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netherfeildren · 7 months

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The Cassandra Complex : Chapter VI : Sisyphus

Series Masterlist : Moodboard

(Din Djarin x F!Reader)

Content Warnings: Canon typical violence; Blood and Gore; Explicit description of injury; Use of misogynistic language; Threat of SA but none occurs; Ass play; Anal sex

A/N: It's all downhill from here, baby!!!

Rating: Explicit 18+

Word Count: 10K

Read on AO3

CHAPTER VI : SISYPHUS

DEATH: Why the bow, if you’re breaking no laws?

Anne Carson, Grief Lessons: Four Plays by Euripides

You’re in the dark again, warm and sated, together. He’s propped up on one elbow, practically half on top of you while you lay on your belly, pressed into the soft blankets and the blistering heat of his body; your cheek, smooshed into the ball of his shoulder while you let him explore your skin at will. He’s been biting and licking and kissing all over for what seems like hours after having fucked you halfway to delirium, and you can do nothing more than hum and whimper when his teeth get too hungry, his bite too sharp, listening to the sounds he makes. Low rumbles of appreciation deep in his chest that you feel vibrate into the bones of your back, breathy huffs where he takes in your scent, mingled with the flavor of his own sweat and come. You’re damp and sweaty and a little sticky in the soft crevices between your limbs, and maybe it should be disgusting, but he tastes you everywhere anyways.The tip of his nose dragging down the line of your spine, a soft nip to your waist, a sharper one to the inside of your bicep, that vulnerable and ticklish swell. He rolls you slightly further towards him to expose your breasts to his explorations, and you feel the tickle of his armpit hair on your cheek where your face is tucked into his side. He sniffs below the damp line of your hair at the nape of your neck, mouths wetly at the satiny skin, and you drag your fingertips up his arm, barely there, pulling a shiver from him and a soft moan. “What’s your favorite place in the galaxy?” Your voice barely a break in the silence, the soft song of your breathing.

A wet suck to your nipple, “Balls deep inside of you,” entirely serious in that monotone way of his.

“Disgusting.”

“Nuh uh, delicious,” a long swipe to the other nipple, pad of his thumb brushing over the dip of your navel. A whine of his name, and he gives you a laugh, the sort of laugh that changes the trajectory of a person’s life, the sort of laugh that is so real it could almost be confused as imaginary. He moves up, lets you savor the sound of it, and there is no better taste than this: someone else’s laughter in your mouth. You twist your fingers in his curls, run your tongue behind his teeth, belly pressed to belly. “I’m being serious,” you remind him.

He buries his face in your neck, a soft hum, “Here, on the ship.” With me? You want to ask. “What about yours?”

“I like water.” You always had, had always been a swimmer when the moment allowed.

“Then we shall have to find some water for you, won’t we?” His fingers have snuck down to your bottom, and he kneads your soft flesh, the line of his once again swollen erection trapped between your bodies. Yes, you’d like that, you think, to be in water with him. You dig your fingers into the rock hard muscles of his shoulders as his mouth resumes its explorations.

“I want a loth cat,” you tell him next.

Mhmm.

“Din?” His mouth is once again latched at your breast, and his cock has begun to thrust and grind against your belly, sticky tip drooling against your skin.

“Please, be quiet,” he says with your breast still in his mouth. “I’m very busy.”

You ignore him, twist your fingers tighter in his curls, arching your chest further into his mouth. “Will you get me a loth cat?” Voice all soft and breathy and breaking as you lift your thigh around his naked hip.

Distracted: “A what?”

The man really, really does not listen. “A loth cat. Will you get me one?”

Finally, he pulls his head back. “No. What is that?”

“You’re saying no, and you don’t even know what they are!”

“You’re not bringing any animals on my ship,” and even though he can’t see it, you roll your eyes at him.

“It’s a pet. Not an animal.”

“Explain the difference to me.” He bends his head to your breast again, all teeth now.

“A pet is fluffy, and I will love it.” But he brings his cock back into the mix then, and there are no more allowances for ridiculous requests for quite some time after that.

“Now you’re going to be good and stay here like I’m asking you to this time, right? Where you’re safe.” He’d landed the Razor Crest a conservative distance away from Niima Outpost; didn’t want you too far isolated in the sand dunes while he left you to go out and fetch his bounty, but not so close you’d be easily noticed.

“Oh, you are soooo stern,” you pout up at him from where you’re curled up in your bed.

His only response: a long suffering sigh, hands on his hips. You roll your eyes at him, nuzzling into the pillow that smells just like his hair. “Yes. I promise I’ll stay on the ship this time. Where it’s safe.” He comes to one knee beside your shared bed, he’d never crawled back into that tomb of a bunk again after that last time together, this was your shared place now. He brushes a gentle thumb over the pout of your bottom lip, tipping your chin up to the dark tee of his visor, “What a good girl you can be… when you set your mind to it, little one.” You scoff, rolling your eyes at him again, but feel your cheeks heat and your lower belly go tight and fluttery. Your pussy clenches with a slight twinge, and you feel the slow thick drool of his come seep out of you. He’d taken you hard earlier, savage and rough and without restraint – like he was angry at having to leave you and taking it out on your cunt.

“Only when I try very, very hard,” you tell him. He dips his chin once, and then unfolds to his great height above you, another nod, another paused moment to take one last, long look at you, and you want to beg, so badly, for him not to go. It feels like the first time he’d left, all those weeks ago. Your first experience staying on the Crest without him while he went out to hunt his bounty, and at the same time, all the worse. You know him so much better now, you need him, you… You what? No, you can’t think of it now. It’s a non possibility, something you aren’t capable of. But a pesky, perilous corner of your mind whispers, like the Force healing? A non possibility of that sort? You want to ask him to take his helmet off and kiss you before he goes, you want to beg him to stay, you want to ask him why he’s not called you that sweet name again since that last time, the only time, in the heat and damp darkness of the fresher when he’d whispered it into your skin, cyar’ika, and you want to cry, just a little bit, if you think on it too much. On the fact that he’d not repeated it, at the possibility of it having been a mistake or a slip in the heat of the moment. But you say none of those things, and ask for no kiss, and look after him with regret and an inkling of unsettled trepidation as the broad expanse of his back lumbers down the lowered plank and then disappears with the closing of the hatch into the scorched badlands and marching dunes of Jakku.

The hull is left dark and serene with his departure, quiet, and yet it sends a small shiver up your naked spine, bare and wet beneath the warm covers like he’d left you. He keeps the space meticulously clean, but now it’s littered with small signs of your presence in his life, of your life together. Your tunic thrown over the lone stool where he forces you to sit when you take your meals with him crouched at your feet, obsessively watching to make sure you have your fill, strange and lovely man that he is. He has a complex about the food you consume, as if it’s imperative to him that you eat as much as you can, that you’re always satisfied in the ways he cannot, or will not allow himself to be. He doesn’t eat enough, never as much as you know he’d probably secretly like to, and for a man of his size and brawn, surely not enough as he needs to, and it’s slowly fostered an angry kernel of resentment within you. He should always have all the things that he needs and wants, as much food as he desires, always, and anything that would keep those things from him you’re bitterly coming to detest. It even, in a strangely convoluted way, makes you angry at yourself, that your presence here with him prevents him from freely and comfortably discarding his helmet to take his meals. If you weren’t here with him he could eat as much as he wants whenever he wants without worry of being seen, and sometimes, try as you might, you can’t let go of the thought.

He’d left the pair of his thick socks you’d appropriated for yourself draped over one of the steam pipes that are warm to the touch, so that when you’d put them on they’re nice and toasty for you. The sight of them makes your heart kick and flip and burn in your chest, and you turn over to face the other way, towards the wall so that you’ll not be forced to look upon the empty hull and the warm socks and the Din-less space and remind yourself how much you hate when he goes away. He’d said he’d be back quickly, only a few hours he estimated, and you comfort yourself with this as you tuck your hands beneath your cheek and slowly drift off into a restless sleep.

“Hello, beastie.”

You’re thrashed into wakefulness by an agonizing grip twisting in your hair trying to rip the very strands from your scalp. You screech, disoriented trying to kick out, get your bearings, but the hull is still darkened from the way Din had left you. You feel another pair of hands trying to grasp at your ankles, and you kick out savagely, bracing yourself against the cold floor, and then the sickening crunch of the bones in your hand as a heavy boot slams down on your fingers, agony, agony, what is happening? An alien dialect in a language you can’t discern, rough and grating is spit back and forth between several voices, and then the first voice comes again and an old, hunched female steps into the dim light from the shadows. You recognize her reptilian Thalassian aspect immediately, and your heart drops into your stomach. Slavers. You double your efforts, kicking and screaming and trying to claw at the hands in your hair, to rip yourself away while your crushed hand screams in agony. The old female comes closer, beastie, beastie, we’ve caught ourselves a beastie, she sing-songs in a hollow voice. Another boot to your belly, kicking the air out of your lungs, sending fire through your ribs and bile up your throat, but when you turn your head, you make eye contact with one of the old crones henchmen, another Thalassian, and with a single thought you send him slumping to the ground, brains oozing out of his ears in a melted, bloody mess.

“Murderous little beast!” the female screeches, and she’s unraveling a whip from around her forearm, and before you can even brace yourself, snapping it at you so that it’s splitting open the meat of your cheek. Searing agony spreads across your face, your vision goes in and out, and you try and shake it away, but then more of that guttural unknown language and an order from the crone, and your arms are being jerked forward so harshly it feels as though your bones will be wrenched from their sockets, and they’re clamping something around your wrists. Something cold and sucking and terrible. You slump forward, tangled in the soft blankets of yours and Din’s shared bed, still naked beneath, and you try to reach for the Force, for your strength, for Din’s mind out there in the desert, but there’s nothing. Acute silence, unbearable nothingness. All your strength zapped and stolen away in the blink of an unguarded moment, like an amputated limb.

The female is hunched over the body of the one you’d killed, leaning heavily on a thick walking stick, spitting hissing sobs, and when she turns back to look at you, you can see there are tears marring her ugly, wrinkled face. “You killed him! Creature! Dark creature!” She spits. “Pull her back, let me look at the little whore’s face.” Unforgiving claws in your hair again, and your head is ripped back and angled towards the weak light of the fresher, the blanket covering your modesty slipping to reveal your nakedness beneath. Fear and shame and fury curdle and burn within you like acid. If he comes back and finds you gone, or worse dead, he’ll be devastated, so hurt, so angry, he’ll blame himself. They can’t – they cannot put him through that. You have to think, calm yourself, get out of these binders they’ve put you in, some sort of Force suppression technology at work. The things glow a sickly purple color, nothing like the lovely warm violet of your saber. But before you can even get a firm grasp on your thoughts, collect yourself, the woman slides the walking stick in her grip, and pulling it back behind her shoulder, swings it forward with all her might to hit you in the face with the heavy, bulbous end of it, right over the split from the whip. You feel the very mass of your brain jostle within your skull, a sickening crunch, the vision in that eye going completely dark. Maker, they’re going to kill you if they’re not careful. A terrible sound rips from your throat, something worse than a mere cry, going slack jawed, whacked further into the pit of unconsciousness. One of the others says something to the old Thalassian and turning away from you, she hisses something back. She goes still for a few moments, leaning on her stick heavily once again, the sound of her wet panting breath, and when she seems to have finally collected herself she turns back to you again. In basic she says, “I know what you are. I’ve heard what they’ve been trying to do to your ilk. How they mine you for that sweet little nectar that runs through your veins, through all of us – the Force. There are rumors of you circulating the Outer Rim, did you know? We heard of you and came searching. Received word from our Huttese friends, whispers of a Mandalorian mercenary and his dark pet roaming about the dunes of Jakku, an old gunship spotted lurking where it should not be. We’ve been searching for you, beastie,” she whispers, coming closer to inspect you, voice maniacal with cruel glee. The pain in your face, your head is a numb throb sharpening to acute fire, vision fading and then glowing bright white and burning. Your head, Maker, they’ve knocked it clean off your neck. “There are many clamoring to get their hands on you. Tell me, what does it feel to be whittled down to nothing more than the worth of an invisible and illusory thing? The Force,” voice contemplative and disgusted, all the same. “To be worth nothing more but that unseen ether flowing through your veins. How does it feel to be nothing? Look at you – playing the whore to some Mandalorian brute. Pretty thing…” She pushes back at your shoulder with the butt end of her stick, “Before you went and made me angry. Hmm… perhaps, I shall sell you with that same offering, as well? Would you like that? I wonder what will fetch a higher price, your blood or your cunt.” She laughs and her thugs join around her. You can feel the wide split in your face drooling blood, throbbing in agony, the sound of their raucous and cruel laughter creating a painful symphony above the pounding of your blood in your ears. “A magical whore!” She cackles, flashing her rotting grimace. “Yes, I quite like that idea. Stealing you away from that murderer – mercenaries, the lot of them, those Mandalorians. They hide behind the conflated righteousness of their Creed and their failed history, but they are nothing but another murderous cog in the wheel that would subjugate those of us they deem lesser.” The laughter leaves her suddenly, going serious, and you feel such fear in that single pause of silence. He’s going to

be so angry when he finds you gone, and you– you cannot be enslaved again, you can’t, you won’t. You’ll kill yourself before you allow it. “Monster,” she hisses, “This is nothing worse than what a thing like you deserves after the sort of evil your ilk spread. Imperial slut,” she spits at you, and her saliva lands like a glob of acid on your bare chest, burning. “Grab her. We’re going before her Mandalorian brute returns and kills us for taking his pet.” Her underlings say something in that unknown language, gathering to grip you under the arms and around your ankles, and a frenzy ignites in your heart. Through your broken and torn face you begin to howl, writhing and kicking your legs with as much strength as you can muster despite the broken ribs. “No, no! I will not go!” You screech, getting one in the face. He jerks away and lets your bottom half hit the hard floor with a harsh thud. “Let me go! I will not– I will not go!” You won’t be taken from him, you won’t, you won’t. The one holding your upper half shoves you painfully to the ground, your poor, battered head slamming once again, and another brutal kick lands to your ribs. Maker, you’d not missed beatings like this. The crone begins to scream at them, garbled sounds you can’t make out, and you lay your head on the cold floor. You just need a second to breathe, that’s it. You can endure much, much more than this, it’s only the binders stealing your strength, you just need a moment, and then you’ll fight again or break out of these terrible things and kill them all, but your head, Maker, your head feels as if it’s been split open down the middle. Their yelling reaches a crescendo, an added shrillness to it that was not there before, and then one of the henchmen is toppling painfully over your prone form, a heavy knee to your spine as he lands diagonally over your body, but his weight is instantly ripped away from you. More screaming and oh, the sound of blaster fire, the piercing screams of the old Thalassian, you turn your head slowly, slowly to the side and there, through the bloody and matted strands of your loose hair, that bright and familiar gleam, a flash of burnt red. You bring your manacled wrists slowly up to your chest, hunching into as small a ball as you can make yourself, cradling your broken hand to yourself.

He’s here.

He’s here, it’ll all be okay now.

You let your eyes flutter shut and listen to the Thalassian’s screaming reach a crescendo, and it sounds a little like that long ago familiar sound of flesh tearing from flesh. You don’t want to see. You don’t want to see him commit atrocities in your name. It’s a funny thing, you think, the nature of his violence. He is a Mandalorian, and like the Thalassian had said, yes, perhaps, mercenary, and so it would stand that he is a man who commits violence, but you’d found – Maker, you hurt – you’ve found… that a thing that commits violence is not always also, or at once, a violent thing by nature. The moment makes of us what it needs us to be, but that does not always indicate our true selves. Violence committed in an instant of necessity, the peril of threat, does not always mean that we are bad or violent in our hearts, and Din… your Mandalorian does not have a violent heart. Beneath all of that uncompromising beskar is a soft heart, a good heart. It’s why you–

The scream stops.

No, no, no, no, no– “Look at me, look at me, cyar’ika. It’s okay. It’s okay, I’m here now. They’re gone, it’s okay.” You’re a crumpled, bloody, broken heap on the ground. He’d left you. He had left you here alone for this to be done to you. There is something hot and terrifying crawling its way up the inside of Din’s chest, searing his throat, turning it to char. He turns you over with all the gentleness he can muster, his shaking hands slippery with blood, the broken, dead bodies littered around the two of you as he pushes your bloody hair from your face and takes in the way they’d savaged you.

And Din– Din feels a fury the likes of which he’s never felt before in his entire life. And in the wake of a sort of fear he’d never experienced previously either, not even at the sight of his child self watching his mother and father murdered, the image of their crumpled and broken bodies becoming smaller and smaller as he was taken away into the unknown by the Mandalorians who’d saved him, it leaves him unbalanced and of tremulous control as he pulls you into his arms. You’re cupping one of your hands strangely in the other, and when he takes your manacled wrists you let out a painful, garbled sound. Your hand is mangled, fingers darkening already and bent sickeningly in incongruous angles, and he wants, very badly, to look away from the sight of your pain. It causes a physical ache inside of him, nausea and fire and thunder, like a blaster bolt to the belly, a knife to the lung. “Look at me, cyare,” and your eye blinks open, the darker of the two, the one that whispers silently at him when he looks at it too long, the other, the bright one like a scream, is too swollen to open, but you, miracle of miracles, for you are a miracle wrapped in the shape of a girl, give him the tiniest of attempted smirks; something like the creation of myth unfolding before him. The side of your face not broken and bleeding, lifting into a crooked little half moon, and bloody smile full of sharp, menacing teeth you croak, “I knew you’d come.”

Din knows in this instant that he is going to love you for the rest of his life. It is not a question, or an uncertainty. It is simply fact. Truth like his Creed, like The Way.

“I’m here. I’ll always come for you,” he tells you in lieu of saying that which sits heavy on his tongue now, which is that he’d let you eat his very heart out of his chest if you so desired it, that he belongs to you intrinsically. “I’m so sorry. I’m here now.” The hand not mangled grips the fabric around his throat and Din feels a sob in the shape of your name build in his chest. The Mandalorian, on the verge of tears. He gently presses you closer, tries to breathe, tries to swallow his howls. They were slavers, he’d marked them from the moment he’d spotted them through the open hatch of the Crest, dropping the long dead bounty he’d found half buried in the sand to sprint towards you. He’d worried about the possibility of this for some time now, the threat of someone coming for you, recognizing what you were, thought he’d prepared for it. Rumors were difficult to avoid or quell and despite his attempts to keep anyone from getting too close to sniff you out, you attracted attention. It was inevitable. Too beautiful, too alive, too alluring. He’d been afraid of something like this happening, and he’d thought the best way to keep you safe was to keep you here, hidden away on his ship, security system set and impenetrable. He’d been a damned fool.

He takes in the sight of your bare limbs, the beginnings of nasty bruising over your naked abdomen. The idea of someone taking you from him, severing his claim, keeping you away from him… and like this, when you were supposed to be safe here in this place the two of you’d made a home of together, while you were bare and waiting for him as he’d left you, when you were still full of his semen, potentially full of his–

He swallows the thought. There are certain things you believe about yourself that Din is doubtful to agree with just yet…

“Take them off,” you whisper up at him, “I’ll–” a pained swallow, “I’ll heal. It’s okay, Din. Don’t be afraid,” you say with such earnestness, a tiny life of an eyebrow, but he is anyway. You shouldn’t be the one telling him not to be afraid right now, split open as you are, but you do anyway, and Din is deathly afraid – of this, of you, of everything, of not being fast enough, strong enough, good enough to protect you, to keep you. Din feels more afraid now than he has ever felt in his entire life.

“It’s okay. I’ll be okay. It’s not that bad,” and at the same time, your words make him so angry. At what life had made you believe, at what the galaxy had made you believe was okay. This is not fucking okay. Seeing you hurt like this is not okay. He moves to gently, as gently as he can possibly be, disengage the binders from around your wrists, careful to not jostle your broken hand too much.

“It’s not okay.” He looks at your mangled face, the blood running into your hairline, your swollen eye, that lovely and luminous eye that makes his heart feel split into a million different pieces, all engraved with the etching of your name, “This is not okay.” And then his gaze lands on the blood splattered gem of your earring. This sight he must close his eyes to, he cannot bear it. That tiny sparkle, the significance of your relationship made material, covered in your own blood and his failure to protect you.

He opens his eyes again to take in your wet gaze, unseeingly staring up at him, dark and fathomless. It shutters closed, long lashes clumped together in the sticky mess of your blood and tears. “It will be. I’ll heal soon. This is not the worst that’s been done to me,” voice thin and reedy, as if you’re embarrassed, ashamed to say the words out loud. As if you recognize them for the travesty they pose. He has to look away, swallow another sob. Din can’t remember the last time he cried, the last time he felt like crying, but he feels it now. Eyes hot and pinched and uncomfortable.

He should have never left you. He will never leave you again.

Wrapping you in the blanket, he makes sure your modesty is covered, and with as much care as he can, takes you in the cradle of his arms and moves you back into your bed.

“Where’s your bounty?” You croak.

“That doesn’t matter now. Rest. I’m going to–”

“Of course, it matters. It’s–” a pained swallow.

“Don’t talk, cyare. It’s okay. We can–”

But you press on, cut him off. “That's the whole reason we came here. We’re not going to let this be a waste.” This being your savaging, split open, almost stolen. Din feels his heart drop down into his stomach. He nods once, swallows, tries to cough up the knot of agony lodged in his throat.

“I dropped it when I saw them. They did something – fucked with the system and deviated the signal so I wasn’t alerted when they broke in. The bounty was already dead. Beacon signal still going. I found him and came straight back – saw the open hatch and knew something was wrong–” You give a soft, pained moan, brow folding into an agonized frown. Maker, he’s not going to survive this. He feels like a fucking coward. Terrified, sick to his stomach, angrier, weaker than he’s ever been in his entire life.

“Slavers. Thalassians,” you whisper, resting your head against his chest plate, broken hand clutched against your chest. “I need you to reset my fingers before they heal wrong.” Fuck, he’s never had a panic attack before, but he worries he might be having one now. He tries to swallow the scream for you, thinks he whispers something like, alright. Shifting you in his lap, he pulls his blood soaked gloves from his hands, and when he reaches for your hand he takes in the tremor of his own fingers, feels a humiliating wash of shame curdle inside of him. He’s a Mandalorian for Maker’s sake, a warrior, and yet the sight of your pain, your hurt, leaves him unraveled, as frightened and green as a child. He has never experienced the dilemma of having someone he– someone that matters, hurt. Carefully propping your back up against his bent knee he pulls you in close so that your hip is tucked up against him, he grasps your wrist tenderly between his fingers, soothes the pad of his thumb against the soft inner slope of your wrist, the webbing of blue beneath the thin skin is comforting somehow, you’re alive. He made it in time, he’s going to fix this, take care of you. “It’s okay, Din,” you whisper again.

A sharp jerk of his chin, “I know. I’m going to make this right.”

He smooths his thumb up the base of your palm, trying to settle, comfort you, the both of you, he rubs a gentle circle into the center, feels you tremble and jerk against him, and he hums low in his throat, a deep sound to remind you that he’s here, he’s got you. “It’s alright, little one. It’s alright, it’s alright,” keeps murmuring low reassurances in your ear, unsure whether they’re more for you or for himself, as his fingers slide up slow and light and grip your ring finger first, grasping it at the base to hold it securely and pulling on the tip to straighten it out, quick and efficient movements, a muted snap. There’s one. “It’s okay, it’s okay.”. Moves to your pinky next, so tiny gripped between his own large, rough fingers. He has to grind his molars together, bite the inside of his cheek so hard he tastes blood. He holds the base of that vulnerable little finger, the fine bone almost nothing beneath his touch and straightens that one too, listens to the hollow pop of the joint righting itself back into place. That one pulls a swallowed screech from your throat, you turn your face sharply away, and he sees your legs shuffle and kick in his periphery, your breathing fast and shallow.

“Hurt– That one hurt,” you choke, and he watches a single tear squeeze out of your swollen eye and make a slow, devastating track down the slope of your mangled cheek, losing itself to the shredded gash.

“What did that to your cheek?” He grits at the same time that he rights your index finger into place, tenses his knee to keep you steady and upright as you jerk. Panting wet breath hiccupping, trying to swallow back your cries for a moment, he cradles your bruised hand in his, wishes he wasn’t wearing this fucking helmet so that he could kiss the back of it, lick your wounds. He feels like screaming.

“A w– a whip.” You don’t turn back to look at him, and Din feels his blood turn to frost. Something so painful moving through his chest he struggles for breath.

“They whipped you in the face?” He looks at the pieces of Thalassian surrounding the two of you and curses himself for killing them so quickly. He should’ve been smarter, more patient, drawn it out. Made them suffer.

“It’s okay–” voice short, tense. “I’ll heal.” Face still turned towards the open hatch and the hot Jakkuian night, he watches another tear fall.

“It doesn’t matter–”

“I’ll heal. I’ll–”

“That doesn't matter–they hurt you. You can be hurt. Just because you can heal, just because you don’t care about what happens to you doesn’t mean that I don’t.” He cups the back of your head, begs you to turn back towards him with his touch. “You being hurt hurts me, do you understand me?” Voice soft as he can make it go, trying to make you see what he’s saying in the only way he thinks will penetrate the fog of your painful history.

And you do turn back at that, finally, thank you, thank you, he can see the edges of the wound start to knit themselves back together. A girl and a miracle and a myth all woven into one. “Do you understand me?” He asks again, cupping your chin, gathering the wet of your freely falling tears now, pressing the pad of his thumb to the corner of your eye.

“No, no, I don’t understand,” face crumpling, you press your forehead beneath the edge of his helmet. They hurt me, they hurt me, you cry over and over, and Din knows that you don’t only mean the Thalassians. He wishes he possessed the hand of the Maker. That he could reach across to the far corners of the galaxy, the most shadowed depths, the blackest pits, and wipe away any speck of darkness that’s ever touched you, anything or anyone that had ever done you harm. He wishes he could give you his very heart as an offering, anything that would settle the sound of your anguish. But then he thinks that an impossible sort of thing, for his very heart is held right here, sobbing in his arms, living on the outside of his chest.

After he insists on you allowing him to spread bacta along your cheek and hand, despite your protestations that it’ll close on its own, that you’re fine, you remind him that his bounty is still lying dead and forgotten out in the sand sea beyond the ship. He goes out to retrieve the pitiful thing, felled by the wrath of Jakku, most likely, and you make an agonized attempt to stand and dress yourself. Your ribs and back ache, the line of your spine feels on the verge of fracture from the last blow you’d taken, and you shuffle about slowly, trying to force yourself to hurry and get yourself covered before he returns, not wanting him to see the extent of the damage done to your ribs and back. You manage to get on a pair of underwear and one of his shirts before he’s stomping back up the gangway, dead bounty slung over his shoulder. He bends to shuck the thing off, the limp body hitting the durasteel with a harsh thud that snaps your mind into focus for a millisecond so that you’re taking in the carnage surrounding you. The release of gas from the carbon freezer sounds around you as you find the old Thalassian – her head seems to have been ripped clean from her neck somehow, you cock your head slowly, taking the sight in. He’s moving about, dragging the pieces of the bodies and chucking them out the hatch, and your mind feels like a piece of elastic snapping far out and away from you, and then shooting back in a painful reverberation, vision going hyper focused, too bright to bear, and then murky, as if viewed through a broken pane of glass. You hear the whirring, metallic shifting of the closing gangway, and your head swoops, belly twisting with nausea. There are pools of blood coagulating thick and disgustingly viscous on the floor, and you reach out for the wall to steady yourself as your blood rushes in your ears, but he’s immediately there, gentle hand to the curve of your waist and the bend of your elbow to pull you to himself. “It’s okay,” he says again. And he keeps saying so, but seeing this, what he’s done for you, something feels distinctly not okay.

You think of the Corellians who’d attacked you all those weeks ago, the Corellians you'd slaughtered for him. And the memory somehow makes the sight in front of you worse, some sort of horror. You’d turned him into you. You’d forced him into repeating your own horrible actions. In a moment of startling, sickening clarity, you’re confronted with the reality that he is only encased in beskar, he is not made of it. And one day they will go through him to get to you. Because there will surely be more, there will surely be another day, another time, another planet; more slavers or dark siders or someone of equally low measure will come for you again, and he can’t protect you forever, nor you him.

This time, please, let it end differently.

It’s all you ever do, you think, beg and plead for a different sort of fate. The duel of the fates, over and over again, but it is only ever you, alone, at odds with destiny itself. Fighting against what must be, what already is, what always has been. Your own sick ouroboros; eternally destroying and recreating yourself and the things around you.

He leads you back to bed, grabs his socks from where they’d lain draped over the warm steam pipe, and you return his own past words to him while he kneels before you, pulls them over your cold feet, looking over his shoulder the world seems inverted, mirrorlike, the black puddles of blood filled with dark mercury. They would have taken you from him. “You shouldn’t have had to do that.” Your voice sounds hollow and cold, unlike yourself.

He pauses his care of you, helmet tipped down, and you wish you could see his eyes right now, you feel, strangely, like you need them, like it would make everything better, more clear and stable. Taking one small foot in hand, he wraps his fingers around the entire thing. “You’re right,” he tells you, and your stomach flips with bile and fear again. “I shouldn’t have had to do it because I never should have let it happen. This is on me. I shouldn’t have left you alone for this to happen.”

You reach for his wrist, wrapping your fingers around the thick of it to feel his pulse beat against your fingertips. Something furious in the fluttering thrum of it; something of a monolith about him, steadfast, unmovable, the strongest thing in the entire galaxy. There’s a tinge of crimson rage swallowing him, and you can tell he’s doing everything in his considerable strength to keep it under reign for your sake; the proof is in the strew of bodies he’d littered the floor of the ship with. “They’ll always come for me, Din. As long as I’m alive, as long as the dark exists, as long as The Force exists they’ll come for me. They’ll never stop.”

The helmet snaps up, the yawning tee of dark transparisteel whispers its rage at you. “Then I’ll make them,” he grits. “I’ll find a way. I’ll protect you. We’re going to fix this. I’m going to fix this.” And you feel so–so strange. So sad. Devastated. The wave of fate swallows you whole, and that dark red thread crumbles to dust. You feel so unbearably sad for the both of you that your tears are renewed. Sad and old and at the end of your line.

And again: A person without a soul cannot cry. And so this must only be proof of the fact that you still possess yours, as shriveled or weak as it’s been made, you must still have one. You must. You must.

It’s his now. Undoubtedly. Whatever of your soul has bloomed back into life belongs to him now. You bring your trembling fingers up to the face of his shining beskar helmet, warring wishes wrapped into a strange tangle for what you know will not be the last time: that it wasn’t there, that you could have all of him, and, at the same time, that you too had something of such strength and conviction to protect you as his Creed protects him. What a comfort it must be. “I know you will.” Lie.

He goes to initiate takeoff and get the ship into hyperspace after that, and you can hear the uncharacteristic frenzy of his movement echoing in his rushed steps as he flits about the cockpit. Settling into your nest of blankets, you face the wall so you’re not made to look at the mess that’s been left, and when he returns, you listen to the sound of him divesting himself of his armor, the rustle of falling clothes, you can feel his panic now up closer, pressing against the confines of your skin like some living thing, trying to sneak its way into whatever break in you it might find. He was frightened, he is frightened. For you. If you weren’t struck stone cold you’d perhaps laugh at the idea of it, but strange memories flash in your mind, highlighted by painful bursts of bright light behind your closed lids, memories of darkness and pain and being so alone another person, a real person, existing in the entire galaxy seemed too far fetched a thing to be true. The sort of loneliness that forces you to forget that other living things exist. You curl in on yourself, still tucking your now halfway mended hand close to your chest, cupping your other palm over your eyes to hide yourself away. Shocked into a subdued, humming terror. A peripheral thing, the reality that you should be afraid or shaken, and you are, kind of, but interrupted by that memory of similar or much worse things that make this small mishap seem inconsequential in the shadow of all the rest, all the past.

You listen to him move towards the fresher to throw the two of you into darkness, and you panic, “Don’t turn the light off, please,” you murmur, still hidden behind your palm. If you cannot see the world, perhaps the world cannot see you either. “I’m sorry to ask – I won’t look, I promise.”

He pauses, silent for a moment. “Don’t apologize. Don’t. It’s okay. Anything you want.” What you really wish he’d say is that he doesn’t care if you look or not, a selfish and rotten and horrible feeling rolling in after the thought.

He crawls in behind you, sliding up against you bare and burning hot; an entire sun held inside the heart of a single man. He keeps his hands to himself at first, and you enjoy the brush of his chest up against your back on every one of his inhalations, the symphony of his breathing, but eventually he braves the salted earth and passes a gentle hand down the line of your spine.

“What do you need?” His voice is the deepest thing in the entire galaxy, you think. Space has nothing on it.

You press your hand tighter over your eyes. “Nothing.”

“You are strong and capable,” he says after a moment, and you worry you might vomit. “But you don’t always have to be. I don’t want you to have to fight when you’re with me. I only want you to be comfortable and cared for and well. Let me help you.”

“Okay,” barely a sound breathed through the part of your lips. And it takes several hours, but eventually that thing they’d come for, the very thing they’d attacked and tried to take you for, heals you. The Force. What is it to hate the very thing that makes you up, the very marrow of you, the sustenance of your life? Agony, madness, bitter, bitter resentment. Loneliness. To be alone within yourself. Terrible pain. Every bad thing that’s ever come to you throughout your entire life has been done in its name. And you’re angry at the fact, you think. For years and years things were done to you to honor that invisible giant, and it built an anger within you that is incoherent, unidentifiable, inconsolable.

You ache like you’re recently made.

But he holds you so gently while you knit yourself back together, seam by seam, so that the possibility of pain is removed entirely from the equation. He holds you like he loves you, and you want to ask him if he does, if he thinks he could ever love a thing like you, even if you do not deserve it. Even if he does not deserve it.

You fold it away instead.

Tell me, what does it feel to be whittled down to nothing more than the worth of an invisible and illusory thing? To be worth nothing?

Like spitting salt through an open wound, the agonized phantasma of an amputated limb.

You’re nothing.

And Din? He’s everything.

From behind your hiding spot you tell the quiet: “Sometimes it feels like I haven’t been happy my whole life. But I know I feel it with you. I want you to know that.”

“Do you?” His hand slides up the line of your vertebrae to cup the back of your neck, and you tremble beneath his heat, as if he were anointing you with the power of a sun.

“Yes.” You wish you had the courage to say more, to say everything. A real confession, the cutting sort: I was made to be nothing more than a weapon, but now I am a human, now I am alive. Now I am only myself. And I hurt, and I wish I were a girl again: only half savage, unmarred and free. But despite all of this, I am still only yours.

“I know already.”

Cyar’ika. Cyar’ika.

And so what does it matter if you hurt when he calls to you so sweetly? And yet, a quiet and unused part of you whispers back that it should not be so, that the thought is not quite right. Focus, focus, call them growing pains if you must. Focus only on him. And you realize that there is something about him that makes you fragile in the face of his strength, for some reason and most importantly, in a way that you like, in a way that is appealing to you like nothing else you’ve ever experienced before. Something that tells you that you need him to be strong in ways you’ve never had or needed to be strong before, a strength that is soft, something that is unyielding for the vulnerability you allow yourself with him. You can’t understand it.

“And I will let you take care of me.”

“I’m going to. This means something,” he says very quietly, the words bouncing off the back of your neck, and you know it is true. “This means something.”

It does. Everything. The two of you mean something together.

You finally turn to face him again, eyes closed, seams more securely knitted together and press your forehead to the notch of his throat, cracking your eyes open to look down at the expanse of his abdomen. You run a flat palm down his belly, feel the strength of him. If there is nothing else, perhaps, there can be Din.

“Close your eyes,” he threads his fingers through the back of your hair, “Let me kiss you,” and you feel your heart break and melt into desperation all at once. You press your eyes shut tightly and tip your face up towards him, parted mouth and bated breath, ready to receive the taste of him. He licks into you, pulling a moan from your belly and onto his waiting tongue, and you wish there was something more you could give him, something deeper, more significant that could translate all you feel for him. “I need you to forgive me,” he licks the words into your skin. “I need you to tell me you forgive me for letting this happen.”

“Don’t say that. There’s nothing to forgive. There’s nothing–”

“I should’ve been more careful. Smarter, more prepared. We shouldn’t have wasted time in that fucking desert for so long.” But you’d distracted him, kept him from going out, seeing to his responsibilities.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” you say again, tipping your head back to bear your throat for him.

He licks a line up the slope, tasting your pulse, the proof you’re still alive. Plants a kiss at the hinge of your jaw and then presses his forehead there. “I’ve failed you,” he whispers.

“Din, listen to me, listen to me. You could never do that. Never. Do you understand me?” If he only knew all you’ve not told him, all the ways in which you’ve failed him. You’re sure he’d see you in a very different light.

“It’s not going to happen again,” he promises, and you’ve not the heart to tell him again that they’ll never stop. That the life of a hunted creature is the only sort of existence you could ever live. You pull his mouth back to yours, kiss him with a renewed fervency. If you cannot give him anything more you’ll put everything you have into this.

“Just kiss me, please,” you beg, twining your arms around his neck and opening to him. He drags his mouth along the inner slope of your bicep, ending at the dip of your elbow and laving his tongue at the sensitive dip. Gripping the bend of your knee he hitches it against his hip and rolls the two of you over. Settling between the cradle of your thighs, he levers himself up off you, careful not to demand you bear his full weight, and finally, you feel ready for the dark again. With a single thought you submerge the two of you into the almost dark again, a weak stream of light coming from the fresher, rattle of the Crest moving through hyperspace sounding around you. He prepares you to take him softly, slowly, with intention. The gentle pad of his thumb to the slick seam of your cunt, parting your folds to get to the wellspring of your desire for him. A single finger and then another hooked against that place inside of you that seems now branded with his ownership over you. Nothing like this has ever existed, and you press the thought into his mind as he tastes your tongue, brings you to orgasm for him with slow and exploring fingers, the slick slide of his thumb over your swollen clit, and the whisper of your name to the shell of your ear. When he feeds his cock into you, slowly, so that you’re made to feel every curve and ridge and then meeting the end of you, so deep you can’t tell where he ends and you begin, it brings tears to your eyes and all sorts of confessions to your tongue that your more rational mind knows should be kept in the shadows. But very like the sun, he shines a light on all the dark and derelict parts of you better left unseen.

When you come for a second time, thick cock splitting you in half, there’s a screaming desperation for more urging you on. “Remind me–” you beg him.

“Of what? What do you need?”

“That I’m yours. That I belong to you. That I’m alive.”

“Do you need reminding of that?” He squeezes your bottom, presses you tighter to himself, his wet mouth sliding against the slope of your shoulder. “Don’t you know always? No matter what?”

“Yes.” Soft, soft, soft, but you don’t need it like this – you need it more– “Remind me anyways.”

You’re as close as can be, but he tells you anyway: “Come here, come here. I’m going to take care of you.” He pulls out, a wet and sucking sound, and turns you in his arms so you’re back to belly, and pulls you open again, thigh thrown over his hip. He runs his hands over the hills and contours of you, cups and squeezes your breasts, rough fingertips softly at your nipples, and you feel your cunt clench and gape, hungry for filling. He cups you over that soaked, ravenous place, slides his hand back and forth over the wet, swollen mess, and then further back, his fingers pressing and prodding gently at your ass. “I’ll have you here now, little one. Yes?” All you can do is nod back against his shoulder where your head is propped, a tightening so intense it’s almost painful strangling your throat, your heart, your cunt. Nothing more than a knot of abandoned want. A thing that doesn’t know how to take without devouring, and you do, you want to devour him. You think he might even let you. He presses a slow finger into the knuckle, and you go tight, bearing down around the invasion, spitting his name out in the shape of a wail into the quiet hull.

“It’s alright,” he gently thrusts that probing finger, hooking and wriggling it. Making space within to fuck you open on his cock. “You’re so tiny here, little thing. But you’re going to take me so well. I know you are.” He pulls his finger out entirely, and then there are two pressing back in as slow as possible, petting first, stretching second. “How’s that? How does that feel, my sweet girl?”

“I don’t– I don’t know,” moaning and shifting, trying to plead for more with little hitched arcs of your hips. “More, please.”

“You want my cock?”

“Yes–”

“How badly do you want it? Tell me–” He twists his wrist, stretching, claiming, all while the hill of his palm rubs against your cunt, so wet you can hear the slick sound of its desperation echo in the quiet.

“So badly,” you moan and sob, “More than anything.” He pulls his fingers from you and grips the root of his cock, fat head at your ass and starts to press in slowly, slowly, stretching you open around the incredible girth of him. Your breath comes in puffs and gasps, an unbearable heat flushing through your body, pulsing in your face and swirling in your belly, tightening the tips of your breasts into painful knots. You moan out his name, please for more, for harder, for faster until he’s buried to the root and you’re strangled into a hiccuping silence. Overwhelmed and overwrought by the feel of him buried in your ass so deeply. There’s no space for anything else inside of you, stretched to the brim and so full you can barely breathe. He’s everywhere. Gripping your hip you feel his breath against your cheek, the sweating, curling hair around your ear ruffled as he pants and groans, gritting his teeth and rumbling deep in his chest as he starts to thrust slowly into you.

“How’s that?” Voice strangled. His other hand comes around to thrum gently at your clit, the swollen mass of bundles pulsing with each punch of his hips. Your cunt leaks down to where the two of you are joined, and he picks up his pace, fucking up into you harder, faster, that strumming thumb flicking more quickly. He flattens his fingers against you, rubs at the length of your leaking sex, and you’re beyond words. Impaled and cock drunk. All you can give in return is an approximation of his moaned name, and he gives a quick, sharp slap to the top of your mound. “I want you to tell me how it feels,” voice ragged, almost broken. You tighten almost impossibly at his roughness, clenching down around him so he’s gasping, shocked ah, ah, ah’s, ending on a ragged groan. He brings his forehead to your shoulder, and you listen to his overwhelmed sounds. The first time you think you’ve heard him so close to the precipice of losing control. “Most perfect fucking ass in the entire galaxy,” he grits. All mine, mine, fucking mine.

“Feels–” His fingers resume their exploration of your cunt, “Feels so– so good,” your voice is nothing but agony made pleasure.

“Yeah? Feels good?” The sound of his hips slamming against your ass, wet and lewd, the press of his heavy balls to the round of your bottom. “What about this?” He begins to slowly press two fingers into your gaping, grasping cunt, and oh, it’s too much, your orgasm hits like an exploding star, singing all coherent thought along the way. You feel your pussy gush, go tight as a knot, and he snarls at the curve of your ear, bites down on the line of your shoulder, not halting the thrusting of his fingers inside of you. “Fuck, yes–fucking come for me. Come for me while I fuck your ass–”

“No–no, I can’t anymore, please, I can’t,” you cry.

“You can–you can. I know you can. My fierce little cyar’ika, soft only for me. Aren’t you?”

And how can you deny a man such as this anything. One that holds you so, one that fucks you like he loves you. You’ll lie to yourself, like so many other lies you tell, and pretend that this is the touch of love, that it’s something you deserve. His fingers, his cock are ruthless within you and they force another soaked orgasm out of you, shaky and weak, before he’s following suit, fucking the searing heat of his spend deep inside of you. He rolls you over onto your belly, levers himself up over you and slows his thrusts until you feel the last spurt of his cock kick inside of you, the low reverberations of his pleasure sounding from his chest. When he pulls out he spreads you apart, thumbs at your swollen skin. “It gapes so pretty for me,” he murmurs as he plays with the milky white drool, smears it into your slick, stretched skin. “This is how you should always be, covered in my come, beautiful thing.” All you can do is bury your burning hot face in the blankets.

When the two of you have finally settled later, cleaned yourselves up, and he’s made sure you’ve had enough water and a snack, when your panic has gone dormant, you remember your earlier request. A sniffle, and then voice broken and wet, just for added insurance: “You’ll get me my loth cat now, won’t you?”

A long suffering sigh, but he squeezes you tighter to his chest, presses a kiss to the crown of your head you feel sizzle all the way down to the tips of your toes. “I’ll get you anything you want, anything.” You smile into his skin, a miracle all of its own, that after everything he still provides you the ability to smile.

But later, right before he falls off the precipice of consciousness into the ebony deep and serene lake of sleep, you whisper into the thrum of his life force right at his neck: “We will take care of each other, won’t we?” Again – the both of you, together.

“Always,” he says, and it rings with such promise, in a way you know only someone such as he could swear, and you’ve always been a liar, but you do not want this to be a lie.

This time, please, let it end differently.

Chapter VII

Netherfeildren's Masterlist

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#TCC fic #din djarin #din djarin x reader #din djarin fanfiction #din djarin smut #din djarin imagine #the mandalorian #the mandalorian fanfiction #din djarin x female reader #the mandalorian x original character #the mandalorian x reader #star wars fanfiction #pedro pascal fanfiction #pedro pascal characters #pedro pascal

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btsgotjams27 · 2 years

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this is us ~ jjk | masterlist

How could you possibly forget him? You couldn't even if you wanted to. You wanted to extract core memories of the two of you and store them in a pensieve for safekeeping, so you could revisit them whenever you missed him, but magic isn't real, and the fairytale of you and him isn't either. You were just a writer caught up in your fantasies, living in daydreams, escaping reality, and projecting your hopes and dreams onto an imperfect person--what a fool you were. But yet, this is you. This is him. This is the story of us.

✨ title: this is us | completed (sequel to all grown up) ✨ pairing: jungkook x f!reader ✨ word count: 159k | ✨ rating: m/18+ | minors dni ✨ genre/au: drama, romance, angst, fluff, smut | est!relationship, age gap ✨ warnings: language, kissing, alcohol consumption, significant age gap (9 years), noona kink, recreational drug use (edibles), girlxgirl kiss, insecure reader, crappy mom, jungkook's nipple is pierced, cheating, toxic ex's (jk's & readers), talks of miscarriage/inhospitable uterus, flashbacks to 18-year-old jk, reader slaps someone, accidental voyeurism, heartbreak, time skip, eventual happy ending, there is a lot of emotional trauma and this story is pretty much a rollercoaster of emotions, love confessions, longing, pining ✨ smut warnings: jungkook + reader attempt to have sex in a hot tub and fail, allusions to sex, LOTS of teasing and touching, blindfold kink, masturbation(f), unprotected sex, oral sex (m,f), creampie, rough sex, rough oral (m receiving), 69, jungkook is a tease but so is reader, non-penetrative sex, fingering, breast play, light anal play, protected sex ✨ a/n: hiii, this is a sequel to all grown up! if you've read it here, then you can read the sequel :) this is probably one of my favorite series, and this couple has a special place in my heart. ✨ a/n 2: have a drabble request for any of my couples? drop them here and i'll do my best to fulfill them! ✨ read on AO3 & Wattpad ✨ playlist | ✨ quiz: which tiu character are you? | how well do you know tiu? ✨ tags: fic: this is us | tiu couples mood boards | tiu asks | tiu ramblings | ask my muse | tiu pin board | character profiles

✨ one - this is how you fall in love | wc: 5.5k ➥ you start to fall hard for jungkook.

✨ two - back hugs and peppered kisses | wc: 4.3k ➥ when you're stressed, jungkook has a way to help.

✨ three - hot tubs and clubs pt 1 | wc: 10k ➥ you get to meet jungkook's college friends during a weekend getaway.

✨ four - hot tubs and clubs pt 2 | wc: 5.0k ➥ jimin and taehyung want to party before they leave.

✨ five - daydreams and stargazing | wc: 4.2k ➥ you finally talk to jungkook about the conversation you overheard.

✨ six - it's not all rainbows and butterflies | wc: 5.6k ➥ after a hard conversation with your mother, you learn some new things about yourself.

✨ drabble - girl's night | wc: 2.0k ➥ a fun girl's night with yuna and hyunie.

✨ drabble - the reveal | wc: 4.0k ➥ jungkook sees the photos you took with hyunie.

✨ seven - party of three | wc: 5.4k ➥ you find out yuna's big secret and reveal one of your own.

✨ eight - a blast from the past pt 1 | wc: 5.5k ➥ a blast from jungkook's past comes to stir shit up.

✨ nine - a blast from the past pt 2 ~ the college years | wc: 8.3k ➥ jungkook feels guilty about what he did.

✨ ten - a blast from the past pt 3 | wc: 10.3k ➥ jungkook finally admits what's been on his mind.

✨ eleven - the call | wc: 7.8k ➥ you receive an unexpected call.

✨ twelve - i do | wc: 6.3k ➥ you finally find hyunie, amongst other things.

✨ thirteen - heartbreak hotel pt 1 | wc: 6.6k ➥ after a few weeks apart, you have to tell jungkook what's happening.

✨ fourteen - heartbreak hotel pt 2 | wc: 8.6k ➥ jungkook makes a decision that will change the course of his life.

✨ fifteen - here comes baby | wc: 5.4k ➥ let's have that baby, shall we?

✨ drabble - it'll be okay (jk) | wc: 891 ➥ a small glimpse of life in LA

✨ sixteen - so maybe you're not okay | wc: 5.4k ➥ six months later and you're still not over jungkook, and when you finally hit rock bottom, you realize you have to pick yourself up because no one else can do it for you.

✨ seventeen - one year later | wc: 8.8k ➥ it's been one year since the breakup, have jungkook and y/n been able to move on?

✨ eighteen - you're seeing things, aren't you? | wc: 10.9k ➥ you're dreading the meeting in LA, but it's a big city. you're not gonna bump into jungkook, are you?

✨ drabble - dream bigger, darling | wc: 1.3k

✨ nineteen - together again | wc: 9.7k ➥ after three long weeks, you and jungkook reunite.

✨ twenty - ending credits | wc: 9.2k ➥ you finally get your happy ending.

✨ epilogue - us | wc 5.9k

✨ TIU deleted scene

➥ TIU Celebration | Podcast Episode

➥ drabbles 01 - jk + oc compete who thinks iseul will say mama/dada first 02 - jk telling his family he’s coming back home 03 - jk gives oc his photo album 04 - iseul's bedtime routine 05 - jk, joon + tae look after all the girls 06 - indie + hani meet baby iseul

➥ ama

#jungkook fic #jungkook fanfic #jungkook smut #jungkook x reader #fic: this is us #jungkook #jeon jungkook #bts #bts fanfic #bts fic #jungkook angst #jungkook x you #bts x you #bts x reader #bts angst #jungkook romance #jungkook drama #jungkook noona #jungkook x y/n

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sserpente · 1 year

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The Demobat Queen

A/N: Okay, hear me out. I got this idea from the app that shall not be named and then it suddenly turned into 10k words. Classic.

Synopsis: After the Demobats attack Eddie, you find him dead in the dirt. At least that is what you think he is. But when he coughs, you see a chance. A chance to be less lonely in this dark and gloomy dimension. You feed him your blood to heal him and, after some initial suspicion, he warms up to you. For the first time ever, you get to experience what it’s like to have a friend. But before you can explore your growing feelings for Eddie, the desire to be close to him, to kiss him even, he makes it his mission to return back to Hawkins, to leave you behind for good. You don’t really blame him. He doesn’t belong here. And after all, a bat’s love can never be reciprocated… right?

Words: 10669 Warnings: fluff, angst, blood and feeding, near-death experiences, violence, burns/fire, vampire/bat!Reader

“I made this world mine. I own it. I own you.”

“You don’t control me, Henry. You never did. We struck a bargain and we agreed to live in peace after that. Remember that.” Your eyes flashed red as you spoke, the veins under your eyes protruding and giving you a downright eerie look, you could see it through the dirty mirror in the house you resided in.

Henry—or what was left of him—remained unfazed. Growling, he turned away from you.

“I’ve kept my word so far. You let them come too close,” you stressed.

His flesh was singed, soot covering his half-rotten limbs from the burning petrol. Tilting your head, you narrowed your red eyes at him and dug your nails into your fists until they stung.

“Your thirst for revenge will kill you eventually and you know that.”

“You dare threaten me?”

“I have no desire to kill you, you know that. So why would I threaten you with it? The girl you’re after… she can’t be worth all of this trouble. I want a way out. I want to be up there, I want a real life.”

“You don’t belong there,” he growled.

“You are the reason they would hunt me down like a rabid animal now.” This time, his growl practically tore through the cool darkness around you. Turning on your heel, you marched away from him, feeling his burning gaze on your back as you conjured your bat-like wings, spread them, and took off without looking back.

You counted a dozen or so bats dead on the cold and uneven ground of the trailer park. Stabbed, beaten to death, or sliced open by a sharp object. Your heart bled upon seeing their lifeless bodies, yet more victims of Henry’s thirst for vengeance.

He might not have controlled you… yet even though the bats listened to you and did your bidding based on trust and likeliness, it was Henry who controlled what happened in this dimension. You took a deep breath, the metallic smell of blood filling your nostrils and igniting your hunger.

You landed, scanning the ground for the source when you spotted a young man, bloody and torn open by the bats, with three of them still feasting on his flesh. He was alone—collateral damage after a failed assassination attempt. If anyone had been with him when he died, they’d had to leave his body behind. A sigh escaped your lips as your feet touched the ground and you tucked your wings away, your head whipping in his direction when he coughed with a start, blood presumably pooling in his lungs and choking him from the inside out. Your lips parted. He’s still alive.

“Shoo! That’s enough!” The bats didn’t listen. Not until you flung them out of the way with your bare hands. “I said that’s enough! Off with you now!”

His eyes were closed, his white and ripped shirt drenched in blood and revealing the countless bite marks all over his chest. More blood was dribbling from the corners of his mouth as he coughed again. You knelt next to him, indecisiveness creeping up your spine.

You could heal him with your blood. But if you were too late, if he was too close to death already… Henry would kill you if you turned him, made him part of this world. You cursed under your breath when your fangs forced their way past your lips, causing you to hiss. Only another heartbeat passed before you brought your wrist to your lips and sunk your canines into it, drawing blood to feed him.

His eyes remained shut even when he felt your cool skin against his mouth. He gagged soon after your blood poured down his throat.

“Drink… drink it,” you whispered. Henry could not hear you—he had long stopped keeping tabs on you. There was nothing you could do, after all. But you could tell the boy was scared. He was young, on the verge of proper manhood, twenty-two at most. As you drew away, you wondered just how he had winded up in this fruitless conquest to kill a monster who controlled an entire dimension.

“Help me carry him home,” was all you said when he lost consciousness again. The bats hissed before obeying you, digging their claws into his clothes to carry him off. You followed suit.

Your so-called home must have been a lively house up in the light dimension, as you liked to call it. Inhabited by a happy family, perhaps. Here, it was but a depressing and empty place to retreat to, a mere illusion of civilisation. This dimension was a lonely one, after all.

You flinched when the young man who now recovered on your bed finally gasped for air a few hours later and sat up straight as if awoken by a nightmare. You hurried over to his side, gently forcing him back on the mattress. It had taken him long enough.

“Easy… easy! Take it slow.”

“W-wha…” He coughed, eyes widening when he noticed you properly. Your smile was hesitant, timid.

“Welcome back. I was worried you wouldn’t make it. You lost a lot of blood.”

“W-hat the hell… happened?”

“Well, you almost died. And you took down quite a few of my bats with you.” In an instant, his expression grew harder. Coldly, he scanned your form, hostility radiating from him. Granted, you probably looked quite intimidating, dressed all in leather and a long coat made of the same material. He sat up again.

“You need to rest.” When he simply stared at you, you pushed him back into a lying position. “I said rest. I healed you with my blood,” you continued. “I don’t just do that lightly, it’s incredibly risky. You need to rest for it to circulate through your body properly. It will take a while. Be patient.”

“You… fed me your blood,” he stated then. To be honest, it sounded more like a question. You nodded matter-of-factly.

“Who are you?”

“I haven’t used my name in so long that I think I can’t remember it anymore. Why don’t you give me one?” It was true. Your real name was buried along with those you had taken to the grave. Creatures, humanoids with a thirst for blood like you before they’d cast you out of what little of a society this dimension possessed. Your name was there, of course. You hadn’t literally forgotten it. But it sounded so foreign and strange to you that it felt wrong to still use it. Especially after making a deal with who could only be compared to the devil.

“Then what are you?” he asked instead. He swallowed thickly, noticing only now that you had cleared his face of all the blood. You had taken his bandana off to clean him up while he was still unconscious. It was currently in a pile with the rest of the bloody shreds of fabric you had used.

“I believe you can answer that question for yourself. But I don’t have powers like Henry does.”

“Henry? You mean Vecna? You’re with him?” he bellowed.

“Vecna? Is that what you call him up there? I’m not with him. I struck a deal with him out of necessity. I wanted to survive when he showed up, much like you now,” you snapped.

“What the hell does that mean then, am I turning into a vampire?”

“More like a humanoid bat but… no… it’s more complicated than that. You would have to die with my blood still in your system. You didn’t. Give it a few days and you’ll be fine, Eddie.”

The young man blinked at you. “How do you know my name?”

“What, Eddie? Is that really your name? I was making a joke. It’s a reference. Eddie Van Halen, you know? You look a little like him.”

Eddie stared at you for a moment, unable to return the smile you offered him. “Was there… was there anyone else there? When you found me?”

You shook your head. “No. You were alone.”

Eddie nodded, realising it was probably for the best that whoever had left him behind had done so for their own good.

“You must be famished. We need to find you some food. Can I trust you’ll stay here and won’t wander off? I can’t guarantee my bats will leave you alone when I’m not near.”

“You gotta get those fuckers under control then…” he mumbled, sitting up for the third time. You raised your eyebrows.

“If you are referring to the lake, you intruded on their territory. They were just defending it. Besides, I don’t control them. They just… choose to do as I say.”

“They almost killed Steve!”

“Whoever Steve is, I’m sure he won’t make the same mistake again then. Nor will you. Stay put until I’m back. If I had wanted to hurt you, I would have already. Besides, I can’t risk Henry finding you here.”

It sounded absurd but the restaurants in the light dimension… threw perfectly consumable food out, more than you could count. Eventually, it would appear here as well and if you were fast enough, you would be able to take it with you for Eddie to eat and regain his strength before it went rotten. You flew off outside your house, praying that the metalhead would listen to reason and do as he was told.

About twenty minutes or so later—time was relative down here, after all—you returned with two pizza boxes containing leftovers that were still warm when they appeared in between some black plastic bags.

The air had cooled it all down only a moment after but it would do. For just a brief moment, as you dug your hands into the bins behind the restaurant, you wondered why you bothered helping him in the first place. But the answer was obvious, was it not? You were lonely down here. Henry was not one for company and he was not one for chit-chat. Decades in solitude were gruesome, besides… you were not him. You might have been what Eddie referred to as a vampire but that did not make you a ruthless killer. You were a survivor.

“Eddie?”

“Still here…”

Relieved, you walked up the stairs and back into the room you had chosen for your bedroom, pizza boxes in hand.

“You are indeed.”

“There’s not exactly… lots of places for me to go, so…”

You smirked. “Fair point. And a wise choice. It’s not safe out there if you don’t know your way around.” You placed the cardboard boxes in front of him. “It’s not much but… it’ll do.” Eddie stared at them for a second. Next thing you knew, he opened them both, brown eyes widening. He dug in as if he hadn’t eaten in ages. Well, he probably hadn’t. You didn’t stop him. He needed all the sustenance he could get until your blood was out of his system.

“So, uh… you’re Vecna’s right hand then?” he said almost casually with his mouth full.

“I happen to exist in the same dimension. He doesn’t control me, we came to a more or less peaceful agreement. I mean you no harm, Eddie. I have no desire in destroying Hawkins, not like him.”

He swallowed. “Do you… consume blood?”

“I do. Occasionally. I need it to survive but I can go without it for a long time. It gives me… strength. And if I don’t feed for a while, I do get fatigued and burned out but other than that… I’m just like you. Well… minus the wings. I’m sure you don’t have those,” you added, winking at him.

“Who… or what… do you feed on?” he asked suspiciously in return.

“Creatures from this dimension… until, um…”

“What, like Demogorgons and shit?”

“What?”

“Those huge things with fangs for a face that looks like a flower? I’ve never seen one myself luckily but I’ve been told they’re quite terrifying.”

“I… if that’s what you want to call them. But I… I did try human blood when a few poor unfortunate souls ended up here against their will. I have no desire to make that a habit though just in case you’re still worried I am fattening you for slaughter.”

Eddie gave you a silent look before he continued eating. You watched him quietly with your arms crossed after sitting down at the small vanity in the room. The bats outside your house screeched, making you sigh.

“I’ll be right back…”

They knew he was in there, hungry for his blood and eager to feast, assuming he was as good as dead and that his body shouldn’t go to waste.

“Shut it! He’s off limits, do you hear me?” The bats flew around you in circles, following your every movement. One of them landed on your shoulder, screeching loudly as if to complain.

“No. He’s alive and well. Besides, he has my blood in his system at the moment. Stay away from him.” The bats flew a few more circles around you, following your hand as you pointed at the dark and gloomy sky.

“Kas…” Eddie suddenly said. You spun around, not having realised that he had followed you outside, hiding behind a garden rock. No wonder the bats were almost going insane.

You frowned. “Kas?”

Eddie slowly emerged once the last bat was out of sight. “You said you don’t have a name. That’s what I’m gonna call you. I figured… that fits?”

“Kas…” you repeated the name as if tasting a piece of candy. “Okay… I like it.”

“Is this because we are in a darker version of where you come from or is your room really this chaotic?” Grinning, you followed after him. Eddie’s room was plastered with metal band posters and a huge hand-drawn flag reading “Corroded Coffin”. Clothes and other bits and bobs lay scattered all over the place, along with the odd guitar pick, questionable décor, and… condoms on the nightstand. You blushed.

“Come on, it’s not that chaotic.”

Eddie had insisted on returning here and, after having him practically beg you for two days straight, you had agreed to accompany him. Even though the bats had kept their promise and did not lurk around for him anymore, it was still way too dangerous to let him roam freely around here. You liked the goofy metalhead, truly. Eddie was a deeply misunderstand young man with a knack for theatrics and for making people laugh. You shook your head, clearly disagreeing with him here. The room was an utter mess.

“So… you’re saying they blamed you for the murders in Hawkins? Because of a game you play?”

“Yepp… they needed a villain to hunt down and I guess I was in the wrong place at the wrong time,” he mused, kicking a stool out of the way to reach for a guitar. It wasn’t the one he’d used on top of his trailer—you had heard him play, provoke the bats and their sensitive ears to distract Henry.

“They’re gullible…”

“Yeah, they think I’m a satanic cult leader and worship the devil.” He strummed the guitar once. It sounded horribly off, so he sat down to tune it.

“And do you?” you joked.

“Only on Sundays,” he replied, making you laugh while exploring the room some more.

“Do you live here alone?”

“Oh no, with my uncle. He works nights so I’m alone a lot.”

“Your uncle… and you’re still at school?” The schoolbooks on one of the shelves gave it away.

“I was supposed to graduate almost three years ago but…”—he drew the word out—“I guess we can’t all be Albert Einsteins.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-one. Even though this room is three years younger than that. That’s a pity. The new Metallica record would have made this place a lot better,” he added looking around.

“What is that supposed to mean?” you asked, tilting your head with your arms crossed.

“Oh, Metallica is only one of the best metal bands in existence.”

“No, not that part, I know who Metallica is, believe it or not.” In fact, you knew a lot of bands. That restaurant you got your pizza from for Eddie had an old jukebox with dozens of records on it. It didn’t work down here but at least, it gave you some sort of idea of pop culture and music trends. “What do you mean by ‘this room is three years younger than you’?”

“You didn’t know that?” Eddie looked up from his guitar. It didn’t sound like a question. You still shook your head.

“No, I didn’t…”

“This place is quite literally three years behind. I mean, it’s a parallel world, right? Everything that happens up there in the real world, happens here as well. Only three years later.”

You raised your eyebrows. “Right. So then that means the food you ate earlier was three years old. Sorry about that.”

Eddie chuckled. “I’ve eaten worse stuff. Wayne and I are horrible cooks.”

“Your uncle?”

“Yes.”

“What about your parents? Where are they?”

“Well…” Avoiding your gaze as if he was ashamed all of a sudden, his fingers played around with the tuning pegs. “My mum left when I was just a kid… I don’t really remember her and my old man… is currently in prison.”

“Oh.” You weren’t going to ask why. By the looks of it and Eddie’s darkening expression, it couldn’t be too good.

Eddie strummed the guitar again, satisfied with the sound this time. The chords he played to follow up sounded beautiful—so melodic and calming compared to the screeching of your bat friends and the hungry growls of the other creatures residing around here. Not to mention the sounds Henry made every now and then, thinking he was scary. Well, not to you. To those kids, to Eddie… definitely. You shuddered.

“How… how long have you been here?” he suddenly asked.

“It’s hard to say… now that I know that I’ve been living in the past but… I’ve… just… always been here. My whole life. It’s always been… I’ve always been… like this.” You gave him a dramatic half-bow, pushing away the thought of the few like you that remained and that would kill you on sight.

“Shit, how old are you?”

You shrugged. “Judging by the calendars you humans started to make… I would say a couple of hundred years.”

Eddie nodded, processing your words all but flabbergasted. “And you never thought of leaving?”

“I didn’t know I could. Not until the veil between our dimensions cracked and opened up gates for the first time. But not all of them are the same, not since Henry started killing.”

“I need to get out of here,” he said. Another strum, as if to emphasise his statement. Your heart almost skipped a beat. He wanted to leave. But of course he did. There was nothing here for him. In fact, as a human, the atmosphere would sooner or later kill him. He didn’t even know you that well, he had no reason to stay, and even if he did… some depraved and delusional part of you had imagined that for the first time in over a decade, you’d have a friend by your side. You swallowed. Perhaps even more. The way his fingers played that guitar, a stark contrast against the black colour of the instrument and the handmade writing on it… That simple action hit you square in the face like a blow. Eddie was bloody handsome.

“You… want to go back,” you finally choked out just to say anything at all.

“Yeah…?”

“No, of course you do. You couldn’t possibly stay here.”

He nodded, slowly. “They all think I’m dead, that should give me an advantage for a while. I’m still… wanted for murder, after all.”

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

Another thoughtful nod. This young man was carrying a burden far too heavy for his age. He paused when you said nothing else. “You said there were cracks… now… between the dimensions?”

“There are. But they would literally tear you in half if you attempted to walk through them. Even… what did you call them the other day? Demogorgons? Even they couldn’t make it through. Henry can. He is the only one who can. You need a smaller gate. I know where to find one.”

Eddie looked up. “There used to be one here. And at the lake and… and the forest. There’s different ones now? More?”

You nodded.

“Can you take me there?”

“I can but not yet.”

“Not yet?”

“Eddie, we need to wait for my blood to be out of your system entirely. If something happens to you when you’re back… if you die… you’ll turn into a vampire just like me.”

“Right… How long do we need to wait then?” The suspicion in his voice was clearly audible, eliciting a defeated sigh from you.

“Just a couple more days to be sure, please. Then I will take you to a gate, I promise.”

Eddie nodded once more, strumming another chord.

“We should head back soon. The bats get hungry around this time. I don’t want to draw any attention to you.”

“Why can’t we just stay here?” he asked. The innocence in his voice nearly had you melt… and the canines hidden away in your gums pressing to the surface eagerly.

“Here? Are you sure?”

“Yeah… unless you, uh… sleep in a coffin?”

“Oh, ouch, wow, that is an awful stereotype.” You grinned. “I don’t sleep in a coffin. I do sleep upside down sometimes though.”

“Wait, really?” Eddie’s eyes widened, eliciting a chuckle from you.

“No! Don’t you have sarcasm up there?”

Eddie put his guitar away and made himself comfortable on his unmade bed. “You’re uh… welcome to join me then. Bed’s big enough.”

Tilting your head, you took a hesitant step forward. “Aren’t you afraid I’m gonna bite you in your sleep?”

“I’d be as good as dead down here without your help, so uh… you might as well.” His bitter smile broke your heart but then again, what did you expect? That he’d fall to his knees before you in gratitude? You might have saved him but he had no reason to believe you had not done so for your own selfish gain, to keep him as a living blood bag. While a dark and malicious part of you buried deep in your heart rejoiced at the thought of that, the butterflies in your stomach stopped the dangerous thoughts from crawling to the surface.

“Alright then… only for a few hours. Then you grab what you need and we head back. It’s not too safe in this area.”

“Neither here nor in the real world…” he muttered. Eddie closed his eyes, his body relaxing almost fast enough for you to be taken aback by it. He’s still exhausted. Of course he was still exhausted. He almost fucking died and was now regenerating with your blood. You’d truly taken a risk with him—and you could only hope that Eddie wasn’t going to take any damage from your emergency medicine.

By the time you finally laid down next to him, the cute metalhead was sound asleep.

You knew you were in trouble when the butterflies in your belly fed on Eddie’s presence as if he was a drug, sweeter than any blood you had ever tasted. Over the next few days, long talks, and more three-year-old pizza, Eddie quickly became the closest to what you would call a partner in crime. You’d never had one—you wouldn’t know what it was truly like but if there was one thing you were certain about it was the fact that you were not supposed to desire a friend the way you did. To want to be close to him, listen to his heartbeat, feel that lively vein pulse beneath the sensitive skin of his neck, and find out if his lips were as soft as they looked…

“… so each class has different attributes and skills and weaknesses.” For the past hour, Eddie had been attempting to explain Dungeons and Dragons to you. You only understood half of what he was rambling but his passion for the fantasy game was reflected in every single word he spoke. He was sprawled out on the bed with an old D&D handbook he had found under his bed, one he had lost around two years ago, so he’d told you.

Very soon now, you’d venture out to the gate you had promised to bring him to. You’d wanted to wait until the equivalent of daytime just in case your bats decided to disobey you after all.

You’d miss him. As if he’d been in your life for years, you could already feel your heart tearing, leaving a void that would never heal. Were you being dramatic? Yes. But that changed nothing about the fact you were slowly realising that you, in the shortest time possible, had fallen in love with him.

“Eddie? Why don’t you tell me about those warlocks on the way to the gate?” you interrupted him gently. If you ripped him out of your life like a plaster, quick and easy, perhaps it’d hurt less. The sooner he was gone, the sooner you could learn to forget him.

Keep him with you. Feed him more of your blood. Make him stay. Your primal instincts mixed with your growing feelings, making your canines press against your gums almost painfully. Stop. It’s time to say goodbye.

Eddie paused, glancing out of the window. Daylight was barely distinguishable from the night down here but the look of relief and excitement that washed over his face felt like a dagger lodging itself deep into your gut.

“Okay. Let me, uh… grab my things.” You did, watching each and every single one of his movements with curiosity and fascination. If you asked if you could come with him, what would he say? Would he laugh at you? Look at you incredulously? Both?

“You think I could just take that D&D book with me?”

You chuckled. “I don’t see why not. No one will miss it here.”

“Then, um… I’m all set.”

“Good.” You smiled sadly. “Then let’s go.”

Perhaps you’d just stay in Eddie’s room, make it your new home. No one else was going to claim it once he was gone and that way… that way you could keep him in your memory. Your link to the outside world, the one friend you’d ever had down here in this lonely hellhole. You were like a lovesick puppy, detached from reality and what could and could not be, weren’t you? You were pathetic.

You shook your head to chase away the thoughts as Eddie followed you through the gloomy dimension you’d learned they called the Upside Down towards one of the more hidden gates in the forest you had discovered on the same day you had found him after hunting.

And by the time you reached it… he might as well take your heart with him too.

“Here. You’ll have to crawl through. I… I’m not sure what you should expect on the other side but… good luck. You’re innocent, Eddie, I refuse to believe you won’t be able to clear things up.”

“Yeah… maybe. I hope. Uh…” He stared at the hole in the tree stump as if it’d disappear if he took his brown eyes off of it.

“Thanks. For uh… everything. You saved my life.”

“My pleasure. Oh… you might want this back before you leave.”

Your hands were shaking as you pulled his bandana out of your back pocket. You’d tried to clean the blood off of it but you assumed that up in the real world, they’d have functioning washing machines.

Eddie reached for it with a smile. “Thought I lost it.”

“Well, you didn’t.” You stood on your tiptoes then, gently placing your palms on his chest to press a gentle kiss on his cheek.

Ask me to come with you. Ask me to stay with you. Please… tell me you don’t want me to stay here all on my own…

“Are you gonna be okay?” he asked, tilting his head when I pulled away again, reluctantly removing my hands from him.

“I’ll… be fine. I’ve always been here, remember? Good luck, Eddie.”

“B-bye,” he said, waving awkwardly before getting to the gooey ground.

And with every inch he crawled forward, your heart broke a little more until eventually… he was gone.

Fuck, were those tears? Your eyes were burning, your vision was all blurry. You blinked, frantically, to scare them away. It was for the best. Eddie didn’t belong here. Sooner or later, he would have faced the consequences of staying down here. The atmosphere was toxic to humans, you reminded yourself, the lack of sunlight and vitamin D a constant threat to his well-being, not to mention his poor nutrition if he had kept eating leftovers from literal trash cans.

And yet… yet a part of you had hoped that, even after such a short time, Eddie would want to stay with you. He was an outcast in Hawkins, feared and hated by the majority of its people but here… here, he had someone who cared. Was that selfish? Probably. If only… if only you had bothered to find out if his lips were as soft as they looked. If only you had been able to capture the moment of sleeping in his arms forever. But the memory would fade, just like your real name. Kas. You smiled to yourself. That was who you were now. You would use his name for you with pride.

When you shoved your hands into the pockets of your leather coat, something hard and cold brushed against your knuckles. Frowning, you blinked once more, pulling out a tiny silver object. Your lips parted when you realised that it was one of Eddie’s rings. A silver cross surrounded by four skulls. Don’t forget me. He must have slipped it in your pocket when you’d kissed him goodbye. A sad smile tugged on the corners of your mouth before you slid it on.

Then your heart sank. You felt his presence before you glanced behind you. You didn’t turn around to face him.

“What do you want, Henry?”

“You hid a boy here. Nursed him back to health. What for?”

“Leave him out of it. He was just collateral damage to you anyway. And it doesn’t matter anymore. He’s gone now. He’s back in Hawkins.”

“Then he will die regardless. They will all die. Remember what you promised me.”

“I did my part, Henry. The bats did what you asked them to, they protected your precious home and they will wreak havoc once the cracks are safe enough to… travel through. There’s nothing more I can do to help you.”

Henry growled and you spun around, fuming. “Thanks to you, I’ll never be able to have a life up there. That was the one thing you promised me. That I would be able to leave this place.”

“You will, bat. No need to remind me.” Bat. Not Kas. Not what Eddie had named you.

“Yes. I will return to a pile of ashes and decay.” To a place where, even if Hawkins’ people mysteriously survived, you could never be with Eddie simply because of what you were. “They’ll start another attempt, you know,” you insisted when he turned to leave. “They will not stop until you’re dead. If I have learned anything about Hawkins, it’s that they will fight back until their very last breath.”

“Then their very last breath it shall be,” Henry responded. You flinched when he made the gate disappear with but a flick of his wrist—long, gooey vines annihilating the only way up that you knew currently existed. Your only way up should you ever decide to take the risk and leave, hoping the humans would not hunt you down simply because you came from the Upside Down. Not if, you realised. When.

You hissed at Henry, baring your fangs before he vanished, and twisting the silver ring on your finger. You had to warn Eddie. You owed him that.

Before the goofy metalhead came into your life, you hadn’t known your heart to be capable of so many emotions at once. You longed for him, missed him with every fibre of your being, and yet, with every step you ventured out further away from his trailer in search of another gate to reunite with him, the more your heart bled for your bats.

Leaving them behind and to their fate after what you had asked them to do… it felt wrong to leave them in the lurch but what other choice did you have? Hundreds, if not thousands of people would have to let their life up in the real world where, according to Eddie’s stories, there were oceans and actual sunlight. You had needed a push, something to finally pick up the courage and get away from this bleak existence. But you’d never considered paying a price this high.

The fire hit you out of nowhere. Hot and scourging, it singed your skin, blinding you and throwing you to the ground. You covered your face with a shriek, the burning and unbearable sensation having you thrash on the dirty ground in pain.

Your lungs filled with hot hair, the crackling and windy sounds drowning out even your own screaming. But then you suddenly heard his voice.

“Harrington! Stop! Stop it! Steve, please, stop!”

Were you hallucinating? Perhaps you were dying. Perhaps you were already dead. Perhaps Henry had killed you and your mind attempted, frantically, to make the traumatic experience more endurable.

Eventually, the fire ceased in a way it almost appeared like your attacker was being shoved away, with only the sizzling of your burned skin remaining. Angry red marks and blisters formed wherever the flames had tasted you and licked across you, including your cheeks and palms.

Trembling, you curled up on the ground, still too blinded to make out the person who knelt down beside you and cradled you in their arms. Those hands, however, adorned with cool silver rings… Eddie.

“Shit, shit, shit… Kas, are you okay? Look at me. Hey… hey! Are you okay? Open your eyes, Kas, please open your eyes!” His panicked voice made you want to calm him down, providing you with just enough energy to do as he asked.

“Oh, thank god… are you okay? I’m so sorry, I’m sorry…”

“Y-you’re back,” you choked out, taken hostage by a coughing fit only a fraction of a second later.

“Yeah… yeah, I’m back.” You felt his palm against the side of your cheek that was not burned, calloused fingers stroking over your cheekbone.

“W-what can I do? Are you gonna be okay?”

“…n-need… -ood…” Talking was exhausting. Keeping your eyes open was exhausting. Fighting against the pain was so tiring it would have been so easy to give in to cool darkness and slip into blissful unconsciousness.

“What? What do you need? Speak up, sweetheart.”

Sweetheart. You didn’t care you probably had an audience. You could sense them. More humans besides your attacker, at least two.

“Bl-…ood… I need blood.”

Eddie’s eyes widened. “Could you… I mean, could you drink from me? Would… would that work?”

You nodded—barely visible to the naked eye, your chin moved up and down once. Eddie caught it nonetheless. Without any hesitation whatsoever, he leaned down to you until your warm and shaking lips brushed against the sensitive skin of his neck, his long hair acting like a curtain and shielding you from the eyes of his friends.

This time, as soon as your instincts took over, you let them. Your fangs appeared within a second, your eyes turning blood-red. Your mouth watered in joyful anticipation when you opened it, sinking your pair of sharp teeth straight into his neck, breaking the skin, and… fuck, he tasted divine. So good and sweet and rich and…

Eddie flinched when you bit him but, albeit carefully, held you even tighter, mutely urging you on.

“Shit, what the fuck is happening here? Eddie? Eddie!”

“No, Steve, stop! It’s fine.” The metalhead did not elaborate, not for now and not until you had enough of your strength back to dig your fingers into his shoulders, feeling the cool leather of his jacket under your fingertips.

You promised to yourself that you would take five more sips—one, two, three, four… five… Reluctantly, you pulled away and licked your lips. You’d left a bite mark on him—one he quickly covered with his hair.

“A-are you good? Do you need more?” You shook your head in response, feeling your fangs retreat and your eyes, hopefully, returning to their usual colour.

The one with the fire—Steve Harrington—glared at you suspiciously, holding a lighter in one, and a can of hairspray in the other hand. The other two were young women—strong, intimidating almost. One more so than the other.

“Everyone… this is Kas.”

“Kas?” one of the girls repeated. “She’s the one who saved your life?”

Eddie nodded. “This is Robin,” he said, nodding towards the girl who’d spoken up. “And this is Nancy, and this… is Steve.”

“Sorry about that. I thought you were…”

“It’s fine… Eddie told me you guys are generally suspicious of everything down here.”

“Can’t blame us. Last time we were everything tried to kill us.”

You blinked at him before turning your attention back to Eddie. “Why did you come back?”

“That’s a long story but…”

“One we don’t have time for right now,” Nancy interrupted. You felt the urge to snap at her and you probably would have if you didn’t still feel weak. Your wounds were regenerating but it would take your body some time to fully recover from the attack.

Fire… the one lethal thing that could kill you instantly. If Eddie hadn’t stopped him…

“Henry closed the gate you escaped through. He’s gonna make his move. Soon. I tried to come and warn you, find another one.”

“We need to get you out of here then, sweetheart.” There it was again—that adorable nickname that you liked even better than Kas. You nodded once more, too weak for your mind to toss around all those thoughts you’d surely have if you hadn’t just escaped death by a smidge.

“I’ll uh… I’ll take her back.”

“Back? You want to bring her to Hawkins? What if she—“

“She won’t, Steve,” Eddie snapped at him. But when he turned to you again, scooping you up like a bride, his voice instantly became softer again. “Can you walk?”

“… don’t know…”

“It’s okay… I’ll carry you.”

His kind offer was the last thing you heard before you finally succumbed to the welcoming darkness.

“Kas? Like the vampire Kas? She’s Kas? Dude, I thought you were talking about some eerie humanoid bat person, not… not a girl!”

“Yeah no. No, that’s who I meant. I know how fucked up this is, man…” Eddie’s voice became muffled for a moment, almost as if he was hiding his face in his hands.

“So… she’s not… is she linked to Vecna? Because if she is and we kill him, wouldn’t that mean that she dies too?”

“No,” you croaked out before Eddie could respond to the other person. Two heads whipped in your direction instantly, one of which you did not recognise. You shifted uncomfortably. You were lying softly, covered with a blanket that smelled like Eddie and cigarette smoke. Someone had removed your leather coat too.

“W-where am I?”

“You’re in my bed… again.” Eddie’s cheeky grin warmed you from the inside out, even more so because he blushed. “Welcome to Hawkins, sweetheart. You’re in the real world. The Up… if you will.”

“You said… you said you wouldn’t die if we kill Vecna?” the boy with the curly hair and a hat that read Thinking Cap asked.

“That’s Dustin,” Eddie explained. “He’s a friend.”

You nodded. “No. I’ve been in the Upside Down for much longer than Henry. He’s… made this world his master but not me. I just happened to be in it when he arrived.”

“You were… born there?”

“Yes.”

“So there are others? Like you?”

You shot Eddie a hesitant glance. You hadn’t told him about that—you hadn’t wanted to freak him out even more. “There are. But not in the upside-down version of Hawkins. I was the only one there.”

“So… so you don’t have to go back eventually to not… drop dead if the gates close?” Dustin probed.

“No.” At least, that’s what you hoped. You had no solid proof that you wouldn’t turn to dust once the first ever sunbeams you had ever seen with your own eyes hit your skin either. You already had a feeling you would have to remain in the shadows as best as you could but unlike Eddie in the Upside Down… you were pretty certain you could survive in this dimension. You were not human, after all. It was in your very nature to adapt. The question was… would the humans tolerate you after all the evil that Henry had brought upon Hawkins through the gates?

“The others,” you started then, “Nancy, Robin, and Steve… are they still down there?”

“Yeah. They should be back anytime now. We uh, found another gate—by chance, really. They went back to the Creel house. Vecna’s house, trying to find… something. Anything that could help us stop him. We don’t have a lot of options left at the moment.”

You nodded once more. “What happened here in the meantime? Were you able to clear your name?”

“Not… really. Yet. I’m still in hiding, technically but uh… Hopper’s working on it.”

“Hopper?”

“He’s the Sheriff of Hawkins. Or he used to be,” Dustin intervened.

A third nod. Quite frankly, you were overwhelmed with being in a different dimension altogether—you finally understood how Eddie must have felt, especially after almost dying. You almost laughed out loud. The exact same thing had happened to you now. The irony was truly hilarious.

The noise that came from outside the trailer was audible to you first. With your enhanced hearing, you instantly made out the voices of Steve, Nancy and Robin. Moments later, the front door opened. Dustin sped out of the room, closing the door to Eddie’s room in the process.

“How are you feeling now?” Eddie asked.

“Better but… still weak.”

“Do you need more blood?”

Guilt washed over your entire body as you bit your lower lip. You were hesitant to nod for a fourth time. Eddie caught the hint nonetheless. But just when you were about to ask him to bring you an animal or a blood bag from the hospitals in this dimension, he spoke up again.

“Drink from me again.”

“Eddie…”

“Just do it, sweetheart. I’ll be fine. You need your strength back.”

Finally, the metalhead sat down on the bed with you. Your heart sped up when he pulled you onto his lap and your legs hugged his hips, his calloused fingers exploring your back.

Biting back a moan, you brushed his lovely hair out of the way—and as soon as his scent hit you, it was game over, and sunk your fangs into him and drank.

Eddie’s grip around you tightened, almost as if he was unwilling to let go of you anytime soon. Almost as if… almost as if he was enjoying it. But that was impossible, right? You were hurting him. You were sucking the very essence that kept him alive out of his body…

In your hungry haze, you noticed the door opening again only a few seconds too late. Dustin walked back in, followed by Robin, Nancy and Steve. You looked up with your teeth still lodged deep inside Eddie’s neck, noticing their horrified expressions.

I must look like a monster to them. Red eyes, dark purple veins under them, sharp fangs, and a murderous, famished expression…

You forced yourself to pull away, bloody fangs and lips surely glistening in the artificial light in Eddie’s room. You covered your mouth quickly and licked yourself clean, turning away so you wouldn’t have to face them again for a brief moment.

You could tell that Eddie was about to ask if you’d had enough or if you needed more when he too realised that you had an audience.

“Did you find anything?” Eddie asked.

“Nothing.” Steve didn’t take his eyes off of you. You leaned back again, covering yourself with Eddie’s blanket so you’d have something to do with your hands, making it clear you didn’t want any attention, especially after what they’d just witnessed.

Steve nodded towards you nonetheless. “Are you sure we can trust her, Munson? I don’t care if she’s like one of your D&D characters.”

“Wait… what? You named me after a D&D character?”

Eddie blushed. “Uh… yeah… a vampire who works for Vecna but eventually betrays and kills him.”

“Oh. Well, that sounds about right.”

“So you’re on our side.”

“Of course I’m on your side. Steve, is it, right?”

“You said you wanted to come to warn me. Us. Vecna’s gonna make his play soon?”

“I… yes. The bats will be first. Henry’s planning on opening more gates to let them all through. To let them loose in Hawkins.”

“But I thought he doesn’t control them. You do?”

“That’s… I… I wanted to tell you but…”

“You told them to attack Hawkins,” he concluded.

“No! I mean, I… I told them to invade the town once he opens the gates.”

“What! Are you crazy?” Steve bellowed. You flinched, the loud noise hurting your ears a little.

“That’s what your deal was about? You didn’t tell me that. You said the bats were harmless if they’re not provoked.”

“Eddie, I’m sorry… I couldn’t… that’s why I was about to come here. I wanted to give you a headstart, all of you. I wanted to make things right because…” Because I’m falling in love with you. You stopped yourself before you could end the sentence and embarrass yourself even further.

“So when they make it through… can you stop them?” Robin intervened. In the meantime, Nancy and Dustin only glared at you all but speechless.

“I can try.”

Eddie reached for your hand. “You said they listen to you.”

“They do but… they are simple-minded creatures. Once they’re up there, there will be more prey for them than they’ve ever known to exist. They might not aim to kill but they will attack when they get hungry. Not out of malice—simply because it’s in their nature. They want to survive. And the more food they have available to them, the more strength they can build.”

“Well that’s just great,” Steve remarked with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Okay, you know what… let’s call it a night. Nothing good will still come out of us arguing with her. Let’s meet again tomorrow and plan our next steps then,” Nancy said.

“Yeah… it’s a little awkward all of you standing around in my room like that.” You chuckled to yourself when Eddie grinned at them. Seeing him smile was not only a relief, it was a revelation.

“Okay, I don’t mean to freak anyone out but do we still have until tomorrow?” Robin argued.

“I can sense the bats. I’ll know. We’re safe, for now.”

“Good to know. You’re right. Not you, Munson, Nancy. We’ll catch up tomorrow. Are you sure you’re gonna be fine here… all alone… with… with Kas?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll behave,” you added, daring a little smirk.

Steve and Robin blinked at you as if you’d just admitted to killing a puppy.

“Okay… good night, Eddie. We’ll call tomorrow.” Dustin was the only one who waved before they all staggered out of the room one by one and Eddie shifted on the bed so he could lie down next to you. You still waited until the door fell shut to scoot closer and place your head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. Even after only such a short time… you had missed the sound of it.

“I’m… I’m really happy to see you.”

Eddie smirked. “I’m really happy to see you too. You kept my ring,” he remarked, nodding at your hand which was tracing the print on the band shirt he was wearing.

“I found it in my pocket after you’d left.”

“Nah, yeah I thought I’d leave you a little something so you wouldn’t forget me.”

“I don’t think it’s physically possible to forget someone like you, Eddie. At first… at first, I thought I’d never see you again. That’s stupid, right? We met only a couple of weeks ago.” Just say it. I like you. Three little words, so easy. Fuck… you were no silly teenager with a fear of rejection. You were a goddamn vampire, for Heaven’s sake! You could deal with a human boy not reciprocating your feelings. Feelings that seemed to consume every fibre of your being and…

Your heart stopped when his lips landed on yours. Suddenly. Out of nowhere. The kiss was almost too brief, with no tongues attempting a battle for dominance.

When he pulled away, he instantly panicked. “Sorry… was that too much? Or too soon? I… fuck, I thought I lost you there when Steve didn’t put that fucking hairspray away.”

“I guess we’re even now then. I want you… no, I need you to kiss me again.” That made him grin, mischievously so. “I wanted to stay with you. But I also wanted to go back home, you know?”

“Eddie… staying would have killed you.”

“I wanted to ask you to come with me.” Slash. Like a dagger twisting in your heart.

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because… I don’t know, isn’t it like… a big thing to ask someone to leave their dimension to live in another?” His breath was warm against your lips. You let your fingertips trail over the two bite marks you had given him.

“I had been hoping to get out. Ever since that first gate opened a few years ago. I just… didn’t have the guts to do it yet. Because of Henry… Vecna… what do you think will happen when they find out what I am, Eddie? Your friends clearly don’t trust me, in fact, I’m absolutely sure they hate me.”

“They don’t hate you. They’re… suspicious? I mean, so was I… you can be pretty mean and scary.”

You gave him a weak smile. “What about the other humans? They’ll hunt me down and shoot me dead, or lock me up in a lab to experiment on once they realise where I came from.”

“I won’t let that happen to you.”

“Promise?” you breathed out.

“Promise…” And with that, his lips were back on yours, more eager this time to drink you in like you were his last meal. Eddie’s left hand came around the back of your neck, pulling you even closer to him all the while you hooked one of your legs over his lower body, your right hand grabbing a fistful of his t-shirt.

His mouth tasted almost as divine as his blood. You could make out cigarettes, a faint hint of weed and… some sort of honeyed cornflakes and pizza. Fuck, you wanted to devour him whole.

Getting a little braver, you crawled on top of him so you could straddle him, your hands exploring his clothed chest all the while your tongue teased his soft lips, asking for entrance. Eddie’s mouth opened wider and you sought out his tongue, starting a passionate fight.

By the time he pulled away out of breath, his hands still stroking your back, you were almost too far gone to remember the threat that was lurking in the Upside Down.

“You still hungry?” he murmured.

You raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m starting to think you like me drinking from you.”

“Yeah, well, uh… it’s pretty hot… to be honest. Very metal. I… kinda enjoy it.”

Hearing those words from his mouth… fuck, you wanted to pounce on him, feed on him and fuck him all at the same time. Tilting your head with your eyes turning red, you trailed your fingertips over the side of his face, making him shiver. His brown orbs widened as soon as he noticed the colour change in yours.

“I need you to rest. I can’t take so much at once. Let your body recover first. I… could be persuaded to have another sip tomorrow.”

“But are you gonna be alright?”

You nodded. “The wounds have healed well. Perks of not being human. I’ll be back to normal by tomorrow.”

“You sure, sweetheart?” There it was again. Sweetheart. You suppressed a sigh.

“I’m sure. Let’s… let’s get some sleep.”

Eddie stole another kiss from you before he obeyed, draping the blanket over the both of you. You fell asleep in his arms, listening to his breath slowly evening out as he too wandered off to dreamland.

Steve kept his promise. The next morning, it had barely struck eight am before Eddie’s phone rang, ripping you both from your slumber. The metalhead almost fell out of bed when he went to answer it, quickly barking a few words into the little construction before leaning his forehead against the wall, still half-asleep.

By the time he finally brought himself to crawl back into bed, you too managed to open your eyes, wrapping your arms around him to stay warm. You never thought you’d enjoy body heat so much. You were used to the cold, used to sleeping alone—and even though you knew that there was only so much heat that you could take, cuddling with Eddie made your heart pound and put your mind at ease. You felt safe, protected…

“Hey…”

“You hungry?” You giggled like a little girl, burying your face in his neck. His excitement was tangible—in fact, you were certain you would be able to taste it if you bit him right now.

“How about you have some breakfast first? I don’t want you to faint on me.”

“Yeah, coffee and a cigarette actually do sound like a great idea.”

“A cigarette? For breakfast? I mean real food, Eddie. No wonder humans have such short lives.”

He grinned and you followed him into the kitchen. The fridge didn’t have much to offer. There was some open yoghurt in there that, according to the smell, had expired already, a half-empty egg carton, some milk, and some leftover pizza on a plate with some cling foil on top of it. Unceremoniously, Eddie took it out and chucked it in the microwave. You scrunched up your nose. In the meantime, he made sure to make himself some coffee and finally, lit himself a cigarette.

“I’m pretty sure the food I got you in the Upside Down tasted better than what you’re consuming right now.”

The metalhead shrugged. “Wayne’s gonna bring some groceries home when he gets back from his shift. Since I still can’t just… you know… stroll into a supermarket and stuff.”

“How… how did he react when he learned you’re still alive?”

“He was… relieved. Hugged me. Even cried. The old man treats me better than my own father. He’s more of a dad to me than he’ll ever be.”

“I’m glad you were in good hands then when you left.” Me. The last word you almost choked on. The microwave started beeping just when he finished his cigarette and extinguished its butt in the ashtray on the kitchen table.

Growing a little more confident about your surroundings now, you hoisted yourself up on the counter all the while Eddie dug into his left-over pizza.

By the time he only had one piece left on his plate, there was a barely visible film of fat around his lips which he quickly wiped away with the back of his hand. You smirked. So he always ate like he was starving.

Raising an eyebrow, you slid off the counter, walked over to him, and sat down on the table next to his plate. His eyes widened and his smirk… downright mischievous, even more so when you reached for his wrist and held it with both your hands. You bared your fangs and sank them into his flesh.

You certainly did not imagine the moan that escaped his lips when you broke the skin, his own food and coffee quickly forgotten. When you released him, the look on his gorgeous face was so aroused, you could have pounced on him. Maybe you could. Maybe you should.

Licking the last droplets of his blood from your lips, you pushed yourself forward so you came to sit on Eddie’s lap. Your mouth was on his before he realised what was happening, your hands grabbing fistfuls of his long hair that was still completely dishevelled from sleeping.

And once again, you became so caught up in each other that you did not hear the knock soon enough—nor the door opening and Eddie’s friends spreading inside the kitchen and living room area as if they’d seen a ghost. The only one who was missing was the kid with the hat. Dustin. You liked him.

Eddie held you tightly when you attempted to move off of him. When none of them dared say the first word, you took the initiative, braver than yesterday now that you were feeling better again too.

“You all look surprised Eddie is still alive after spending the night with me.”

“Yeah… you can’t… really… blame us,” Steve choked out. Robin nodded with an apologetic expression on her face. Nancy was the only one whose poker face was so impenetrable you were starting to wonder whether she had slept at all last night.

“This is Jonathan,” she finally said, introducing you to the stranger they had brought with them. You tilted your head. Jonathan looked like social awkwardness personified. He nodded at you with half a smile.

They’re still scared of me, you thought, biting your lower lip.

Eddie cleared his throat so they would stop staring at you. “So? Any news?”

“Uh, yeah. Joyce is on her way with El and Will.”

“What about Hopper?”

“Says he’s currently busy with filing that police report on Jason Carver to prove you didn’t kill him.”

“Right.”

“In the meantime, we need to get back to the War Zone. We need more weapons. Like, now. Are you coming with us, Munson?”

“I want to stay with Eddie,” you instantly blurted out.

The metalhead reached for your hand and squeezed it.

“No offence… but I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to roam freely around Hawkins… yet,” Steve said. He almost sounded a little like he was sorry. Perhaps he didn’t loathe you after all—even if he’d almost killed you last night.

“None taken. I don’t exactly feel ready to either. But I’m not staying here alone.”

“I’ll stay,” Eddie reassured you. “I’ll stay with you.”

“Um, Kas… we need you to tell us how we can get rid of your bats. I mean… I’m assuming you don’t want us to kill them,” Steve offered.

“Absolutely not.”

“That’s what we thought, so… is there a way to weaken them?”

You took a deep breath, contemplating whether you could trust them. If the bats got hurt, that would be on you—your fault.

“They don’t like warmth. They’ll steer away from it, just like me. If you found a way to keep Hawkins hot enough, they would retreat and hide in the woods. That’s the best advice I can offer you. I don’t want you to harm them.”

“Are they like… your children?” Jonathan asked carefully.

“No, they’re… we’re just very alike.” You didn’t elaborate and you were sure you didn’t have to, not really.

“So that’s nothing new then. Our next step should be to get in touch with Hopper, there’s gotta be a way to heat the city up so the bats will stay clear from everyone.” Nancy sounded determined, earning her an obedient nod from Jonathan.

“Just don’t… don’t make any loud noises, not like you did in the Upside Down. You’d want to get rid of what’s causing you pain too,” you added when they both turned to leave. They acknowledged it with a quick wave, leaving only Steve and Robin behind.

“That means Robin and I will head to the War Zone until El and Will get here. Take this.” Steve handed Eddie what looked like a portable phone. You realised quickly it must have been a walkie-talkie. And then, with a brief goodbye, they too were out of the door again.

For a few heartbeats, it remained silent. It was a comfortable and yet tense silence both at the same time. Eventually, you leaned your forehead against Eddie’s. You noticed only now that his wrist was still bleeding a little and he’d grabbed an old and probably used napkin on the table to cover it up.

“Who are they? El and Will?”

“El has superpowers, literally. Like… like Vecna.”

You gasped. “She must be the girl he’s coming after Hawkins for then.”

Eddie nodded, his hands caressing your waist. “And Will is the boy who went missing a few years back. Got possessed by the Mind Flayer and I think he can still… feel Vecna? I don’t know, it’s all so fucked up.”

“I’ve heard of him. I never saw him but there was this red-haired girl…” Guilt washed over you as you bit your lower lip. That girl had been one of those victims you had fed on—she’d been too far gone to stay alive for much longer and still…

“A… a red-haired girl? Was she… was she wearing a cheerleading uniform… by any chance?”

“I… no, she wore glasses and high-waisted trousers.”

“Oh…”

“Who is… was the other girl?”

“Chrissy. She… uh… she died right here in our… in our living room.” Eddie’s brown eyes trailed over to where Vecna must have taken her life, creating a gate and spreading fear and horror. Your lips parted the more distant Eddie became and you quickly realised why.

“You have survivor’s guilt…”

“What?”

“That girl… an innocent girl died and there was nothing you could have done to save her. Eddie, it’s not your fault. This is Vecna.”

“Yeah… yeah…” Clearing his throat, he tore his gaze away from the invisible spot in the living room. “I just wish I didn’t run away, you know.”

“Eddie… I saw you in the Upside Down. You’re brave. And… you’ve got a vampire sitting on your lap right now.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess… that’s true.”

“When does your uncle get home again?”

“Should be another hour or so.”

“Good. Then how about we continue where we left off?”

Eddie swallowed. As if you’d flipped a switch on him, his brown eyes glistened with unfulfilled desire yet again. “Are you sure?”

You let your eyes turn red. Eddie grinned when you bared your fangs at him and winked. “I’m sure. Are you?”

He nodded and you watched him frown when you gently pushed the wrist he offered you away to focus on his neck instead. His scent was intoxicating when your nose brushed against his sensitive skin.

Perhaps it would take a while longer for Eddie’s friends to accept you the way he had. Perhaps you too, much like Eddie, would have to live in hiding for a few months. But once Vecna was gone… once your bats were back in the Upside Down safely and all threats to his life, to all of their lives, were eliminated… then maybe you’d both get your happy end. You both deserved it.

A/N: I am more than inclined to write more vampire!Reader x Eddie. Perhaps one where RC turns Eddie after all? Or a Part 2 to this one? Hot vampire sex? Ohhh, the possibilities are endless! 😈

#eddie munson #eddie munson imagine #the demobat queen #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x female reader #eddie the freak muson #stranger things #stranger things imagine #netflix #joseph quinn #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson vampire #kas eddie #sserpente

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dear--mars · 7 months

Text

05 Hating you?? — setup

tartaglia x f!reader

After 3 hours of shopping and thousands of dollars later here you were, sitting in one of the highest classed restaurants, wearing a dress that could pay off your rent for the next couple of months. Childe sits in front of you but he keeps checking his watch. You look at him suspiciously before realizing you're sitting at a group table.

“Childe?” He comes and responds before looking up at you.

“Why are we really here?”

“???”

“You keep looking at your watch like you're waiting for somebody and we're sitting at a group table so it seems like we're not the only ones going to be eating here…”

“...okay, I have a huge favor to ask of you.”

“No.”

“You don't even know what it is, please! Just hear me out!” I look at him as he gives me pleading eyes before I shrugged and let him explain.

“Okay, so I should start from the beginning. As you know my parents own one of the most successful electronic companies in the world. So I grew up pretty sheltered and given whatever I wanted. My parents never asked for anything in return, they didn't give much parental love but they did their job as parents and I was happy with that. So when my parents asked me to take over the company and to become the heir I felt like I had an obligation to say yes. They never asked for anything of me before so it only felt right giving in to their one demand, right?”

“Kind of feels like you're trauma dumping…” I said before nodding at his explanation.

“What? No. What?” I only shrugged.

“Anyways, high school was where I got involved in a dangerous gang called the Fatui. After that, I got into a lot of fights and just a bunch of bad stuff in general. The gang has been disbanded but I still hang out with some of the old members. Anyways ever since that my parents have kind of lost faith in me and keep track of everything to do with me. It's not too suffocating because as long as I don't do anything that would harm the company's image, they don’t care. But do you remember at the New Year's party when we kissed? My friend had taken a picture and posted it on Twitter. My parents saw that and thought that you were my girlfriend and asked to arrange a meeting dinner to see if you’re good enough to date me.”

“I don't get why that means I have to go on a date with you…”

“Because I can’t let them know that I'm going around kissing random girls.”

“But you are.”

“That’s no- oh! They're here.”

“What-? Who’s here?”

“My family.”

“What?! Childe! I’m not going to-” He cut you off as he gave you a stack of cash.

“This is 10k in cash…” He said whispering.

“...” You slowly grabbed the cash quickly counting it before stuffing it in your purse. You turned to him with the biggest smile on your face.

“Shall we go get your family, my love?” His eyes widened in shock before he composed himself and grinned.

“After you, darling. Also, my real name is Ajax.” I nodded

“Mom, Dad! Over here!”

"Ajax." His dad acknowledged before sitting down.

"Dad, Mom. I'd like you to meet my girlfriend, [Name]."

"It’s a pleasure to finally meet you."

“Likewise.” Childe’s mom said smiling.

“What are your intentions?” Childe’s dad said cutting to the chase.

“Dad!”

“Honey!”

“It’s fine.” You said patting Childe’s thigh. “I’m not sure what you mean by that?”

“Why are you with my son?”

“Because I love him…?”

“Do you love him or his money?”

“...” You looked at him flabbergasted that he could say something like that to someone he just met.

“I see… I think we're done here-”

“Wow.” You said before scoffing.

“What…?”

“Are you here to meet your son’s girlfriend or criticize her? Chil- Ajax has a lot more than money.”

“Like what?” Childe’s eyes flash with hurt.

“He has good looks, good grades, and even a good girlfriend.”

“Pft-” The tense atmosphere was interrupted by Childe’s kid-like laughter. “Well said, my dear. Mom, Dad. I didn't invite you here so you could test her. I invited you here to introduce her as my girlfriend and nothing can change that.”

“...I see you’ve made your choice. I don’t see any more reason to be here then.” He said before getting up and leaving as the mother followed.

It wasn't until after they left it hit you. Childe just announced you his girlfriend in front of his parents… You whipped your head toward Childe.

“Why would you say that?!”

“Say what?”

“That I was your girlfriend?!”

“You are…?”

“I’m your “fake” girlfriend!”

“You took the money…”

“Yeah, to act like your fake girlfriend in front of your parents…”

“The moment you took the cash was the moment you decided to be my fake girlfriend for a couple of weeks, at least.”

“...ah fuck…” You mumbled.

Hating you??

masterlist -- prev | next

childe might be falling ;)

[name] said everything on impulse

Synopsis -- In which a girl who had been played by Cupid refuses to be fooled around with anymore. That was until the love devil in one last ditch attempt sent you the school’s rich playboy. Caught in a string of lies, rumors, and fame you end up fake-dating but what happens when you realize he’s not who you originally thought…? Author's notes -- I'm losing too much motivation... Taglist is open -- @hanilessa @duckyyyx @boywxonder @ynverse @ahnneyong @wonderland-fan @yelleloww @wisteriaa-heree @sukunasrealgf @yuminako

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jeonqkooks · 2 years

Text

strictly platonic | jjk (teaser)

READ THE FULL FIC HERE. posted 17.07.22

Sometimes, Jungkook can be a little selfish; and sometimes, the lengths you would go to for his happiness mean relinquishing your own.

pairing: jungkook x reader

genre/warnings: best friends to lovers, college au, fake dating(ish) au, pining!, fluff, angst, smut

release date: TBD. hopefully by the beginning of july

word count: 788 for the teaser (final word count should be at least 10k, we shall see)

note: posting the teaser to actually put some pressure on me to finish this fic instead of letting it collect dust among my wips. also can y’all tell that i got lazy with the banner lol 😭

— if you’d like to be tagged when the fic gets released, go here and fill out the form ♡

Over the years, you have accumulated a list of annoying things about Jeon Jungkook.

He’s very loud, and has absolutely zero subtlety. He’s competitive—perhaps to an alarming extent—and chews with his mouth open sometimes. He’s way too stubborn for his own good and would rather eat soap than admit he’s in the wrong. He’s childish and full of pride at the same time, which is always a combination for disaster.

He can be selfish though he doesn’t mean to; maybe it’s just a side effect of being an overgrown baby. He needs to cuddle when either of you sleeps over, or else he gets agitated and won’t stop whining until you slot yourself into his side.

Jungkook hogs the blanket. He forces you to go on 6AM runs with him. He thinks everything you own is also his by extension, but not vice versa. He constantly blasts music while you’re trying to study, and only turns it down a couple notches when you threaten to tell his mom about that time he was in middle school and broke one of her precious vases, but somehow managed to pin it on the dog.

Despite all that, Jungkook is very charming, effortlessly so. Ever since he had that growth spurt at 14, girls started flocking to his side and vying for his attention, and surprisingly, his previously quiet self morphed into someone more confident and outspoken.

Throughout high school and now halfway into university, Jungkook has become the person that guys wanted to be, and girls wanted to be with.

He looks as if Apollo had descended from the heavens and made himself home among mere mortals. With fluffy dark hair, sparkly Bambi eyes, a jawline that can cut glass, and a well-toned body underneath his oversized hoodies, he’s the textbook definition of “boyfriend material”. Wherever he goes, Jungkook just exudes that charisma that makes people stop and say, “Wow. That. I want that. Where do I get myself someone like that? Do they sell them on Amazon?”

He’s smart in that casual and infuriating way where he still manages to ace all his classes without ever really trying. All his professors adore him even though he’s almost always late to class and hands in his assignments at least a few days after the submission deadline without giving any kind of notice or excuse.

Jungkook seems like the total package—someone that mothers would love to call their son-in-law. (But, not everyone is privy to all his flaws like you are.)

And if all of that isn’t enough to knock the pants off of every wide-eyed college-aged girl, he’s a Fine Arts major who looks like he came straight out of a Pinterest moodboard, who wears a pair of those thin-rimmed glasses in class that always makes the TA just a little distracted. Who carries around a leather-bound journal wherever he goes like he’s a Shakespearean protagonist, just in case inspiration strikes and he needs a place for his sketches. It’s the journal that you saved up for three months to get him as a high school graduation gift, but also the very same one that everyone on campus daydreams about having a page dedicated to them in it.

There are, however, a couple of downsides to having godly looks and being the campus heartthrob.

You reckon this inconveniences you more than it does him. You can’t recall how many girls have come up to you for advice on how to approach him. Or how many love notes you’ve been asked to pass since ninth grade, only for him to skim and toss them.

(Jungkook doesn’t actually throw them away; he just never responds to any of them, thereby bestowing upon you the honor of watching smiles drop from eager lips when you regurgitate the same lines of “Sorry, he’s not looking to date right now” to his admirers.)

The attention gets to his head sometimes, but at least he’s never contracted the same asshole disease that guys get whenever someone throws a couple of looks their way.

You’re his messenger of heartbreak, as he once so annoyingly called it. It helps that he’s your best friend, and you make him treat you to a nice meal after each time. If it happens to be someone especially persistent who would constantly badger you unless you gave them his phone number, he would throw in five extra coffees for all your troubles.

What doesn’t make it easier, though, is the fact that you’re also one of those lovestruck girls whose hearts he breaks on a daily basis, but you’ll never let him in on that little secret.

You’ve known him nearly all your life, and you’ve been in love with him for half that time.

#jungkook #jungkook x reader #jungkook fluff #jungkook smut #jungkook angst #bts fic #bts x reader #bts fluff #bts smut #bts angst #bts scenarios #jeon jungkook #fic: strictly platonic

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nomorefstogive · 6 months

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Our Dearest Sin (Cross Posted on Ao3)

Well, well, well, here we are again ladies, gentlemen, and all things that lie betwixt the two, another rabbit hole to dive headfirst into and another project that will likely not be fully completed till at last we are laid to rest under the cold earth in colder stone.

This is a trip into the bleak and despair filled world of Path To Nowhere, a land of sinners, Corruptors and Maniacs. A land of Black rings and of shadow Cabals that threaten to upend all there is and all there will be in a vain pursuit of their own goals.

But dear friends, none of these are why we are here.

No, we are here my esteemed comrades to instead indulge in some comfort and fluff, with the occasional sprinkling of angst for extra seasoning here and there, along with the occasional dark and warped and horrifically brutal moments for that extra kick, in the form of some oneshots featuring the wonderful Sinners of this world and the lovely Female Chief of Minos, though we likewise have ideas for a ficlet series with a female OC or reader insert for some of the ideas we have, though that might end up benign adapted for the Chief instead as well, we will have to see.

A bit of a tidbit before we begin, we are a shameless yuri fan and simp, so expect most of these to be about the ladies of PTN, though the men will likewise get their days in the sun…maybe…probably…okay there is somewhere between a 0.01% and 70.0% chance they will be covered in platonic or friendly manners okay?

As a final note, this fic was inspired by Ota1612’s own Path to Nowhere fic, alongside Prisoner_of_Sin's own fic as well, links will be below this paragraph.

Ota1612’s Fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/50373349/chapters/127266175

Prisoner_of_Sin’s fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49781623/chapters/125660485

That said, this project is something of an experiment in seeing if we can keep each entry below 10k words, that said we do not have much faith in that happening lol.

With all of that said, let us begin our dive down this rabbit hole shall we?

Please note that you are all free to make use of any of the ideas you see in this story, so long as due credit is given and we are informed about them so that we can see what you have created as well.

P.S. This Female Chief will be named Persephone, we were originally going to use our own Chief’s name, Lada, but we like the idea of using Persephone as a name for this female Chief a great deal more.

Now, with all of that said and done, let us begin shall we?

Our first Chapter is devoted to the wonderful topkurorights, featuring Langley and the female Chief, so here we go.

Female Chief Pampering Langley After Work

It came to her slowly, like the slowly spreading venom of a serpent, that thing known as awareness that aimed to pull her forth from the tranquility that she had been savoring despite her valiant attempts to turn and flee from it and retreat into the merciful embrace of that quite dark stillness once more.

Yet in vain were each of her efforts,for no matter how grand and terrible the struggle she raged against it, and no matter how desperately she clawed at the darkness in pursuit of returning to its tranquil embrace, she found herself pulled forth from the safe cocoon of stillness and quiet and into a hazy fog of awakening.

First to come to her was Touch, and with it there came to her the sensation of warmth gathered beneath her head, a pleasant sensation that seeped into her scalp and made her long to keep her eyes closed for longer still, and one that was made all the more intense by the feather light caress of soothing warmth and silken smoothness that carded across her brow before it dipped to cup her cheek, a softness that put shame to her sheets and blankets and made her long to burrow into its embrace.

Second to come to her awakening senses was Scent, something floral and soothing, a flower, whose name evaded her, and a faintest of hints of lavender, and below it further still was something not quite recognizable to her, something that combined with the floral aroma into something that resonated within her mind as the smell of something dearly beloved and cherished and made her shift to nuzzle closer to the source of it, allowing the soothing smell to ease her once more.

Third to greet her awakening form was Sound, the distant echo of thunder resounding above the gentle pitter patter of rain, yet neither of these came to her as strongly as a low humming sound that caressed her ears as the gentlest whispers of wind, and yet still it echoed in her ears in a way that nearly drowned out the roar of the thunder and the crack of lightning.

And at last, there came that moment when she was made to relinquish the soothing blanket of darkness and to wearily open her eyes, her vision foggy with sleep and yet present weariness that yet tried to bid her return to the embrace of the dreaming realm, though still, even with blurred vision, she could make out something that made her heart throb within her chest.

For looking down at her with blue-gray eyes that seemed to shine as they gazed down at her slowly awakening form, a small smile curling the edges of delicate lips as her humming stopped for but a moment as she leaned in, her proximity making Langley close her eyes to avoid getting any of the locks of gray hair that softly tickled her skin in her eyes as lips ever so gently caressed her forehead for a moment longer than a heartbeat.

The scent of before was heady this close, intoxicating and enthralling, bidding her to close her eyes and nuzzle into the pale neck that lay before her, idly ghosting her own lips over the pulse point that steadily beat below the ever so gentle skin, the taste of the smooth skin making her hum as a low sigh left the lips of the one who now began to pull back from her.

Lowly, and quite pitifully in hindsight, did Langley whimper as she tried to chase the woman that was moving back from her, trying to cox her to lean back in with an unintelligible warble and lidded eyes, her acts making the woman holding her chuckle lightly.

“You are always so adorable when you are sleepy.” There came to her ears these softly chuckled words as the hand that had stilled in its gentle massage of her scalp resumed it caressing, nails lightly caressing her scalp in such a way that Langley felt the desire to close her eyes and savor the sensation once more, only to force herself to remain awake.

“What…what time…what time is it ‘Sephone?” Sleepily and near unintelligibly there came these words from the lips of the Spider of Paradeisos as she tried to sit up, only for a hand to gently place itself on the center of her chest and push her back down to rest her head on what she now knew to be soft thighs, the hand caressing her scalp pausing to tile her head and coax it into nuzzling into her abdomen, an invitation eagerly accepted.

A low hum left Persephone’s lips as she gently lifted her hand from Langley’s chest and began to softly stroke her neck up to her cheek, her thumb idly putting the slightest bit of pressure on the corner of Langley's lips, after softly caressing them for but a moment, the pressure making Langley part her lips and take the digit into her mouth, the action making Langley let out a low purr of content while a slight sigh of pleasure leave Persephone’s lips.

For a moment longer there was silence as Langley silently enjoyed the scent and warmth of her lover, the additional sensation and taste of her digit in her mouth only serving to further lull her into closing her eyes once more, though she yet stubbornly resisted until at last she heard her lover softly purr to her-

“Time to sleep dear, we don’t have any work today so you can rest a bit longer. So close your eyes and rest, I’ll be here when you wake up.”

The words yet still lingering in the air, Persephone leaned down and gently placed her lips to Langley’s forehead for a moment, before she softly tilted her head such that she could elan down and gently ghost her lips over Langley’s own for but a second before she pulled back with a small smile as she saw Langley close her eyes and begin to drift off to sleep once more.

Sighing softly, Persephone tilted her head back and closed her own eyes as she continued softly stroking Langley’s hair, allowing the gentle caress of her lover’s breath against her clothed abdomen to caress her as she began to slowly slip into unconsciousness herself, yet leaving her thumb in Langley’s mouth for her to suckly upon ever so gently as they both got some much deserved rest.

Fin

1,078 Words…Holy Shit that is the shortest thing I have ever written…How in the hell did…you know what? I’m not complaining, I feel that this short little oneshot can be ended here, though if anyone feels otherwise please let me know and I might go back and edit it a bit.

That said, this is but the start of this merry journey, though I feel I must remind you all that I have many other projects I am working on, and as such cannot promise regular or cohesive updates for this fic in the future.

But, with all of that said and done, I hope you all take care and stay safe,

See you in the next chapter.

#ptn #ptn chief #ptn langley #path to nowhere #path to nowhere chief x langley #path to nowhere female chief #path to nowhere langley #ptn female chief #cross posted on ao3

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faroreskiss · 9 months

Text

The Power of Understanding / Cheat Sheet / FAQ

The Power of Understanding

Read on Tumblr / Read on Ao3

Time to find out why, who, what, where, when, and how exactly. More importantly, will there be NSFW?!!

Translator!Scholar!Isekai!Reader

Anything unclear? Let me know!

1) When is the story taking place?

It is taking place well into the adventures of the Chain. However, it is a non-linear story, so you "think" back to the times when you first met them. Most stories take place after the Twilight's near death arc. Basically you have been there with them. This is an AU of course.

2) When did you join them?

You first spent around two years with Link & Zelda in the post-calamity Hyrule, before being thrown in with the chain.

3) How did you speak with Link and Zelda?

You couldn't. You learnt their language later, it was a process. They took you to the four Great Fairies, and also used a drop of Triforce of Wisdom (via the fairy help) to enhance your learning and to make you more understandable to the others ASAP. This had however some long lasting, not so positive consequences. We'll dive into them in the "Wobble of the Head" arc. (coming soon)

4) Do you have an accent?

Hylian has dialects, so yes. You do have an accent, but it only appeared after you met the Chain, for obvious reasons. *Coughs* No spoilers, sorry.

5) How do the Links talk with each other?

Language change is a very very slow process, even in our world. Things like immigration, wars and other conflicts make it faster but even then it's very slow in most cases. World of TLoZ did have its fair share of conflicts, but mostly it was within the same cultures, so language didn't warp there to a point of becoming unrecognizable for most Links. Sure, some are harder for others to understand due to distance, accents, dialects and some vocabulary, but they can communicate mostly just fine after a while.

Wild however is from a very far era (we are talking about 10k+ plus years), so he struggles the most.

I can make a separate post about it to answer more detailed questions (e.g. language dynamics between Links), just let me know!

6) What do the Links think about your height and ears?

You are in your mid/late twenties and so are most of the Links (reminder that this is an AU). Some of them were surprised, but some already have people in their worlds with rounded ears. They don't think that much about you being taller, they are used to being shorties, as they are in most cases shorter than the average Hylian anyway.

7) What is your relationship status with Wild and Flora?

It's complicated. You never had time to talk about it since you were always hopping through worlds, facing life & death situations. All three are into each other, you did share each other, and you definitely have space in your heart for more. But that's a difficult conversation.

For now, Wild is there for you and you for him. He also notices Twilight's subtle advances and it is difficult to gauge what he feels. We shall explore those in the story, dear reader!

8) Do Links know that you know them from the games?

Nope. That's gonna be a conversation as well. For now, they know you have been a researcher in Wild's world and that you also come from another. But sometimes you hit a spot too that's too personal. You tried to explain but they didn't get it and you didn't push back. It will be a shitshow when they find out exactly what you mean with "interactive stories". Wild won't be happy for sure.

The problem with you (and your flaw for that matter), you are a blabber mouth. Let's be honest, how can you keep all that info to yourself? This sometimes causes conflicts and issues within the group. There is a reason why Legend nicknamed you "trivia bitch" at some point.

9) Will there be NSFW?

Indeed. But I shall keep it optional (at least the more explicit stuff). No Linkcest though.

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kaonarvna · 2 months

Text

I'm indecisive, help me choose a fic idea to follow through on:

(UPDATES IN REBLOGS)

(FIC FINISHED!)

My silly concussed ass has a 9 hour flight and an 8 hour layover coming up tomorrow. It's going to be brutal.

My brain is going to be too fried to work on my WIPs, so I implore you, to encourage and enable me to write some fic for the first time in YEARS.

More detailed descriptions of options below.

Likely won't be anything long-term/multi part (unless I get sucked back into this, which isn't impossible lmao). So a handful of scenes, 3-10k, call it a short story. It's been a while since I've properly exercised my revision process. Can't just let my creative writing degree rot for nothing (I'm exaggerating, I have projects, but a fun little thing is a good exercise now and then!).

Genesis & Copies — the boys are occupying the Banora Underground at the peak of their population and conflict. There are still a few Angeal copies lingering. They're in decay. Self care is not a possibility, it must be done as a hive. An exploration of wing care w/o having the instinct to do so, and the discomfort of monstrosity. The discomfort, of being surrounded by rotting mimics of your own form, robbed of their independence.

Sephesis 1 — We all know they didn't want to fight each other when things are falling apart. This isn't an explicitly sexual-romantic scenario, but incredibly intimate regardless. Meeting, letting Sephiroth see that I'll-healed "scrape", letting him touch, and care, and help preen the monstrous features Genesis doesn't care to have.

Sephesis 2 — The big boy has respawned enough times, he can do it again. Genesis will wait for him, no matter how long it takes, no matter how weak he is; the body is a GIFT. He won't be letting go once he's back, everything else is lost. Drag him back to what remains of overgrown Banora, feed him that forbidden fruit and don't let him go. Also not explicitly sexual-romantic, but certainly very obsessive, ample physical contact, more than a bit codependent.

CC Sephiroth and Zack — How many times did Sephiroth try to call him? He was already prone to "moods" before shit hit the fan. There's no Genesis nor Angeal to regulate with. He wasn't told anything. The line isn't dead, it's still ringing, and ringing, and going to voicemail. How many times has Zack seen him try to call? Did he ever interfere? Do they have enough emotional intelligence combined to have a vulnerable conversation for fifty seconds?

#genesis rhapsodos #Sephiroth #Sephesis #zack fair #sephgen #final fantasy crisis core #final fantasy 7 remake #final fantasy vii #fanfiction #fanfic #knv polls

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crescencestudio · 8 months

Text

VELOX FABULA: A TALE OF DELUSION AND MEMORIES

So… I’ve been keeping this relatively DL on this side of the internet. Twitter got a couple of sneak peeks, but in case you all didn’t know, I participated in Velox Fabula, a game jam where we are given a community theme and have 10 days to make a full game.

And when I say I participated, I mean I Participated.

Before I get into things, let me just say that as a disclaimer… I had Every Intention to enter this jam as an Extreme Sideline Supporter.

Shall we get into a “post-mortem” of sorts?

Let’s set the scene, shall we?

Crescence has just finished Intertwine and Otome Jam. They are feeling Good and Creative. Alaris has made good progress in the month of July and starting weeks of August! Crescence Sees Velox Fabula, and while wanting to participate, decides not to because they’ve just done one jam, they want to focus on their main game, and maybe they’ll touch grass a little. Who knows?

Enter about 1-2 weeks out of Velox Fabula, and people are posting their teams. Crescence gets FOMO. Many besties are involved in Velox Fabula. So Crescence reaches out to a team that’s pretty big and offers to do just QA! Help with brainstorming, scoping, narrative design, etc. That’s not too bad!

Another friend reaches out.

This is someone Crescence has always wanted to work with. Crescence will just be a writer! Again, that’s not too bad! Why not!

So now, come VF Jam, and Crescence is on two teams (I was originally on three actually LOLlxoap).

First 24 hours go off with a bang. The theme is Unreliable Narrator. There's lots of brainstorming, throwing ideas around, refining, and eventually we land on two ideas.

On team one, we have an otome game inspired by [REDACTED] that will feature and MC who is [REDACTED] and a character who [REDACTED]. The game ends up having three love interests and is Deeply Ambitious but with 10 people onboard we decide to push ourselves.

On team two, we have a point-and-click game with a rich story that explores MC's background and a narrative twist where [REDACTED]. It's fantasy-inspired, because bitches know me and fantasy. And has MC choose to cherish or forget their memories through the ingredients they decide to add to a potion.

Both of the stories are fun and relatively different compared to what I've done so far. One, while still fantasy, has a writing style that is more vivid and emotional compared to my usual more grounded writing. The other is, well, Horror. Which I have no experience writing.

And so the Jam begins

The first third of the jam is a blur of frantic writing, editing, narrative design, and more. It's a hodgepodge of ideas on how the script and gameplay will go together. What's the visual identity? What is the Story we're telling? What's the Mood? And how do we unite all of these things to elevate the atmosphere of the game itself?

Enter the second third, and I'm wrapping up writing on team two. I get asked to do GUI for potion team, which I hadn't anticipated. But hey, I'm feeling inspired. Plus, I want to learn how to code all of these GUI features in for Alaris. Why not use this as a learning experience? So I agree. Horror team needs some help writing, so I jump in as well. I've never written horror, but there's already an outline. How hard could it be?

In the span of maybe 3-4 days, I end up writing about 15k words and editing maybe 10k worth of words. Somewhere during this time frame, I've also made progress on Alaris

Enter the last third of the jam and these games needs to be Made. I code the GUI for potion team. I reformat both scripts for both teams to Ren'py format to ease the burden on coders while they figure out other game features.

Enter the last 12 hours, and I am still coding and QAing both games. Not even caffeine runs through my veins anymore; it is straight adrenaline.

Enter the last 30 minutes. Horror game has submitted. I am still QAing for potion team. Are the labels getting called correctly? Is the dialogue showing up when it should? We submit with less than 5 minutes to spare LMFASODLIJ

i still laugh at this

As I come out of the Jam haze, I feel two main things:

Proud of myself. Like I fckn did that. Considering the context of how I had come into these roles (as an NPC if u will), I contributed pretty heavily to these games. And I think not having to be director made me see the skillset I've slowly built up as a game dev. It was that moment where you step back and fight that imposter syndrome a little bit, which has been a Heavy companion with me throughout my game dev journey.

Tired but (Creatively) Rejuvenated. I think this jam was surprisingly what I didn't know I needed for Alaris. After Otome Jam, I definitely made progress and was excited to get into Alaris. But after this jam, where I feel like I am Done and 100% satisfied, there's no longer any temptation for any other project. Like I feel solely focused on Alaris, which is extra exciting because the next couple of routes are some I've been most excited to write!

At the end of it all, I feel like I learned so much from so many talented people. And I think my writing, GUI, and coding skills have come out for the stronger because of it. Something I like to do with my games is integrate every component together (biggest example is Intertwine and how the GUI plays a part in the narrative itself). Watching people who are exceptional at coding, GUI, etc. helped me learn different ways to approach my own creative process. And I am so unbelievably excited to bring all of this into Alaris! Velox Fabula was an unforgettable experience---it was cracked, fun, delusional all in the best ways. And I'm honestly pretty proud of the products we've made from it! If you haven't gotten a chance to, please feel free to check out:

A "beautiful and melancholic" game that explores the power of memories, emotions, and more in a fantasy potion setting:

And an eerie horror game with twists and turns that lurk around every corner, only to be interrupted by Cute Love Interests

#crescence cries #oblivisci memorias #titan arum #games i help

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marmixedwithabitofintellect · 2 years

Text

Chapter One: Bliss

It is finally here! I cannot believe this chapter is 10k words, what?! 🥺🥺🥺 I hope you guys love it so very much and please come talk to me and tell me what you guys loved about it! All the love 🤍 Mar

Click on the visuals to enhance your reading experience!

Disclaimer: In no way do I wish to spread hate or negative opinions about any of the characters here depicted, this is just fiction and with the purpose of entertaining you guys

December 14, 2021 – January 13, 2022: Month One

December 16, 2021

New York City, New York. 7:00 AM.

I turned off my alarm before it could wake up Pippa, she would surely wake up in a little for a feeding, but I wanted to shower and get ready before she did; after checking her bassinet I smiled, she was still out from her last feed, which had been around five, knowing I had no second to spare I made my way to the bathroom and left the door ajar.

The warm shower felt welcoming after the winter finally arrived at the city, after changing into my comfy loungewear and doing my skincare and hair routine I turned off the lights and came out of my room, I was surprised to see that Pippa was still asleep, so I took this opportunity to make my bed and clean up a little.

I wanted to get her into a routine so I pulled up my blackout curtains but left down the sheer, so the room was muted, just as I finished placing the pillows on my bed Pippa let out a little whimper so I made my way to the bassinet, “Good morning my girl, hi, how did you sleep?”, I pulled her into my arms and kissed her cheeks, I smiled when I saw her do the newborn scrunch, “Shall we go feed you?”

I turned off the lamp on my bedside and draped the blanket Anne had knitted her over her little body and closed the door to my room while I made my way to the nursery, I could hear the water running on the guest room which meant H was awake, I left the door ajar and sat down on the rocking chair, but not before turning on the floor lamp, Pippa let out a little cry and I laughed

“I know baby, your momma is a meanie huh; it’s coming I promise, we just need to settle down”, I kissed her head hoping to settle her for a few, once I was all settled I pulled up my top and helped her latch, which she did with no problem, I then started moving my feet a little so we were swaying a little, and I took this time to observe her.

She was born with so little hair, less than I thought she would, and although I wouldn’t admit it out loud, I was so happy she looked like me, but I was also very happy she had so many things of her dad, starting with the tiny dimple on her left cheek, along with her long fingers and her hearty lungs, although her hair looked a chestnut color right now I would bet all my money she would be a blondie like her daddy was.

Speaking of a soft knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts, Harry was standing in the door holding two mugs with what I assumed was coffee, he came into the room and gave us a little smile, “Good morning loves, how did you guys sleep?”, I smiled at him, “Good morning, it was a good night, she woke up to eat a few times but then slept very good”

He placed the mugs on the coffee table and kneeled in front of Pippa and kissed her forehead, to which she let out a squeak but continued to nurse, “Did you sleep good baby? Were you the best girl for your mumma?”, he then pulled back and gave me a small smile, before reaching to kiss my cheek, “Made you a cuppa, just how you like it”, I gave him a small smile in appreciation and reached for the mug, I hummed after giving it a sip, “Do you have any plans for today?”, he sat down cross legged and reached for his mug, he shook his head after taking a sip

“No wait, I do, I have to go pick up the casseroles my mum made for us, she wanted to know if we’re up for visits?”, I smiled, “Of course! They are welcome here anytime”, just as we finished drinking our coffees Pippa finished eating, Harry reached to pull her into his arms and grabbed the burp rag I gave him, after making sure it was correctly positioned, he started burping Pippa while I fixed myself and logged the information on how much she had fed.

I also grabbed the little Haakaa pump so I could store the milk that had leaked while she was feeding, I felt the room and grabbed one of the bottles before pouring the milk, closing it, and putting it on the fridge, I then proceeded to wash the pump and set it to airdry while also grabbing the ingredients to start preparing breakfast.

As I was mixing the pancake batter Harry walked out to the living space, “Hey if you wanna log it, she had a wet diaper”, I nodded and unlocked my phone, the disappeared into the living room and came back to the kitchen with the little swing, while I finished cooking the pancakes he swayed with Pippa and set the table, “Why are you so pretty huh? I know the answer to that baby, because you look like your mumma”, I smiled and could feel the heat in my cheeks

“H, want another cup of coffee?”, he nodded, and I reached for two cups, after setting them on the table he strapped Pip into her little swing and we sat down to have breakfast, after he swallowed, he turned to ask me, “At what time do we have to be there tomorrow?”, I took a sip of my mug before answering

“11 AM”, he nodded, “Uhm, have you spoken with Jason about the kids visiting?”, I smiled and shook my head, “He let me know the kids are visiting with Olivia but they’ll be back to the city before New Year’s so maybe then”, he nodded, we finished eating breakfast in silence, when we were done I could see Pippa was so close to falling asleep again

“Hey, why don’t you go sit with her? I’ll clean the kitchen”, I nodded in appreciation and headed to the living room where we had moved the first bassinet we first purchased and decided to use it in the living room and purchased another one, I started shushing her while we walked to the living room and sat down.

As soon as we settled there was a knock on the door, Harry went to open it and a few seconds later Anne and Gemma appeared, “Hi gorgeous girls! How did you guys’ sleep?”, I smiled at her, “Hi Anne, we slept well, little miss here is ready for a nap”, she awed and reached down to kiss Pippa’s head, who didn’t even stir, “Want a cuppa lovie?”, I nodded, and she made her way to the kitchen.

The whole day was spent catching up, fawning over Pippa, and enjoying the visit from Des and Michal, who had left with Gemma to catch a show, I turned to see the clock and saw that it was close to seven, I had an idea and turned to look at Harry, “H? Why don’t we give her a sponge bath?”

He gave me a smile and nodded his head, Anne smiled too, “I’ll help you set it up, where do you have everything lovie?”, “In my room”, she nodded and Harry reached to grab Pippa while I went with Anne to set up everything, while we let the water warm up and I pulled the towels and her pajamas and diaper Anne turned to talk to me

“Since she still has her cord attached, we will do a sponge bath lovie”, I nodded, after she showed me how to test the water and we wet some washcloths to bathe her we called Harry, he came into the bathroom with Pippa and you could see the apprehension in his eyes, I laughed a little before reaching in to squeeze his arm, “Everything will be okay yeah? No need to fret”, he nodded and handed me the baby.

I undressed her and as I sat down and placed her on the bath, I was expecting a full meltdown, but surprisingly, there wasn’t any, Harry came to kneel next to me while Anne took some photos and gave us some instructions, “Harry, darling, grab the little washcloth and start cleaning her, we won’t use soap, but this will help her relax”, Harry nodded and started doing just that.

Pippa seemed to be so relaxed, which in turn had Harry letting out the breath he was holding before he cooed to her, “Are you a happy baby? Yeah? Do you love your bath?”, Pippa let out a little squeak which had the three of us laughing, once Harry made sure to wipe everything expect for her cord, he reached for the towel Anne handed him and slowly placed the baby in his arms.

I stood up and he handed me the baby, I set her on the changing pad we had brought into the bathroom and dried her up, put on her diaper and massaged in her moisturizer before putting on her jammies while Anne and Harry picked up the bathroom, “Hey, do you mind if I go ahead and feed her?”, they both shook their head

“Go ahead darling, we’ll start cooking dinner”, I nodded and made my way to the nursery, once settled Pippa started feeding, after fifteen minutes my phone started ringing, when I reached for it, my heart started beating faster than before, I took a deep breath before answering, “Ellie?”

She let out a breath before speaking up, “Hi Squeaks”, I teared up at the nickname, “Hi Ellie Belly, how are you?”, she sniffled before answering, “I’m okay, I’m sorry it took me so long to answer”, I laughed a little, “Don’t worry, I’m just glad you reached back”, there was a silence, she cleared her throat, “So… I hear that we have a new family member huh?”, I smiled down at Pippa who was still happily eating, “Yeah, we do, want to come meet her?”

“Of course, I want to! How about you let me bring dinner to you guys’ next week? I’m out of town and I want to make sure I’m not sick”, my heart was feeling ecstatic, “Yes! For sure! Why don’t you come a little earlier so you can enjoy her before she goes to bed?”, “I would love that! So, I’ll text you when I’m back, I cannot wait to see you”, I sniffled, “I cannot wait to see you Ellie”, we hung up the phone and I finished feeding and burping Pippa, while I was changing her diaper Anne and Harry came in, I picked up Pippa and turn ed to see them, “Wanna say goodnight?”, they both nodded and Anne spoke up, “Can I put her to bed?”

I nodded and smiled, I kissed Pippa’s forehead and Harry did too, Anne went into my room and Harry, and I made our way to the kitchen to get dinner served, while he set the plates, I cleared up my throat, “H?”, he hummed letting me know he was paying attention to me, “Ellie called back, she wants to come for dinner in a few days”

He turned and gave me a smile, “That’s wonderful! Do you… do you want me to be here?”, I nodded, “I would very much appreciate it”, he nodded, “Everything will be okay yeah?”, I nodded and he pulled me into a hug, after we pulled back Anne came out and we had dinner, I then said goodbye to Anne and Harry took her home, I got myself ready for bed and fed Pippa once more before going to sleep since I knew we had to wake up early tomorrow.

December 17, 2021

Harry. New York City, New York. 9:00 AM.

I was very nervous, we were here for Pippa’s first appointment with her pediatrician, Dr. Reynolds, a lovely woman we had met thanks to Betty. The cubicle we were in had safari decals all over the walls, I was finishing filling up the forms they had handed us while Y/N fed Pippa, who although had fed before we left, was hungry again, my tiny little chunker.

As Y/N burped Pippa there was a knock in the door, and a lovely nurse poked her head in, “Sorry to bother, just wanted to check if Miss Pippa had finished feeding so we could go and weight her?”, we both nodded and stood up to follow the nurse, I handed her the notepad and she handed it to another nurse; we entered a room that had a weight and a bed, the nurse turned to look at us

“Okay, so please let’s remove her diaper and set her on the scale”, she let out a tiny whimper and my heart broke, the nurse clicked on some buttons and then turned to write down her weight, “Okay, so Pippa weighs seven pounds ten ounces, which is totally normal and nothing to worry about”, we both nodded at the information and I saw Y/N let out a breath of relief, she then measured her, “Still a tall girl at twenty inches, you can now put her diaper back on”

After diapering Pippa and swaddling her in the blanket we brought we made our way back to the original cubicle we were sitting down, “So Dr. Reynolds will be here in a few”, we nodded and she left, I turned to look at Y/N, “Can I hold her?”, she nodded and handed me Pippa, I cuddled her into my chest, after five minutes there was another knock and Dr. Reynolds came in

“Well, hello you two! I’m so happy to see you”, we both smiled before she spoke up, “Hi Dr. Reynolds, happy to be here”, after she shook both of our hands and put some disinfectant, she reached in to grab Pippa, she set her on the examination table, “Well aren’t you a pretty girl huh? Let’s see how are you growing miss”

She checked her neck and collarbone, “No breaks, very good”, she then proceeded her head and hips, then her reflexes, “Good reaction”, she then pulled her stethoscope from her neck and placed it over her ears, “I’m sorry Pippa, this will be a little cold”, she listened to her heart and lungs before removing it and picking up Pippa

“Everything looks wonderful, you guys can dress her now”, I reached in for Pippa and dressed her while Y/N sat down with Dr. Reynolds, “How often is she feeding?”, Y/N answered her, “Every two and a half to three hours, she feeds around ten to fifteen from each side”, she nodded writing it down, “How about wet and dirty diapers?”, Y/N turned to look at me asking for help, I sat down next to her holding Pippa

“Uhm, about four wet diapers and 3 dirty ones”, she nodded, “Okay that’s good, she did lose weight but that does not concern me, babies are expected to lose their birth weight, but she will get it up in the next two weeks”, we both nodded, “Where does she sleep and for how long?”, Y/N handed me her binkie before answering, “We have had two to three hours of sleep stretch and night, and in the day we do have about forty five awake windows in the morning and in the evening, and she is sleeping in her bassinet at all times and on her back”

I spoke up, “She seems to be awake when there is another person aside from us, like when grandma, aunts and uncles are visiting”, Dr. Reynolds smiled, “Little social butterfly, that’s perfect”, we both smiled, “Well, everything looks perfect, I’m so glad to see she is growing just fine, since she got her shots in the hospital we don’t have any need to do so, so I’ll see you in two weeks, do you guys have any questions?”

I shook my head and Y/N cleared her throat, “How long after her cord falls can we give her a normal bath?”, Dr. Reynolds gave her a soft smile, “Once it falls off completely you can transition, if you still don’t feel comfortable you can stick to sponge baths, just remember, baby should not be bathed more than three times a week, since she doesn’t get dirty, I would suggest making bath time a part of her nighttime routine”

We both thanked her and after she left the room we buckled Pippa into her car seat, we then placed the cover on her and we left the hospital, after setting her on my van I helped Y/N into the backset and closed the door, I got into the pilot side and turned on the car, “H?”, I turned to look at her on the rearview mirror, “Yeah?”, she gave me a childish smile, “Could we stop at Maman on our way home?”, I gave her a smile, “Of course we can”

About fifteen minutes after leaving the hospital I thanked the Gods for finding a parking spot in front of the bakery, I turned to give Y/N a smile and I found her sleeping so I got out of the car knowing what she would want; when I got in the café was empty, I walked to the till and waited for the employee, she gave me a smile, “Hi! What can I get for you today?”, I smiled at her even if she couldn’t see it through my mask

“Hello, good morning, can I please have a croissant sandwich, a Maman’s breakfast sandwich, two pain au chocolats, two almond croissants, two nutty chocolate chip cookies, a white chocolate blueberry lavender cookie, a banana walnut bread, an espresso, a honey lavender latte and two grapefruit juices?”, she smiled and nodded, “Do you want this for eat in or take out?”, I smiled, “Take out please”, she nodded, “Under what name?”, “Jeff please”

She nodded, “Your total is $65.74, would that be cash or credit?”, “Credit please”, I pulled out my card and tapped it, then pulled out a twenty and dropped it into the tip tin, the cashier smiled at me, “Thank you so much, your order will be out soon”

I thanked her and went to sit at an open table and pulled my phone out, I was reading through an email when I heard someone clear their throat and timidly say, “Hi, sorry to bother you, but are you Harry Styles?”, I sighed and turned to give her a smile, “Hi, yes I am”, she let out a squeal, “I’m sorry to bother you, I promise I don’t want a picture, “That’s okay, what’s your name?”

“My name is Freya, I’m a huge fan of yours since One Direction days, I just wanted to congratulate you on the birth of Pippa”, I placed a hand in my heart before answering her, “Thank you, you are the sweetest”, she then reached into her bag, “I know this might seem crazy, but it’s not, I crochet little octopuses for babies in the NICU and I am on my way to deliver some, but I want to gift you one for Pippa”

She reached into her bag and pulled a wrapped package, “They have been sanitized so she can play with it without problem”, my heart felt warm, “You didn’t have to, but thank you truly, are you sure you don’t want a picture?”, “I don’t want to compromise your location”, I felt so much appreciation for this fan, “Don’t worry, I don’t mind taking a picture with you, and you posting it, I would just appreciate if you didn’t post where we saw each other”

She nodded and reached for her phone, we took a selfie and once we were done I heard them call my order, “Thank you again for this gift, I’ll show it to her as soon as I go home”, she put her hand to her chest, “You are so very welcome, congratulations again to you and Y/N”, she waved goodbye and went to her table with her mum who also waved at me, I waved back before grabbing all my order.

I got into the car and saw that Y/N was still sleeping, so I turned on the car and we made our way back home.

December 20, 2021

New York City, New York. 5:00 PM.

I was shaking with nerves, Ellie had let me know she was on her way here, Harry was finishing the charcuterie board and I had just finished feeding Pippa, who was now resting on her bassinet, Harry walked out of the kitchen and after placing the board on the table and came to hug me and kiss my forehead, “Baby breathe, everything will be okay”, I nodded.

Before I could speak up there was a knock on the door, I pulled back from Harry, squeezed his hand while he kissed my temple and made my way to the door, when I opened it I felt tears in my eyes, Ellie and her husband Nate were there, bags from my favorite Italian restaurant on their hands, and beside them Luke my little brother had a cake from Lady M in his hands, before I could speak up Ellie did

“Uhm, before you let us in, and this is entirely up to you, there is someone else who wanted to see you”, I furrowed my brows, my heart started beating so fast when from in between Nate and Luke, my dad appeared, he had a big bouquet in his hands, I whimpered, “Daddy?”, he let out a shuddering breath, “Hi Bear”

I ran into his arms and started crying, I could feel him shake with sobs and hug me back, I let out a sob before whispering into his ear, “Hi daddy”, he kissed my head before whispering, “Oh my girl, my bear, I have missed you, so much”, I really don’t know how long we stood like that, I heard Harry welcome my family and bring them in, when there was no more sound on the hall I pulled back, before I could speak up my dad said, “I’ll explain everything, I promise”, I nodded and we went in and closed the door.

We walked to the kitchen where Harry was talking with my siblings, as soon as I entered, they pulled me into a hug, I hissed a little and they pulled back in concern, “Sorry, my boobs hurt”, they laughed and pulled me into a hug individually, Ellie kissed my head while Luke squeezed me so much.

When we pulled back Nate gave me a big hug and I could see that my dad pulled Harry into a hug, I smiled when I saw this, Ellie pulled me into a side hug and did not want to let go, we made small conversation on what we should do with dinner before I cleared my throat, everyone turned to look at me, “So… there is someone I want you guys to meet”, everyone’s eyes showed excitement and smiles on their faces before they all nodded.

We made our way into the living room where Pippa was sleeping in her bassinet, I reached to pull her out and she let out a whimper, when I turned Ellie had her hands on her mouth while my dad’s eyes filled with tears, I walked to them, “This is Philippa, but we call her Pippa”, Ellie let out a sob and she crouched a little before whispering, “Hi Pippa”

“Wanna hold her?”, she nodded excitedly and I transferred Pippa into her arms, “Oh look at her cheeks, God I want to squeeze them”, Luke then ran a hand down her head, “Hi little one”, Nate was standing next to Ellie, “Congrats guys, she’s a beauty”, my dad made his way to me and gave me a side hug, “She looks just like you when you were born Bear”, I smiled and asked him, “Wanna hold her?”

He nodded and Ellie reluctantly handed him the baby, he started swaying and smiled at her, “Hi little girl, look at you, I’m your Pop”, he then sat down and I sat next to him, “Hi little Cub, I love you” my heart swelled at the nickname, “You guys did good”, Harry smiled at him, “It was all her”, I felt my face heat up, “We did good H”, he smiled at me.

Pippa started fussing, so I went into the nursery to feed her while the others finished repping dinner, once she finished and I settled her for a nap while we ate, when I came out they had plated everything and we sat down and ate, after dinner we settled to eat dessert in the living room, once we were done, dishes were on the washer, wine glasses filled and charcuterie board dug into my dad cleared his throat

“Bear, I owe you a hell of an apology and a big explanation”, I had sat next to Harry and he squeezed me into his side as a way to protect me which I appreciated, “I just want to know what happened, I really don’t hold a grudge against you, but I need to understand what happened”, he nodded and sighed, “After the phone call with you I went into shock, there were a lot of things going on and I was trying to figure out what had just happened”

“Your mom, well she started panicking, and I thought she was panicking on what it would mean to you, but actually, she was panicking on what would happen if people found out you were pregnant, with Harry’s baby, when it was well known that he was in a relationship with Olivia Wilde at the time”, I nodded, and Harry kissed my shoulder in reassurance

He cleared his throat, which I knew it was a sign of him trying to stop the tears from falling, “After we hung up dread started to fill me up, and I realized what I had done, I had shut you out and judged you, when all you wanted was some reassurance”, I cleared the tears starting to fall, Ellie squeezed his knee, “It’s okay dad”

He nodded and turned to look at me, “If there is something I will always regret is how I treated you Bear, and feeling so scared that you wouldn’t forgive me that I avoided calling you”, I stood up and walked to him, “Daddy, I forgive you, you’re here now, and I would’ve forgiven you back then”, he kissed my forehead, “I don’t deserve it”, I gave him a small smile, “You came back, that is all that matters”

I returned to my seat and sighed before running a hand down my face, “I feel the need to ask, what about mom?”, everyone got quiet, and an eerie feeling surrounded us, “What? What’s wrong?”, Luke cleared his throat, “Squeaks, mom lied to us all”, I furrowed my brows, “What do you mean?”, Ellie cleared her throat, “Squeaks I’m so sorry”, she wiped her eyes before continuing

“A week before Father’s Day mom called us and asked us if we could come about an hour before guests arrived because she needed to talk to us, when we arrived we were expecting for you to show up, when you didn’t Luke asked mom where were you and she sighed before telling us that this is what she wanted to talk to us about, she told us you guys had a big fight and hadn’t spoken since, and that she ran into you and you told her that you didn’t want to know about us so that we shouldn’t call you”

Luke spoke up, “You know how good of a speaker mom is, and the fact that dad didn’t speak up made it all so much more solid”, I was appalled, “Did she tell you guys I was pregnant?”, they both shook their head, I turned to look at my dad, “Why didn’t you tell them?”, “Because your mom also lied to me”, Harry started running his hand down my arm hoping to soothe me, “What did she do?”

He sniffled, “I remember it was exactly five days since we had talked and I had decided that I wanted to see you, your mom walked into my office and I was about to tell her I was going to talk to you when she said she had run into you, I was shocked, before I could speak up she said that you had asked for her to keep the secret of your pregnancy and to not contact you”

“I guess… I just assumed that what she said was true, especially after the way we treated you”, Ellie spoke up, “That’s why I was so surprised when I saw you at CVS with that big belly”, I laughed a little, “Does mom know you guys are here?”, they all shook their head, my dad stood up and he kneeled in front of me, “When Elisa told me about your interaction I confronted your mom, and she told us everything, I filed for divorce the next day”

“Daddy…”, he smiled, “I am free Bear, and this means I now have my whole life to make it up to you and being the best Pop to Pippa and any future grandchildren”, I nodded, then turned to look at everyone, “Please, never ever disappear from me again, I need you guys with me”, they all nodded, and we got into a family hug.

We sat and talked for a few hours catching each other up on our lives before my dad cleared his throat, making all of us turn to look at him, “Harry, I also owe you a massive apology”, Harry turned to speak but my dad beat him to it, “I do, I judged you from the beginning without knowing you, and yes I was trying to protect her from heartbreak and criticism, and I still failed to do that”

I felt Harry tense up behind me, which in turn had me squeezing his hand in silent support, “But Harry, you are a good guy, yes you screwed up but haven’t we all at some point? If it is okay with you, I would like for us to start again”, we all turned to look at Harry who displayed no emotion, he slowly stood up from his seat and walked to where my dad was and pulled him into a hug.

I felt tears come to my eyes, after a few seconds they pulled back and Harry said, “Richard, we all make mistakes, and I made quite a few, but I promise you, that Y/N and Pippa are my priorities”, my dad smiled before answering, “And we will help you because we are family”, I then stood up and came to hug my dad, who kissed my head again.

At around ten we all said our goodbyes with a promise to see each other for Christmas, Harry and I picked up what was left, we picked up Pippa and headed to bed, before Harry entered his room I called his name, he turned to look at me with a smile, “Thank you for today, it really means so much to me”, he walked and kissed my forehead, “We are a family, I will do everything on my power to make you happy”

December 25, 2021

Harry. New York City, New York. 12:00 PM.

It was Pippa’s first Christmas and I couldn’t be more ecstatic, Y/N had already given me a gift which was now displayed on the tree, we had agreed to have our dinner on my apartment, after a discussion with my mum we agreed that I would hire someone to fix the apartment and she would cook dinner for us, Y/N’s family, Jeff and Glenne, Sarah and Mitch had flown to spend it with their family.

A ding on the elevator let us know we had arrived, soft Christmas music was playing, and the smell of my mum’s cider reminded me of home, while helping Y/N remove her coat I let my family know we had arrived, “Hello guys! We’re here!”, I heard steps coming to greet us and my mum appeared wearing her traditional Christmas apron, “Welcome lovies! Merry Christmas!”

After hugging us both she crouched to peek into the car seat where Pippa was sleeping, “Hello precious girl, oh you have grown so much since yesterday!”, Y/N and I both laughed at this then she proceeded to unbuckle her and shush a little hoping she would stay asleep, she then kissed her head multiple times, my dad had also appeared and helped us bring the stroller and the diaper bag to the living room.

Gemma appeared from her room, and she whined, “No fair! I wanted to hold her first!”, we all laughed and my mum tsked her lips, “Nana has first rights, then goes Grandpa, then you can go”, she kissed Pippa’s head before handing her to my dad, Gemma had made her way to us and greeted Y/N with a hug, Michal said hello from the kitchen where he was finishing cooking the vegetables.

After my dad finished saying hello she handed the baby to Gemma, “Hi bestie!”, she started swaying a little, my mum and Y/N had made their way into the kitchen and I followed, I could hear my mum tell her she had made her some non-alcoholic drinks for her to sip on and Y/N asked what she could help with

“You go rest, you just gave birth twelve days ago, take it easy, okay?”, Y/N nodded and she made her way to the door where I met her, she gave me a teasing smile and just before I could ask her what she was thinking she turned to look at the ceiling where I found there was a mistletoe, I laughed at her and then leaned in to kiss her but she turned and I left the kiss on the corner of her lips.

I groaned and she started laughing while walking to the living room where there was a little commotion due to the fact that Y/N’s family had just arrived, I was worried the ambience would be tense but since they arrived, we were all so happy to be together, Ellie and Gemma were fawning over Pippa and Luke and Michal were discussing the latest soccer game.

After half an hour my mum let us know, dinner was ready and we headed to the dining room where there was a table with all the foods that both my mum and Ellie had prepared, and everyone took their corresponding seat, my mu had left the head and corner seat for Y/N and I so we could put the Moses basket there.

After a delicious dinner and desserts, we moved to the living room where we exchanged gifts, Pippa being the clear winner of gifts this year. I had gone to the kitchen to fill up Y/N’s glass again I came back and found her sitting in the corner next to the fire watching with a happy smile, I sat down next to her, and she gave me a smile, “I have a gift for you”

“Love, you know you didn’t have to”, she smiled, “It was Pippa’s idea”, I gave her a smile, “Really? Well please show me”, she pulled a little box from beside her and handed it to me, I unwrapped it and found a Gucci box, when I opened it I found a silver ring with a ‘P’, Y/N spoke up, “Now you will be able to carry her with you all the time”, I felt tears fill my eyes, then pulled her in for a hug, “Thank you my heart, I love it”

We pulled back and she gave me a soft smile, “You’re so welcome H, I’m glad you liked it”, “Like it? I love it so much”, I then turned and grabbed two boxes, “Okay listen up, I actually have two gifts for you but before you complain, one is your push present that was supposed to arrive the day after Pippa was born, but there was a problem and the other one is your Christmas present”, I smiled as he handed me the two gifts pointing at the one I should open first.

She unwrapped the present and found a familiar robin blue box, pulled the lid and found a beautiful bracelet, “Harry…”, I smiled, “This is one of Pippa’s birthstone, the Tanzanite, I love the color and I know you like small jewelry”, she smiled and sniffled and then proceeded to the other box, another robin blue box, when she pulled it out there was a ‘Return to Tiffany’ charm with another pink heart

“Turn it around”, when she did, she found that the pink heart had been engraved with Pippa’s fingerprint, she placed the box on her lap and let out a sniffle before tilting into me, “Thank you, I love them”, I rubbed my nose against hers, then whispered, “I’m glad you love them”, we stayed like that until Pippa let out a tiny cry and we turned to see my mum who was walking towards us, “I think the miss is hungry”, Y/N smiled, “Aww baby, come on, I’ll feed you”, we made our way to my room per my mum’s instructions and I sat down with her while she fed Pippa, before kissing her shoulder and whispering, “Thank you for the best Christmas yet”, she smiled and said to me, “Thank you for making it special”

December 27, 2021

New York City, New York. 4:00 PM.

Jason had texted and let me know he was on his way with the kids, Harry and I had finished cleaning and we were now discussing what we would have for dinner, there was a knock on the door, and I went to open it, I smiled when I saw Jason standing there with the kids, “Hello you guys! I’ve missed you!”

Otis and Daisy ran to hug me, “Hey! careful please”, they looked at their father with a sheepish smile and pulled back, I closed the door and we walked to the living room where they were removing their coats, masks and using some of the antibacterial gel we had there, Daisy then pulled Jason’s hand and he crouched so that she was able to whisper something in her ear.

Jason smiled and handed her a little gift bag I hadn’t noticed, the two of them made their way to me and smiled, “We bought this for you”, I gasped, “For me? You guys didn’t have to!”, after giving them a hug and an appreciative smile to Jason I opened the gift, inside I found a gift card for ‘Five Guys’ as well as a candle with my favorite scent, some bath bombs, some sheet face masks, and a book I told Jason I wanted to read

“You guys I love this! Thank you so much for my gift”, Jason smiled, “You’re welcome, mom needs some pampering too”, after putting everything in the bag and setting it on the coffee table I heard Daisy gasp before loudly saying “Harry! I’ve missed you!”, Otis and she made their way to where Harry was now kneeling to give them both a hug, he said hello to them and whispered something that had them both laughing before making their way to sit with Jason.

Daisy was the first to speak up, “Did you know Y/N had her baby?”, he grinned and nodded, “I did, do you guys want to see her?”, they both nodded excitedly and while Jason helped them settle on the couch, Harry went to grab Pippa from her bassinet in my room and then came back and handed her to me.

I kneeled in front of the kids and helped get Pippa settled on their laps before whispering, “What do you guys think huh?”, Otis was the first to speak up, “She’s tiny”, Jason laughed, “Well she was just born, she still has a lot of time to grow”, Daisy then asked me, “Can she come to my house and play someday?”

I smiled and nodded at her, “Of course! I bet Pippa will love to play with you two”, Jason leaned to get a better look at Pippa and then stood up and turned to look at Harry, “She has your dimple”, Harry gave him a small smile, “I know, it’s crazy we could see it since birth”, “Hey like father like daughter, eh?”, we laughed a little but deep down I hoped the kids hadn’t caught the comment, but they did, Daisy was the first to ask

“Daddy, is Harry Pippa’s dad?”, my heart started beating very fast, Jason kneeled in front of Daisy, who was holding Pippa before asking her, “Why do you say that honey?”, “Because you just said that he was her dad, and mom said her name is Pippa Styles, and he lives with Y/N, and you and mom used to live together when we were born too”, we smiled at her reasoning, Jason turned to look at us and asked if it was okay with us, Harry and I both nodded.

Jason turned to look at Daisy and smiled before answering, “Yes baby, Harry is Pippa’s dad”, Otis furrowed his brows before asking, “But Harry was mom’s boyfriend, she told us”, Jason squeezed his knee, “Harry and Y/N were together before your mom and him, and they love each other so much and decided to have a baby”, Daisy pipped in, “If they loved each other why was Harry with mom?”, I saw Harry tense next to me, I squeezed his arm and then kneeled next to Jason to answer, “Because we don’t choose who we love Daisy, and your mom and Harry loved each other”

Otis smiled at me, “But he loves you?”, I turned to look at Harry and smiled at him, “Yes, he does, and I love him too”, then Daisy asked, “But as a friend? Because mom and Harry love each other as friends”, I squeezed her knee, “We love each other a little more than friends Daisy girl”, they both seemed happy with the explanation and us three adults let out a breath, Pippa then started crying a little and I reached to pick her up.

Harry reached in for her and smiled, “Here, I’ll see what’s wrong”, I nodded and they both started making their way into the nursery and Jason followed me to the kitchen, “Y/N I’m so sorry”, I shook my head, “They’re kids, they were bound to ask, I’m just glad we came up with an easy enough explanation for them”, he nodded, “So… how are things going in between you guys?”, I smiled

“Things are going okay, we’re taking it pretty slow”, he smiled, “I’m glad, it’s nice to see you guys happy”, we grabbed the hot chocolate and cookies and made our way to the living room to be with the children when we entered, we saw that Harry was playing some games with them, “Daddy come play with us!”, Jason sat next to Otis while Daisy pulled me to her side. After a few rounds and a promise for us to meet soon Jason and the kids left, “That went well, didn’t it?”, Harry nodded and kissed my forehead, “It did”

December 29, 2021

Harry. New York City, New York. 3:45 PM.

Today was a gloomy sad day, because Gemma, Michal and my dad were flying back to London. My mum had decided to stay until after New Year’s but everyone else already had work commitments planned. We had decided we would eat lunch at Y/N’s apartment, and I would then drop them off at Newark Airport.

After eating an amazing lasagna my mum had made and enjoying the banana bread Y/N had baked we were now sitting in the living room enjoying a cuppa before we had to leave, Gemma had stolen Pippa since she finished feeding and hadn’t let anyone else hold her. I turned to look at the clock once again, I really didn’t want to, but we had to start preparing to leave. I turned to look at Gemma and gave her a sad smile

“Gem…”, she whimpered and snuggled Pippa a little more while shaking her head, my mum awed and went in to kiss her forehead, “Baby you don’t want to lose your flight, do you?”, she shook her head again, “I don’t want to”, my mom squeezed her arm again, Gemma cleared her throat before she continued speaking, “I have waited for so long to meet her and it hurts my heart to know we will be so far away from her and Y/N and H”

A pang on my chest had me coming to sit near her and Y/N to kneel in front of her, I could see the tears in her eyes too, “We will miss you too, so much Gem, but I promise, we will see each other very very soon”, Gemma sniffled, “She will be so grown up, what if she forgets who I am?”, I reached in to squeeze her arm

“Why on Earth would you think something like that huh? You are unforgettable, and we will both make sure that she knows and never forgets who you are Gem”, she nodded and kissed Pippa’s forehead before she handed her to my mum and pulled Y/N in for a hug, they stayed like that for a few minutes before they pulled back laughing and tearing up.

Gemma then stood up and pulled me into a hug, she kissed my cheek before whispering, “I’ll miss you, you bugger”, I laughed, “I’ll miss you too pest”, she gave me an extra hard and long squeeze before she spoke up, “Take care of the three of them, but especially of the love of your life yeah? I believe in your love story”, I kissed her temple again, “I will Gem”

We pulled back and Michal pulled me into a quick hug, when we pulled back my dad had just finished saying goodbye to Pippa and he handed her to Gemma and made his way to me, he pulled me into a hug and then said to me, “I’m proud of you Harry, you have done such a great job, I cannot wait to see my little grandbaby again, I love you son”, I gave him a squeeze, “I love you dad, we’ll miss you”

Gemma as holding Pippa in a half sitting position in front of her, “Now listen to me baby bestie, you may grow up, but please for the love of God, don’t grow up too fast, and please be an angel to your mumma and a little devil for your dad”, we all laughed at her comment, she sniffled again, “I’ll miss you so much baby girl”, she then kissed her cheeks and Pippa let out a squeak.

Gemma handed Pippa to Y/N and turned to hug my mum again before pulling back and hugging Y/N, while she grabbed her bag I walked to where she was standing and ran a hand down her cheek, “I’ll be back soon yeah?”, she nodded, I kissed Pippa’s head and then turned to look at Y/N who pulled me in for a quick kiss, which definitely surprised me but I wasn’t going to deny her, she pulled me into a hug before whispering to me, “Please be careful yeah?”

We pulled back and I gave her a peck for good measure, “I love you two, so much”, I then turned to hug my mum and made my way to the door where everyone was waiting, we waved goodbye and felt for the airport, and although I was dreading leaving my family at the airport, I wish time would speed up so I could go back to my girls.

December 31, 2021

New York City, New York. 11:45 PM.

I had forgotten how much I loved spending New Year’s in New York, the excitement and buzz could be felt all over the streets and people were extra nicely as a way to make sure they could have a great end of the year. After Gemma left, we had asked Anne to come stay with us until she left, she reluctantly agreed so as of right now Anne occupies the guest room, Pippa and I are still in my bedroom and Harry is sleeping in a cot in the nursery.

Although I was spending this New Year’s just as last one, it was so different, takeout from Sugarfish, a box of Levain cookies, and a bottle of Thomson & Scott’s 'Noughty', but instead of tears and heartbreak I have a tiny baby cuddled to my chest and the love of my life back with me.

We had facetimed Gemma and Michal, and Harry’s other family a few hours ago and now, we were watching the NBC special and waiting for the ball to drop, Pippa was latched feeding, and I was so thankful Anne was so understanding and didn’t mind I was feeding Pippa while we were all reminiscing on what this year had been for us.

Anne was now cuddling Pippa and Harry was in the kitchen pouring some sparkling wine and grapes for us to eat, when he came back to the living room, he handed each of us a glass and bowl with grapes and he came to sit next to me, Anne turned to look at us and gave us a smile, “Wanna hold her?”

I nodded and she did to, standing up to hand me Pippa, I smiled and kissed her cheeks before whispering, “Hi tiny miss, are you going to be my New Year’s kiss?”, Harry pouted, “I wanted to be your kiss”, Anne and I both laughed before I spoke up, “Baby gets first dibs on everything H”, he grumbled but agreed cuddling into Anne.

And as the countdown began, I was reminiscing how this year had been so crazy and special, and how excited I was for what was to come next year, the tv presenters were screaming, “3…2…1… Happy New Year!”, I pulled up Pippa to my face and whispered, “Happy New year tiny miss, we will have so much fun this upcoming year”, then nuzzled her neck before kissing her cheeks, I pulled back and saw Harry smiling at us, I handed him Pippa and then went to hug Anne

“Happy New Year darling girl, I know this year we’ll be the best for you”, I smiled, “Happy New Year Anne, here’s to us sharing many more adventures”, we pulled back and Harry handed her Pippa, he then made his way to me, pulling me from my waist, I then placed my hand on his chest, he smirked at me, “Will you let me kiss you now? For good luck”

I laughed a little before tapping my chin in thought, “For good luck you say?”, he nodded, “Well then, for the sake of good luck, you can kiss me on the corner of my lips”, he pouted, “Just the corner?”, I nodded, “Just the corner mister”, he huffed and rolled his eyes before smiling and ever so slowly coming down to place a kiss on the corner of my lips, when he pulled back he gave me a smile.

We called Jeff, Glenne, Mitch, and Sarah to wish them a Happy New Year, and after cheering and drinking our wine, and eating our grapes Anne said goodnight to us and Pippa, Harry and I sat down on the couch, lay smiles on our faces while we I ran a hand down Pippa’s back, all of a sudden, he cleared his throat

“Wanna know the first item on my 2022 to-do list?”, I nodded, and he handed me a piece of paper, when I read it, I smiled, Harry’s 2022 To-Do List: 1. Take the prettiest girl out on a date, I wanted to tease him so I turned and told him, “I don’t think Pippa is old enough to go on a date yet”, he let out laugh at that, then signaled for me to give him the list again.

After I handed it back to him, he smiled, scribbled something, and gave it back to me, I read it again, Harry’s 2022 To-Do List: 1. Take the prettiest girl out on a date, 1. Take the prettiest mum of the prettiest girl out on a date, I smiled and turned to look at me, he cleared his throat before speaking up, “So, will you go on a date with me?”, I bit my lip and nodded in agreement, he then kissed my cheek and whispered to me, “I’ll text you the details later on darling”

I smiled, “I cannot wait”, while I finished feeding Pippa Harry finished loading the dishwasher and turned off all the light, we then made our way into my room where we placed Pippa on her cot after changing her diaper, after we both stood up I started following him to the door when I tapped his shoulder, and as soon as he turned I placed a kiss in his lips, one he did not hesitate to return, before pulling back and whispering

“As much as I would love to kiss you endlessly, I want to make things right this time”, I nodded, “Well then, good night, H”, he squeezed my hand before letting it go and whispering to me, “Sweet dreams baby”

January 4, 2022

Harry. New York City, New York. 7:30 PM.

I was shaking with excitement while I got ready, earlier today I had texted Y/N the details on our date and my heart had been beating so fast since then, I unlocked my phone once again and returned to our conversation, the excited butterflies making themselves known again

To Baby 🤍 (9:30 AM): I’ll pick you up at 8

From Baby 🤍 (9:31 AM): So excited! What should I wear?

To Baby 🤍 (9:32 AM): You’ll look beautiful in whatever you wear, but knowing you, it is a formal casual place

From Baby 🤍 (9:33 AM): I’ll see you then handsome

I had been pulled to some meetings and in order to not disturb Pippa or Y/N I had come to my apartment to work and get ready, on my way there I stopped at one of my favorite flower shops and got her a bouquet, once I parked on the building I went up to her floor and knocked on the door and smiled when I saw my mum holding Pippa

“Hello, my chunky girl, oh daddy has missed you so much today”, my mum smiled and grabbed the flower while handing me Pippa so I could cuddle her, we closed the door and made our way to the living room, “She was a very good girl today”, I smiled, “Were you little love? Oh, that’s good darling”, while I was busy kissing her cheek, I could hear footsteps coming into the living room.

When I turned, I felt the air leave my lungs, “Holy cow, you look so beautiful”, Y/N smiled at me, “You look so handsome yourself H”, I made my way to kiss her cheek and give her a hug, my mum then handed me the flowers and I turned to offer them to her, she smelled them before smiling, “This are beautiful, thank you H”, I nodded, “Shall we?”, she nodded, handed Pippa to my mum and kissed her forehead, I did too, Y/N grabbed her bag and turned to look at my mum, “I left the bottles pumped for you, and we set the bassinet in your room along with the little cart I have with all her essentials yeah?”, my mum smiled at her and squeezed her arm, “Darling we’ve got everything under control, you two just go and have fun”

We both said our goodbyes and made our way to my car, once we got in Y/H turned and gave me a smile, “Where are we going?”, I wiggled my eyebrows, “It’s a surprise darling”, I shifted the gears and started driving down the streets of New York, every once in a while, I turned to look at my girl and my heart felt giddy to be here with her.

A few minutes into the drive I ventured to place my hand on her knee hoping I wouldn’t freak her out, to my surprise she grabbed my hand and squeezed it with hers, which then prompted me to pull her hand up and kiss it, soft music playing in the car; about twenty minutes later I parked in front of a tall building, I got out of the car and went to open up her door.

She looked at the building in curiosity, I grabbed her hand and we headed to the door, when I opened it I turned around to see her face and my heart started beating faster when I saw her smiling, “Harry… what is this?”, we started walking, “This is an art gallery that belongs to Enrico, a friend of mine I met in Italy, he is a traveler photographer and lent me the space for us to have our date”

Enrico had displayed pictures from all of his world travels, Africa, India, Antarctica, Vietnam; you name it, he’s been there, in the middle of the room I had set up a picnic with some pizza and non-alcoholic wine, a box of chocolate covered strawberries hidden in the basket; after we finished looking at the photos we sat down to eat

“God H this pizza is good”, I laughed, “Hidden gem, maybe I’ll share it with you someday”, I offered her a bite from my slice, and she took it, then she scooched her pillow closer to mine, “Tell me a secret”, I looked at her in surprise, “A secret?”, she nodded, “Uhm okay, let’s see… oh I know!”, I sat up a little before continuing

“When I went to Italy to finish filming ‘My Policeman’ I drove to a little quaint village, Vicenza, and I rented a little Airbnb, and I met a lovely old couple, Allegra and Rodolfo, and they kinda adopted me for the time I was there, and she made me promise her that when I would return to Vicenza, I would bring my girlfriend”, she gave me a sheepish smile, “Well, she must be a lucky girl huh?”

I laughed with her, “And you? Tell me a secret”, she started humming, before she let out a laugh before clearing her throat, “When we broke up, I started looking into some hobbies to do, and one day, I found an ‘Ire Pottery Class’, during a few weeks they asked us to craft something that depicted our emotions and then we painted it, and on the last class we went to one of those places where you break things and destroyed our creations, it felt so freeing to do so, and when I came home, I drank a whole bottle of rosé and cried my eyes out”

I reached in and ran a hand down her cheek, she nuzzled into my hand, and smiled at me. The next few hours were spend eating strawberries and wines while talking about anything and everything, when she started yawning, I told her we should head back home, she nodded and reached down to pick up everything we had used.

After making sure that everything was clean and the lights were off, we locked the gallery and made our way to the car, when we got in, she plugged in her phone and I smiled at the playlist she chose, a playlist we had made with songs we love, and sadly the ride went by too quickly, we arrived home and got up to the apartment.

When we got in, the lights were off and we found a note from my mum letting us know Pippa had gone down perfectly and she would take care of her until tomorrow, I walked Y/N to her room and we stopped at the door, she turned to look at me with a small smile.

I leaned in a little and whispered, “Can I please kiss you?”, she gasped, “On our first date?”, I laughed while I grabbed her waist and pulled her into my chest, “I really, really want to kiss you”, she leaned into my ear, “Then what are you waiting for?”, after she said this I grabbed her face and pulled her lips with mine, and everything that was missing suddenly came back to me.

I am not sure how much time passed before I pulled back and pressed my forehead to hers, we both let out some deep breaths before Y/N whispered to me, “Why don’t you sleep with me?”, I gave her a look wanting for her to confirm that she indeed wanted me to sleep with her, she pouted her lips before whispering, “Please?”, I smiled and nodded, following her into her room.

January 6, 2022

New York City, New York. 4:30 PM.

The day had come for Anne to fly back to London, the three of us had been pretty emotional over it, and after a lot of convincing, the four of us were on our way to the airport, I was sitting in the front while Anne was sitting in the back with Pippa, I was so happy that my little girl had such a loving grandma.

Sadly, we soon pulled into the terminal, we had agreed that I would walk Anne into the terminal just to make sure everything went okay, and Harry would stay with Pippa in the car, which meant they had said their goodbyes aback home with a lot of tears. Harry cleared his throat before turning to look at the back, “We’re here”

Anne nodded, tears in her eyes before she leaned into the car seat, “I’ll see you soon darling love, please don’t grow up too fast too soon yeah? And remember how much your Nana loves you”, she then placed multiple kisses in her cheeks and forehead, she then turned to look at Harry and leaned in to kiss his cheek, “Take race of them sweetheart”, Harry nodded and sniffled, “I will mum, thank you for being here”, she smiled, “I have loved being here”

She gave each one another kiss and got out of the car, I also got out and helped her bring her bags to the terminal, once we were inside we checked in and just before she went through security, we said our goodbyes, I sniffled and she squeezed me harder, “Thank you for being here with us, I will never ever be able to repay you for that”, “Darling, I was very happy to be here with you”

We pulled back and smiled, she cleared my tears, “Make that boy work for you darling, he needs to prove he deserves you”, I laughed, “I will, I’ll see you soon”, we gave each other a kiss and I waited until she passed before making my way to the car, when I got in I let out a sob and Harry gave me a teary smiles, “It’s just us now huh?”, I nodded, “As long as we’re together, everything will be okay”, he nodded and leaned in to kiss my forehead before turning to shift the gears so we could start the drive home and I started patting Pippa’s belly hoping to calm myself.

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