#invisible string by bcofl0ve

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 1)

(part 1/9)

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

word count: 2,600

authors note: yes i know the shannara chronicles was filmed in new zealand but this is my au and i can do what i want so we’re pretending it was filmed in queensland. covid also doesn’t exist in this story, because i said so, hence the filming schedule being one of my own making.

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, pls feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

April 23rd, 2020

"You interested in working in film again?"

You raised an eyebrow at your best friend sitting opposite you on the couch, pausing short of tossing more popcorn into your mouth from the bowl between you.

"Is there a reason you're asking?"

She chuckled, lowering her voice and leaning over to you, a playful smile on her face.

"A little birdie told me that one of the lighting assistants at Elvis had to resign because of a family emergency and they’re desperate for a replacement.”

Leah was clearly getting a kick out of this, and you wanted to kick her for it. Knowing Elvis was filming in your area and that there was a non zero chance you'd run into Austin on the street was enough of a headache, let alone having to skirt around him on a daily basis.

"I can't work there, you know that." You said flatly, and Leah only shrugged, cocking her head.

"Do I? It's just tech work, not like you'll have to interact with Austin that much anyways."

"That," You started, nudging your head towards a framed photo of you and Cora on the coffee table. It was taken on her fourth birthday, the blue eyed little girl sitting on your knees, head of blonde hair tucked into your shoulder. "happened when I was just doing tech work. I can't Leah,"

It wasn’t that you’d take any of what happened that 2015 summer back, you were quick to tell anyone that your daughter was the best thing that ever happened to you. But some things, her father in particular, were better left in the past.

"How much are you making right now?" Leah asked, pulling out her phone as she talked. "Because this is what Elvis is paying."

Your eyes widened when you saw the salary listed on the email she’d pulled up, nearly triple what you were making at your current gig running lighting for a local news station.

"You go, you do your lighting thing, you come home. If you wear a hat and your bluelight glasses Austin doesn't even have to know you're there."

---

April 30th, 2020

Against your better judgment you inquired about the position, and Leah must’ve been right about how depeserate they were for a replacement because you got a call within a few hours asking for the earliest date you could start.

You followed Leah’s advice of trying to alter your appearance just enough to maybe pass as someone else to Austin, your hair tied up and pushed through a baseball cap, tan rimmed bluelight glasses that you typically saved for long hours on your laptop perched on your nose.

And the get up wasn’t even necessary. You’d spent your first day helping with lights for scenes with Tom Hanks in a conference room setup, overhearing that it was a dance rehearsal day for most everyone else. By the time the day was over ditched the glasses and cap, assuming you were safe from running into Austin at least for the time being as you put equipment away.

"Hey there.”

You could've screamed when you heard his voice from right behind you, flinching and dropping the cords you were wrapping.

Austin was apologizing as you turned around, and you swallowed as you got a good look at him. He looked drastically different than he did four summers ago, his hair short and black as opposed to the blonde waves that used to fall at his shoulders. His face hadn't changed much though.

The blue eyes that matched the photo of your daughter on your lockscreen made you want to bolt, but the window of opportunity for that quickly shut as he kept talking.

"I just," He started nervously, pushing a hand through his hair. "Y/N, right?"

"Yeah, that’s me." You said and forced a smile. Austin laughed.

"Okay good, this would be so weird if it wasn't you. It's been, what, four- five years? Wow,"

He gave you a one over and you hoped the flush you felt wasn’t showing up too obviously on your face.

"And look at you, Mr. Presley himself." You tried, leaning back against the table as Austin let out a breath. "I'm still wrapping my head around it all. But how you've been?"

"Not too bad,”

Your phone buzzing saved you from thinking of what else to say, except the voice of Cora's day care coordinator on the other end was the last thing you wanted to hear right now. Austin was still standing there when you hung up, something you hated because now you were close to tears and could think of about twenty ways this whole debacle could go from bad to worse.

"Everything okay?"

Austin’s voice cut through your panic, and exacerbated it.

"That was my daugher's daycare.”

The words tumbled out of you before you could stop them, heart hammering in your chest as you kept talking, snatching the cords you'd dropped off the floor and putting them back on the table in a frenzy. "She said something about stitches, St. Vincent’s Hospital. My car's in the shop, I need to get a Lyft,"

There wasn't one rational reason you were telling Austin any of this, just that you were a panic talker. You recognized somewhere in the haze of worry that you needed to stop talking before it bit you in the ass, though you recognized it a little too late.

"I'll drive you."

Those three words snapped you back to reality like a rubberband, and you shook your head as you brushed past Austin to walk away.

"You can't do that, you'll get recognized,"

You were already past him, but heard him rustling through his bag and before you could protest anymore there was quiet "No, come on," and he was wearing a baseball cap and sunglasses, a hand on your back as he ushered you in the direction of the parking lot.

---

The car was quiet as he started driving save for the heavy breathing you were barley managing to get under control. Austin pulled to a stop at a redlight, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he spoke lightly.

"So you have a daughter now?"

"Yeah who apparently cracked her chin open on the playground.”

You didn’t mean for it to come out so bluntly, mumbling an apology that he told you not to worry about. The rest of the drive was silent.

When he pulled up to the hospital you jumped out the second the car slowed enough for you to do so, spotting Cora’s daycare director in the lobby and making a beeline for her. Assuring you she'd only left Cora alone long enough to meet you, she took you down the hall to her room.

And you didn’t notice Austin had followed you in until you saw the other woman’s eyes widen when she brushed past you to leave.

"Hiya," He said, southern accent intact and you'd find it funny if you weren't all standing in the hospital for his daughter that he didn't know existed.

Leaving them both in the hallway, you rushed into the hospital room so fast you didn't bother to shut the door behind you. Cora was groggy from sedatives but reached out when she saw you, tear stains still on her cheeks.

“Mommy, ouchie,”

"I'm here baby.” You said as you scooped her up, kissing her head and pulling back to look at the line of stitches in her chin. "I'm sorry you got hurt,”

"Who's that?"

She interrupted you, pointing a finger towards the open doorway. Austin was still in the hallway, except the coolness he'd had with the daycare director was gone and replaced with a look that you’d spent the last four years terrified of. His pupils were enlarged, hand over the bottom of his mouth. He dropped it when he realized you were looking, but his expression didn't change.

"That's just a friend from work who drove me here," You said through the growing lump in your throat, unable to look back at him. "I'll be right back, okay?"

After setting her back on the hospital cot and covering her back up with the provided blanket you walked out of the room, remembering to close the door behind you this time.

“You don’t have to stay, I have to call someone to pick us up anyways because she needs a carseat,”

You tried to steer away from the inevitable, but Austin didn’t waste any time.

"Y/N, how old is she?"

His voice was tight and you couldn't bring yourself to look at him, staring at the floor like you could will it to open up and swallow you.

“Austin,” You managed to croak out, and the indignation you could feel radiating off of him made your eyes sting.

"You know not answering is an answer in itself, right?"

Forcing yourself to look up, you squeezed your eyes shut and back open, hoping it was enough to keep yourself from crying in front of him. "I can't do this here." You started. "I need- I need to get her home. If your number hasn't changed l'll call you when she's in bed,"

He nodded, giving you a terse “Alright then.” before turning to walk away. When he disappeared around the corner you let a few tears fall, wiping them away and feeling nauseous as you pushed open the door to go back to Cora.

---

Your head was still spinning by the time the doorbell rang at eight o’clock that night. And when you opened it to Austin you cleared your throat, bringing a hand to grasp the doorframe.

"If you're going to yell at me we need to take this outside, Cora's asleep." You said and his eyes widened a little.

"I'm not gonna yell at you."

Your back was to Austin after you let him in, but you could sense him looking around. There was evidence of your daughter everywhere, photos on the wall and toys you hadn't had the energy to pick up given recent events scattered around the floor. When you reached the kitchen and did turn to look at him he was popping his knuckles.

Taking the bar stool you pulled out for him, he sat as you walked to the other side of the counter.

"So she's gotta be four, right?" He started before you could say anything, eyes falling away from you and to a photo on the wall. "And she's-"

"She's yours."

You cut him off, biting the inside of your cheek. "If you want a paternity test we can do one, but that summer, there was no one else."

"Workin' on Elvis, were you just hoping we never ran into each other? I don't get it." He stated, gesturing aimlessly.

"The friend who sent me the application practically had to force my hand, I didn't want to. But the money, this is more than I'm making anywhere else, being able to send Cora to a good pre-school in the fall,"

You hated that your voice was shaking, along with your hands, where you’d clenched a fist without realizing it.

“I decided it was worth taking my chances."

"And when you found out you were pregnant- you didn't think to call?"

The truth was that you had thought to call, briefly. But a tabloid hard launch of Austin getting back together with his ex girlfriend came before you bring yourself to dial his number.

"When I found out I was pregnant you were back in the states and back with Vanessa. What was I supposed to do?" You said, and you would’ve been a lot louder if you didn’t have to worry about waking Cora up. "Hey I know you just left, but you need to leave your girlfriend and fly back across the globe because the techie you had a fling with is pregnant."

"I would've."

You shook your head, shooting back bluntly.

"You wouldn't have."

If he truly did feel differently he didn't argue, chewing on his bottom lip for a beat before he spoke, his voice a degree softer. "You said her name is Cora?"

"Cora Jean. Thought she might go by CJ but she corrects anyone that tries, "I'm not Cee-Jay, I'm Cora.””

You couldn’t help a little smile as you imitated her, and felt your shoulders relax when you saw the hint of a smile on his face too.

"Who's there mommy?"

You turned when you heard the familiar pipsqueak voice of your daughter, your eyes finding her standing in the mouth of the hallway rubbing her eyes.

"Remember my friend from the doctor's? It's just him Cor, you can go back to bed."

Cora squinted for a second to verify that herself, walking a little further into the light. Satisfied with the confirmation, she rubbed her eyes with the hand not clinging to her stuffed koala.

“Night night mommy’s friend,” She said sleepily, giving a small wave.

Austin waved back, and you didn’t know if he’d wanted you to hear the quiet “Goodnight baby,” he said in response but it made your chest tighten either way.

"I don't want to keep you from her," You said when she’d disappeared back down the hallway, looking at your hands folded together on the table. "But having her splashed on the cover of People in some scandal story, paparazzi outside our house, that's a part of why I never told you."

A “part” was underselling the amount of nightmares you’d had from the time Cora was still in-utero about waking up to the fallout of one wrong person finding out about her parentage. You were sure there were people who drew their own silent conclusions , but you’d only told your mother and Leah yourself. The two people who you trusted wouldn't tell a soul.

How careful you’d been didn't stop your heart from stuttering when a stranger's eyes in the grocery store lingered a little too long though.

"I don't want that for her either. We're," Austin said gently, reaching a hand across the counter and laying it over yours. "We're gonna figure this out. You and me."

You nodded, wanting more than anything to believe that that was still possible after all this time.

----

Sleep didn't come easy for you that night, your mind racing as you laid awake staring at the ceiling. Just when you started to feel too tired to physically stay awake much longer, your phone buzzed.

Apparently Austin couldn't sleep either.

If it's not too much could you send me some photos?

You sat up a little, eyes heavy as you swiped open your phone, going to your camera roll and thumbing through the album labeled Cora Jean. The photos you chose ranged from across the years. Cora sitting in her high chair at only a few months old, grinning at the camera through the food covering her face, the two of you in your mom's backyard at her second birthday, a little video of her first dance recital, a photo her daycare had sent you her during art time, paint smeared across her nose.

When you texted the final selections, an ache bloomed in your chest as the gravity of it all finally started to sink in. Tugging the covers over your head, you willed yourself to crash and forget about everything for just a few hours.

xxx

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #future chapters will have some flashbacks to 2015 so worry not if you were wanting to see bits of that #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagine #austin butler imagines #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 2)

(part 2/9)

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

story summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: trying to process the whirlwind life has become since austin found out about cora is easier said than done, especially with a best friend throwing the word “fate” around.

word count: 1525

authors note: yes i know the shannara chronicles was filmed in new zealand but this is my au and i can do what i want so we’re pretending it was filmed in queensland. covid also doesn’t exist in this story, because i said so, hence the filming schedule being one of my own making.

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, pls feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

May 1st, 2020

“Well I’ll take back what I said about not thinking you working on set would be a big deal.” Leah said, giving you an apologetic smile. Your mom took Cora for the night to give you some space to decompress from everything, or in other words- drink on Leah’s couch marathoning Parks & Rec.

“Yeah, understatement of the year.” You said, peeling at the label on your bottle. “He seemed pretty pissed, and I guess I can’t fault him for that. But when we were talking about Cora and not me he kinda mellowed out.”

You hadn’t actually seen Austin since he left your house the night before, the timing of Baz giving everyone a long weekend off working out perfectly. But you’d sent him a text inviting him over to see Cora when he was free, figuring it couldn’t hurt to transition into some sort of amicable dynamic before you had to orbit around each other at work all day every day.

“My cousin had a baby without telling the father and when he found out he lost his shit, took her to court for almost full custody and everything. Austin doesn’t seem like that type though.” Leah continued, a little too casually for your liking. You didn’t know what you would do if Austin was that type.

“Small blessings.”

Leah nodded, lowering her voice with a look in her eyes that gave you an inkling of the direction the conversation was going in. “But hey, at least him and Vanessa ended things for good, one door closes and another opens.”

She wiggled her eyebrows at you then, and you scoffed.

“Did you not hear me saying he’s pissed at me? I don’t think getting back together is in the cards here.”

“Well not now,” She continued, bumping your shoulder “But you never know. You gotta admit him being back here, a job opening up for you like it did- it all seems orchestrated by fate, doesn’t it?”

You wouldn’t give your best friend the satisfaction of admitting that it had crossed your mind, briefly. So rolling your eyes, you leaned forward to turn up the volume on the TV and effectively cut her off before she could interrogate you any further.

---

May 2nd, 2020

Cora saw Austin pulling into your driveway before you did, squinting out the window and turning back to you.

“Your frien’s here again?”

Jumping down, she held onto your pant leg as you opened the door, eyeing him curiously.

“This is Austin baby,” You said and gently nudged her out from where she had started to hide behind you. He walked into the house, crouching down onto her level as he shed his sunglasses.

“And I heard you’re Cora, how’s your chin feeling?”

She looked at him quietly for a beat, rocking on her heels. “Mommy gave me a p’incess bandaid and it made it all better.”

“It did?” He said, feigning shock with raised eyebrows. “Do you think the bandaid has magic powers?”

Cora giggled, putting a finger to the Cinderella bandaid over her stitches with a serious nod.

“You know, I think Austin would love to build Legos with you if you asked him,” You said and Cora unpeeled from your side to step closer. Austin looked at her with an expectment smile, and you could see it in his face how much he adored her already, a pang of guilt surging through you.

“Can we play Legos? They’re in my closet, mommy hasta’ use a chair to get ‘em cause she’s small.”

Both you and Austin laughed at that, a welcome break in the tension- even if caused by your daughter calling you short.

“I think I might be able to grab ‘em sweetie, you wanna show me where they are?”

Cora ran off with Austin trailing behind her, and you waited until they rounded the corner to lean against the door and take a breath. The past few days felt weeks and seconds long all at once.

---

May 15th, 2020

The first visit went well, and did what you’d hoped it would in regards to erasing any awkwardness at work. But you were so busy with your own job that you barely saw Austin for longer than a few minutes anyways. The extent of your hushed conversations were Cora, and planning the pop-ins at your house that were becoming regular.

Almost every time he wasn’t at set until obscenely late he was pulling into your driveway. And with each visit he talked to you a little more- as opposed to the laser focus he’d had on Cora to begin with. You could sense that he was still hurt, but all you wanted was for your daughter now was to have parents that could get along with each other. Somewhat awkward small talk was better progress on that than nothing.

“I see him!” Cora said from where she was standing on the couch by the window, having been waiting there since you told her he was coming over an hour ago. She scrambled down to open the front door as soon as his car pulled to a stop, running outside without shoes on to greet him.

She still didn’t know who he really was, and you hadn’t figured how exactly you were going to tackle that, but Austin didn’t seem in a rush either- nor had he brought it up yet. Until then, Cora seemed more than content to make “mommy’s friend” her best friend, not that you could complain about how fast she’d taken to him.

“Austin!”

“Cora Jean!” He crooned as he swung open the car door, scooping her up as she got to him. Holding her on his hip, he reached into the backseat and came back out with two bundles of white flowers, handing one to Cora and carrying the other himself. You realized what he was doing before he got to the door, swallowing thickly.

“Hiya,” He said when he reached you, handing over the other flowers with a soft smile. You could see a faint tint in his cheeks, at least you thought you might’ve- not trying to stare at him for too long.

“Our flowers match mama!”

Cora looked between the two of you excitedly, one arm looped around Austin’s neck as you let them into the house with a quiet “Thank you.” towards him.

Looking down at the flowers, your mind wandered back to the first time he’d brought you flowers that 2015 summer. You’d been out sick for three days and he made the trip to the store and your apartment with them in spite of knowing he was being photographed. The two of you scrolled through the headlines about him buying flowers for a “mystery girl” together while laying in bed. And the gossip amusing then, when there were no real stakes.

You were distracted by Cora’s antics of the day, dragging both you and Austin into a tea party with her stuffed animals, and didn’t notice that there was a small card in your flowers until after he left for the day.

Sitting down at the kitchen table, you bit on your bottom lip as you opened it.

Y/N,

I’m still trying to process being kept in the dark and missing out on so much of our daughter’s life. But she’s a great kid and I want to do right by her by doing right by her mom. Dinner at mine the next time you’re kid free for the night?

Austin

---

June 1st, 2015

You hadn’t planned on going to the welcome party the producers were throwing together for the cast and crew, not when you didn’t exactly know anyone enough to drink an exuberant amount around them. But a text from another girl on the lighting team asking if you were going convinced you. Which was all good and fine, until she ditched you twenty minutes in to attach herself to a male member of the crew.

You were standing against the wall contemplating leaving, just having finished your drink, when someone’s voice coming towards you pulled your attention.

“Hey! It said, and you didn’t realize who it belonged to in the dark of the club until he got a little closer.” “I don’t think we’ve met, I’m Austin,”

You recognized him then, grown out blonde hair pulled back into a man-bun. Though you thought he pulled it off, that and the halfway undone button up shirt he had on. He was just as cute as he was in the pictures you’d seen, to the extent that you were surprised he was talking to you over some of the other girls orbiting around unoccupied.

“I think it’d be bad if I didn’t know your name when you’re the star of the show,” You quipped back and he grinned,

“You got a name yourself?”

“It’s Y/N, I’m on the light crew.” You said over the music and he gave a little nod as he sipped the drink he was holding. “Pretty name for a pretty girl.”

Well, you hadn’t been expecting that.

He glanced at the party, looking back to you with a raised eyebrow. “You wanna dance?”

At first you thought you heard him wrong, but he reached out a hand and you took it, letting him pull you out onto the dance floor. The two of you fell into a natural rhythm, and when he ducked his head down to kiss you let him do that too, snaking a hand up the side of his neck and as he pulled you closer to him by the hips.

And in the morning when you woke up to the rise and fall of his shirtless chest next to you your breath caught in your throat. The events of the night before came back to you in pieces, and still didn’t feel quite real. He could’ve pulled anyone at the party and pursued you. Some girl from the lighting team.

Not that you were interested in holding him back.

xxx

tag list: @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #sorry if this felt short the story is rlly going to start picking up now so future chapters will be longer! #and also less choppy because a lot more will be happening in the span of one day LOL #not all the tag list tags worked im trying to fix it i promise #austin butler #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler imagine #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagines

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 3)

(part 3/9)

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: you take austin up on dinner, discuss some things you haven’t yet, feel like you’re finally starting to get a handle on the whole situation- and hope it stays that way. (spoiler: good luck.)

word count: 2,600

authors note: yes i know the shannara chronicles was filmed in new zealand but this is my au and i can do what i want so we’re pretending it was filmed in queensland. covid also doesn’t exist in this story, because i said so, hence the filming schedule being one of my own making.

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, pls feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

August 25th, 2015

“You didn’t fall in the toilet, did you?”

You heard Leah running up the stairs from the other side of the bathroom door but couldn’t make your own feet move from where they were planted on the rug in front of the sink. Your eyes were equally glued to the white stick in your clammy hands, the two pink lines seeming to stare right back at you.

“Y/N?” 

Leah knocked on the door and you went to reply until you realized that if you said anything the waterworks would start, a lump forming in your throat. Unfortunately though, Leah was your best friend and she could sense something was wrong.

Opening the door a crack, she turned her head away.

“I’m gonna come in, you have a few seconds to shove me out if you really need to,” She said as she opened the door the rest of the way and stepped inside. Meeting your eyes, she took in your expression before following your gaze to the pregnancy test.

“Oh shit.”

You gave a wet laugh to that, at the absurdity of it all, but real tears followed. Leah grabbed you into a hug and rubbed your back as you sobbed, still clutching the test. She pulled away after a minute, wiping your face with a scrap of toilet paper and cupping your cheeks. 

“Listen to me," She started, looking at you assertively. "This is not the end of the world, okay?"

You couldn't bring yourself to give even a small nod, let alone believe that for a second.

---

May 30th, 2020

It must’ve been fifteen minutes since you pulled into Austin’s driveway, but actually getting yourself out of the car was another ordeal entirely. You drummed your fingers on the steering wheel, half tempted to pull back out and make some bullshit excuse about Cora being sick. Except Cora wasn’t sick, she was more than happy to spend the night with your mom. Your mother who had practically shoved you out the door when you told her where you were going, a twinkle in her eyes as she gave you a one over.

“You look beautiful honey, and I know Austin-”

“It’s not a date.”

You cut her off, arms crossed over your body. You had dressed a degree nicer than you normally did, but only because of how nice you were sure Austin’s place was in comparison to yours.

And it was by a long shot, at least as far as you could tell from the outside. 

Removing your hands from the steering wheel, you took a small breath in and out before pushing open the car door and making the walk to his front porch. You rang the doorbell, smoothing over your dress with your hands as you waited.

A few seconds passed, you heard some shuffling from the other side and the door was swinging open, Austin giving you a one over similar to the one your mother had. Relief washed over you at the sight of him somewhat dressed up too, wearing a dark blue button up rolled back at the elbows with khakis. His shirt was the exact same color as your dress, something you seemed to notice at the same time.

“Great minds think alike” He said with a light laugh as he let you in. He looked like he wanted to add something to that but didn’t, swiping his tongue over his bottom lip as he led you into the dining room. There were two wine glasses on the table, accompanied by a pasta dish that was a degree fancier than what you’d been expecting, garnish, ornate plates and all.

“You really went all out,” You remarked quietly, seeing a hint of blush in his cheeks as you sat down across from him.

“Been a while since I had an excuse to.”

Vanessa you realized as you picked up your glass, your mind wandering to what your mother or Leah would think if they saw all this after your insistence that it wasn’t a date. Just a friendly dinner between two people who shared a child but until a month ago hadn’t seen each other in five years.

The conversation was lighthearted as you started eating. Something you sensed was going to change when Austin put his fork down, his expression more concentrated than it had been just a few seconds prior.

“Can I ask you something personal?”

Your stomach dropped, but you nodded, trying to hold eye contact as you crossed and recrossed your ankles under the table.

“You mentioned taking the Elvis job because of the pay,” He started, looking off to the side. “And I guess I was just thinking, you could’ve been set for life if you played your cards differently. Ran to the tabloids or something, I don’t know. Maybe wouldn’t have gotten you much in 2015, but around when Elvis casting came out last year,” 

He had been moving his hands around as he talked and stopped, bringing one to rest under his chin, a finger across his top lip.

“If you’re comfortable answerin’, I’m just curious why you didn’t do any of that?”

Your eyes fell away to your hands in your lap.

“Cora’s the best thing that ever happened to me,” You started, taking a breath and looking back up at Austin.  “But I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant. I had nightmares about waking up to reporters at my door, being seen as someone who fooled around with a celebrity and baby trapped him.” 

Austin opened his mouth to protest and you kept talking before he could say anything.

“I know that’s not what happened, but it’s what people would think. And keeping you completely in the dark wasn’t right, I know that too. But I wasn’t going to make you find out from TMZ either.”

There was a moment of silence between you before Austin nodded, picking his fork back up as he spoke. “You’re a good person Y/N, I mean that." He said gently, and you were inclined to believe him.

The rest of the evening was less intense than that conversation, maybe because you’d gotten it out of the way. You talked about work, about Elvis- the movie and the man himself. And when Austin was walking you back out to your car a little part of you didn’t want to leave him.

“Cora’s at my mom’s place on the coastline, and she wanted me to tell you you’re more than welcome when I come pick her up tomorrow.” You started before you got into the driver’s seat. “She owns the property, so it’s a private beach. Not to mention I think she’d chase off any paparazzi herself if it did become an issue.”

He laughed at that, reaching forward to touch your arm just above your elbow. “You tell both of ‘em I’ll be there, alright?”

He stayed in the driveway as you pulled out, the both of you giving a little wave before you drove off. It was nice, you thought, to feel an emotion about the whole situation other than abject terror. Even if you weren’t quite sure what to label this new feeling.

---

May 31st, 2020

You were off for the afternoon a couple hours before Austin was and had offered to just meet him at your mom's house, but he'd insisted on coming to pick you up once he wrapped for the day. An insistence that came as a surprise given that didn’t know if him taking you around in his car was too big of a risk recognition wise.

When you climbed into the passenger seat you noticed something in the back that hadn’t been there when he drove you to the hospital. A pink child’s car seat.

“Ordered it online a couple days ago,” He supplied before you could ask about it yourself. “Thought driving y’all home tonight might be a good time to try it out.”

Something about the gesture made your heart rise in your throat as you put your seatbelt on- the permanency of it, you realized. All while trying to swallow down your emotions as Austin started making small talk with questions about your mom.

He seemed nervous when you reached the house, something your mother paid no mind to when she swung open the front door and pulled him into a hug before she so much as greeted you. 

“Oh my goodness,” She exclaimed as she pulled back, running a hand through her hair. “I’m sorry if that was too much, but ever since Y/N mentioned that you two were talking again I’ve been begging her to bring you around, “

Austin to his credit handled your over-excited mother perfectly, shaking her hand and complimenting the house as she let you two inside.

“Cora honey, look who’s here,” She called out down the hallway and the four year old came running face, lighting up when she rounded the corner.

“You b’ought Austin!” Cora squealed in your general direction, barrelling over and bear hugging his legs. Your mom, from where you could see her out of the corner of your eye, had both hands over her heart watching the two of them.

“So I’m chopped liver to everyone then.” You joked and she laughed, giving you a side hug with a whisper of “You’ll have to tell me about your not-date,” as she ushered the three of you towards the back door that led to the beach.

Cora didn't unglue herself from Austin’s side until a few neighbor kids came over to play and she was content to run off with them, leaving you two to your own devices in lounge chairs under an umbrella. You fell into light conversation, sipping on drinks your mom had brought out, and for the first time since everything had blown up you didn’t feel the urge to get up and bolt in the other direction.

The two of you were quickly finding that you had a lot to catch up on even outside of a certain four year old, Austin in the middle of a story about his sister when Cora came barreling back up the shore.

Shaking the sand out of her hair, she came to a stop in front of him.

“Are you my daddy? Cuz they were askin’ me” She started, talking so fast you could barley understand her and pointing at her friends playing in the sand. “But I t’ought people gotted their daddies when they were babies.”

Austin leaned forward but not before looking back at you, a question in his eyes. Giving him a little nod, you grateful that he seemed content to take over this one himself. Weirdly enough too- you weren't nervous at all about what he was going to say.

You trusted him. That was new.

“I am sweetie, but I didn’t know ya when you were a tiny baby because I was working all the way in America. And I didn’t even know I had a little girl named Cora until I came back here last month and saw your mama again.”

“Okay!”

And with that Cora was running back to the other kids, no follow up questions to the explanation he’d given. There was something to be said for the adaptability of kids, you thought, and Austin made a quip about it himself as he relaxed back into his chair.

Lifting his drink, he motioned for you to do the same. 

“To Cora Jean," Austin said tenderly and you echoed him, clinking your glass with his. "To Cora Jean."

---

Cora was just as excited about riding home in Austin’s car as you thought she’d be, climbing up into the carseat and giggling as he helped her get buckled in.

“We can go on so many ‘ventures in here,” She said and you smiled listening to him assure her that they’d go on so many adventures before he closed the back door and got into the driver's seat.

She fell asleep about halfway home, the glimpses you caught of Austin looking at her sleeping in the rearview mirror bringing back the feeling from the night before. The one you weren’t sure what to call. 

Love.

“So I was thinking,” Austin said, looking at you out of the corner of his eye as he drove. “That it’s probably time for me to loop Baz and my manager in on everything.”

You knew it was coming, and that it was necessary. But it didn’t stop your stomach from knotting up. 

“Okay." You replied softly, looking out the window as he pulled to a red light. “But I’d appreciate time to look for another job, if Baz doesn’t think us working together is a good idea then,”

“Hey,” He cut you off, laying a hand over yours on the center console. He stopped short of intertwining your fingers, and you realized you wouldn’t have minded all that much if he did. “I’m not gonna let that happen, okay? Baz is a good guy.”

You nodded, and expected Austin to move his hand when the light turned green. But he didn’t, keeping it there until he pulled to a stop at your building. You’d wound up on the front side this time, but it was late enough that the neighbors were all in for the night.

Unbuckling and twisting in your seat, you were unsurprised to see that Cora was still asleep. Reaching forward, you gently shook her awake by the foot. 

“We’re home sleepyhead,” You whispered and she stirred, rubbing her eyes with a tired smile. When you got out and opened the passenger side door to get her she looked past you at Austin, reaching out with grabby hands.

“I want daddy to carry me.” 

After appearing to freeze up for a second he slid past you and unbuckled her, picking her up with a soft “Come here baby girl,”

You could hear the emotion in his voice at the title she'd given him just then, for the first time. Cora dropped her head to his shoulder, with a tired protest muffled by a yawn about how she was not a baby, she was four.

“Always gonna be my baby.” He responded, looking at her tenderly as he kissed her forehead.

You were starting to feel overcome with emotion yourself, and before you could give it much thought you were stepping a little closer. He lifted his head when you put a hand on the shoulder that wasn't occupied by Cora, looking into your eyes before his gaze slipped down to your lips.

“Austin,” You started softly, but then chill that ran up your spine didn’t feel like butterflies. 

Something felt wrong.

Turning, you saw two men with cameras at the mouth of your driveway and your heart stopped. The shuttering you heard before you could fully process what was going on was paired with one of the men shouting.

“Mr. Butler! When were you planning on telling the world about your child?”

Austin damn near threw Cora into your arms as he told you to go inside, stalking off towards the photographers as you rushed in the other direction.

“Papping a kid, really?!” You heard him yell, “You so much as think about coming near my family again I’ll knock your goddamn teeth out.”

Whatever he said next you didn’t hear as you slammed the front door behind you, holding onto Cora and trembling as you tried to get the blinds down.

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishiftsts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smokee @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemess @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol66 @thedeviltohisangell @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmodee @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimiii @eliseinmemphisis @blurredcolourour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @alqvarde @karamelcoveredolicity

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #austin butler #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagine #austin butler imagines #austin butler fic

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 4)

(Part 4/9) surprise new cover (-:

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: the fallout of the paparazzi showing up outside your house reveals some things, some unexpected and some not so much. 

word count: 3200

authors note: this chapter is rated m for some brief sexual ish

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

May 31st, 2020

You were still shaking when you got Cora into her room, the four year old no longer half asleep like she was just a few minutes ago. A part of you hated how perceptive she was even so little, tears pooling in her eyes as you got her into pajamas.

“What happened?” She asked, looking towards where you’d pulled her blind down, chin wobbling. Bringing a hand to her cheek to wipe her tears with your thumb, you tried not to sound as rattled as you were.

“Everything’s okay Cora, we just don’t let people we don’t know take photos of us.”

“Bad guys?”

The second those words left her mouth you heard the front door slamming again down the hallway. And you knew it was Austin, but Cora didn’t put those pieces together, her sniffles morphing into full blown hysterics. 

“Hey, that was just daddy- there aren’t any bad guys here.” You said as you pulled her into your lap, rubbing her back as she cried into your shoulder.

A few minutes passed, and just when you thought you’d gotten her calmed down enough to get into bed she was wiggling out of your arms and tearing out into the hallway. You followed after her, but the attempts to call her back were futile and she went right for Austin.

He was pacing your living room on the phone when he saw her, telling whoever was on the other end that he’d be right back before sitting it on the TV mantle. When he bent down to Cora she walked right into him, bottom lip wobbling.

“T’at was scary,” She said through sniffles, wiping her nose on her sleeve. Austin looked overwhelmed but you could see him trying to mask it for Cora’s sake, sitting down on the couch and lifting her up onto his knees. 

“I know it was really scary sweetie," He said, wiping the tears that had resurfaced on her face with his thumb. "But daddy is gonna make sure that that never happens again."

That wasn’t a promise he could keep, and you almost wanted to be angry at him for it. But it seemed to calm Cora down at least.

After telling her he’d come in to say goodnight in a little bit if she listened to you and went to bed Cora reluctantly climbed off of his lap, following you down the hallway as he picked his phone back up.

---

Austin was off the phone when you got Cora settled and came back out into the living room. Head knocked against the back of the couch, he squeezed his eyes open and shut, the stress evident in his face.

He lifted his head when he heard you come in and sit down next to him, pinching the bridge of his nose as he talked.

“I had to call my manager Kayla. She’s uh, comin’ here now.”

“I’m sorry,”  You started and he shook his head, dropping a hand to your knee. “Don’t even start with that, okay? It was gonna happen at some point, justa' matter of when.”

You knew he was right and still hated all of this. Though were grateful you hadn’t gotten as far as actually kissing him before the paparazzi showed up. And it crossed your mind that he probably was too. Maybe it was a sign from the universe to never do that again, you thought and a wave of grief rolled through you.

The two of you sat in silence until there was a soft knock at the door a few minutes later and Austin got up to answer it. You’d seen his manager around before, both at Elvis and the Shannara Chronicles. But you’d never actually spoken, nor were you thrilled about this being your first conversation. She walked past Austin as he told her to keep it down because Cora was asleep, her whole body tense. 

Opting to lean against the TV mantle instead of sitting down on the armchair across from the couch, Kayla released a sigh before she started talking.

“Y/N, you should know that it’s in Austin’s best interest to be completely honest about this in his statement, regardless of the scrutiny that’ll unfortunately befall you with.”

You nodded, and understood that even if you didn’t like it. But when you glanced at Austin out of the corner of your eye he didn’t seem to share that understanding.

“I appreciate the public respecting our privacy, that’s all I’m saying.” He stated bluntly, a hand returning to your knee. When you saw his manager do a double take at the gesture your cheeks felt hot. “Y/N did what she did to protect Cora, not hurt me. I won’t throw her under the bus.”

“By not being honest you’re throwing everyone who has things riding on Elvis under the bus Austin. You didn’t do anything wrong.” She replied, voice strained.

There was a pause, and the air felt just like it had outside, an almost identical sense of dread creeping in. You looked at Austin and saw it on his face too, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Did you know?” 

Oh shit.  

She swallowed, hands folded tightly in her lap and that was all the you both answer needed. When she opened her mouth to explain Austin rose to his feet before she could, agitation in his voice.

”You knew,” He started, hand shaking when he ran it over his face. “How long? I swear to God if you tell me four years,”

Your head was spinning just as much as you were sure he was, how significantly this was going from bad to worse making you nauseous. You’d been so careful, and didn’t think for a second that your mom or best friend had told a soul. Apparently, they didn’t have to.

“A production assistant sent me an email saying they’d heard you were pregnant.” Kayla started, voice directed towards you, and you heard Austin mutter a harsh “Oh my god.” under his breath.

“Then when your daughter was born he pulled the photos from your Facebook and sent those.”

Well, that would do it. You’d limited how much you posted of her because of how much she looked like Austin even as a baby. And you only shared the photos you did post with the people on your friends list, which was composed of more family members than industry acquaintances. But even that wasn’t enough, you thought now as your head started to ache.

“You need to leave.” Austin said bluntly, taking a step forward when Kayla didn’t budge. “I never want to see you again. Out,” 

She did move then, but only finally sit down in the arm chair, looking at Austin squarely.

“If you want me to negotiate with TMZ about the pictures you can't fire me right now.”

As much as you hated this woman, she had a point and Austin appeared to come to the same realization. He sat back down next to you, arms crossed over his body.

“After tomorrow you’re done.”

She didn’t bother arguing with that, and another fifteen minutes of back and forth hammering out a plan for the next morning she was gone. When the door shut behind her Austlin mumbled something about saying goodnight to Cora, disappearing down the hallway faster than you’d ever seen him walk.

When ten minutes went by without him reappearing your concern outweighed the desire to give him space and forced yourself off the couch to go check in. You heard soft crying when you turned down the hallway, your chest tightening when you realized it wasn’t coming from Cora. Austin was standing in her half open doorway, his head down as his shoulders shook.

“Austin,” 

He turned around at your voice but didn’t say anything, swallowing hard.

“Come on,” You started, stepping across the hallway to open your bedroom door and motion him in with your head. “We can talk above a whisper in here.”

When he followed you inside and closed the door you sat on the edge of your bed, Austin dropping down next to you. He lowered his head into his hands and when he finally did look at you after a minute his eyes were red, nose snotty from how much he’d been crying.

“I know you don’t believe me, but I would’ve been on the first flight back if I knew. I wouldn’t have missed a second. Four god damn years, I don’t understand how that woman slept at night.” He said, voice threatening to give out on him. His hands were shaking as he gestured around and you’d never seen him this upset. Not that you didn’t understand. 

And you hadn't believed him that first night in your kitchen. But that was over a month ago and this was now. Things had changed. A lot of things had changed.

“I do believe you, and that’s why I can’t let you fall on the sword here Austin.” You started. “I know what’s in here,” 

You moved your hand from his shoulder down to over his heart and his gaze followed it, adam's apple bobbing. “And I know that in this industry you have to make sacrifices.”

“I can’t do that to,”  He started and you cut him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Cora? This isn’t about Cora, you’re doing this to protect me and I’m the last person who deserves that.”

You barely finished your thought before you felt Austin’s lips crashing against yours, his hands coming up to either side of your face. But just as you started to reciprocate he pulled back, breathing heavily.

“I’m sorry,” He rushed out, and went to get back on his feet until you pulled him back down by his shirt and kissed him. You met his mouth with more fervor than he had yours before but he matched your passion soon enough, hands rising back up your neck as you draped your arms around his neck.

Along the way he’d maneuvered the two of you to where you were laying back against your pillows and headboard, though he stopped short of getting completely on top of you. You were both breathless when he pulled back.

“Hey,”  You whispered, and he sucked his bottom lip in for a second.

“Hi.” 

Something about how nervous he sounded was ridiculously attractive to you and you reached a hand out for the side of his neck, thumb brushing against his jawline.

Austin turned away to flick off your bedside lamp before crawling on top of you and diving back in, a knee slotted between your legs as you tugged his shirt off.

---

June 1st, 2020

You’d gotten so caught up in one another that he didn’t leave your bed that night, something that you didn’t particularly mind until you were woken up by Cora’s excited voice a few inches from your face.

“You guys had a sleepover?!”

Her exclamation woke Austin up too and it didn’t help your case that he didn’t have a shirt on. But the two of you managed to throw together something about you being scared after the paparazzi incident that Cora deemed an acceptable answer.

It was an early call day for Austin on set so he was out the door before you could really talk about anything past what Kayla had managed to negotiate about the photos. The story was still coming at some point in the afternoon, but they were giving you the "courtesy" of blurring out Cora’s face. 

Your phone rang with him on the other end when you were on your way to set after dropping Cora at daycare and you smiled as his voice came through the speakers on your radio. You ran through the Instagram post he had drafted, before he pivoted the topic around.

“So you wanna talk about uh, us?”

Dishonesty had gotten you two into this mess in the first place, so no more of that, you decided with a bit of anxiety.

“I,” You started, tapping your fingers on your steering wheel nervously. “I just don’t know if us being in a relationship is a good idea Austin.”

“Okay, that's alright."

The thread of upset you heard in his voice made you want to eat your words, but you couldn’t do that. Not now.

“I- I care about you, I do. But I have to think about Cora. If we tried this again and it didn’t work out- she’s already lost you once.” You said and he mhmed along, pausing before he actually answered.

“I understand Y/N, you gotta know Cora’s my priority here too.”

You had to delay a reply to lean out the window and show your ID to set security, an exchange that Austin heard through the phone. You drove through and he spoke up again, ditching the last topic entirely to tell you the code for his trailer in case you wanted to hide out during your downtime. Thanking him, you hung up as you parked your car.

The photos not being out yet didn’t make you feel any less anxious as you went about getting ready for the afternoon, every glance towards you that lingered a little too long making you ansty. 

It was just ten minutes before everyone broke for lunch when you glanced at your phone to a text from Ellie confirming that the story had just dropped. And you practically ran to Austin’s trailer when you were dismissed, typing in the keycode and dropping against the door as you slammed it behind you.

You heard your phone ping as you sat down and gulped as you tapped the post notification from Austin. You hadn’t seen him all morning after having been assigned to help with setting up lighting on the Vegas soundstage while he was off filming somewhere across the lot.

The Instagram post was a photo you’d taken of him with Cora at your mom’s house the day before, paired with the caption you’d helped him with on the phone. The comments were turned off to everyone expect people he followed, and you were tempted to go looking elsewhere for what the public was saying. But the trailer door creaked open before you could.

Austin gave a little smile when he saw you, slipping off his shoes and running a hand through his hair to unstiff it from all the gel. He was wearing a black lace shirt, most of the way unbuttoned and tucked into white slacks. He looked damn good, if you did say so yourself. 

You didn’t realize you were staring until you heard him clear his throat as he made his way over, plopping down on the couch next to you.

“Somethin’ on your mind?” He said, the Elvis drawl he must’ve been talking in all day still in his voice. He laid an arm across the backside of the couch behind you, leaning his head back and looking at you with a glimmer in his eye. 

You brought a hand to his shoulder, rubbing the lace of his cuffed sleeved between your fingers. “Don’t have to be in a relationship to make out, right?” You asked quietly and he bit his lip. “Mm, don’t think so.”

He leaned in then and you were quick to meet him halfway, darting your tongue into his mouth as he pulled you onto his lap. He pulled back to kiss down your neck as you grinded on him lazily, the friction of his thigh against your clit stealing your breath even though you were still wearing shorts. 

“Y/N baby,” He said suddenly, hand squeezing your thigh as he pulled back. The pet name was a first, and you could sense that you were blushing as he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “We don’t have to be in a relationship for me to fuck you ‘fore we gotta go back to work, yeah?” 

You answered that question by rolling your hips down against his erection, putting your hands in his hair to guide him back to your neck. Austin let out a soft groan against your skin and it went right to your center, the part of your nervous system telling you that you needed to quit while you were ahead failing to block its path.

---

June 20th, 2020

You still didn’t know if being in a relationship was a good idea, so you weren’t in a relationship. As Austin had put it one night when you were both tipsy, you were “just hot parents that had sex”. You set ground rules. No sleepovers, no PDA in front of Cora or anyone, and in the interest of not making another film set baby- using protection was nonnegotiable.

But the ground rules did their job. Both you and Cora liked having Austin around more, not to mention that the sex was somehow even better that it was in 2015. 

You told him that much to his face one night after a particularly mind melting orgasm, Austin chuckling as he came up from between your legs. But something felt wrong when the moment passed, his gaze falling to the wall.

“Is everything okay?”

“I have to go back to the states for a week tomorrow.” He spat out as you sat up and felt around for your shorts.

“What, why?”

“Baz uh, he got me on some film school panel. Said it’ll be a good palette cleanser for the media. Give ‘em something else to talk about.”

The circus surrounding the news about Cora could’ve been worse, but it was still a circus nonetheless, largely because of Austin’s insistence re: not giving anyone even a lick of detail about your history. Theories of every color swirled around the gossip circuit, from Cora not really being his child to the suggestion that you’d been paid off to keep her hidden away.

“He’s not wrong Aus,” You said. 

“I know, just gonna miss you and Cora is all.”

With that he turned away to figure out where his own clothes were to get re-dressed to leave. Something you were realizing you didn’t want him to do, ground rules be damned.

“Stay?” You said and he looked back at you as he tugged his shirt on. “Tonight, I mean. If you have to go home and pack that’s okay but I’m off tomorrow, we can drive you to the airport,”

“You gonna lecture me about the rules if I say I was hoping you’d say that?” 

The rules had morphed into a bit of a running joke as of late, but you still hadn’t broken them. Not until tonight at least. 

You laughed softly and he kissed your head as he laid back down. Austin rolled onto his stomach next to you, a hand reaching out to brush over the back of your hair and down your face. You grabbed it in one of yours, holding his fingers where they had come to rest against your cheek.

He smiled as he met your eyes, the look on his face the same one he got around Cora, you realized. 

The same and different, in a way you would say you couldn’t place if that wouldn’t be a bold faced lie. 

You knew down to the letter and it terrified you.

He parted his lips and closed them again, like he wanted to say something but hesitated at the last second.

“What?” You whispered and flickered his eyes across your face. 

“I just,” He started, biting ever so slightly on his bottom lip. “I really am gonna miss you, you know.”

You nodded in his hold, pressing a kiss to where your fingers had become intertwined. 

“I love you.” 

“Me too.”

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @karamelcoveredolicity @amnmich @mrsniallhoran505

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #austin butler imagine #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagines

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 6)

part 6/9

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: austin comes back from the week long stint in the u.s., things are discussed and things are realized.

word count: 3780 (longest part yet!)

author’s note: V*MIT TW in the last day/chunk, but nothing too graphic! this is very dialogue heavy but our fav doofuses have quite a bit to talk about 😅 next chapter is an austin pov interlude thing and i am VERY excited for that so ty for sticking with me here!

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

June 28th, 2020

You sent Austin a text after you listened to the voicemail saying you got it and did want to talk. But outside of quick hellos and goodbyes on the outskirts of him facetiming Cora you hadn’t said much else to each other. And you didn’t want to prod on his first day back after he spent an obscene amount of time traveling, so you settled on trying to catch him at the end of everyone’s first day back on set.

It was a late night- but you didn’t think you’d sleep if you put it off another day. 

Spotting him heading in the same direction you were as you got closer to his trailer, you walked a faster to catch up to him. Austin turned when he heard the footsteps, looking startled until he realized it was you.

“Didn’t mean to scare you,” You supplied and he waved you off. “‘is alright.”

It fell silent between the two of you again, and you crossed your arms over your body, suddenly feeling small in the dimly lit trailer lot. 

“Follow me home? Cora will be in bed, but if you still wanna talk,”

“I do.” He said quietly, adding that he just had to change and then you could head out. When he climbed the steps and opened the trailer door to go inside he didn’t close it right away, tilting his head back towards you.

So you followed him in, standing against the closed door as he pulled his costume off and changed into street clothes. 

“How was your trip back?” You tried after a minute and he chuckled under his breath as he tugged his sweatshirt over his head. “Really fuckin’ long.”

The quip broke some of the tension at least, the two of you making amicable small talk as you walked to the parking lot. The next ‘big thing’ being filmed was the Vegas residency, the way Austin practically buzzed as he talked about how excited he was almost making you forget you were upset with him. 

Almost. 

“Go say goodnight if you want, I’m gonna make tea.” You said as you opened your front door and he disappeared down the hallway while you relieved the babysitter. You were sitting cross legged on the couch when he came back out, standing in the mouth of the hallway looking almost nervous to approach. 

“Sorry for being such a bitch on the phone.” You said bluntly as he finally did walk over.

“Hey, don’t call my baby mama a bitch.”

A laugh escaped at that, but then Austin sat down next to you and you were nervous all over again.

“And you weren’t being a bitch anyways, you were hurt.” 

“Didn’t really have the right to be, you can't cheat on someone you're not dating.” You stated, Austin not letting that go without a rebuttal either.

“Sure, but I think I earned the tongue lashing.”

Biting the inside of your cheek, you took a short breath to gain a smidgen more composure before you started talking again.

“Said in your voicemail that you didn’t sleep with her.” 

You looked down and focused in on a loose thread hanging off your cardigan sleeve, seeing him sit up a little straighter out of the corner of your eye.

“I didn’t. She was kinda upset when we were talking about Cora. I didn’t wanna be a douche so I tried to comfort her and she had her head on my shoulder. Got done snifflin’ and kissed me.”

Hm.

You didn’t disagree that the other woman was owed an explanation of the timeline. A clarification that you were only involved during their break and that Austin really didn’t have the faintest clue about Cora until April. But a pang of possessiveness coursed through you as Austin was relaying the chain of events. You tried unsuccessfully to push it down.

“We did uh, makeout. But when she went for my shirt we both snapped out of it. And then she started freaking out asking if she’d just made me a cheater and I said not exactly, because we weren’t exclusive- the rest just kinda tumbled out.”

His retelling of that part in the voicemail had left with more questions than answers, mainly surrounding the three word slip that had felt like an anvil dangling over your heads since it had happened.

You swallowed thickly, forcing yourself to look at him. “So when you said what you said, on Facetime,”

“I meant it.” He started, clearing his throat. “It was the heat of the moment, yeah, but it only slipped out cause it was all I’d been thinking about since leaving you two at the airport. How different it felt to know I was coming back- good different.”

“Cora missed you like crazy, drove me nuts when I was still mad.”

It was a redirect, but you were starting to get overwhelmed and it tumbled out before you could convince yourself to just swallow your anxiety and push on. Not a good enough redirect though, not when Austin only focused on the last part.

“So you aren’t anymore? Mad, I mean.”

“Upset, a little jealous. Not mad.” You said, suprised by your own honesty.

Austin seemed to be too, pulling his eyebrows together.

“Jealous of what?”

Returning to the loose thread on your cardigan, you plucked at it aimlessly. “That if you wanted to get back with her it’d be easier. Less strings attached, nothing tying you down- less to lose it it didn’t work out.”

You realized you were rambling and stopped abruptly, the room was silent when you did save for the low buzz of the radiator.

Austin broke the silence first, running a hand down his face.

“I get that you’re looking out for Cora by keepin’ me at arms length here Y/N, a hundred percent I do. But I guess my thing is that don’t plan on going anywhere. And I want to be with you if that’s what you want too.”

I want that more than anything, you thought, but what came out of your mouth was the thing that had made that feel off limits permanently since April.

“If you hadn’t come back for Elvis, if we never ran into each other,” You said tightly, fidgeting with your hands. “You probably wouldn’t have ever known Cora existed unless she tried to find you on her own as a teenager or an adult. And I don’t understand how you could ever forgive me for that.”

You were embarrassed by how much your voice was shaking, really not wanting to cry and feeling dangerously close.

Austin sucked his bottom lip in and took a short breath before he spoke, voice gentle.

“I forgave you the minute I saw Cora when she came out of the hallway that first night. So little, lookin’ just like me. I understood instantly why you did what you did to protect her.” He started.

"And I think what you need to do now, Y/N, is forgive yourself. I would’ve loved to be involved sooner, but you weren’t keeping me away to be cruel. You were protecting our baby the best way you knew how, that’s it.”

Swallowing thickly, you looked down in an attempt to hide the tears you felt pooling. What you wanted to say was that you didn’t even know how to begin to do that. That every time Cora told you how much she missed him when he was gone for one night- or you watched her run to the door to greet him, guilt surged through you like a lightning bolt.

Not just over what Austin had missed out on either, but what Cora had too. And you knew somewhere in the back of your mind that you needed to forgive yourself before it ate you alive.

Hearing it out loud, from him, that's what put a lump in your throat.

Austin scooted a little closer, asking you softly to look at him as you swiped at your eyes.

You felt his hand on your knee when you lifted your head, the way he was massaging your leg about to do you in because God- you loved him.

But scared that you’d start crying in earnest if you tried to articulate even half of what you were thinking, you kissed him. And Austin kissed you back as you maneuvered over into his lap, hands sliding up your neck to your cheeks as he pulled away just enough to talk.

“I love you so much honey,” He whispered, rubbing his thumb against your jaw. "You know that?"

Tilting your head to the side to kiss his fingers where they were resting against your face, you gave a small nod. “I do.”

It was a couple hours later when you worked up the nerve to say a certain three words back, laying in bed tracing infinity loops over his shoulder blade with your index finger. You thought he was too close to sleep to hear it until you felt him stir, eyes fluttering open as he pulled you in a little closer by the arm he’d had wrapped around your torso.

It felt good to be love and be loved in return. You could get used to that.

---

July 22nd, 2020

Not a lot changed after that night, mostly because of the fact that you’d been acting like a couple from the second you ended your “not in a relationship” conversation anyways. But the little adjustments that did crop up were welcome.

Austin practically lived at your flat, only going to his when he had an obscenely early set call. The two of you sat Cora down a week in and explained to her in four year old terms that mommy and daddy were in a relationship, something she made sense of via proclaiming that the the two of you were just like Flynn and Rapunzel. Not that you minded the comparison. 

And on top of all that Austin got a new manager that couldn’t have been a sweeter woman. To the extent that she brought a little present for Cora the first time she came over to meet with the two of you together.

All in all things were going better than you ever imagined they could.

Save for the lingering anxiety in the back of your mind about what was going to happen when Elvis wrapped. You felt secure in the knowledge that Austin wasn’t going to up and ghost, but it regardless wasn’t a topic you could avoid broaching for much longer.

“Hey Aus?” You said on the drive to set one day, rubbing your thumb against his hand where he was holding yours over the console. He glanced over at you with a quirked eyebrow, and you looked at the road as you spoke.

“What are we going to do when Elvis wraps? Cora and I are both Australian citizens. And I hate asking you to uproot your life- but the thought of losing you all over again,”

You didn’t realize how anxious you really felt about it until that last part slipped out, Austin squeezing your hand as he pulled to a stoplight. 

“Do you think you’d wanna move to the U.S.? If you don’t wanna uproot Cora we can look at me movin’ here.”

He said it so casually, like he wasn’t suggesting he leave his entire life behind to move across the globe, and it went right at your heart. 

“I can’t ask you to do that. She’s still little, and sure visa shit would take time but I think she’d adjust okay.”

“Alright then, so we’re gonna figure this out, and no one is gonna lose anybody.” He replied with a smile as he raised your interlocked hands to kiss them before driving through the green light. “I promise.”

-

The conversation lingered in your mind all day at work, and still was after work when you met up with Leah for Chinese food. Immediately, and unsurprisingly, she noticed.

“You’re quiet.” She stated, looking at you over her work with a skeptical expression.

“I finally asked Austin about what we’re gonna do after filming wraps.”

“And?”

Twirling noodles around your fork, you glanced around to make sure you were mostly alone before you continued. “He offered to move here if I thought moving to the states would be too much for Cora. And I think she’ll be fine, I told him that.” 

“So are you lookin’ at getting a K1 visa?”

You almost spit your food out at that, Leah laughing at how wide your eyes got. It had come up in the research you’d starting during your break on set, but you made haste in scrolling past those results.

“We’ve haven’t even been together together for a full month, we’re not getting engaged Leah.”

She didn’t seem to take that for an answer, putting her fork down to prop her head up on her hands. “C’mon, do you really think there’s going to be anyone else?”

You knew what she was implying but you were quiet for too long and she rephrased the question anyways, tone a degree more serious.

“Do you think either of you are going to end up with someone else at this point? You’re planning on moving countries for him, moving Cora. I like to think I know you pretty well Y/N and you wouldn't be willing to sacrifice so much if you didn’t think Aus was your end game here.”

Picking her fork back up, she pointed it in your direction with the look she’d always given you when there was no point in arguing against whatever she was saying. Not that you had a particularly good argument, that in itself a realization that felt heavy.

“When you know you know, that’s all I’m saying.”

---

July 29th, 2020

Since the the dust settled between the paparazzi fallout and figuring your relationship out Cora had become a semi-regular visitor on the Elvis set whenever Baz gave the greenlight for it. She had Austin and just about everyone else wrapped around her finger, quickly becoming little miss popular among the cast and crew whenever she was around.

And it did your heart good to watch everyone take her under their wings, the fears you’d had about losing your job over the ‘scandal’ of it all feeling silly in hindsight.

On this particular day the two of you had opposing schedules, Austin leaving the day at two after an early morning call when you were just coming in to work lights for some casino scenes with Tom. You brought Cora with you to swap off, and give her some time to run around what had quickly become her favorite playground.

The last you saw after the switch she was fine and giggling on Austin’s shoulders as he showed her around the International Hotel set. So when you had a couple seconds to check your phone almost an hour after you parted ways, the text from twenty minutes prior that you were just seeing came with a bit of whiplash.

Hey, Cora threw up. Gonna take her back to yours once she seems okay enough for the car ride. DW about rushing home but call when you get a minute.

Well, you were worrying whether he wanted you to or not. And you were about to call when you heard footsteps coming towards you and looked up to a rather frantic production manager. She seemed to clock that you knew why she was there, running a hand through her hair.

“Been running around like a mad woman trying to find you, Austin’s on his way to parking lot B.”

You thanked her before taking off across the studio, spotting him getting into the drivers seat of his car as you reached the lot. Speeding up to a run so he didn’t drive off before you reached him, you managed to get there before he hit the gas.

“Hey, I’m so sorry- she was fine earlier, I wouldn’t have brought her to set if she was sick.” You rushed out as he rolled down the window, waving you off. “Kids puke baby, nothin’ to be sorry about.”

Your attention was pulled by sniffles before you cohort respond, Cora having spotted you from the backseat. Opening her door and crouching down, you were met with a four year old hiccuping through tears.

“Sick on daddy,” She whined, cheeks flushed.

“She threw up on you?

Turning towards the drivers seat you realized Austin didn’t have a shirt on under his hoodie. And you hoped that at least meant she hadn’t thrown up on the Elvis jumpsuit Austin had on when you first got to set.

“I was already outta costume,” He supplied with a little shrug, and you muttered a quiet “Thank you Jesus.”

Sighing as you stood back up, you reached into your back pocket for your phone as you spoke. “I can tell my supervisor what’s going on and he’ll let me go, he’s good about Cora.”

But Austin shook his head, reaching for your arm to stop you. “I got her, really.”

You met his eyes then, realizing suddenly why he was being so insistent about you staying at work. He’d been alone with Cora before. But the worst he’d had to do thus far was talk her down from the occasional tantrum. 

This was different, and you got the sense that he was treating it like some sort of parenting litmus test. And while you didn’t have any intentions of drilling his abilities as a father yourself, ever, you were touched by how adamant he was being about the whole thing.

So you put your phone back in your pocket with a soft “Okay”, giving Cora a goodbye with an assurance that you’d be home later before shutting her door.

When you popped back up to the driver's seat Austin leaned out of the car window for a kiss, promising he’d call if she got much worse.

Your phone buzzed only a couple minutes after you’d walked off, leaving them while he was still parked getting Cora calmed down because you had to get back to set.

Thank you for trusting me. Love you.

The message brought a smile to your face in spite of how shitty the situation was, and you shot back a Love you too. before put your phone on do not disturb. If Austin called it would come through anyhow, and you wanted to try your best not to helicopter text about Cora.

-

When you were leaving for the night and did check your phone you had a litany of notifications from Austin. And Cora being sick was far from ideal, but the live feed he’d been keeping you on via text was so sweet you found yourself laughing some under your breath.

No puking in the car, considering that a win.

Got her to keep a couple crackers down.

Nevermind. 😅

Outfit change #2 time (for me, not Cora bless her heart).

She threw up when she was laying in bed and missed the bowl. Put the dirty stuff in the washing machine but don’t know where you keep the spare bedding and don’t want to leave her alone to look too hard. Gonna set us up on the couch.

The next message came with a photo of the back of Cora’s head, blonde hair pulled into two braids that you didn’t think looked all that bad.

Asked me to do her hair after I gave her a bath, I did my best!

I hate knowing you’ve been doing this all by yourself all this time. You’re a super mom.

Cora hasn’t thrown up in a hot minute and says she’s feeling “less yucky” so we might be out of the woods. Think we’re both gonna be asleep by the time you get home though. I love you.

He’d assumed right by that, the sight that met you as walked into your flat the both of them asleep on the couch. Cora was curled up under Austin’s arm, her head resting against his neck with a hand on his face.

The sight was so sweet you snapped a photo before moving to wake them up. Which you felt a horrible about, but Austin couldn’t afford to screw up his back on your couch or get whatever Cora had come down with. Which it might’ve be too late to avoid given that she’d thrown up on him, and from what you’d assumed by his texts a second time at that. Better safe than sorry though.

He stirred when you scooped Cora up off of him, a flash of panic crossing his eyes before he realized it was you.

The husky “Oh, hi,” he gave you sounded absolutely exhausted, his eyes not even open all the way for a minute there.

“I’m gonna let her sleep in my bed,” You whispered over your daughter’s head as he sat up slowly. “And I hate to kick you out but I don’t want you to catch whatever she has.”

Austin stretched his back, waving you off as he turned back to face you. “‘s fine. I think it’s just food poisoning anyway, she didn’t have a fever or nothing.” 

“And if it’s the flu then Baz is gonna have my head for getting you sick.” You replied, knowing the argument was already lost.

He followed the two of you down the hallway, Cora waking up fully as you were laying her down in the middle of your bed. Opening her eyes, she gave a little tired smile when she saw you.

“Hi momma,” She said so quietly you almost didn’t hear her, and it was moments like this that you really understood what people said about your kids being your heart walking around outside of your body. Brushing a few hairs out of her eyes, you smiled softly.

“Hi Cor, you feelin’ a little better?”

She nodded at that, but pulled her gaze away from you to scan the dark room, sitting up some in your bed as you laid down next to her. Austin was across the room plugging his phone in, your bedroom too dark with the lights off for Cora to see where he went.

“Where’s daddy?” 

“Right here sweetie,” He said softly as he came back over, climbing into bed and pressing a kiss to her head as he laid down.

Cora ended up sandwiched between the two of you, her head knocked back on Austin’s chest with a foot nudged almost in your ribcage.

And Austin had a protective arm slung over the both of you, Leah’s words running through your head like a skipping CD as you tried to sleep.

“When you know you know, that’s all I’m saying.”

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @karamelcoveredolicity @amnmichh @mrsniallhoran505 @strokesofstokes @starry-night-20

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler fanfiction #austin butler imagine #austin x reader

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 5)

(part 5/9)

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

chapter summary: no multi-chapter fic is complete without the ‘male love interest does some severe ball fumbling’ chapter. *drops this and runs*

word count: 2500

authors note: rated m for explicit smut in the 2nd chunk/day.

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

June 21st, 2020

Cora was excited to see that Austin was there in the morning, though as you expected less excited by the fact that you had to take him to the airport to go around the globe for a week. She was quiet for the entire car ride, until you pulled around to the gate he needed to be at.

Baz had arranged for him to go through a private terminal after Austin told him you’d be bringing Cora to drop him off, the four year old in question bursting into tears as soon as the car stopped.

Austin got out to grab her while you opened the trunk to get the duffle bag you’d made a pit stop to pick up. And when you peeked around from around the back of the car you found him sitting on the curb, Cora on his knees.

“Gonna go to America and forget ‘bout me again,” She said through hiccups, wiping her nose on her sleeve. You winced and saw Austin do the same, what you thought had been a fine explanation of his four year absence coming back to bite him in the ass.

“I didn’t forget about you baby, I didn’t know about you. And those are different things, right?” He replied and she nodded her head, still in tears.

Me too kid, you thought.

You’d gotten so used to having him around, especially recently, that a one week absence was taking you back to 2015 in some ways. When you’d dropped him off at this very airport not knowing if you’d ever see him again, unknowingly already a few weeks pregnant.

Cora calmed down after a few minutes, and Austin pressed a kiss to both of her cheeks before he stood up to get her back in her car-seat. “I’m gonna miss you so much Cora Jean, could never forget about my favorite girl.”

“P’omise?” She asked, and he linked their pinkies together. “Promise.”

He slid the door halfway closed before going around the backside of the car to you, glancing around to make sure you were alone before pulling you into his arms.

Hell- what was breaking another rule anyways?

Austin kissed the side of your head and you couldn’t help the content sigh that it got out of you.

“Gonna miss me too?” You said as you pulled back to tilt your head up at him, and he tucked a strand of hair behind your ear. “Mm, ask Baz how much I argued with him about needing to go do this.”

Austin laughed lightly, biting loosely on his bottom lip. And if you weren’t still so paranoid about the paparazzi you would’ve kissed him senseless right there on the sidewalk.

“Text when you land in one piece.” You said instead and he promised he would, giving you a tap on the hip as he let you go to grab his bag.

He stopped by the passenger side door to say one last goodbye to Cora, and walked backwards with a wave as he went inside, your gaze following him until he turned and disappeared through security.

---

June 23rd, 2020.

You knew you were going to miss Austin. You just didn’t expect it to ache. And it was to an extent that you didn’t know if you’d be able to enforce the ‘no sleepovers’ rule when he came back.

How much you could break the rules without needing to revisit your (not) relationship status wasn’t lost on you. But it wasn’t something you exactly wanted to think about either, not that it stopped the thought from swirling around your head as you tried to sleep.

You almost jumped when your phone started buzzing and you saw that it was Facetime from Austin as though he could’ve been reading your mind.

A little puzzled as you clicked the answer button because of how early you knew it was in California, a sleepy smile greeted you on the other end.

He was sitting up in bed and you didn’t think he’d left it yet judging by the state of hair, which he pushed out of his eyes lazily.

“Mornin’” You said softly. “What time is it there?”

“5:30.” He replied through a yawn.

You were about to say something about how he sounded like he needed to go back to sleep, but he just kept talking.

“You were in my dream, woke up thinkin’ about how much I miss you.”

That was sweet, you thought, only realizing what he’d been implying by it when his face faltered and he let out of a harsh breath.

Oh.

“Austin,” You started and he let his gaze fall back to you, face growing flushed. “Are you touching yourself?”

He swallowed. “You alright with that?”

“Show me.”

There was some shuffling as he set the phone on his nightstand and sat up more, his lower half coming into view. He was stroking himself, and the little sounds you could hear him making under his breath made you press your thighs together.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked, and moved to hold your phone with one hand as you tugged down your pajama shorts.

“You,” He said gruffly, reaching for his phone to flip the camera and give you a closer view of what he was doing. “How beautiful you look when you’re straddling my lap and I can feel how turned on you are.”

The closer view of his dick, leaking precum that he swiped over and smeared down the shift made you feel damp, your center throbbing as you tugged your panties down.

Circling your clit slowly, you didn’t make a scene of announcing what you were doing. But a little moan escaped and you could sense when Austin heard it.

“Yeah yeah, touch yourself for me.” He mumbled and you squirmed as you circled your bundle of nerves faster, loosening up in regards to the sounds leaving your mouth.

“The noises you make are so pretty. Miss hearing them in my ear when you’re all filled up with my cock.”

Finding your senses enough to flip the camera off of your face, the low “Shit baby.” you heard when he saw the view went right at your arousal.

You pumped two fingers inside of yourself, but couldn’t go long without needing stimulation back on your clit.

Slowly pulling them out, you dragged the wetness up your slit back to the bundle of nerves where you went back to rubbing yourself off.

Austin’s voice shook when he started talking again, his tell for when he was getting close. Managing to talk through it, he blabbered incoherently about how much he missed you and couldn’t wait to be home.

And the use of home would’ve been something you gave more thought if you weren’t edging up to your orgasm, chest heaving.

“Aus, I’m gonnna-” You choked out, your own words cut off with a whine as you tried to hold back.

“Lemme see that pretty face when you come.”

Barely able to focus long enough to do so, you hit the button, Austin appearing to have the same struggle flipping his camera. You only got a brief glance at him before your head dropped back against the headboard, thighs shaking as you reached your peak.

“Iloveyou.”

He whispered those three words slurred together as one as his climax rolled through him and came in his hand, the phrase cutting through the overdrive your orgasm had sent your brain into like a knife. When you came back to your senses and looked at your phone you were met with a view of the hotel ceiling.

You cleared your throat and there was some shuffling before Austin came into view again, face flushed.

“Dropped my phone in all the excitement,” He joked with an exhale and you laughed softly.

You almost forgot what he had just said a few seconds ago until you didn’t, a remembrance which made you suck in a breath. But if he noticed he didn’t say anything.

“Go get some sleep and I’ll talk to you later ‘kay?” He said tiredly and you said your goodbyes.

Yeah, you thought, sleep was going to come so much easier now.

---

June 24th, 2020

“Okay whatever you’re hiding, out with it.”

You hadn’t seen Leah for longer than a quick coffee run the past couple weeks, a combination of both your actual schedule with Elvis and how much time you’d been spending with Austin. You knew she was smart enough to put together the pieces in regards to you asking her to come over for the night for the first time in weeks the second Austin was out of town. So really, you should’ve expected the interrogation.

“Are you pregnant?” She asked, voice serious, and you choked on the water you were sipping.

“No!” You said through a laugh, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand as you plopped down next to her on the couch. “God no, you’d know if I was.”

“I mean I also thought I’d know if you and Austin were back together,” She started, and her tone was light but you could tell there was some degree of real hurt behind it, even if small. You’d told each other everything since you were in 4th grade. Except you hadn’t looped her in about Austin, her or your mother. It was embarrassing, but a part of you was scared the second you got too excited about it it would all come crashing down.

Not to mention you felt especially anxious about the fragility of it all after when he’d let slip on the phone. It hadn’t come back up, not yet, which you knew you should’ve been grateful for.

But the idea that he regretted it, or worse didn’t mean it all made your chest tight.

“It’s not personal,” You said to Leah and her eyes widened at the confirmation before you could finish your thought.

“Hey- I get that. But I also kinda wasn’t expecting to be right!”

She was damn near giddy, leaning forward with her hands folded under her chin.

“We aren’t in a relationship, just. Just friends with benefits,”

“And a four year old.” She supplied, and you gave her a half serious glare.

But before you could quip back your phone was ringing where it had been resting in your lap, Austin’s caller ID flashing across the screen.

Doing quick math in your head you realized with some concern that it had to be a little after two in the morning in California. So you picked up, gesturing at Leah something to the effect of “If you say a word I’ll kill you.”

You barely got out a “Hi” before Austin was talking, talking so fast he was almost stuttering. “You gotta listen to me, you’re gonna see something soon, probably, and I need you to know it’s not what it looks like.”

You hadn’t put him on speaker phone but Leah was sitting close enough to hear him, her eyes widening. She pulled out her own phone and started tapping it at, and you already didn’t like where this was going.

“What’s not what it looks like? I don’t understand,”

Your stomach dropped when you heard Leah gasp next to you, and she tried to turn her screen away when you leaned over to look but wasn’t fast enough.

There was a tabloid headline you couldn’t really process, eyes going right to the photos underneath it. You recognized Vanessa leaning against the wall just inside what looked like a hotel lobby. And then you recognized Austin in front of her, head tilted down in Vanessa’s direction with a hand on her upper arm.

He must’ve realized what your silence meant, clearing this throat before he started talking again.

“She wanted to talk, get the timeline of when Cora was conceived. I owed her an explanation,”

Blinking, you sat back against the couch arm, gripping your phone so hard your knuckles started going white. “In the middle of the night?”

“She’s been just as busy as me,” He supplied and that felt like a lie, but if it was that was the least important aspect of all this at least.

“Did you sleep with her?”

There was a pregnant pause, and your chest contracted even more than it already had, the rationale that you weren’t in a relationship so you couldn't be that hurt leaving your body.

“Iloveyou.”

“Iloveyou.”

“Iloveyou.”

“Hey- last time I checked you and me aren’t in a relationship, so-” Austin started again, voice growing tight.

You cut him off.

“The kid running around with your face is just a figment of my imagination then, yeah?”

Some part of you knew bringing Cora into it was low, but you also didn’t have it in you to care all that much.

Standing up off the couch because you couldn’t sit still anymore, you avoided Leah’s concerned look.

“She might as well have been to me for the past four years! You know what, sometimes it’s like you don’t even feel a little bad for what you did.”

He’d raised his voice and you raised yours right back, even though your hands shook as you did.

“And this is exactly why I don’t! Cora deserves better than someone who freaks out and full 180s the second things get a little too hard Austin."

“Whaddya mean by that?” He replied after a beat, voice lower. “I told you I tried to get out of this trip, Baz-”

“I heard you last night. “I love you.””

The line went nearly dead silent then and you only knew he hadn’t hung up by the sound of his breathing.

You waited a little bit for him to say something, anything. Until you felt tears pooling behind your eyes and knew you needed to get off the phone before this got even more embarrassing than it already was.

“But it’s good to know you didn’t mean it.”

“Y/N wait, please-”

You felt a sob bubbling in your throat and hung up three words into whatever he was going to say, dropping shakily back onto the couch.

You couldn’t make yourself meet Leah’s eyes and just stared at the ground, fidgeting with your hands as you tried to keep from completely breaking down.

“Oh honey,” She whispered, scooting closer and letting an arm fall around you. You let your head drop to her shoulder and one- two seconds passed before you were really crying.

About the fight, what you were sure it meant for Cora, alongside your job. And over how stupid you felt for thinking that maybe things would actually work out this time.

---

austin ⚡️

June 25th, 2020 at 8:05 AM

“Hi, it’s me. You already knew that I guess. I know I’m probably the last person you want to hear from right now but I just wanted to say I’m sorry. I hate fighting with you and I know you had your reasons for being pissed but I wasn’t bullshitting when I said there was more to it. Vanessa and I didn’t sleep together, we’d been drinking while we talked- and we made out. I know you’re not gonna like that either. But she wanted to go farther and I said I couldn’t, that even what we did was a huge mistake. She asked if it was because I was involved with you and I told her everything. About how it’s felt to fall back in sync with you after all these years, and the rules that we kinda stopped keeping and what I let slip on the phone- that bein’ a dad has given me a lot to think about.

I think we need to talk when I get back. About us, and about what I said and what you wanna do with all that. Give Cora a kiss for me, okay? I uh- I’ll see you when I see you. Bye.”

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @karamelcoveredolicity @amnmich @mrsniallhoran505

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #austin butler #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagine #austin butler imagines #austin butler fic #austin butler fanfiction

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String, Part 7

part 7/9, find the part 6.5 fake ig/phone HERE

ship: austin butler x fem!reader

chapter summary: as elvis gets closer and closer to wrapping, austin puts some more serious thought into what he wants his future with you and cora to look like.

word count: 2,100

author’s note: reminder that covid does not exist in this story so the filming schedule is one of my own making!!! writing moreso from austin's pov for this chapter was super fun, hope yall enjoy <3

summary: a summer fling when you were working on the set of the shannara chronicles turned your life upside down with a positive pregnancy test after austin returned to the united states. a pregnancy test, and a daughter that you never told him about. until the elvis biopic found him back in your orbit and forced you to face the music.

i live for comments and love talking about my writing, feel free to pop me an anon anytime!

xxx

August 7th, 2020

"Can I get your advice on something?”

Austin lingered in the doorway of the tent that had become Baz’s makeshift on-set office, sucking in his bottom lip. He’d been sent home for the day thirty minutes ago. And had gotten all the way to his trailer before he found himself tracing his steps- too wound up about what’d been on his mind all day to leave quite yet.

“Is this Elvis advice or life advice?” Baz said from where he was leaning against his desk, gesturing for Austin to sit down on the couch opposite him. He walked over and plopped down without answering the question, tapping his foot against the floor silently.

“Assuming it’s life advice.”

Baz gave a comforting smile, Austin nodding as he looked at his lap.

“Yeah uh,” He started, wringing his hands together. “Y/N and I have started lookin’ into how we can move her and Cora to the states with me when Elvis wraps. Cor’s easy, we just have to add me to her birth certificate and I can transfer my citizenship.”

“And I was tellin’ Y/N that I’d help her find film work in California to get her work visa, - but then I was thinking then she’d have to keep picking up jobs to extend it, which would be a lot of stress- especially with Cora to think about."

He could see it in Baz’s eyes that he knew where this train of thought was going, practically able to feel the anticipation buzzing off of him.

Falling quiet, nerves about putting a voice to what he’d barley been able to get out to his sister when he saw her a few weeks ago swirled his head.

“So you’re thinking about getting engaged? Baz said and cut through the silence, Austin’s cheeks flushing at how goddamn giddy he sounded. 

Leave it to Baz.

“My sister wouldn’t let me leave California without my uh- our mom’s engagement ring.” He said slowly, voice thick as he replayed that in his head.

He’d only had time to swing by her place for a few hours on his first day in town, but was happy to see her nonetheless. She must’ve spent 30 minutes scrolling through his phone looking at photos of Cora, and you, going on and on about how excited she was to meet you both. And when Austin was leaving for the night she made him wait, disappearing down the hallway and coming back with a familiar box that made him double take.

“Ash,” He sputtered out.

“You can put it away until the time is right,” She supplied, putting the tiny box in his hands and closing them around it. “But I found it out the day after you called and told me you kissed her.”

She was sincere, searching his face and adding a quip about how her older sister intuition was never wrong to get a laugh out of him. And it worked, but it didn’t make the ring box any less weighty- the little thing an aspect or what had led to what happened with Vanessa that he’d only been able to tell his sister.

“I love her so much- I don’t- there's never gonna be anyone else. Just worried it’s too soon I guess.”

Baz leaned up off his desk to come over and sit down next to him, his tone a little more serious when he spoke up again.

“I myself am a believer in the when you know you know philosophy Aust, and just from what I’ve seen- I think you both know.” Baz started and Austin realized he was using what could only be described as a his dad voice, some level of bemused at that. “Now I’m not saying go propose tonight, but I don’t think it’d hurt to float the idea by her- and Cora for that matter.”

Austin nodded, letting Baz drill him a little more about the ring and the hypothetical move before he actually did leave for the night. He drove away from the set and towards your place like he always did on Friday nights.

Given how late it was he was unsuprised to find you asleep in your room when he arrived, the sight that met of him of your head knocked back against the headboard with your still open laptop on your knees making him chuckle under his breath.

Padding across the room to move it off of you, Austin’s breath caught in his throat when he saw the website you'd crashed out while browsing.

K-1 Fiance Visa Timeline, Fees, Requirements

Staring at the screen until he realized it was less than ideal time for this conversation if he accidentally woke you, Austin shut your laptop, setting in on your nightstand.

You did stir awake as he got into bed and curled around your back, your head tilting just enough back to look at him through sleepy eyes.

“Missed you,” You mumbled, Austin kissing the back of your shoulder as he nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck. "’m right here."

You were back asleep within a few minutes, Austin awake for a little while longer in spite of how tired he was

Images danced through his head as he felt no short of fifty emotions at the same time. The way his heart stuttered at what he’d seen on your laptop- the realization that he felt his bones during his conversation with Baz. And the love he felt swelling in his chest just listening to you breathe as you slept in his arms.

---

August 12th, 2020

Austin inhaled as he pulled into the daycare parking lot. He’d picked Cora up from here a few times before, impressed with how good both the staff and other families had been about their privacy. So he wasn’t nervous about that, no.

Admittedly, and embarrassingly, he was about near shaking with nerves over talking to a four year old about marrying her mom. 

He signed in through the front office and headed down to Cora’s classroom, unsurprised to see her bouncing on her heels by the open door, exclaiming “Daddy you‘re here!” excitedly the second she saw him.

Their little daddy-daughter date had only been on the calendar as of three days agos, but according to you she had been verifying it was still happening no short of five times per hour since.

“Promised I would be baby girl,” He replied as he swept her up, kissing her on the cheek. She giggled as he set her back on the ground and took her hand, swinging his arm as they went back out to the parking lot.

“Music please,” Cora said from her car seat as Austin put the car in drive.

“Whatcha listen to Cora Jean?”

Austin glanced back at her in the rearview mirror, chuckling at the way she tapped a finger on her chin in concentration- jutting it out towards him when she made her decision.

“Wanna listen to you!”

“Me?” He asked with a raised eyebrow. “What song you thinkin’?”

After another moment of what appeared to be deep concentration over such a decision she landed on what she’d affectionately coined The Mama Song, adding on another five ‘please’s to the end of the request.

Pulling up That’s All Right as a backing track, he put the car in drive as he sang, glancing back at Cora in her car seat. He smiled when he saw Cora swaying her head back and forth, singing the words along with him.

She’d become quite the little Elvis fan as she became more aware of what exactly daddy was doing at work all day. And just when he thought she couldn’t get any cuter he came by your place one night to her eagerly waiting to show him the Hounddog dance she’d been practicing after watching him do it on set.

It had hit him recently that he really had Elvis to thank for how things had worked out the past few months. For being a dad, for falling back into lockstep with you- all of it really. In a way, listening to his daughter sing his music as felt like a gratitude hymn.

Cora let out an excited squeal when they pulled up to the diner, fidgeting around to unbuckle herself the second the car was in park. It was out of the way enough that they’d be left alone, and their milkshakes were to die for. But always on the cautious side he still directed her towards a booth in the very back.

They ordered and Austin snapped a quick photo of her with the glass almost the size of her head to send to you before he set his phone down. Shaking his leg against the floor, it crossed his mind that someday he’d laugh about how nervous he was over this with you. Someday.

“So you know how mama was telling you about how you guys are gonna come live in America where I live someday?” He started, Cora grinning through the milkshake straw in her mouth, remnants of her last sip dripping down her face as she pulled back and started talking before she was done drinking.

“Mhm, she said she hadta talk to the em-assy and that they take a long time.”

“The embassy does take a long time,” Austin replied with a nod, grabbing a napkin and leaning forward to wipe her chin off before she went in for another sip. “And do you know the difference between a secret and a surprise Cora?”

That whole concept was something he discovered the night before after a litany of Google searches about getting kids to play along with surprises. And laying awake as he scrolled, he wished he could just ask you about it, sure you’d be better at this than he would be after reading three articles linked to Pinterest. 

But that wasn’t exactly possible given what the surprise was.

“No keepin’ secrets with grown ups.” Cora replied matter-o-factly.

“Right, but a surprise is different because it doesn’t stay a secret forever- and it’s a happy thing.”

Cora nodded along, swirling her straw around her drink and looking at Austin expectedly. She was his clone, there was no doubt in that. But she had your facial expressions down pat- eyebrows knitting together just like yours did when you knew something was up.

“So I’m gonna tell you something and you gotta help me keep it a surprise, okay?” He said, taking a ship of his own milkshake like the sugary liquid would fortify him. “I was thinking about asking your mama to marry me.”

He was grateful at least that he didn’t have to attempt a dictionary explainer of what that meant, the little girl well aware as far as he knew between how Disney princess obsessed she was. Alongside the incident a few weeks prior where she’d come from daycare and relayed over dinner that she’d gotten married to a little boy in her class.

Cora’s eyes widened the second the word left his mouth.

“You are?!" She exclaimed, shifting to sit up on her knees in all the excitement.

“Mhm, but I know that’s a lot of big changes and it’s okay if it makes you a little scared, or worried.” Austin tried, though he realized he was probably closer to those emotions than she was. The four year old looked positively giddy, leaning over the table and talking in what was a failed attempt at a whisper.

“I wan’ you to get married like Ariel an’ Prince Eric on the boat.” She said seriously, hands folded.

And he couldn’t help but grin as he replied with a soft “We’ll see about that sweetie,” adding that he still had to ask you after all. 

Cora down, one more person to go.

-

Unless of course she popped the question before he could.

Austin tried his best to emphasize the surprise part on the car ride home, and that he didn’t even know when or how he was going to ask you.

Something Cora seemed to forget at bedtime, rolling over onto her stomach and propping her head on her hands as he tried to get her tucked in. 

“Daddy is it tonight?” She asked, and Austin laughed, a response on the tip of his tongue until he heard your voice from the doorway and realized you’d returned from talking to your mom on the phone. And had definitely heard that.

“Is what tonight?” You said with a curious smile, leaning against the door frame.

“We can’t tell you mommy, it’s a surprise.” 

Austin ducked his head down and suppressed a laugh as Cora responded so bluntly, biting his tongue as he got through the rest of his goodnites and left you to say yours. 

He stripped down to his boxers and flopped onto your bed to wait for you, staring at the ceiling with his hands folded behind his head, finding himself laughing again at how ridiculous expecting Cora to keep quiet about this had probably been. 

Lost in his thoughts, he didn’t realize you’d come into the room until he felt the mattress dip. You slid down next to him and went straight for a kiss, Austin meeting you halfway.

You scraped your teeth against his bottom lip, pulling back just enough to talk.

“So what’s this I hear about a surprise?”

“Mm, no spoilers.” He whispered, bringing a hand to cup your face. Slipping his thumb down to slide across your bottom lip, he stopped abruptly at the next three words to leave your mouth.

“I’d say yes.”

“What?”

He looked into your eyes cautiously, and knew then exactly what you were implying but it somehow didn’t feel real still. 

“If you had something to ask me, something important.” You stated, bringing a hand to his hair and carding your fingers through it gently. “I’d say yes.”

There was an air of nervousness in your voice and it made him want to ask you right then, confirm that you were on the same page and had nothing to be nervous about because he’d marry you tomorrow if he could. 

But he settled for a quiet “Mhm,” pulling his hand back to lay it over where yours had fallen against his collarbone, intertwining your fingers.

“Noted baby,” He said and you let out a short breath of relief that he felt against his skin.

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @karamelcoveredolicity @amnmichh @mrsniallhoran505 @strokesofstokes @starry-night-20

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #austin butler headcanons #austin butler fic #austin butler #austin butler imagines #austin butler imagine #austin butler fanfiction #x reader

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 8.5)

slight spoilers for part 9 | fake ig/phone POV 📱

(parts 1-8 are linked in my pinned master post!)

liked by bazluhrmann, leahheartsu and 274 others

y/n thank you elvis (thank you very much)

crewmember27 queen of untangling light cords i will miss you so much xoxo

leahheartsu **thank you leah for sending me the job application

austinbutler TY Leah!

leahheartsu at least someone’s grateful

oliviadejonge will miss hearing HI MISS LIVIAAAA across the parking lot when it was bring cora to work day 😘

liked by _ashleybee_, abfan65 and 960 others

austinbupdates Austin via his Instagram story today! Looks like Y/N and Cora are visiting for Christmas. ❤️

abfan86 visiting? when are they actually moving???

abfan2 it takes forever for fiancé visas to get approved so prob not for a while 💔

abutlers34 the wittle temporary tattoo i love kids

liked by calumturner, lukebracey and 203,132 others

austinbutler Missing these girls something fierce today. 50 days till they're 🏡.

elvisfan35 wait this means the visas finally got approved right omg omg

abfan203 soulmates 😭😭😭😭😭

abfan3 i’m not crying i’m weeping

leahheartsu don't forget our custody arrangement mr butler if you three don't come back down under at least twice a year i'm taking you to court

y/n 50 days!!!! ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

abfan748 this is so sweet but the sunglasses emoji is killing me help

inthechapel she’s slaying!

liked by perezhilton, rando436 and 1,757 others

tmz_tv Elvis star Austin Butler and his fiancé’s stint as Hollywood’s own 90 day fiancé episode is nearing it’s close! Y/N was spotted at Brisbane Airport with an assistant and the couple’s five year old, along with enough bags to supply a small army, an onlooker told TMZ.

abfan35 okay but as a strictly ‘sweatshirt and leggings girlie’ at the airport i commend her for actually looking cute

abfan2 they might have an overnight layover or flight that she brought different clothes for, traveling from australia is a beast

rando76 Is he sure that’s his kid? Both him and mama are pretty tall and lanky. She looks tiny for a 5 year old.

rando4 that happens sometimes, genes are weird.

abfan2 freak

abfan86 austin must be so excited i’m so happy for all of them 😭

tag list: @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @amnmichh @mrsniallhoran505 @strokesofstokes @starry-night-20

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #austin butler fake ig #austin butler imagine

[bcofl0ve]

Invisible String (Part 6.5)

slight spoilers for part 7 | fake ig/phone POV 📱

(parts 1-6 are linked in my pinned master post!)

liked by y/n, bazluhrman and 206,548 others

austinbutler Grateful.

abfan25 pause are they Together together fr

abfan11 someone on deuxmoi sunday spotted last week said they saw them “aggressively” making out so i’d assume so

austinbutlernews happy austin butler and y/n relationship hard launch day to all who celebrate

leahheartsu remember my shovel talk mr butler #thisgodmommadoesntplay 🔪

y/n i’m going to tell him to block you.

xxx

tag list (tags don’t always work, i do my best!): @chernayawidow @theinvisiblecapricorn @aalishifts @mavericksicybabe @cryingabtab @kittenlittle24 @invisiblee-smoke @mrs-munson-quinn @cevans-winchester @kikilovesdankmemes @oh-austin @chrissie-soula @starcatchxr @butlervol6 @thedeviltohisangel @redhoods-gf @gabrielajimenez @stlover288 @alqvarde @loudwombatmugkid @austinbrainrot @ab4eva @m0ndayagain @marlowmode @kingbouji3 @gardenavenue @yeonimii @eliseinmemphis @blurredcolour @tiddieshakeshownu @fallininlovewithurlove @briannaisanxious @amiets2 @karamelcoveredolicity @amnmich @mrsniallhoran505 @strokesofstokes @starry-night-20

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #austin butler fanfic #fake ig #austin butler headcanon #austin butler headcanons #austin butler imagines #austin butler imagine #austin butler

[bcofl0ve]

Cora

i knew this would be the first one LOL. i was thinking the other day while wallowing in the living room that i could work on IS to distract myself and promptly went to bed instead but. still percolating on that. doing blurbs instead of just sentences bc we all need the distraction and i haven’t actually uploaded fic in forever. enjoy!

“Daddy I miss you,” Cora said quietly, grabbing your phone and holding it so close to her face you were pretty sure Austin could only see her nose and eyelashes.

He sounded a little choked up as he replied, voice soft. “I miss you too sweetie, you and mama both.”

“And and sometimes I miss you so much that I cry but mommy makes me feel better.”

Geesh kid, way to lay on the guilt thick- you thought.

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #mollie talks writing

[bcofl0ve]

headcanon time! give us 5 of ur fave cora headcanons mollie!

[confused on what we’re talking about? check out my fic ‘invisible string’ in the masterpost found in my pinned post!]

surprise you’re getting 6 bc i started this and it ran away from me. cora and austin and mama/reader related. spoilers for yet to be published parts below the cut!

- being a dad and being your fiancé (and eventually husband) are the best parts of austin's life. he does not shut up about you or cora, ever. the week before you come to visit for christmas pre: actual permanent visas being approved he is telling everyone. the mail man, the checkout guy at the grocery store, his uber driver, etc. "my fiancée and my daughter are comin' home for christmas, it's my first christmas a dad," leaves his mouth just about every time he opens it.

- masters of the air films over the summer of 2021 in london and he brings the two of you with him. cora thinks the set is 'more boring' than the elvis set but still enjoys austin showing her around all the airplanes. when austin is busy the two of you play tourist with some of the other cast member's wives/girlfriends and it's a good time!

- you did your own pre-school thang at home with cora because of how uncertain things were with when you'd be moving, but come fall 2021 she starts kindergarten at a local school in anaheim. austin sheds more tears than you, and more than cora herself. there's layers to it- when he didn't get as much time with her before she started school as most parents do with their kids. and you know that when you're standing in the parking lot wiping his tears with your thumb. it's what plants the idea of another baby in the back of your mind, though the actual conversation doesn't happen for a couple more months.

- you don't really know how to go about it so you choose the path of ripping the bandaid off and blurt out "do want more kids?" when you're getting ready for bed. austin's eyes widen and he stutters a little, but the answer is a resounding "yeah- yes, i mean- if you do, do you?". that's around december 2021, and it isn't as easy a road as you hoped it would be but come may you realize you missed your period in the middle of cannes.

- you take a test, and aren't surpised it's postive, but put telling him on the shelf for a minute what with everything going on. except the more you put it off the more you realize if you wait till press calms down it's going to be another full month. you're in memphis the second week of june starting to realize you can't put if off much longer, espically when you aren't drinking at all the after parties. you're outside at graceland watching cora run around the yard, austin inside doing an interview, when prisicila gives you a long (gentle) look that you clock before the soft "so have you told him yet?" even leaves her mouth.

- you're making your way upstairs at your hotel that night, cora sleeping on austin's shoulder, when you realize you're telling him /now/. he lays cora into her bed, crouched on the ground stroking her little head saying his goodnights. and blame it on the hormones making you extra emotional but the sight makes you blurt out "i'm pregnant" faster than you can slow your roll. it takes austin a minute to process that, standing up and turning around with his mouth hanging open like a cod fish. there are tears when it does click in his head that he wasn’t just hearing things, after your little nod when he chokes out a watery “no way- are you really?”. and you cry too. ❤️‍🩹

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader

[bcofl0ve]

🫐

(join my 1k celly through this friday 3/24!!!)

invisible string!! cora my lovie (,: but gonna focus more on reader for this headcanon. tw for vague hint at body image issues related to child birth.

because like. the move to the states is an adjustment for her too. esp given that by the time the move is final it's late 2021 and austin's name is starting to pop up more here and there as the elvis premiere slowly rounds the corner. not to mention that all things considered you did get married on a bit of a sped along timeline. and even if it was because of the whole visa situation, that almost makes it worse in the eyes of some opinionated gossips.

austin's just giddy about the opportunity to play house they say. i give the marriage a year tops before he realizes he can be a dad without needing mommy around too. the chatter that really gets under your skin though is of the plenty of girls in the sea, why is he tying himself down so fast? variety.

you know austin loves you. of that you have no doubt. but they aren't wrong objectively either. if he wanted his pick of pretty young actresses and models he'd have a laundry list of options. options that didn't push a kid out and didn't make significantly less money than him and that wouldn't give him bad press when the peanut gallery was feeling esp nasty.

bringing it up to him almost makes you feel just as sick as the comments themselves, so you don't. until someone takes it a step farther. and that someone is another mom at cora's school making a snarky comment during pick up about how you looking a little frazzled, saying something to the effect of "well i can tell you don't have an image to upkeep, i couldn't leave the house like you do if i was on my deathbed." that makes your ears ring.

you manage to hold it together for the most part, until cora is in bed and you're curled up on the couch and austin's makes a comment about how you seem a little off because of *course* he noticed.

the tears start immediately, but so does austin swiping at them with his thumb- his voice strained trying to comfort you through his own hurt over the fact that you're hurting. that man would walk crawl over broken glass to get you to see yourself the way he does, and he can't for the life of him understand how people can be so mean. bless him.

#mollie's 1k celly #invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader

[bcofl0ve]

also COMPLETELY off topic but…invisible string hive. going to try and crank out the last part this week. largely bc i got an idea for a completely diff multi chapter dad!austin x mama!reader fic 🧍🏼‍♀️

(except moreso step dad!austin?? will leave it at that for now bc spoilers ahaha (; stay tuned though!)

#consistent fic mollie is back i started writing this today and i’m excited!!! #mollie talks writing #invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader

[bcofl0ve]

When is the first time Austin has to discipline Cora?

[confused as to what we're talking about? check out 'invisible string' in my pinned fic masterlist!]

i think this is actually somewhat of a point of contention post-moving to the states because austin really...doesn't want to. and you love that he's a softie, think he's a great dad etc. but as you settle more into being a full time family unit it gets frustrating always being the "mean mom" in comparison to austin being the more permissive parent.

and cora is catching onto the fact that she gets away with a lot when it comes to him and it all just, bubbles until it boils over. maybe cora colors on his copy of the masters of the air script he's been working over and *objectivly* she should be in trouble- but austin says something about how it's no biggie because he can ask the producers for another one and that. is your final straw.

"no austin- it is a biggie. she's not a toddler and knows that she's not supposed to mess with your stuff. you can't keep letting her walk all over you." you snap and austin looks a little surprised by how pissed you look/sound. he deflates a little, mumbling about how he doesn't even know how to start with her actually being a disciplinarian because he's terrified of being too hard on her and making her upset. which really does soften you up, because you're certain there's nothing austin could do on god green's earth that would make that little girl upset with him for longer than a few minutes. 

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler headcanons

[bcofl0ve]

Please post more invisible string preview 🥺

INVISIBLE STRING SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT

#last one bewbies i can’t spoil it all!!!! :* #invisible string by bcofl0ve #mollie talks writing #austin butler x reader

[bcofl0ve]

Need more invisible string in my life

it’s coming!!! i don’t want to make any deadline promises since i fear i have broken like all of them 🫣 but here’s a little preview. i finally genuinely got my groove back with it the other day so…soon!!! <3

#invisible string by bcofl0ve #austin butler x reader #mollie talks writing