking. He rocks his hips up slightly when your pace falters to work you through it. Groaning out your name and humming as you collapse against his chest to kiss you.

You caress his cheek, “I need a second.” You admit, chest heaving as your heart pounds in your chest and you pull off of his cock. Shifting to lay beside him and you reach down to grip his length, starting to pump him slowly while you lean in to kiss him. “Can’t believe you’re in my bed.” You murmur against his lips.

​​“Hard to believe since we haven’t seen each other in so long.” Joel agrees. “But it is pretty damn good, I think.” He reaches up and cups your cheek. “I know you deserve the fucking moon.”

You grin, turning your head to kiss his palm. “So do you. Always thought you were too hard on yourself.” You murmur, continuing to pump his cock. “I want you on top of me.” You request, letting go of his cock.

“Ready for more?” His brow shoots up and he huffs. “It’s a good damn thing that I didn’t cum.” He teases you, already moving to his knees so his could climb on top of you.

You giggle, reaching up to caress his shoulders and down to his chest, reaching for his cock to position him at your entrance. “I want you to cum. Fill me up again.” You promise, “and I’ll always want more.” You reassure him and he looks at you for a moment until he swallows harshly.

“Yeah?” He asks gruffly, not waiting for you to give him an answer, just lunging forward to fill you up again while he kisses you. Swallowing your cry when he pushes deep and immediately starts to rock into you.

You moan into his mouth, tongue tangling with his as he starts to rock his hips. It’s intoxicating and you are certain that you’ve never been fucked this well before. He kisses along your neck, biting your collarbone and you pant, closing your eyes. “So good baby. So good.” You whimper as he lifts your hip higher to sink deeper inside of you.

“Glad you like my fucking.” He huffs, chuckling breathlessly. He hasn’t worked this hard to fuck a pussy in years and he’s not regretting it. You both deserve this. He actually feels like he deserves this, surprisingly. You make him feel like he does.

“Oh God.” You can’t stop rambling about how good he feels, your heart pounding in your chest and you cross your ankles behind his back, your hands caressing his shoulders, strong from his years in construction. He lowers his hips and you swear you’re gonna cum again when the hair at the base of his cock brushes your clit.

“That’s it.” Joel grunts. The position has you perfectly positioned. Loving how tight you feel and how good it feels to be cradled between your thighs, he knows he’s gonna cum this time. “One more.” He begs. “Give me one more and I’ll fill you up again.”

You pant when he pushes deeper and drops his hips again and you swear you almost black out from the extent of pleasure he’s given you and you swear you are going to gush as he hits just right and you clamp down on his cock. “Joel. Joel. Joellll.” You squeal as you cum, soaking him and your ankles pushing against his ass.

Joel groans, unable to stop himself from pushing deep and letting go. His body draws up taunt like a guitar string. “That’s it baby, gonna cum.” He moans, feeling his cock pulse as he spills ropes of cum into your perfect cunt. Emptying himself as he holds his breath, feeling like his heart is about to beat out of his chest.

You sigh, closing your eyes and tilting your head back against the pillows as he paints your walls with his cum. You feel exhausted and yet feel like you could conquer the world. Alive and vibrating with pleasure from the man above you. The words would be so easy to say. The words you’ve wanted to say for so many years but you swallow them down.

Joel groans and pulls out of you slowly, flopping onto his back with a sigh. “Now I need another nap.” He huffs, closing his eyes even as he opens his arms if you want to snuggle to him again. “Wore me out, woman.”

You shift to curl into his side, throwing your leg over his thighs and not caring about his cum dripping out of you. You sigh and kiss his chest. “That was the best sex I’ve ever had.” You confess, closing your eyes as you cuddle into him.

“Good.” Joel hums sleepily. “Best damn sex I’ve had too.” His hand curls around your body and closes his eyes again, exhausted and for once, the nightmares don’t come.

**** 

You smile as Ellie sets the blankets up in the back of Joel’s truck. You watch Joel as he comes back to the truck with an armful of popcorn. “Fuck yeah.” Ellie says and you chuckle, taking the popcorn from Joel. “You’re excited to watch Dawn of the Dead?” You ask her with amusement and she nods, “duh. It’s the original. The remake is good but it has nothing on this one.” She says and you watch Joel snort. “Come on, let’s get in the truck, it’s about to start.” He says and you climb in after he does, taking his hand.

Joel can’t believe that you wanted to spend time with Ellie, but it makes him smile as she settles down and you sit beside her. Leaning him to squeeze in on the outside. “It’s always nice when they run these.” Joel admits. “Been a long time since we’ve been, but I always loved it as a kid. Remember all those times we would hang out at the drive in? Damn thing was the only movie theater for twenty miles.”

You shift to snuggle into Joel's side after the movie begins. Ellie chomps away on the popcorn and you inhale the smoky scent of Joel as he shifts to get comfortable with the pillows behind you. The past week has been incredible, spending most days with Joel after he finishes working on the house next door and you've had dinners at your place with and without Ellie. You've wanted Ellie to feel included, that you aren't taking Joel away from her all the time, and the teenager says she's happy she doesn't have to see the miserable old bastard all the time. That made you chuckle and Joel grumble, causing Ellie to go "see? My point." You flinch during the movie, on edge despite seeing this classic before, and Joel rubs your shoulder.

He ignores the way that Ellie eyes the two of you and snickers under her breath. Pulling you against him to where you roll to your side, hooking a leg over his. He tucks his other arm behind his head. “Maybe we can do that thing downtown next week.” He mentions casually, keeping his voice low. “Kid wants to go. Could be fun.” The little town loves to hold festivals and events, especially during the summer. 

You hum, looking up at him. “I would love that.” You have been having dinners with Ellie and she’s a great kid. Feisty and her manners could use some work but she’s a good girl really. She’s gonna be a ball buster when she grows up. You and Joel have grown closer and he told you about Sarah. How he asked her to pick up milk on the way home from school because he was too busy with work to pick her up himself so she said she’d walk home and she ended up involved in an armed robbery of the grocery store. She made one wrong move to try and help a pregnant woman and ended up shot. You held Joel after he told you what happened, both of you crying for the little girl who would never grow up. Since then, you’ve spent as much time as possible together, even spending the night at Joel’s house. You never want to go home. You want to stay right here forever. You kiss Joel’s jaw when it tenses and he turns his head to softly kiss you, making your heart flutter.

Joel hums into the kiss, keeping it soft and light since the kid is sitting right next to you. He’s already planning on having you spend the night. Getting used to the feeling of your body next to his and when he’s holding you, he doesn’t dream of Sarah. He doesn’t hear her last breaths as he sleeps. He nuzzles your cheek with his nose when he pulls away. “Enjoying yourself, baby?”

“Always with you.” You whisper softly while Ellie chomps on popcorn and laughs when someone new gets bitten. It’s the most at peace you’ve been in so long. You want to tell Joel how you feel but you don’t want to ruin this between you. When you arrive back at Joel’s, you bid goodnight to Ellie and Joel is dragging you to his room. “Someone’s eager.” You giggle and he shuts the door behind you.

“Always with you.” He uses your words from earlier, but it’s true. He’s always eager to touch you, to taste you. Feeling your skin against his is unlike anything else and he’s addicted to it. He quickly pulls off your shirt and unclips your bra as he kisses along your neck, moving down to take a nipple in his mouth.

You gasp, body still on fire as much as the first time whenever he touches you. You reach for his jeans, unbuckling them and reaching in to grip his cock, loving how hard he is for you. “Joel.” You whine when he bites down on your nipple, groaning into your skin.

He loves how you whine, how you beg for him. Switching to your other breast, he shows it the same attention, squeezing your ass and then hastily unbuttoning your shorts. Needing to feel how wet you are for him.

You let go of his cock so he can shove your shorts down and he groans when his hand dives into your panties and he finds you soaking wet. You’ve never been so turned on by a man, wet from just a few kisses from Joel. Even looking at him. You whimper when his calloused fingers find your clit. “Yesss baby.” You hiss softly, reaching back to squeeze his cock.

“Fuck.” He groans against your tit. His fingers rub your clit and then he slides them deep inside you and curls up. “Want you to cum for me, then I want to fuck you.” He growls.

You can’t deny him when he wants you to cum for him. His thumb pressing against your clit and you’re so close already. “Joel. Baby. Shit.” You hiss as you clamp down on his digits, soaking them and your grip on his cock tightens.

It seems like he’s learned your body perfectly over the last week. Groaning happily when your cunt gushes around his fingers and makes it squelch when he continues to finger you. “So good baby, so good.” He praises. “You’re so good for me.”

You whimper, “yes. Yes. All yours. I- shit. Need you inside of me.” You plead, letting go of his cock to reach for his shirt. You want to pull it over his head so you can touch his skin.

It’s a frantic rush to get both of you undressed. Acting like teenagers again. He chuckles when he nearly trips over his boxers as he moves you towards the bed. “So damn eager. All the time.” He grunts, pressing his lips to yours as he pushes you down onto the bed.

You giggle, looking up at him as he shifts to kneel between your legs. You stop giggling when he looks at you and you reach up to caress his cheeks. “It’s because it’s you.” You murmur, your heart pounding in your chest and you know you can’t say those words and ruin this so you surge forward to press your lips against gis.

Joel closes his eyes and moans into your mouth. Gripping his cock and guiding himself towards your dripping entrance while your tongues tangle together. Flattening his hands on either side of your head as he starts to push inside you.

You tangle your fingers in his hair, lifting your thighs up to rest on his hips so he can sink deeper inside of you. “Joel baby. Shit. Always so thick. Stretching me out. Would’ve - would’ve let you fuck me in your truck during the movie if Ellie wasn’t there.” You reveal when he leans back to kiss along your jaw.

He hums quietly. "Could you have kept quiet?" He asks, sliding a hand up and covering your mouth. "Or would I have had to fuck you like this? Keep those pretty sounds for myself while I fuck you?"

Your moan is muffled by his palm and you whimper when he starts to move inside of you. Your cunt clenches around him, making him chuckle darkly, and you swear that alone could make you cum. His hand slides down to your neck, holding you there but not squeezing. “I would’ve tried. The - the horror screams might’ve covered mine up.”

He hums, smirking as he watches you squirm underneath him. "Maybe." He tells you doubtfully. Your screams are too loud when he's really fucking you. Although you normally save that for when he's fucking you at your aunt's house.

You slap his chest playfully and he grabs your hand, pressing it into the mattress above your head. “I could’ve kept quiet.” You huff and he thrusts particularly hard into you, making you moan a little louder than you shoulder. His eyebrow raises as you open your eyes and you roll your eyes, “okay, you made your point. Now, you gonna fuck me, Miller?” You tease, leaning up to nip his jaw.

“I’m fuckin’ you, aren’t I?” He grumbles even though he’s smirking again. He’s been doing a lot of that around you lately. Reaching back, he grabs your hand and lifts it up over your head while he slams into you again. “Addicted to it. To you.”

Your mouth falls open, all joking gone as he hits so deep inside of you. “Fuck.” You gasp, closing your eyes as he rolls his hips on the next thrust. “Shit. Me too. Addicted. To all of you.” You promise, having seen some of his darker moments when he’d wake up in the middle of the night and momentarily forget he lost Sarah. You’d held him while he settled down and neither of you spoke about it the next morning. It’s his decision to talk or not talk.

With your confession, his pace falters for a moment before he starts rocking into you faster. Snapping his hips as harshly as he can to slam into you roughly. Knocking your breath and his own out of you as he fucks you.

You lift your hips higher, sending him impossibly deeper inside of you, and you can barely breathe with the way he’s pushing deep inside of you. “Fuck baby. That’s it. God. Feels so good. So good.” You moan, squeezing his hands in yours.

“You’re so good.” He’s done everything he fucking could to show you how sexy you are. How desirable. That your ex is a dumbass. He squeezes your hand and despite the rough pace, his lips are tender on yours.

His hips grind against yours and you are close when he rubs your clit just right. “Shit. Jo-Joel. Fuck. I’m gonna - I’m gonna - Shitttttt.” You hiss as you clamp down on his cock, soaking him and your lips hover against his as he works you through it.

It’s always so surprising how quickly you cum. Making him groan as your walls squeeze hum like a vice, begging him to fill you up. He kisses you again, keeping his cock working in and out of you as he chases his own high. Thinking about you and how sexy you are, different times he’s fucked you. Wanting to cum and snuggle with you while he can. “Fuck, fuck, baby.” He pants. “So fucking good for me. Soaking my cock. Moaning my name. You’re mine, ain’t cha?”

You nod, “yes. Yes. Yours. Always been yours. You just didn’t know it.” You confess and he groans, pushing deep inside of you with a hiss as he starts to cum. “That’s it baby. Cum for me. Yes. Yes. God, that’s it.” You squeeze his hands as he scrunches his face up while he paints your walls.

“You should stay.” Joel groans out as he collapses on top of you and buries his face into your neck. Panting breathlessly and trying to find the words he needs, even though he’s never been good at them. He needs you. Much like he needed Ellie, just in a different kind of way. He doesn’t want you to leave and he knows you’ve only got a few days left.

You want to stay. More than anything. You often daydream about a life spent with Joel but you have a life back in Texas that you need to sort out. You want to stay, forget everything in Texas but you have an apartment. “I can’t. Not yet.” You murmur and caress his back, “I have stuff to figure out in Texas.” You wish you could stay with him but you have to get everything sorted.

Joel doesn’t say anything. He knows it was a long shot. He kisses you softly and pulls out of you with a groan and rolls onto his back. Quiet and suddenly wondering is you are going to go back to that asshole now that you’ve fucked someone else.

You shift into his side, kissing his chest, and you know it’s hard to explain to Joel who sees the world in absolutes. You know he isn’t happy with your answer and you’ll try to explain it better in the daylight. He is soon snoring in your ear and you murmur to him, “I love you.” You will call your parents tomorrow and see if they can help you out. 

**** 

Joel looks at you as you finish making the sandwiches for lunch. “You nearly finished with the house next door?” You ask him as you set the iced tea down in front of him as he shifts to sit at your kitchen counter. 

“Nearly.” He says and he’s been quiet since last night when you told him you weren’t staying. 

You set the plate in front of him just as the doorbell rings. He looks at you and you shake your head, “I didn’t order anything.” You say and make your way over to the front door. You open it and gasp, “Jason?”

His heart sinks as he hears your gasps but his first instinct is anger. Lurching out of his seat, Joel rushes to the door and pushes you out of the way so he can grab the asshole who hurt you. "What the fuck are you doing here?" He growls, satisfied that the man nearly squeals and flinches when Joel draws his fist back to punch him.

Jason winces and you reach up to touch Joel’s arm. “Don’t. He’s not worth it.” You say and Joel glances at you, confused that you don’t want him to beat this guy’s ass and you say no. “What do you want, Jason?” You huff and Jason adjusts his shirt after Joel lowers his arm. 

“I want you back. I made a mistake. I'm sorry baby. Please. I miss you.” You ignore that to ask him how he found you. “Your phone…still has the location shared with me.” 

You hiss at your stupidity. “I don’t - I don’t love you Jason. You hurt me. So much. Just go.” You plead and he shakes his head, trying to push into the house but Joel puffs his chest and Jason backs away. 

“Fine. Whatever. Clearly you’ve moved on. Good luck, man. She’s batshit crazy.” Jason growls, “and she needs to do some fucking kegels.” 

Joel hisses and surges forward to grab Jasón but he manages to dodge Joel and runs down the path. “Motherfucker.” Joel hisses and tries to catch him but you place your hand on his chest, “leave it baby. It’s not worth it.” You remind him and Joel shouts out, “you worthless piece of shit!” You sigh and shut the door, feeling a little shaken by Jason’s random appearance.

Joel’s angry. Pissed off that you apparently still have feelings for that fucking loser. Enough that you wouldn’t let him beat the shit out of him and teach him some fucking manners. “Charming asshole.” He grunts, not even hungry anymore. “See why you want to go back to him.” You just said you didn’t love him, but why else would you give up on everything the two of you have if not to go back to that worthless piece of shit.

Your eyes widen, “go- what the hell are you talking about, Joel? Go back to him? That’s the last thing I’d ever do. I didn’t think he’d track my fucking phone to come and find me.” You shake your head, “I don’t want him. I want you. I only want you.” You want to tell him how much but you don’t want to risk your heart again.

“Except you aren’t staying with me, are you?” He demands. “You’re gonna fuck off back to Texas and maybe tell your friends that you rebounded with some dumb construction worker who knew you from back in the day.” His own fears ride to the surface and he lashes out at you. “Poor son of a bitch actually thought he had a chance and asked you to stay.”

You shake your head, “Joel. No. I- I have to go home because I have an apartment. A job. I can’t just up and leave everything. I want to stay. More than anything in the world but we aren’t kids, we have responsibilities and I have to handle it all before I come back here. I want to stay. More than anything in the world.” You assure him, noticing how tense he is and you feel guilty for not explaining yourself before.

“Whatever.” He’s angry and irrational. A little embarrassed about how he just flung his heart out there. “I’m- I’ve got to get back to work.” He picks up his tool belt off the back of the chair and turns towards the door. Hating how vulnerable you’ve made him feel and how easily you can hurt him.

You want to run after him, scream at him that you love him, that you've always been in love with him. No one has ever made you feel like he does. Instead, you stare at the kitchen counter. You told him you'd come back but he pushed it aside. Maybe it's best that you go home before you destroy the last of your relationship with Joel. You work on packing your things, booking a flight home, and you text Ellie to tell her you are heading home first thing. She tries to call you but you ignore it, wanting to have a glass of wine or two to smother the way your heart aches at leaving Joel again. You never discussed why you left. You never told him and now you doubt you will. You organize your aunt's house, leaving it how you found it and get into bed without Joel.

“You’re a fucking dumbass.” Joel ignores the jab coming from the teenager as he stirs the pan as if it was a mission to whip the water and milk mixture the boxed dinner called for. “Joel? Joel? She’s leaving.” She stresses again. “You know, not being here anymore?” 

Slamming the spoon down, Joel turns around to glare at Ellie. “I fucking know. What do you want me to do about it?” He demands. “She’s a fucking adult. She can go where she wants.” 

The girl’s eyebrows arch up to her forehead and she rears back at the anger in Joel’s tone. “Man, you got it baaaaaaad.” She huffs. “You need to tell her how you feel.” 

Joel snorts. “I have.” He admits, shaking his head. “Doesn’t matter, stay out of it.” 

Ellie harumps at him and crosses her arms. “Go talk to her.” She demands, staring him down and he knows she won’t let this go. 

“Fine.” He grumbles, slapping his hands on his hips to search for his keys. “Won’t do any good, but I’ll go talk to her.”

The doorbell rings and you frown, getting out of bed to see who it is. Hoping it's not Jason coming back. When you see Joel through the peephole, you sigh and open the door. "Hey." You say weakly as you stand there in your pajamas in the doorway.

“Can we talk?” Joel asks, shuffling slightly on the steps and wondering if you would tell him to fuck off. He had overreacted and fucked things up. “Please?”

You nod, stepping aside so he can walk in and you shut the door behind him. “Ellie told you I booked a flight home?” You ask and he nods, pushing his hands into his jeans. “Yeah.” He clears his throat and you bite your lip, taking a moment. “I don’t think you understand me, Joel. I- I don’t want to leave. Ever. If I could stay here forever, I would. But I can’t. Not because I don’t want to. I want to. I have a life back home. A home. A job. I can't abandon that stuff. I have to sort it out and then…I was planning to come back.”

His shoulders round, knowing that he hadn’t heard you say that when he was busy being upset. “I- I’m sorry.” He murmurs quietly, hating being wrong and feeling like he’s fucked things up. “I shouldn’t have- I didn’t hear you say that. I’m- no excuse.” He tells the kid to own up to her mistakes all the time and he should do the same.

You aren’t angry with him, just upset. “I- I never told you the reason why I left when you got married…did I?” You ask and he shakes his head, his hand coming up to run it through his hair. You fiddle with your fingers and lick your lips, giving yourself a moment. “I left because I couldn’t stand to see the man I love be in love with another woman, marry another woman. It tore me apart and I thought it was easier to leave than to watch you live your life without me being the woman you chose to be with. I was so in love with you and you didn’t see it. I had to go.”

“Oh baby.” Joel closes his eyes, pulling his hands out of his pockets so he can pull you close. “I wish you had told me.” It wouldn’t have changed things, he had married her, but maybe he could have kept you as a friend. “We didn’t last a year. She wasn’t the one for me. Not really, and we both knew it.”

You know he wouldn’t change a thing because he had Sarah because he married Helen but you hug him, breathing him in. “You had Sarah so life happens for a reason and you’re here now and I - I still love you. I’m still so damn in love with you, Miller.” You confess as you pull back to look at him.

“I love you.” He murmurs softly. “I - I was going to offer to come to Texas.” He’s not stepped foot in the state since his daughter died and he really didn’t want to go back, but he would for you. “To visit you. It would be hard to move Ellie.”

You caress his cheek, “I won’t be long.” You promise, “I can work remotely so I just gotta head home to pack up and find somewhere here to buy.” You tell him, “I won’t be gone long enough for you to need to visit me. I know you can’t move because of Ellie so I’ll come here. I don’t want to run anymore. I want you.” You promise, leaning in to nudge your nose with his.

“You don’t have to buy anything.” Joel murmurs quietly. “You can move in with me and Ellie.” He knows you might not want to move in with him after your ex cheated on you in your home, but he wants to offer. “No need to waste the money when you’re gonna be in bed with me.”

You smile, pleased that he’s ready to jump all in. “You want me in your bed?” You ask and he nods, “every damn night.” You giggle softly and kiss his lower lip. “As soon as I’m back, I’ll never leave your bed.” You promise, “I’m yours. Forever. If you’ll have me.”

“Baby, I want you.” Joel wraps his arm around you and pulls you close. “I promise you, I want you. Forever. Your asshole ex threw away the greatest thing he ever had and I’m not stupid enough to do the same.”

  ​​

#pedro pascal #joel miller x reader #joel miller #joel miller x you #joel miller x f!reader #joel miller smut #joel miller imagine #joel miller fanfiction #joel miller fic #joel the last of us #joel tlou #no outbreak!joel miller

[teyvatdreams]

helping them when they need it

incl. itto, xiao, kazuha, childe

warnings: mentions of injuries / cuts

a/n: childe’s is . kind of angsty ?? still has a little bit of reverse comfort. also takes place before he tries to destroy liyue <3

itto

you weren’t entirely sure why arataki itto ran to you when he had an allergy attack, but here he was, nearly hyperventilating at your doorstep.

“what happened?” you ask, putting your hand on his shoulder to steady him.

“beans,” he chokes out. “beans,” he repeats, coughing.

“we were getting food and there were beans hidden under his rice,” one of his gang members explains. “we told him to be careful but he was so hungry he took a bite without checking!”

“oh, jeez. come on,” you sigh, helping itto up. “could you guys give us some space?” you look to the three men standing behind itto.

they all nod. “we’ll stay out here if that’s what you need.”

you close your door and sit itto down. his eyes were filled with tears and he was coughing uncontrollably. “itto, you’ve gotta be more careful. this is the 2nd time this has happened in the past week,” you tell him. “at this rate, you’re gonna build an immunity to beans.”

itto rapidly shakes his head. “no way. never gonna happen,” he says with a strained voice.

“just sit here and calm down. you’re not gonna be able to get your breath back if you keep panicking,” you tell him. “do you want some water?”

itto quickly nods. you retrieve a glass of water for him and he slurps it down. “man, you really are a lifesaver,” he breathes. he already sounds better.

“are you gonna be okay? aren’t eating beans like, particularly bad for you? am i gonna have to rush you to a doctor?” you ask.

“slow down, slow down,” itto says between breaths. “i think i’ll be fine. might have to take it easy for the rest of the night, but i won’t die or anything. it was just one bean.” his face scrunches up. “so gross.”

you refill his glass of water, and he drinks it all in the blink of an eye. “d’you mind if i crash here for a bit?” he asks. “just a few hours, tops. i promise i’ll be gone before the sun sets.”

you nod. “that’s fine, i guess. what do you want me to tell the guys?”

“just tell ‘em to head home and that i’m taking a nap here. they’ll be outta your hair then.”

you did just that, and although hesitant, his gang members left. by the time you came back inside, itto was already fast asleep. you didn’t have to leave home, so you just went on with your day and kept an eye on itto.

the sun started to set and itto finally started stirring. “itto?” you ask quietly.

itto’s eyes flutter open and he rubs them before lifting his head. “oh man, how long have i been out?”

“three days,” you reply. “just kidding, it’s only been a few hours.” you quickly add on once you see the look of horror on itto’s face.

“not funny,” he mumbles, setting his head back down. “how am i still so exhausted?”

“well, you are extremely allergic to beans. ‘extremely’ almost doesn’t seem like a good enough word to describe how badly allergic you are,” you tell him. “just stay the night.”

“are you sure?” itto asks after a few moments of silence. “i mean, i’m sure i can make it home just fine. granny is probably worried about me,” he says.

“i understand that, but i don’t really think you’re in a condition to make that journey back to your granny right now. surely she’ll understand when you get back?“ you suggest.

“yeah, you’re probably right. she’d probably be mad at me for walking that much when i’m like this.” he says. he groans. “i need to go back to sleep. my head is killing me,”

“no worries. hopefully you’ll feel better in the morning.” you say.

“hey, (y/n), thanks for letting me stay here while i recover. i owe you big time.” itto says.

you chuckle. “don’t worry about it. you’re not in best itto condition, i can’t let you go around inazuma looking like that,”

he laughs. “yeah, thanks for — wait, what do you mean by that? how bad do i look?!?”

xiao

“he’s on the roof, as usual. i… don’t think he’s in the best condition. could you please check on him?”

verr goldet’s voice sounded more nervous than usual. as you made your way to the top of wangshu inn, you were just expecting to see xiao exhausted from conquering demons — it was a rare sight, but it did happen. you had never actually seen him physically hurt.

“xiao?” you ask, stepping onto the roof. you couldn’t see him. “xiao?” you repeat.

you hear something behind you. turning, you finally see xiao. you can tell by the way he’s standing that he’s in great pain — eyebrows furrowed, face contorted in a way that makes it only more obvious he’s trying to hide his pain. “you called?”

“verr goldet asked me to check on you… are you okay?” you ask, stepping closer.

xiao grunts. “i’m fine.”

it’s then when you notice his arms are cut, exposing dark gashes on his arm that are the complete opposite of a human’s flesh. gasping, you put a hand on his arm, making sure to be wary of his injury. “what happened?”

“i said i’m fine,” xiao gently moves away from your grasp. “it’s just a flesh wound…”

“it should still be cared for,” you tell him. “please let me look at it.”

xiao crossed his arms before sighing. “alright, fine.”

“i’ll be back in just a moment. don’t leave.”

you quickly go down the stairs of wangshu inn and retrieve a first aid kit. you’re back to the roof in no time and pleased to see that xiao hasn’t left. “sit,” you say, gently helping him sit down. you start to disinfect his cuts.

he doesn’t even flinch. he clears his throat. “…is it bad?”

you shake your head. “no. it isn’t deep enough to need stitches or anything,” you reply. “but whatever got you, got you pretty good.”

you bandage up his right arm and start cleaning the next. “where were you when i got here? verr goldet said you’d be on the roof.”

“i knew she’d send you after me,” he mumbles. “i didn’t want you to see me hurt.”

“why?” you ask. “it’s a good thing i did, right? you could get more hurt if you left these untreated.”

he shrugs. “i suppose you’re right.”

“if you didn’t want me to see you like this, then why did you still show up?” you ask.

“because you called out my name. and i promised i’d be there whenever you did.” xiao replies.

you finish bandaging him up. “you’re good at keeping promises,” you say, packing the first-aid kit up. “so promise me you won’t hesitate to ask me for help.”

xiao pauses for a moment before nodding slightly. when you start to descend the stairs to return the kit back to its place, you feel xiao’s eyes on you, watching intently. “i’m just putting the first-aid kit back,” you tell him. “i’ll be back. would you like me to get you some almond tofu from chef yanxiao?”

“okay,” he says, shoulder dropping in relief. “just… make it fast, please,”

kazuha

doing business on the docks of liyue, you had grown close to the captain of the crux, beidou. you were the first to welcome her back and the last to send her your regards and well wishes before she left. so when she returned to liyue after a trip to inazuma, she wasted no time to introduce you to kaedehara kazuha.

he was timid, only speaking to beidou, avoiding all eye contact with you — beidou told you once it was just you and her that he had been through a lot recently, fleeing from inazuma after witness his friend get slain.

before the pair left the dock, you called out his name.

“kazuha, if you ever need help, ask beidou where you can find me.”

it was just an offer; you couldn’t deny that his story pulled at your heartstrings a bit. he had gone through so much. losing a friend, fleeing your home nation, suddenly coming to a new nation you don’t know anything about. it was a lot.

a few weeks had passed since kazuha had arrived in liyue. you had only spoken to him once since beidou introduced you to him, but you saw him around the city a lot and would always wave or give him a friendly smile. it wasn’t until a stormy night that kazuha took up your offer of help.

you almost didn’t hear him knock on your door. it almost blended in with the pounding rain against your house. but you checked anyways, and you were greeted with a soaking wet kazuha at your doorstep.

you immediately pulled him inside, running to grab a towel to dry him off. he looked like he was soaked to the bone, his clothes were sopping wet and rain dripped from his hair. you wrapped the towel around him and sat him down.

“i tried to find shelter,” kazuha chuckles as he pulls the towel tighter around his body. “but as you can see, i failed.”

“it’s been raining for hours,” you say softly, throwing more wood in the fireplace nearby. “have you been in the rain this entire time?”

“not the entire time. i was in a cave when the rain started, but the wind started to blow the rain in. so i started to make my way here.” he explains. “it still took some time, though.”

“i’m glad you knew where i was. besides from me there’s only two other houses nearby, and i’m not sure they’d be as welcoming to a stranger.” you tell him.

“after we met a few weeks ago i asked beidou where i could find you if i needed it. since i’ve been here for some time now, i didn’t have any trouble finding you, luckily.” he replies. he sniffles, pushing his wet hair back.

“let me get you some food, you must be starving.” you say, pushing a chair closer to the fireplace. “sit here. get warmed up,” you help him stand and get him seated by the fire.

you quickly go to your kitchen to retrieve some soup you had made earlier while you rack your brain on what to do about his clothes. you had some old clothes you didn’t wear anymore that might fit him; he just needed something for the night. you left the kitchen to get kazuha some food in his stomach.

“here’s some soup,” you say. “you’ll have to change out of those clothes before you get sick, though,”

kazuha nods, taking the soup from your hands and sips it, sighing in relief at the warmth. “thank you for helping me,” he says. “i don’t think i realized how cold i was until i got here.”

“of course,” you reply. “there’s no way i’d leave you out there. let me get you those clothes now,” you go to your bedroom and find the clothes — looking at them now, they’d surely fit him.

when you return, kazuha had finished the soup and was standing by the fire. he had just finished drying his hair; it was out of it’s usual ponytail now. “i’m sorry for causing any—“

“shh,” you shush him. “it’s fine. i offered to help and now i’m helping.” you hand him the clothes.

his eyelids are heavy. he looks so exhausted he could fall asleep standing up.

“i can take you to my room and you can have my bed for the night.” you tell him.

kazuha shakes his head. “no. i can’t do that. i can just sleep out here on the floor.”

“kazuha—“

“i’ll be fine. i’m used to it. having a roof over my head is enough for me.” he says.

you listen to the rain outside for a few moments before nodding. “okay. you can put your clothes by the fire, hopefully they’ll be dried by morning.” you say. “are you sure you’ll be okay?”

kazuha smiles slightly, nodding. “yes. i can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done so far.”

“alright, then. i’ll see you in the morning.” you leave kazuha by himself and go to your own room. it takes you some time to shut your brain off and fall asleep, but you manage.

in the morning, you leave your room and see that kazuha has already woken up. he was back in his own clothes that had dried and had neatly folded yours and set it on the table.

“how are you feeling?” you ask.

“okay,” kazuha replies. “although… i can feel a cold coming on,” he sighs.

“well, you can always come back if you need to. a cold will definitely leave faster if you have proper shelter. i can also get you some medicine from dr. baizhu. i have to deliver something to him today anyways,” you tell him.

kazuha nods, grinning. “thank you.”

you quickly get ready and head towards the harbor with kazuha. the smell of rain still lingered in the air, children were jumping in the puddles left behind while the wild animals drank from them.

“i have to head to the crux,” kazuha says. “thank you again for all the help.”

“you’re welcome. feel free to come by anytime,” you tell him.

he nods, a soft smile on his face. “i’ll definitely consider it.”

childe

there had been a few times before when you had needed to patch up the mysterious man from snezhnaya — usually just a few cuts and bruises, but for a toy seller, he was getting hurt an awful lot.

so when he showed up on your doorstep, clothes tattered, covered in blood, you knew there was definitely something he wasn’t telling you. but that didn’t mean you were going to deny him help.

silence fills the room as you disinfect his cuts and clean the dirt off his skin. you noticed that body was basically covered in scars.

“you’ve definitely seen me in better shape,” childe finally says, voice strained. he’s still able to crack a smile.

you look to him. even though he’s smiling, you can sense some kind of hurt in his eyes. you quickly glance away. “i have.”

“i appreciate your help. i didn’t know who else to go to. the pharmacy is closed, and i’m not sure i’d get the same kind of help there as i will from you.” childe says.

you nod. “you made the right choice. so, what happened?” you ask.

the question makes childe shift uncomfortably in his spot. “i can tell you’re suspicious.”

“of course i am. am i supposed to think toy sellers get in fights like this?” you question. “either way, i don’t care. we’ve already established some kind of friendship, so…”

“it was never my plan to keep my real job hidden from you,” he admits. “but it would change your mind about me. and it felt kind of nice to have someone who didn’t know what i’m really in liyue for… but everyone figures it out somehow,” he says, chuckling.

“childe…” you say softly. “i’m still helping you. and i plan to do this whenever you need it.”

childe looks to you, with an almost confused and hurt expression on his face. “i’m not a good guy.”

“then i’ll pretend you’re a good guy.” you reply, pressing a bandage onto a cut on his shoulder. “if mr. zhongli trusts you, then surely you can’t be all that bad? i’m starting to get a feeling you don’t talk too highly of yourself.”

childe looks down at the floor. “okay. then we can pretend i’m just a toy seller.”

you pull childe’s sleeve back down to cover the bandage. “alright.”

childe stands up from his seat and heads to the door. “thank you again.”

“are you sure you want to leave? you must be exhausted. you’re already hurt and it’s dark outside. you should really—“

“i’ll be fine.” childe cuts you off. “i shouldn’t take up more of your time. you’ve already helped me this much.” he opens the front door. “i hope i’ll see you again soon.”

and then, he’s gone, leaving you with nothing but your thoughts.

#genshin impact x reader #genshin impact headcanons #genshin x reader #genshin impact x gender neutral reader #genshin impact fluff #genshin impact imagines #childe x reader #itto x reader #xiao x reader #kazuha x reader #childe fluff #itto fluff #xiao fluff #kazuha fluff #childe headcanons #itto headcanons #xiao headcanons #kazuha headcanons #childe imagines

[yangbbokari]

Back To Me

Pairing: Kim!Seungmin x F!Reader

Genre/AU/Tropes: Angst, non-idol!au, lovers to exes

Warnings: breakup, language, regrets(if that counts idk), implied cheating, daddy issues

WC: 2.5k

Summary: Things with Seungmin just didn’t seem to ever look up and when you confront him about it, he lashes out

A.N: !NOT PROOF READ!Feedback is greatly appreciated*★,°*:.☆(￣▽￣)/$:*.°★* 。also, I’ve been obsessed with “Back To Me” by The Rose since it came out and this ff idea has been weighing heavily on my mind. I am not implying that said idol(s) behave anywhere near what is mentioned in this ff. Inspo from 

Song rec: ‘Back To Me’ by The Rose

You can still remember those sweet moments with Seungmin. You ran along the seashore as he snapped pictures with his camera you gifted him on his birthday. He took you on a short trip to the park and took pictures of you with your hair blowing in the wind. The both of you laid beside each other, getting lost in the other’s eyes.

But you can’t remember when it all started. What caused that sudden change in your relationship? Was it you? Was it him? You would never know…

You didn’t sense it. It all kind of just… happened. Slowly, Seungmin started to grow distant from you. You wish you knew why. I mean, you could’ve just asked him what’s wrong right? Well, the answer is no. How do you ask someone who’s never home and doesn’t reply to your texts? On days he would actually come home, he wouldn’t talk to you. When he did, all he would do was lash out at you for things that weren’t even your fault.

You tried to support him, you really did. You always kept your calm and told yourself it was just because of his stress stemming from work. But it wasn’t long before it broke you down. Nipping at even your smallest insecurities. So on one of the days when he came home, you just said it all to him.

As soon as you heard the door open, so did your mouth. “Come eat dinner. It’s gonna get co- I’m not hungry”, he cut you off. You got up from your seat at the table and forced him to sit down. He sighed heavily. “What do you want, Y/n. You're driving me crazy. I have enough shit from work and now you're being so demanding.” You scoff. You don’t know where it came from but a fire set ablaze in your eyes and all you felt was irritation.

I can make you mad, I can make you scream

“I’m the one driving you crazy!? I’ve just been looking after you and trying to help you through this stress. But suddenly I’m the problem? You know what? I’m tired of this. You can’t just blame me for shit I didn’t even know of. I’m trying to be a good girlfriend and for what? For you just to come home and berate me when you feel like it?” You were breathing heavily by now and the anger consumed you. “Well, you’re not the one working are you? You’re not the one earning money. You’re not the one putting food on the table. You’re not th- But I’m the one trying to make this relationship survive!!!”, you cut him off because you couldn't bear to hear those words come from his mouth. He knew how much they hurt you. 

Your dad said the exact same words before leaving you on your own with your sick and dying mother. When your mother died, it left you in shambles. You were barely 12 then and so your aunt adopted you. And she treated you like her own. She was the only family you had left until you met Seungmin. But now it feels like she was and still is the only family you have left.

Seungmin huffed before taking a bite of food. But, he immediately spit back out along with his venomous words. “What the fuck is this!? It’s salty as hell! And you wonder why I’m not eating this shit.” Before you could even process his words, you heard the front door shut. You were all alone now. Again.

I can make you cry

After taking a shower you had no strength to do anything else. It wasn’t exactly a physical problem. You were just mentally and emotionally exhausted. You laid down in bed and curled yourself in a tight ball, with the blankets covering you. You felt vulnerable and weak. Like you couldn’t do anything to save your once perfect relationship with Seungmin. Suddenly your face began to feel wet. You were crying. But now, you were beyond the point of just crying. You were sobbing uncontrollably. 

Did he fall out of love with you? Or was he just playing you all along? Did he find someone already and he was waiting for a perfect chance to break up? Why did he change? Was it because of you? Or was this his true self and you were too blinded by love to realize it? What happened to that sweet smile that was always hidden behind the camera? What happened to his velvety laughs that would echo through the night? What went wrong..?

You ended up crying yourself to sleep but when you woke up, you found that you had a cold. It must’ve been from the crying last night. You felt your head pounding from all sides. You quickly went to the kitchen and took some painkillers. If Seungmin was here right now, he would be the one taking care of you. Does he even want to be here?

“No. Stop thinking about him, Y/n. He’s the reason you’re like this.”, you thought out loud. You hated the thought of even contacting him in the state you were in, but you needed someone there while you were sick.

Calling all day but I never pick up, instead of pulling my weight always pushin’ my luck

So you called him.

No answer.

Called him again…

No answer.

The cycle went on a couple more times before you sent a voice message. 

“Hey, Baby. I’m sorry for what happened last night. I didn’t mean to yell at you like that and I understand that you’re also busy and stressed. But can you please come home? I just really need you here right now.”

It has now been several days and your fever isn't getting any better. You spend most of your time in bed but force yourself to take medicine and find something to eat. Left with no choice, you called your friend.

Yuna came over in no time, making sure that you weren’t hurt. But she could clearly see how much you were burning up and the immediate help you needed. She nursed you over the weekend until you were okay. When she asked about Seungmin and found out what happened, she tried her best to convince you to leave him. She always knew that he would do no good for you. But you wouldn’t listen. You refused to. It was only a fight between the two of you. He'd come back to you. Right?

You gave me all that I could take, yeah I take it all for granted. Head up in the clouds, yeah I'll never understand it

Seungmin didn't even return until a full three months later. When he arrived, he wouldn't even look at you. Even though he laid beside you to sleep at night, there was nothing but a wall between you two. It was suffocating you. But it clearly wasn't having the same effect on Seungmin. He would giggle in the middle of the night at some tiktoks he was watching, not minding that he'd wake you up.

It was all so frustrating but you just couldn't find it in you to leave him. Well... that's what you thought at first.

Love no longer remained and if there was any, it was fully one-sided. You were sick of this. The constant mental torture was doing you no good and it slowly killed you. It didn't feel as if you were even a couple. You felt like a caretaker. That's not what you bargained for when you started this relationship.

You tried everything in the books to get him to open up to you. Only to learn, that he was just getting tired of you. You no longer interested him. Or so he said,

"Meh. I've just been bored and trying to find a better entertainment source."

You were so fed up with his, if not irritated, nonchalant attitude. When would he realize that he was hurting you. This internal rage was constantly being built up and you just couldn't handle it anymore.

So you opted for the only choice left. To leave him.

I can make you leave. I can make you hate me for everything.

You packed your clothes and belongings into every box and suitcase you could afford and sent it off to your aunt's. You had already told her of the plan and she agreed. Now all that was left was for him to return home. Time ticked by and the anticipation was killing you. Your knee bounced furiously. You were chewing on your thumb nail until you heard the click of the front door. An exhausted Seungmin stepped through.

"Hey, Seungie. Can we talk?"

He groaned as he walked past you. "Let's talk tomorrow. I'm too tired."

"No. We need to talk like now. It's really important. Please?"

Seungmin rolled his eyes before walking back over to you. "What's so important that you're disturbing my rest?"

You nervously fiddled with your hands. It was more nerve-wracking than you thought. You mustered up the last of your courage you had left and looked him in the eye.

"Let's break up."

"What?"

"Let's go our own seperate ways and break up."

"Okay." He waved you off as he headed to the bedroom to sleep.

Shocked wasn't exactly how you'd describe yourself. To be honest, you kind of expected this. They way he brushed things off so easily wasn't new to you. So you didn't even cry. You just grabbed what you had left and made your way to your aunt's house.

As soon as she embraced you, that's when you let your tears fall. It hurt all too much. Everything that Seungmin had been doing to you for the past two years were spilled out in the hour long conversation shared between you and your aunt. Your hatred only continued to grow for Seungmin and soon, all that was left was hatred for him.

Seungmin didn't even notice that you never came to bed. In fact, everything you previously said flew over his head from his exhaustion. It wasn't until he had awoken that he realized you were nowhere in sight. At first he assumed that you may have went to cook breakfast or collect grocceries. But then he remembered what happened last night. He covered his mouth and his eyes began to water.

He began remembering the horrible things he's been saying to you. He didn't mean any of it. Most of the time it wasn't even directed towards you. It was just pure exhaustion. He only tried to come off as happy so he wouldn't upset you. But that only seemed to make it worse.

What he chose to do though, was give you time. He knew he wasn't the exact person you wanted to talk to at the moment. He shook his head at himself. You'd be back in a week hopefully. That's what he thought up until he felt like the house was a little too empty. SO he checked every nook and cranny. None of your belongings remained. No toothbrush, no clothes, no books, no devices, no personal items. Not even your scent lingered.

God, what had he done?

Calling all day, trynna make things right

Seungmin quickly grabbed his phone and called you. His fingers ran through his hair as the call never made it through time and time again. Now he was extremely worried. What if something happened to you?

So he called your closest friend, Yuna. She picked up rather quickly.

"The hell do you want, assface?" She said almost immediately.

Seungmin swallowed hard before asking her, "Do you know where y/n is? I haven't been able to reach her. Do you know if she's okay?"

"Shouldn't you be able to know the whereabouts of your own girlfriend?"

"Look I really don't know and I'm worried. Something went on last night and she's not home. Now my calls aren't getting through and I don't know what to think."

"Well to me, it looks like she finally took my advice. Have a horrible day, bitch." And with that, Yuna hung up.

"FUCK!!" Seungmin cursed loudly as he flung his phone across the room. Had you really left him? Was he that horrible of a person? He chuckled. Who was he kidding? Of course he was that horrible. The amount of pain he must've inflicted on you. His heart clenched.

He began crying as that was all there was to do left.

It's been a couple of months and both of you were trying to move on. Was it easy? No. At least you both tried though. But fate seemed to have other plans.

Just to fuck it all up when I see you tonight. Since you told me hit the road, I've been runnin' on empty, If anything I know it's how to ruin a happy ending

It was a Friday night and Seungmin chose to spend it at a local bar. Guess that bar must've been a little too local. Because there you were, standing just 20 feet away from him. Seungmin could feel his heartbeat accelerate. He so desperately wanted to run and hug you. It felt like hell without you.

You were no longer there to remind him that he was loved. You were no longer there wishing him good nights and good mornings. You were no longer there to cook him his everyday meals. You were no longer there to give him a goodbye kiss.

But you were here, with another man. Seungmin knew he had no right but he couldn’t help but feel jealous. You told him that you’d always be his so why was it different now? Truth was, he knew the answer. Anger and jealousy blinded him though.

He stomped the whole way over there and yanked you by the wrist. “Who’s this!?” He asked angrily. “What the fuck, Seungmin! Why the hell are you here!?” Seungmin didn’t even hear you as he suddenly flung his fist into the dude’s face.

You grabbed Seungmin by the collar and pulled him towards you, landing a hard smack on his face. “Stop, you fucking asshole.”

He immediately snapped out of it. Seungmin looked at you apologetically but it was already too late. He could see it in your eyes. The disgust, hat and annoyance. How could he do that to you?

”Wait, y/n…”

And he couldn’t even salvage it. So he left. That’s all he could do. He knew you wouldn’t take him back. When he thought about it, he wouldn’t take himself back either. So he began drinking. Drinking all the pain away.

But I can’t make you come back to me

He’d lost you completely and there was nothing he could do. He wanted to scream at you that you couldn’t leave him. But he knew he was in the wrong. On your wedding day he watched as you posted the photos. You and some other dude instead of you and him.

He couldn’t find the strength in him to go to the actual event. He’d lose control if he did. He wanted to tell you,

“I’m sorry.”

But what good would that do. If he truly wanted you to be happy, he’d leave you alone, and that’s what he did. He watched you from afar. He still cried from time to time. He was happy for you. But he had to admit,

“But, I still wan’t you.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ a.n: this has been on pause for 3 months now😭 and idk if ya caught on to the 2nd song at the end but yeah. Anyways, hope ya enjoyed bc this has been a long awaited fix. Sry to anyone who was waiting. Have a great day/night!!! Love y’all!!🫶💕💗

#skz x reader #skz #skz angst #Mumu writes #skz seungmin #seungmin angst #seungmin imagines #kim seungmin fanfic #seungmin drabbles #skz imagines #skz fanfic #skz drabbles #straykids angst #seungmin x y/n #seungmin x reader #seungmin x you #straykids fanfic #straykids x reader #straykids x you #straykids x y/n #Straykids drabbles #straykids imagines

[sminiac]

Piwon after an argument 👉🏾👈🏾 -Kyokopi

💌 — I’m sure it’s just bc I started my period but I’ve been so fucking sad lmao, thought now would be a good time to write a lil angst HEHE

⋆ Y. Keeho

Gen overview — He moves around your space very cautiously, slow in a way, like he’s scared of his presence being fully perceived. I feel it’s one of the very few times he isn’t tackling the problem when both of your wounds are so fresh in fear of further irritating them due to his eagerness that could come off as pushy or bitter. Forces himself to endure the silence, the lack of acknowledging each other’s presence even in close proximity, it hurts but he knows everyone processes things differently, including the timeframe of how long that’ll take.

Reconnecting — Truthfully, normally it doesn’t take very long before either of you come back with a “I’m sorry” at the ready, it’s never a you or him situation, in fact a lot of the time it doesn’t matter, the most essential part is communicating, which also consists of a lot of tears- but there’s something so sweet about being able to let go like that with someone else, sharing another one of your most vulnerable moments with each other, gaining an understanding of how his brain works in a way no one else can.

Remainder of members under the cut!

⋆ C. Taeyang

Gen overview — Forces himself to apologize first because he knows if he doesn’t, it’ll just never come. Puts his struggles to the side for you but that doesn’t mean it’s easy, he goes through with it though, and although the process is sore and sometimes difficult the outcome is always worth it. He’s good with noting his own faults and the crowding of his ego that he has to overcome, it’s just the daunting task of reconciling, what if it isn’t so easy? What if you won’t accept his explanation? Would another disagreement arise? Learns that a simple ‘I’m sorry’ with a genuine sense of humility is worth a lot more than he thought it would have.

Reconnecting — This is where Theo’s feelings really show, fighting can be exhausting, and you can tell by the look on his face- even his body language, that he’s really drained and sad now that there’s no other emotions left to cloud over. The most he asks is just allow him to be by your side. Showers or baths together are usually taken after. You don’t need to shower him in gifts or written letters conveying your regret, but you can wash his hair for him, massage his arms and back the way he likes while he hugs you under the comforting stream of hot water.

⋆ C. Jiung

Gen overview — The quickest to feeling irritated if he deems your behaviour as ‘excessive’, but don’t let that intimidate you, he gradually comes to his senses, just give it a minute or two for the bad feelings to settle down. Opposed to Keeho, Jiung isn’t so quick to feel the need to apologize or talk it out, he puts himself at quite the distance, buries his head in work to keep him distracted from the guilt, or the fear of having over done it this time. Coming back to each other is always the most fragile part, the culmination of all the hurtful moments make for quite the emotional reconnection. Apologies are always mutual, you dissect things with each other.

Reconnecting — Jiung’s typically more on the serious side, but after seeing you so upset it’s like a need to allow his silly side to slip. Puts away any distractions and focuses all of his attention on you! Do you wanna go get a drink? He doesn’t want you dehydrated after all those tears. Crying makes you tired, do you want to take a nap? Crying makes you hungry, do you want to go grab some food? He’ll pay, anything you want. Crying makes your nose stuffy, what about a walk outside?

⋆ H. Intak

Gen overview — Feels his emotions very deeply, they almost overtake his entire being, when he’s frustrated there’s not really a filter there to keep his mouth from running away which splits the two of you off, if you’re reactive he’s like gasoline to your fire. It doesn’t happen often, arguing or the spitefulness, he’s normally good with managing his emotions in a healthy way, so he’s extremely regretful when it gets out of hand and the both of you are upset with the other. Exudes penitence to the fullest extent when he’s coming to you with a tearful apology, holds you, just wants to hold you. The feeling of someone crying while being close to them always makes me emotional, it’s just such a deep, inexplicable connection, and that’s exactly how it is with him.

Reconnecting — Very physical and vocal after you’ve both settled. Intak will remain as close to you as possible without actually touching you, scared that his clinginess will be too much until you’re the one initiating it, and every few minutes he’ll try talk to you about anything that interests you, because if you’re talking then surely you’re okay. He’s so puppy, asking: “That new bubble tea place you’ve been talking about is opened, do you want to go soon?” “What happened to that shirt you’ve been looking for? Did you find it? Should we go get you a new one instead?” “We should go to an aquarium, you can dress all pretty so I can take pictures.”

⋆ H. Shota

Gen overview — Learning how to be supportive and respectful of each other’s functions is definitely a process, but it makes you all the more closer with Soul. Not being familiar with these intricacies prior to your arrival in his life means that he does struggle with admitting his own feelings. Soul tends to catch the wavelength of your discontent quickly and immediately molds himself to fulfill whatever your needs are, in doing so he unintentionally disregards his own. He’s at your every word, but he also needs someone who will be there for him just as willingly. Apologizing is easy, he’s quick to admit his mistakes and really takes the time to understand you even if he didn’t to begin with, but he is a little hesitant when asking something of you, all he needs is a little encouragement and reassurance that he deserves just the same treatment.

Reconnecting — Things transition back to normal very smoothly, the both of you silently agree to do your best to end the day off on a good note, which doesn’t take a lot, and by the time you’re in each others arms on the verge of falling asleep it’s like nothing ever happened. Soul’s just very.. you can never outright tell what he’s thinking or what he’s about to do, so even as you’re talking it out in the end, your argument is settled once he says or does something silly because once the both of you are laughing there’s no way the seriousness of the situation could be dragged on for any longer. He’ll kiss you with a big pretty smile, adding on a final “I’m sorry stinky”.

⋆ K. Jongseob

Gen overview — He hates nothing more than the tense atmosphere that post arguments have, and the thing that gets to him the most is not being able to approach you like nothing happened. He knows your feelings are hurt. His are too, but god does he ever miss feeling you curled into him, giggling with each other about stupid things no one else would understand. The silence and ignoring each other only ever lingers for so long, usually he breaks it by pulling you into him when you least expect it, quickly subjecting you to his kisses and a near constant reiteration of how sorry he is for being mean. He snaps out of things quite fast, because he can’t bear the thought of your day going sour because of him, so he does his best to make up for it.

Reconnecting — Immediately tells you how silly he thinks it is to be so upset like this in an attempt to wipe away any negative feelings that were left behind, because he wants to be with you until not even the existence of your souls can live on, why dwell on something so trivial? Why feed into it any more than you have to? Seob likes keeping you busy after, is it odd that he suddenly wants to build things together in your Minecraft world? Maybe a little, but it’s hard to say no when he’s suggesting you make a day out of it with snacks and cuddling included.

ᰔ sminiac’s P1Harmony M.list

Update, after listening to my Laufey playlist and writing Seob’s ‘reconnecting’ bit I’m not as sad, just hungry.

ANOTHER UPDATE I ATE AND NOW I FEEL NAUSEOUS ???? I CANNOT WIN.

#kyokopi <3 #p1harmony imagines #p1harmony x reader #yoon keeho x reader #yoon keeho imagines #p1h keeho x reader #choi taeyang x reader #choi taeyang imagines #p1h theo x reader #choi jiung x reader #choi jiung imagines #p1h jiung x reader #hwang intak x reader #hwang intak imagines #p1h intak x reader #haku shota x reader #haku shota imagines #p1h soul x reader #p1h soul imagines #kim jongseob x reader #kim jongseob imagines #p1h jongseob x reader #piwon imagines #piwon x reader

[ordon-pumpkin]

Percy Jackson spoilers and criticism below.

I see people complain about how the show just has the characters figuring out things way too quickly (I completely agree with this.) Then I see people complaining about that criticism saying things like “Oh it makes sense! They would know that because Annabeth’s been at camp, Grover is a satyr, and Percy’s mom taught him about the myths!” However, there is a difference between them knowing about the stories and them IMMEDIATELY figuring each potential trap/situation out and zapping the energy from the scenes.

These same instances in the book usually involve a feeling of unease, something feels off, things seem kind of familiar, and it slowly dawns on them what they are dealing with OR they are escaping one situation to be thrust into another and don’t have time to think about it at all. There’s tension, there’s drama. I’m here for it. The show on the other hand? Oof.

Also the circumstances in which they encounter these situations in the book greatly influence how things go. They are human(ish) after all and them getting into these messes makes them easier to connect to as characters. Let’s break it down a little more there.

- With Medusa they were lost in the woods and hungry. The smell of food lured them in. They were hungry children dang it! From the circus lol (Honestly, this instance didn’t bother me too much in the show when I first watched it because it was early on before the knowing things too soon became an ongoing theme.)

- With the Lotus Hotel and Casino they were tired and feeling grimy, having just traveled in the back of a truck with a bunch of animals in horrible conditions. It was scorching hot outside. They were absolutely exhausted and wound up there where a doorman invited them in and it was a relief to have somewhere to take a break, recoup and figure out their next move. Once inside they had access to a shower! There were snacks. Plus the place was incredible. It also showed their interests with Annabeth being drawn in to trivia and city building games, Percy liked the bungee jumping! Grover played a reverse hunting game! Percy figured out the trap by asking a guy using 70s slang and dressed to match, what year it was. He kept asking and getting different answers. Then he was able to snap Annabeth out of it by describing spiders, which he knew she had a fear of from the Tunnel of Love ride. (This whole scene in the show was such a let down, so was the Tunnel of Love scene but I’ll leave that alone for now.)

- With Crusty they were on the run and dashed into the store. This encounter is one of my favorite moments of Percy’s quick thinking in the books btw. Also his absolute lack of hesitation to slice someone’s head if they mess with his friends. Percy is smart. He’s very street smart actually. In the book this scene shows that really well. (The way I paused the show in frustration and almost turned it off when the episode started already at Crusty’s with the line “I know who you are.” Like of course. That’s just how we’re telling this story now. Check. They met Crusty. And he doesn’t feel like a threat at all. But they met him I guess.)

The exhaustion and the circumstances in these instances in the book and getting into these traps aren’t the trio being “stupid.” They were moments that set up the situation to feel more relatable, alive, tense, and interesting. The show’s changes have taken away most of the tension from these scenes. Them knowing and catching on to things so quickly is lazy and it is incredibly boring. It just feels like they are checking off a list of places from the books they wanted in the show, while losing the entire energy and impact of those locations and scenes.

To me everything in this show feels like it’s at 20%. The humor, the stakes, the tension, the personality, the freaking lighting (why is so much of this show so hard to even see?), the whimsy, the magic, the charm. It’s all so dialed back and watered down. The book is a roller coaster of making you laugh and putting you on the edge of your seat with the tension and situations these kids get into. It’s campy, it’s intense, it’s crazy, and so energetic. The show feels bland in comparison. Idk how you manage to make Percy Jackson feel boring but they did it.

I’m not asking for it to be an exact copy of the book. I’m just disappointed with how dull it is. When it’s boring and it’s a scene that was the furthest thing from that in the original version then YES I’m going to compare it and wonder why there were changes to make it less interesting. In fact, my favorite scene in the show so far is actually the taxi in the parking garage scene. It captured the energy and vibe of Percy Jackson really well and it’s a scene not in the books at all. The energy is important and this show is lacking severely most of the time. It has some really good moments (back to that 20% thing) but overall it’s such a let down.

We have one episode left of the season and I don’t exactly have high hopes of it making things better. It just makes me sad because I wanted to love this series. The incredibly talented cast, a major studio behind it, passionate people being involved including the author, amazing source material… I look at all of the ingredients and it should be amazing. But I’m pretty disappointed right now.

#pjo tv #Percy Jackson and the olympians #Percy Jackson #Percy Jackson spoilers #pjo #pjo tv critical #pjo tv crit

[sadnightforus]

MISMATCH  (JSC)

established relationship, boyfriend!sungchan x gn!cold reader

SYNOPSIS: He spent time trying to figure you out. You were not the easiest person to understand, but he tried. His only fear was you abandoning him, all alone in this cold world. 

WORD COUNT: 3.1K

WARNINGS: neglectful behavior from the reader, mentioned of cancer, minor mentioned of Chenle, avoidable cuss words, some tiny argument (probably not that tiny but you get what I mean since it’s not a lot), happy ending so guess it’s all good for us :D

PART OF HEARTBREAK STATION 

A/N: I did not really beta-read this one through. Enjoy.  

SONG USED: SO THAT YOU DO NOT GET UPSET BY TAEK. 

reblogs, comments and likes are appreciated!

 By then, he’s already getting used to waiting for you when the clock strikes past 9 pm, way past your leave hour from work. 

 The anniversary for 2 years is approaching. It’ll be there to remind him of how much time you both had spent together. Being the caring boyfriend he is, he rushed over to your place and used the spare keys you had given him, months after dating, so you both can come and go to each other’s place without having to awkwardly wait for another person at the door. 

 But recently, there has been a problem. A huge one that drives him insane. 

 He can’t honestly recall when exactly it started, but he vividly remembers that you suddenly avoided him, giving him the cold shoulder treatment when pressing you for an answer. Your first excuse was that you were just exhausted, then the college burden, then your work drove you crazy and then you came up with the kind of excuses that he knew were completely untrue and that you were just lying.

 The clock is ticking, telling it’s 9:20 pm but yet you’re still not home. He wanted to call you but you have a habit of putting your phone on silent when you need some time alone. The food is getting colder and he reconsidered heating it when he hears your footsteps into your place.

“You’re back!” He exclaimed happily. You don’t respond to that, just give him a small smile in return. 

“I made dinner for both of us. Just sit down, I’ll feed you. You don’t have to do anything.” 

 You only nod, not doing anything else as you oblige by his orders. He watches you, wondering if you slowly fall out of love with him and that’s why you don’t need him by your side anymore. 

“I can feed myself. Don’t do anything.” You add. “You don’t have to heat up the food, let’s eat it like that.”

 He pulls out your chair so you both can properly be seated and you let him do so. He serves you to his heart's content as you watch him retrieve the food back from the counter. You know you did give him a really hard time these past few months, but you can’t seem to talk about what’s bothering you. One day, one day maybe. 

 He sits down, slowly starts eating at the same time. He avoids your favorite food so that you’ll have it all to yourself, even if he likes it too. 

“How’s class?” He asks, curious. 

“It was okay.” Your voice is quiet, almost going unheard of if not for the comfort of your own place. “What about you?” 

“Professors are being cruel as usual. I don’t have any assignments due for this week. I wish for days like this.” He dramatically wails and you chuckle at his attempts. 

 You grab some pork and place it onto his plate, as you know it’s one of his favorites but you also know he avoids it because he wants you to have it all. 

“I’m not that hungry, we can share this together.” 

 Even if you don’t talk a lot, uncharacteristically quiet from an already quiet and reserved person that you are, he still tries to read what’s on your mind.  

 You continue to have a little talk then and there. He treasures every moment of it but he notices that the sparkle in your eyes that he adores so much has long disappeared, replacing itself with void and almost agonizing pain. But when you blink, it disappears and there’s the glint of happiness in your eyes, back again. 

 He starts having doubts on what really went wrong in this relationship but he pushes the thoughts aside and tries to enjoy any moments left with you. 

 But he knew that he’ll have to confront that topic one day, soon enough. 

“Happy anniversary, babe.” He whispers happily, looking deep into your eyes as the soft romantic music is playing in the background. 

 For both of your special days, he had made a reservation at a fancy restaurant, 2 months before. His friend, Chenle, the grandson of the said restaurant, used his privileges to move his name into a ‘VIP client’ section so that he’ll be able to do this. Any normal person would’ve to book the reservation 5 months in advance if they plan to do so. 

“Thank you for this.” You mutter, grateful that he went out of his way to make the special day so memorable. 

 He turns flustered as he can see the adoring look in your eyes while you hold eye contact with him, mumbling out countless thank yous and lovely things that he hasn’t heard of in weeks now. 

“I love you.” He smiles, relieved to see that you like it. 

“I love you too.” 

 You’re not very vocal about your feelings. He never pushes you to do so as he knows that you’ll only say it when you want to. 

 But for some reason, he gets the sunken feelings that this will be the last time that he hears it. 

 He flushes you a smile, not knowing if this will be the last big date you both will ever have with one another. Or the last time that he gets to smile at you like that. 

 But either way, he is determined to keep this going as long as it can be. 

“Should we drink red wine?” He asks, wanting the night to be perfect for you. 

“Won’t that be expensive?” You frown, thinking about the panic that will rise once you see the bills. 

“I want tonight to be just about you. Don’t worry about the price.” He grins at you back lovingly, reassuring you that he has more than enough. 

 The night quickly wrapped itself with the only connection that you both would understand, as you had become one with him under the stars that shine so brightly in the universe in the comfort of his place. 

 But even then, he knew that he one day, will have to eventually face how wrecked and cold this relationship is. He pushed the thoughts aside, leaning closer to look at you, in case it’ll be the last time he got to see you this close. You’re already asleep, breathing steady and looking so angelic to him. 

 He kissed the top of your head and mumbled out a quiet goodnight, closing his eyes and feeling his heart is a bit at ease, knowing that you’ll be the first thing he’ll see in the morning when the stream of sun rays hits his eyes. 

“I have to go, I can’t stay here.” You said, already grabbing your small handbag and attempting to walk out the door. 

“But your birthday ca-” 

“I’m sorry.” You shot him an apologetic look, not sparing another minute to spend with him on your special day before slamming the door shut and he can only watch you leave until he loses sight of you. 

 It’s your birthday today and he wants to make it extra special as it’ll be the second birthday you’ll spend together. Lucky enough that he doesn’t have any classes for today so he has time to perfect your birthday with things he knew you would like. 

 But unfortunately, one text ruined the plan as he could see you celebrating your day so happily just earlier with him, blowing out the candles as he sang a song to create a more melodic atmosphere. 

 He glances at the gift he was planning to give you sadly. He knows that it’s all coming to an end but he is willing to give one more try, just one more try until the string that holds both of you detached itself completely from one another. 

 He starts to rethink about from the very beginning and before it all came down here. You were never a person of many words, he can say many things to charm others. He is more social than you are while you keep to yourself a lot, sometimes it almost feels like you hold onto too many secrets, afraid that the very vulnerable place would be attacked and send you out with even more trust issues. 

 He looks at the necklace you got him for his first birthday, which he still wears because it’s equally as stylish as it is sentimental to him that his partner got him a gift that becomes a part of his life. 

 He is afraid that he will have to take it off one day. Just like how he’ll no longer have you by his side. 

 He breathes heavily, letting streams of tears fall down his cheeks, not caring anymore about keeping his composure because it pains him to think about that day. 

 It pains him that you slowly lose your attention on him, not caring about things he does for you or in general anymore. 

 But he loves you too much for that, so he tries to breathe in with the hot tears pricking in his eyes and makes a mental reminder to not do anything that might destroy this relationship. 

 Just another try, so that he can put his mind at ease before he walks out of your life forever. 

“Are you kidding me right now, Sungchan?” You yell, furious and both equally as frustrated in your tone. 

“Why have you been sneaking around? Do you think I have the heart of a monk? Of course, I’d be so fucking mad!” He yells back, trying his hardest to not burst into tears right there and then. 

“I told you, I have a reason to go out this late at night!” You try to reason, eyes now tainted by the agonizing pain and unreadable kind of desperation shown in your gaze that he has never seen before. 

“It’s fucking 2 in the morning!” He points out, mad by your action. 

 He has given you so much time to speak but you didn’t. And this is the final straw as he woke up to you just re-entering the bedroom when you both had previously fallen asleep together around 12 am. 

 And that’s why you both are in the situation that you are in now because he decides to confront you instead of letting the matter slide like how he used to. 

“So what?” You sass back and he is slightly confused and both amused that there’s a hidden pain in your tone, rather than ‘not caring’ you’d often use. 

“I’m not a kid. I don’t know what you think I am but I’m not stupid. If you don’t want me anymore, you can just say that to my face.” 

 You look at him, this time with an unreadable expression on your face. He thought he saw your eyes almost brimming into tears but when he blinks, the tears quickly disappear, leaving with a cold empty look to match with the current atmosphere of both the heart and place. 

 You both go radio silent for a bit, you finding yourself extremely speechless from his accusation because the truth is: you need him more than ever. But you don’t want to burden him. No, you don’t want to place that pain onto him anymore.  

“Why did you do that?” He asks, this time, finally letting his tears fall and he doesn’t care if it is weak. All he can think about is that he’ll have to hear the things that he doesn’t want to escape your lips and the apologies that would surely make its way because he’ll never be enough. 

 You contemplate on whether you should say it. You know you’ve been putting him in a tough spot for the last 5 months or so but really, time is never kind and you have to sacrifice your own happiness to say goodbye. 

 You bite your lips, letting the tears fall down, mirroring his expressions. Eyes red and in so much curiosity, laced with an ungodly amount of pain before you speak slowly, trying to muster the courage to sound as stable as you can. 

“My best friend is dying.” 

 With that, you feel your knees going weak and you almost crumble to the ground, if not for the fast reflex that he manages to catch you on time. 

 It all now makes sense why you seem so distant. 

 Your best friend was a part of you, your better other half as you had referred to her as. You occasionally bring her up with a smile on your face when you both happen to have a deep conversation together. But he noticed that he couldn’t seem to bring your friend up because you would dismiss the topic as quickly as the question popped out. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He softly asks, stroking your hair as he allows your tears to soak his shirt. Your muffled sobs did nothing but tug at his heartstrings more than before because he knows that you’d most likely have to give up on your personal time spent with him to stay by your best friend’s side. 

“I- I just don’t want to burden you.” 

“You could never burden me.” 

“I’m just.. afraid- afraid that it’ll be too much to handle for you.” His torn heart absolutely breaks at this claim, why did his precious baby think that your pain doesn't deserve to be shared too? 

“It’ll never be too much when it comes to you.” He mumbles, sincerity shown in every syllable he utters those words out as he averts his eyes to look at your figure with so much love and the need to protect you from the bad things in the world. 

 He lets you cry as long as you want to as he strokes your hair gently, afraid that you might be startled by the not so gentle-touch from him as a way to comfort and letting you embrace yourself in him for as long as you desire. Each tear, breaks him even more as he wonders how long had you been really keeping this up; pretending to be strong, isolating yourself in fear of dragging them along into your sadness. Only then, did he notice that you had lost a significant amount of weight and you appear to be more fragile to him than ever. 

“I don’t know if she’s gonna make it.” You mumble out, clearly intent for him to hear but your voice was so quiet that he almost missed it. He waits for you to continue as you catch your breath before speaking again. 

“She has cancer, they caught it early but I can’t really watch her suffering. I wish I could take all of her pain and let it be transferred to me.”

 The thought made him cry. Your heart is pure and he curses himself for ever thinking that it’s him that you got bored of and even the thought of you finding someone else better crossed his mind on occasion where he let his emotions overtake the best of his senses, when it’s the opposite of his assumption. 

“She’s strong. I know she can overcome it.” 

“I’m just… just really scared. Do you know what she said to me? She said she doesn’t wanna die yet, she hasn’t even fulfilled half of the wishes. She hasn’t…” You shake your head, furiously crying as more hot tears soak the thin fabric of your boyfriend’s shirt. 

“I’ll be here with you at every step.” He whispers and you feel comforted by what he said fully because you know that he will. 

“I’m sorry about the birthday thing. And I’m sorry for my behavior for these past 5 months.” You apologize as you slowly come to realize that you probably made him cry out of doubts. That thought made you feel like an asshole. 

“Don’t blame yourself for that.” He speaks like he can read your mind. “You were very stressed. But you’re so strong, you can get through this.” 

 You let him comfort you and kissing your tears and knowing that now you don’t have to go through the pain alone makes you feel less alienated. And the remaining hours until the sun rises, you both converse in conversations and become more verbal with your love towards him. You feel as if you were seen, understood and taken care of without any fear. 

 And you swear that you’ll never let him go as he promises that he’ll always be by your side until the end of life. 

 Maybe you don’t have to go through it alone. You have him, and it’s all that matters. 

BONUS 

“Happiness does look good on you, you know.” 

“Is that the first thing you said to me when you woke up, really?” You let out a laugh, surprised by your best friend’s remark. 

 When you received a call from the hospital that your best friend’s surgery was a success, you were excited, thrilled and just so relieved to have your best friend be protected and finally safe and secured from the danger. You quickly called your boyfriend, telling him about the amazing news and he dropped the last 2 lectures of today to take you to where you needed the most. And you swear that you’ll make him your husband someday. 

“Sungchan, stop holding Y/N’s hand. Yuck!” She pretends to make a puking expression, even makes a vomiting noise. 

“I need to tell the world I’m in love. It's not my fault that you have to witness that.” He sasses, clearly finds it better than expected that the girl is fiesta in her own way.. 

“Do it somewhere else, I hate happy couples.” 

And you three share a hearty laugh, 

 And as he looks at you, he thanked the universe that he never gave up and gave one more try to the relationship. 

 He could die from happiness right then and there.

COPYRIGHTED BY SADNIGHTFORUS, 2023

#riize au #riize imagines #riize scenarios #jung sungchan au #jung sungchan imagines #jung sungchan angst #sungchan au #sungchan imagines #sungchan fluff #kpop au #kpop imagines #kpop scenarios #sungchan x reader #sungchan angst

[piichuu]

♡ LATE NIGHT COOKING - LEVI ACKERMAN

NOTES: insomnia, gn!reader, fluff

WORD COUNT: 783

AUGUST DRABBLES

“still can’t sleep?”

levi is sitting on the couch in the living room when he hears your voice. he looks up at you and sighs, watching as you sit down beside him and lay your head on his shoulder. “is there anything i can do, levi? you’ve gotten four hours of sleep at max these few days combined,” you mumble.

he is aware of this and both of you are also aware of his difficulties sleeping. some nights he can fall asleep unusually fast, but there are some days like this that he can lay in bed with his eyes closed for hours without anything happening. there are dark circles under his eyes and he has never felt so exhausted, but for some reason he still cannot fall asleep.

“you don’t have to do anything, you should sleep,” he speaks while looking towards you, allowing you to intertwine your fingers with his. “i fell asleep early so i’m not really tired. i can stay up for a little while longer,” you flash him a light smile and kiss his cheek. “let’s cook something.”

“cook?” “yeah, it’ll get your mind off all those troubling thoughts and i’m sure you must be hungry after all the work you’ve done today, so let’s go cook a very late dinner,” you stand up from the couch, trying to pull him up as well. levi shakes his head but still trails after you into the kitchen.

he sits down on a chair as you begin to grab a few ingredients out from the fridge. “i thought we could make curry chicken, it might take a little while so i hope it’s fine by you,” levi nods and gets up from his seat to help you cook. “maybe you can cut up the chicken? i’ll prepare the rice,” you smile softly while grabbing everything you need from cabinets.

levi is quiet as he cuts up the chicken, putting it in a pan with a curry sauce you made rather quickly. he turns the chicken around for a little while before he just waits for the food to be ready to eat. while simply just waiting, he looks over at you who’s looking down at the rice to make sure it’s cooked well while the water is bubbling up.

“it’s almost done,” you reach for his arm. “are you feeling okay?” he wraps his arms around your waist, taking you aback by the sudden affection as he buries his face into the crook of your neck. “tired…” levi mumbles as he closes his eyes, taking a deep and shaky breath as if he’s holding in tears.

you place a warm kiss to his cheek and rub his back, allowing him to relax against your body. “you’ll fall asleep as soon as we’ve eaten, i promise,” he sniffles quietly and nods, still hiding his face against your skin while you pour the rice into a bowl just like the curry chicken. “let’s eat, okay?”

the two of you go to sit down by the dining table, you sitting down right next to him so he can hold your hand if he would want to. the room is rather quiet as you two eat. his leg is lightly brushing against yours and it takes some time for him to finish eating as he still seems to feel slightly down since he’s still awake when it’s almost five in the morning.

when you’ve finished eating, you simply just put the dishes away in the sink, deciding to take care of it tomorrow instead when levi has hopefully slept for at least a few hours. you try to put the dirty dishes in the sink without him noticing, knowing that he’s one of the most tidiest people in the world who always wants the kitchen and all other rooms to be clean and fortunately for you, he seems to be more tired than ever, causing him not to notice his surroundings.

“let’s go and sleep,” you reach for levi’s hand and he takes it gently, allowing you to lead him into the bedroom. he keeps staying quiet while laying down under the covers in bed, watching as you lay down beside him and wrap your arms around him to pull him close. levi leans his head against your chest and closes his eyes, listening to the sound of your heartbeat. “i love you,” he mumbles sleepily, causing a smile to spread over your lips.

“i love you too, levi,” you kiss his temple as he goes quiet. his eyes are closed and after only ten minutes, he’s snoring quietly, finally sleeping after a long night of trying. cooking food was definitely the right choice.

#attack on titan x reader #attack on titan fluff #attack on titan x you #attack on titan #attack on titan levi #levi ackerman #levi ackerman x reader #levi ackerman fluff #levi ackerman x you #aot fluff #aot x reader #aot x gn!reader #levi aot #aot #aot x you #aot x y/n #aot levi #x reader #august drabbles

[sanjisboyfie]

๑ keep safe : the dogs are hounding on [name] (18)

one piece x male reader

i nearly killed somebody, 

don't you mind? don't you mind?

i gave you something you can never give back,

don't you mind? 

『 prev 』

they just narrowly escaped the marines that were chasing them, but were still on the run in case they caught up. if you add on the emotional distress the entire situation caused the straw hats, then they were all beyond exhausted.

thankfully, as they were running through the town, chopper had picked up on their scent. and now he was riding on top of a giant crab. [name] didn’t know where he got it from, but he was going to be thankful either way. his eyes turned into stars as he realized that it was a crab…something edible.

”sanji, sanji, do you think we can eat him later?” the question was enough to make the chef hum in thought and chopper’s jaw drop in astonishment.

“don’t eat him! he’s helping us!”

“i meant after he was done helping us, i’m hungry, that’s all,” [name] said, trying to justify his question to the young reindeer. but chopper wasn’t hearing him out at all. simply muttering under his breath how heartless and food driven [name] was.

“[name]’s right, it looks real yummy,” luffy said, also salivating to the thought of eating the crab.

just as [name] began to laugh and relax as they were getting away, vivi’s screams echoed in the air. he whipped his head around, searching for what she had begun yelling about. and when he saw that she was starting to get whisked away by a hook, he cursed under his breath.

him and luffy acted first, but zoro held [name] back. the man fought against his grip, but then realized why he was stopped. zoro recognized the fact luffy was able to stretch and switch places with vivi whereas [name] wouldn’t have been able to really do anything.

so he watched as luffy selflessly replaced vivi’s position and threw the princess back at the crab. [name] caught her, but his eyes were still trained on luffy. he held his hand out, shouting, “come on, luffy! grab on!!”

“no! i’m gonna beat this guy’s ass!” luffy shouted defiantly, making [name] grit his teeth, “make sure you deliver vivi back to her home!!!”

[name] wanted to chase after luffy, but the sure smile that his captain had on his face made him stop himself. [name] restrained vivi, holding her tight as she desperately tried reaching for luffy as well.

luffy’s eyes were trained on [name] the entire time, smile so wide that his pearly whites were visible to [name] despite being so far. as if he was trying to show to [name] he’d be fine.

“luffy!!” [name] shouted, the veins in his neck protruding, “you deal with him and then you come right back, okay?! no fucking around!!!”

“of course!” luffy answered within seconds, as if he anticipated it — like he knew a warning from [name] was coming. [name]’s threatening tone only made his smile grow wider. and when [name] heard his reply, he slumped down where he sat and tried to make himself feel satisfied with the answer.

no matter who the opponent was, even if they were stronger, luffy would find his way back to the rest of his crew. [name] assured himself of that fact, thinking of all the times luffy went and did something stupid like this when they were children. he’d always emerge with new wounds, but at least he came home.

“that idiot,” [name] said under his breath. his arms were still flexed around vivi and caging her in, so she wouldn’t go to luffy.

“once the royal army and the rebel army meet, this land, will be done for. this country’s only hope, vivi, is you! if anything, you’re the only one that matters right now, you have to survive. no matter what might happen to any us, from now on!” zoro tried easing vivi’s worries, reminding her of her duties as princess. she couldn’t spend her time thinking of luffy when she had a whole country to save.

sanji smirked, walking ahead and standing towards the head of the crab, “vivi-chan, you might have started this fight, the one who challenged this unknwonn organization, all on your own. however, don’t go around thinking that you’re fighting this alone now.”

in comparison to sanji and zoro’s very confident tones, usopp spoke up in a shaky tone, “d-d-d-don’t worry, vivi!!! captain u-usopp will take care of everything!!”

[name] stifled his laughter, hiding his grin behind the hand that was resting on his forehead. vivi, who was still in his arms, turned her head back to luffy and shouted out to him, “luffy-san!! we will be waiting for you in alubarna, okay?!”

luffy’s laughter echoed in the air, “yeah!!”

[name] held her in his arms, feeling her body shake. he rubbed up and down her back, trying to ease her worries, before standing up. she looked at him in confusion, but he could only grin back at her.

“if luffy says he’s gonna beat crocodile’s ass, he’s gonna do it.” [name] said simply, turning around and sitting next to chopper instead. if he was going to kill time, he wanted to be cuddled up with the fluffy crewmate instead. maybe he’d even be able to catch some sleep.

and with chopper as his pillow, anything was possible. so he shut his eyes and soon fell into slumber. nami looked at [name] in annoyance, wondering how he could be so calm when something so stressful was happening.

the rest of the crew began to think of how to plan for their entrance to alubarna. as they talked, they allowed [name] to rest, although zoro did want to hit him awake several times.

he somehow slept through the carb travelling through the water, until he was completely submerged in it.

“what? is it still night?” he asked, swiping his wet hair out from his face. the crew gave him an incredulous look, which he ignored, and he just yawned into his hand. “why are we swimming?”

just as the crew were all going to collectively yell at him for being so absent, they were all rushing forward with the speed of a boat. [name] blinked lazily as his hand was making motions underwater. in seconds, the crew had reached the shore.

[name] stretched once they reached land and looked at the crew, “well? let’s get going then, since you guys are in such a rush,” a flurry of insults were thrown his way, colorful language used in each one, but he just turned his back to them, “i was sleepy, you can’t blame me,”

“just shut up!!” nami shouted, bonking him in the head.

“wait, no i hear something,” [name] said, ignoring the shouting woman, which only aggravated her even more.

everyone turned and saw that there was actually something approaching. it started as a dust cloud, but as they got closer, vivi was able to make out what it was.

“that’s karoo!! and the supersonic duck squadron!”

[name] bursted out laughing, “what the fuck is that?!” his howling laughter was heard throughout the desert and he only stopped once the supersonic duck squadron were in front of them.

“well, now we just need a plan,” zoro smirked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“and you’re capable of doing that…right…” [name] said under his breath, voice trailing off as his expression showed that he didn’t think zoro would even be able to think of a plan. his comment made usopp and chopper hold back their giggles.

“i’ll cut you up! seriously!” zoro threatened, the shine of his blade glinting in the moonlight.

“jokes, jokes!” [name] said, but zoro definitely wasn’t convinced.

“let’s get back on track,” nami spoke in a deathly calm voice, “zoro’s right, we do need a plan and [name]’s right, zoro definitely shouldn’t be the one to form said plan,”

zoro’s forehead was littered with angry tick marks.

“alright then this is how it’ll go,” nami said, making everyone gather around her in a circle. she spoke with confidence, laying out the plan she had been thinking of to the rest of her crewmates.

in the end, it was decided that they’d all pretend to be vivi to throw off the awaiting baroque works members. all except for the actual princess and [name]. those two would wait out the distraction ploy, then charge in on their own ducks to go straight to the royal palace.

now everyone was wearing identical white robes over their regular clothing, covering the bottom half of their face for extra protection. [name] grinned in excitement, eager to start and end this long awaited fight. with him acting as vivi’s protector, though, he still had to play it smart.

he couldn’t get too eager or else she might get injured. and that was definitely the last thing anyone wanted.

“if she comes back with the littlest of bruises, [name], so help me-”

“i get it, i get it,” [name] sighed, rubbing his forehead at sanji’s nagging.

“do you?! this is vivi-chan’s life at stake, be on your best game in protecting her — even if it means risking you life!!” sanji shouted, showing his obvious favoritism towards vivi.

fake crocodile tears streamed down [name]’s face, “after all we’d been through sanji, i’d hope you’d be more concerned for me,” he whined, weakly punching the blonde in the chest.

the chef rolled his eyes, turning away and hopping onto his own speedy duck. [name] wished all of them good luck, climbing onto the back of karoo, with vivi in front and steering. he shot them a wide grin and thumbs up.

“you got this, everyone!! beat their asses!” [name] cheered, earning shouts of agreement, and fear, in return. and in a second, they were all racing off, leaving [name] and vivi in the dust.

then the h/c haired male held onto vivi’s waist, the princess directing them to a completely different entrance way to the capital. karoo was running as fast as he could, quacking every now and then. eventually, they had reached a completely different side of the kingdom. karoo ran right in front of the entrance, to properly stop the rebel army from entering.

[name] hopped off first and then assisted vivi, sighing as he could feel the trembling off the sand beneath their feet. there were so many soldiers that were coming. his glare hardened when he saw them all having their weapons raised, ready to draw blood.

[name] took a seat, propping his arm up on his knee as he waited for vivi to start her intervention.

in his mind, trying to project your voice towards an entire brigade of soldiers was useless. there’d be no way they could hear her over their trampling steps, even if they did, there was little chance that they’d actually be able to stop for her.

[name] squinted at the crowd, lowly whistling when he saw how many of them were charging. he sighed, standing up and holding his hand out.

no matter how stupid he thought it was or how pointless it all seemed, there’s no way he’d let vivi be trampled by all these people. and if they weren’t going to even stop to listen to her, then he’d force them to.

his hand was outstretched, palm facing the people. and his face was stoic as he concentrated as hard as he could in stopping the swarm. just when he thought his focus was completely locked in, a sudden bang and cloud of smoke cut him off.

he grit his teeth, looking up at the royal army who had just fired a canonball into the charging army. he cursed in his head, “those bastards, i had them!!”

but trying to refocus and stop them all now, with how close they were, it was useless. so he thought fast, “sorry, karoo!!” he shouted right before he tossed the bird up into the air, “i hope you can fly!”

just as vivi was about to shout at him, he tackled her down to the ground. his elbows were propped up on either side of her head, his legs completely covering her own as his torso shadowed over her face.

“don’t look so scared, princess,” he grinned, keeping his arms flexed and strong so that his positioning wouldn’t falter at all. “i won’t allow you to get hurt, not now, not ever!”

she looked up at him in fear, the sound of the stampede’s footsteps echoing in her ears. the ground beneath them was shaking violently now more than it ever was before. and when her wide blown eyes stared back at him, she couldn’t believe how he could so calmly smile at her.

and then it happened. all the hooves of the camels were beating down into [name]’s back, making him grunt at the pain. he bit his lip, hard, to suffocate any sounds that were threatening to come out.

vivi grabbed onto his robes, trying to push him off of her as he was taking the blunt force of all their steps. but he didn’t budge. not even when she began beating on his chest and crying for him to move out of the way, he stayed completely still. it was as if his body was glued to the ground and was rooted there like a tree.

it felt like hours, for [name]. the pain of their hooves breaking into his skin, the repeated actions. it really did hurt. but he couldn’t move, he wouldn’t allow himself to. vivi was right underneath him and if he moved even an inch over, she’d get hurt.

so he smiled through the pain, laughing almost as he saw the concern etched so obviously across vivi’s features. and when the crowd eventually passed over, he collapsed next to her, the smile still plastered on his face.

“that’s a pretty big army,” he breathed out, coughing blood onto the sand next to his hand, “man, i really hope karoo can fly,”

“[name]!” she cried out, rushing to his side and moving her hands to his face, “don’t worry about karoo, you-your back has-”

“i’m fine,” he grunted, waving his hand, “are you alright?”

“of course, i’m fine!” she shouted at him, her worry turning into anger, “why?! why did you do that?!”

[name] began laughing, putting his hand on his stomach — to ease the pain but also because it was that hilarious to him.

“why? to protect you, obviously,”

her eyes filled with tears, but she shook her head to rid herself of them, “will you be alri-”

“don’t even ask, that wasn’t even anything,” he said, sitting upright, “i’ve been through worse and i’ll go through worse if it means you’ll stay safe. now, let’s focus on getting to the palace. where’s karoo?”

vivi remained silently, her hands clenched in her lap at [name]’s selfless statement. “i’ll go through worse” he said so confidently and casually. it echoed in her mind. and all she could think about was how quick this war needed to be finished.

she couldn’t just keep allowing the straw hat crew to take care of her messes. luffy sacrificing himself to fight against crocodile, [name] giving up his body in order to protect hers — she’d had enough. enough of being looked out for.

a mighty quack answered that question for him and the duo turned their heads. vivi was knocked out of her daydream when she saw the state karoo was in. his feathers were barely touched by the rampaging swarm of soldiers, his wings were proudly held high in the air, and he was shouting for their attention.

“then, vivi-”

“vivi, [name]!!! this is where you guys are!!”

[name] lifted his head, seeing usopp’s face in the sunlight. he was grinning ear to ear, seemingly happy to have finally met up with the two.

“ah, usopp,” [name] said, in relief, “let me hop on the back of that camel, mighty duck over here needs to be as fast as possible when he takes vivi,”

“usopp-san!” vivi cheered in delight.

“no problem, [name]! let’s go already!” usopp cried in urgency, “vivi, come on! we can’t waste anymore time!”

vivi turned to karoo, nodding her head as if in agreement with usopp. she was about to climb onto her duck, who was eager to get running. her back was turned to usopp and [name], a gentle smile on her face.

she mounted karoo, turning around to [name] and usopp, about to tell them she was ready, but she was instead greeted by the sight of [name] holding his sheathed sword to usopp’s neck. a drastic change in demeanor was surrounding [name].

“so mosshead really wasn’t lying,” [name]’s deep voice drawled, disinterest laced in his tone, “it’s really identical, huh?”

“woah, woah, [name]!! what’s the big deal?!” usopp cried out, kneeling in front of [name] with his hands in the air, “what’s going on?!”

“vivi, ask usopp to show his proof,” [name] spoke, the end of his sword dangerously close to usopp’s nose. testily, he pressed it onto the tip, watching with careful eyes of usopp’s reaction.

and instead of batting [name]’s weapon away and yelling something like, “don’t mess with my nose, bastard,” the man instead stayed completely silent. he didn’t even flinch from [name]’s weapon, simply staying put and maintaining eye contact.

as if that were the right thing to do.

vivi gulped, understanding the situation now. “usopp-san, prove yourself,” she said carefully, watching for his actions.

confidently, the sniper lifted his arm and showed off the bandage, “you doubt me? that’s alright, look!!” he waved it about in the air, making [name] scoff.

“vivi, run! now!!” [name] shouted, swinging his arm back and about to dutifully decapitate the man’s head. but it seemed the imposter had wonderfully fast reflexes as he flipped himself far away from [name]’s deadly weapon.

vivi did as she was told, urging karoo to run ahead and left [name] and the impostor to stand in their dust. [name] didn’t remove his eyes from the man who still had usopp’s face.

“oi! i’m your opponent, take your eyes off of her,” he said, smirking in delight at the idea of being able to freely spill his enemy’s blood, “if you don’t look at me,” he used soru, appearing in front of the man in an instant, “it might cost you your life!”

a finger was jabbed into “usopp’s” side and it caused him to stumble backwards. [name] looked at him in satisfaction, licking his lips as blood began to immediately poor out of the wound.

“ohh, that’s a shame!” usopp said, clutching the hole in his abdomen, “i thought i was pretty spot on,”

finally, the man revealed his true face. it was a man with heavy make up, a ballet outfit on, and a jacket that had swan wings extending outwards. the interesting appearance made [name] tilt his head in interest.

“pretty,” he said offhandedly, effectively catching the man off guard.

“really? you think so?” the man said bashfully, waving his hand at [name] in attempts to win him over.

[name] smirked, dashing forward and punching the man’s legs, making him kneel on the ground. and now that the man was at his hip level, he was able to knee him in the face, “definitely not! idiot!”

the man’s body went flying away. and [name] used that time to run to catch up to vivi and karoo. annoyingly, though, the man he was fighting against was very fast in regaining composure.

he could hear him running closely behind. so [name] turned his body around and stuck out his arm, effectively making the man run into his limb, causing him to flip in the air a couple of times and then fall flat on his face.

“fuck off already!” [name] shouted, trying to slam his fist into the ballerina’s face. in the last second, though, the man moved aside and went to kick [name] in the face. with a look of disgust, [name] easily dodged it and grabbed the man’s shin. a dark look was on his face as he grimaced at the enemy, “you want me to break your leg?”

the ballerina tried gaining control over his leg, but [name] had a tight grip on him. his knuckles were white, his hand shaking in anger, “hm, i don’t think that’s sufficient enough though,” he hummed, genuinely thinking of how to maim the man, “vivi…she’s suffered for so long because of you idiots! you’ve ruined her country,”

[name] twisted the skin of the man’s leg, making him yowl in pain and writhe on the floor. his screams were high pitched, making [name] cringe. he mindlessly threw him away in some direction, as if he were trash.

“i can’t waste my time on lowlives like you,” [name] grinned, seeing the dust cloud that erupted from the body he had just thrown. he turned around when he saw that the man couldn’t get up and ran off towards vivi.

he saw a staircase up to the city, moaning in annoyance as he saw how high it was. he shook his head, pushing forward, reminding himself that after they saved this city, they’d have all the food and water in the world.

so he used soru multiple times, trying to conserve his actual fighting energy into protecting vivi. when he heard the royal guards beginning to yell, going on about how someone was charging at them, but he blocked them out.

“someone capture him!! he’s apart of the rebel army!”

“like hell i am!” [name] shouted in annoyance, punching one of the guards that were charging at him. they slammed down onto the floor at the intensity of the punch, the ground cracking beneath their head.

he looked at the crowd, clicking his tongue once he saw that it was all just a mess. everyone was out for blood and there were bodies laying everywhere. he cursed under his breath.

just as someone else was going to slash his head, he jumped up in the air and kicked their face in. using that as leverage, he jumped off of them and into the air. and the process repeated. he kept kicking up and up into the air, projecting himself forward simply using the air beneath his feet.

some onlookers got distracted mid-fight as they watched the man seemingly “fly” through the sky. their enemies took advantage of that, slicing them down. and [name], who was in the sky was too busy searching for a princess with blue hair, didn't pay any mind to those around him.

which is why he missed the sniper that was hiding out in one of the buildings.

a bullet lodged itself into his abdomen, making him lose focus on his technique and causing him to fall from the sky. he cursed at the inconvenience, putting his hand on his wound and immediately tried to stop blood from overflowing.

his body fell limply to the floor, making him spit out some blood onto the ground beside him.

“the cursed orphan, set sail three years ago from his home— no, from foosha village that he had lived on for the past 7 years before leaving at the age 17. has relations with portgas d. ace and monkey d. luffy. the main caretaker that had watched over you is dadan, apart of the mountain bandits. occasional visits from makino the bartender, as well as the mayor.” the voice drawled out, their shoes clicking against the stone road.

they were in a secluded street, the shouts of the main fight being nothing but background noise.

“you lived on foosha village due to garp sending you there in hopes of you getting a normal childhood, prior to that you were on board the red hair pirates ship, the captain shanks acting as your mentor. that is where you obtained that cloth on your wrist,” a boney finger pointed at the black material on [name]’s wrist, “as well as that sword,”

“you're leaving out a pretty important detail,” [name] grunted, propping himself up on his elbows to glare at the figure, “when the fuck are you gonna get off my back, you dog?!”

“when you’re dead, of course!”

standing above [name], a tall lanky figure wearing all black stood above his bleeding body. he had a sniper rifle strapped to his back and a large dagger resting on his hip. a rigged scar stretched from the bridge of his nose, blinding his right eye, and ending near his skull, the right ear he would’ve had was completely missing. a trench coat that almost touched the ground, combat boots that made an annoying clacking sound every time he stepped anywhere. he was skinny and lanky, standing at least two feet taller than [name].

“if they really want to kill me that badly, they should’ve sent someone worth while,” [name] grunted, letting his hand fall from his bleeding abdomen to push himself off of the ground. “thought i was wanted only alive, though?” the teasing tone in [name]’s voice made the face grimace in front of him.

“special orders, i get to be the one to assassinate you,” he drew the dagger on his side, a sadistic grin on his face. “i’ve been promoted now, there’s been a lot of change since you’ve left us. we’ve got a whole operation squad made to kill you! haha!!”

[name] looked unimpressed, a bored look on his face, “if it gives me more of an excuse to kill you dogs, then i don’t care.”

“remember your place, [name]!! who’s the one with the real control here?!” the voice shouted in anger, not enjoying the way his taunting remarks didn’t affect [name] at all.

“don’t make me laugh, we’re on different levels completely,” [name] smirked, shooting the blood that coated his hands towards the figure, successfully slashing into his cheek. he rushed forward, disarming the man from his dagger immediately, “don’t you remember who used to kick your ass during our training days together?! answer me, kosuke!!”

[name] voice lowered as he pressed himself closer to his assassin, “don’t you remember who’s the one who gave you that ugly scar?”

the sharp dagger pressed into kosuke’s skin, making [name] grin in delight as a marbled drop of crimson fell from the point he pierced, “come on, tell me, i wanna know!!”

“Eradication of Subject 0001: a strictly confidential mission that the World Government hopes to complete with swift professionalism. The goal to publicly execute [REDACTED] D. [name]. Those employed to take on this task are a small group of individuals who are believed to be able to match or out-do the subject’s prowess. The group was hand selected by Admirals Aokiji, Kizaru, and Akainu, as well as input coming from Vice-Admiral Garp.

MISSION IS STRICTLY ON A NEED-TO-KNOW BASIS. INFORMATION LEAKED TO ANYONE OUTSIDE OF THE ALLOWED PERSONNELL WILL BE DEALT WITH ACCORDINGLY.”

the scarred man moved quickly, pushing [name] off of him with enough force that it made [name]’s feet skid on the ground beneath him.

“shut up!!”

“ooh, someone’s angry,” [name] teased, smirking as he saw the man equip himself with his sniper, “say, you should be thanking me,”

[name] abruptly moved his body in different directions to dodge the bullets, “i’m the reason why your aim is so good, aren’t i? permanently shut that eye for you so your other in always in focus, haha!!”

his laughter echoed at the poorly made joke, obviously not taking the fight seriously. this only made kosuke more eager to injure [name], more than he already has.

“just give it up, kosuke, you’re never going to be stronger than me,” [name] grinned, pressing his hand to his wound, “you’re pretty idiotic for even maiming me,”

“i’ll kill you before you even have a chance to-”

[name] hand flicked forward and the blood he had pooled in his palm shot forward and pierced through kosuke’s shoulder.

“huh? i couldn’t hear you,” [name] taunted, walking forward with kosuke’s dagger in his hand and ready to stab into his enemy’s flesh.

the assassin clutched his bleeding wound, glaring at [name], “all that confidence, but for what? you can’t even protect your own captain!”

[name]’s movement stilled the moment the words left kosuke’s mouth.

“ha! you didn’t know?!” the man taunted, taking [name]’s surprise to his advantage, “crocodile had killed him only minutes after you guys left him to fight!! it was a pathetic showing, i watched the life drain out of your precious boy’s eyes! there’s no doubt, he’s dead, [name]!”

the light was hitting the silver necklace around [name]’s neck just right to make it look like it was sparkling. that made kosuke’s eyes squint in interest, then a look of realization crossed his face.

[name] still hadn’t moved, but his expression showed nothing. his eyes were devoid of any emotion as his face was stoic, not giving kosuke any idea of what he was thinking.

but if the assassin could have even had a glimpse into [name]’s mind, he would’ve acted on better judgement and ran away from the fight. because the atrocities [name] was mulling over on committing were horrific.

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[ell-alexanderarnold]

Still in Paris

Summary: Trent breaks down the season with Y/n when he comes home after the last game of the season.

Fluff

Note: This boy deserves the world ❤️

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A loud sigh came out from you when the referee blown the whistle. It’s finally over. A difficult season with both good and bad moments, many nights of comforting your boyfriend who’s been taking a lot off shit from the media. Many nights of Trent lashing out on you after a bad match, there’s also many nights of making love after a good match.

You sat patiently waiting for Trent to come home, you figured it would take some time so you decided to kill the time and went out for a walk with the dogs.

The birds were chirping and you could feel the spring breeze and relief flowing through your body. Trent could finally rest now you thought, without having to worry about what people will say about him. You’ve been there for him through everything, and it’s been a long season so you’re glad it’s over.

You came home after walking the dogs and Trent wasn’t home yet. You were missing him, you wanted him to know how proud you are of him that he’s done his best throughout the whole season.

You know he’d be hungry so you started cooking his favourite meal, even though you weren’t the best cook you still managed to finish it without any obstacles.

The hours felt like days and your ears were eager to hear the sound of the door opening, and at last it finally happened. Trent was home.

You rushed to the hall to hug your boyfriend who was tired and exhausted from a long season.

“Welcome home my love” You greeted and hugged him, Trent rested his head on your shoulder and you stood there for a while.

“You’ve done so well T, so well” You whispered as he pecked your forehead before taking off his shoes and jacket.

“Have you cooked something? It smells really nice” Trent wondered and you giggled, took his hand and led him to the kitchen where his favourite meal were.

“Thank you babe, I really appreciate it” He smiled and took his bowl of spaghetti carbonara to the dinner table.

You sat down and joined him at the dinner table, watching him eat up your homemade food. He looked up at you and smiled, but you could see that something was bothering him. It couldn’t be the food you thought, so you figured that he was just tired from a long season.

”I’ll go and have a shower” Trent said after putting his dish in the dishwasher.

While Trent was in the shower you finished cleaning up the mess you made in the kitchen, at the same time your mind was full of thoughts. You were overthinking, what if he didn’t like the food? What if you’ve said something wrong during the past few days? You tried to calm yourself down but it didn’t work out, at this point you knew the only thing who could help you calm down was talking to Trent.

You walked upstairs to him and opened the bedroom door, seeing him sitting in the bed with a frown on his face.

You sat down beside him on the bed and stroke his arm as he closed his phone and paid his attention to you. His head was again on your shoulder and he let out a big sigh which made you more concerned, so your heart needed answers.

“Trent, what’s bothering you?” You thoughtfully asked and looked him in the eyes, the brown big eyes who looked furious and sad.

“Nothing, I’m tired” He simply answered and you instantly knew that was a lie.

“Trent, I know somethings up” You pushed and sighed as he ran his hands over his face in frustration.

“Tell me baby, I don’t want you to feel like this” You consoled and stroke his back, feeling helpless.

“I’m just not happy how the season turned out Y/n” He admitted and you immediately wrapped your arms around him, feeling his hand on your arm and soft sniffles from him.

“Oh Trent, I’m sorry” You comforted and he continued to cry a little before you wiped off his tears from his cheeks.

“You did your best, that’s all you can do. I’m really proud of you alright?” You explained and he cut you off.

“Yes but I feel like I’ve let the fans down and I-

“No T you haven’t let them down baby, you’re enough” You affirmed.

“I’m tired from all the media bullshit, they’ve been chatting about me the whole fucking season, and now in the end they have good things to say, Y/n I don’t understand” Trent cried out as you felt your heart shatter a little. You knew he’s been under a lot of stress this season, you could count how many times you’ve told him to not go on Twitter and read all the things everyone has said about him. It hurt you to see him so low and still have to go on playing football when he said to you that it felt like the whole world was against him.

“Shh it’s okay Trent it’s over now” You reassured and he nuzzled his face against your chest.

“It feels like a part of me is still in Paris”

You could feel your heart sink remembering how the final went and sad Trent was after losing it. Seeing him walk by the trophy with a disappointed face made you wanna go out on the pitch and take him home with you, so you could just hug him and try to make him forget what happened.

“You know everything time when I’m involved in a goal I feel like I am standing on that pitch in Paris, it still hurts Y/n” Trent revealed and you didn’t know what to say other than to continue stroking his back.

You were grateful for the moment you were having. It is rare for you to see Trent like this and opening up to you. You were glad it did happen because you wouldn’t want him to carry all this weight by himself.

“What defines us is how we rise after we fall Trent, remember that. I mean look at you now at the end of the season, you’ve been amazing for the team and even slowly converting to a new role” You noted and felt a kiss on your cheek, you turned to Trent and kissed him back and laid your head on his chest.

“I really don’t deserve you Y/n” Trent whispered in your ear and played with your hair. You could feel how you slowly started to get more and more drowsy and eventually, you fell asleep on Trent who was filled with your love and your wise words that will keep him motivated.

He has done his best and he couldn’t have done it without you by his side.

#trent alexander arnold x reader #trent alexander arnold #england x reader #footballer x reader #trent alexander arnold fluff #trent imagine #trent x reader #football imagine #trent alexander arnold one shot #trent alexander arnold fanfic #trent alexander arnold imagines #trent alexander arnold fic #liverpool fc #football fluff